Linkstew

So my review of the summer was late, but my goals for the fall are even later still. Hell, the fall semester is almost half over at this point. But I feel compelled to actually write up my goals for the fall, for completeness. Here goes.

• Graduate! Duh.
• Go to all of my classes in this, my last semester at Berkeley.
• Buy a new Titanium PowerBook G4, as soon as Apple releases an upgrade. The waiting is the hardest part.
• Book I want to read, in the order that I want to read them: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Pratchett's new novel Night Watch, Cryptonomicon, Ender's Game, and Moral Politics (though with Lakoff's class this semester, I'm getting more than my fair dose of him). If I don't get to all of them this semester, that's still the queue and the order I plan to tackle it in.
• My game queue, which I certainly won't get through all of this semester, but which I'll list most of for completeness: Finish Super Mario Sunshine, finish Golden Sun, Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion, Yoshi's Island, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, and Eternal Darkness.
• In addition to the TV shows I've been watching regularly (Buffy, Enterprise, Firefly, and Alias), I need to watch the Cowboy Bebop DVDs I've been borrowing for the last 9 months...
• I've got a list of features I want to add to Linkstew, which include an RSS feed, a recency bar (like the bar on the top of Fury, and "new to you" (also like fury). I'd also like to refine my categories, but that's a really tedious job.
• I need to start tying up all of my loose ends at work, because I'll be done there before I know it.
• Since I've figured out that I'm not going to grad school next fall (more on that later), I need to figure out where I'll go and what I'll do after Berkeley. I've got a few interesting options on the table, but I'm not ready to talk about them yet.
• And finally, go snowboarding as much as I can once Kirkwood opens. I've got my season pass... Do you?

This summer, I'm "merely" working one job. But I've got one new programmer starting a month for the next three months, which means that in addition to the onslaught of projects I've got to get done, I'll also be constantly worrying about the new programmers and making sure that they're up to speed and making progress on their projects. But, there's no school to worry about, so when I go home at night, instead of worrying about homework, I'll be able to do things I want to do. So, what do I want to get done this summer?

• Not only do I plan to do more reading this summer, but I've already read four books since I finished my last final a week ago. Anyway, books I plan to read this summer (including ones I've already read in the last week) include Microserfs, House of Leaves, Snow Crash, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Ender's Game, Moral Politics: How Conservatives and Liberals Think by George Lakoff, and maybe the few non-Discworld Pratchett novels I just noticed that (for some reason) I have in my collection that I haven't read yet.
• Games I hope to get around to playing, in the order I hope to play them: finish Jedi Outcast, finish ICO, finish Golden Sun, play Metal Gear Solid 2, finish Zelda Oracle of Ages, and play Eternal Darkness if time permits.
• Stop using the word "hate" so much. Whether I mean it, others don't always know whether or not I mean it when I say "I hate you."
• Fix whatever is wrong with Linkstew.
• Study for the GRE, which I'll take in the fall. Register to take it, too.
• And a ton of projects to get done at work, besides.

My vacation plans:

• To Bakersfield/Isabella from June 7th through June 11th, and possibly longer, because I've got Jury Duty on the 10th. I figure I've gotten out of Jury Duty three times in the last two years, so I might as well stop by once to see what they want.
• To Isabella (mainly) from July 11th through July 15th, for jetskiing and other familial visiting.
• (maybe) To LA and Anaheim via Bakersfield from July 25th through July 29th for a couple of TMBG concerts. (Tentative plans)

And if I get all of that done, then it will have been a more than successful summer. And so far, I'm completely happy with the way the first week's gone.

This list is based partially on what I didn't finish last semester, and partially on things that have come up in the mean time.

• I'm taking four classes, and I'd like to get As in at least two of them, and at least Bs in the rest of them.
• Apply for, and hopefully get accepted as a summer 61a TA.
• Plan for next year, and hopefully decide whether or I'll take just one extra semester of classes or two.
• Do more grad school research.
• Organize my life, using some combination of the office tools (Corporate Time and "The Project Tool") and my Palm Pilot and whatever else it takes. I can't have a repeat of last semester on this front.
• Read House of Leaves, Snow Crash, Neverwhere, Ender's Game, the fourth Harry Potter book (if it comes out in paper back, or I find someone to borrow it from), and anything else that crosses my path. I've got a hunch that I'll be doing a lot more reading this semester...
• Games to play: ICO, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2, Devil May Cry, Pikmin, and finish Zelda Oracle of Seasons, Zelda Oracle of Ages, and Golden Sun. Haha, yeah right, like all of that will ever happen. I still need to at least play ICO, since I'm borrowing that. On the bright side, there aren't many games coming out this semester that I'm particularly looking forward to. I also suspect I'll be playing fewer games this semester than last, so thankfully there are no 50 hour RPGs on my list.
• Overhaul the third site, and play with my new ideas in The Stew.
• Finish building my brother's computer.