Take my hand. We can make it, I swear.
I haven't made much progress as of late. No fibs, dear readers. I have been busy with other pressing matters and my resolutions and goals for this year have been buried beneath other priorities. But I haven't forgotten about them and I've felt guilty about letting them fall by the wayside.
You know what time it is? July. The seventh month of the year. And, yes, I know February is an unabashedly short month, so the midpoint of 2017 has actually arrived now, in these first few days of July. (Speaking of which, happy Canada Day, everyone. It's our 150th birthday this year!) And if that means the first half of the year is totally over, I have decided that it's time to reevaluate. It's time to see what's working and what's a whole load of poppycock.
Resolution #1: Reach 65% fluency in French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Russian
This one's my bad, guys. 65% is a perfectly attainable goal.
My French has drooped from its impressive 54% to a mere 41%. My Spanish fell from 49% to 31% -- what a ding. Even my Italian dropped three percent to a pathetic 15%. I lost competency in Russian by 2 full levels to a mere 3/78 (that's 3.8% -- egad). I should slink away in shame.
And yet, somehow, somehow, my German improved by two whole percent to a mediocre 32%. (I have no idea how that happened, but I can't say I'm not happy.)
By next month, my goal is simply to get back on track and either maintain or exceed where I once was. Once I get to that point, it's incremental progress from there, growing ever more marginal as I get closer and closer to that elusive 65%.
Resolution #2: Raise guitar proficiency by at least 25% on six songs
I have not moved a budge in guitar proficiency. Despite my best efforts this year, I'm starting to feel a little defeated. It's almost the half-way point of 2017 and I am still 25 percent away from being pretty decent at playing "My Girl", "Refugee", "Don't Speak", "Go Your Own Way", and "Addicted to Love." All five of those songs!
It's true that I'm less than ten percent away from reaching my goal for "American Girl." So, I'm thinking of tinkering with my objective. I've spread myself too thin.
As I said before, I know that, in theory, only marginal improvement is likely as I approach my goals, but I'm spitting in the face of logic because: a) I clearly have improved a great deal with this song and I think that it must therefore be magic, and b) I really love Tom Petty and don't mind playing his awesome tune over and over until my fingers bleed. So, let's get "American Girl" to 55.8%!
This is a test, to be sure, a mid-year experiment. I'm going to see if it is wiser to narrow my goal and, in the meantime, drop my expectations for the others. It may not work, but I'm going to give it the ol' college try for at least a month or so. Fingers crossed, everybody (but not while strumming).
Resolution #3: Clear my backlog of unwatched films and TV boxsets
I'm not sure how to determine this goal a success. Clearing the backlog is virtually impossible because it constantly replenishes itself. In the time it takes me to watch two, I have a new one added to my collection. So, what does that mean? I need concrete numbers.
I'm going to apply an arbitrary quantity to consider this goal -- let's say, fifteen films and fifteen TV seasons. Thus far, I have successfully accomplished a whole 36 percent of this goal -- three movies and eight seasons. Want the specific deets? There's the final season of Mike and Molly (disappointing but inevitable conclusion to the storylines they already started), two seasons of Cheers (still hilarious, aging like fine wine), five seasons of The Middle (equally side-splitting comedy that gives me the warm fuzzies and reminds me of one of my favourite shows ever, Roseanne), The Parent Trap, Practical Magic, and Matilda (all three of which were blasts from the past).
I whole-heartedly blame Netflix if I don't reach this goal. This month, I watched their newest season of Orange Is The New Black, the most recent season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and even started watching RuPaul's Drag Race (FYI: not a fan of Acid Betty). I just cannot stay on track with these temptations!
But I will maintain focus. From now until December, I only need to watch twelve films and seven TV seasons. Totally doable. If ever there was a task I could handle, this resolution is the one.
Resolution #4: The 2017 Super-Mega-Ultra-Neo-Maxi-Zoom-Dweebie Chelsey Cosh Reading Challenge™!
Like I said last posting, I'm a bit of an idiot. I realize now that, by fluke, I happened to read Big Little Lies in the last few weeks of March, which is set in Australia. For my reading challenge, I had intended to read The Light Between Oceans , by M. L. Stedman, but I got to Big Little Lies first, which means I actually completed more of my reading list than I originally thought.
Oh, I freaking loved Big Little Lies. Sure, it's a touch salacious, but what a page-turner.
That being said, I wasn't a quick convert, let me tell you. The book was released in 2014 and, by 2015, a year later, I remember it being something of a big deal, book-club-wise. Everybody was reading it -- everybody but me, that is. I had zero interest in it. It looked too ... beachy. I don't care for poolside disposable lit where the dish runs away to spoon with the hot guy. So, I had my doubts. I didn't know that that wasn't at all what this book was about. But nobody told me, so I went with my gut. It took until 2017 for me to even give Big Little Lies a fair shake. It's second chance actually came due to the TV program that HBO started advertising; the show piqued my interest and I had deja vu upon hearing the title. And because I didn't have the patience to wait for the show to air, I decided to read through the book in advance.
And I fell in love with the story. Or I should say stories. I have witnessed some suburban soccer moms who helicopter-parent their way through life, especially those who throw their money around to do it. I have actually seen a great deal of that in my years on this planet. It ain't pretty. That's why I felt something profound about the reality described in Big Little Lies. True, I found it hard to detach the images of the stars I knew were cast as each character, even with physical descriptions in the book that directly contradicted the casting director's decisions (for example, last time I checked Denise Huxtable's daughter doesn't have a blond plait running down her back).
Regardless, the story was great, but it definitely has that soap-opera feel to it that takes the edge off what is actually quite serious subject matter. Still, I enjoyed it unashamedly because it was frighteningly honest. I like books that speak the truth or their version of the truth, and I especially love complicated, layered characters who don't just embrace their flaws but revel in them. Big Little Lies had that in spades. And that made it a good read.
But what about in April? May? June? Have I read anything new? Why, I'm glad you asked.
I've read six -- count 'em, six! -- financial books, including a few titles by Gordon Pape and Gail Vaz-Oxlade. I then read a tiny little coffee-table book called The Joy of Hygge, which I was going to use for my prompt, but frankly it was so brief that I couldn't, in good conscience, use it. I'll look elsewhere. I am well into Fun Home. I've been reading Nora Ephron's Heartburn and Paul Reiser's Familyhood to my husband because he does like a read or two with some laughs to be had. I picked up and then swiftly abandoned We Have Always Lived In The Castle; I simply could not get into it. I picked at The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life to compensate for the too-short-to-qualify book on hygge. And I sunk my teeth into Their Eyes Were Watching God, a classic by Zora Neale Hurston. That's not to mention all the other hopefuls I have waiting in the wings to be picked up and read, like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (of which I have read a few chapters eons ago and then put down and never returned to, much to my chagrin -- it's a great book!) and a few celebrity bios, too.
So, what remains? Turns out, quite a lot.
I didn't do all that great in regards to the challenge, although I've read plenty. But I am up to my eyeballs in books that qualify, books that I've almost completed. So, instead of rambling a second longer, I'm going to do that instead. Maybe next month we'll have something a bit more substantial to talk about -- like Janie finding the diamond within herself again! (Seriously, Zora was the queen of the Harlem Renaissance.)
Until next month, my dear readers!
You know what time it is? July. The seventh month of the year. And, yes, I know February is an unabashedly short month, so the midpoint of 2017 has actually arrived now, in these first few days of July. (Speaking of which, happy Canada Day, everyone. It's our 150th birthday this year!) And if that means the first half of the year is totally over, I have decided that it's time to reevaluate. It's time to see what's working and what's a whole load of poppycock.
Resolution #1: Reach 65% fluency in French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Russian
This one's my bad, guys. 65% is a perfectly attainable goal.
My French has drooped from its impressive 54% to a mere 41%. My Spanish fell from 49% to 31% -- what a ding. Even my Italian dropped three percent to a pathetic 15%. I lost competency in Russian by 2 full levels to a mere 3/78 (that's 3.8% -- egad). I should slink away in shame.
And yet, somehow, somehow, my German improved by two whole percent to a mediocre 32%. (I have no idea how that happened, but I can't say I'm not happy.)
By next month, my goal is simply to get back on track and either maintain or exceed where I once was. Once I get to that point, it's incremental progress from there, growing ever more marginal as I get closer and closer to that elusive 65%.
Resolution #2: Raise guitar proficiency by at least 25% on six songs
I have not moved a budge in guitar proficiency. Despite my best efforts this year, I'm starting to feel a little defeated. It's almost the half-way point of 2017 and I am still 25 percent away from being pretty decent at playing "My Girl", "Refugee", "Don't Speak", "Go Your Own Way", and "Addicted to Love." All five of those songs!
It's true that I'm less than ten percent away from reaching my goal for "American Girl." So, I'm thinking of tinkering with my objective. I've spread myself too thin.
As I said before, I know that, in theory, only marginal improvement is likely as I approach my goals, but I'm spitting in the face of logic because: a) I clearly have improved a great deal with this song and I think that it must therefore be magic, and b) I really love Tom Petty and don't mind playing his awesome tune over and over until my fingers bleed. So, let's get "American Girl" to 55.8%!
This is a test, to be sure, a mid-year experiment. I'm going to see if it is wiser to narrow my goal and, in the meantime, drop my expectations for the others. It may not work, but I'm going to give it the ol' college try for at least a month or so. Fingers crossed, everybody (but not while strumming).
Resolution #3: Clear my backlog of unwatched films and TV boxsets
I'm not sure how to determine this goal a success. Clearing the backlog is virtually impossible because it constantly replenishes itself. In the time it takes me to watch two, I have a new one added to my collection. So, what does that mean? I need concrete numbers.
I'm going to apply an arbitrary quantity to consider this goal -- let's say, fifteen films and fifteen TV seasons. Thus far, I have successfully accomplished a whole 36 percent of this goal -- three movies and eight seasons. Want the specific deets? There's the final season of Mike and Molly (disappointing but inevitable conclusion to the storylines they already started), two seasons of Cheers (still hilarious, aging like fine wine), five seasons of The Middle (equally side-splitting comedy that gives me the warm fuzzies and reminds me of one of my favourite shows ever, Roseanne), The Parent Trap, Practical Magic, and Matilda (all three of which were blasts from the past).
I whole-heartedly blame Netflix if I don't reach this goal. This month, I watched their newest season of Orange Is The New Black, the most recent season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and even started watching RuPaul's Drag Race (FYI: not a fan of Acid Betty). I just cannot stay on track with these temptations!
But I will maintain focus. From now until December, I only need to watch twelve films and seven TV seasons. Totally doable. If ever there was a task I could handle, this resolution is the one.
Resolution #4: The 2017 Super-Mega-Ultra-Neo-Maxi-Zoom-Dweebie Chelsey Cosh Reading Challenge™!
Like I said last posting, I'm a bit of an idiot. I realize now that, by fluke, I happened to read Big Little Lies in the last few weeks of March, which is set in Australia. For my reading challenge, I had intended to read The Light Between Oceans , by M. L. Stedman, but I got to Big Little Lies first, which means I actually completed more of my reading list than I originally thought.
Oh, I freaking loved Big Little Lies. Sure, it's a touch salacious, but what a page-turner.
That being said, I wasn't a quick convert, let me tell you. The book was released in 2014 and, by 2015, a year later, I remember it being something of a big deal, book-club-wise. Everybody was reading it -- everybody but me, that is. I had zero interest in it. It looked too ... beachy. I don't care for poolside disposable lit where the dish runs away to spoon with the hot guy. So, I had my doubts. I didn't know that that wasn't at all what this book was about. But nobody told me, so I went with my gut. It took until 2017 for me to even give Big Little Lies a fair shake. It's second chance actually came due to the TV program that HBO started advertising; the show piqued my interest and I had deja vu upon hearing the title. And because I didn't have the patience to wait for the show to air, I decided to read through the book in advance.
And I fell in love with the story. Or I should say stories. I have witnessed some suburban soccer moms who helicopter-parent their way through life, especially those who throw their money around to do it. I have actually seen a great deal of that in my years on this planet. It ain't pretty. That's why I felt something profound about the reality described in Big Little Lies. True, I found it hard to detach the images of the stars I knew were cast as each character, even with physical descriptions in the book that directly contradicted the casting director's decisions (for example, last time I checked Denise Huxtable's daughter doesn't have a blond plait running down her back).
Regardless, the story was great, but it definitely has that soap-opera feel to it that takes the edge off what is actually quite serious subject matter. Still, I enjoyed it unashamedly because it was frighteningly honest. I like books that speak the truth or their version of the truth, and I especially love complicated, layered characters who don't just embrace their flaws but revel in them. Big Little Lies had that in spades. And that made it a good read.
But what about in April? May? June? Have I read anything new? Why, I'm glad you asked.
I've read six -- count 'em, six! -- financial books, including a few titles by Gordon Pape and Gail Vaz-Oxlade. I then read a tiny little coffee-table book called The Joy of Hygge, which I was going to use for my prompt, but frankly it was so brief that I couldn't, in good conscience, use it. I'll look elsewhere. I am well into Fun Home. I've been reading Nora Ephron's Heartburn and Paul Reiser's Familyhood to my husband because he does like a read or two with some laughs to be had. I picked up and then swiftly abandoned We Have Always Lived In The Castle; I simply could not get into it. I picked at The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life to compensate for the too-short-to-qualify book on hygge. And I sunk my teeth into Their Eyes Were Watching God, a classic by Zora Neale Hurston. That's not to mention all the other hopefuls I have waiting in the wings to be picked up and read, like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (of which I have read a few chapters eons ago and then put down and never returned to, much to my chagrin -- it's a great book!) and a few celebrity bios, too.
So, what remains? Turns out, quite a lot.
I didn't do all that great in regards to the challenge, although I've read plenty. But I am up to my eyeballs in books that qualify, books that I've almost completed. So, instead of rambling a second longer, I'm going to do that instead. Maybe next month we'll have something a bit more substantial to talk about -- like Janie finding the diamond within herself again! (Seriously, Zora was the queen of the Harlem Renaissance.)
Until next month, my dear readers!
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