The Distortion of Sleeplessness

There is nothing more disorienting than teaching English grammar while sleep deprived. All the punctuation slides around and my, very astute, students ask highly nuanced questions about usage. I end up staring at my white board while quickly reasoning through the guidelines which is, in some ways, easier while sleep deprived. All the same, it is surreal.

I'm quickly closing on two weeks without more than two full nights of sleep. For once it's not just my own crazy brain messing with me. It's my cat who starts head butting me in the face starting around 11:30 P.M. I'd be ready to kill him except that I'm becoming quietly convinced that he needs his insulin dose adjusted.

In the meantime, I've been reading. Last night I finished Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why which is a very grim book concerning a teen suicide with an oddly hopeful ending. They turned it into a television series a couple years ago that swept my school and caused quite a bit of hubbub among the adults. However, just like Reagan-Era music censorship, the message was pretty constructive. More on that some time later.

I'm also in the middle of the collected Spider-Ham and a creative writing book. I'm finding both of those slow going.

Everything has gotten slightly surreal. I definitely need more sleep.

Week 4: 1/26/2020 - 2/1/2020

Hit a bit of a bobble this week. I only managed to read one book and I had a hard time getting my writing in. In my small defense, my cat and I are in the middle of a protracted conversation about the big ape's need for sleep. I didn't manage to get much sleep until last night because I have this one cat who seems to think I should get up at ll P.M. and move out to the couch. A very sleep deprived me spent most of Saturday hassling the cat and keeping him from sleeping. Lo and behold, Saturday night I was allowed to sleep the night through. It was glorious.

I'm treating this week like a reboot and I've tilted my list heavy to YA to help. Hopefully, I can right the ship.

1. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Finished 1/29/2020)
2. Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham: The Complete Collection Vol 1 
3. Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (Finished 2/1/2020)
4. Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by Fred White
5. Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak

Yikes!

The cats decided I don't need sleep
Woke up wrong
Forgot my brain
Left my Journal
Wrote a Pink Slip
Went home, bad wreck on 400
Saw highway police rappel down a small cliff to a car far below
Home now
Going to read Spider Ham
New day awaits.
Feh

Happy Accidents

Not every kid is going to love my class. Obviously. Occasionally, however, something surprising happens. Sometimes an offhand comment pulls in the interest of my toughest cases. For example, today while discussing Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh one of my students (one the ones who "hates" my class) said: "Did you ever think how rich these guys would be now? I mean Shakespeare!"

Me: "Do you mean if they were still alive today after writing their work in the Renaissance or if they were modern writers and writing today?"

Student 1: "I don't know? Does it matter?"

Different Student (2): "I guess it depends on if you think their stuff is that good, that it would sell today."

Student 1: "Did Shakespeare write bad plays?"

Me: "Well not all of them are wonderful. Have you ever heard of Titus Andronicus."

All the Students: "No."

I then proceeded to give them a brief overview of the plot. The reactions were interesting. They were shocked that something like that went on the stage in the Renaissance, completely icked out, and wondering why we don't teach Titus instead of Hamlet.

Eventually we moved back to the day's lesson, but a couple of my boys who hate my class were talking as they walked out the door  and  trying to figure out if they could get copies of Titus our school library.

It was a fun moment.

A Good Mythology...

Myth is the basis for a lot of literature and not all of it fantasy. However in the realm of fantasy the ancient stories of heroes, gods, and goddesses provide a lot of inspiration. Some works are direct retellings such as Circe by Madeline Miller.  Neil Gaiman recently published a retelling of Norse myths titled, appropriately, Norse Mythology. C.S. Lewis wrote a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth called Till We Have Faces. 

Some books make use of the mythology but loosely. The most famous of these right now is probably Riordan's Percy Jackson series. However, Rick Riordan has several series based on various mythologies including Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse. Holly Black has a number of books based loosely on Celtic mythology.

Still more are the books that borrow elements of real world mythology to flesh out a world of their own creation. In the case of Rowling's Harry Potter books, the mythology borrows from various mythologies while also providing a sort of unifying explanation for where the mythological critters came from and went. Many books rely on the stock fantasy races such as elves, giants, trolls, and dwarves. Each of these comes from a European myth group mostly Norse and Celtic.

So, any way, I guess my point is that mythology remains relevant to our literature

Week 3 1/19/2020 - 1/25/2020

As predicted, a second crazy week. This one was a bit more of a grind. Sometimes it feels like the kids come back extra crazy and it's just wears one down. As sure as I was that I'd blast right through Dreyer's English and move on to catch up with my pacing, I ended up stuck for almost six days in it. I managed to wedge in another before the end of the week, but it's making me look at my reading pattern.  I used to read a lot of YA (still do really, but less than I used to). I can get through most YA novels in about a day on a weekend, two days if it's a school day or if it is particularly long or difficult for some reason.  At that rate I'd be aboutle to read 200 books easily if I didn't need occasional time off for brain realignment.

When I read non-YA, it takes significantly longer to get through each book. I'm averaging about two books a week of non-YA. It's still a respectable number and I'll easily manage 100 books in the year, but it's not what I'm aiming for. It's possible that I will get faster on the non-YA as I read more, but I suspect I'm going to need to do some serious balancing to stay on track.

In planning for the next week, I deliberately added in a couple that I thought would be quick reads. I'm hoping to make up some ground, but I want to keep including the non-YA.

1. Half World by Hiromi Goto (Finished 1/9/2020)
2. Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James
3. Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham: The Complete Collection Vol 1 
4. The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian
5. Delta-V by Daniel Suarez
6. Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by Fred White

Finished my reread...

...and I'm suddenly worried about introducing it as a class text. I still believe in the importance of the book and every reason I said we should do this. However, I'm also seeing every reason it could be challenged.  I'm sure it's going to be a good experience, but I have to admit that I'm a little daunted.

So that's what I've been doing all day since finishing the reread: avoiding thinking about the task very quickly coming up.

It'll be good.

I'm sure it will.

Really.

Rereading...

I don't get to reread books very often. There are so many books out there and so much to read that I generally reach for something new over an old favorite. The one exception are the texts that I teach. I've read Hamlet something like 20 times, for instance. Because how teaching curriculums work, I don't get to add new texts to that rarified list very often. This year though, I'm adding a new book to my freshman class namely The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater. In preparation for this, I'm rereading the book.

Rereading is a very different experience than discovering a book for the first time. There's no thrill of discovery here. There is no urgency to find out what happens next, yet the reading often goes faster. When rereading is when I start to notice, really notice, how the language fits together. I spend more time looking for hints and foreshadowing. Over time, and multiple rereads I can see how authors build character investment.

It is, in its own way, just as satisfying as reading a book for the first time. I should do more rereads.

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer

(This one gets its own post, owing partly to how aggravatingly long it took me to read.)

My dad bought me this for my birthday (which is in July) I think partly because I'm an English teacher and partly because I have an annoyingly difficult time with grammar. Truly, I want things to make consistent sense and English grammar just doesn't. I have made my peace with that (mostly) and commiserate (often) with my students over this.

I walked into this week thinking that this relatively small tome (for an English usage guide) would only take me a day or so to finish. I was wrong. It's Thursday; I just finished. Feh. So how did this happen? How did I let a sub-300-page book take me six days? I have only one explanation:

It's damn funny.

Seriously, who reads a grammar and usage text and . . . giggles. I've been giggling all week. Annoyed, yet amused. Ryan reminds me that at its core, this is a book of lists; annotated lists. That's true. Generally, one doesn't read a style book cover to cover. (You look for whatever arcane rule you need, and move on with life.) I think Dreyer wrote this with the idea of people reading it as a complete work, yet it is, at the core, an annotated list of grammar and usage rules which is why it took me so long to slog through.

It would also work very well as a reference text. (I'm not sure that's a compliment.) It is hilarious. (That one was a compliment. . . just checking) It's tough  to read straight through. (You decide.)

Ok, really. If you've ever been frustrated with the seemingly contradictory rules of English usage and grammar, even for a moment, this is the text for you. Dreyer is remarkably unstuffy about an incredibly stuffy subject. While I commit many grammatical sins, reading this made me feel justified in a few of them. There are few actual rules in English. The rest is convention. I've suspected this for years; it's nice to have it confirmed.

This is good stuff.

Read the stuff.

Read it.

Stuck in the doldrums

It is possible in reading, to like a book but be stuck in it. I'm in the middle of Dreyer's English and I love it. It makes me giggle...about grammar. Yet, I just feel like it's taking too long to read and I'm getting restless. I guess tomorrow I'll either finish it or start a second book.


Ok.

Back to reading

On the Subject of Head Colds

I hate head colds because it makes everything surreal and dreamlike. I'm not sure whether it's being sick or the meds, but it's like wading through a mental fog. Inevitably, when I go back to read what I've written, I spot all sorts of obvious errors. This is accentuated by reading a book on writing and language written by a copy editor. Now I'm scrutinizing my comma usage and trying to remember if I've ever seen the word "crotchet" used before to refer to anything but a yarn-based handicraft only to realize that what I'm thinking of is "crochet" with only one "t". Is there a word to describe the endless navelgazing of grammar paranoia? There should be. I think I use nausea vs. nauseate correctly and have you ever heard of a flat adverb before? I hadn't, but I sure am glad that I can now "Drive Safe" Arg! I need sleep.

Week 2 1/12/2020 - 1/18/2020

As predicted, it was a very busy week and I didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked. Instead of reading three and a half books, I read two and a half which is still pretty respectable considering that none of them are YA.

I went ahead and picked up the next Mary Russell book: A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King. I halfway predicted that Holmes' presence would have to diminish in order for the books to be driven by Mary Russell and that played out in this volume. While still very much a part of the narrative, Holmes really only appeared a handful of times. Mary stumbled into and led her own investigation which for quite a while didn't necessarily look like mystery. By the time the actual mystery became apparent, I was already tied up in the narrative about a women-led cult. In some ways I didn't like this book. I found the drug imagery involved in the plot highly disturbing and I didn't like the new romantic angle to the relationship between Russell and Holmes. Beyond everything else, it seemed strange to me the degree to which the plot centered on the topic of the Women's Liberation movement when ultimately the female protagonist needs a rescue from a male force. However, despite the couple of issues I've outlined here, it was a very good read. The post WWII women's movement in Britain was very interesting as are the feminist readings of the Old Testament that Russell is studying in the book. I've always found the deliberate translation errors/choices in the bible intriguing. The incidental education I just received in the history of heroine that I just received (and fact checked) was also interesting, if disturbing. Conclusion, not my favorite book, but interesting enough that I will be giving the next book in the series a try.

My other book of the week was Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon. I collect Chabon books which is a little odd because I hated the first book of his I read. Rather, I was forced to read the book by a college seminar which didn't predispose me to like the thing. (I suspect I would end up with a  different impression if I read it now.) In any case, he's one of the authors that I collect. This book is a bit of a contradiction: it's short, it's a swashbuckling adventure, and the typeface makes it look like a YA - it is not. It's outside of of Chabon's usual areas of literature. It's good though. Before picking up the book, I knew nothing about the Khazar Empire. I still know very little, but it seems like a very interesting period of history. Chabon created two unusual main characters, Amram and Zelikman, who are one part philosopher, one part soldiers of fortune, and two parts scoundrel. For all that, they get quickly get embroiled in a revolution when they cross paths with a foul mouthed young princeling named Faliq. The plot was straightforward and quick moving, the language was lush and beautifully layered, and the humor was both wry and bawdy. In all I'm left with two pieces of advice: 1 - read it on a rainy day when you won't have to stop to attend to the interruptions of life  and 2 - this is not a intended for a young audience.

I suspect this upcoming week will be just as hectic as the last one however I'm going to try to get in three books at a minimum. I'm already halfway through Dreyer's English, so it feels like an attainable goal.

1. Dreyer's English by Benjamin Dreyer (Finished 1/16/2020)
2. Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James
3. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi*
4. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater* (Finished 1/18/2020)
5. Delta-V by Daniel Suarez
6. Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by Fred White

*books that meet Book Challenge Requirements

Speaking of the Read Harder Challenge for 2020

Here is the 2020 Read Harder from Book Riot. I've actually already managed to knock a couple already without really trying to. There are only two that I really think are going to be a problem for me: numbers 8 and 13. 8 will be difficult because I really don't much like "reading" audiobooks. I have a hard time focusing when it's just sound. 13 will require some thought because there are very few cuisines that I haven't tried at some point. Mind you, I'm a little thin on many of the African cuisines outside of the northern regions, so that's probably where I will be looking. I'll keep the list updated as I go.

1. Read a YA nonfiction book: The 57 Bus by Daska Slater
2. Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color
3. Read a mystery where the victim(s) is not a woman
4. Read a graphic memoir
5. Read a book about a natural disaster
6. Read a play by an author of color and/or queer author
7. Read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII: Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon
8. Read an audiobook of poetry
9. Read the LAST book in a series: Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak
10. Read a book that takes place in a rural setting :The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
11. Read a debut novel by a queer author
12. Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own
13. Read a food book about a cuisine you’ve never tried before
14. Read a romance starring a single parent
15. Read a book about climate change
16. Read a doorstopper (over 500 pages) published after 1950, written by a woman
17. Read a sci-fi/fantasy novella (under 120 pages)
18. Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community
19. Read a book by or about a refugee
20. Read a middle grade book that doesn’t take place in the U.S. or the UK
21. Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non)
22. Read a horror book published by an indie press
23. Read an edition of a literary magazine (digital or physical)
24. Read a book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author

Adventure Novels

There is something special about the old swashbuckling adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, H. Rider Haggard, Jack London, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and others of the ilk. They aren't complicated stories and the themes are pretty straightforward, but there is nothing like the ride of a good adventure story. A good adventure story pulls in the reader and doesn't let them go and often features beautiful lyrical language used to describe breathtaking vistas, nerve wracking fights, and gut wrenching losses. The stories have clear goals and satisfying endings and if they suffer some from antiquated values, I find that I don't mind so much.

I'm clearly not the only one who feels this way. Plenty of authors who generally write other styles of literature are having a little fun writing 19th century style adventure. I recently finished Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon which is an excellent example of the style with beautiful use of language and vivid characters. There is also Terry Pratchett's Nation, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, and The Princess Bride by William Goldman to name just a few.

I love these books.

Halfway point

I'm about halfway through Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road and I'm struck how strongly involved with Jewish themes all of his writing is. Which is fine, it's interesting stuff but I only notice when I'm in the middle of one of his books. When I'm not actively reading his books, I tend to key into other qualities in Chabon's writing and forget about the religious angle. I'm not sure Chabon would be pleased by this tendency. On the upside though, I value him for how he uses language. There's something euphonious about the way he mixes languages and vocabularies.

The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu

I don't usually blog short fiction which is a shame because in terms of science fiction and fantasy, some of the best writing is in short fiction. Today I had cause to remember that. I have for years taught a science fiction literature class. I usually have a solid but small group of kids in that class. Last fall, a couple of the members of the sci-fi class suggested that I offer a fantasy class in the Spring.

I offered the class half expecting it wouldn't make. Well, it did. Not only did it have enough interest to run, I filled all the seats and there is a list of students interested in it the next time I offer it. So, I put together the semester plan. We always start with short fiction to introduce topics and themes. On Monday, the topic my group had the hardest time with was "Magical Realism"  so I chose a good example of genre for today's lesson. I choose Ken Liu's "The Paper Menagerie." 

This decision led me into one of the most intense lessons I've lead as a teacher. Magical Realism really isn't about whatever fantasy element appears in the text. Instead, the magical element is used to accentuate and highlight a more real world and realistic theme. "The Paper Menagerie" is about a half Chinese American who rejects his mother's culture and becomes estranged from her. The magical element is in the origami figures that she can animate with her breath. The story is about the son coming to terms with his mother after her death. It's an absolute gut punch of a story.

I knew it was a good story, and I knew that my kids would be able to approach the themes presented in it. I did not predict, however, that a third of my class would be in tears by the end of the story, and the rest of them would be visibly affected by it. It makes me tear up every time I read it too. I just didn't expect the students to react so strongly.

This all led to an excellent discussion on how the story worked and the role of the fantastical elements within it worked. One of my students hit it precisely when he said that you could write a story about an estranged half chinese boy without using any fantasy elements at all, but that the fantastical elements served to heighten the message and deepen the themes because it make the mother obviously special to the reader even though we empathize with the son's need to fit into the Anglo American culture. In a way the animating force came to represent the mother which makes the ending all the more poignant. 

Goodness, I'm tearing up while I'm writing this. It's a great story which is why it won a Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award. If you've never read it, It really is worth a read.

This is going to be a great semester

On Finishing Books. . .

There is something delicious about putting off life to finish a book. There is a shift at the end of any narrative where the pace gets faster and the end is in sight. Once that shift happens, it's hard to put a book down. It almost doesn't matter anymore whether the ending is good or not

Of course then the book does end and it's a bit deflating, even if it is good.

I spent the evening finishing off the second Mary Russell book. Thomas dropped off early and I decided to take it easy for one night and hopefully get past this stomach bug that I picked up somewhere. At this moment I'm just not sure what I think of the ending. I'll have to sleep on it, but I really didn't like how the romantic tension between two characters was resolved. What is it about writers that a female protagonist always tends to end up with a love interest. Writers don't do that to male characters necessarily.  Obviously plenty of male characters end up with love interests, but it seems like every female one does.

What is that?

The Difficulty With Listening

First day back in classes. At the beginning of each semester we typically go over the class syllabus. I bring this up because the second semester syllabus is about 70% the same as the first semester which means we are typically going over the same material we did on the first day of the year.

I should be used to it by now, but it's crazy how much of what's on the syllabus is a shock at this point. Specifically, yes you really do have to open you mouth and talk during class to get your discussion grade and yes, you really do have to do independent reading in English.

The invariable response to this, is "why, what's the point."

Ok so beyond the intrinsic value of books and literature...

1. It's practice. If you are planning on going to any kind of college you will have to take in a lot of information very quickly for your classes. It's not impossible but if you want to manage the information load, you need to practice. That means, for most of you, reading. Lots of reading.

2. Greater exposure to ideas and different perspectives. If you are reading in any quantity at all you will be exposed to new ideas and information. Knowing stuff is cool...go with me on this.

3. Once you get good at it, it's fun. Trust me on this. It really is.

Ok that's it, that's the reasoning.  Now go read something.

Week 1: 1/5/2020 - 1/11/2020

Technically, the week started last Wednesday but it's easier to track on Sundays and makes for a nice week opening ritual. I finished off two books since New Year's day:

Celtic Tales: Fairy Tales and Stories of Enchantment from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales was a Christmas gift this year from my father. It's a nice little overview of Celtic folk tales. Everything in here is in other readily available tomes but the selection and organization gave an excellent introduction of theme and type. There are four basic thematic sections: Tricksters, The Sea, Quests, and Romance. Each section has a variety of stories in it, and apart from one, none are stories I've read before.  I particularly loved "The Brownie of Fern Glen" in the quests section for the reversal of protagonist who is the brownie and not some noble human champion. I also liked "The Soul Cages" and "The Seal Catcher and the Selkies" because the relationship between fairy and human was more complicated than antagonistic.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King has been sitting on my "to read" shelf for the better part of a decade. I have no idea where I originally found it except that I'm pretty sure I picked it up used somewhere in New England. I like Sherlock Holmes and the related spin-off adaptations in literature and film, so when I tripped across this, I picked it up for that reason alone. I'd never heard of Laurie R. King before even though she is quite the established mystery writer.  Most mysteries are plot driven and the characters, interesting as they may be, are in service to the events around them. This is a character driven book about a young woman. Mary Russell is 15 when she first meets the aging Sherlock Holmes who has retired to the Sussex Downs. Mary is an interesting, intelligent girl. She quickly finds a rapport with Holmes who begins to train and educate her in the art of detection. It's a somewhat ridiculous premise that works on the strength of King's character work with Mary Russell. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It works because I grew to love Mary Russell and not because the mysteries were particularly intriguing. Little did I know when I started my read that this is the opening to a 16 or 17 book series. I'm not sure that King will be able to maintain the character-driven nature of the plots but it should be fun to find out.

Next week is bound to be busy, but here's what I'm looking at:

1. Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon (Finished 1/10/2020)
2. Dreyer's English by Benjamin Dreyer
3. A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King (book 2 in the Mary Russell Series) (Finished 1/7/2020)
4. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi*
5. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater*

*books that meet Book Challenge Requirements

New Year 2020

I wasn't sure I was going to write one of these this year. I've fallen off the writing habit pretty hard. There really is only so much time in the day and it's hard to feel like I'm putting enough time and energy in the posts to ensure that it's worthwhile reading to read them. After a while it can feel like just going through the motions.

However, I have also come to realize that the journaling is valuable in itself. I read so many books that if I don't journal them, I tend to get fuzzy on the details pretty quickly. Additionally, it's a nice habit to be in. It centers me whether I have anyone reading or not, so I'll give it another try.

Challenge 2020:

• Reading Goal - 175: I'm aiming to read 175 books this next year which comes to about 3 and 1/3 books per week. Doable, but a bit of a stretch. 
• The Twist: All the books (aside from a few exceptions defined below) will be things I already own. Last summer Ryan and I finally unpacked and shelved all of our books. We discovered that we have over 800 books that one or the other of us bought at some point and have yet to read. It sounds insane but the vast majority of those books were picked up used from various used book stores across the Eastern United States. A large influx also came in when Borders closed and from various library sales and culls. I additionally have a classroom library with a number of books I have not read yet, and should. People also give me books. . . a lot. The upshot is that we have a lot of books and it's time to start working through them: Reading, saving, regifting and selling as the book warrants.
• The Exceptions: I'm a lit teacher and a known reader which means if this is going to work at all there need to be some sanity exceptions that allow for new or previously unowned books.

1. I've had a long standing policy of reading any book that a student hands me. If a student loves a book enough to share it, I try to honor that by joining the experience. One of the most difficult things about being a reader is that it can be a solitary occupation. Unless someone else reads the book, it's hard to talk about. I try to be that person for the students and I'm going to maintain the policy.
2. Professional reading - I have a goal of reading 12 professionally related books a year that I rarely manage to complete. Even so, this is something that I will continue to work at and I need the freedom to pick up the books as needed.
3. Series Literature - There is nothing worse than starting a series and having to wait to read the next book. It's so frustrating. So, if it's part of a series that I've already started, I'm allowed to get the next book in series to read.
4. Gifts - If someone gives me a book, I'm allowed to read it...in fact, I'm going to prioritize it. Reading a gift book is a special experience because a book is so much more than just a thing. Too often, I put reading those books off to the point that I've forgotten it and probably so has the person who gifted it.
5. Book Riot Read Harder 2020 - to keep variety going I'm working through the Read Harder Challenge. In most cases, there are things sitting in the collection that will work to meet the goals, but if I have to, I can fill a gap.

• Writing Goal: Everyday without fail. I sometimes forget that I really love the creativity of writing. It doesn't really matter what I do with it or what I write specifically. 

1. Blogging - some sort of post every day, probably in the evening.
2. Creative Journal - one page every day for now and hopefully working up to about 5 by the end of the year, but frankly any kind of daily habit will meet goal.
3. Pie in the Sky - I'd like to start writing complete drafts of varying length by the end of the year. I'm not ready for that at this point and I feel like putting too much pressure on myself will be counter-productive. I'm just going to leave it floating out there as something I'm working towards.

• Cooking and Baking: I'm actually happy with how this is going generally, so it's more about maintaining. 

1. Baking - I'm teaching myself to bake and I bake a recipe once a week. Often it's a new recipe but sometimes I'm working to perfect a skill. It has been going well and even my "failures" tend to taste good.
2. Cooking - Cook most of the meals - try new things. I do this anyway, but I'd like to come up with a subset of family favorites. Maybe I'll make a binder of them.

• The Yards: I actually like working outside. I mean really enjoy it. Unfortunately, it is a fight against momentum to get out there and once I get out there I need to be really careful during the hot months to avoid overdoing it and giving myself heat stroke (which happens more often than I like to admit.) 

1. Front - I want to get out there and keep the yard in check, finish the garden hardscaping, and keep the garden going through all four seasons. One of the great things about living in the South is that there's really only about 2 months where nothing will grow most years.
2. Back - I need to clear out the scrubby tries and beat back all of the crazy vining nonsense. After I do that, I can look at what to do with the space - but pragmatically just getting it cleared is probably the year.

When I list it out like this, it seems like a lot. However, I'm not looking for perfection here and I'm more or less giving up distractions like video games for the year. Additionally, Thomas is to the point where he and Ryan can come and help with things like yard maintenance and cooking so it's not all me against the world for every one of these.