The Conical Glass: A Cry For Self-Help: Day 13: Describe your dream life

Saturday, March 28, 2009

A Cry For Self-Help: Day 13: Describe your dream life

I really felt that the whole "photograph the sunrise" task was hanging over my head, and I also realized that the longer I waited, the earlier I would have to get up -- last Sunday, the sun was due to rise at 7:20, and today, it was up at 7:01. By mid-April, it will be rising at 6:30 AM!

So this morning, I sent my alarm for 6:55. I was kind of surprised to note that when I arose, it was sort of light out. I thought it would still be dark. Obviously I'm very new to this whole sunrise thing. I wandered down to the marina and took a few photos.

Photographic evidence that I was out of bed at 7 AM on a weekend!

The only criterion for "success" in this endeavor is that I feel more energetic. And I do, to some extent. But I'm not sure if it's all due to the program -- anyone who knows me is aware that my favorite time of year is spring/summer and that I love warm weather, and lately it's been absolutely perfect here, with sunshine and highs in the upper 60s. It's a great time to go outside.

Yesterday's assignment was to "answer this question: What do you want from life?" "Now it's time to dig deeper and explore what your life would look like in an ideal world. In your utterly, totally, amazing dream life, what would you be doing?" Well, I would be flying first class around the world and staying in luxury resorts. Today's assignment is to "write down the ten steps you need to take to make your dream life a reality." This reminded me of that "South Park" episode where the "underpants gnomes" come up with a three-part plan to become wealthy:

Step 1: Collect underpants
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit

Yes, I would love to be flying first class on Emirates to some exotic locale right now, but realistically, my current "dream life" involves Joe keeping his job, me staying busy with my clients, and our being able to continue living in this house. It would be nice if we could find someone who could fix our two leaking backyard fountains so I could turn them back on. (A local handyman tried, but they soon stated leaking again.) Listening to the soothing sound of running, perpetually-recirculating water as I work and earn money -- what could be dreamier than that?

Random notes:

1. I'm on Twitter. Yes, I know that's slightly embarrassing but I'm planning to use it as a "real time" extension of my blog, so if I don't get around to posting a long entry, I can at least keep things reasonably up to date. For instance, if I'd been Twittering on Wednesday, I could have posted something...

2. ...about the letter I had published in the East Bay Express. So if you're a Twitterer, you can "follow me" -- I have four "followers" already! -- and if not, you can click on my Twitter page. I think it even has an RSS feed.

3. Speaking of letters to the editor, there was one in the Chronicle's Datebook section last week from one Rich Kirkham of Martinez, complaining that "the Sunday Quote Acrostic puzzle has been getting easier with each passing week." Now, I can usually solve the puzzle with a bit of effort, but it's Saturday and I'm still stuck on the previous puzzle, which includes such stumpers as "Ukraine coal-mining center," "Near East water pipe," "from gunnel to gunnel," and "Los Angeles rest area." I give up. I'm sure Mr. Kirkham solved it in five minutes flat, but I don't know which cetacean is the "smallest cetacean."

3a. The coal-mining center is Makeyevka; the water pipe is "narghile"; "from gunnel to gunnel" is "athwartships"; the rest area is Griffith Park; and the smallest cetacean is a narwhal.

posted by 125records @ 7:04 PM

2 Comments:

At 11:24 PM, Janet A said…

OK, as you know I don't do tech stuff. Is Twitter only by phone? Or if I sign up will it come to my computer? Tuesday you can give me a lesson.
At 11:35 PM, 125records said…

Janet, Twitter is basically a different way to blog -- it's a "microblog," and Twitter posts can be a max of 140 characters. You can click on my Twitter page and read it like a blog. I installed a program called TweetDeck to do my twittering. Because the posts are so short they can be read or made via phone.