The master list

Well here it is a list of the goals I set myself for the year starting on January first and aiming to complete by November first. As it is part of the Big Fun Scary challenge at NaNoWriMo (a November event). I think I walked into it a bit later then most so I have a bit less time than a year on these but here it is, with notes on level of completion.

1 - Write the rest of my 2007 script frenzy, which had to be dropped due to medical problems.
This was my first adventure in the marathon writing, and I’d set myself a great pace. I would have finished in a week’s time. I had started late in the month and rethought the whole plot. It was going well and then…
Attack of the evil illness. I ended up dealing with an illness that really knocked me for a loop over the following 6 months. Needless to say getting to public net access was really out of the question, I was out of a job, and in a good deal of pain for most of that time.
Since then I have looked at this project as something important for me to return to and finish. I hope to be able to do that during the coming month of September which I have set aside as editing and completing time for past writings.
2)In 2008 rovingjack went nutters and convinced himself that not only would he write a script frenzy idea he had passed on but that he was going to try his best to get 5 script frenzy scripts written. Operative term is try. He wants to try one each of graphic novel/manga script, Movie script, TV, Radio and Stage play.
This was a project for April, which I am happy to say I succeeded at. Though much of these works reached their qualifying goal some are in need of an ending and all need editing.
3) Return to my previous nano writings and finish, expand and edit them.
As noted above this should be something I can do in September.
4) Submit one or more of the above writings to some form of public (published, or web posted).
This is going to be hard for me, I have certain anxieties on this that make this quiet a leap for me to make, but I will do it.
I have thought that simply posting one of my charity stories to the web would work but it’s not in the spirit of the goal and would feel like cheating. So I have to look to my scripts and my previous NaNoWriMo writings and edit them before mailing copies to publishers. If they fail at multiple editors I may list them up online but the goal is to get my writing career started.
5) Design a greeting card a month, and see about printing them through an on demand publishing company.
I’ve done some of this each month and feel I can claim a bit of reasonable success. Though I have yet to actually post one up online through the store I opened expressly for that purpose. Recently I’ve been considering doing a complete line of cards for adoptees to family (something I wish I could find in stores to send to the family I’ve gained contact with over the last few years). I’ve adended that to this topic as a monthly goal for august. I plan to make a few cards that express these things I wish were available to me, and list them at my webstore. I’ll be sure to post a link.
6) draw a map to be used in a piece of fiction of mine. (Actually mostly done at this time)
This too is a completed goal, and it has been expanded due to enthusiastic support of some friends. My addition is that I would like to complete several generic maps, compile them into downloadable formats. Make a flier and offer the generics at a cheap rate while advertising my map making skills to gamers and publishers through online fliers.
7) Learn some of the basics of the Sumerian language system.
Who would have thought this would be so difficult… I’m kidding. I’ve found a bit of online information and unfortunately the only book I can find online as a reference runs a bit more then my monthly food budget. I might be able to work Babylonian and am already playing with Egyptian but again it’s about the spirit of the goal not the quickest approximation. I’ve set myself some time in October, currently set as my study month, to pursue this more aggressively.
8) Use knowledge of English, Mandarin, and Sumerian (among others like Latin and Gaelic) to devise a fictional language for a setting.
I’m already setting the foundations on this and I may not need any real expertise in any of the above to do this, and I fully expect that as a first attempt there will be flaws, but I never committed to being perfect.
9) Learn a computer programming language.
I’ve actually got everything I need to start this except the time, which is split up among other projects right now. As October study month comes to me I will be able to work on this more aggressively.
10) Illustrate and write a picture book that conveys a deeply powerful message (this idea came to me a few years back and is something I have to do).
This project is very important to me, and is a bit of a secret baby. I’m going to need some time, a few models, and some simple supplies. I don’t know if my mortal being can actually meet my expectations on this one but I will give it my best shot and then share it with the world.
11) Make a project from Make Magazine. (Have one idea for this one)
An idea that fell through, but I have a new idea, and am interested in seeing where I can take it. I should get a shot at this over the next month.
12) Build and use a pinhole camera.
This is half done. I made an awkward camera and I want to refine it before I give it a try. This may be just a matter of giving myself one day to finish this up.
13) Take a Lampwork glass, or stained glass class.
I did in fact take a stained glass class in April while writing 5 scripts. I enjoyed it and think that I may return to it when time and space can be found.
14) Make a possible action figure for another project.
I’m trying to get the things I need for this so that I can complete this by the end of the month. It’s the little things that keep getting in my way.
15) Grow a bonsai tree. (Might have the start of this one)
I had planned to use a small series of certain herbs that should do the job, but a series of faltering steps have left me with little more than sprouts in late august and it’s not looking hopeful. I’ve decided to try taking some cuttings and see if I can keep them going through the winter as I train them. I hope I have better success with established plants then I have had with sprouts.
16) Relearn mathematics in a way that works for me (I've started this one)
I learned a great deal about how I learn thing since graduating high school. One of which is that I can learn some pretty advanced topics in a matter of hours, where a full school year failed to make some of the basics stick. I want to repair that breech in my understanding and learning.
17) Design a new origami object each month
This of all things has proven to be one that will haunt me. I managed for three months to do exactly as stated, before hitting a wall. I’ve since then had to amend this into folding a new pattern each month, meaning that I simply fold one I’ve never folded before from diagrams rather than create from scratch which is much more difficult.
That compromise will likely taint the feel of victory at the end, but it’s my own fault for setting my sites too high.
18) Design One hand drawn maze a day.
I’ve got a small horde of these things that I do intend to scan into a pdf and sell off a website in e-book format. It’s making the final step that is slowing me up. Again it’s something I should be able to achieve in a day’s time; I just have to make the leap.
19) Water color paint again. This was something brought on by my niece seeing something I painted and seeming awed by the fact that I had done it with watercolors like hers, I then realized I hadn't touched a brush since years before she was born.
I’ve done this and continue to play with this a bit from time to time.
20) Send a message in a bottle, but my message will be art, and my method will get it to people and make sure I'm not littering.
http://groups.google.com/group/mess-n-bot
21) Generate three hundred dollars through some creative project before June. Use the money to get a wireless laptop and repeat for investable/savable money.
Something that may also haunt me as I failed the June deadline, but I have hopes of pulling it off before the end of the year and that is more important than worrying about being a bit late on the success.
22) Integrate my spiritual world and my day to day together better.
I’ve done this to some degree, and I won’t go slinging it around as some big important story, it’s enough that I took some steps and continue to walk my path.
23) Bring into being a community benefitting project.
http://firstgiving.com/rovingjack
24) Look into getting a house of my own
All I have to do is talk with somebody to see what it would take. It’s not about getting the home, though that would be nice. Simply learning what would be required is enough. It should take no more than an hour or two of my time.

Well there you have the master list and its progress. Next time I’ll fill you in on side projects without the yearend deadline and a few that I’ve managed to do in the mean time. That is if I don’t decide to tell you about some of the most recent writings instead.
I’m not sure when but before Saturday for sure. Until then Take care of yourselves.
Roving Jack.