Summer Weeks 6 and 7? Oops!

I planned my comic, but did nothing else... Except get my permit! That makes it okay that I didn't meet any of my other goals and that I skipped a week, right? Right?

I've also been finding a ton of new music on Spotify, and I'm once more considering a Music Wednesdays kind of thing, but, seeing as that lasted for one post last time I considered it, we'll see how it goes.

So... New goals, right? New goals.

New Goals

• Actually do a cover this time! Maybe a Julia Nunes song. Maybe an old song. Maybe a Ke$ha song. Maybe an original song instead of a cover...
• Write another original song. I wrote one a week or two ago, and I want to keep that going.
• Start driving. I've got my permit... Time to use it!
• Continue reading for fun! I want to try not to fall back out of that habit now that I've gotten into it again.

Failed-ish Plans (Summer Week 5)

I thought I'd get those last three goals done. I really did. Instead, I finished Orange is the New Black, actually did read the fun book I'd planned to read weeks ago, went on a short hike in sandals with one-inch heels, got lost on said hike, hung out with friends (Two consecutive days of socializing! Summer record!), spent time with someone I love, and went to lap swim. So, while I didn't accomplish much from my list, I did do a lot of things that were arguably more enjoyable.

Goals Met

• Actually do something creative. I started working on ideas for a comic I'd like to finish by the end of the summer, at the latest. I'm thinking it'll be about hometowns.

Goals Met... Sorta

• Try making sorbet. If I made a smoothie that included peaches, does that count? I think it sort of counts.

Goals Not Actually Met At All

• Start studying for my driving test. I haven't started studying for it at all, but I'm still planning to take it this upcoming week. I'm sure the deadline will make me get started soon...

New Goals

• Test out furniture renovation ideas (at least one). Using old bed boards and the backs of broken IKEA dresser drawers, I'd like to give plastering a map to wood a try, as well as painting on designs using carefully applied painters' tape. Maybe I'll try out an ombre print, as well. I'm hoping to achieve the desired results at least well enough to decide if I want to try them again on actual pieces of furniture.
• Write out and make significant progress in planning the aforementioned comic. Once I've got this part down, I just have to do the actual drawing... Which is a terrifying idea.
• Get new art supplies... to replace, for example, the pens I bought just a few months ago, which are practically dry now. Without pens, how can I make a comic?
• Do a new cover. Any song suggestions?
• Do all this by Tuesday, the 22nd, to get these posts back on track. Last week's late post sort of messed up this week's posting schedule, so I'm giving myself a shorter deadline to make myself post closer to the beginning of the week again.

Wish me luck!

Failed Plans - part 2 (Summer Week 4)

So, I didn't do anything from last week's list of goals... But yesterday was my birthday, and I was visiting my boyfriend for three days, and, before that, I was lazy. I'm just going to go ahead and tell myself that not just the first two are good reasons, but that all of them are. Okay? Okay.

New Goals

• Try making sorbet. I've been playing around with my mom's blender a lot lately, and I could have sworn I saw a recipe for peach sorbet that required just peaches, honey, and a blender...
• Start studying for my driving test. After one or two years of putting off getting my license, I'm hoping to finally do it this summer. I'm aiming to take the permit test within the next two weeks, and then practice driving for at least a month before going back to get my license. Then, it's road trip time.
• Actually do something creative. Beyond the occasional doodle and those ten portraits from week(s) one (and two), I haven't really done any of the artistic things I spent the last few weeks of school dreaming about. Maybe I'll paint a chair, or my desk. Maybe I'll plaster a map to a chair. Or my desk. Maybe I'll draw a huge, detailed portrait. Maybe I'll finally learn how to draw mouths.

Since the week's already begun, I'm leaving it at three relatively small goals, but I'm sure I'll still have trouble meeting them now that I've started to get really into Orange Is The New Black. If I keep having trouble streaming it for more than 4 seconds without lag, though, I might just end up doing more, or going back and meeting last week's goals, as well.

Not-so-failed plans! (Summer Week 3)

Despite spending time with several visiting friends, I got a lot more done this week! Having seven goals total to worry about was a bit much, but I'm not likely to have this many things to do every week. Let's review, shall we?

Goals Met

• Learn how to cook saag paneer. The recipe I ended up following was this one, from Saveur. A nearby store has stocked paneer in the past, but it was missing from the shelves when we were shopping for ingredients - either out-of-stock or not highly demanded by other shoppers. While the Saveur article included a recipe for the cheese, I was hungry and didn't quite feel up to making the paneer, as well. At my mom's suggestion, I tried substituting fresh mozzarella, adding it in right at the end, and I would say it worked very well! As the recipe called for a serrano chile and cayenne, the saag ended up very spicy, but it was also delicious and beautiful and I realized right after I finished eating it that I'd forgotten to take a picture of my creation for this post. I was a tiny bit gutted, but I don't regret a bite.
• Post a new cover. After an unsuccessful attempt at a brand new cover, I decided to finally make a video for an old one I'd never posted. My laptop's video editor has been on the fritz, so I had to get the audio file onto my phone and then use the YouTube Capture app to make a video, but I'm glad I finally figured out a way to get the song on my channel as more than an empty black screen. I covered Coldplay's "The Scientist."
• Draw ten new portraits. I'm not yet quite confident enough to post my drawings online, so you'll just have to take my word for it that I met this goal. I drew two camp counselors and several little hipster girls.

Goals Met... Sorta

• Work out almost everyday this week. While I worked out more than I did the week before last, I still didn't work out as many times as I'd wanted. Hopefully I can get around to it more often this week!
• Watch three movies new to me. Since summer's started, I've watched four new movies (Cabin in the Woods, Pacific Rim, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and Grand Budapest Hotel), but only one of those was really watched in the last week, so I didn't really meet this goal.

Goals Not Actually Met At All

• Make real progress in a fun book. Other than a few blurbs during a recent trip to Copperfield's, I haven't truly done any reading yet this summer... But hopefully that will change soon!

New Goals

• Finish the Wong Kar-Wai "trilogy." I loved the Wong Kar-Wai film I saw winter quarter (In the Mood for Love), and I've been meaning to finish the unofficial trilogy it's a part of. And now I have the time!
• Post another cover, and include percussion. I love acoustic covers with soft percussion parts, but I haven't done one myself. Julia Nunes' amazing cover of "Redshift" by Darwin Deez inspired me to try it out. (The original song is amazing, as well!)
• Go to lap swim at least once. A friend and I have, in years past, gone to lap swim together almost every night, and I'd love to go back with her now that we're both free again for several months.
• Make another meal from some recipe I find online. During the summer, I have a habit of eating the same things everyday (recently: salad, avocado toast, and more avocado toast), so I'm hoping to start making at least one interesting meal a week for the sake of mixing it up a little and finding new recipes for this next school year.

I'm itching to add more goals to that list, but I don't want to sign up for more than I have time for. But - oh, what's that? You want something more? You're bored? You want - sorry, repeat that? Oh! A new blog to read? Well, what a coincidence...

I present to you: my boyfriend's blog! It's called Once More Unto Thy Feet - An Ex-Runner Learns to Run. Dan is hilarious and interesting and a great writer, and, while there are only two posts to date, they're both funny, engaging, and entertaining. Enjoy!

Failed plans

So... None of that happened. I was visiting and being visited by people I love. The goals can wait.

I'm going to try again this week, but let's add a few more goals.

• Work out almost everyday this week. I haven't been able to much lately, for the same reasons last week's plans fell through.
• Watch three movies new to me. I was hardly able to watch any movies or TV shows during the school year. This summer's for catching up.

Wish me better luck this week!

Summer Day One

My freshman year of college is over. It broke my heart to move out yesterday. My roommate and I pulled an all-nighter that last night. It was surprisingly easy. And now I'm home!

I want to try to actually get things done this summer. As always. But here's my plan for this summer, so that I both blog and do stuff. Key word? "Plan." We'll see how well this works out.

I'm going to check in once a week, with a new list of plans and a recap of how the previous week's plans turned out (Panned out? PLANned out? I'm tired.), with some pictures!

So, WEEK ONE PLANS

• Learn how to cook saag paneer. I love it so much, I should probably know how to make it. I've already found a few recipes online that I can choose from.
• Post a new cover. Wednesday, my friend Sean and I did a cover of "When We First Met" by Hellogoodbye, which is one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands.
• Draw ten new portraits. I've been learning how to use some nice new pens of mine, and drawing portraits has been a fun way for me to do that. Not only would I like to draw at least ten more - I'd like to post them here, as well!
• Make real progress in a fun book. I've started and had to stop a few different books this last school year, but I'd really like to actually finish quite a few this summer. The first book I'm planning to finish is Notes from a Coma by Mike McCormack.

Wish me luck!