drywhitewhine

Illness forced me to watch my protein intake and to minimize my consumption of most types of meat except for chicken.

I’ve never enjoyed lamb, pork, fish, mutton, etc. Just beef. I used to live for steak dinners, but after a couple of months of being unable to eat it, I don’t miss it in the least.

Giving up chicken and going “full vegetarian” should be a comparatively easy step. I’ve done the research and come to the conclusion that it’s generally a healthier lifestyle, I just need to be vigilant in ensuring I get enough protein, iron and Vitamin B12, and have the willpower to turn down meaty dishes.

The older you get, the more difficult it becomes. Not only in terms of acquiring things like visas and work permits, but because you gradually have more to lose in life by doing so. Money, personal relationships, financial responsibilities. These are things that keep us from traveling, and they only grow more and bigger as we age.

Since traveling and truly experiencing the places we go, and the world, is so important, it’s better to try to do this sooner rather than later.

I’ve never really traveled anywhere. As soon as I have money to do so, I’d love to see the world. I want to visit every continent – including Antarctica, I want to travel India by train, I want to backpack through Asia, I want to ride a camel into the Sahara… I want to do it all!

I’m in my mid-twenties now, so five to ten years is the farthest back I usually care to remember, and even remembering details from my childhood is quite easy, anyway.

However, when I get older, memories will become progressively more important to me. I’ll want to remember that delicious meal someone cooked for me. I’ll want to remember their name. Even mundane details become precious memories the older you get, and I don’t want to regret not having this time-capsule of my own life with me. Not to mention the great stories I’ll glean from it for my kids and grandkids.

Keeping a diary can be fun, but more than that it’s an investment into the future. As they say, the weakest ink is better than the strongest memory.

I was fairly proficient with QWERTY for a long time (about 75wpm) until I began to experience pain in my right hand pinky. I finally made the switch to the Dvorak layout. It was frustrating at first; it would take me close to a minute just to type my own name!

I stuck with it, though, and eventually I got much better. Today I’m up to 90wpm cruising speed, and I can reach over 100wpm if I really punch it.

I’ve been thinking about getting a new pet for a while. I thought about every breed of dog, cat and rodent on the planet but couldn’t find one that’ll suit me.

Finally I met someone who owns a bearded dragon, and they seem like the ideal pet. Less annoying than dogs, more interesting than cats, and generally low maintenance. Not to mention incredibly cool; you’ll never run out of conversation with one of these bad boys on your shoulder.

Instead of buying one right away, I’ve decided to spend the next couple of months saving up so I can buy it a very nice habitat as well. A nice Xmas gift to myself.

As a teenager I spent many winter nights outside identifying constellations and enjoying meteor showers. I was especially enamored by the science behind all of it, but the realities of life meant that I was able to devote progressively less time to my hobby and eventually it fell by the wayside altogether. I’m hoping to invest in a decent telescope and make more time for astronomy, one of my all-time great passions in life.

I have very little artistic talent, but ever since I learned how to fold paper cranes I try to leave small ones where people can find them.

I love books, but I’ve always been a slow reader and I have trouble finishing a book once I get near the end. I guess my attention span is the victim of a generation raised on instant gratification.

I’m trying to average one to two books a week, which translates to 80 to 100 books per year. The rewards of reading are more than worth the effort, I just need to sort out my self-discipline.

I’ve got a ton of ebooks on Go, but I never seem to have the time to sit down to study and play for practice. I’m a pretty good chess player, but I’d gotten bored with the game years ago. Not that there’s anything wrong with chess, but it’s just not for me. I’m hoping finally to master an understanding of the basic rules and concepts of the game so I can play regularly.

One of the few drawbacks of being able to make my own hours is that my circadian rhythms end up drifting. Despite my half-hearted efforts, I end up going to bed at the ungodliest hours.

I think the answer is to be less half-hearted and start making a concerted effort to sleep like a normal human.

I’ve started and it’s going very well. I’m impressed with my own work so far, but making time everyday to write is difficult. It’s not that I have writer’s block or anything, I’m just chronically lazy.