[JAN UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

I am posting this a day late, but I really wanted to post it because I think the last time I posted one of these was in October last year!! I want to be better at keeping up with the few blog hops I actually still participate in, in 2016.

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : January Edition ~

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this read, but what I got was something different to what I sort of-maybe-kinda expected. It was a really enjoyable and engrossing read, even though I sometimes don't like books that skip around a lot with time, which this did.

What I found impressive about this book was that I was interested in every character I was reading about, which when there are a lot of characters in a book, sometimes fails to happen. I found the whole story haunting but beautifully written. As I read along, I was constantly wondering who would survive and who wouldn't. The story managed to frequently surprise me, too.

It really made me think about all the things in this world we all take for granted, like electricity, planes flying in the air, etc. Imagine if all that went away!

Currently Reading: Susan Ee's Angelfall

~ Do You Have Goals? : January Edition ~

Oh, gosh. Do I have goals? Last time I wrote about this, I was working on SUNDOWN III. Slowly, but still, I was working on it! Since then, I wrote 50k during NaNo, we had Christmas, I went to hospital with a cat bite, and I've now gone back to work.

I'm no longer working on SUNDOWN III. Yep, once again I've abandoned an editing project only to move onto another one. I am now looking at ON THE OUTSIDE. I want to try to get large edits done (this involves rewriting some scenes, removing other scenes, and general polishing).

I've also done a bit of recording for my next album, which my bandmate Billy is now back at work on, making new sounds and tweaking old ones like a madman. We have all the songs done in terms of music, but he has redone a few guitar parts and most of the drums, and has a bit more to do. It's largely up to me to get on with vocals. Some of the songs I'm already happy with, and others not so much. Some are only in rough 'draft' form.

So those are my two major goals at this time. Getting vocals done for "WAG Album #2" as I refer to it, and getting major editing stuff done for ON THE OUTSIDE.

IWSG #17 - I need a day / week / month / year plan

I feel like it's been a while since I posted for ISWG - and it has! The last time was in early November. So I'm back to kick off a new year, and I hope I will remember to post each month for IWSG this year. However, I'm not really feeling all that positive about my chances of meeting every goal I want to meet in 2016.

I have been accepted into a course of study at the university I work at, which should be good professionally, but which has me nervous because I haven't studied (in a proper university course) since 2006, and if I'm honest, I don't miss having homework. ;) So I'm not sure how I'll go, but I am determined to get as much out of the opportunity as I can.

My tentative plan is to do up a chart that I have to tick tasks off of each day. I thought I could use stickers, like shiny stars or something, as motivation - because dumbly enough that would actually motivate me! This chart would cover everything from eating the right foods (2 fruit & 5 veg, right? or something), doing my daily stretches to prevent my spine from fusing into one long column, fitting in study time, and fitting in creative work.

This plan isn't in place yet, so currently I am feeling insecure in my capacity to manage everything - my diet and general wellbeing, my up and coming studies, my kitty rescue work, and ... what's that other thing I like to do? Oh yeah, creative stuff! This includes creating music, creating stories, and creating art. Most of which I am not working on at all.

Wish me luck in getting a good routine going!

I hope you are all feeling very secure today. :)

Hello, new year!

I kept meaning to post something during December, but I never got around to it! For my family and I, the last part of 2015 really wasn't too great - we had too many funerals to attend between us, and lost too many family members / friends. We are all glad to see the back of 2015, and hope that 2016 will be a lot brighter!

In the meantime, I didn't really achieve many of my goals last year, but I did manage to achieve my GoodReads goal for the year! Here is my widget:

2015 Reading Challenge

Trisha has read 0 books toward her goal of 42 books.

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0 of 42 (0%)

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So I was glad to at least achieve one thing, even if it was tough at times. In 2016 I will also be setting myself a reading goal, but it's going to be much smaller than last year's. I will be undertaking some study during this year, and will need to use much of my spare time for that. I'm going to miss reading voraciously, but I at least hope to read a few books this year. I've also moved to the 'dark side' (or rather, the only side there really should be when it comes to reading!) and from now on I intend to not pursue any book I'm reading that I can't stand, or that is hard work to get through. So I have created a new shelf on GoodReads, "did not finish", and will just put any books I am not very into on that shelf. As people have said to me many times, "Life is too short!"

I did achieve some other things last year, but not as much as I would have liked. However, things will be changing around here - I need to strike a balance in my life, between work, volunteering with my rescue group, and having time for me / my creative pursuits.

I'm hoping 2016 will be the year I start to get more of a balance.

Happy New Year everyone!