Outcome; "Win"
Record: 137-10
Streak: Won 19

Summary: Got up at 11:30, had pancakes, muffins, and coffee at a friend's house, read articles online, went for a walk in the snow, watched 400 Blows, read, made cheese fries and coconut stif-fry for dinner, and after this I'm going to drink hot chocolate and go to bed. It was a work-free and relaxation filled Sunday.

Week in Review: Bizarre things happened this week in terms of my energy levels. The only thing I can think of is that the car episode stressed me out, which led to me eating so-so in the middle of the week, which led to a slight but noticeable decline in energy, which freaked me out because I couldn't see why it was happening, which stressed me out more, which culminated in my near loss on Saturday. It's shitty because I feel like I'm on the cusp of being able to have an almost totally perfect week. I've achieved components off and on so far, and I don't see why I can't put them all together. Next week I'm primarily shooting for consistent excellence and pacing myself so that I'm still going strong from Wed-Sat.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 136-10
Streak: Won 18

Summary: I slept in and tried to move at a leisurely pace this morning to recover my energy. Eva and I went and got cappuccinos, shopped for our groceries, and then I got down to business on my homework. I finished everything for Monday, and now I'm going to read until Eva gets back.

Outcome: "Win" (changed from loss)
Record: 135-10
Streak: Won 17

Summary:
*UPDATE*
Fuck a loss--I just constructed a cube that is so awesome and precise, that I think even Louis Kahn would have been happy with it. Seriously, I prevailed, I feel like a champion, and this one victory was so sweet that it negated the rest of my floundering around for the day.

Old post:
I feel like shit for losing today, but I don't know what I could have done. It sounds weak, but I was so dead tired all day today, I didn't feel like doing anything. Some days I can make myself work even if I'm tired, but today I had no strength of will. Oh well, the 100 was a quixotic goal anyway. Maybe someday I'll get it.

It seems to me that living well usually requires balance, but this isn't as simple as it sounds. Here are two examples that occurred to me:
1. This week I've been thinking about confidence. I tend to err on the side of being overly cautious, which at its extreme moments might really just be cowardice. Like if I'm building a model. I want every piece to be absolutely perfect, so I take a long time to draw each line, cut very slow with the blade, glue as carefully as I can, etc. I've actually found that if I'm too careful, or perhaps too timid, that can be just as harmful as if I were rushing through haphazardly.
The solution is balance. In this, and in other endeavors, it is important to be confident, and to work at a steady, vigorous pace--jump right in even if you can't envision the entire process in complete clarity. On the other hand, it is also important to be patient and exercise care while working. We must constantly reflect on the progress of the action and be willing to make adjustments. Applying the proper measure of each of these concepts is what produces effectiveness. On the overly thoughtful side you have those pussy generals that Pericles was trash talking in Thucydides, and on the over confident without being reflective side you have someone like George Bush.
Hmmm...no time to write about my second example. Maybe later. I want to give a recommendation for the film My Architect really quickly--great, inspirational movie. Plus it has a lot of Philly in it. Hell yeah on reading Plutarch Dan.

Outcome: Win
Record: 134-10
Streak: Won 16

Summary: Chugging along. I think the ghost of Lou Kahn might call me tonight at 3 AM to tell me my model looks like a piece of shit. I'm debating whether to do another one. I like it, but it isn't perfect.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 133-10
Streak: Won 15

Summary: I spent so long responding to Dan's post that I don't have much time to write my own post. I almost threw in the towel and took a loss today, but in a last second miracle I persevered. Normal activities today. Weight at 173, three lessons of French. Class tonight. Action packed!

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 132-10
Streak: Won 14

Summary: Car is messed up again, so that's interrupting my schedule in a huge way. I excused myself from writing this morning because I would have fallen asleep at the computer even if I did get up. With morning pages I required myself to get up no matter what, since they work just as well if you're half-passed out as they do when you're awake. With my book, however, I need to be at least sufficiently alert so that I'm not writing total horse shit. As I said, the book is not a project or a requirement. It'll take all the time it needs. If I don't do it one day, that's all right. I'll try to do it as much as I can, but I'm not going to force it. Having said that, I might not work on it tomorrow either, since the morning would be the only time that I could potentially spend on it, and I'm already feeling extremely wiped out. We'll see.
In addition to the car, what else have I been doing that's wiped me out so much? Mainly class work. Working full-time and taking these two classes has been hectic to say the least. But I'm kicking ass, so it's all good. I did two lessons in French, weighed in around 174, spent 3 hours working on a model, and spent about 20 minutes touching up a drawing for a presentation tomorrow. I got extra credit in one class for having my project done on the date that we were supposed to have it done because almost no one else did.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 131-10
Streak: Won 13

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 130-10
Streak: Won 12

Summary: I ended up not having a day off, but it's OK. I'm working on not pitying myself, because, first of all, I agree with Emerson that you can only be ripped off by yourself, and second of all, I have an extremely luxurious and wonderful life.
I went grocery shopping, did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, finished my drafting projects, and then went out to dinner for a belated Valentine's Day dinner with Eva. The dinner was fantastic. Everything else was solid and I'm happy with my completed projects.

Week in Review: I put in a completely solid week. It wasn't perfect--one day I didn't do French, I could have worked harder at times, I didn't write on Saturday, I didn't read, I didn't have a day off, and I didn't completely control myself emotionally, although I was better than normal. I was moody a little this morning, for example.
Next week will be more mellow since I'll be handing in my projects tomorrow, and then we won't have a test or a project for at least 1 week. Also, I'm getting my car back from the garage tomorrow, and I feel like odds are that it should be all right for a while before it needs another repair.
Goals for next week:
1. I want to focus on suppressing my feelings of self-pity.
2. I want to make it so that when I work, I'm working very hard, and when I'm relaxing, I'm completely relaxed and not worrying about anything. I've already vastly improved in this category, but I could get better.
3. I want to fucking read! Damn, am I never going to finish another book again? Of course I know I'm being dramatic. But I really would like to read. My goal, seriously, is to read from 4 pm until 11 pm on Saturday. Mark those words.
4. I just want to maintain all of the good stuff that I've been doing.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 129-10
Streak: Won 11

Summary: I think I just saw a tumble weed blow past me in the cyberspace of our web ring.
Today I kept plugging away on my projects, with leisure mixed in. I got up at 11, made omelets, coffee, and fruit plates, ate with Eva, started listening to WRTI and my own music, and drafted until now. I just took a break to grab a snack and write this, but then I'm going to get back into it. At 7 I'm going to an employee appreciation party for my work.
I like my drawings. It's satisfying to work so long on something and then to see the results compressed into a single, beautiful object.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 128-10
Streak: Won 10

Summary: I finally finished that scene in my book this morning. I was proud of myself for waking up, because when that alarm went off, I thought I was going to get back in bed. It's great these days that I seem to be able to work whether I feel like it or not. Maybe I'm approaching the point where I'll win every day no matter what.
I'm drawing again like a mad-motherfucker. I've been drawing since 4:45 with no plans to stop until 11. It looks very nice, I think.
It's crazy to think about wasting time. I bet there are people out there who have 100% maximized their time. I'm not talking about working all the time, because, #1, it's impossible, and #2, your work would suck because you wouldn't have any perspective, not to mention the fact that your life would suck in general. I'm talking about people who sleep enough, have sufficient time to spend "with their family" (because, if it were a guy, he wouldn't be a real man otherwise)--but there would be no excess time. The work would occur at the limits of what is possible and healthy, with absolute efficiency. A minute wasted would be a horror. I guess Dan is striving for something like this, and I am too, in a way, but my goals are much more modest. I remember reading this anecdote about how Ed Rendell walked into a meeting 6 minutes late, and Arlen Specter ripped him a new asshole, telling him that if they were a law firm, he would have just wasted 1/10th of their bottom line for that meeting, or something like that. In one state of mind, 6 minutes is nothing. But in another state of mind, you've just wasted an eternity.
Debussy's La Cathedrale Engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral) is not only my favorite song of any genre right now, but it may be the most beautiful collection of sounds I've ever heard period.

There's a saying that goes, "Philadelphia isn't as bad as Philadelphians say it is", or something like that. Well, I have always said SEPTA sucks. I remember Dan saying SEPTA is awesome in comparison to other shit out there and me being skeptical. So I was pleasantly surprised when, in an unofficial search through some random message boards and ranking sites, Philly actually appears to have one of the most highly regarded systems in America. At worst, it is placed on par with Boston, which I remember thinking had a great system.
My search was prompted by reading the Inquirer article about the threat of fare increases and me thinking I fucking hate SEPTA. Even though it's not as bad as I make it out to be in my head, I still think we deserve far better. We should be striving for something like London or Paris.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 127-10
Streak: Won 9

Summary: I'm like Ice Cube, but instead of eating and lifting, I'm writing and drawing.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 126-10
Streak: 8

Summary: I'm working on cultivating a tough mind, what the godfather might call a "man's mind", the opposite of Sonny's soft mind when he's playing all that comedy with that girl. As I said before, I can't always control my state of mind, so I can't wait until it's right before I work. On the other hand, perhaps the toughness that I'm talking about is having an ever present meta-attitude that knows that only "women and children" (again, to quote the Godfather) can afford to be careless.
I wrote, despite feeling horrible when I woke up. I used my Artist's Way tools: I'm currently on a scene that I'm having a hard time writing, so I brainstormed about it in morning pages format. I got at least 1 great idea about the scene if not 2. I also filtered a lot of things that I want to avoid with it. This is great. I'll get there, I know it.
Later when I was doing French, I used a slightly different approach than the last few days. Normally I go through each item in each lesson, trying to focus on every point. I realized that my impulse to do this is more aesthetic than practical. It is satisfying to feel like you have squeezed everything out of a lesson, or gone over every point and not missed a thing. The truth is that I already know a great deal of this material, so now I'm inspectionally reading at first, and then when I get to a section that's either new or needs review, I'll stop, analyze, put in the cd, and do that item specifically. I ripped through 3 lessons using this method.
When I got home my sickness returned. Oh yeah, I should mention that we got off from class this evening because of the snow. I used the time to think about certain strategic things that I might or might not do right now, went to the art store (which was fucking pointless because they decided to close early because of the snow) and then I got down to business, drafting for 3 and a 1/2 hours. I'm about to eat something light and sleep.

And yo, I aint trying to brag or nothin, but the wu got something...the wu got a 100% on the first of four total tests for the year in class #2.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 125-10
Streak: Won 7

Summary: I started actually writing this morning. Good stuff. Weighed in at about the same as yesterday. Did one large lesson in French today. Since 5 I've been working on a drawing, and I'm still going. I want to finish, but I also want to go to bed soon. I'll try my best to get it done soon.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 124-10
Streak: Won 6

Summary: I started working on my novel again today. It was surreal. I actually had two dreams that I fucked up and slept through my writing time. I think subconsciously I am fearing this. Oh well, as I've said before, I could care less what my emotions do. I looked over my progress to date, organized my computerized work, and reread the section on novels in How to Read a Book.
I want to make something clear concerning my novel. This is personal work. It is not a project. It fulfills no moral obligation. It does not occur on a time-line. My design, planning, and possible political work will fulfill my moral obligation to society, but this is private and sacred. I'll talk about it on here, but I'm going to give this thing as much time as it needs, and I am not going to use any words like, "dominate", "champion", "kick-ass" or anything like that to talk about.
After my book hour, I did my normal stuff, biked, worked, weighed in at 173.4, completed two lessons in French, perused le monde online, biked again, and now I'm off to class.
Tolstoy said something along the lines of "life is what happens when changes occur". Today I changed my lunch from falafel sandwiches to Trader Joe's instant Indian cuisine. I love it. It rejuvenated me in a way, and I'm actually looking forward to lunch again.
Derek: I understand that daily progress can be repetitive, but I find that it's helpful to me to report it, partially in order to help sustain ourselves for the long haul. Also, I gain motivation every time I see someone else's post because, aside from the details, it is a simple manifestation of the fact that someone out there gives a shit and is striving to do something. Plus, you could talk about things you learned concerning the general arts of time management and psychology. It doesn't all have to be facts.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 123-10
Streak: Won 5

Summary: I completed Artist's Way! 12 weeks of work--we'll see how it pays off. Woke up at a leisurely time; ate scones, tea, and an omelet while listening to jazz; wrote my morning pages; did some other stuff--went grocery shopping, got ice cream. It was a fun day. Eva and I went into one of her friend's dorm rooms, and it hit me how much I miss college. Your meals are taken care of for you, your room is small and paid for, there's no substantial cleaning, your job is to read all day. That really was glorious. The last year and half has been way less awesome than college.

Week in Review: I started my 100-days challenge, and I showed some great resolve right from the start. I bought that drafting board, which was huge, so this week should be a little more relaxed. The key thing I want to improve upon next week is sleep. Sleep is #1. I need to take care of that.
My schedule is going to change a little bit since I completed Artist's Way. I'm going to write from 6-7, at least Mon-Thurs, if not Mon-Fri. I definitely need to do that on Monday and Wednesday because of class. I'm going to experiment with different things to see how I can work that in. The important thing is that I get 6 hours per week on the book (6 solid hours!). I really like the idea of doing them first thing in the morning, because I've gotten used to being creative as soon as I wake up, and it's peaceful in the house at that time. Plus, if I finish my writing for the day as soon as I wake up, bam!, I've already started my day like a champion. If I don't have a huge amount of work to do on Friday night, and I need extra sleep, I'll probably let myself sleep in. Actually, no that's not true, maybe I'll do morning pages and then write in the afternoon. We'll see.
I really really really want to have a clear Saturday night next week. It hasn't happened yet since I started my most recent schedule. Each interruption is legitimate, but it's crazy that there has been an anomaly every week. I can't foresee anything for this week, but something could easily come up. Oh actually, I think the employee appreciation party for my work is this Saturday, so there you go, it's a nice thing, and I look forward to it, but no free Saturday next week either.
So I want to continue my wins, get a good hour in on my book every morning, get 8 hours of sleep each night, and complete all of my work by Friday night (except Saturday's hour of writing).

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 122-10
Streak: Won 4

Summary: I woke up at 11 this morning, wrote my pages, then I went back to bed and slept until 4:30. I guess I needed it. I feel great now. After sleeping that much, I have definitely overcome my sleep debt. Also, my sickness is basically gone, when even last night I felt like a pile of shit.
As soon as I got up the second time, I started steam rolling projects like an 18-wheeler with a drunk driver driving. I worked on my summer program application, put away laundry, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned up the entire kitchen which was getting pretty shameful, mailed a letter, created an axon drawing for class, and now I'm going to continue work on another drawing. When I first woke up I had this delicious mountain of pancakes with butter and maple syrup while listening to WRTI. It was glorious. They were playing this new release from Richard Rodney Bennet called Reflections on the Scottish Folk Song. It was amazing. It sounded like a more stringy and sweeping version of Ralph Vaughn Williams or even Debussy. I need to learn so much more about music. Now I'm listening to the kick ass salsa program. I listened to this last week too. I love this shit. I want to dress like a gentleman and host a private dance party in the pyramid lounge on top of the Mellon Center in Philadelphia.

Outcome: "Win"
Record: 121-10
Streak: Won 3

Summary: Today I felt sick and tired, literally, but I still did what I needed to do. I was tired because I've been averaging about 7 hours a night as opposed to 8, and I feel sick probably because it's that time of year. I wrote my pages, biked, worked, did French (I'm at lesson 18 out of 40 right now), weighed in at 172, worked, biked, made a deposit, and then came the event of the day: I decided that I need to get a drafting board. The lab hours are limited, and it'll save me the car trip up there on Tuesday's and Thursdays, not to mention the time, which adds up to about 2 hours a week extra. Well, I spent the majority of the evening researching what to buy, making calls, and then actually getting it. The store was pretty far, but I'm glad I got this accomplished in one night. This will be a huge change for the better.
In response to Dan's comments--one day's win is not a statement about how that day compares to the ideal day. It has more to do with what I did given what I had to work with. Like I said in my comments earlier, even if I grant myself too liberal of an excuse, that won't necessarily result in a loss. It's more an issue of taking each moment, trying to figure out what is the best thing, if I can't figure out what the best thing is, then trying to avoid doing obviously bad things, and then at the end of the day roughly balancing the amount of times I acted well and the amount of times I acted poorly. And different things are weighted differently. Like good posture is virtuous, but even if I have terrible posture all day, that's not necessarily a loss. It's like a touchdown for the opposing team, but I could still win. Not doing my morning pages, at least according to my latest scheme, is like throwing 4 INTs in a row--it's fucking over. I wanted an overall "yes" or "no" because I want my system to offer me flexibility. Also, I still have that part of me that wants to be perfect. I can appease that part by giving myself a win. Even though my rational mind knows that rarely will it happen that a win actually corresponds to a perfect day, my perfectionist mind just sees the win and is content. It thinks I did perfect for the day, because there are only two options and no subcategories. It's like, the Eagles can fuck up, yet still make some huge plays and pull out the win, and then once the game ends, all that's left is the win or the loss. They need not carry the thoughts and pains of those mistakes into the next game, although from a strategic standpoint you want to study them. Damn, I'm so tired right now. I'm just going to go to bed. My apologies if this is just garbled horse-shit.