Category One Shot Goals

Goal Met – Brew my Own Beer

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OK – I cheated a little with this and bought a kit that had all the ingredients and equipment I’d need. I figured the whole point was to learn the process and being stepped through it and handed all the ingredients measured out still accomplished that! Besides – it was less expensive to just buy the kit than purchase everything else I needed.

I originally wanted the chocolate stout but they didn’t have that in stock – so I opted for the orange golden which sounded pretty tasty. The kit came with all the brewing stuff I’d need (bottles sold separately) and some pretty straightforward instructions.

I did do a bunch of research on YouTube to get some hints and things to watch out for and they all seemed to agree with the instructions provided so I set to work making some beer.

The first step was steeping the grains, then adding the malt and bitters and boiling for 60 minutes (creating the wort) adding the aromatics and orange peels right at the end. Then I had to rapidly cool the pot to cool off the wort – easily done with a big steel pot full of ice and water. Once cooled, I filled the brewing carboy and setup the off-gassing system (a tube going from the stopper on the carboy to a glass half filled with water).

Then came the waiting part – somewhere around three days the bubbling in the water will stop and you can switch to the interlock cap and then let the beer hang out in a dark place for about two weeks. There’s a complex siphoning kit that lets you fill the bottles with beer while avoiding the sediment on the bottom of the carboy – mix it with the priming sugar and you’ve got a yeast feast!

Once the bottles are filled they hang out for another two weeks while the carbonation starts happening – after two weeks they need to go to the fridge to slow down the carbonation or you’re going to have bottle bombs.

Overall not too complicated a process and I learned a lot about what it takes to make beer – why each step of the process is important and that the process is easy, you just need a couple of hours of actual work then let time and nature do its thing!

Books Read (Update)

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34,752 pages read in total this year.
66 Books
17 Non-Fiction
39 Fiction

I didn’t write a review for all the fiction books I read this year because that would be an issue with how fast I go through them – it would cut into time I needed for other things, so I only wrote posts for the non fiction books but here’s a quick video showing all the books I read this year – enjoy!

Goal Met – Create 50 Art Pieces

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I’ve always like sketching and painting – when I was a kid my favorite class was art. I actually was good enough to get a few different scholarship offers to art school but was talked out of going and instead went into technology and the rest, they say, is history.

I have a few sketch pads on my shelves filled with honest efforts to start drawing and painting again but they usually only have a few pages in them before life just gets too busy and I need to start prioritizing where I spend my time. I’ve always wondered if downplaying the need to create is leading to a more stressful life as it’s one of the things I truly enjoy doing. However, I find myself in a cycle where I pick it up again, I suck at it, I keep trying and get some skills back, then put it away only to repeat this cycle the next time I feel the need to start drawing again.

So I thought if I forced myself to create 50 pieces of art this year I’d kickstart those old habits and maybe pick up something fun again. I didn’t limit it to sketching or drawing, I included things like videos but only if they required something creative (like rotoscoping, green screens, etc.)

As to what to draw? That actually was a bigger challenge. I searched out daily sketch idea websites and they seemed OK. I had a book ‘sketch with dad’ where my daughter and I would take turns drawing in the book and I did a bunch of directed draw videos with my son teaching him how to draw by following along with him.

One old sketchbook idea reared its head when I was digging out some old art books – I had planned to draw all the creatures in the D&D Monster Manual (original version, TYVM)I don’t know how long that project has been simmering but I thought hey – I need some inspiration on days when nothing else is working so I’d randomly pick a monster and then draw it using the book/websites as a source.

Here’s some things I learned: I absolutely suck at drawing human faces. I mean, it’s embarrassing how bad it is – like a knockoff version of the uncanny valley. One of the things I want to work on after this 50 for 50 thing is done is just drawing faces one after another until I can make a person not look like a homunculus.

That being said – I did enjoy drawing and even when it didn’t turn out good I learned something about proportion, anatomy, and texturing.

Goal Met – Cook 50 dishes from different countries

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Embarking on a culinary journey to explore global cuisines is akin to unlocking a treasure trove of flavors, traditions, and stories from around the world—all within the confines of your own kitchen. It’s an adventure that transcends mere cooking; it’s about immersing oneself in diverse cultures, understanding their histories, and appreciating the unique ingredients that define their culinary identities.

Diving into unfamiliar recipes can be both exhilarating and humbling. There’s a certain thrill in sourcing exotic spices you’ve never encountered before or mastering a cooking technique that’s entirely new to you. Each dish becomes a lesson, not just in culinary arts, but in geography, history, and anthropology. It’s a hands-on way to experience the world, one plate at a time.

I first thought lets make it 50 countries I’ve never cooked a dish from before but when I checked my notes I saw that would make this pretty much impossible as I’ve been picking various dishes to cook from other countries for years and if I limited it that way I’d be hamstringing myself. I did set a rule that where I could, I would make something new from that country instead of repeating a dish (I broke this rule with Italy since I’ve been cooking Italian food my whole life and I’d need to dig deep to find something)

The first 10-15 countries were easy as I zeroed in on the most popular cuisines globally and did some light research to find dishes that were representative of that country. It was fun learning about why each food was relevant and cross referencing different recipes to see if there’s a common consensus (ChatGPT is great for this task) once I got past those low hanging fruits I actually found a few websites that would let you randomly pick a country and I rolled the proverbial dice each week and tried to cook a dish from whatever country it landed on (hence some of the more esoteric choices)

Most of the time I was able to identify a dish that was representative and source the ingredients locally but sometimes I had to special order ingredients for more exotic dishes which was fun as then I’d have to try to find a use for those ingredients after I made the dish (Soups, it was all soups)

I kept track of the countries via a map API in my google sheet and it was fun watching the countries fill in as I made each dish.

In essence, learning to cook new foods and experimenting with diverse ingredients is a celebration of cultural diversity and a testament to the unifying power of food. It’s an invitation to step out of your culinary comfort zone, to taste the world, and to bring a piece of it into your home. So, don your apron, gather those exotic spices, and embark on a gastronomic adventure that promises to enrich both your palate and your understanding of the world.

Goal Met – Paint Bob Ross Painting

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Now this may, on its head, seem like an odd goal. But I’ve always wanted to do this and part of this 50 for 50 thing was to realize this dreams and goals that have been subsided by bigger things in life.

I need to preface this by telling a story. My mother was a painter – she used it as therapy after she had a stroke and she’s the one who taught me how to draw and paint and encouraged me to create and explore art.  One thing I knew each week was that Bob Ross would be on the TV when I got home from school and we’d watch it together and I would be absolutely fascinated how he’d just create a stunning landscape out of nothing – just slapping paint on the canvas and *bam* clouds! Pallete knife? *bam* mountains.. It was like magic.

Even at that young age I wanted to try, but we didn’t have oil paints and the things we needed so I kind of just shelved the idea but I still watched the show each week with my mom and tried to guess what Bob would be up to that week.

I didn’t think about it for a while until I was looking at something else online and saw that they released a bunch of Bob Ross videos onto YouTube and I was immediately taken back to that 1980’s couch (you know the one – we all had it in fact if I googled 1980’s couch it’s the FIRST RESULT) eating my after school snack and watching bob on the ol’ 32 inch color TV

I knew I wanted to try to recreate a Bob Ross painting and this goal series seemed like a good place to make that happen. I had some canvas and brushes and some oil paints so all I needed was the ‘magic white’ and a few colors I was missing and I followed along with a Youtube tutorial and I learned very quickly that Bob Ross makes it look easy, but it isn’t. I struggled so much with the mountains that they look terrible but when I tried to fix them they ended up looking worse than when that one lady ‘fixed’ that Jesus painting

The rest of the painting wasn’t too bad actually – I had to pause and rewind frequently but I managed to get most of the process down. Other than the horrid mountains, the rest of it was adequate.

But you know what Bob ross would say?

Thanks Bob – I think I’m going to try again but do some research first – maybe watch some tutorials or something that can give me more pointers but I really enjoyed the experience of painting this and will definitely try a different one

Goal Met – Write a Short Story (10,000 words)

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So I had this idea that had been percolating in my head for a while for a story and I always wanted to sit down and write it out to see what form it would take. I actually had a one note page with some idea snippets and overall themes and worldbuilding but never sat down and stared at the blank page.

I struggled with this goal for a while because I either had so many ideas I didn’t know where to start, or my brain was hiding all it’s good ideas deep down where I keep all the names of my grade school teachers. I didn’t waste all the time though as I added more notes and ideas to my notebook trying to kickstart some good ideas.

I think it was tongue in cheek when the first words I wrote were that the main character was lost as I self identify with that character in a lot of ways. But something happened once I put those words down – the story just started flowing onto the page as all the various parts I had in my Lego bin of a brain started clicking together. I had written chapter one and two, and once I had some sort of progress I knew I needed a bit of a prelude to explain what set all these events in motion.  That also led to another flashback chapter which provides a bit more context as to what he’s doing wandering around lost in the mountains to begin with.

I got a few more chapters in before I started having to map out where the plot was going so I didn’t write myself into a corner. That’s when I started exploring various writing tools and worldbuilding apps (some even AI based) to help build out the world a bit and have a sketch of an outline. As a discovery writer I sometimes create entire new sections because I think the idea is cool and trying to lockstep that to a hard outline would feel constraining. 

The only issue was that I blasted past my 10,000 word goal and I have no plans on stopping. While I don’t fancy myself a professional writer by any means, I really feel like there’s a book here that I should finish writing if only to prove to myself that I can. I’m actually really excited by some of the worldbuilding I’ve created and the characters so even if I’m the only one who reads it I kind of want to see how this plays out.

So I’m marking this goal as done – I wrote the short story in my head and then expanded it to a much greater idea and will be posting chapters on this blog as we go.

Goal Met – No Social Media for 30 days

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This was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be as using social media is an ingrained habit and something that I kind of did unconsciously. I don’t really post much (although when I first started I was posting a lot) I just read posts and laugh at memes but I found myself doing it for blocks of time that were just way too long. I did a bunch of research (written up below) and made some stark changes to the way I access my electronic media in order to go this 30 day thing. I deleted the apps from my phone, I black holed the sites on my router for all my devices and blocked the sites on my mobile browsers. I found a neat extension for FireFox that nukes YouTube’s algorithm to stave off that video rabbit hole that algorithm sometimes sends you into. It seems a bit extreme but in the first week I found myself with my phone in my hand and me staring at it wondering when I decided to take it out (I didn’t, spoiler: My dopamine fiend brain did)

After 30 days I started to have a clear delineation of harmful vs harmless social media. FB and IG weren’t bad as sharing mechanisms but the stuff that was being fed to me seemed deliberate to make me angry and research has shown that’s by design. It keeps you engaged and on the platform where they can feed you more ads. The biggest contributor to anxiety is Reddit – Even if I filter for just the subreddits I’m interested in they keep serving me up platters of hate in fact that’s the only platform I still haven’t returned to in some form. I simply just don’t need to endlessly doom scroll and fill my mind with all that is wrong with the world for hours on end each day. That’s just not healthy.

I still go onto FB every now and then to see what my friends are up to and log into IG once a week or so to look at all the memes my wife sends but I just don’t have the same drive I used to. It’s probably because I’m older now and just don’t have time for that bullshit anymore.

[Research]

Taking a 30-day break from social media can have profound effects on mental, emotional, and even physical health. Research increasingly supports the idea that stepping away from constant digital engagement can lead to improved well-being, increased focus, and better social connections. A 2018 study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology found that limiting social media use to just 30 minutes per day significantly reduced feelings of loneliness and depression in participants. But what happens when you eliminate it altogether for a month? The effects can be even more pronounced. Without the constant influx of notifications, comparison traps, and algorithm-driven content designed to keep users engaged, individuals often report lower stress levels, improved sleep, and an overall boost in happiness. Another study from the University of Pennsylvania reinforced these findings, showing that those who took breaks from social media experienced decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression, largely due to reduced exposure to unrealistic portrayals of life and fewer opportunities for negative social comparison.

Beyond mental health benefits, a social media detox can also improve cognitive function and productivity. The brain thrives on deep work and focus, but social media platforms encourage fragmented attention, pulling users into an endless loop of scrolling, clicking, and responding to stimuli. A study from the Harvard Business Review highlighted that frequent social media use diminishes attention spans and reduces our ability to engage in complex problem-solving. Without social media interruptions, individuals often find themselves more engaged in work, creative pursuits, and meaningful conversations. This kind of sustained focus has been linked to higher levels of personal satisfaction and professional success. Furthermore, stepping away from social media reduces the addictive dopamine-driven cycle of instant gratification, allowing the brain to reset and regain a healthier relationship with digital consumption.

The physical benefits of a social media detox are also worth noting. Excessive screen time, particularly before bed, has been linked to poor sleep quality due to blue light exposure and mental overstimulation. A 2019 study in Sleep Health found that individuals who used social media late at night took longer to fall asleep and had poorer sleep quality compared to those who disengaged earlier in the evening. Removing social media from daily habits can lead to deeper rest, increased energy levels, and even improvements in physical activity. Many individuals who take a break from social media report spending more time outdoors, exercising, or engaging in hobbies they previously neglected. This shift not only boosts physical health but also contributes to improved mood and emotional resilience. A study by the American Psychological Association suggests that time spent in nature—rather than in front of a screen—reduces cortisol levels, the body’s primary stress hormone, leading to a greater sense of calm and well-being.

Emotionally, a break from social media can foster healthier relationships and a stronger sense of self. Social media often fuels feelings of inadequacy, FOMO (fear of missing out), and the pressure to constantly share curated versions of one’s life. By stepping away, individuals can reconnect with their own values, develop a greater sense of self-worth independent of online validation, and strengthen real-world relationships. A study from Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking found that excessive social media use correlates with decreased face-to-face interactions, which are essential for emotional well-being. Many participants who took a month-long break from social media reported deeper conversations, improved relationships, and a greater appreciation for in-person connections. The detox period allows people to re-engage with life in a more present and intentional way, free from the pressures of digital self-presentation.

Ultimately, a 30-day break from social media is more than just a temporary detox—it can be a powerful reset for the mind and body. Whether it leads to a permanent reduction in usage or simply provides a new perspective on the role of digital engagement, the benefits are well-documented. Improved mental health, enhanced focus, better sleep, more physical activity, and stronger relationships are just a few of the scientifically-backed reasons to give it a try. With social media becoming an increasingly dominant force in modern life, stepping away—even for a short time—can serve as a reminder that true fulfillment is often found offline.

Goal Met: Make 50 Different Pizzas

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This will be a cakewalk, I said to myself, I make pizza all the time how hard can it be to make 50 different pizzas? Let me tell you dear readers – it was very hard. The first few were easy as I busted out crowd favorites like Neapolitan, Pepperoni, and even a meat lovers. It was about 10 pizzas in when I started to wonder if just coming up with new toppings was a good way to accomplish this.

I did some research into topping combos and came up with a few that looked interesting but as part of my research I started seeing more regional pizzas pop up and it got me interested in how pizza can change as it travels across the world or even across the state. So I did a deep dive and became a pizzaologist. Tracking pizza as it went through all its different iterative changes.

These regional pizzas were still dough, sauce, and cheese but the way they went about it changed and I used my handy research assistant (ChatGPT) to do a deep dive into how Pizza was introduced to these regions and what the history of the style was (you can find these in the individual pizza posts) and it was some fascinating stuff.

Now there are some that argue for one style of pizza as being ‘real pizza’ and I get it. For me it’s a two way tie between a classic NY/NJ slice and true Neapolitan pizza. I get the appeal of Chicago deep dish and the buttery crust of a real good pan pizza and to be honest, I love them all. I’m not an elitist in that way (No, don’t take my NY Pizza card!) but I always come back to the classics when I’m in the mood for a good pizza that scratches that itch.

It was an educational journey and introduced a few new pies into my rotation (such as Apizza or pizza fritte) and there were a few that were just not great such as the steamed pizza. It’s like.. A bao bun with sauce and cheese. The texture was just not what I want from a pizza. The flavor was alright, but man I like steam buns and pizza but not this unholy fusion.

I’m glad I did this and I feel like I can talk about regional / international pizzas with a much more informed opinion having made and tried a lot of them.  The only drawback was I always felt like I needed to be making a new pizza even if I wanted a classic pie. Now that it’s over I expect classic margheritas are on tap for a few weeks to make things simple!

Goal Met – 5 a.m. Wake Up Call

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I’m not going to lie – this sucked pretty bad. I’m partially to blame, as I waited to long to do this and had to do it in the middle of winter when it was pitch black at 5am and the house was freezing.  This whole idea stemmed from the five am club book that was making its rounds on social media. The book had a whole structure on how to utilize the time breaking it down into discrete segments which might have worked if I had done this in the summer.

I did do some planning however – I made a pitcher of iced tea from some high caffeine tea and had it ready to go so as soon as I woke up I drank a glass of that and a glass of water to help wake my body up.  I stumbled down into my office, the only place I could make some noise without waking up the kids. I did some light stretching to try to get some blood flowing then started working on my curated to do list.

That’s where I started to see some issue – my brain just wasn’t ready for structured work and it took the tea about 40 minutes to really kick in before I felt awake enough to trust what I was doing would be accurate. So I switched to more creative tasks where accuracy wasn’t that necessary.  Notably the short story I was working on – in fact during this week I wrote about 10,000 words which was almost double what I had so far (writers block can be a real pain sometimes) – I settled into a habit where I’d sketch out the next few plot points that I needed to hit then just wrote for an hour or more letting the words just come out. I’d spend the last 30 minutes reviewing what I wrote and making some light edits to strengthen the structure (mostly due to changes made later in the story)

I actually felt really productive in those two hours but getting up at five was a real struggle as I’m not a morning person but oddly enough I never felt the spark to write late at night so I really did have better results with that five am wake up call. I just couldn’t see myself continuing it for any length of time as I really like staying up late – those few hours after the kids go to bed are the prime hours for me to be creative or get tasks done or even relax with a baseball game or even some video game time.  It’s hard to do all that at five am in the morning (possible, but not easy)

I’m glad I gave this a shot  – in fact my body adapted pretty quickly and by the third day I was waking up on my own before the alarms would go off. I tried hard to get to bed by 10 each night but sometimes I got distracted with something and looked up and realized it was 11:30 which means I wasn’t falling asleep until at least midnight – those few times were particularly brutal.

Goal Met – 50 Hours of Italian Learning

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Ciao! Come Stai? Io vorrei studiaro il parlaro Italian. Stavo Andado Italia in maggio e Io Volevo imparare molto Italiano.

Ok, that’s about as much butchered Italian as I’m going to subject you to. It’s a lot easier for me to read and understand than to write or speak as conjugating the verbs correctly is easier to do when you are looking at them in front of you.

This one was a slog at time as learning a new language is a tough thing to do – there’s a lot of rules you need to be sure of and in the beginning it was pretty easy as everything I was learning was in present tense but when we started looking at all the tenses it got complicated very quickly. 

I was using a mixture of learning methods for this. The primary one was the Babbel app as it allowed me to learn in 10-20 minute increments and was really good for vocabulary reinforcement.  I mixed in a few Youtube teachers focusing in on structure and grammar as those things aren’t as focused in the app and listening to Italian content (even in the background) helped my brain normalize the language (this trick I picked up from a few different teachers)

It did actually help me a little when I travelled to Italy as I could navigate the shops and pay for things using Italian which felt like an accomplishment as small as it was. I could read most of the signs and figure things out using context clues so I felt like I was putting my learning to use. Once I got back I kept at it figuring if I keep learning the next time I go back, I’ll be even better prepared!

I felt like using multiple sources of learning was the right approach as each offered a different perspective and where they crossed over, the learnings were reinforced. I started working Italian words into my daily life to entertain my kids and I made sure to pronounce them as Italian as possible to annoy my wife.

This is one of the things I’m opting to carry over into the future as I really want to strengthen my language skills and it’s still a challenge to me which means I’m engaging that learning process that I’ve worked so hard to develop this year.

Ciao Tutti!