Monthly Review: August 2019

Highlights

• Come From Away! I'd decided I would probably skip seeing this musical during its Melbourne run because I couldn't afford it, but Josh kindly bought me a ticket, and I'm so glad he did. It was enormously fun and touching. Highly recommended.
• A visit from my sister who lives interstate. It's always nice to break up daily life with a visit from someone I don't see much.
• Augie March and Grand Salvo. We very nearly piked on this show because it was a bit of a hassle to get to and very late for me (I normally go to bed around 8:30, when the show started). But I'm glad we ended up going because we both had a great time.

August goals

✔️ Publish two blog posts

I published a monthly review and this post about stuff I like.

✔️ Choose a new book to read

I got through two books this month. Now I'm back to needing to choose a new book all over again.

✔️ Release iPad support in Exist for iOS (it was in beta when I set this goal)

Finally got this update released. This one had a long long tail in beta, so it's a relief to have it out. I'm looking forward to the next beta, which includes support for syncing some new attributes from Apple Health and events from iOS calendars.

✔️ Get blood tests done to check vitamin levels

I'd been feeling low in energy, even when sleeping well, and thought blood tests might help me find the cause, but they didn't really tell me anything. Which is good and bad, I suppose.

✖️ Lose 1kg

Although I did get down as far as -1.2kg, I bounced back up. No doubt partly due to a big break from the gym. This wasn't the best goal to set, anyway, since it's not really something I can control. Next time I'll set a goal like eating fewer snacks, sticking to a calorie budget, or hitting the gym a certain number of times in the month, and hopefully fat loss will be a side effect.

Focus habit for August

Practising ukulele:

Ukulele's been going pretty well. I've been doing short practice sessions most days recently, and I've been enjoying learning new songs that each have different challenges.

Books and media

TV

• 3/5 The Handmaid's Tale, Season 3
• 4/5 Orange is the New Black, Season 7
• 4/5 Alone: The Arctic
• 3/5 Years and Years

Movies

• 3.5/5 Sour Grapes

Books

• 5/5 Defeating the Ministers of Death, David Isaacs
• 3/5 The Girl With All the Gifts, M.R. Carey

September goals

• Publish two blog posts
• Choose a new book to read
• Release Exist for iOS update with new Apple Health syncing
• Send out emails to anyone who might need a stagehand (I'm hoping to do some volunteering on indie theatre shows again)
• Get to 3x10 push-ups (currently just on 3x8)

Focus habit for September

I'm going to say ukulele again. It's going well, but another month of focus should help me really solidify the habit.

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