Donovan McNabb's Score for 10/2: 5

Hell yeah Eagles.

Rating for 9/29: 3.5

It really has taken me the last two days to recover from my five-day, but I've still been doing pretty well. Yesterday I performed at work and rode my bike around town--automatic 3. I didn't work on my projects after work, but I did make dinner, despite lacking ingredients and the desire to do it. Also, I cleaned up, read Plutarch, went skateoarding, and enjoyed the lovely weather last night. For enjoying life, and avoiding unhealthy habits, I gave myself the extra half point. I wanted to give myself a four, but I think that I shouldn't get into the four range without doing serious work on either my book or the program.

After having a 5 point day, I'm doubting the ideal that I understood it to be based on. I was under the impression that a 5-day meant constantly working, wasting no time, eliminating involuntary motions, maintaining sharp consciousness the whole day, and being extremely efficient. Assuming that this is the ideal, I have at least two criticisms of it.
First, as much as my day yesterday was productive on its own, I will probably need two days to recover from it. So in the long run, yesterday may have had a greater cost than benefit. It was like sprinting the whole day. I was totally exhausted by the end of the day, and today, despite my best efforts, has been a solid 3 at best. Actually, yesterday I entertained the thought of striving for double fives, one yesterday and one today, just to blow some minds. I don't think anyone is capable of that. I believe that living excellently requires pacing. Even just writing that, it sounds so obvious, but I know that personally I need to relearn how to pace myself and how important it is.
My second critique of the ideal is perhaps more subjective--if I did what I did yesterday every day, I would become totally nerotic. It felt like I was grinding my gears and tensely clutching onto my focus at every moment. It was miserable in a way. Perhaps there's nothing wrong with idiosynchratic movements, or daydreaming, provided that it doesn't get out of control. Where it gets out of control is tricky, and it's the type of thing where we need to develop a good intuition and faculty of judgment to be able to discern. In other words, it seems to me that living well is an art, partially in the sense that it can not be expressed by a formula. Aristotle argued for that, and he even named a specific faculty which is often translated as "discretion" which is meant to tell us what is appropriate in any given instant, and it's one of the keystones of his moral philosophy. I think that it's good to rest, and screw around now and then, and to take a random detour on your ride home to admire the Chesapeake. I'm not advocating a complete abandonment of structure and planning, or intensity for that matter, but they must be balanced, juggled, and applied at the right moments in an intelligent manner. Even BF's scheme of inculcating virtue sounded like it wasn't the most practical plan. If I remember correctly, he didn't keep it up for very long. It seems like the type of thing that helps us point ourselves in the right direction, and even to keep up for a short time, but not as a final and complete guide to right action.
I hope this doesn't sound like a copout to the other participants. I'm proud of what I did yesterday, and I did get a lot done, within a 24 hour period of time. In the future though, my fives will be awarded based on a more wholistic view of excellence (in fact, what I'm now imagining as a five-day is probably harder to achieve than the old ideal). By the way, are we using half points or not?

Rating for 9/27: 5

Well, I did it. My alarm woke me at 8:00, and I didn't hesitate for a moment as I jumped out of bed and began brushing my teeth. By 8:15 I was running, which lasted until 9. While I was on my run, I picked up garbage that I saw on the ground and threw it away when I passed trash cans. Between 9 and 9:45 I washed a load of laundry, straightened up my room, made a plan for the day, and ate a healthy breakfast. By 10 I had showered, shaved, made a deposit, and dressed. Between 10 and 11:30 I brainstormed for the computer program, made sketches, and tried to organize my inital vision for it. At 11:30 I rode into town and met Eva for coffee. Between 11:45 and 12:30, I chatted with Eva about her classes and asked her what she thought about some of my game ideas. At 12:30 I rode to campus and wrote an e-mail to my landlord about the rent and skimmed the NYtimes. By 12:45 I was in the computer lab writing my game proposal for Dan. I think that I completed and sent that document around 2. After that I rode to a BB&T bank, with whom I have been wanting to set up a checking account, and filled out the paperwork and got set-up. I also spoke with one of their financial conselors about strategies concerning my school loan payements. After I was done at the bank, I rode to the barbershop and got my hair cut. Around 3:30 I returned home, immediately started preparing a light and nutritious lunch while I unloaded and folded the rest of the laundry. I ate quickly, and by 3:45 I was on the phone with my loan lender talking to them about consolidation plans. I figured out what I want to do with my loans as a result of the conversation. Afterwards I spend about half an hour taking care of some mundane business crap, and then I wrote some letters. I wrote one letter to my grandmother and one to my favorite restuarant in Santa Fe, asking them for the recipe for one of their entrees. At this point it was time for dinner (Ben cooked), and I ate dinner with my housemates. Afterwards, I read all of the documents that I was given by my new bank. Then I did my calisthenics workout for exactly half an hour, followed by 15 minutes of Plutarch's Lives, which I want to get in the habit of reading every day (it's like the ancient version of Ben Franklin's Autobiography). After reading, I drew up some sketches for the game to send to Dan, and after that, I worked on my novel until it was time to go to bed. Figuring that I would need to sleep for 8 hours, and that I was getting up at 8 the next morning, I was ready to fall asleep and in bed by 11:30.
As With Honors as this all probably sounds, I had an unexpected reaction to my first five. I'll elaborate in a follow-up post.

Rating for 9/25: 4

For various reasons, yesterday morning at work was extremely stressful. I'm giving myself a four because I made it through the day. I won't get into the details, but it was one of the most stressful days of work I've ever had. Tomorrow, and by tomorrow I mean the 27th, I'm going to earnestly strive for a 5. Oh what the hell, I'll just rate today right now--Rating for 9/26: 3. Unless I work some miracles of productivity, I'm guessing that's what today will end up being, a three. I don't feel very motivated, and I might just go home and relax. But tomorrow I'm giving it all I have.

Rating for 9/22: 3

Dan, it's good to see that things are looking more optimistic. As for myself, rating yesterday is tricky. I got up, ate a decent breakfast, rode to work, did my job well, rode home, immediately started making dinner the house (With Honors style), ate dinner, skated for exactly an hour, came back in to do the dishes, and then...I fell asleep. I totally passed out without meaning to. This happened around 8 pm. I fell alseep face down, fully clothed and with my shoes still on, with my arms and legs spread out like a flying squirrel. I guess I was just exhausted. I slept until 11:30 this morning, so all together, my body forced me to sleep 15 1/2 hours. Do I deserve a three, especially since I feel like I had no control over what happened? I don't know, it's not that important. I'll err on the side of being conservative, so as not to devalue high-scores in the system.
With regard to my general, daily activities, I decided to try a strategy that I've heard suggested by others. Every day I want to force myself to spend some amount of time, for example, 15 minutes minimum, on my projects. The reason I want to do this is because when I think about my personal endeavors, such as writing my novel or working on the computer program, their enormity can easily intimidate me and put me into an aggitated state. I want to combat that tendency by doing a little bit each day. Recently I've gotten into the habit of only working on those things when I have a huge chunk of time set aside with no distractions. Most days, however, I only have one or two hours, at the end of a tiring day to work on them. Consequently, it's easy for me just delay working on them until I have a day off, during which I can spend the whole day working on them. This has resulted in me wasting an hour or two everyday, that if they were to be added up, would probably constitute several days of lost work. This could also easily boost my scores by a point every day (of course, on a day like yesterday, which admittedly has been uncommon, there's nothing I can do to improve my score).

Rating for 9/21: 3
Yesterday would have gotten a 3.5 if we were using half-points. I went to work, did well, and rode my bike in order to commute--as I said before, automatic three, at the minumum. The extra half point comes from skateboarding and trying to be as nice to Eva as possible while she's sick. The big thing that I didn't do was work on my novel. I need to move faster on that.

Rating for 9/20: 3

I agree with Kyle--I'd love for you to keep up the system Dan, but if not, that's totally understandable. At least you still posted, even if it wasn't part of the rating system.
My day yesterday was so-so, more on the good side though. I continued to study Joyce, had a lovely coffee with Eva in the afternoon, spent time contemplating some very serious personal stuff (not bad stuff, just, perhaps, spending time thinking more about what it means to be a human being), rode my bike, was inspired by Scott Buchannon and Stringfellow Barr, and contributed to what turned out to be a great birthday for Ben. I screwed around a little, but overall, it was ok. I skated for a while too.
Dan, you know the quick and easy explanation that I've heard a lot of people give as to why St. John's exists is that it's a place for cultivating the habits and skills of the mind to properly engage the question of what it means to be a human being. And I agree that that question is essential, and not at all obvious or simple.

Rating for 9/19: 4

Before I talk about my day, I want to encourage Dan to continue posting. Why not post? Is it because it takes too much time? If that's the reason, remember that you suggested resurrecting the system as a means to stimulate the participants in their respective pursuits of virtue. It's meant to increase productivity, among other things. So posting is like running--even though it literally takes some time away from other things, it ends up making you more productive when you're working, so the benefit outweighs the cost, understanding time and energy as cost and improved overall performance as benefit. Are you suspending the posts due to shame? The system is weak if it only works during prosperous times. It should force you to be accountable for your endeavors, whether or not they are succesful, especially when they are not succesful, because that's precisely when you need the boost that the system is meant to provide. Keep up the volley damn it.
About my day: I figure that if I ride my bike and put in a day of work, that day must get at least a 3, no less. In addition to doing those things, I made a good dinner for the house, cleaned almost everything before I actually finished, and began reading before eight. I'm studying Joyce's early literature to emulate his use of language in my novel. I took a bunch of notes and observed several helpful points of style. I also brainstormed for the computer game. The only negatives yesterday were that I got up too late again and rushed through my morning routine, and that I became drowsy while I was studying and ended earlier than I had planned.

Rating for 9/18: 2

I want to clarify one of the points that I made in my last post: instead of saying that I won't consider how well formed my plans are, I should have said something like, I won't penalize myself for a plan that turns out to be objectively less wise than some other plan. Quality planning is a huge part of scoring well; I was just trying to make the point that I'll do what I can with the resources I have, which includes knowledge for making plans, but I won't take away points if some other course of action that I couldn't have known about would have been better.
About yesterday: yesterday I wanted to work on my novel, but I didn't. That's the main reason that I gave myself a two. I basically hung out, found an awesome sports bar where I watched the Eagles game, and spent some time skateboarding. The skating was good, and I got a ton of exercise doing it, and combined with my usual bike riding, I gave myself a 2 instead of a 1 to reflect the exercise. Plus I enjoyed yesterday, and it's always good to enjoy a day. I realized yesterday that my bike is to me as Brian Westbrook is to the Eagles--no matter what's going on, or no matter how bad I'm doing, I can always count on my bike to boost my score a little bit.

Rating for 9/16: 3

I'd like to articulate three principles that I plan to use for my ratings. The first is that my scores will be a function of how well I applied my will, without regard to the outcome. So, for example, if I decide to research possible internet providers, and I spend the day looking without finding anything useful, I'll still rate the day well, because I did what I was capapable of doing, namely, researching instead of sitting around, and the fact that I didn't end up finding anything won't affect the score. Or, if I bike to the library to return a book, and when I arrive it's closed due to some freak accident, I won't penalize myself for returning a book late. Those examples sucked, but I think they made the point. The second principle is that, in almost every instance my scores won't consider whether or not my goals were well formed. So, for example, if I were still looking for a job, and I decided that it would be a good idea to create a profile on a job search website, and spent the time uploading my resume, and then I found out that the site sucked and no one ever finds jobs by using it, I'd still reward my initiative for creating the profile, even if it turned out to be useless. I will penalize myself, however, if I fail to utilize the knowledge that I gain in future situations. So in the future if I used that website again (I don't know why I would), I would penalize myself for wasting time. Again, bad example, but I think I made my point. The reason for that one is that I can't be expected to know everything a-priori--I'll make mistakes, and hopefully learn from them, but I interpret the rating system as only taking into account how well you use the resources that you have on hand, and at the time, i.e., energy, knowledge, money, time, etc. The third principle is that my rating will reflect how well I did what I was trying to do, not how much work I did per se. This brings me to yesterday's rating. Yesterday was meant to be a day of rest, so I'm not penalizing myself for not working, since I wasn't supposed to. However, I do think it's possible to do better or worse when relaxing. For example, I find reading and playing video games equally relaxing, but the former is obviously more beneficial, so I'd rate myself higher if I relaxed all day by reading instead of playing games. Well, yesterday I did both, more on the side of virtue than vice, but only barely, hence the three.

Rating for 9/15: 4

Yesterday I performed well at work, while continuing to take in a lot of new information. Right after work I went to the gym and lifted weights for an hour. After that I went home and made dinner for the house. Following that I thourougly cleaned the kitchen, listened to some Debussy, and read the final couple of pages in Franklin's autobiography. The only thing that prevents yesterday from being a 5 was that I was lazy in morning and didn't get off to a proper start (i.e., snoozed past my wake up time and skipped breakfast).

Rating for 9/12: 4

There isn't any good reason why I haven't been posting--I just haven't gone to the library in the last few days. Even though my neglect in that respect has been shameful, I had an excellent day yesterday. Before I start, I wanted to say that I'm pleased to see what looks like an increase in everyone's average scores. Points for my day yesterday:

* I started training at Cafe Normandy, a French restaurant on Main Street in Annapolis. Even though I don't have any prior restaurant experience with which to compare my experience there, the job seems like it'll be great. Good pay, flexible hours, nice environment, and all the staff that I've met so far have made a favorable impression on me. I did well during my training and took in a lot of information. I even took two table, both of which were fine.

* I had my built in point-scorer--my bike. Simply by riding from home to work and back again, I got a good work out and enjoyed a beautiful day.

* When I got home from work, I resisted a powerful impulse to sleep, and instead, I took care of some petty business stuff and worked on dinner for the house. Although I only made pasta, sauce, and some vegetables, none of which required much time or skill, the meal turned out well.

* After dinner I finished part three and began part four of Franklin's Autobiography. Being at part four means that I'm about 98% done with the book. As it did the first time, reading that book has motivated and inspired me. Definitely on my favorites list.

Negatives:

* I was a few minutes late for my first day of work, which was only partially my fault. The Compromise Street Bridge was raising just as I got to it, so I had to wait about five minutes for the boats to pass before I could continue biking to work. I should have left earlier, in order to anticipate the possibility of the bridge being drawn, but at least I'll know for the future to plan for that. Management didn't even notice though, (I don't think), and my day went well notwithstanding my tardiness.

* I mislead my housemates later in the day when I want to watch the Eagles game. The details are insignificant, but the upshot is that I should have been more clear with them about my plans, because I left them waiting due to a misunderstanding. I also didn't plan well for getting home, but I ended up finding a way.

Rating for 9/7: 2.5

The internet was down again yesterday, so, like last time, I'm skipping straight to the most recent day. Yesterday was interesting--I felt like I was working and focused for much of the day, but I just couldn't accomplish anything. It's hard to rate a day like that. I feel like I'm stuck in some kind of hell trying to set up my internet, with Verizon playing the role of Satan. The good: I got up early, got a lot of exercise, finished the novel that I was reading, and had an enjoyable day, despite my lack of productivity.
The bad: Not only did I not achieve anything in terms of getting employment or setting up the internet (logistical things), later in the day I just gave in to the temptation to relax, eat chocolate chips, play on the computer, and read Ben Frankliln's autobiography. Not only were the activities themselves lazy in nature (except for reading), the way that I basically gave up for the day was especially shameful. I had one of those ubiquitous moments where I thought, "f*ck it, today was a joke, so I'll just make sure to get up early and be excellent, with a clean slate, starting tomorrow morning". That line of thinking is garbage and one that I'm trying to habituate myself not to slip into that mindset. The main reason why I'm giving myself a 2.5 is because of the fact that I basically gave up; otherwise, the day wasn't that bad.
There's one thing that occured to me yesterday that I think the other participants will appreciate--one of the best things for having a virtuous day is having built-in, routine factors that contribute to excellence no matter what else is going on. For me the best example of that right now is my bike. Everyday I'm forced to ride my bike because I don't have another mode of transportation. Because of that, everyday I'm guaranteed to save money because I don't have to buy gas or insurance, get at least 20 minutes of moderate exercise, and enjoy the pleasure of the ride itself. The ride from my house to the library is beautiful--I cross over a draw bridge into the old part of the city, there's creeks and bays all over, and the architecture and landscaping is lovely. In highschool, my morning bike ride, albeit less scenic than my current route, was often the highlight of my day. And as Dan knows, I've had the same bike since 10th grade, and I haven't had to put anymore than a few dollars into it during that time for new tubes.

Rating for 9/5/05: 2.5

When I got to the library yesterday to rate 9/4, the internet was down, and I guess the IT guys were taking a day off for labor day. Some might consider this a bad omen--we'll see. I want my commentaries to be fresh, so I'll skip straight to 9/5.
Yesterday I got up late again, which I've been doing since returning from San Francisco. I think I'm still on PST, and I'm ashamed every morning when I finally rise, wash, eat, and then glance at the clock only to realize that the day is half over. This discourages me right from the start, not to mention the fact that I suspect that it makes a person lethargic to get up so late, even if they get their necessary quantity of sleep (I could be wrong about that). As the day went on, however, I was pleased with my ability to rebound in terms of my mentality. I achieved, and stustained for much of the day, a tranquil state of mind that was focused, yet not tyranical with myself. I took an extra long route on my bike ride home for the exercise and to enjoy the outdoors. In terms of concrete productivity, yesterday was difficult because of the holiday. I wanted to set up a bank account here, but I couldn't because the bank was closed. I wanted to contact Verizon about getting an internet connection, but I couldn't because no one was there. Combine these set-backs with the fact that the internet was down at the library meant, and I didn't get much done. I did organize my loan paperwork and get a fair amount of reading done in Vinland, a novel my dad picked up for me in Scotland.
I should stop, this isn't meant to be a journal.

I appreciate the spirit of Dan's call to reinstate the five-point system, so I've decided to particate again. Because of my logistical circumstances, I'll rate each day during the afternoon of the following day, so, for example, my comments and rating for today will appear in a post written tomorrow afternoon. Good luck to all participating.