New Year Goals

It's amazing how much I consume. Food, media, entertainment, services, etc. After far too little thought, my goal for the new year is to become a producer. Following is a list of what I regularly consume, and therefore am going to attempt to produce:

• Movie
• Novel
• Board game
• Web service
• Web game
• Short story
• Children's book
• Food

This is just my initial thought; I'm open to suggestions if I'm missing something big.

I'm not planning to impose any personal standard as to level of quality or usefulness. For example, the movie will most likely be produced using a handheld camcorder with few props and less experience. On the other hand, I will likely put more effort into coming up with a fun board game and writing a good story.

To carve out time for my effort and limit distractions, I'm going to (not) do three things over the next year:

• No TV
  
• Only watch movies with wife
• No browsing news websites after dinner

Numeric

Exactly what part of the confirmation number "JDHXCV" is actually numeric?

I liked this quote: "If you're unwilling to take the difference between a comma and a semicolon seriously, you have no future as a software developer." --jc42

Sweeping Science

Sweeping every religious belief under the umbrella term of "religion" is like grouping astrology, alchemy, homeopathy, and economics with real science. Sure, you'll find people that believe it, but that's hardly a reflection on the scientific community in general.

At best, extrapolating your average Christian from Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps is unfair. Worse, it's disingenuous. Calling religion "bad" because of their ilk would be like dismissing all science because of what Dr. John C. Cutler or Dr. Eduard Wirths did.

Goose, meet gander. Let's all play fair.

Problems

When a problem occurs, how do I respond? Do I ask: "Whose fault is this?" or do I ask "Whose problem is this?"

Those questions lead down very different paths. The first leads to blame, recrimination, and abdication of personal responsibility. The second leads to a solution.

The answer to the first question varies widely. It's occasionally "Mine." Regardless, it's not particularly helpful for finding a solution.

The answer to the second question is always "Mine." If Slugger McHurty is beating me up in a dark alley, the problem is not that he's a maladjusted member of society with a punching addiction, the problem is that I'm getting hurt.

By taking the point of view that every problem is my own (albeit not caused by me), it becomes clear that every solution is going to involve some sort of change on my part. Slugger's not going to change--he's having a great time. Why, this is the most fun he's had since he stole a lollipop from that baby two days ago. Instead, I'm the one who is going to have to do something different. Run, fight, or if nothing else is possible, adopt an optimistic mental attitude and watch for signs of Slugger tiring.

My goal for the next problem I face is to not ask, "Whose fault is this problem and how can they stop causing it?" Instead, I will ask, "What is my problem, and what do I need to change to deal with it?"