As I set out to create this whole 50 for 50 thing I started looking at it as a system – and every system needs a rule set. Given the complexity there needs to be flexibility built into the system to allow for variance but not enough to encourage avoiding the hard work that will be needed.
The top level rules (general rules not tied to specific goals)
There shall be an allowance of switching out of up to five goals for similar or MORE challenging goals. This is to allow for things like injuries or unavoidable conflicts.
There shall be as much data collection as possible. This means that wherever possible collect data points, photos, journal entries, etc. to collect as much data for retrospective (and capstone video). Charts are a plus, Sparklines where applicable
There shall be public posts of progress on a monthly basis (starting Feb 13-March 13). If still off social media then on the WordPress blog.
There should be a internal journal entry at the end of each month to reflect on the last 30 days, what was achieved, where I’m falling behind, and what can be done to accelerate flagging goals.
You should move the needle on at least one goal a day. Even if the day is crazy – read a few chapters, relax listening to a new album, spend 10 minutes practicing guitar repertoire, etc.
Specific Goal Set Rules
When engaging media (albums, movies, books, etc.) you shall not multi-task. You must endeavor to put all your focus into consuming the media is an environment receptive to appreciating it (like listening to albums in a comfy chair, or watching movies in the movie room instead of the computer, etc.)
No cross pollination of goals – For instance making a pizza only satisfies the pizza making goals, not pizza making and international foods. Videos on how to play songs for the learning songs goal don’t count towards the learning hours.
Failing an abstinence goal (no diet soda, no fast food, etc.) shall not trigger a ‘lost day’ it is a temporary setback that is corrected immediately NOT ‘I’ll start again tomorrow’
Started with a thin and crispy dough (think Star Tavern) and topped it with mozzarella, provolone and parmigiano and dollops of sweet fennel Italian sausage. The flavors all came together in an amazing pizza. The crunch was strong and the sausage flavor shone in comparison with the cheeses. Definitely going into the rotation!
Gōngbǎo Jīdīng (Sichuan Kung Pao Chicken), Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao), Pork Egg Rolls. In my attempt to be as authentic as possible as I explore each cuisine I used the Sichuan peppers noted which were.. well.. hot. I mean.. uncomfortably spicy. The taste was phenomenal – the velvet chicken with crunchy peanuts and celery were a flavor bomb – but once the spice train started I stopped being able to taste and at that point it was man vs. food.. and this round, food won. 5 stars would make again – with less peppers.
The entire length of this movie I was thinking to myself – oh, wait this is what Disney’s Aladdin as loosely based on (silly sidekick, princess who needs to be married off, a flying carpet and a dude who falls in love with a woman he’s met for 10 minutes)
Movie starts out with Fairbank’s character being an unrepentant thief (literally he goes into a mosque and tells everyone exactly this) who steals things in the marketplace via his athletic sneakiness and overall charm – ending with him stealing a magic rope that goes in the air by itself (we’ve seen that used frequently in media over the years) – he goes back to his 1 BR studio condo located in a well behind the market and meets up with his partner – showing him the rope and plotting how they can use it .
The announcement comes out that the princess is to be married off and princely suitors should come to Agraba.. Oh wait.. Baghdad and then Alladd.. Oh wait.. ‘the thief’ thinks the Palace! Ah ha! With the rope we can rob that place blind! So they scout out a good location and then use the rope at night to sneak into the castle where the thief steals some jewels via a slapstick comedy involved sleepy fat eunuchs but during his escape he sees the princess and.. BLAM INSTANT DEEP LOVE FOR BOTH OF THEM.
Anyways.. Someone hears the noise and he has to hide under a rug but as he’s trying to leave one of the princess’ handmaidens sees him and chases him off and he goes back to his pal who asks where the treasure is and he says the corniest line in movie history at the time (while holding up the princesses slipper) this is the real treasure. Her slipper – which I’m sure is delightful after sweating all day in the Agrabah.. Shit.. Baghdad sun.
So anyway – the thief is besotted but he isn’t a prince – so he watches the real princes walk in – and there are three of them.. The prince of Persia (not who you think) who is a comically obese sleepy prince, the prince of the indies who is an arrogant jerk and the prince of the Mongols who is dripping with stereotypes. The princess thinks none of them have drip like Alladd.. Dammit.. The thief and despairs before her man rides on a stolen horse wearing stolen clothes pretending to be a prince. He was actually there to kidnap his true love who he met one day ago (Queen Elsa disapproves) but through the Mongol spy in the palace he is revealed to be a common thief!
So the Caliph DQs him and the princess is distraught – so she comes up with a plan to delay them saying give them seven moons to find a gift worthy of her and she will choose – so they go off on an adventure to find these rare treasures. The thief meets up with the priest who he mocked in the beginning asking for help and he showed him a dangerous path to find a great treasure that will surely win this contest but warning him it is a perilous journey.
Prince of Persia takes a nap while his retainers find a magic carpet thanks to a crafty beggar who knew a secret (I see you Walt) and the prince of the Indies finds a lost idol with magic crystal eyes (imagery that is repeated through the years in fantasy elements – and I think it was on the cover of the original D&D players guide) and the Mongol leader finds a hidden magic apple that will heal any injury even dead (which tests on a random fisher man just minding his business)
While this is going on the thief is going through his peril – caves full of flames, giant furry bat attacks, underwater temptations, giant fish/squid monsters, proto-ents, flying horses and general peril – and he eventually finds a magic box that will create whatever the user wants (thanks to the advice of a hermit who lived in the caves) he triumphantly returns to the hermit and.. Promptly rides off on a summoned horse.. Man didn’t even summon up some chicken wings or a lady friend for this lonely hermit. Bruh – not cool.
Anyways, the Mongol’s great idea to win the princess’ favor is to.. Poison her? Presumable to use the apple to heal her.. But its apparent the poison is fact acting and he can’t get there in time (thanks to the crystal ball) so they hitch a ride on the magic carpet and zoom off to save the princess who realizes they all came back with awesome treasures but her true love is still missing..
The Mongol decides he’s tired of her shit and just sneaks in a bunch of warriors to storm the castle, take over the city and imprison the Caliph and the princes. He’s got it made in the shade.. He’s going to marry the princess and rule all of Baghdad.. But wait.. THAT’S THE THIEFS MUSIC!!
He rides in and starts throwing magic dust like a deranged tinker bell summoning up an army 10,000 strong.. The Mongols flee and the prince is about to have his bro execute him when the slave/spy says why not grab the magic carpet and steal the princess? So that’s what he does but the Thief arrives under the cover of his invisibility cloak and rescues her at the last minute!
Potato-Cheddar Pierogi, Lubelskie Cebularze (onion and poppy seed rolls), and a nice Szarlotka for desert. The pierogi weren’t too difficult to make – and the filling was a nice balance of the starchy potato and the sharp cheddar cheese. The rolls were really good, but the choice of parmesan cheese in the recipe I sourced gave it a funky taste that I wasn’t sure meshed with the concept of the dish (Which I would make again, only with just onions and poppy seeds). The desset was a light apple cake that was barely sweetened – using the natural sweetness of the apples instead of sugar. It definitely lacked the expected ‘apple pie’ flavor but it did feel lighter and more clean.
Overall a good meal – and one that is appropriate to make during the winter when root vegetables and apples are the main ingredients.
Sicilian pizza with burrata, marinated tomatoes, basil and balsamic glaze) [2/50]
This pizza was delicious – the savory sauce offset with the sweet burrata and tomatoes made for a satisfying slice. The Sicilian dough requires a long lead time but it was crisp on the bottom with an airy chew that carried it’s own flavor profile against the toppings.
This week our worldwide food tour takes us to India! Starting with Chana Masala a moderately spicy vegetarian chickpea curry paired with fresh naan bread and finally a Mango Lasi to help curb the bite of the spicy curry.
Difficulty: 3/5 Taste: 4/5
The curry was pretty basic, just chickpeas simmered in a tomato based curry and finished with a healthy dose of garam masala. I left the seeds in from the peppers to give it a bit of a kick and the flavor was very curry forward with the heat on the back end. The naan was a bit more complicated – a basic enriched dough (made with yogurt) and proofed overnight. I cooked it on a piping hot cast iron skillet which did a pretty decent job of imitating a tandoor and it was pleasantly chewy and paired well with the curry. The lasi was pretty good but I felt the mango flavor was muted.
I’ve always managed to be relatively successful during Lenten observation – and as I was considering which of the goals I wanted to pursue as part of it this year I thought to myself “Hey, what if.. now hear me out.. what if you gave them all up?’ The willpower to stop one particular thing is difficult so does adding a few more things make it exponentially more difficult or is it the law of diminishing return of willpower? So in order to accelerate 4 of the 50 goals for Lent this year I’ve decided to give up:
Diet Soda (and sugar soda by proxy, since I don’t drink it anyway) Social Media Fast Food Sugar
I mean three of those things can be easily controlled with a change in overall diet philosophy (linked to my overall health goals anyway) but social media? That is a challenge. I’ve read quite a few books over the last year or two around how social media is affecting our ability to focus and is damaging our ability to relate to other people in meaningful ways (Stolen Focus by Johann Hari, Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke, and Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport are three I highly recommend). It’s enlightening to understand how these social media platforms are directly impacting your dopamine and serotonin release pathways to emulate addictive substances. How many times have we been working on something and really trying to focus and we blink and somehow we’re scrolling social media without realizing we’ve picked up our phone? Breaking this habit will likely be the hardest of all due to the unconscious mind looking for a dopamine fix.
So we start by removing the apps from all my phones, then we block the sites via iPhone content controls and then go in and change the local host on my laptop to redirect all calls to those websites to 127.0.0.1 – this removes the ability of the unconscious mind to take over and forces you to make a conscious decision to visit these sites and you can hope the hurdles you’ve put in place are brakes enough to stop you from doing it.
Not sure what will happen over these 40 days but I’ll be tracking them all in my habit tracker and I can share the tracker weekly to keep myself honest and I’ll share any highlights from the time that I feel are worth mentioning.
I decided to go with the top 50 albums of all time (according to Rolling Stone) to choose the albums I’d be listening to. I know myself enough to know that if I just throw on the album my brain will convert it to background noise by the second song. So I decided to implement an ‘intentional listening’ plan. I isolate myself in my comfy red chair (seriously, everyone needs a comfy chair in their life), put on the headphones and pull up the lyrics to all the songs so I can read along with them as the songs are played.
This is the way we used to do it – we’d get the record and the lyrics would be on the sleeves and we’d lie down on our bed and listen to the album in total isolation. It’s a personal intimate experience with the music and one I wanted to replicate
Quick watercolor of Jordan Pond (in Acadia NP). Haven’t touched watercolors in a long time and it showed. However – I got out everything and put it on paper which is a big step as I usually always find time to postpone painting (Bonus: The kids has painting time with me)
50for50tony.me 