goal!

I've had a post about goals kicking around in my head for a few weeks now. I had originally intended to write about setting mini-goals for myself each week, other longer term goals, and what not. But then some work stuff went to crap, and it kind of became a non-priority.

One of the goals I had intended to write about (and thus achieve) was to see every movie nominated for a Best Picture* Oscar this year. Somehow, this has been an unspoken goal every year for as long as I've watched the Oscars, and I have not yet been able fulfill it. I'm not sure what I was thinking, especially since this year there are TEN nominated films. When I made the goal. I had seen one: Up. Since I made the goal, I have seen three: Inglourious Basterds and Up In The Air. I rented District 9 from Redbox, but then we had a snowstorm and I had to help dig my neighbors out of their driveway, and by the time that was done it was time to watch The Bachelor.

I've been dying to see An Education, because the screenplay is written by one of my all-time favorite authors, Nick Hornby. But it left the theaters before I could see it, along with A Serious Man, The Hurt Locker, and Precious. The Blind Side was playing until recently, though I didn't really care to see it in the first place. And then there's Avatar. No, I haven't seen it. Yes, I am the last one left on this planet (and every other planet, including Pandora) not to have seen this film. But it's three hours long, costs $15 to see in IMAX, and I have many other exciting activities (like dodgeball) to fill my free time. I am clearly not going to achieve that goal before Sunday, when the Oscars are on ABC.

My other mini-goal was to give up chocolate last week when I was in Florida. That lasted approximately one hour after I arrived at my grandfather's. I did manage to run three days in a row to offset that chocolate, however.

Besides chocolate, movie-watching, and other small goals (success on giving up soda for the past four days!), I'm trying to think about other longer-term goals. I've been working on taking some technology courses to update my skills. However, my job may be moving to a new state. What is a more important goal- having a job, or staying put to finish a program that will take 2+ years?


*Originally I wrote "every movie nominated for an Oscar this year," and that would be a LOT more than ten.