Category: Personal Project

30x30, Books, Quotes

Book 315: The Fellowship of the Ring (LOTR #1) – J.R.R. Tolkien

Geoff W

I can’t believe I let ten years go by before re-reading this. I first read these in high school just before the films were released and I don’t think I truly appreciated how great they were then and still probably don’t. I’ve already re-read The Hobbit twice since then and I’m re-reading these as part of my 30×30 list and am incredibly happy I added it to the list, it might go on my 40×40 too!

As much as I love the films, this re-read reminded me just how much was left out and how much was shifted around for dramatic effects in the films. Things that happened in this first book. i.e. the forging of Andúril, didn’t happen until the third film and it’s like WHOA. I was also sad that Tom Bombadil didn’t make it into the movies, even the extended edition, because he’s such a great character and establishes the youth of the ancient elves which is something you don’t really think about. However, I completely understand why Jackson made many of the decisions he did and mostly I’m glad they made these before it became popular to split the final movie of a book trilogy into two films!

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30x30

30 x 30: #22 – Visit the Somerville Museum

Geoff W

2014 11-09 Somerville MuseumWell what I thought would be the twentieth didn’t happen, but I’m officially down to 10 items left. I have plans for most of them, but time is slowly getting away from me!

I walk by the Somerville Museum pretty frequently and I’ve very rarely seen it open.

Even today when they had an event the sign still read closed and I was like uh… I’m gutted I missed the event earlier this year when they had artwork from local high school students as I feel like I would really have enjoyed the opportunity to explore the building a bit more than I had today. But with that being said it was a neat old building and I’m glad I went to the talk even if I did start to nod off.

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30x30

30 x 30: #28 – Get out of non-student loan debt

Geoff W

2014 10-31 No More CC DebtI’m down to 11 and after this weekend I’ll be down to 10 and will have started two more with a third one on-going. I’m going to kick this list’s butt! I’m not sure I’ve ever been happier seeing a bar chart (and I really like bar charts), but watching that little debt bar on Mint.com slowly dwindle away and actually turn green (whoops I overpaid :-D) this year has been AWESOME!

If there was one I was most scared of not accomplishing and one that I will forever be most proud of accomplishing it is getting out of non-student loan debt (AKA credit card debt). Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have an outrageous amount of debt, however, it was enough to make me wonder why I’d accrued it. And I know exactly why, but I’m not going into that, this is about the excitement of paying it off.

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Books, Coursera, Personal Project

Book 310: Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll

Geoff W

I honestly didn’t think I would get back to Alice and her adventures. The Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was so ho-hum that I had no desire to read this one, but this was the second book I read as part of my first short-lived Coursera course. Unfortunately due to entirely way to many commitments and needing to read FOUR books for my 30 x 30 list over the next two months, I just couldn’t give up 10 weeks of reading time. I will most definitely take the course at a later date though!

I definitely found this book less whimsical than the first, which is funny as I’m convinced there are so many more made-up words in this novella. Honestly, I have no idea what it is that made me appreciate this one more. Was it that Alice actually started feeling the pressures of adulthood in this book? Or was it that the doom and gloom of the “chess match” of the looking-glass world spoke to me.

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30x30, Personal Project

30 x 30: #30 – Visit Alie in VA

Geoff W

2014 10-17 Virginia is for FriendsI was able to squeeze the 18th list item into an incredibly busy weekend. We flew down to Virginia for a wedding this past weekend and we were so close to where my BFF from growing up, Alie, lives and I knew I had to see her. This was one of the two I thought might happen AFTER my birthday, but squeezing it in made it happen BEFORE!

Alie has lived in Virginia for longer than I’ve lived in Boston and I just haven’t had the money to get down to visit her. We’ve seen each other a couple of times since high school, most recently for our 10 year reunion last year, but we talk everyday and it was good to see where she lived. I no longer fear that she lives in the middle of a war zone in a rundown building with hoodlums running around. (Seeing really goes a long way for alleviating those worries.

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