Urgency Please

This week has been one of great upheaval as I enter into this my third year of university and I was unfortunately driven to drink. Great shame on me though I will take pride in noting that I learnt from this early fault and later turned down several requests to drink even when I was offered them freely. As for reading I did not finish huckleberry finn as I spent a lot of time reading guides as to where I was supposed to go. I also doubt I will finish this particular book soon as in taking up a first year English course I find a list of books that take a clear priority above those I would like to read for leisure. Going beyond this writers block has been fierce but my first short story is almost done and will be posted on nom nom words tonight. I have also set my heart on two designs with which to enter for chance to be shown in the local gallery, one of a comic style surrounding the incredible squid-bear and one of a black and white rough sketch of many eyes. My Spanish has been going well however I have been receiving mixed advice which has left me a little confused. Hopefully I will begin making more clear progress in that area though. As for my endeavours or a musical variety I have quite honestly stalled.

On that note it is time to look to the challenges ahead! I must gain a guitar otherwise I can make little progress in the area of music. As for Spanish I have found that the simple translation of text is harder than expected but I have obtained a cd course that I will be powering through as well as sending emails and letters to pen pals. I have my books for my English course to read however if there is chance of slipping in another book I will and I will also be writing another short. Mainly I have simply to keep persevering with the actions that I have been taking, though I am also noticing that I need a greater sense of urgency with all things, so expect more numerous posts though they may only be brief.

Vincent   

A Month! And A Day!

In case you, my numerous and avid readers, hadn’t noticed already yesterday was one month since I began this endeavour on my 22^nd birthday. From here on there is one year, one day less. How do I feel about this so far? Well in truth I feel positive and negative. If I am honest it has been a busy month and I have still managed to make a number on some aspects of my life and have been able to see some of the practical difficulties of this great attempt. I think there is still more I could have done especially over the last two weeks where I have been off the ball. I think one thing that I have come to realise over the last two weeks and even today that the hardest thing about this is the thing I want to improve the most. My motivation. I have also discovered that some tasks I have been naïve about, for example reading two books at once. Another thing I have noticed about how I have been tackling this is that I have heavily looked at improving myself intellectually through activities and increasing my general activities. Despite my initial plan I have done as much work on my physical or mental-emotional state. So moving into the following year I realise in several areas such as my learning of guitar and Spanish I need to up my game, however in the department of reading and some craft areas like knitting I think that I can calm down. Do I have any exact and more refined goals? Well from two books a week I shall be scaling down to a guarantee of just one book a week unless it is a particularly heavy book in which case I will state before I start. I will be buying a book on Spanish to increase my ability there and will hopefully be purchasing a guitar. I also now have the first part of my student loan in so I can begin to better control my finances following the plan of putting £100 into savings and taking out £100 to spend after each pay, leaving any left within my account to help cover any bills etc. I shall also look to follow tasks that will help engage the aspects of my person beyond my intellect that I want to challenge.

Looking more closely at the week been and the week to come what can I say? I have completed all but one of the tasks which was to translate a piece into Spanish. I feel I have done well to an extent though I will not lie and admit the last too weeks have been full of the laziness I detest. As for next week I expect only to finish one book, I am knitting a scarf though I know that won’t be finished. I do plan on acquiring an acoustic guitar as well as a study book for Spanish, I hope to have finalised my decision on what to do as entry to the gallery exhibition. On top of that I shall post my first short story with aim to have all done and one chosen as a base for my full book by Christmas.

As for my task of deciding upon the circumstances in which I can drink I have drawn up my list. I shall allow myself to drink at event where I am performing, I shall allow myself to specifically drink WITH a meal of particular significance and I shall have 6 events over the next year where I shall allow myself alcohol. However I imagine from what I have heard of the walk I intend to take across Spain that drink will be difficult to avoid, I therefore may allow myself drink on that trek of tradition. The first occasion where I will allow myself the joy of consumption will be on the 16^th of October which shall be the date of my day of honesty. Yes I shall spend the entirety of the 16^th of October telling only the truth and shall openly answer all questions no matter how awkward, the only exception being I shall not answer questions about other people only my personal interactions. I shall spend the day in my usual routine but shall settle myself in a pub for the evening, either the Illicit Still or Somewhere with reasonable and comfortable seating, perhaps Triple Kirks.

Day 33: A New Challenge

It has come to my attention that a local art gallery is going to be putting on a show over December and there is a chance that I could enter a piece or two to be included. So I have until the 5th of November to create some awesome art. Challenge accepted.

Third Tuesday, I forget what number day

I have had a week of responsibilities and distractions, of work and little play. What does this amount to? Me having got very little done. I could expand on what I have been doing but for the most it has been work and organisation. I appologise to you and also to myself for not being able to dedicate more time to this task and it genuinley upsets me that I havn't been able to apply myself more. All it means that I shall have to simply drag last weeks tasks to today and make more progress this week, luckily this week I have far fewer hours as I begin to cut down in preperation for university.

Vincent

Just a Little Thing

Something I have just done, that I've not done before and really means something to me is something very small. I e-mailed a comment to a news paper. To many this main seem small and insignificant, but to me it means I have made the efoort and that I have been confident enough to put my opinion out there despite the unlikeliness of anyone caring.

On another note, as I mentioned, in an attempt to improve my typing skills I am typing up all my posts free from automatic spell check and with as little looking as possible. I will admit that my spelling and grammar have never been great so if you are making a comment on my posts please do note any major mistakes or improvements I could make. A small yet important thing.

Vincent

Big Tuesday 2: First Reckoning

Today I look back at those challenges that I set myself last week and I can safely say that I have completed them. I have been practicing my Spanish greetings and basics, my knowledge of notation as increased greatly. I read two books and several short stroies, I will admit though I did not watch as many films as I would have liked though I still have a number I need to review so it is no great loss. I have been keeping up to date with the news and have been getting up at 8 on most days. I have also looked to planning a day/night where I might give evidence to this push for honesty by putting myself in a position to be openly questioned by anyone, though I have yet to find a perfect date. Overall however I feel this week I could have done much more. So what of the week a head?

I am still limited by money and tools however I have a number of tasks I will fulfill. By next tuesday I will have a list of those events where I shall allow myself to drink. I will update more in general and more importantly make more hand written notes to make updating easier. I will have my day/night of honesty fully organised, and continue looking at events to plan over the next year. Continueing with the progress I have made I will post my introduction in Spanish and further test my music reading. I have my knitting to finish, and again two more books, hopefully one being the last in the Gormenghast trilogy. I also feel a desire to do more and more, it seems that with the acheivments I make my desire merely increases. Till tomorrow.

Vincent

Day 17: A Day of Appologies

I realise I haven't updated anything, I have been troubled by my lack of access to the internet. However the big Tuesday update will be going ahead with succes I promise. Another issue I encountered is that despite my call to control myself and alcohol I ended up and before I realised I was drinking. I have no excuse nor want one, I made an honest mistake, this incident has brought into focus my greater need for self contorl. Therefore on the drinking front I will be going through my calender and selecting dates and event where I will allow myself a tipple, and outside of those events no alcohol shall touch my lips unless it is in a tasty sauce.

vincent