This week I'm going to start two new habits: reading and rowing. That's right, I'm going to set aside 1 hour every night for reading and at least 15 minutes every day for rowing. I will make sure I don't read the same thing two days in a row (i.e., not the same book/magazine). I've got plenty of reading material, as I am a subscriber to New Scientist (weekly) and National Geographic (monthly), both of which I never read in their entirety each month.
Although I frown upon reading fiction, simply because it feels like a waste of time, I decided to purchase The Martian Chronicles, a SciFi novel which is supposed to be one of the top 10 must read SciFi books. At the same time, I picked up The Pragmatic Programmer -- one of the top recommended books for programmers. I also have a book that I bought a few months ago called The Best Software Writing, volume 1. I've already read probably 25% of the book and there really is a lot of well written stuff in there.
So, why reading? Well I feel that the only way one can become a better writer is to read better writing.
Today I brought my mountain bike to Cambridge. Now that it's warm enough to ride, I'll start riding it to the office and to the gym in Somerville. I also brought my water rower from Lowell. My mom paid half for it a few years ago for my birthday. It hasn't seen very much use since then but I plan to change that. Here is a picture I took a few years ago after assembling it.
reading… mmmmmmmmm. i wish i did that too
I read now, but only when I am (fill in text here).
About a year ago, I subscribed to National Geographic (they had a really good deal, like 2 years for $24) as well as New Scientist (which is mailed out weekly, so 52 issues a year!). I also started a subscription to Make when they came out with the very first issue.
However, I’ve been getting all these subscriptions in the mail every month (or week, as with New Scientist) and simply haven’t had time to read them, or rather I haven’t set aside the time to read them. So they have been stacking up. I refuse to throw them out, since I haven’t read them yet.
To reduce my STUFF, I’m going to start reading them every evening. When I’m done I’ll throw them out (or maybe donate them to the library).