Day 56

Well I did manage to get my reading done yesterday although at first it seemed like it wasn't going to happen as I couldn't find the printed version of the workbook for the third lesson but I just ended up reading it off the PDF file I have on my computer.  I'll have to try to remember to print out another copy of it.  So my goal for today is going to be to look through and play around with the code for the first lab project a bit to make sure I understand all of what is going on with it.

Day 55

Well I was able to get some more reading done for my course and it seems like for this lesson they have it broken up a bit more as the textbook suggested I stop reading the textbook at the point where I stopped last night and suggested reading though and working with the first of the lab projects for awhile before continuing on so that is what I think I am going to try to do today is start in on that for my course.  Other then that not too much else to report.

Day 54

Well I was able to get a bit of reading done for the course yesterday despite being quite tired but thankfully I was able to get to sleep in a much better time then I have previously so hopefully that means I've been able to break out of the awful sleeping schedule I was stuck in before.  So my goal for the day is to get some reading done for my course and try to maintain my better sleeping schedule.

Day 53

Well I didn't get any reading done for my course yesterday as I just felt dead for most of the day it was probably the day that I felt the worst overall in regards to my messed up sleeping schedule so this morning I made sure to set my alarm and get up regardless of how much sleep I had gotten so I am quite tired but strangely more with it and alert then I felt yesterday so hopefully tonight I can get a more normal amount of sleep and get a better sleep schedule setup.  So my goal once again for the day is to get some reading done for my course.

Day 52

Well I was able to get started on reading for the third lesson in my course yesterday so that was good, my reading seems to keep getting pushed later and later in the day mostly due to my messed up sleeping schedule but at least so far it is getting done which for now is the important part.  Not really much else to say today so I'll just say that my goal again today is to get some more reading done for my course.

Day 51

Well I didn't manage to get my reading done yesterday but at least this time I know exactly why not, a demo was released for a game I've been looking forward to for quite awhile so I spent a good little while playing around with that yesterday with the unfortunate consequence that it took up a lot of the time I usually use to get my reading done, my sleeping is also still rather messed up so that didn't help either but I did find where I had the textbook and pulled it out which is better then absolutely nothing I guess.  Well my goal for the day is going to be to get started on the third lesson in my course.

Day 50

Wow it's hard to believe I have been writing this blog daily for the past 50 days, anyway I was able to get myself to sit down and spend some more time playing around with the code for the lesson and trying to do a few things I had thought of that weren't necessarily in the textbook.  It took a little playing around but I eventually got things working the way I wanted them to even if I'm sure there is probably a better way to do it.  So now it's time to get started on the third lesson in the course, I'm sure I've mentioned that this isn't the first time I have tried to work through this course and I have never gotten past the third lesson in any of my previous attempts so hopefully this will be the attempt that does it.  So my goal for today is going to be to get started on the reading for the third lesson in the course.

Day 49

Well I was able to make sure I sat down yesterday and did my review of the actual coding and a few minor changes/tweaks to the code itself for my course.  I still want to play around with a couple of different ideas I have for the coding before I move onto the third lesson so that is going to be my goal for the day today is to make sure that I sit down and give myself a chance to try out some of the ideas that have been floating around in my mind.

Day 48

Well I didn't get started on the programming portion of my course yesterday, I'm not entirely sure what happened but for some reason it just never really crossed my mind.  My sleeping has been quite screwed up the last few days not being able to get to sleep till very late then ending up getting up very late as well which was definitely the case yesterday so I think I might try to see if I can figure out how to adjust that to a more normal sleeping schedule and see if that helps me get back on track with my work.  So my goal again today is going to be to get started playing around with the code from the second lesson in my course.

Day 47

Well yesterday ended up being more productive then I thought it would be, I was able to finish off reading the workbook section for my course and I even managed to get on the treadmill to work out for 30 mins.  I'm not entirely sure what it was about yesterday that seemed conductive to getting stuff done but I guess the question now is to see if I can try to keep this up and make it a habit as it would definitely be a good thing for me.  So my goal for the day is going to be to get into the actual programming section of this lesson of my course.

Day 46

Well I was able to get some reading done for my course yesterday but I have to say it is a lot harder to get focused and start working on it when you have something definite you know you'd rather be doing, especially when it is pretty close at hand.  So I guess on the other hand it is good way to work on being able to set a goal and focusing in on it despite whatever else maybe going on.  So my goal for the day is going to be again to make sure I take some time to put some real effort into reading and learning the stuff in the workbook for my course.

Day 45

Well yesterday was the first day in awhile that I didn't manage to get any reading done for my course, but at least it was more because I forgot about it then that I just didn't have the will to get working on it.  I think the problems was probably mostly the fact that one of the games I've been waiting to come out for awhile finally came out yesterday and so I lost a lot of the day playing that but then later at night I had our usual raid and then after that I was waiting to see if Felicia Day's interview on Jimmy Fallon was going to be hosted online as they were premiering the trailer for Dragon Age: Redemption during the interview.  And I did find a link for it and the trailer is absolutely amazing! Well I have to head out but my goal for the day today is going to be to make sure I make some time to sit down and get that reading done!

Day 44

Well thankfully I was able to get a good nights sleep last night so I am nowhere near as tired writing this as I was yesterday! However yesterday ended up going pretty good, the morning was definitely more interesting then normal trying to help promote and spread the word about Felicia Day's new webseries Dragon Age: Redemption.  I was also able to get started on reading the workbook for lesson 2 of my course, didn't quite get as much read as I would have liked but given how tired I was I am happy I got any reading done at all.  So my goal for the day today is going to be to try to get a good chunk of workbook reading done today.

Day 43

Well I was able to finish off the audio lecture for the lesson I am working on in my course yesterday so that was good.  Also I have to say that in terms of yesterday being valentine's day I actually was able to forget about it for most of the day and ended up spending most of the night with a bunch of the new friends I'd made through the internet at the Watch the Guild community site which was really nice and I quite enjoyed it.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to really get to sleep last night so today I am feeling absolutely exhausted which is never fun.  So my goal for the day is to get started on the reading for the workbook for this lesson.

Dragon Age: Redemption

I know I haven't done a post like this in awhile but I just recently heard about something that has gotten me very excited so I thought I'd write up something to express and explain my excitement.  In order to fully understand why this has gotten me so excited there are 2 things you need to know first. 

The first is that Dragon Age:Origins is one of the best RPGs I have played in quite awhile.  It isn't just because it had a good and interesting story, that there was a lot you could do in the game and many different paths and ways to enjoy the game but that through it all the game maintained a good sense of humor.  Throughout the game and especially in alot of the dialog there is a lot of humor and it was humor that fit into the game and the characters very well which is something I value in all my means of entertainment be it game, show or movie.  So as you can imagine I have been very excited for the upcoming Dragon Age 2 with my excitement growing as more information is released and especially since they will be releasing a playable demo on Feb 22 where we get the first chance to try it out.

The second is that I am a pretty big fan of both The Guild and Felicia Day herself, and that for the past while she has been working on a mystery project that she has been pretty tight lipped about but that the lucky few that have gotten a chance to see it have been excited about.  The past little while she has been giving a little more information about it mostly cast and crew announcements but also hinted that it may have a connection with an existing game world.

Well they have finally announced what that mystery project was and that is Dragon Age: Redemption a web series based in the same game world as both Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 which I have to say is absolutely amazing and far better then anything I imagined.  So when you combine two things which separately I am already very excited about the result is tremendous excitement and this post.  While there isn't too much information on the details of the story so far what we know is that Felicia Day will play Tallis an Elven assassin with a sarcastic sense of humor who is on a quest to hunt down a renegade magician. 

I honestly cannot wait to see this as I think Felicia Day is the ideal person to have written this as she is an avid gamer herself so would not have agreed to do this if she did not think it could be done right and done well.  She has also shown through her writing on both the Guild webseries and the Guild comic she has the same sense of combining story with humor that I think will fit in very well with the Dragon Age style of story telling.

Day 42

Well I was able to get some of the audio lecture finished yesterday so I should be able to get the rest of it finished today and can then finally move on to starting the workbook section of this lesson and then finally the programming exercises.  On a more personal note today has always been kinda of a rough day for me probably because I have never been on a date in my life and so have never had someone to share valentine's day with and that is one of the things that used to really eat at me and drag me down but I am trying to stay positive and make sure to keep any of my negatively to myself as spreading it especially on the internet does no one any good including myself.  I only mention this here because I find it helps to record somewhere what I think and feel and having done that here I think I will be able to face the day a little better and a little easier.  So my goals for today are going to be to finish the audio lecture for my course but also to do my best to not let the fact that it is valentine's day ruin my day in anyway.

Day 41

Well I think yesterday was probably the closest I've come to missing my goal for the day in the last little while as I just seemed to be moving for one thing to another and then suddenly it was almost midnight and I hadn't done any work on my course that day but I did manage to listen to some of the audio lecture, it just serves as a reminder to try to get it done earlier if possible as you never know what you might get caught up in later on.  So my goal for today is to finish another chunk of the audio lecture hopefully I'll be able to finish it for real this time either today or tomorrow.

Day 40

Well I have some good news and some bad news, the good news is that I once again was able to listen to a chunk of the audio lecture for the current lesson I am working through on my course, the bad news is that I am not finished with the audio lecture for this lesson like I thought I was, I didn't realize before that the lecture for this lesson covered 3 files as most of them are done in either 1 or 2 so I still have a decent chunk of the audio lecture left to go through.  So that is my goal for the day is to get a sizable chunk of the last part of the audio lecture finished today.

Day 39

Well I was able to get through another chunk of the audio lecture for this lesson in my course yesterday so if all goes according to plan I should be able to finish off the audio lecture today and then move onto some of the more interesting stuff on the weekend.  I think that's pretty much all I have to say for today so my goal for the day is going to be to finish up the audio lecture for this lesson in the course I am working on.

Day 38

So far so good, I was able to get through some more of the audio lecture material for this lesson in my course so I am about halfway through it now at this point so hopefully either today or tomorrow I should be finished going through it and ready to move onto the workbook material and then onto the programming section.  So once again my goal for the day is to work through some more of the audio lecture material for this lesson of my course.

Day 37

Well I listened to the first section of the audio lecture for the current chapter of the course I am working on and I have to admit I am having a hard time staying focused on it, for some reason my mind always keeps wandering off and trying to find anything to distract me so I am having a much hard time really focusing on listening to the audio lectures then I did in reading the textbook.  I guess I am just more of a visual learner then I am an auditory one.  Well either way I am pushing forward on it, and looking forward to getting that finished so I can start in on the workbook material and then get into some coding again.  So my goal for today is going to be to listen to another section of the audio lecture for my course.

Day 36

Well I am happy to be able to say that I am finished reading the textbook portion for this section of my course now I was able to finish it off yesterday, I was worried that it was going to take awhile to get through this section as parts of it are quite dry.  I decided to do things a little different with this section compared to the first section I decided I would read the textbook part first then listen to the audio lecture portion as it goes over the same material just in more of an overview in some aspects that way the audio lecture could help refresh and strengthen my knowledge of the topics covered.  So my goal for today is to start listening to audio lecture that accompanies this section.

Day 35

Well I was able to end last week on a good note I got a lot more reading done yesterday then I thought I would so it was definitely nice to come out ahead for a change.  It also meant that I once again met my goal for the week last week of managing to keep up my reading for 6 of the 7 days of the week which means that this week I am going to aim for keeping it up everyday of the week.  I think I am starting to get more into my course slowly but I have been enjoying my reading a little more lately and have started thinking of different things I want to try and figure out with the code when I get to the programming part of this chapter of the course.  So my goal for the day is to maintain the good momentum I had from last week and get another chunk of reading done on my course

Day 34

Well so far so good I was able to maintain my momentum and get my reading done yesterday as well which means if I can get my reading done today as well I'll have met my weekly goal of getting my reading done 6 of the 7 days of the week which would definitely be nice.  So needless to say my goal for the day is to get some reading done for my course

Day 33

Well I was able to keep up the momentum yesterday as well and get some more reading done, I've been managing to read about 10 pages a day roughly the past few days which is not all that much on its own I keep telling myself it is the consistency that I am aiming for at the moment not necessarily the length as I get more into the routine I am hoping I'll be able to read more each day but until then I'll be happy if I can maintain this pace.  So for today my goal is to get some more reading done, preferably 10 or more pages. 

Day 32

Sigh again I forgot to write this up in the morning, I was just about to actually go do some reading for my course when I realized that I hadn't actually written my short little blog entry yet for the day so here I am.  As for yesterday I was able to get some reading done so so far this week doing a good job of maintaining some momentum in getting this reading done.  I just need to keep it going until I get to the point when I have learned enough to really start playing around with the code as I think once I get to that point it's going to be alot easier to move forward.  So I am about to go and do some reading at the moment which is and would have been my goal for the day if I had written this up earlier.

Day 31

Well I was able to get another chunk of reading done for my course yesterday so I was happy to get back into it after missing it on tuesday but I think the consistency of doing it each day helps in an of itself with the motivation.  Well I don't know if I really have much else to say at the moment so I think I am just going to say that my goal for the day is going to be to continue reading for my course and keep up the momentum I have building up.

Day 30

Well I didn't end up getting a chance to do any reading for my course yesterday as some of my friends ended up stopping by and didn't leave till much later then expected, not that I didn't enjoy seeing them which I definitely did since it is actually fairly rare that I see any of my friends in person these days but it is still what kinda threw my schedule out a bit.  However today looks like it is going to be a great day to get some reading done since we've just gotten a ton of snow so it'll be nice to stay inside and try to get some reading done.  So that is my goal for the day to get back into my reading and hopefully get a good chunk of it done.

Day 29

Well I was able to accomplish my goal for yesterday and got started on the reading for the next section of my course so that is definitely a good start to the week.  It is pretty dry reading so far but I can definitely see how it is quite important as it is detailing the core means of interacting with Direct X, which is the main piece of software used in graphics programming, so I am doing my best to try to keep myself focused.  My goal for today is to continue reading the textbook for my course.