I'm checking in on those New Year's
intentions I made, to keep myself on track. I've read 7 of my 50-book reading challenge, so I'm a tiny bit ahead of schedule. I want to build in a little time cushion for when I get busier. Two other books that I started, I gave up on after a chapter or two because I was bored. I've gotten to a stage in my life where I no longer feel obligated to finish a book or a movie just because I've started it. I was twenty minutes into a dreadful movie recently when I paused it and saw that there were more than two hours remaining. Oh hell no. I don't care that it was recommended to me, life is just too short for that.
Learning Spanish was a later-in-the-month addition, but I've been working on it every day for the last two weeks. Even when the sentences are just silly.
Because sure, why
wouldn't the cat sleep on top of the monkey? I bet that happens all the time in households where the bears drink beer.
I'm going to give Duolingo credit, however, for embracing diversity.
As for the 7 minute work-out, I was a little dismayed when I added it up and realized it's actually an 8 1/2 minute workout. Why the inaccuracy? But I have done it twice a day since the New Year. Every. Single. Day. Sometimes I say the instructions aloud to distract myself, mimicking the British accent on the app.
"This is the lahst exercise." My single complaint about the app is that it will periodically lose sound and then has to be deleted and re-installed. No big deal and it's free, but when you stop it to delete it, it mocks you. In spite of myself, I find myself snapping back,
"You're
malfunction does not make me
a quitter."
Deep breath. Clearly I need to use
this app more frequently, too.
I'll give a book 100 pages to pull me in. If it's still boring, that's it, I abandon it. Even if it has dozens of rave reviews, too bad, it's my own opinion that counts. One good thing about plays is that they usually have an interval and then if the play is awful you can stealthily slip away without any embarrassment.
ReplyDeleteI shall now dream of cats sleeping on top of monkeys....
100 pages can be too many for me if I can tell I'm hating it. I've never walked out on a play, though - they always keep me enthralled.
DeleteI am so with you on the boring books/movies. I don't continue with anything anymore, once it's proved itself to be not worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteDo you use Duolingo on the phone? I only use the internet version at the moment. I have downloaded the iPhone version, but I am so seldom in a place where I can use the sound and I often forget to bring headphones.
I find the phone screen is too small to use it easily, so I use Duolingo on my iPad. Generally while sitting on my bed.
DeleteSo that would be the same as the standard version I'm using. It's a great app isn't it? I quite like the bizarre sentences - they keep you on your toes!
DeleteI also feel no longer obliged to finish a book if it bores me...
ReplyDeleteSo many other good books available anyway.
DeleteQuitter? No attitude there.
ReplyDeleteWho would have thunk mindfulness could become an ap? Ten year ago, who ever heard of an ap?
It's actually a handy one. It has a body scan, guided meditations or you can just pick an amount of time to start and end with a bell. It frees you from watching a clock.
DeleteA quitter is really just a very decisive person.
DeleteHow many times have great people throughout history said "this shit sucks! I quit" and then had a beer with a bear. Too many to count. (I quit counting)
Did you say which books you were planning to read? Your reading list would interest me and also, which books you gave up on.
ReplyDeleteI am into Kingsolver’s ‘Flight Behavious’. I like it but then I like her writing at all times. (With the possible exception of the previous book.)
I like Barbara Kingsolver. I don't have a list of books I plan to read, I'm just reading them as I find them.
DeleteBack again.
ReplyDeleteI clicked on ‘intentions’.
Ah no, far too regimented for me. I choose for myself; - anyway, that’s what I say, nobody can tick me off for not staying with the programme.
I really like the exercises - they are efficient and varied. I stay with the program purely out of choice. Not doing them would be like going to an aerobics class and refusing to work out because I didn't make up the routine.
Deletemy cat probably would sleep on a turkey...just saying...haha...i am still exercising, almost daily....last weekend threw me for a couple days...but....smiles....
ReplyDeleteMonkey, not turkey. I was more intrigued by the idea of a monkey holding still for that.
DeleteI feel better when I exercise every day, so I'm trying t keep it up.
You're more patient than I am. Too crashes of the app and I'd be gone for good!
ReplyDeleteI haven't found one I like better, so I can deal with the occasional re-install. It takes virtually no time or effort ot download an app.
Delete"Because sure, why wouldn't the cat sleep on top of the monkey? I bet that happens all the time in households where the bears drink beer."
ReplyDeleteCRACKED ME UP!
And kudos to you for not only sticking with the reading challenge, learning Spanish, and the workout app. But also for not allowing that app. to make you a quitter!
And ditto! If a book or movie doesn't grab me within the first few chapters or twenty minutes into a film, adios!
X
:-)
DeleteI know it's only been a month, but I feel like I'm getting some good habits established.
Adiós. I see what you did there.
Cats & Monkeys, Beers & Bears, it's a madhouse out there!
DeleteC'est vrai!
DeleteOh, wait...
cerveza was one of the more important Spanish words on my list before I traveled to Central and South America. I do a hunt and peck audio version of Spanish at best.
ReplyDeleteGood progress.
Yo habla un pocito Espanol.
DeleteI learned to say "beer, please" in French, German, Spanish and Swahili. A very useful thing to know.
DeleteI stopped using salt on December 12th. I feel much less buoyant.
ReplyDeleteNo hypertension here, I'm keeping my salt.
DeleteI love the "your bear drinks beer" LOL. But it sounds like you are doing great with your learning of the Spanish language! I'm with you about life is too short and I'm too old to obligate myself to finish a book/movie just "because" if it is doesn't interest me, etc. That's why I love to get my books from the library :)
ReplyDeletebetty
I need to get myself to the library. They have very limited open hours here.
DeleteI'm with you on books and movies, if they don't engage I toss. My life is running out for bad books. Having said that, I'm on a roll with good books this year. So far.
ReplyDeleteAs to your regimen, not my cuppa. I'm more the hiker BUT on wet or snowy days I really would love something indoory.
XO
WWW
Not suggesting it to anyone. It's a way for ME to exercise even when the weather sucks. And doesn't prevent me from hiking when the weather cooperates.
DeleteI actually tried the duo lingo app for Italian after you recommended it. My learning style hasn't changed . . . I'm fine with the reading and spelling, but just lousy with the translating after listening. Then again, I have trouble understanding a lot of English speakers!
ReplyDeleteYeah, but that's the part I need most. Reading and spelling are the easier parts but not as useful when you are trying to get around.
DeleteI so enjoyed this post and the comments, too. The laughter was a good way to start the day, and the post reminded me that I wanted to review my sign language skills again. Timothy, I'm going to remember that a quitter is just a very decisive person! In my earlier years, I doggedly continued with anything I began. I've stopped doing that after a chronic illness convinced me to drop anything that wasn't contributing to my wellbeing, but I didn't drop the feeling that I was letting myself down when I stopped something. Now, I'll just think of myself as a more decisive person than I used to be, which I actually am.
ReplyDeleteHi and welcome. Quitting is the subject of my favorite quote. "If at firtst you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it." (WC Fields)
Deletei don't have a smart phone or ipad but the apps seem like quite a groovy thing. it's taken me this long but i am with you on the books. i no longer force myself to slog through one i am not enjoying.
ReplyDeleteI just quit another one three pages in when I realized it was going to be more gruesome than I wanted to subject myself to.
DeleteI quit two books this year already. No regrets.
ReplyDeleteIt's the only way to go.
DeleteCats sleeping on monkeys make perfect sense late on a Sunday night...
ReplyDeleteMakes perfect sense after a few drinks, too.
DeleteI'm sure those phrases you've learned will come in handy. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou never know!
DeleteI think I could use a mindfulness app too! I'm amused by the heckling programmed into your exercise program. My family used to use Wii's fitness program and it was hilarious. Whenever you logged in it would ask you to track down the laziest member of the family and remind him/her that it had been twenty-seven days since the last workout... loved that!
ReplyDeleteThat's funny - the Wii has a long memory!
DeleteI love the things you do to improve/enjoy your life.......as I sit here wasting my life on this computer!
ReplyDeleteI do some of that, too - obviously!
DeleteFelicitaciones!
ReplyDeleteI know about apps from being around my kids, but what does a mindfulness app do? Is there an app that will help me find my keys?
It has both guided and silent, timed mediations. And it can't help you find your keys but there are apps (like Tile) that can.
DeleteI am a tad jealous of you! You are out there doing and I think I need to do more of that. Must start scheduling in some time for me :) First up, books. I miss books! Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I think it's because I know I'm on the downward slope of life!
DeleteLOL! I agree on the book/movie thing. Although, I'm more likely to turn off a crappy DVD than walk out on a movie I've paid $8 bucks to see -- $12 if you count popcorn and a drink.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons I usually watch movies at home!
DeleteI'm living a vicarious app life thanks to you. It's a very fun place to visit!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for your first post written entirely in Spanish. I'll have to copy it into Google Translate, and then I'll know for sure that your bear drinks beer.
I'm impressed. I don't even remember if I made any new year resolutions by now.
ReplyDelete