Had to skip #5... for now.

The only thing I had going for RMI #5 was I have/had a PDA... somewhere... and it had a voice recording feature... somewhere... but it's been a couple of moves since I've used it, and I have no idea where it is (the three most likely locations having been exhausted).  I'll look when it's not a bazillion degrees in the Arizona room.

Radical Mutual-Improvement » Blog Archive » Change your appearance (Exercise #6)

This one is easy for me because, once again, I've actually DONE it.  Not just "in the past", either, but recently.  Like, last week recently.  This gets a little backstory.  When I moved to Arizona in the spring of 1999, I was searching for a change in life and to redefine myself as a person.  One of the first things I did was color my hair (purple) and get body piercings (since removed).  When the bleach/dye job grew out, I went to a shorter, more conservative look.  I messed around with that for a while until a couple of days ago (yes, long time for that one look, but it was worth it), and finally got sick of it and buzzed my hair all one length (#4 on the clippers, if you must ask).  I completely felt like a new man, and it's interesting how changes in my life all tend to lead to a different style.

I think it's something along the lines where I'm pushed internally to represent my internal changes externally... be it a shift in focus, or an actual change in direction (job/house/whatever).  It's a liberating feeling, and I think more people do it.  I've also reorganized my space at work as well... and I can't believe how quickly the home space got out of control!  Need to clean that up)

It's also interesting (to me, at least) that whenever someone asks me why I do certain things (new haircut/glasses/furniture arrangement), I usually answer something along the lines of "oh, just to shake things up", or I confabulate a logical reason (henceforth to be known as CLR, assuming I remember) as to why I would do it.  I don't want people to see the inner me, for whatever reason, so I cough up a reason which fits in with others' perspectives on life.  Why the short haircut?  It's easier to get around in 100 degree weather with less hair.  People smile and agree, and everything is happy again.

I have no idea what #7 is off the top of my head, all I can say is that I'm very enthused about this project, and looking forward to it.  I have a slew of Mario Batali books reserved at the library (they will e-mail me when they come in), and I have already started reading about his restaurants.  I took some time on the bus ride home today to brainstorm with myself about concepts.  It was a good exercise, and I really am starting to feel the creative juices flow again.  Great feeling.