Lee Nau

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?