So ends the month of November.
21 posts in 30 days. Wrote about UpWing/DownWing thought, networks (as a form of human organization), proceduralization of decisions, and a little bit more on the Dark Enlightenment, among some other smaller one-shot posts.
I experimented with different ways of writing, compiling notes from my own private online discussions (which was low-cost but ultimately not of the quality I wanted), writing shorter/more frequent posts (enjoyable, workable), and the old longform posts (probably the most satisfying to write but maybe not worth it at my usual post frequency).
At ~22,400 words, I still technically fell short of NaNoWriMo’s “write a 50,000 word novel in a month” challenge, which I wasn’t seriously considering anyway, so there. It’s also about 10% less than last month, even though it’s the same number of posts. My average post was a reasonable 1200 words. I expect that in the coming month, these metrics will decrease a bit more, even though I still have plenty of stuff to say/regurgitate.
Reviewing Five Week Plan II
- Take more walks. Maybe establish a small workout routine. This time for real. It will get much colder soon. [I did it! Consistently!]
- Be a grownup this Christmas. Get gifts for more people, you’re not a hermit. [This is really a December goal. Who buys gifts any earlier?]
- Work on my Cantonese. I really ought to have more defined goals so I can’t write them off later. [Failed mightily.]
- Plow through at least a one more language on Codecademy. [Javascript, not quite finished though]
- Read some more fiction. Biographies count, because all biographies are sort of fiction anyway.
- Coursera: Financial Accounting; Video Games and Learning, 21st Century American Foreign Policy. [still ongoing]
- Want more money outside of work. Haven’t won anything in a while. Provide a plan to make at least $1000 additional (outside of work payment) by 2014: This turned out to be very easy, I’ve already done it. Here is my backwards-looking two-step method to make a thousand dollars in three weeks:
1. Buy Bitcoin
2. Pray feverishly
Boom! Instant wealth. How sickening. - I saw some interesting Khan Academy videos, including some on BitCoin, which I’ve known of for a while but lacked the sophistication to tell (or know who to trust) on whether or not it’s a sucker’s game or what. I want to improve my financial literacy in general, reading one book on investing (The Young Person’s Guide), and taking a course on personal and business finance. It’s something adults should know about (right?!) [I did read/learn/play with Bitcoin. I deeply distrust the stuff but I am also a risk-seeking opportunist.]
- Buy an arduino set by Christmas.
Five Week Plan III
- Be a grownup this Christmas. Get gifts for more people.
- Work on my Cantonese. [Although I’d prefer to learn Mandarin?]
- Learn Unity.
- Build and start my DevBlog.
- Test a podcast recording/editing.
- Determine whether to go/no-go on my digital magazine idea.
- Read some more fiction. Biographies count, because all biographies are sort of fiction anyway.
- Re-up on Coursera? Probably not until next year.
- Provide a plan to make at least $1000 additional (outside of work payment) for December.
- Buy an arduino set by my birthday (I’m done purchasing fun-things this year, after Glass).