The Plaid Pladd

Goodbye, 2015!!! Thank you for being so much better than shitty 2014, although of course there is still room for improvement. Here’s how I did on my goals this year:

1. Read 1 Book Each Month I Think I’ll Disagree With: 100%

I have to admit, Hate Book Club really helped me out with this one.

October: My Unfair Lady

My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy

We’ll talk more about this during my yearly book roundup later, but it’s a romance novel that features an American prospector’s daughter trying to learn how to be a real lady from a duke. It’s everything you can imagine and more.

November: Interview with a Vampire

This one was for Hate Book Club, and it really let me down. The hype had led me to believe it would be re-goddamn-diculous, and it ended up just being kind of boring.

December: Eat This, Not That

This one is like… if you want to eat healthy but only at fast food restaurants, here are the things that will kill you the least. Needless to say, it did not win me over.

2. Finish I Detonate Around Him: 100%

Bam! I know in my last update I said I was technically finished, but now I am FULL ON finished. With the stupid original trilogy, and the even stupider follow-up book ELJames published this year. Now it’s done for real. Until she writes something else, I guess.

And this will forever be in my “Read” list on GoodReads. THANKS, TUMBLR

3. Visit Every Restaurant on my Restaurants to Visit List: 87%

This is the one I really fell down on at the end. I have 4 restaurants left:

–Angus Barn, which is a hella expensive steak place with a “chef’s table” where you get to sit in the kitchen. That thing is booked solid for the foreseeable future.

–Abyssinia Ethiopian, which I legit TRIED to go to once, but their website lied about their hours, and I ended up going to a great cafe next door. After being burned once, I wasn’t willing to trust again.

–Pho Far East, which is like 40 minutes from here. That’s my only excuse.

–Saint-Jacques French Cuisine, which is also pricey.

I’m okay with this outcome. I discovered a lot of GREAT restaurants, that I have definitely been back to since.

4. Review at least 1 thing a month online: 100%

I’m a little disappointed in myself on this one, because I fell back on reviewing a lot of books on GoodReads. It’s the thing I feel most qualified reviewing. I did leave a critical review of a local store I have vowed never to go to again after being uncomfortable too many times, which is something I probably never would have done without this project.

5. One Guest Post a Month: 100%!!!!

This was the best one!!! But also the hardest. For all of us. In October, Steven wrote a post about his hobby of the moment, leatherworking. I was hoping he would write about his undying love for My Little Pony, but alas. In November, my friend Adrienne wrote about what it’s like to move abroad to Spain!! With great pictures! And in the final moments of the year, James Fox bookended 2015 with a guest post about video games!

I reread most of the guest posts last night, and they’re maybe my favorite New Years project ever. They’re all so different and funny and interesting. Thanks, everyone, who helped make it possible!

January: Bad Animes: First Blood, Part II (section 3.b) by James Fox
February: A Scholarly Ranking of America’s Next Top Model Winners by Rob
March: Mom Ladd on being Mom Ladd by Mom Ladd
April: Treasures of Pinterest by Melissa
May: How to Soup by Anna
June: The 10 Best BBC Miniseries Adapted from Novels by Alana
July: The REAL Story of the Dahlgrens’ trip to Europe by Cynthia
August: What it was like being “Dad Ladd” by Dad Ladd
September: All the Stuff I forgot to do in College by Brian
October: Adventures in Leather Costumery by Steven
November: The Rain in Spain by Adrienne
December: VIDEO GAMES, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bouncer by James Fox

6. Knit a Sweater: 100%!!!!

I can’t believe I did it!!!

Look at this beast

7. Get Hella Into a Different DDC Class each month: 100%

The saving grace of this goal was that I wisely never specified a way to quantify “hella into”. I may have read only one book in each category towards the end but I DID IT, regardless.

Total: 98%

I’ll take it!! I’ll post my goals for 2016 soon.

Previously: 2015: 75%

In what has become a yearly tradition, it’s time to list my goals for 2015! I mainly write blog posts about them to hold myself accountable. It’s way more motivation to accomplish things when you know you’ll have to explain yourself to the internet if you don’t. This year I have seven goals again, which seems a little audacious considering how well last year’s six goals went. But 2015 is going to be awesome and I can do this! But I might need your help (see below).

1. Read 1 book each month I think I’ll disagree with

I thought of this goal when I decided to check out Rush Limbaugh’s ridiculous time-traveling children’s book to laugh at one weekend. The thought occurred to me while driving home from work that what if it was good??? This seemed kind of unlikely, but there was always a chance that dude managed to restrain his intense grossness for the children. And he kind of did? In that this book was just massively boring instead of actively trying to kill me with its terribleness. Anyway, I determined to become more informed about things I think I disagree with, and at least give other people the chance I would hope they’d grant me. Plus, if they don’t manage to change my mind, at least I’ll be more informed about the things I dislike.

Like that time I read all the Twilight books

2. Finish I Detonate Around Him
Speaking of things I dislike, it’s finally time to get back to my tumblr that mocks the 50 Shades of Grey series. I’m on the third book, I can power through this bullshit.

3. Visit every restaurant on my list of restaurants to visit
Last year I checked out a book about restaurants in the triangle, and naturally made a spreadsheet of all the ones that sounded cool. But you know my spreadsheets just get ignored unless I make a big deal blog project out of them.

4. Review at least 1 thing online a month
I realized last year that I rely heavily on online reviews when deciding things like what blender to buy or where to take my car for an oil change, but I never write online reviews myself. That is going to change right now! I have to start giving back for the good of the community.

5. Plaid Pladd Blog: One guest blog post per month
This is where I need your help. I thought it might be fun to invite people who aren’t me to write blog posts, especially people who don’t have their own blog or can’t be bothered to update it regularly because that shit’s hard, man, I get it. You could write a blog post about anything! Here are just some ideas:

1) a review of some restaurant or place you love (or hate?) with pictures!
2) a book review
3) a tutorial on something you know how to do
4) explain your daily schedule in gifs
5) why something you love is awesome and/or something you hate is stupid
6) you can answer some of my spam mail if you want
7) THE ONLY LIMIT IS YOUR IMAGINATION

Hit me up if you’re into it. Or I can badger you about it when I get desperate in August. Your choice.

This guy already agreed, so you know it’s solid

6. Knit a sweater

Oh yeah, it’s back. Technically in 2013 I vowed to knit a cardigan, not a sweater, and I’m already more confident that this will get done where that one totally failed. Because it’s purple so I automatically love it more. I’m using a pattern out of this book:

The Knit Parade by Rebecca Rymsza

7. Get hella into a different Dewey Decimal Class each month

You’re no John Cotton Dana, but I’ll take it

This goal is related to #1, sort of, in that I’m worried about my narrow focus of only choosing books I think I’ll like. You miss a lot that way! Time to break out of that filter bubble and explore some new territory.

You know I’m looking forward to June when I’ll be tackling PURE SCIENCE

This month is the 000 class, which is kind of the “whatever, just add that in there since it doesn’t fit anywhere else” of the Dewey Decimal Classification system. Like, I just went to the library and checked out a book on the history of statistics and also one on IS ATLANTIS REAL? because those two things belong together.

Updates when I feel like it! It’s going to be a good year.