Movin' right along!

Oy! What a month it's been! Not much goin' on the To-Smite List for a while, mostly because 99% of my free time has been spent looking for a new apartment. The other 1% has been editing my 423 pictures from China. So the good news is that this huge To Acquire project has been a success. I am moving to Glendale on Friday. Slowly, I've been taking steps from room to apartment to own half of apartment to full apartment, so I am really excited about this.

Why Glendale? Location, location, location. I'm within a mile of Trader Joe's, 24 Hour Fitness, two malls, two movie theaters, a stage theatre, and my temp agency, and within two miles of Griffith Park, three major freeways, and Costco. I've been packing early in anticipation. I still have to figure out how my finances will hold up as Disney keeps hinting at extending me even longer than I'd expected. The uncertainty is a bugger, but for now, things are looking swell. Ka-ching! Now back to business as usual.

2011 To-Smite List

I've been updating my To-Smite List weekly, but now that the year is coming to a close, it's also important to set more long-term goals. So, I'm going to set up a To-Smite List for the entire year of 2011. These are the goals that I hope to accomplish before December 31, 2011:

To Write:
HC Outline
JP
MY
M
The first three updated short stories for my website

To Read:
Agamemnon
Antigone
Avatar
An Education
Full Fairy Tale Collection (8 count)
Full Journal of Scientific Exploration
The Hurt Locker
In the Loop
The Kite Runner
The Last Station
Paradise Regained
Personal Finance for Dummies
Precious
The Road
A Serious Man
A Single Man
What Every Body Is Saying
The White Ribbon

To Watch:
8 1/2
Apocalypto
Barbershop
Being John Malkovich
Chariots of Fire
Cool Hand Luke
Coraline
The Decalogue
Dr. Strangelove
Knocked Up
Kung Fu Panda
La Terra Trema
La Vie En Rose
Louder than Bombs
Man Bites Dog
Memoirs of a Geisha
Michael Clayton
Mother
The Motorcycle Diaries
Patton
Precious
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Seven
Titanic
Waking Sleeping Beauty
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Y Tu Mama Tambien?

To Build:
Language Chart
In So Many Words (Volumes 1-3)
The Little Prince (Spanish, French, and German)
Website Illustrations

To Acquire:
Flip Mino Video Camera
Tripod

To Photograph:
Calvary Cemetery
Flying Fish Festival at Catalina Island
Huntington Library and Gardens
Meditation Mount / Ojai
Salton Sea
San Miguel Island (Deferred until 2012)
Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine
Sequoia National Forest

To Remember:
Have fun

Kindle

I decided to buy a Kindle off Amazon.com.  I'd been resisting it for a good long while, because honestly, I love my pages, but a few things changed my mind:

1. Personal files can be transferred directly from a laptop to a Kindle.  In other words, I no longer have to stay by my computer to read scripts and articles.
2. Since it isn't backlit, the Kindle will be easier on my eyes than my computer screen.
3. All texts in the public domain, even obscure and out-of-print ones are available for free on Kindle.  Greek classics, here we come!
4. I will be able to switch between books with ease anywhere I go; I just hope I will be able to take it on an airplane.

It arrives in the mail tomorrow.  I'm anxious to try it out; I've already stocked my Amazon library with Greek tragedies and books of mythology.  To be sure, I am stoked.

A Tent!

A tent! Mis padres were extra good to me this year for my birthday, and now that I have a tent to complete the backpack-sleeping bag trio, some trips are now called for! My sights are set on Sequoia National Park and San Miguel Island. Eventually, I hope to work up further north to Yosemite and Shasta. All it takes it time and money, which (Inshallah) I shall have at the same time some day. It's strange. No matter how little time I may spend sleeping in a tent or how uncomfortably I may do so, I cannot wake up un-refreshed after a night in a tent. Could be the wild drive finally satiated. In any case, adventures await!