Windows machine with at least 512MB
plenty of hard drive space
a good video card
Some version of a 27" HD READY LCD TV
ONKYO TXSR304S 5.1 Audio Video Surround Sound Receiver
Creative I-TRIGUE L3800 Speakers
Firefly PC Remote
Hauppauge PVR-250
Beyond TV
Girder

One of the useful things I've managed to glean off the interweb is The Uberlist. Rather than make the usual 1, 2 or 3 big resolutions every year, the uberlist is about making a large number of resolutions and tasks of varying in significance. Sure, those big 3 may be on the list, but they don't seem quite so big when surrounding by 100 smaller items.

I refer to my list in conversation all the time; most of my friends are familiar with it and I'm usually encouraging people to try it. In particular, people like me who find themselves questioning their accomplishments and successes and/or chronic procrastinators. I've never been much of a goal-setter but my uberlist serves as a good place to start. It's all about forming good habits, right?

Last year, Kr and I made our first lists. The goal was 105 items; I came up with about 80. By the end of the year, I'd managed to cross off some pretty big items like lose 30 lbs (I lost 45! *brag*) and save $x000. Other completed items included get my motorcycle license, go to a show/movie alone, buy a motorcycle/car and walk to a local restaurant. Admittedly, I cheated a little by adding some things after I'd accomplished them. In my most humble defense, had I thought of these things when making the original list, they definitely would have been included. Maybe next year, I should add, don't cheat to the list. Over all, I completed about 36% of last year's list. At first it didn't seem like a lot, or at least I'd expected the percentage to be a bit higher. Still, I thought, that was a damn good start.

I got a late start on the 2006 list, so "stop procrastinating" was one of the many items carried over from 2005. Other carry-overs included write Nanny every month and multiple occurrences of visit so-and-so in such-and-such city. My recovery from slob-aholism continues, so items like "clean up abc every xyz" are also common. Read on for a further sampling of the 2006 list, with some items marked as done.

New Dog, Old Tricks: Uberlist 2006 Condensed
draw more; write more; contact Tg via classmates; design a magazine for fun; buy/read design books; step 1 of BFA; ride alone on the freeway; do yoga at home daily; go to yoga class once a week; read xx books; do something with my website; visit everyone in TO (this should count as at least 20 items!); write more letters; visit M,T & V in NM; visit R in BC; file US taxes.

The plan for today:
Shower
Wash my smelly dog
Stop killing my fish through negligence
Finish packing, fer chrissakes
Try not to piss another day away

The plan for this upcoming week:
Cash tax refund check
Get new tags for bike
Get bike inspected
Work overtime
Transfer utilities
Mail forward
Pick up keys
Get more gray hairs
Move
Work more overtime
Clean up old apt
Turn in keys

Not-so-distant-future:
Turn one of my old desktops into a home DVR and media box
Paint the new apartment
Get unpacked as soon as possible
Plan a visit back home

The first rule of procrastination is you do not talk about procrastination.

I'm moving again. Mags is unsettled. A testament to how many times I've moved, manifested as a neurosis in my dog. A few more boxes and she'll be nervously slinking around acting like her alter ego, the Annoyamatron. It's a good move, though. A move forward. "I'm moving forward." It's the new mantra. It recently replaced the old mantra, the ever popular "I'm running away from running away." I know it's the moving that's making me nervous, but I'm doing it. I didn't procrastinate myself into a hole. This time.

"Don't panic!" Think, dates and art; music and beers; laughing and enjoying things instead of worrying about them. Things are ok. Things are good.

Remember the feeling. It feels like twenty-seven.