Then again, if I were where I wanted to be, I would have already read 24 books this year.

One internal debate is if I should count programming books and such towards my goal.  I’m currently making my way through a book on Ruby, and leaning towards not counting it, despite the fact it takes up more of my time.  Still, the goal was to read books that actually interested me, so I will likely avoid adding these to the list.

Since I’m moving soon, I decided it was time to update this list while I still have the books handy.  I still feel like I am forgetting one, but I can always add it later.

Since my last update, my reading list has taken a turn for the worse.  I’ve started multiple books that I have only managed a couple chapters before moving on to something new.  Spook Country by William Gibson (mentioned in a previous post) was one such book.  After starting a few of these books, I realized I had to finish something.  That is the only reason I made it through Twinkie, Deconstructed and the “Award-winning” Then We Came To an End.  The first interesting, but had a hard time holding my attention, while the second was pointless.  After those my selection improved with America, The Book and the short stories combined in Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs… With the start of the baseball season, Where Have You Gone ’82 Brewers was also required reading.

So here is the current list for those following along at home, and for my own reference.

1. Here is New York – E.B. White
2. Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion – Gary Vaynerchuk
3. When You Are Engulfed in Flames – David Sedaris
4. Then We Came To an End – Joshua Ferris
5. Twinkie, Deconstructed – Steve Ettlinger
6. Where Have You Gone ’82 Brewers – Tom Haudricourt
7. Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things That Aren’t Scary… – Edited by Ted Thompson
8. America, The Book – John Stewart
9. (Currently Reading) Women – Charles Bukowski

I am off to a good start so far.  It’s the midway point of January, and I have already completed three books.  My goal is to read 24 – or two per month.  I plan to post every book I read on the list below.

If you would like to read one book at the same time as me and discuss (like an actual book club), let me know.  I’ll try and post the next couple of books I plan to read as well.

1. Here is New York – E.B. White
2. Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion – Gary Vaynerchuk
3. When You Are Engulfed in Flames – David Sedaris
4. (Starting Next) Spook Country – William Gibson

Rather than focus on one of these challenges, I figured why not combine a bit of them all?  Therein lies my challenge for the new year.

Each day I will engage in at least one creative act – either in design, writing or photography.  I hope to do the Project365 most days at bare minimum.  Some months will have themes, while others (like January) will be more random.  Now that I have additional time on my hands, the early months should be easy running.

I will occasionally post some aspects of the Year of Creativity (YoC) on this page, although if you want to follow my progress, here are some better resources to do so.

Flickr photostream for my Project365 images

My twitter account

My Facebook fan page

Planning any creative projects for the New Year?  Post them in the comments below.

By late afternoon I was part of the statistic.

Working in new media I assumed my job was safer than most.  With the changing nomenclature of the industry, journalists with a technological background are in high demand.  When the company decided to eliminate the entire multimedia team yesterday, I was a bit stunned.  Still, I worked for one of the few remaining newspapers that treats technology and the web as a  nuisance rather than embracing the potential.

That is why today I begin my life as an unemployed journalist.  

Still, I am not worried about my fate.  I plan to work on some multimedia projects I had little time for in the past.  I also plan to freelance and get my side business started.   Look for lots of changes in the coming weeks.

I decided last week that 2010 would be “The year of The Dean.”  I am even more passionate about that goal now then I was then.  This has the potential to be the start of something big.

What: It’s as easy as 1-2-3

1. Copy & paste this note and tag friends you want to participate.
2. Create a 24-hour digital photo journal documenting an average weekday in your life. Share your photos through a FB album.
3. Enjoy getting to know your friends as you look through their pictures.

When: Monday, May 11 – Thursday, May 14

Why: This annual event is intended to help you really get to know your friends through an intimate peek into their “Normal Everyday Lives.” We challenge you to find beauty in the color of your office stapler or the pattern of chaos at your kitchen table after having lunch with your toddler.

It’s an exercise in taking notice of and appreciating the many small things that make up our lives through the eyes of creative photography.

Guidelines
• Document 24 hours of your everyday life on an average WEEKDAY. This is not a competition to see who leads an exciting weekend existence; please limit your photo journal to a date between Monday and Thursday.
• Shoot, shoot, shoot! Collections should have an absolute minimum of 30 photos (that’s just about 2 per waking hour of any given day).
• Post your photos and share. After your 24 hours frenzy is up, edit and select your top 30-60 photos to load into a FB photo album no later than Sunday, May 17.

Well, I decided to give it a go.  The results are below.

For the complete photo set (with additional images), check out my Flickr stream.

Songs about that “special feeling” of love are prominent in our culture.  Some are cheesy, some reflective, and others have memories associated with them.  They are the songs that shape and influance us.

As John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity points asks, “Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

So what are your favorite love songs?  Which ones move you — maybe bringing a tear to your eye or at least a warm feeling to your heart?  I’m looking for some favorites other than my own for a project I am working on which will eventually be revealed on this page. Please list your favorites in the comments.

“I quit/got fired from my job” – Reality Bites. When you feel a bit bummed about leaving a job (by choice or otherwise), the thought of Winona Rider losing her job, and Ethan Hawke being fired from 14 makes a person feel a bit better for some reason.

“Women make no sense” – High Fidelity. Yes, women are confusing as hell. What better way to celebrate this than by watching a movie where the man is actually the one with a few screws loose (or is completely sane depending on the day)?

“I need to code a ton of C++/PHP/etc” – Antitrust. There is just something about this movie that makes me want to code like a madman. Maybe because it’s a crappy movie, and if I look up, I’ll be annoyed.

“I’m heading to the small town where I grew up” – Beautiful Girls. A movie about a guy that goes home to his family and friends in his hometown. I watch it every time before heading to my parents place. Old friends, women and beer – is there any reason this movie does not fit here?

“Damn, I’m old” – Logan’s Run. A movie where you are killed when you turn 30. Yea, that’s right.

“Ok, so I’m old. What am I doing with my life?” – Free Enterprise. Two 30-year old geeks try and determine what is important, and how to proceed with life.

“I need creative motivation” – Moulin Rouge. There is just something about this movie that can get me to my keyboard and get me typing nonstop. A great movie to inspire and motivate.

“Date movie 1” – Evil Dead 2. If she stays thought the end, you win.

“Date movie 2” – Monty Python and the Holy Grail. If she stays through the end and doesn’t try to hurt you, you win.

“Oops, I tried to date a lesbian” – Chasing Amy. This film has played way-too-significant a role in my life.

“My friend are idiots and know less than me about women (if that’s possible)” – Swingers. As bad as your friends get, they can’t be as dense as John Favreau’s character – unless they’re trying to act out Night at the Roxburry.

“I just need a cool-ass movie to make me laugh my ass off” – The 40 Year Old Virgin. Seriously, this movie could cheer me up when my dog dies – if I still had a dog. Funny and wonderful.

List your movies in the comment section.

After breakfast, my friend entered with a plate overflowing with meat.  Hamburgers, chicken breasts, and pork tenderloin teetered on the plate.  One false move and the mountain of meat would come crashing down.  He set it down and proudly proclaimed, “This should last about a week.”

As I laughed, I thought back to an article I read in the New York Times called Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler.  It was your typical article about how much meat people eat, where it all comes from, and how many resources it takes to produce.  It was the kind of article I would normally assume is written by some vegetarian hippie, and thus totally discredit in my mind.  However, that combined with the mammoth plate of meat my friend had just produced, got me thinking.

I hatched an idea so crazy, that it needed to be tried.  The unwilling victim of my experiment would be me.  I decided then that I would give up meat for lent.

Those that know me probably think someone has “borrowed” my computer and is writing this.  First off, I’m not catholic, and thus do not celebrate lent.  However, in my mind it’s an excuse (like New Years) where people try to do something to improve their lives.

Second, I would never say that to stop eating meat would in any way, shape or form improve life.  In fact, I would argue it restricts and makes life worse.   I would be the first person to ridicule a person for giving up meat.  I think vegetarians have a screw loose, and would never want to be one myself full time.  Well, yea.  However, I’ve lived without meat before without even thinking about it, so it’s worth a shot.

Here is the thing.  I grew up in a farm area.  We raised cows and slaughtered them for food.  We hunted deer and other animals.  We had a garden.  I’ve never been this dependant on the supermarket for food as I am now.  Because I am dependant  for my meat, I have no idea where it is coming from.

This is a large part of the reason for my decision.  I’ve heard about the shitty conditions that meat comes from.  This is what I eat.  Sure, other products aren’t much better, but the combination of everything I’ve previously mentioned made the idea of being a veg head for a month seem like a good idea.

I’m really not sure if I will make it or not, and to be quite honest, if I do break down and have meat, it won’t bother me that much.  I just decided to give a go and see how it affects me.  It should be fairly easy I think in a town like Madison.  Keep an eye on this post to see how it’s going.