Day 12a

Well first I had left my summer project go for way too long and couldn't afford the time that the tasks were taking. Then I was burned out on the project again, disappointed at the lack of super-fun-happenings this summer, and not wanting to do anything in general. Then I got into poker and my blog and my project slipped from my mind completely.

Then I realized how long it had been, and started bracing myself to write some sort of lame "I guess I'll start this again even though no one said much about my stopping, bleh..." post. Then three different people in three different contexts, who happen to know little if nothing of each other's existence, sent me a Facebook message that inspired me to dive back into 30 days.

Now that I have only one week left of my summer job, a good share of activities planned in the near future, and back-to-school excitement beginning to build, I feel more than ready to tackle each and every challenge Brett McKay throws (threw?) my way. Huzzah!

...unfortunately, it's that time of day where my family is getting up and I have not yet gone to bed. Lying in my bed thinking out the items on my bucket list, my fading conscious mind threw out a last-resort warning that if I didn't get up now and blog what I had so far, it would be quite a few hours before I had the opportunity to do so again. So I give you the first five of at least ten items on my bucket list:

1. Play No Limit Texas Hold 'em in Vegas (did I mention I'd gotten into poker?).
2. Climb a mountain.
3. Travel to at least six continents (the non-Antarctic ones).
4. Solve P=NP, help bring about the first AGI, or find an equally significant contribution to make to computer science.
5. Learn guitar.
6. Bonus! Thought of this while typing the last five: Travel to outer space. I believe this will become very doable in my lifetime, and I can't imagine what could compare to the experience of seeing Earth like that with my own eyes.

Day 11

Today's task was to give yourself a testicular exam. Everything was... umm... where it was supposed to be. This being the only task of the that doesn't require a check-in, I'll leave it at that.

And no, that timestamp can't be right...

Goodnight.

Day 10

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting
Or, being lied about, not deal in lies
Or, being hated, not give way to hating
And yet don't look too good nor talk too wise

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat these two imposters just the same
If you can bear to see the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue
Or walk with kings - nor lose your common touch
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you
If all men count with you, but none too much
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run
Then yours is the Earth and all that is in it
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

In fulfillment of today's task, the above poem was typed from memory. I was going to leave this update at that, but then I remembered I had date details to fill you in on. So here they are: my date was Kristin, a longtime friend from school. We had dinner at a restaurant in town before going to see Harry Potter with the rest of our friends. I had originally planned to have the date on a different night, but I am glad it ended up this way. We were able to have a good one-on-one conversation, which is something I realize I don't have very often, but also got to spend time with our wonderful group of friends--adorable good-bye hug lines and all.

Speaking of adorable, it seems there is going to be a movie version of Where the Wild Things Are (I would embed the preview, but embedding is disabled and this is probably worth watching a large version of anyway).

Day 9

Oh dear... 1 am is a bad time to start doing challenges from hackthissite.org.

Contrary to earlier claims, today's task was to take a woman on a date. I said earlier that this was the task for Thursday. It is not. Appropriately, however, the date will be on Thursday, which is now today and a little more than twelve hours away. With that in mind I should probably go to sleep. I'll give you more details and tell you how it went in my next update.

Goodnight/

Day 8

Today's task was to start a journal. This was an easy one for me because I have been journaling on a reasonably consistent basis for about two years. I have used notebooks, text files, e-mail drafts, and this very blog to record my thoughts. All combined, I don't think I've gone much more than a month without an entry, and usually less. Brett, however, recommends journaling every day. So today was my first day of daily notebook journaling. I had to put some thought into the decision of whether to keep my daily journal on paper or on a hard drive. The latter has definite advantages, like speed of writing and ease of searching, which I do not want to give up completely. I will continue typing the occasional .txt entry, and of course will maintian my blog. But it's nice to be free from the distractions of a computer both when reading and writing a journal, and so away from it I shall stay every night before I go to bed.

Day 7

Today's task was to reconnect with an old friend. The corresponding (and linked) blog entry raised an interesting point: it seems like everyone today considers themselves busy. I've noticed this at school and believe it is also common of those in the workforce. But, Brett McKay asks, are we--with our computers, cars, and cell phones--really more busy than those in, say, Lincoln's time? Or are we just more distracted?

The friend I'm writing is named Nathan. We knew each other way back when my family (and his family) still lived in New Tribes, and before either of us entered Kindergarten. We spent enough time together at a young enough age that we heard more than once that our voices had become hard to tell apart. But one day Nathan walked into our 6th Grade Advanced Math course and told us that the reason he had been gone last week was because his family had been looking at houses in Texas, where he was moving at the end of the year. As the rest of the class mock-cheered, I sat in silent disappointment. Aside from a some sporadic phone calls early on, a brief visit from his family several years later, and a few messages when we found each other on Facebook, I haven't communicated with him at all in eight years.

The timing of this assignment might be perfect. There was a less-than-subtle indication that I will be expected to set up a meeting with him later in the project, and it turns out he is coming to Mizzou in the fall. Given that I also have other friends there but have never before visited, this could be a very good thing indeed.

Addendum: I couldn't help but notice the assignment for Thursday is to take a woman on a date. Hmm.

Day 6

Today's task was to update your resume. Unfortunately, mine is currently stored on my non-work hard drive which means it will be rather a nuisance to retrieve. Since today was kind of a catch-up day for me and I need to let my computer run for a while, I decided to wait on this one. :-O

I don't want to get into the habit of putting off finishing the assignments, so I'm going to have to be doubly sure to get tomorrow's task done on time. I would also like to get tomorrow itself done on time, which is to say I'm going to try to go to bed before 3 am.