1. Reasonable Bedtime - So the very first night I kept looking at my watch and thinking "Hey, it's only 1 AM!" until I was midway through a TV show, looked at my computer, saw that it was 3 AM and realized my watch had stopped. Mostly I did better sticking to the 1:30 AM bedtime, but occasionally I slipped, especially as the month got later. I almost always got in bed in time for a little reading, though, and never hit the "Oh, look, it's 4 AM" that had become the norm during my Battlefront days last November.
2. Cook More - Last month I added six new recipes (five of which I liked and added to the rotation), this month I made Curried Fried Chicken (cooked twice, liked but still modifying), Salisbury Steak Meatballs with Gravy and Mashed Potatoes (not sure about this one), Bacon Cheeseburger Pie (last minute substitution, not sure I'd make it again) and Chicken Cordon Bleu (tasted delicious, did not look great, and needs a side dish, but I'll give this one another shot). Also added Korean Beef and Chicken and Dumplings to the recipe list. So I'm up to 10 of my 12 new recipes, and once I make the two on my list, I will have hit 12 in three months.
3. Exercise - Uhhh....
4. No Cancer - Smooth sailing until April, when I get my next CT scan.
5. Halloween Costume
- Green Arrow ($239 on Etsy, plus a bow and arrow - pricey, a little form-fitting for me, and unlikely)
- Dead of Winter (Squad Goals) - I could do the principal (jacket, flashlight, fake blood, the farmer (jacket, shovel, hat, fake blood), the ninja (ski mask, gloves, wallet with chain) but I'd really need two or three partners to pull this off. Ideally someone to dress as the fireman, soldier and/or paramedic to sell the theme.
- King of Tokyo kaiju - A nice idea, but Google turns up nothing and it seems more work-intensive than the rest. This one's going on the scrap pile.
- Doctor Strange (Eye of Agamatto on Etsy is only $30, but the cape/shirt is over $300, too pricey, and I don't want to recreate the one I built about a decade ago)
- Spider Jerusalem (Glasses are $80 (but I'd be half-blind in costume if I was wearing them, since my eyes are so bad), I could find black clothes cheap and easy enough, just need some temporary tattoos or makeup)
- X-Men? (Professor Xavier seems obvious) Avengers? (I had a notion that I could pull off Vision with a bodysuit, cape and some makeup but it seems like a nightmare to wear long-term)
- Star Wars - Not sure what, but I know Aaron would love a Stormtrooper outfit - maybe I could find an Imperial officer uniform (yep... $99 or so here.) We may have a winner.
6. Spend More Time With My Kids - Played X-Wing minis and lots of videogames with Aaron... Katy mostly locks herself in her room or looks at tumblr, but she talks to me every now and then. #teenager
7. Stay on budget. I bought Better Call Saul Season One and Full Frontal With Samantha Bee... so we're up to 3 of 12 seasons. I didn't buy Top Chef or Broad City, both of which were in the original budget. I haven't bought any of my 6 videogames yet... had a couple more of my 104 dinners.
8. Try New Things. Tried out Perplexium, a spy-themed, story-based puzzle room, and had a great time. Definitely need to try their new Rogue A.I. room sometime.
9. Less Negative - February began with the Iowa caucuses. To my credit, I don't think I wished death on anyone that evening, or even expressed undue glee when Mike Huckabee dropped out, so I think that counts as less negative. But I may have wanted to make this resolution on a year that isn't an election year, as the Bernie/Clinton stuff is making me angry pretty regularly. I also seem to have gotten onto the other side of the Deadpool debate. Not sure how a character I hate so much has become a divisive issue for me, since I shouldn't care. Then Scalia died and I don't know if you can categorize my unequivocal celebration with negativity, but it's probably not in the spirit. Other than trying to stay out of arguments that go nowhere, I may be giving this one up until the election. At which point, if we get Trump, I don't see any point in trying to improve myself or anything else, and if we get Clinton or Sanders, I can revisit.
POP CULTURE GOALS:
1. Read 15 Books (3)
- The Fading Dream (Eberron)
- Preacher Book One
- Uncanny Season 2 TP
- Captain America Trial of Captain America Omnibus
- Amulet Vol 7
- The Nameless City Book One
- Graphic Ink: The DC Art of Frank Quitely
- Rebels Season One
- Machi Koro
- Big Book of Madness
- Red Flags
- Pandemic Legacy
- Dallas Comic Con (February)
- STAPLE! (March)
- C2E2 (March)
- Heroes Con (June)
- Alamo City Con (October)
- Ms. Marvel #4
- All-New All-Different Avengers #5-6
- Captain America Sam Wilson #6
- Captain Marvel #2
- Power Man & Iron Fist #1
- Avengers Standoff Welcome to Pleasant Hill
- Saga #34
- Agents of SHIELD #2
- All-New All-Different Avengers #5-6
- All-New Hawkeye #4
- All-New Wolverine #5
- Amazing Spider-Man #7-8
- Astonishing Ant-Man #5
- Avengers Standoff Welcome to Pleasant Hill #1
- Birthright #14
- Captain America Sam Wilson #6
- Captain Marvel #2
- Chew #55
- Daredevil #4
- Darth Vader #16
- Descender #10
- Doctor Strange #5
- Goddamned #3
- Gutter Magic #2
- Hercules #4
- Howard the Duck #4
- Huck #4
- Interceptor #2
- Jughead #4
- Kings Road #1
- Ms. Marvel #4
- Nova #4
- Obi-Wan and Anakin #2
- Paper Girls #5
- Power Man and Iron Fist #1
- Red Wolf #3
- Saga #34
- Scarlet Witch #3
- Sex Criminals #14
- Shaft Imitation of Life #1
- Silk #4-5
- Spider-Man 2099 #6-7
- Spider-Woman #4
- Spidey #3
- Squadron Supreme #4
- Star Wars #16
- Starve #6
- Street Fighter X G.I. Joe #1
- Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5
- Uncanny X-Men #3
- Usagi Yojimbo #152
- Velvet #13
- Web Warriors #4
- X-Men Worst X-Man Ever #1
- 11.22.63 "The Rabbit Hole" "The Kill Floor"
- Agent Carter "Smoke and Mirrors" "The Atomic Job" "Life of the Party" "Monsters"
- Angie Tribeca "The Thumb Affair" "Commissioner Bigfish"
- Animals. "Rats"
- Arrow "Unchained" "Sins of the Father" "Code of Silence" "Vixen"
- Baskets "Trainee"
- Better Call Saul "Switch" "Cobbler"
- Billions "Yum Time" "Short Squeeze"
- Black-ish "Hope"
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Cruise" "Karen Peralta" "The 9-8" "House Mouses"
- DC's Legends of Tomorrow "Blood Ties" "White Knights" "Fail-Safe" "Star City 2046"
- Flash "Fast Lane" "Welcome to Earth-2" "Escape from Earth-2" "King Shark"
- Full Frontal with Samantha Bee "Episode 1001-1003"
- iZombie "50 Shades of Gray Matter" "Physician, Heal Thy Selfie" "The Whopper"
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia "Mac and Dennis Move to the Suburbs" "Being Frank" "McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century" "Charlie Catches A Leprechaun"
- Last Week Tonight With John Oliver "Voting" "Abortion" "Trump"
- Love "It Begins" "One Long Day" "Tested" "Party in the Hills" "The Date" "Andy" "Magic" "Closing Title Song" "The Table Read" "The End of the Beginning"
- Review "Brawl/Blackmail/Gloryhole" "Curing Homosexuality/Mile-High Club" "Falsely Accused/Sleep With Your Teacher/Little Person" "Cult/Perfect Body" "Catfish/Haunted House" "William Tell/Grant a Wish/Rowboat" "Buried Alive/6 Star Review/Public Speaking" "Murder/Magic 8 Ball/Procrastination" "Happiness/Pillow Fight/Imaginary Friend" "Conspiracy Theory"
- Star Wars Rebels "A Princess on Lothal" "The Protector of Concord Dawn" "Legends of Lasat" "The Call"
- Supergirl "Strange Visitor From Another Planet" "Bizarro" "For the Girl Who Has Everything" "Truth, Justice and the American Way"
- Superstore "Magazine Profile" "Shots and Salsa"
- The People vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story "From the Ashes of Tragedy" "The Run of His Life" "The Dream Team" "100% Not Guilty"
- Togetherness "Hotels" "Everybody is Grownups"
- Vinyl "Pilot"
- X-Files "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster" "Home Again"
- Better Call Saul
- Love
- Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
- Flash
- Supergirl
- Togetherness
- Billions
- Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
- The People vs. OJ Simpson
- 11.22.63
Movies I Watched This Month:
- Batman Dark Knight Returns Part 1 & 2
- Brooklyn Pie Company (x2)
- Chi'Lantro
- Fast Furious Japanese Grill
- FD's Grill
- Firehouse Subs
- Fuddrucker's
- Hopdoddy's
- Jack Allen's Kitchen
- KFC (x2)
- Mellow Mushroom
- Michi Ramen
- Popeye's
- Shake Shack
- Smashburger (x2)
- Tarka
- Torchy's Tacos
