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name: Greg Marra
location: Boston, MA
school: Olin College

Greg Marra is interested the internet and how technology enables the impossible. He also likes foxes and arcades.

Here is a little bit more about him.

He makes no apologies for the length of this blog's title.

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Sat Jul 18

Revisited - New Year's Resolutions

With 2009 slightly more than halfway behind us and Summer almost two thirds done, the present is a perfect time for a bit of reflection. Journey with me through the annals of my blog, and let us see how I am doing with my New Year’s Resolutions.

Logging

I said I wanted to do a better job documenting my life.

Notebooks

I filled up my first notebook and am almost done with a second! I use my notebook to make to-do lists, plan projects I am working on, record dreams, and write down any exciting ideas that pop into my head. The notebook gets used less during Summer, when I am busy maintaining a similar notebook at work.

Snippets

I haven’t been doing a good job with Snippets posts. I intend to do a better job with this - reflection is crucial to avoiding the ruts of routine.

Book Logging

I gave up on my Tumblr for tracking books. Goodreads.net is just too convenient! It also lets me see what books my friends are reading, and I have gotten some great recommendations from them!

Doing

I had a great burst of reading during the spring. I read many of the books for my Human Factors course all the way through, and I grabbed a few other great books from the Olin library. This summer, I haven’t been doing a good job reading. I need to close my laptop more often.

Use the Queen’s English

I wanted to use British English. It turns out that I really only like inserting u’s into words. Civilisation and Realisation just look wrong to me. This element of the goal has been abandoned.

I have been doing a good job avoiding verbal pauses. Several people have complimented me after Olin tours on the clarity of my speech. I will keep working to improve my verbal communication abilities.

Write

Writing my applications for HBS’ 2+2 program gave me the largest dose of non-technical writing I have had in a year. It was difficult to eloquently and concisely put my stories down on paper. They made it clear how infrequently I tell stories in writing. I have some ideas for projects that will reverse this.

Experiencing

Boston

I said I wanted to go to Boston more than once per week on average. According to my logs, I spent ten nights on friends’ couches in Boston. Add in day trips, and I did a great job with this goal in the spring. Plans are afoot to continue my frequent adventures in the fall.

Seattle is a different story. I’ve been there less than once per week on average. I have less people to visit there.

Don’t Be Bored

I said that I wanted to do ridiculous projects instead of being bored and wasting time online. Here are some projects I have done so far in 2009:

This is in addition to smaller projects and general adventures. It has been a great year in this regard.

So in general, I need to be better about personal reflection, reading, and writing. I am doing fairly well at doing projects and logging my life. Let’s see what I can do with the rest of 2009.

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