Allyson Whipple

Category: challenges

  • December Accomplishments

    Despite all of the holiday-related fun I had in December, this was a pretty good month for my my writing. Here is what I managed to accomplish:

    • Wrote 32 poems
    • Submitted 14 poems
    • Submitted my chapbook manuscript to two competitions
    • Found a new system for keeping track of my submissions (I ended up going with Writer’s Database).
    • Drafted one of my prose ideas I had bouncing around. Except it turned into an epic poem. Whoops! I’d never written an epic poem before, so I’m pretty proud of this. I’d hoped to have a draft ready to show by the new year, but revising to make sure the meter works has been a real challenge, so I’m still plowing away.

    All in all, December was a great month! I produced fewer poems than I’d been writing in the past few months, but the epic took up a lot of my time.

    I’ve set some pretty big goals for my writing in 2012. Here are some specifics for January that will help me accomplish that:

    • Continue with my regular poetry writing and submitting practice
    • Complete the River of Stones project in January (small stones do not count toward my poem-a-day goal)
    • Complete Kelli Russell Agodon’s New Year’s Poetry Resolution Party
    • Complete a draft of one prose piece
    • Complete a draft of the epic poem that I can show  beta readers for feedback

  • In which I finally realize that math is awesome

    I didn’t like math when I was growing up. I wasn’t especially great at it, either. Not horrible, but not fantastic. After a semester of precalculus in college, in which I got a B through hours upon hours having the material re-explained to me in office hours, I threw math aside and never looked back.

    Then, I moved to Austin, where I made friends with mathematicians, physicists, and programmers – all people who were doing cool things with math all day long. Over the past three-and-a-half years (I cannot believe I have lived here this long), I’ve come to see just how absolutely fun it is, and what it can do. Seeing the movie Moneyball on Thursday night only reinforced that feeling. I want to be able to assemble winning baseball teams using formulas!

    It’s not that I had bad teachers when I was in school. But they were never quite able to make me generate enthusiasm for the subject. When I was solving equations and calculating compound interest, I couldn’t find the fun in it. Now, I wish I’d been able to see it back then. It still might not have been an easy subject, but I wouldn’ t have seen it as a chore to slog through, a requirement I had to put up with so I could focus on what actually interested me. I might have been inspired to really focus on the formulas and boring word problems in hope of getting to do something more fun.

    So, since I’m not busy enough (ha, ha), I’m going to learn. Of course, I haven’t studied any sort of math at all since 2003. I don’t even remember most of the basics. But I’m going to re-learn, no matter how long it takes. And then I’ll get to learn the good stuff.

    I’m excited. It’s been a while since I took up any sort of serious academic undertaking. This should be fun. Challenging, but fun.

  • October Unprocessed: A Little More Than Halfway There

    I’m a little more than halfway through October Unprocessed. Despite the fact that I feel fantastic, this has gotten to be a genuine challenge, which I didn’t expect. I assumed that it would be really tough at the beginning, and get easier as the month progressed. Instead, the first week was easy, and it’s gotten more and more difficult. Last week, I thought about quitting on a number of occasions. But I’m still at it, because I don’t want to give up on this.

    Last week in general was tough. It was fun, but it was also exhausting. I was helping to prepare for (and then participating in) Austin Rocks. Cooking unprocessed food was just another chore to add to my list. Even if I wasn’t cooking that often (I’ve been making large batches of things to eat throughout the week), any cooking was a tiring obligation rather than something fun. I wanted to run across the street to get a sub for dinner rather than make something healthy. I envied my friends at work who got to microwave frozen food at work instead of having to plan their food for the week. And at the competition this weekend, I definitely was jealous of my friends who got to eat wherever and  whatever they wanted without having to think about it or plan ahead in case they didn’t have any other options.

    But I powered through. I’m still unprocessed. I haven’t caved. And things definitely feel easier this week, now that I’m not running around with almost no free time. I’ve made some inspiring food. This is going to work. And I’m still planning on sticking with this to some extent once the month is up. Not 24/7, but I’m thinking five days a week. Which will keep me mostly unprocessed, but still allow a few delicious indulgences.

  • October Unprocessed: Days 1-5

     

    So far, October Unprocessed has been relatively easy. There have been a few frustrations here and there, like not being able to order any delicious snacks while watching Breaking Bad at the Alamo Drafthouse. And then I had to explain why I wasn’t eating any of the free Chinese food we got at work on Monday. But the actual eating part has been great. I’m rediscovering my love of cooking and exploring lots of new recipes. I’m eating healthier than I have in a long time.

    It’s frustrating to realize just how much space in grocery stores is occupied by things full of artificial chemicals. It’s amazing how many things I like I just can’t have right now. But I also remember how lucky I am. I have privileges that allow me to take this challenge in the first place. I don’t live in a food desert – I have access to lots of fresh produce (which currently comprises the bulk of my meals). I have leisure time on weekends to bake bread from scratch. I have a car, so a trip to the grocery store takes 20 minutes rather than 2 hours. I have income to shop at more upscale grocery stores which offer a better variety of unprocessed foods. This challenge can be tricky sometimes, but it’s a challenge I might not be able to take in different circumstances.

    Overall, this has been a positive experience so far, and I’m already considering the extent to which I want to make unprocessed eating part of my daily life after October. Ideally, it would be forever, but that would mean never eating at certain restaurants or cooking certain comfort foods ever again.  I’m trying to figure out what sort of balance I want to strike.