New Year, Modified Goals

I've never been a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. The few times I have made them they’ve royally backfired. Anytime I’ve tried something similar again, I’ve made it more general. As opposed to ‘lose 10 pounds,’ I’ve switched it to ‘eat better and exercise more.’ So my goals for 2015 are as follows:

-Pay off my credit card

-Regularly cook from healthy recipes

-Continue to make progress at the gym

-Earn back some of the savings I lost during my unemployment

-Get my retirement plan in better order

-Enact a shopping freeze

One of the first pieces of advice on almost all the minimalist websites and essays I’ve found is a shopping freeze. I'm far too impulsive on buying things I don't need and I need to get better about it.

Fundamental Rules

-If I enter a store, I must have a reason. The thing in the window is pretty is not a reason.

-I will only stay in the sections of the store where I need to be. No wandering to browse.

-Before buying something not on my list, I must ask myself “What do I need?”

-No browsing stores or websites for something to do. There are better things to do like chores I’ve been putting off or books I’m not reading.

-All items I run out of can be replaced. If I run out of mascara or fancy face wash, I can replace it. I can't, however, buy the replacement other friends.

-I must report all nonessential or replacement purchases here.

Addendums

-I know my music habit won’t go quietly since several bands I love will be dropping new music next year. Ergo, I can only download 1 album OR 10 individual songs in any given month. Any album I download must have been on my wish list for a minimum of two months or pre-ordered.

-I have a couple of conventions coming up next year. I have notoriously poor impulse control at these. To encourage better habits I need to be able to get it autographed and you’ll hear about it. I have a Zatana and Black Canary team up in hardback that the artist drew Zatana for me. Bill Willingham made a funny reference about my lack of subtlety while signing one of my comics. These are worth bending a couple of rules.

I’ve figured I’ll have to make a couple of other allowances since there are items I’m waiting to purchase.

-One or two pairs of mid-calf leggings from Torrid. They’re practical and perfect for summer.

-A couple of books that won’t be released until May and I’ve been waiting for.

-Something I’ve had my eye on to get free shipping whilst ordering The Boy’s Valentine’s Day gift.

-Any pair of rain boots I’m happy with. If I miraculously find a pair that fit, my credit card is coming out.

To help keep myself honest, I’m going to install a website blocker on my computer. Any time I try to access a website like Amazon, ThinkGeek, HerUniverse, or other retailers, it will stop or redirect me. I should be able to take it down in order to shop for other people but any time I remove a block, I must put $5 from checking into savings.

I’ve read some of what people have done and found that it gets easier the longer you do it. Rather than say this is an indefinite lifestyle change, I will be doing this until September 1st. I plan on moving toward the end of the summer so there will be inevitable expenses and necessary purchases. I'll report back about the freeze and see if I learned anything.

Music: Do You Hear What I Hear by Idina Menzel

The Great Purge of 2014: Moar Books

The Great Purge has been a great success. I’ve gathered even more stuff to donate. The only annoying part is that I don’t have time to donate it before Friday so I’m stuck dodging the boxes until that time comes. Believe you me, this is high on my to-do list.

A lot of the minimalist blogs and podcasts out there talk about how getting rid of stuff is addicting. I totally get that now. Watching space free up in my closet or on my shelves is liberating. I felt a bit lighter after my latest evaluation. I’ll feel even lighter if I can get rid of these boxes. As of Friday, everything on this list is going to a place that will sell or donate it. If you don’t claim it by then, it’s gone.


Genre Fiction
Wicked - Maguire
Son of a Witch - Maguire
Lion Among Men - Maguire
The World House
What-the-Dickens - Maguire
The Princess Bride
Ender's Game - Card
Midnight Riot
Steampunk'd 
Trolls in the Hamptons
Night Mares in the Hamptons
Dead until Dark
The Magic Shop
Songs of a Dying Earth
Horn of Ruin
He Is Legend
Classics Mutilated
Dracula in London

Teen
How to Deal (2 novels) - Sarah Dessen
City of Bones - Clare
City of Ashes - Clare
City of Glass - Clare
City of Fallen Angels - Clare
Meridian
The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong
Dreamland - Dessen
Along for the Ride - Dessen

Mystery 
Murder of a Bookstore Babe
The Book of Lies - Brad Meltzer (autographed)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime 
Mind's Eye - Nesser

Fiction 
History of Love - Krauss
Suite Francaise
Something Borrowed - Giffin
Something Blue - Giffin
State of Wonder
Juliet
Party Girl
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass 
The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To
I Just Want My Pants Back
29
A Dog's Purpose
How to Buy a Love of Reading

Memoir 
Love Is a Four Letter Word (essays)
The Winter of Our Disconnect
My Life in France - Julia Child
The Science of Single
Suck It Wonder Woman - Munn
Class 11
The Gastronomy of Marriage 
A Little Fruitcake: A Childhood in Holidays
Traveling with Pomegranates - Sue Monk Kidd

Nonfiction 
The Man Behind the Nose: Larry Bozo Harmon
Why? Because We still Like You: an Oral History of The Mickey Mouse Club
Writers Gone Wild
High School Confidential
Christmas: A Candid History
Sisterhood of Spies
Witsec 

MISC
The Deranged Stalker's Journal of Pop Culture Therapy (one panel comics)
The 500 Best Urban Legends
You Might Be a Zombie - Cracked.com
Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Holidays
The Truth About Santa: Wormholes, Robots, and What Really Happens on Christmas Eve

A Graphic Year

Anyone who thinks graphic novels and comics are just about superheroes is a special sort of wrong. The subject matter is diverse, the stories captivating, and the art beautiful. I have graphic novels about suffragettes, sororities, Archie and friends, the last man alive, pirates, dogs, fairytales, divine beings, and real world monsters.

My 2015 book challenge requires only one graphic novel but I realized that I own far too many and love the genre too much to leave it at only one title. In addition to the 50 books I’ve already committed to read, I will also be reading one graphic novel for each week of the year in 2015.

It will be a challenging year and a graphic year for my bookshelves. I’m looking forward to it.

2015: A Challenging Year

My friend shared a new Book Challenge with me from Goodwill Librarian's Facebook page. I'm not sure where it originally came from but I really like how broad it is

Since the picture is smaller than anticipated, I typed the list out below or you can just see it here:

-A book with more than 500 pages
-A classic romance
-A book that became a movie
-A book published this year
-A book with a number in the title
-A book written by someone under 30
-A book with nonhuman characters
-A funny book
-A book by a female author
-A mystery or thriller
-A book with a one word title
-A book of short stories
-A book set in a different country
-A nonfiction book
-A popular author's first book
-A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet
-A book a friend recommended
-A Pulitzer prize winning book
-A book based on a true story
-A book at the bottom of your to-read list
-A book your mom loves
-A book that scares you
-A book more than 100 years old
-A book based entirely on it's cover
-A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
-A memoir
-A book you can finish in a day
-A book with antonyms in the title
-A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
-A book that came out the year you were born
-A book with bad reviews
-A trilogy
-A book from your childhood
-A book with a love triangle
-A book set in high school
-A book with a color in the title
-A book that made you cry
-A book with magic
-A graphic novel
-A book by an author you've never read before
-A book you own but have never read
-A book that takes place in your hometown
-A book that was originally written in a different language
-A book set during Christmas
-A book written by an author with the same initials
-A play
-A banned book
-A book based on or turned into a TV show
-A book you started but never finished

There's something fun about it. Instead of long and short, it's 500 pages and read in a day. There's something about it I just like.

It totals 49 books but I'm going to add one more category to add one more voice:

-A book written by someone over 40

I think that should keep me plenty busy over the next year.

Music: I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by LeAnn Rimes

I Like It

At my office party I was explaining how I was done 3 for 6 parties. I said one of the parties I had coming up was with my RenFest friends and we love to dress up in costume. That got a few funny looks.

I’ve dealt with enough non-nerds that I’ve gotten pretty good at explaining why I do what I do. I don’t understand why golf, designer fashion, sky diving, or excessive drinking are fun but for some reason those are easier to explain. Here’s a few suggestions on explaining why you love what you love to the ‘typical’ folks with whom you deal.

Explaining LARPing or RPGs: “I liked playing make-believe when I was a kid and I didn’t feel like stopping as an adult.”

Explaining Cosplay: “I liked playing dress-up as a kid and I didn’t feel like stopping as an adult.”

Explaining being a brony: “In a world of gratuitous violence and harmful machismo, it’s really refreshing to be part of a warm, welcoming, and non-judgmental show and fan community.”

Explaining comic cons: “It’s a chance to us to meet authors of our favorite books and other folks who have the same interests.”

Explaining comics: “Many of the stories have excellent character development and thoughtful narratives. The art adds an extra dimension to the story and eases the need for exposition.”

Explaining sci-fi shows: “It has the same elements of most regular TV shows but the universe allows for a lot of extra plot points and storylines to happen. In some ways, the universe becomes a character in itself with how it shapes everything.”

I wonder what it’s like to never have to justify what you like.

Music: Once Upon a December by Dean Carter

A Few of My Favorite Reads

What I did for my closet, I had to do for my books. They are easily the most overwhelming possession I have. It is very easy to buy a book but far more time consuming to read it.

I like genre fiction more than regular fiction This genre has a lot to offer but I don’t love it nearly as much as genre fiction. I own far too many unread pieces of regular and literary fiction so this section got parsed down considerably.

I will never be a huge pop science fan There are a great many things in this world I’m curious about but the various forms of pop science will never speak to me quite as much as fiction or memoirs do. I kept some titles I was especially excited about but cut out quite a few.

Just because it’s autographed doesn’t mean it’s worth keeping I have a few titles purchased before college I bought because I was excited about autographed books. Now that I have books I love and am able to interact with the writers, those autographs have meaning to me. There’s no point in keeping a book I’m not excited about because of a signature.

When will I actually read it? I have books I bought college and never got around to reading. I had to ask myself why they’ve been sitting on a shelf for so long and most of the ones I asked that about have since been donated. If I’m still somewhat curious, there’s always GoodReads and the library to help me keep track.

You can still have clutter in ebooks Despite my love of physical books, I have a lot of ebooks. Some were freebies, some were on sale, some I loved in print, and some were only available in ebook. I need to go through and delete the ones I didn’t like or only got because they were free.

I've rehomed over 100 physical books and can't wait to parse down my electronic collections. I want to be left with my favorite reads.

Music: Maybe Next Year by Meiko

Different Christmas Songs

It’s finally starting to feel like winter. The rain has stopped (for now) and the winter chill has settled in. The Grumpy Cat Christmas movie kicked off my season with the appropriate amount of snark and reminded me of a holiday classic I’d forgotten about: I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.

As much as I love Christmas music, sometimes you want options other than the 20 standard Christmas song. Hippopotamus and Two Front Teeth are underplayed, underappreciated classics. I have a modern cover of the former but can’t listen to the latter without the whistle. If you want something totally different:

Santa’s Lost His Mojo by Jeremy Lister

Winter Song by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

Christmas Day by She & Him

Christmas Eve in Washington by Maura Sullivan

Christmas Time in Tinseltown by The Big Bad Voodoo Daddies

Wish List by Neon Trees

Another Christmas Song by Stephen Colbert

Christmas Wish by All Caps

Santa Has a Mullet by Nerf Herder

The Cowboy’s Christmas Ball by The Killers

Don’t Shoot Me Santa by The Killers

Christmas at the Airport by Nick Lowe

The Marvelous Toy by The Chad Mitchell Trio (It’s a Christmas song to me)

Maybe Next Year by Meiko

Mistletoe by Colbie Caillat

Text Me Merry Christmas by Straight No Chaser with Kristen Bell

Nutcracker by Straight No Chaser

Merry Something to You by Devo

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by *NSYNC (although BSB will always be better, don’t judge me)

Star of Wonder by Tori Amos (Her entire album is amazing so choosing just one song was difficult)

A Few of My Favorite Things

Going through my closet and consciously thinking about what I like and what’s comfortable made me realize some very important wardrobe facts.

-I’m not a huge fan of pullovers I do better in cold temperatures than the average person so when I get inside, I like to shed my layers. If I wear a cute, long-sleeved sweater to work, I’m stuck in that sweater even if I’m warm. If I had doubts about any pullovers or long-sleeved shirts in my closet, they were gone.

-I like wearing leggings in the summer One of my favorite summer uniforms last year was leggings and a short-ish dress or skirt. I also only like ‘shorts’ that at least hit my knees. I cut down on old or heavyweight capris and any shorts that didn’t fit the bill.

-I don’t like collars I can rock a Victorian collar like nobody’s business for costumes but when it comes to work wear, I really don’t like collared shirts. Because I get warm easily, I don’t like closing off my neck. Only a couple remain in my closet.

-I’m not much of a dress person Dresses are harder to wear with leggings and I’m not skinny enough to have a thigh gap. I have more dresses than I wear and it simply doesn’t make sense.

-I don’t like wearing hats I love how hats look on other people but I generally don’t like things on my head. I also have a large head so only a handful of headgear remains in my closet.

-I am super-picky about shoes My feet are incredibly difficult to outfit. They’re long, flat, wide, and have a high instep. I have shoes that I haven’t worn since college because I found things that work better. Any style that hadn’t been worn in the last 18 months was gone.

-I don’t like heavy jewelry I had hematite beads and a long pearl chain but they were both so heavy I almost never wore them. I like my jewelry to be light and comfortable so anything too bulky or heavy is on to better places.

-I’m not a bracelet or ring person I own no rings and am cutting down on bracelets. I almost never wear anything on my wrists because I don’t like how bracelets feel. The only ones I’m comfortable in are sailors knots and leather cuffs. What I have doesn’t get worn very much so some of those are going to better hands.

One of my favorite tenets of minimalism is that all of your things are your favorite things. You cut out the excess and only keep what matters to you. I’m still not perfect about this but I’m trying to get down to only my favorite things.

Current music: Santa’s Lost His Mojo by Jeremy Lister

The Great Purge of 2014: Board Games

I have too many board games collecting dust. Even if I'm able to start hosting my own game nights, I have plenty to ensure a good time is had by all with what I've got left. Here's what needs re-homing:

Games
The Hunger Games
Clue
Life
Apples to Apples Clue: Secrets and Spies
Never Have I Ever
Pirateology
Scene It TV Edition
Trivial Pursuit 25th Anniversary Edition
The Dirt Game
Yam Slam
Dirty Minds
Mad Gab (mini. card game)
Fact or Crap (mini. card game)
Battle of the Sexes (mini. card game)
Quelf (mini. card game)
Tribond (mini. card game)
Asshole (mini. card game)