Day 31: My First Try as a Book Club Facilitator

I am a huge fan of book clubs.  I love to read.  I love to be around other people that love to read.  And I love to read books that I never would have read otherwise. 

I have attended dozens of book club meetings.  However, I have never organized or led my own book club.

I am an officer for my school's skeptics/freethinkers group.  I decided that this would be a good group for me to lead a book club with.  I like being around other freethinkers and atheists, most of whom enjoy reading.  So I organized a book club meeting through facebook.  Today was the day of our first meeting.

Result:  I think it went well.  We met in a common gathering space in one of the buildings.  I thought this was a good idea at the time, but I soon realized that I should try to secure a classroom for us to use.  However, we did possibly gain a new member who overheard us discussing religion and atheism.  I read Chapter 1 beforehand and had several discussion points to use from the chapter.  Seven other people showed up, which is a pretty good number for a book club meeting.  We had enough to talk about for the hour that I had allotted for the book club meeting.

Overall, I think it was a good meeting :-) And I am proud of myself for taking the leadership role with this! :-)

Day 30: A Missed Book Club Meeting

Today, I had planned on going to a book club meeting for the book in the above picture.  I've really enjoyed the book, but I still have 100 pages to read (this book is LONG).  So, I skipped the book club meeting.

Result:  I could have gone to the meeting, but after an eventful and busy week, I really just wanted to stay home and relax all day.  I very easily could have beat myself up for not going to the meeting (and I came close to doing so several times), but I just kept reminding myself that I would be much better off mood-wise if I let myself just stay home, relax, and catch up on some school stuff. 

All in all, failing to go to the meeting was a good call :-)

Day 29: A Spinach Quesadilla

Today, I allowed my boyfriend to choose our location to have lunch.  I'm a vegetarian, so usually I choose the place.  But I was feeling adventurous (yes, eating at an unknown location is a risk for me), so I let him choose.

He chose a Mexican restaurant.  I was apprehensive.  But, like I said, I was feeling adventurous, so I chose a food that I am very picky about. 

The quesadilla.

What if there's too much cheese?  What if the spinach isn't good?  What if there's too many peppers and onions?  Obviously, a quesadilla is a difficult food to get right in my eyes.  So I usually avoid it. 

Result:  My adventurous-ness paid off.  It was the best quesadilla I've ever had.  I couldn't freakin' believe it!

Folks, sometimes it pays off to be adventurous.

Day 28: Burlesque

Today I went to a Burlesque show with my boyfriend and some friends.  It was at a place in Atlanta called The Shelter.  I had never been to the venue.  What if it's a dump?  What if there's hardly anyone there?  Or too many people there? 

I had never been to a Burlesque show.  What if it's not really a Burlesque show?  What if I don't have fun? 

Obviously, I worry a lot.  And usually I let my worries make my decisions. But that's why I started this project--because I'm tired of letting my worries and fears always win.  If I listened to my worries all of the time, I probably wouldn't leave my house.  (Seriously.)

Result:

I went to the Burlesque show.  And I had fun!  It was a cool venue with a very diverse crowd.  I really liked the costumes, and it was cool to see dancers with such confidence. 

And now I know what pasties are!

Day 27: Drag me to Hell? Hell, no!

Today, I decided to watch this movie, Drag Me to Hell, with my boyfriend.  He said that he enjoyed it, and that I would probably like it.

Result:  I failed miserably at watching this movie.  I lasted maybe 35 minutes watching this movie.  Anyone that knows me knows that I HATE gorey movies.  I hate anything with blood, surgery, guts, anything like that. 

This movie by far was the grossest, nastiest movie I've ever seen.  I don't know WHAT he was thinking by thinking that I would like it!

And yet, strangely enough, a big part of me wants to watch it again.  On my own.  Because if I can get through this movie, I can get through ANY movie.

Day 26: Sleep Anyone?

Today, I had planned on getting a lot of things done.  Catch up on the NY Times, read a book for a book club, make some craft cards for today's project.

I got none of these things done.  Why?  Because I took a nap at 2pm.  I thought it would just be a 2 hour nap. 

5.5 hours later, I wake up.  Whoops!!!

Without intending to, I failed at taking a short nap and at having a fairly productive day.  I did get my readings done for my science class, though.

Result:  At first I was pissed that I took such a long nap. But then later, when I realized I could use my nap for today's fail project, I felt much relieved. So yay for napping!

Day 25: How to Succeed and Fail at the Same Time

In cognitive psychology, my professor gives pop quizzes. A classmate of mine told me that he tends to quiz on material that we will be learning the day of the quiz. So, in preparation of today's possible pop quiz, I studied chapter 3 and read the article listed for today's date on the syllabus.

We did have a quiz today. However, the quiz was on chapter 1, which I had not read, and on an article by Noam Chomsky, which I hadn't read.

That's how I failed. I read the wrong material. I also failed in the sense that I was worried all freakin' day about this pop quiz.

So how did I succeed? I got a 100 on the quiz! I didn't even read the material, and I was able to figure out the right answers to the questions.

So that is how I failed and succeeded at the same time :-)