I will now accept a nice cold glass of accolade

We had a good trip to Milwaukee. It was a bit short, but good.

Marcia and I finally passed a major monument in our lives together. We graduated. M received her PhD, and I had the title of Master of the Arts conferred upon me. Before The graduation ceremony I was actually feeling fairly apathetic towards the whole affair. At some point I think I started to not care about whether or not I graduated. I mean, I have a wife and child to take care of. I am the main bread winner. This shining moment still doesn’t outshine my responsibilities.

What I didn’t realize was how much receiving a silly piece of parchment would actually mean. I was, and am, quite proud of myself. I worked hard, and it shows. It took me a little longer to finish than I wanted, but I also did it the right way and didn’t compromise my family along the way.

I am extremely proud of M too. She worked her ass off to see her dissertation completed. When I watched her walk down the aisle during the commencement, with Dr. Block her committee chair, I was elated at watching her take the first step into her life’s work.

When we came back to reality, a state of mind I like to call San Mateo, we realized that we had to get our acts together. Will has gotten increasingly faster as he has gotten older. I on the other hand have not. I started my fitness regime again. I want to be able to play ball with the kid and not get winded on my way to the door, so that means salads, light snacks, fresh fruits and veggies, aqua and exercise are my new best friends.

So with that I am feeling good. I have some goals that I want to accomplish. A better way to word it is that I have some habits I want to develop. Here are a few:

1. Start journaling more – whether its posted cool things I have found on the web, ruminating on current events, or posting new design pieces and experiences. I need to start exercising my brain more. I feel like my brain has severely atrophied. I haven’t put it through the proper paces. Sure, I have stressed myself out with work and school, but I haven’t done any critical thinking.
2. Read at least for a half hour per day. Whether its a magazine article or new book. Just something to excite my synapses. This includes audiobooks as well. Its not the same aas reading, but the critical thought will get my brain juice flowin.
3. Draw, digital paint, design. Anything I can do to increase my skills in visual design.
4. Spend a half hour exercising everyday. 7 days a week.

Again these are just a few habits, but I plan to expand this list.