My 2012 To-Do List

Earlier this year--the first day of the year actually--I posted My 2011 To-Do List. I'm happy to report that I accomplished two (and a half) of my six goals. I published a collection of poetry (actually two), helped my Tiger Cubs have a great year, and I did pay off all my credit cards--but then we had Hannah and now we're back in a position of paying down our debt. So it goes.

The reason I'm not bummed that I only had a 33% success rate is that I can try again in 2012, and I'm an eternal optimist!

Here's my 2012 To-Do List:

• Make 300+ Not Bob blog posts. In 2009, I posted 23 times; in 2010, I made 61 posts; and this year will probably finish with around 180-ish. With a spiffy editorial calendar I've been developing for a few months, I think 2012 is going to share some of the best Not Bob posts ever.
• Eat healthier and exercise regularly. I think one of my problems with achieving health-related goals in 2011 is that I quantified the process. As a result, I either put off certain tasks because I "still had time" to get them later, or I gave up completely because "I was out of time" to hit certain numbers.
• Run a half-marathon. For 2011, I wanted to run a marathon. However, training for a marathon is a huge (and overwhelming) process. In 2012, I'm going to shoot for an easier objective with the hope that if I can check this off my list that I'll be ready to take the next step in 2013.
• Help Den 2 Cub Scouts have another great year. My Tiger Cubs are now Wolves, and they'll be Bears by the end of 2012. As in 2011, my goal will be to help them achieve their goals, learn more about the world around them, and have fun in the process.
• Pay off all credit cards. As I mentioned above, Tammy and I actually accomplished this task at one point in 2011, but then, we had Hannah and were forced to stretch our financial resources a bit through the end of this year. However, we're in a great position to check this off the list in 2012--and keep it crossed out going forward. Then, we can focus on eliminating all our other combined debts.
• Assemble a full length collection of poems. In 2011, I published and sold out two poetry chapbooks. In 2012, I'd like to at least assemble a full length collection--and for extra credit, secure publication for it.

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Check out previous Not Bob posts:

• 6 Tips for Writers to Own the New Facebook Timeline.
• The Secret to Being Awesome.
• Are You Open to Failure?

Most Popular NOT BOB Posts for Writers 2011

From the birth of my first daughter to self-publishing (and selling out) two poetry chapbooks (and so many other great events), 2011 has been a really great to me in so many ways. I know I've still got a few very big weeks left, but I wanted to go ahead and collect the most popular NOT BOB blog posts for writers of 2011.

The two most popular posts are actually lists:

• Best Blogs for Writers to Follow. This list needs updated, because some of the URLs have changed, but it does include some very good blogs for writers to check out. Look for the updated list in the beginning of 2012.
• Best Tweeps for Writers to Follow 2011. This is my second annual list of great tweeps for writers to follow on Twitter. It's still relatively new and very useful.

The lesson here is that there's nothing more popular than shining the light on your fellow writers and publishing folk.

Beyond these lists, there were 20 writing-specific posts that rose above all others. Here are the 20 most popular NOT BOB posts for writers in 2011 (in order):

1. 11 Google+ Tips for Writers. It's still fresh and new, but it's the emerging social network at the moment. In fact, I'm looking forward to learning more about how Blogger and Google+ are going to work together later this week.
2. The 8 Jobs of Modern Writers. This post is less than a week old, but it's already skyrocketed to the top of this list. And the comments are as valuable as the post.
3. 11 Tips for Writers to Find Success. I posted this list to celebrate 11/11/11, but it is interesting that two of the top three posts have 11 tips.
4. LinkedIn Tips for Writers. The more professional social networking site, I've found that each recommendation I've received on the site has made my entire week.
5. Impact of eReaders on Writers. I wrote this post in the first half of the year and already so much has changed in the publishing world.
6. Social Media Etiquette for Writers. This post shares the simple basics of social media etiquette, including things like not being a pest and following the golden rule.
7. Revision Tips for Writers. It's one thing to write good, but to write truly great, writers need to be able to revise good as well.
8. Speaking Tips for Writers. Over the years as an editor and poet, I've been blessed with quite a few opportunities to speak and listen to others speak. This post collects some of what I've learned.
9. Negotiating Tips for Writers. I wrote this post from the unusual perspective of an editor--and no, I didn't advise writers to always take what an editor offers without question.
10. Are You a Specialist or Generalist? This is one of my question posts for writers, but it digs at an important question that will help writers figure out for what type of writing they're best suited.
11. Build a List for Success. From making lists of goals to submissions, lists are often an important tool in the successful writer's toolbox.
12. Don't Wait for X to Do Y: Platform-Building Traps for Writers to Avoid. This post has, perhaps, the longest title of any post on this top 20 list, but it's only because it has a subtitle.
13. How to Deal With Problem Editors. I'm sure there are times when even I fall under the problem editor category. After all, we're still human--well, most of us anyway.
14. Quick Tips on Submitting to Literary Magazines. I cover the what, when, where, why, who, and how in this post.
15. Top 5 Pitch Tips for Writers. These are five areas that I've found as an editor could use some attention from many writers.
16. How to Protect Your Writing From Natural Disasters. It doesn't happen often, but losing all your data is devastating. Don't let yourself become a statistic in this area of the writing life.
17. Top 5 Creative Writing Tips. This was my first real post for writers of 2011, so I'm glad to see that it just snuck onto this list.
18. Two Rules for Successful Writers. They are simple, but they're also effective.
19. Why Writers Should Care About SEO. For those who don't know, SEO is short for search engine optimization. This post tackles why it's important for writers to understand.
20. Just Write Something! What a perfect post to round out this Top 20 list. After you're done reading about the writing life, be a writer and just write something.

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Check out the Top 3 Not Bob posts unrelated to writing:

• Remembering 9/11 From the Midwest. I'm not sure why, but this post gets double digit traffic every single day.
• My Movember 2011. Watch the post that chronicles my moustache growth through the month of November.
• The Golden Rule to Everything. This is the rule that helps guide me, and I think the world would be a much better place if everyone tried their best to live by it too.

Good News for People Who Love Good (and Cheap) Music

My wife Tammy found that Iron & Wine's album The Shepherd's Dog is available for just five dollars on Amazon. We already own it--in fact, we watched a private show recently--but that got me searching for other discounted albums on Amazon.

Album that got this list started.

Believe it or not, you could get all 10 of these albums for less than $50 (as of the writing of this post anyway):

1. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel. This is one of my all-time favorite albums, and it's inspired more than its fair share of poems over the years.
2. To the Sea, by Jack Johnson. I guess we'll keep things close to the sea, but Jack Johnson is one of those guys who I can listen to at any time during the year and long to be on a beach--just hanging out.
3. I Told You I Was Freaky, by Flight of the Conchords. Speaking of New Zealand--we were, right?--these two guys always crack me up. They're funny and, apparently, freaky.
4. Loud, by Rihanna. And speaking of freaky--which I think was actually mentioned just a moment ago--Rihanna is about as freaky as it gets. But beyond all the freaky, there's an amazing voice with some incredible beats.
5. Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, by OK Go. This OK Go album includes some of my favorite songs by the band, including "End Love" and "This Too Shall Pass." 
6. Till the Sun Turns Black, by Ray LaMontagne. Notice how I did that? Got you looking at the blue sky until the sun turns black? Okay, silly, but still, Ray's follow-up to Trouble is great.
7. Good News for People Who Love Bad News, by Modest Mouse. Another one of my all-time favorite albums--and "Black Cadillacs" is one of my all-time favorite songs--which I guess dooms music to be discounted. This one has also inspired its fair share of poems.
8. Kid A, by Radiohead. And as long as I'm talking about albums that are great for writing, this one is one of my favorite writing soundtracks. Just throw it on and let the words flow.
9. Lungs, by Florence + The Machine. "Kiss With a Fist" and "Dogs Days Are Over" highlight this album, which is kind of like an anthem--a loud anthem.
10. X & Y, by Coldplay. I've heard all the Coldplay albums, and this is my favorite. Plus, it has one of my favorite love songs ever, "Swallowed by the Sea." 

This isn't my all-time top 10 list, but these are all great albums that can be had for $5 or less right now. So get over and grab 'em before the prices shift back up.

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Check out previous Not Bob posts:

• Top 10 Christmas Movies List.
• 2010 Christmas Wish List! (Need to make one for 2011.)
• My Top 10 Christmas Albums.

The Best Movies Ever (According to Me)

Okay, I realize everyone has their own favorite movies. That's cool. However, these are my favorites.

1. It's a Wonderful Life. Often mistaken as just a Christmas movie, this is the movie of one man's life and how important he is--even if he's not a war hero, millionaire, or famous explorer. This movie is about as light and dark as any I've ever seen, and it always gets me choked up at the end.
2. Love Actually. I love love stories, and this is the ultimate love story movie. This movie successfully weaves together several love stories into one spectacular finish.
3. Jaws. The more I watch this movie the more I love it, and I've watched it a lot. The characters really hook me on this movie, and then, of course, the adventure once they're all out on the sea.
4. Singing in the Rain. In my opinion, this is the greatest of all musicals. It has so many incredible songs and dance numbers, and it's super funny.
5. The Quiet Man. I grew up in a family that loves The Duke, and while I think True Grit is great too, I love this story of a man with a mysterious past who moves back to Ireland. The scenes are beautiful, and the chemistry between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara rocks.
6. So I Married an Axe Murderer. This movie is quite simply silly and cracks me up every time I watch it. It's my favorite Mike Myers film.
7. Casablanca. This movie has the best one-liners ever. I put off watching it for a long time, but fell in love with it when I finally did.
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark. I'm a big Indiana Jones fan, and this is my favorite of the trilogy (I don't recognize that Crystal Skull nonsense).
9. The Big Lebowski. I thought this movie was great fun the first time I watched it, but it's moved further up my favorite movies list each new time I watch it. My favorite Coen brothers movie.
10. Halloween. Tammy introduced this movie to me. I've never been a huge fan of horror movies, but this one changed my mind. Besides the fact that Michael Myers is one spooky bad guy, I enjoy the camera work and setting of this movie.

So, what do you think? Which movies am I missing? Tell me below.

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Here are the next 10 movies that didn't make my list:

• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• The Iron Giant
• Real Genius
• Howl's Moving Castle
• Donnie Darko
• Lost in Translation
• Night of the Living Dead
• Napoleon Dynamite
• Children of Men
• No Country for Old Men

The Best Books Ever (According to Me)

Okay, I know putting together a list of my own favorite books opens me up to criticism, but whatever. The following books are my faves. It's, of course, super hard to assemble a list of favorite books, so I made it a little easier on myself by breaking the lists into three categories: prose, poetry, and children's.

The categories didn't make it a whole lot easier, but it did make selecting books a little bit more of an apples to apples experience. If you think I made any crazy omissions, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Who knows? Maybe I just haven't read your favorite books yet and will eventually see the light.

Prose

1. The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This is my favorite book, and I read it every year or two to learn something new about myself and the world around me.
2. Birds of America: Stories, by Lorrie Moore. Moore is my favorite short story writer. She has the ability to make me cry and then with a sparkling one-liner get me back laughing.
3. As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner. I love segmentation in stories when done well, and this is the text book of telling a story with multiple narrators.
4. The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger. Some books grab me because of the story they tell, while others hook me with their characters. This book has one of my favorite narrators ever.
5. A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Flannery O'Connor. No one is safe in O'Connor's world of fiction. If you don't have your guard up, then you're bound to get bamboozled.

Poetry

1. View With a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems, by Wislawa Szymborska. Every poem in this collection seems to either transport me or surprise me or both.
2. The Darkness Around Us Is Deep, by William Stafford. Something about Stafford's voice allows him to take me by the hand and show me the world I know in a different way.
3. Paterson, by William Carlos Williams. I love WCW's shorter poems, but this epic poem held me from beginning to end--and I'm not a person easily impressed by long poems.
4. Transformations, by Anne Sexton. Tammy and I both love Anne Sexton's poetry, and this is my favorite of her collections.
5. The Captain's Verses, by Pablo Neruda. If you want to woo and woo right, then you should probably read this collection of love poems. They are the nuclear bomb of woo.

Children's

1. The Monster at the End of This Book, by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin. The lovable, furry Grover reads the title of the book and tries to keep the reader from reaching the end (and the monster). Will he succeed?
2. Dinosaur vs. Bedtime, by Bob Shea. I love this book, because it affords me the opportunity to roar right before bedtime. It's a super fun book--as is the sequel: Dinosaur vs. the Potty.
3. Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. It's not the wordiest of books, but it's still a classic for a reason.
4. Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, by Dr. Seuss. When I'm ready to close the deal (on getting Will to go to sleep), I break out this baby. The rhymes and characters are great, but it's super long and--usually--puts Will out for the count before I reach the end.
5. Corduroy, by Don Freeman. A little stuffed bear named Corduroy wants to find a friend and decides all he needs to do to make that happen is find his lost button.

Okay, these are my favorite books. What do you think?

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