The Most Ambitious 60-Day Challenge Ever

I apologize (albeit with a glimmer of satisfaction) if my post title made you click. I've lost track of the number of times I've been suckered in by a wily Facebook/Buzzfeed/etc. title, only to be cursing myself, 2-3 minutes later, for having squandered time on yet another bit of cyber-trivia I really don't need or want to know about.

The 60-day challenge referred to in my post title has nothing to do with me or Freddie and is therefore, I'm guessing, of very little interest to my small (but hugely appreciated) audience. HOWEVER, as compensation, I promise that I will end this post with a more modest, but personal, 60-day challenge (roughly the time remaining before the new teaching term starts) — inspired by the lofty goals of this sign maker ...

I guess the smaller print tempers the loftiness somewhat: he/she wants to learn as much as possible. What an unusual thing to paste to a newspaper box. I didn't check the super-small print on the detachable tabs, but now I'm also wondering: is this just a low-tech version of one of those Nigerian banking scams? *

ANYWAY ... Freddie and I did more work today on our BATting average (see this post for more on "BAT"), so my photos were snapped from a limited number of locations, in those rare moments when there were no triggers on the horizon.

Peace, love, and corporate hegemony

WWW

Crossroads

army.ca

 The View Above

Here's Freddie watching the world go by. He's managing to remain very calm when non- or mildly-reactive dogs pass; it's the ones who lunge and bark at him first who are still triggers. I think he's getting better, but it's a slow process! In BAT lingo, he's a "frustrated greeter" (a dog who really wants to engage socially, as opposed to, say, an aggressive or fearful barker). Kind of ironic — or appropriate? — that introverted moi should end up with a social butterfly!

I have no idea what these things below are. Speaking of introversion/extroversion, I like the definition that distinguishes "introverted" (which I am) from "shy" (which I used to be but am no longer) or "self-absorbed" (which, arguably, our whole culture is). Simplified, the definition goes roughly like this: an introvert is someone who expends energy through social activity and "recharges" alone (which doesn't mean that social activity isn't enjoyable), whereas an extrovert recharges through social activity and expends that energy when alone. There's probably some kind of continuum. Freddie and I are more or less equidistant from center, on opposite sides. Paul is on my side of center but closer to Freddie. :)

Ugly Skyline + Beautiful Setting = Vancouver

Candelabra

 Pink Shoes and a Cuppa Joe

Which brings me (in a non sequitur-ish way) to my 60-Day Challenge(s) ...

This is me, a few days ago, on the way home from Freddie's training class — subject of my first challenge.

#1: To improve Freddie's reactivity to the point that he's able to ignore (or at least not respond to) a dog barking/lunging at him from across the street

#2: To finish editing a further 100 pages of my roughly 600-page manuscript (which will not ultimately be a 600-page novel ... much culling of passages & scenes needed!)

The editing I'm currently doing is old-school: pen in hand, working through hard copy. Creating messy draft pages is so much more satisfying than cutting & pasting on screen!

If you're in Van-City today, enjoy the bee-yootiful weather! If you're elsewhere, I hope it's beautiful there, too!

*Not a banking scam, apparently. I returned to pick up one of the detachable tabs, which offers a website/blog address: http://howtoknowtheworld.tumblr.com/ (the comments posted in the Feb. 14th entry are pretty funny).