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New Year’s Tag and Links
New Years Tag
What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before?
Drove downtown.Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make one this year?
I had four general goals which I wrote down and don’t have access to at this moment. I doubt I reached them.What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?
Maturity.What date from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory?
Well, it should be my sister’s wedding, but apparently I started going senile in 2017.What was the best month?
December.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Paying off a massive amount of debt.What was your biggest failure?
Not taking CLEP tests.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Paying off said debt.What was an unexpected surprise?
A pay raise before I even started the job.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having a job for more of it.How did you spend Christmas?
With my family.How are you spending New Year’s?
In FLORIDA!!!!Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017:
Sometimes the best thing is to dismiss/ignore/stop people/events/books etc. who/that are stupid/mean/out of my control. That is a re-learn in some respects.Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? Happier.
Thinner or fatter? Probably about the same.
Richer or poorer? RicherFive things I want to do in 2018:
Be a financial adult
Be healthier
Travel outside the U.S.
Significantly develop my talents
Learn things I’m weak in (math and languages)What kept you sane?
Optimism and my family.Did you move anywhere?
Ha, no we are low moving family.What countries/states did you visit?
Indiana, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida (some of these of drive through or quickie).Where did most of your money go?
Paying down debt.What was the best thing you bought?
New clothes and shoes? Brand new books? I couldn’t really make significant purchases this year.Did you suffer illness or injury?
No, I’ve never suffered even a mildly serious injury, and I rarely get sick.What did you want and get?
Lots of things from my gift list.What did you want and not get?
So many things.Did you fall in love in 2017?
No.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
27 and see here.Did anyone close to you give birth or get pregnant?
No births but lots of babies in 2018; three family babies and one friends (so far).Did anyone close to you get married?
My sister got married in April. Her wedding took up the first third of the year (she had a rather short engagement).Did anyone close to you die?
No.Who was the best new person you met?
I didn’t really meet anyone new.How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017?
Stagnant.What was the best book you read?
Economics in One Lesson, Basic Economics, The Vanishing American Adult, and The Intolerance of Tolerance.What were your favorite books of this year?
The top-rated fiction books (that were new to me) on my Goodreads are Blood Feud, The Golden Road, The Nick of Time, and Daddy Long-Legs.What was your favorite TV show?
I try find any new-to-me ones because I’m not a T.V. person.What were your favorite films of this year?
A bunch of Hallmark ones like Love Blossoms and Summer Villa.What was the best concert you’ve been to this year?
I don’t like concerts.What song/album will always remind you of 2017?
None.What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don’t have any.Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Do you notice I’m lacking in the music category?Try this 12 month challenge or this one.
A Year of Sweaters. I really would like to try something like this, but for me, it would be more specific, like the year of cardigans. I’m not sure how much pullovers are my style.
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A Literary Christmas Link-Up
I am linking up here for A Literary Christmas.
My books are:
~Annika’s Secret Wish by Beverly Lewis
~Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. Tolkein
~A Merry Christmas, and Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott
~Stories Behind the Best-loved Songs of Christmas by Ace Collins
~Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: a Family Celebration of Christmas by Ann VoskampAnd anything else I’m inspired to read from everyone else’s lists.
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Link Love: Bookish
So, I’m not the most disciplined reader. Sometimes I force myself to finish something bit by bit by marking off segments to read. I always need light reading on hand.
I easily read a book I adore in one day, but reading for learning? How to read a book in a day (okay, so serious books are probably too dense and long for this, but the overall concept is good).
I think reading well is more important than reading many books. Here are some tips to help you read well. I think I do several of these steps automatically as I read nonfiction, but I need to make better notes, to ask questions, to play the devil’s advocate (to myself).
Can you start too many reading challenges? No, I don’t think so. I might do this one next year or borrow some ideas from it anyway.
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Personality Again and Links
I’m sure I’ve posted too many personality posts, but I am continually finding interesting articles or blog posts.I enjoy taking these for fun . . . but then it gets too complicated and too rule based. Too many little boxes. Meyers-Briggs is fun for FUN but it’s not a good tool for serious issues (well, not much in psychology is really, much of it is quite frankly, opinion, psychologists are NOT medical doctors, psychiatrists are). The T/F is the one where I really saw an issue. That is NOT a continuum. Plus, I always wonder how honest people are about their faults. Anyway. I have a hard time placing myself in these boxes; nevertheless, I find this interestingI’ve read about HSP. And well, it smacks of the same special snowflake snobbishness that the introvert obsession does. And then there is this, perhaps we are just extremely selfish and irritable?Speaking of, is there anyone else that cannot handle certain senses? I have a low smell toleration and low noise toleration. I can’t seem to have too many sensory things going on at once. -
Depth vs. Complexity
Depth vs. Complexity. I am not good at finding the right words like this (for this reason I was SO happy to see the juxtaposition in the second article; now I know what I mean!), but these are the concepts that I consider when thinking about characters and stories in movie and books. I do think complexity is probably too dignified a term for what I mean (chaotic is probably better) and breadth might be a better one for the article. And I don’t want simplistic (for stories) or narrow (for knowledge).
Comprehension vs. Trivia or Depth vs. Breadth. Mindfulness is important in choosing books, in reading the books, and in processing the books. That is why I’m pretty happy with my low number of books, but why I have room for improvement. I think this issue of depth vs. breadth is part of the issue I have with constantly having to “be in the know” with the news . . . you could pick up a book (by a scholar who has studied the subject not someone who has experienced or seen the issues, not all nonfiction by professionals is scholarly!) on the issues at hand, how else do can you understand the world? What is the good of knowing without comprehending (and again, some books are about knowing not comprehending)?
Interested vs. Interesting. I think the issue with many people is one of motivation. Being a homebody can be a lovely thing . . . if it is done from love rather than fear and if the homebody does and can venture out from time to time. Many people are interesting because they are interested and therefore, knowledgeable and confident.
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Character Links
I know I’ve been bombarding you all with links, but I’ve been trying to declutter my bookmarks and putting links in posts is a way to share and save.
Traits of people with high EQ (and fully functioning and ethical conscience; I posted a link about the dangers of high EQ earlier, this is a very important point to consider) -
Geography and Travel Links
Seterra. This is addictive. I want some blank maps, some games (I am almost certain playing “Where in the World” helped our geography), and this map to help me better my geography.
Life in Germany. I like looking up U.S. vs. some European culture blank. Most of them have attitude and possibly language or topic issues. So it was nice to hear from a kind, Christian raised American kid. And he is funny.
Sometimes all the places that one can visit is overwhelming. Here is UNESCO’s lists and maps of World Heritage Sites.
And here is how to find U.S. National Parks (historic and natural), Battlefields, Trails, Monuments, Seashores etc. by state. I’ve been to these parks: Arches, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Mammoth Cave, Petrified Forrest and Painted Desert, and Zion.
Other national sites I’ve visited or seen: Alcatraz (boat ride, but we didn’t actually visit island); Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial (it was being redone, so it was empty), Blue Ridge Parkway; Colonial (Jamestown, we didn’t see Yorktown); Mohave Desert (we drove through and had to turn our air conditioning off and ride with our windows open per the signs); Petroglyph National Monument; Point Reyes National Seashore, and several National Memorials and Monuments in D.C.
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Minimalism with the Internet and Technology and Links
One of my goals for this year is to simplify, and one of the areas that I want to simplify is my usage of the Internet and Technology.
I’d like to cut down on my Internet time and to use the time that I’m on more productively. I want to go back to having only a few Internet/tech days a week; I also ought to limit the time on those days also. Here is a list of items to help with electronic streamlining.
In order to help improve my Internet time I want to focus my time and streamline my usage. I’ve started an Internet list in my bullet journal of all the things I want to do with my Internet time (I’ve tried this before; I need to use the list) because I frequently get on and forget all the things that I wanted to research or do.
Another thing that I’ve done for a while is write up a ton of posts and scheduled them. I don’t weary myself of blogging this way and can accumulate content and ideas during the scheduled period.
I cannot justify any typical purely Social Media sites; I just don’t have an interest or need. Here is an article suggesting we quit Social Media. But I do need to be more efficient with the sites I do use and enjoy; my three big Internet places are Gmail, Pinterest, and Blogger.
Here are some ways to help clean up your online presence. I’ve signed up for FAAAAAR to many business and blog subscriptions.
With Pinterest and bookmarks, I need to make sure that I don’t overwhelm myself, that I can easily find and use saved ideas, that I will use them, and that I delete what I know longer need (for bookmarks at least, maybe some Pins although it is easier to simply Pin better).
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Personality Link Love
“I’m not a psychopath, Anderson, I’m a highly functioning sociopath; do your research.” But is he really? Are the two disorders clearly defined and distinct?
And while we are on EQ, IQ, and manipulation, how is this for disturbing?
I love the four temperaments. I think the descriptors are easily defined, observed, and layered. I took a paper test long ago which numbered my level of each. I need to dig that I out, but this I know, I’m choleric most (don’t need a test for that). Here is a description and links. Kindred Grace has tons of nice resources and articles on personality.
Introversion is really popular, at least on the Internet. But are you really an introvert . . . or are you an ambivert . . . or a narcissist?! Do we really want to know that last answer? All controversy aside, I really appreciate this new term (is it new?), ambivert, because introversion and extroversion are two extremes of a contiuum and there are many intensities and there has to be a middle. I’m an ambivert, not from balance more from being a pendulum. I would say most of my family is on the introvert-ambivert side in varying intensities . . . except my brother, Tigger, who is ambivert-extrovert.And since we’re on Pinterest, how is this for hysterical . . . Meyer-Briggs personalities in love?
Back to disorders or conditions, except this one is interesting and imaginative, so I am not sure it should be called a disorder or conditions: synesthesia. I first heard about this from Ultraviolet. No one has it at this level, this is imaginative fiction.
I’ve only recently heard about the enneagram, the more tests, the better, as far as I’m concerned; I find everything about personality fascinating.
