Books Read in 2018

These are all the books I read this year that I actually remembered to write down, in alphabetical order:

Kaveh Akbar – Calling a Wolf a Wolf

Susan Albers - 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food
Randy Alcorn – The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving 
Charlie Jane Anders - All the Birds in the Sky

Alison and Steven Anderson – How to Make Maple Syrup

Bradford Angier - How to Eat in the Woods

Katherine Applegate – The One and Only Ivan 

Kelly Barnhill - The Witch’s Boy

Peter S Beagle and Jacob Weisman, eds. – The New Voices of Fantasy

Melody Beattie – Codependent No More

Martha Beck - The Four Day Win

Joshua Bennett – The Sobbing School

Susan Rose Blauner – How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying To Kill Me: One Person’s Guide to Suicide Prevention

Vera Brosgol – Be Prepared

Brené Brown – The Gifts of Imperfection

Mike and Nancy Bubel – Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables

Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher, Martha Roth, eds. - Transforming a Rape Culture

Jessie Burton – The Miniaturist

David L. Carlson – The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry

Emily Carroll – Through the Woods

Christophe Chabouté - Tout Seul

Nidhi Chanani – Pashmina

Chen Chen – When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities

Ernest Cline - Ready Player One

Gennifer Choldenko - Al Capone Does My Shirts 

Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, eds. - Troll’s-Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales

Tian Dayton – The ACOA Trauma Syndrome

Rita Dove – Collected Poems: 1974-2004

Martin Duberman - Stonewall

W. E. B. DuBois - Black Reconstruction in America

Edward Eager - Seven Day Magic

Christopher Edge – Twelve Minutes to Midnight

Bret Easton Ellis – American Psycho

Grace Ellis – Moonstruck

William Evans - I Still Can’t Do My Daughter’s Hair

Tony Faber - Stradivari’s Genius

Tee Franklin – Bingo Love

Jaclyn Friedman & Jessica Valenti - Yes Means Yes!

Neil Gaiman - Smoke and Mirrors
Elizabeth Gilbert – Big Magic

Meredith Gould – The Catholic Home by Meredith Gould

Dave Goulson - A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm

John Howard Griffin – Black Like Me

Raven Grimassi - Italian Witchcraft 

Tim Herd – Maple Sugar: From Sap to Syrup

Faith Erin Hicks – Zombies Calling

Faith Erin Hicks - Friends with Boys

Nalo Hopkinson - Brown Girl in the Ring
Nalo Hopkinson - The Chaos
Nalo Hopkinson - Falling in Love with Hominids
Nalo Hopkinson - The Midnight Robber
Nalo Hopkinson - The New Moon's Arms
Nalo Hopkinson - The Salt Roads
Nalo Hopkinson - Sister Mine
Nalo Hopkinson - Skin Folk

Angela Jackson – It Seems Like a Mighty Long Time

Tove Jansson - The Woman Who Borrowed Memories
N.K. Jemisin - The Broken Earth Trilogy 

Patrice Kindl – Keeping The Castle

Matt Kindt - Dept. H.
Bessel van der Kolk - The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Rupi Kuar – Milk and Honey

Shari Lapena - The Couple Next Door

David Lebovitz – The Sweet Life in Paris

David Lehman and Star Black, eds. – The KGB Bar Book of Poems

Jeff Lemire – Sweet Tooth

Jonathan Lethem – Men and Cartoons

Benny Lewis – Language Hacking: Italian

Ada Limón – Bright Dead Things

Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda – Monstress Volume 1&2

Amanda Lovelace – The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One

Amanda Lovelace - The Princess Saves Herself in This One

Maja Lunde – The History of Bees

Jonathan Maberry – Fall of Night 

Jonathan Maberry - Dead of Night

Carleen Madigan – The Backyard Homestead

Emitithal Mahmoud – Sister’s Entrance

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi – Kintu

Annie Martin - The Magical World of Moss Gardening

Shane McCrae – The Animal Too Big to Kill

Larry Mellichamp and Paula Gross – Bizarre Botanicals

China Miéville - Railsea
Gabriela Mistral - Madwomen: The "Locas Mujeres" Poems of Gabriela Mistral

Fábio Moon and Gabrial Bá – Daytripper

Monique W. Morris – Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century

Eileen Myles – I Must be Living Twice

Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith – 30 Days of Night

Kathleen O’Dell - The Aviary

Nnedi Okorafor - Akata Warrior
Nnedi Okorafor – Akata Witch
Nnedi Okorafor - Binti
Nnedi Okorafor - Binti 2: Home
Nnedi Okorafor - Binti: The Night Masquerade

Nnedi Okorafor – Lagoon

Nnedi Okorafor - The Shadow Speaker

Nnedi Okorafor - Who Fears Death

Nnedi Okorafor - Zahrah the Windseeker

Mallory Ortberg – The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror

Morgan Parker - There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyonce

Ben Passmore – Your Black Friend and Other Strangers

Luke Pearson – Hildafolk Comic Series

Martin Pistorius – Ghost Boy

Robert Polito – Hollywood & God

Katha Pollitt – The Mind-Body Problem

Nicole Sealey – Ordinary Beasts

Zenaida Sengo - Air Plants: The Curious World of Tillandsias

Brenda Shaughnessy - Human Dark with Sugar

Neal Shusterman – Scythe

Neal Shusterman - Thunderhead

R. H. Sin – She Felt Like Feeling Nothing

William Sloane - The Rim of Morning: Two Tails of Cosmic Horror
Danez Smith - Don't Call Us Dead
Jeff Smith - Bone: The Complete Comic Epic in One Volume
Zadie Smith - Swing Time
Noelle Stevenson – Nimona
Noelle Stevenson - Lumberjanes Series

Jomny Sun – Everyone’s a Aliebn When ur a Aliebn Too

Erik Axl Sund - Les Corps de Verre
Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki – This One Summer

Raina Telgemeier – Ghosts

Lysa TerKeurst – Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely

Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra – Colder Omnibus

Peter J. Tomasi - House of Penance

Brian K. Vaughan – Saga Volumes 1 & 2

Robert Venditti – Surrogates Volumes 1 & 2

Ocean Vuong – Night Sky With Exit Wounds

Jen Wang – The Prince and the Dressmaker

Chris Ware – Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

Tish Harrison Warren – Liturgy of the Ordinary

Kirsten Weiss – Déjà Moo

Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib – The Crown Ain’t Worth Much

Kai Ashante Wilson – Sorcerer of the Wildeeps

Kai Ashante Wilson - A Taste of Honey

Janet G Woititz – The Complete ACOA Sourcebook

Kevin Lowell Young - Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels

Charles Yu - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

Ellen Zachos – Backyard Foraging

Markus Zusak - The Book Thief

Book List 2018

Black and white picture of a baby in giant glasses reading a book.

Well, I'll admit that I didn't write down all of the books I read so far. I know that I read a bunch of gardening books but I don't remember the names or authors of any of those. That said - I can remember a fair amount of the fiction I read! I figure I'll just list all the books I can remember here and then keep track from now on. They're in alphabetical order by author.

Charlie Jane Anders - All the Birds in the Sky
Martha Beck - The Four Day Win
Christophe Chabouté - Tout Seul
Ernest Cline - Ready Player One
Neil Gaiman - Smoke and Mirrors
Dave Goulson - A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm
Nalo Hopkinson - Brown Girl in the Ring
Nalo Hopkinson - Falling in Love with Hominids
Nalo Hopkinson - The Midnight Robber
Nalo Hopkinson - The Salt Roads
Tove Jansson - The Woman Who Borrowed Memories
Matt Kindt - Dept. H.
Shari Lapena - The Couple Next Door
China Miéville - Railsea
Gabriela Mistral - Madwomen: The "Locas Mujeres" Poems of Gabriela Mistral
Morgan Parker - There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyonce
Zenaida Sengo - Air Plants: The Curious World of Tillandsias
William Sloane - The Rim of Morning: Two Tails of Cosmic Horror
Danez Smith - Don't Call Us Dead
Zadie Smith - Swing Time
Erik Axl Sund - Les Corps de Verre
Peter J. Tomasi - House of Penance
Charles Yu - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

Not too shabby.

Break from School

Finals week is over! Here's my plan for all of my newfound free time this week:

Woman sleeping on a couch under a giant book.

In other news, May is National Foster Care Month. I have many thoughts about foster care so it's likely that I'll end up making a post about those thoughts sometime before the month is over.

Happy New Year! It's my 2016 Book Update!

It's my first post of 2017 and I'm starting off with a list of all the books I read last year. If you'll remember, I tracked them all on Goodreads, which is a site I recommend and which worked well for me. Here we go, in alphabetical order with my favorites in bold:

Black and white photograph of a book with text on top of it saying "a fresh page… a fresh start…"

* Skellig by David Almond
* Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy by Maggie Anderson
* Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
* Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
* So Now You're a Zombie: A Handbook for the Newly Undead by John Austin
* The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
* The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach
* Le Bal des Hypocrites by Tristane Banon
* The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread by Maria Balinska
* Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
* Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
* Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability edited by Jennifer Bartlett
* Endgame by Samuel Beckett
* El Deafo by Cece Bell
* Olives, Lemons & Za'atar: Palestinian Home Cooking from Nazareth to New York by Rawla Bishara and Jumana Bishara
* The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
* The Joy of Pi by David Blather
* Farm City by Novella Carpenter
* Garlic, an Edible Biography by Robin Cherry
* The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
* Deaf American Poetry: An Anthology edited by John Lee Clark
* Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
* Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement
* Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
* Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen by Chlor Coscarelli
* The Doll Collection edited by Ellen Datlow
* A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick
* The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer
* The Good House by Tananarive Due
* Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
* A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin
* Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier
* Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
* The Good Braider by Terry Farish
* Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
* The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
* Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
* The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
* Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
* First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
* One of our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
* The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde
* Mean Little Deaf Queer by Terry Galloway
* Wuthering Bites by Sarah Gray
* A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
* Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
* The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

Sepia-toned photograph of a white baby with wire rimmed glasses reading a book.

* The Castle by Franz Kafka (the graphic novel version adapted by David Zane Mairowitz and illustrated by Jaromir 99)
* Blindspot by Jane Kamensky
* Edible Perennial Gardening: Growing Successful Polycultures in Small Spaces by Anni Kelsey
* The Mist by Stephen King
* The Walking Dead Compendium 3 by Robert Kirkman
* Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice by Paul Kivel
* L'Homme Qui Savait la Langue des Serpents by Andrus Kivirähk
* Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner
* We Are Market Basket: The Story of an Unlikely Grassroots Movement that Saved a Beloved Business by Daniel Korschun
* Les Soleils des Indépendances by Ahmadou Kourouma
* Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
* The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
* The Whole Fromage by Kathe Lison
* The Vegetable Gardener's Book of Building Projects: 39 Indispensable Projects to Increase the Bounty and Beauty of You Garden by Cindy A. Littlefield
* Garnishing by Francis Talyn Lynch
* Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
* Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
* The Mini Farming Guide to Vegetable Gardening: Self-Sufficiency from Asparagus to Zucchini by Brett L. Markham
* The Mini Farming Handbook by Brett L. Markham
* Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre by Brett L. Markham
* The Mini Farming Guide to Composting: Self-Sufficiency from Your Kitchen to Your Backyard by Brett L. Markham
* The Mini Farming Guide to Fermenting: Self-Sufficiency from Beer and Breads to Wines and Yogurt by Brett L. Markham
* Maximizing Your Mini Farm: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre by Brett L. Markham
* A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
* The Unexpected Houseplant: 220 Extraordinary Choices for Every Spot in Your Home by Tovah Martin
* I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
* Weeds: In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants by Richard Mabey
* Nefarious Twit by Tony McMillan
* Kraken by China Miéville
* Arab Jazz by Karim Miské
* Les Hommes qui Marchent by Malika Mokeddem
* Bible Stories for Adults by James Morrow
* The Last Witchfinder by James K. Morrow
* Farming the Woods: An Integrated Permaculture Approach to Growing Food and Medicinals in Temperate Forests by Ken Mudge
* The Quick Guide to Wild Edible Plants by Lytton J. Musselman
* Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski

A white woman with brown hair and purple tights sleeping on a green sofa with a huge book covering her.

* To Be or Not To Be: A Choosable-Path Adventure by William Shakespeare and Ryan North
* Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
* Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
* Lick It!: Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love by Cathe Olson
* Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
* Une Vie de Boy by Ferdinand Oyono
* Épicerie du Fait Maison by Estérelle Payany
* The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson
* Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable, and Seasonal Kitchen by Amy Pennington
* The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building by David J. Peterson
* Un Papillon dans la Cité by Gisèle Pineau
* On S'y Fera by Zoya Pirzad
* I Spy DIY: Find Fashion You Love and Do It Yourself by Jenni Radosevich
* Voodoo Season by Jewell Parker Rhodes
* Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
* Shift Your Habit: Easy Ways to Save Money, Simplify Your Life, and Save the Planet by Elizabeth Rogers
* Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
* Confessions by Saint Augustine of Hippo
* The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago
* The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schiltz
* No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness by Michelle Segar
* Cupidon s'en Fout by Joann Sfar
* Mortelles by Joann Sfar
* Transatlantique En Soiltaire by Joann Sfar
* Quai Des Brumes by Joann Sfar
* Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner
* Faerie Winter by Janni Lee Simner
* Faerie After by Janni Lee Simner
* Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets
* Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart

Oil painting of a white woman with very light blonde hair, red sweater, and orange skirt reading.

* The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
* The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
* Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
* The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
* Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
* Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
* Why are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?: Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
* Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City by Eric Toensmeier
* The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
* Energy Bites by Kate Turner and Annie Nichols
* Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst
* Integrated Forest Gardening: The Complete Guide to Polycultures and Plant Guilds in Permaculture Systems by Wayne Weiseman
* Specials by Scott Westerfeld
* Extras by Scott Westerfeld
* Fables Volume 10: The Good Prince by Bill Willingham
* Fables Volume 11: War and Pieces by Bill Willingham
* The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson
* The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
* Backyard Foraging by Ellen Zachos
* Une Bouteille dans la Mer de Gaza by Valérie Zenatti

Goals Post

I have a cold. Blah. In lieu of Fierce Friday (because I'm sick and dressed in my pajamas), I've decided this means it's a good time to update you about my goals.

Books
I'm seven books behind on my goal of reading 116 books this year.

Man reading while sitting on the floor of a library.

Here's what I've read since my last book update:

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
One of our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde
On S'y Fera by Zoya Pirzad
Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability edited by Jennifer Bartlett
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread by Maria Balinska
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart
Olives, Lemons & Za'atar: Palestinian Home Cooking from Nazareth to New York by Rawla Bishara and Jumana Bishara
A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago
The Last Witchfinder by James K. Morrow
Lick It!: Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love by Cathe Olson
The Vegetable Gardener's Book of Building Projects: 39 Indispensable Projects to Increase the Bounty and Beauty of You Garden by Cindy A. Littlefield
Arab Jazz by Karim Miské
Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier
Garnishing by Francis Talyn Lynch
Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen by Chlor Coscarelli
The Castle by Franz Kafka (the graphic novel version adapted by David Zane Mairowitz and illustrated by Jaromir 99)
To Be or Not To Be: A Choosable-Path Adventure by William Shakespeare and Ryan North
Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Endgame by Samuel Beckett
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice by Paul Kivel

Diet
To recap, my dietary goals were:

* Drink 8+ glasses of water a day
* Take a daily multivitamin
* Stick as closely as possible to the macro- and micro-nutrient breakdowns I set in myfitnesspal
* Avoid soy, MSG, and foods with long lists of unpronounceable ingredients
* Only eat when sitting down at a table with no distractions
* Stop and assess whether I'm actually hungry before eating or getting seconds
* Eat every four(ish) hours on a breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner schedule
* No food after 10pm

Picture of vegetables in the shape of a heart.

My plan of having a protein shake for breakfast was a great one and it completely fixed the problem I had where I failed to eat breakfast. I've even started keeping some pre-made protein shakes at work for the days when I can't manage to make one before I leave the house. The nighttime binges are a bigger problem. I've stopped eating when I get home from my night job, but not eating at work is more difficult because my boss eats a bunch of junk food every single night - usually chips, nachos, or chocolate. It always gives me the munchies to watch him eating even if I know I'm not really hungry. Worse, since I'm the one who goes out to buy his snacks, I wind up buying a snack for myself while I'm out. Sigh.

Exercise
I've slacked a bit on taking the stairs all the time. It's just so much easier to be lazy.

Line drawing of a man walking up stairs looking exhausted.

I tried ballet, yoga, and a couch to 5K program that showed me I dislike running. I may still do a 5K color run this spring, but we'll see. My other goals seem kind of out of reach at the moment. Remember, they were: be able to do a handstand, a cartwheel, a split, 25 pull ups, 50 pushups, 200 situps, and 200 squats. Once I have a bit more money I'm planning to go to Esh Circus Arts, Rock Climbing, Kickboxing, and Krav Maga. Though I'll obviously have to pick one at a time because they're expensive. For now I've joined the YMCA with my housemates which should at least help with the out-of-reach feeling goals.

Finances
As for finances, it's going decently but could be going better. I'm still chanting Tea's and my money motto - "I am a money magnet!" I'm on track with paying off everything, and am debiting about 10% of my income every two weeks to my Roth IRA at Vanguard. I've given up on my rainy day fund plan (5% per paycheck until I have $10,000 in the account) because I keep having rainy days. I know I was going automate this and then do CD laddering, but I'm not sure I can spare enough for regular deductions right now.

To force myself to save something, I decided to try using Digit, which works via an app and the texting feature on your phone. The way it works is that it tracks your spending patterns and then every few days it'll move a few dollars from your checking account to your Digit account. The idea is that it has its own internal calculations to figure out when and how much you can afford to save and it debits it bit by bit so you don't have to think about it. Then every three months it gives you a (very tiny) bonus of 5 cents for every $100 based on your average balance over those three months. Digit is free to use, has bank level security, is FDIC insured up to $250,000, and will cover your overdraft fees if they miscalculate and overdraft your account. I know a few people who have it and like it, so I figured it was worth checking out.

Plant growing out of a coin jar.

I temporarily suspended my $20/week charity donations because I'm broke. I need to get back to that because I think it's important and as a side benefit it made me feel really happy every time I donated.

Bucket List
If you'll recall, my bucket list was:

Become a Parent
Publish my Kids' book
Volunteer as an Educational Advocate
Help Youth Aging Out of Foster Care
Travel

Photo of a blue bucket on the beach. Bucket says "bucket list."

I've added a couple more. They are:

Get Boudoir Photos of Myself
Write a Will
Learn Basic Auto Repair
Take a Glider Flight
Learn to Shoot a Gun
Learn Archery
Send my family on a nice trip using my timeshare.

Things to Do Before the End of This Year

Patch that says "Buy Art."

Buy art. I'm going to buy a few pieces of art from my friend. Her etsy name is Spider's Closet.

Elderly woman and adult man.

Take my grandmother out. My grandmother is amazing and I don't spend nearly enough time with her so before the end of the year I want to make sure I take her out somewhere nice.

Junk statue of a monkey.

Make a junk statue. There's a bike trail I know of where people have made statues out of old junk and Tea and I have talked about making one of our own to add to the collection.

Man getting a massage.

Get a professional massage. I've never had one before and I think it'd be a nice thing to try.

Two men on a date drinking beers.

Go on a date. My divorce was two years ago. It's time to get back on the proverbial horse. While I haven't been entirely abstinent this whole time, I haven't felt ready to date until more recently. Time to start going out again.

A pile of photographs.

Organize all of my photos. This needs to happen. I haven't organized anything post college. My photos are either online or sitting in bins. Which is annoying. Plus I think organizing all of the photos from when I was married will be a huge relief since I won't have them lying about anymore. Ideally I'd like to get caught up and then just order photo books of my photos every month/year/whatever.

THAT'S IT!!!!

All of my goals. I'm not doing too bad. How are you doing on your goals?

Goals Update

I don't have anything particularly exciting planned for today, so I figure it's about time to update about goals! Here goes...

Books
I'm working on my goal of reading 116 books this year and I'm still on track.

A woman inside a ginormous book reading at night.

Here's a list of the books I've read since my last book update:

Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
The Joy of Pi by David Blatner
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
Fables Volume 10: The Good Prince by Bill Willingham
Fables Volume 11: War and Pieces by Bill Willingham
Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy by Maggie Anderson
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
Wuthering Bites by Sarah Gray
Specials by Scott Westerfeld
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
We Are Market Basket: The Story of an Unlikely Grassroots Movement that Saved a Beloved Business by Daniel Korschun
Blindspot by Jane Kamensky
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Les Soleils des Indépendances by Ahmadou Kourouma
Un Papillon dans la Cité by Gisèle Pineau
Les Hommes qui Marchent by Malika Mokeddem
Mean Little Deaf Queer by Terry Galloway
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

Diet
In case you forgot, my dietary goals were:

* Drink 8+ glasses of water a day
* Take a daily multivitamin
* Stick as closely as possible to the macro- and micro-nutrient breakdowns I set in myfitnesspal
* Avoid soy, MSG, and foods with long lists of unpronounceable ingredients
* Only eat when sitting down at a table with no distractions
* Stop and assess whether I'm actually hungry before eating or getting seconds
* Eat every four(ish) hours on a breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner schedule
* No food after 10pm

Chart of the dietary breakdown for vegetarians in the form of a plate.

I've got the water drinking, multivitamin taking, and soy/MSG/unpronounceable food avoiding down pat. I've also been really good about eating at the table. The biggest problems I've had are with meal timing and nutrient breakdowns. My work schedule is weird and includes both morning and night shifts, which makes eating on a regular schedule difficult. Sometimes I fail to eat breakfast because I'm just not hungry yet, and I frequently wind up eating random crap when I get home from my night job because my dinner was seven hours before so I'm starving by the time I get home. So starting this week my new strategy is to have a protein shake for breakfast every day. It's fast, it's easy, and I can grab it and take it with me. On days where I have more time and energy I can blend tasty healthy things into my shake and on days when I'm dragging myself along I can just stir my protein powder in some water and call it a day. And my new strategy for avoiding the nighttime binges is to bring a small healthy snack with me to work at night. I'm hoping this will tide me over until I get home and I can just go to bed instead of eating. I think that both of these strategies will help me avoid feeling overly hungry so I'll be able to make more intelligent choices about what I'm eating - aka sticking to the myfitnesspal goals - since it's really hard to plan a meal when you're too hungry to think of anything but shoving food in your face. And if I'm not too hungry to think, I'll have an easier time sitting down for a leisurely meal where I check in with my body as I eat.

Exercise
I've done an awesome job of keeping up with the structural changes. I take the stairs whenever I can, I walk all over the place, and I take public transit whenever possible instead of using the car.

My specific goals have proved harder. I've stayed more active than before, a lot of which is due to the help of my swolemate. But most of that activity has been in the form of walking around more or running about with kids rather than any of the exercise goals I had. That said, I did take ballet as planned and found I really like it! But it's almost over.

A large asian man dancing ballet.

I think the next goal I'll focus on is yoga. It turns out there is a yoga studio near my friends' house in France that looks really good so my plan is to try out yoga on my trip. My other goals were: do a handstand, a cartwheel, and a split; run a 5K; and do 25 pull ups, 50 pushups, 200 situps, and 200 squats. I did start doing the couch to 5K program but I slacked off when finals hit and frankly I think this experiment may have shown me that I truly dislike running. I'm considering abandoning the 5K goal because the point of exercise is to have fun and get health - not to torture myself. As for the gymnastics - I found a place nearby called Esh Circus Arts. It looks amazingly fun and the studio is named after my cat! Well, not really but I can pretend. So I want to check it out. Fortunately so does Joy. And she wants to check out the kickboxing studio too! Hopefully when I get back from France we can try both of those things out. Now all I need is a rock climbing buddy. I actually do have a friend who climbs, but he's really in shape and really good at it so I feel (needlessly) intimidated. I know he'd be willing to go with me and he's probably the least judgmental person ever but I'm still embarrassed about the idea since I'm convinced I'll be bad at it.

Finances
And last but not least, my financial update. Nothing much to report. I'm still chanting my money motto ("I am a money magnet!") to myself and I think it's very slowly beginning to work. I'm on track with my car, credit card debt, medical debt, timeshare, and student loans. I'm still happy with my decision to switch my Roth IRA to Vanguard. I'm less thrilled with it debiting 5% of my income every two weeks when I get my paycheck, since I'm feeling the money crunch. I'm not sure how I'll increase it to 10% like I plan to do in September. At any rate, I'm sure my elderly self will be thanking me later. Still not doing so hot with the rainy day fund. My goal is to contribute 5% per paycheck so I eventually have $10,000 in there. But I keep wiping it out. Ugh. I'm hoping this will get easier in September when I'm back to full time work. At any rate, I still need to automate this and stick it somewhere less accessible so I can do the whole CD laddering thing.

Picture of a roll of money.

In a bit of financial posting that deserves its own paragraph, I'm still really happy about my $20/week charity donations. I've gotten into a rhythm where I donate somewhere every other week so I can give $40 each time. I'm hoping to increase that to $50 every other week soon. Last update I had given to Roxbury Youth Orchestra (an inexpensive learning orchestra for inner-city youth), Second Chance Animal Shelter (a nonprofit no-kill animal shelter that also does low-cost spaying/neutering, and subsidized veterinary care), Youth On Fire (a drop-in center for homeless and street-involved youth ages 14-24), and Trans Lifeline (a nonprofit crisis hotline for trans people). Now I've added to the list: The Network/La Red (a survivor-led social justice organization working to end partner abuse in LGBT, BDSM, and poly communities with organizing, education, and support services),  Daily Table (which I posted about here), IMPACT Boston (gives self-defense classes to women, children, people with disabilities, abuse survivors, and LGBTQ people, plus they collaborate with schools and organizations to do abuse prevention programs), and Mass LEAP (aka Massachusetts Literary Education and Performance Collective which puts on youth slam poetry festivals and works in schools to promote and support youth slam and spoken word poetry).

Bucket List
You'll notice that I haven't updated on my bucket list. That's because no progress has been made. All those goals are HUGE and I'm nowhere near done with any of them. Also, I've been focused on other things. I do plan to get to them, though.

Drawing of a bucket with a yellow background.
The bucket says "Bucket List" on it in red letters.

The Most Fun Goal EVER

I've talked about most of my New Years resolutions already. The only big one I didn't mention was about reading. I decided to try and read 116 books in 2016. I'm tracking my books on Goodreads because it gives you a place to rate and review your books and it also has a nice little ticker on the side so you can see your progress towards your goal number. Right now I'm on book 26 (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards).

The four bookshelves in my room from left to right:
1) Non-Fiction; 2) Religion, Poetry, Plays, Autobiographies, and Comics; 3) Fiction; 4) More Fiction, YA, Children's.

Here are the other titles in the order in which I've read them:

* Farm City by Novella Carpenter
* Garlic, an Edible Biography by Robin Cherry
* Une Vie de Boy by Ferdinand Oyono
* Backyard Foraging by Ellen Zachos
* The Quick Guide to Wild Edible Plants by Lytton J. Musselman
* Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
* Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
* Le Bal des Hypocrites by Tristane Banon
* The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach
* The Walking Dead Compendium 3 by Robert Kirkman
* The Whole Fromage by Kathe Lison
* Nefarious Twit by Tony McMillan
* The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson
* Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
* The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer
* Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
* L'Homme Qui Savait la Langue des Serpents by Andrus Kivirähk
* Bible Stories for Adults by James Morrow
* Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
* I Spy DIY: Find Fashion You Love and Do It Yourself by Jenni Radosevich
* The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson
* The Good Braider by Terry Farish
* A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick
* The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
* Une Bouteille dans la Mer de Gaza by Valérie Zenatti

Books in the kitchen: cookbooks, food-related, and farming-related.
Bottom shelf and half of the middle shelf are mine, as are the recipe binders on the top shelf.

Friends, do you read? Do you set a specific number of books as a goal or do you just read without tracking? Have any good book recommendations?

Color Me Beautiful

Friends, in my search for new ways to put off doing my biostatistics homework, I stumbled upon the book "Color Me Beautiful" by Carole Jackson. It was apparently very popular in the 80s. This book does what is called "seasonal color anlysis." It breaks down people's complexions into a variety of seasons (four in the original, twelve in the updated version) and gives color palettes for each type that are supposed to enhance your appearance.

Cover of "Color Me Beautiful" by Carole Jackson.

Here is the basic method of figuring this out:

1) Do you look better in gold or silver? If you look better in gold your skin has warm undertones. If you look better in silver your skin has cool undertones.

2) Is your natural hair color dark or light for your ethnicity? Note the "for your ethnicity" part. One of the things people have said is that this system is for white people. Not so. You are not comparing your coloring to everyone - only to your own ethnic or racial group. So I'm comparing myself to other white folks (or other half Italian half French people if I meet any of them) and you should compare yourself to other people who are black, asian, latin@, or whatever ethnicity or race you are.

Using these two things, you've now got your season. I'm a summer, but I realize that determining this may be more difficult for some of you so I've added Disney princesses to help:

Cartoon of all of the Disney princesses posed together.

Winter - dark, cool. Snow White, Mulan, or Megara.
Spring - light, warm. Princess Jasmine, Belle, or Ariel.
Fall - dark, warm. Esmerelda or Pocahontas.
Summer - light, cool. Aurora, Cinderella, or Tiana.

Now, there are six secondary factors added in the updated version. Pick the one that is most dominant for your overall coloring. Here's the part where I can't decide. The secondary factors are:

Light - Your hair color and skin tone are both light for your ethnicity and your eyes are light blue, green, or grey. Summer or spring.

Dark - You have dark hair (black or very dark brown) and light to medium brown, green, or hazel eyes. Winter or fall.

Warm - Your overall coloring has an obvious warm undertone to it. Your hair is either strawberry blonde to auburn or golden blonde to brown and your eyes are deep brown, green, topaz, or hazel. Spring or fall.

Cool - Just the opposite of warm, your coloring has an underlying cool quality to it. Winter or summer.

Clear - Your overall coloring is high in contrast. Your hair is either very light or very dark and your eyes are bright blue or green, turquoise, amber, or topaz. Spring or winter.

Soft - Your overall coloring is low in contrast and close to neutral. Your skin and hair are similarly colored and your eyes are green, hazel, greyish blue, or brown. Summer or fall.

To complete your seasonal color analysis, you're supposed to combine your season with your secondary trait. I ganked this chart to help us visualize what we're working with:

Season wheel with the secondary traits mapped onto it.

At this point you are probably still lost. Or at least, I am still lost. So I looked up a bunch of celebrity examples. Most of these are white women.  Sorry! I tried :(

Cool Winter - Sasha Luss, Olivia Wild, Brooke Shields, Mila Kunis, Katherine Zeta Jones, Kristen Stewart

Deep Winter - Salma Hayek, Lucy Liu, Halle Berry, Michelle Obama, Naomi Campbell, Penelope Cruz, Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, the Jonas brothers

Clear Winter - Courteney Cox, Zooey Deschanel, Katy Perry, Demi Moore, Liv Tyler, Vanessa Williams, Lupita Nyong'o, Zhang Ziyi, Kevin Brown, Romany Malco

Clear Spring - Emma Stone, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Heather Graham, Drew Barrymore, Britney Spears

Light Spring - Cameron Diaz, Kylie Minogue, Blake Lively, Renee Zellweger, Kate Hudson, Taylor Swift, Selita Ebanks, Kerry Washington, Owen Wilson, Alan Jackson

Warm Spring - Heidi Klum, Michelle Williams, Scarlett Johansson, Christina Hendricks, Ivanka Trump, Amy Adams, Conan O'Brien

Warm Fall - Lindsey Lohan, Julia Roberts, Beyonce, Olivia Palermo, Isla Fisher, Tilda Swinton

Deep Fall - Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Eva Mendez, Victoria Beckham, Sandra Bullock, Karina Smirnoff, Denzel Washington

Soft Fall - Nicole Richie, Gisele Bundchen, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Rachel Zoe, the Olsen twins, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, David Beckham, Justin Timberlake

Soft Summer -  Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kate Moss, Katie Holmes, Ashlee Simpson, Leona Lewis, Danielle Leonel, Adriana Lima, Jude Law

Light Summer - Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amy Poehler, Heather Locklear, Grace Kelly, Leonardo Di Caprio

Cool Summer - Milla Jovovich, Elizabeth Hurley, Miranda Lambert, Ruth Wilson, Christy Brinkley, Kimberly Williams

As I said, I initially had trouble deciding between the three summer types for myself. I finally determined that soft summers are more monochromatic than I am - most of those celebrities have hair and skin tones that are very similar to one another. They are also supposed to look good in cocoa brown, which makes my skin look flat and dull. The cool summers are more um… cool? Their coloring is sharper than mine. And they are supposed to look good in mint green, which turns my skin zombie-colored. Light summers are supposed to be flattered by light pinky coral, which is a color I rarely wear because it's so feminine but that always garners complements. So after all of this extensive research, I've decided I'm a light summer. Looks like I'm in good - and mostly blonde - company.

For reference, here's me:

Me on an overcast day.

Me on a sunny day.

Still lost? Use the colors here to go rule out some seasons.

If you're a person of color and want exta help figuring this out, try the link here.

What do you think? Were you able to figure out your color palette? Does it seem accurate?