Well, the last part of the year has been nicely productive - that is, in terms of reading and knitting/craftwork.
I had, for the last couple years, planned on reading at least 50 books a year. I can, if I want to, easily read that amount. A book a week is no problem for me. I read multiple books - with my ADD, I'll read a chapter or 2 (or more) from 3 or 4 books a day - and if you've ever seen my "currently reading" shelf on Goodreads, You'll notice that there's plenty to choose from.
Unfortunately, for the last couple years, I've not been doing so well. I really cannot depend upon myself to just "do something" because I should. I need a push. A reason. An old-fashioned "kick up the pants".
Thank goodness Goodreads has come to the rescue and helped me with that. They brought out a widget/"competition" book reading challenge thingy for your homepage and you get to set (and manipulate) a target book amount. I don't remember exactly when I first noticed it, but my original target was about 35 books, and I kept increasing it. I finally set it (about 2 weeks ago) to 52 books and I got there last week. It was a fun challenge. I think, really, what clinched me finishing the challenge was the e-mail I got from Goodreads saying that there was a page "medal" you would get if you'd gotten to your target - and I'm a sucker for a prize. *grin*.
I'm now hoping that it's a permanent thing and so people can set reading challenges every year. Maybe I'll eventually read over 100 books a year. But I can't see that happening in 2012 - though you never know. . .
Now for my knitting:
The only target I'd set (around June) was to knit every day. I've been doing well. Some days I only knit a few rows, but for the most part, I'll knit about 40-60 rows (mostly spread over a number of projects). If I'm lucky, it'll be between 2 projects. On phenomenal days, I'll actually finish a project and start another. At this point in the year, I'm now firmly addicted to knitting (I have commented on this in a previous entry, but at the time it was an addiction to finishing a particular project...). I HAVE to knit something every day, and I can't do just a couple of rows - I now have to finish to a set point (not a big one, or I'd never get to eat or sleep).
In any other field (e.g. eating), I'd be upset about this. I've a mildly addictive personality and the thought of becoming addicted to anything gets me a little upset. But. (and it's a significant BUT.) There's a moderatly soporific affect that knitting has upon me (affect IS the right word). It's a nice feeling. I'm being creative, I'm being productive, I'm feeling good and I'm happy. It's a win-win-win situation when I'm knitting. I think the only downside is that getting yarn and knitting supplies isn't free. If yarn was truly free, then it'd be win all-around. *laughter*.
So, 2011 is good on two fronts. I'm reading more (and ploughing through the walls of books in my house) and I'm knitting more (and ploughing though the pile of projects in my house). Hurrah!
