Lee Nau

A little over 18 months ago, I posted here about The Nominee Project. Recently, I finally got around to adding the nominated movies of the 2009 Awards shows to the database.

Since that post a while back, I’ve added two years worth of nominees to the database. As is obvious from the frequency I post here, I’m not Johnny-on-the-spot with updates. I’m trying to rectify that in the future.

Today, the tally stands as follows:

• Total films: 2512
• Viewed: 723 (28.78%)
• Unavailable: 316 (12.58%)
• Left to see: 1473 (58.64%)

Since last time, I’ve seen 104 nominees. That’s about 1.3 per week. I’m never going to knock out the back log at that pace. Thankfully, the nearby public library supplements my Netflix queue. Check your local public library. They probably let you check out DVDs. Just watch the due date.

This weekend is my 20 year high school reunion (Class of 1989 – Payette High School, Payette, Idaho). I only have regular contact with one of my former classmates, who has been my best friend for the better part of three decades. Apparently, I’ve been missed, although I haven’t spoken a word to more than three people I went to school with since we flung our red and white tassels to the other side of our caps (yeah, because they banned throwing the caps that year).

What have I done since high school?

1. Joined the US Army. Got out early.
2. Got married. Got out early.
3. Fathered twice. A son and a daughter. Geniuses both.
4. Went to the University of Idaho. Studied music and foreign languages. Got out late without a degree.
5. Moved to the Silicon Valley. Still here.
6. Started building web sites in 1993. Still doing it.
7. Joined a company. Built some cool stuff. Got laid off. Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat.
8. Started a few web sites. Some of them are still around.
9. Traveled a little. Should have traveled more.
10. Experienced triumphs, setbacks, bliss, and heartbreak. Still marching along.

What am I doing next?

1. Turn 50 Words into something amazing.
2. Craft some of my ideas into fun, useless web applications.
3. Take my writing more seriously and do it consistently.
4. Get my passport stamped—one country for each birthday I passed in the US.
5. Add more characters to the story of my life.
6. Finish some of the songs I started years ago.
7. Make every effort to smack ninjas around as much as possible—my obligation as a Pirate.
8. Keep learning cool stuff—like the tango, acoustic guitar, sea kayaking, and photography.
9. Stay in touch with people I used to know, whether they’re long lost friends like some of you or they’re more recent fadeouts.
10. Take big risks and find out what’s on the other side of yonder hill.

So, Class of 1989, what have you been up to? What’s your story? How much is your life now like you thought it would be then? How is it different? What’s over the horizon for you?

Sometimes, when we’re engaged in a new undertaking, we try to build a habit by doing this new hobby or routine every day. And sometimes, we fall off the wagon, get distracted, or let it slip our minds. Sometimes, we know we should do this thing today, but we procrastinate or make excuses. This causes us to give up more easily.

This is what I’m doing here. A month and a day ago, I wrote about Thanksgiving here. I’ve also, during the rainy and cold evenings lately, missed three workout days in the last week. When you’re on a routine, it’s really tempting to try to scramble and catch up.

Here’s what I do when I fall off the wagon. I’m no paragon of productivity or self-actualization, so this is just one guy talking.

1. Don’t try to “make up” missed days. Pick yourself up off the sidewalk, promise to do better, and don’t kick your own ass too hard. Don’t figure that you owe yourself to add another session to a later day (“I’ll go twice on Saturday” or “I’ll spend four hours writing on Sunday to make up for the three other hours I missed during the week”).
2. Don’t apologize. It’s your project. Get off the sidewalk and march on. Don’t explain or make excuses or apologize or feel bad. Just promise yourself to try to stay on track in the future. We’re human. Sometimes, we trip on the sidewalk.
3. Don’t think you’ve blown everything. I am a neurotic obsessive nutcase when it comes to my log books and my projects. Now, with these missed days (or this missed month, in the case of this blog), my record is no longer perfect. I can’t brag that I’ve written a song every day or that I learned 50 new French words a week without fail. Oops.
4. Don’t sell off your own stock so frivolously. You’ll have down days and up days. Try to trend upward and your stock is still worth buying. Start to trend downward and realize that it might be time to reorganize. Sometimes, we just don’t feel like composing, learning, or working out today.
5. Don’t make it a big deal. Kicking your own ass about it or trying to make up the “absences” will make you dread resuming your project. Building a new habit is really hard. You might as well not make it any more difficult. Are you ahead of where you were a month ago? Good. No big deal. Now, let’s go.

I’m trying to follow these guidelines myself. I’m really good at making big drama about nothing. Are you?

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a day most people spend gathering around a table with friends and family. I’ve never really been one for Thanksgiving festivities. When friends find out that I had planned to stay home and watch movies today, they invariably express concern and imagine me sobbing convulsively into my pillow. Thanks for your concern, but I’m good.

Many of the traditional trappings of Thanksgiving are mostly non-vegetarian foods (like turkey, stuffing, gravy). Those that are vegetarian are foods that I don’t really like (or really hate)—pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce. Whenever I’d go visit family for Thanksgiving, I’d eat a few sticks of celery, a roll or two, a little bit of cheese, and some olives.

I’m glad I have friends that love this holiday and enjoy the traditional trappings. If I declined your invitation, I’m still grateful that we’re friends, but I’m going to have falafel and watch some movies. Many of my friends are young and have “family” style gatherings for friends whose families live in places far away. Even at those gatherings at which the host/hostess prepared vegetarian options, I hate feeling like that annoying vegetarian guy.

I’ve never, in the 18 years I’ve been continuously vegetarian, gone to any gathering in which I allowed other people to guilt me or pressure me into trying something that falls outside of my diet. My family accepted it a long time ago and most of my friends know that my refusal isn’t about them.

For those of you who see this holiday as something special, other than a free four-day weekend, I wish you the very best in your celebrations. I hope your turkey and wine are delicious and that your gatherings are full of wonderful amazing people.

I’ll celebrate by working through these Netflix envelopes and having some movies to recommend or discourage. Sounds like a great day off to me.

I’ve spent a long time going along with whatever was in front of my face, either idling time when I had it to idle and putting out the fire closest to me when I didn’t have idle time. I haven’t really nailed down any long-term goals, except in a very small number of areas. Without setting goals, the only things you can do are idle or put out the closest brush fire.

So, let’s try a five-year plan.

Personal Goals.

1. Save $100,000.
2. Pay off my student loans completely.
3. Get into phenomenal physical shape.
4. Reduce my personal property by 80%.
5. Purchase better car and donate current one.
6. Acquire a place of my own.

Educational Goals.

1. Learn to play my acoustic guitar.
2. Formulate a plan for a college degree.
3. Become fluent in at least half of these languages.
4. Learn to sail.
5. Write more effectively.
6. Take an acting class.

Technical Goals.

1. Learn Ruby on Rails.
2. Gain fluency in object-oriented design.
3. Enhance 50 Words functionality.
4. Become more of an AJAX expert.
5. Study information architecture.
6. Build nifty new web projects.

Artistic Goals.

1. Write a novel.
2. Attend comedy school.
3. Take a course on art history.
4. Learn photography.
5. Be able to perform more than 50 jazz songs.
6. Study ballroom dancing.

Adventure Goals.

1. Sail the Aegean.
2. Backpack across Europe, from Lisbon to Berlin to Istanbul.
3. Kayak the San Juan / Gulf Islands.
4. Take a road trip across the US and Canada.
5. Hike to Macchu Pichu.
6. Climb Mt. Fuji.

Travel Goals.

1. Visit Paris.
2. Explore Southeastern Australia.
3. Join a samba parade in Rio de Janeiro.
4. Marvel at the ruins of Ancient Greece.
5. Visit the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
6. Wander around Barcelona.

This is a decent start. What’s your 5 year plan?