I'm doing 31 things
daydreaming
2 days ago
about a nomadic home
or a house boat
hate the feeling of being tied somewhere
{Turandot}'s Life List
-
1. afford to thoroughly be my eccentric disgraceful daring independent enthusiastic self
4 entries . 90 cheers4 people -
2. Go outside & play.
41 cheers2 people -
3. do the couch to 5k
3 team members . 15 entries . 31 cheers6 people -
4. master the art of pic nic
11 entries . 81 cheers4 people -
5. writhed writer wronged
7 entries . 17 cheers1 person -
6. related-elated-belated
1 entry . 4 cheers1 person -
7. make 2009 as good as it can be
6 entries . 77 cheers7 people -
8. arrange a photo journal of good moments and achievements in 2009
5 entries . 49 cheers1 person -
9. develop a forgiving, understanding heart: let others be themselves, and me be myself (reality is such a surprise anyway)
2 entries . 55 cheers1 person -
10. Be able to name all 16 of my great great grandparents
2 entries . 33 cheers12 people -
11. try CouchSurfing!
1 entry . 45 cheers2 people -
12.
42 entries . 30 cheers0 people -
13. be adequate and finish things, try not to be perfect
4 entries . 59 cheers2 people -
14. write my book on MRC by end November 2009
4 entries . 37 cheers1 person -
15. Attend the first international 43T Chianti party
5 team members . 2 entries . 19 cheers5 people -
16. get translated and published abroad
5 entries . 54 cheers1 person -
17. mehr Deutsch sprechen
16 entries . 66 cheers9 people -
18. buy a digital piano
3 entries . 53 cheers9 people -
19. be a visiting scholar at Cambridge (uk)
1 entry . 54 cheers2 people -
20. sing Mozart's Requiem in a choir
3 entries . 69 cheers1 person -
21. Take photos of 43 strangers
3 team members . 19 entries . 36 cheers19 people -
22. save save save in order to buy a attic in town with a view on the canal or on the square
3 entries . 32 cheers1 person -
23. Keep thinking good thoughts for Sadie
9 cheers34 people -
24. learn French, learn SOME French, learn to understand spoken French at least
2 entries . 20 cheers1 person -
25. have four books published by december 2009
16 cheers1 person -
26. Use my Day-Timer to organize my life in 2009
1 entry . 9 cheers1 person -
27. exert synthesis as a way of life
2 cheers1 person -
28. feed my greed for autonomy and make it steadier
10 cheers1 person -
29. set up an academic writing buddy commitment
1 entry1 person -
30. cook a delicious Mulligatawny (thanks for recipes)
1 entry . 8 cheers1 person -
31. practice za-ZEN
6 cheers13 people
Recent entries
What I have in mind
1 week ago
is something like this kind of commitment:
- weekly 15’-20’ meetings on skype to set writing goals for the coming week
- and to report on the achievements and difficults met with the goals of the previous week
Like this kind of model-commitment:
http://www.wendybelcher.com/pages/documents/Belcher_page_xviii_box.pdf
Stories from the Writing Life
At a dinner party hosted by a fellow writer, I met an engineer who had published eight hundred articles. His publication list, in ten-point type, was thirty-two pages long.
“Eight hundred articles!” I exclaimed. I had never met someone who had published so much, although I knew that engineers tended to publish much more than those in other disciplines. “You’ve got to tell me,” I said, “what is the secret of your success?”
He replied with a smile, “You know, I have one.”
I waited with bated breath and he said, smiling, “Beyond the scope of this article.”
“What?” I said.
“I do a little research, I do a little typing, when I run through what I know and am up against something I don’t, I simply write that such and such is ‘beyond the scope of this article,’ and I’m done. I print it out and send it off.”
This may not seem like genius at first blush, but it is. He has learned that extraordinary skill of knowing when enough is enough. For you must stop and let go of your work if it is ever to be published. This is the secret of his tremendous productivity: stopping.
See www.wendybelcher.com
