Cultural challenge coming up!

Sugar's radical goal is to be the cutest pug ever!

 *Before I start, I'd like to point you to a guest post I did recently for the Whidbey Writer's Refuge. I spent a great few days there in January working on my novel and highly recommend it.* 

Lately I've been very inspired by Chris Guillebeau's website and writing. I love his ideas and practical tips for "radical goal setting." (And thanks to my writer/teacher pal Waverly Fitzgerald for telling me about him! She is pretty inspiring herself.)

Chris G. is always talking about "challenges" that he sets for himself and invites his readers to do the same. He hammers on the importance of very concrete goals, and results you can measure. (All very familiar to me from working on Microsoft but I really believe in this approach, even if it doesn't work for everything).

One vague yet perennial goal of mine is is take advantage of all the cultural goodness that surrounds me in Seattle. I live in the heart of the city, yet it's amazing how easy it is to just stay home and fall asleep in front of Netflix. (Yes, I know, BreakupBabe would be appalled at what I've become).

The cultural challenge starts on the totally random date of February 22 
Earlier this year, I set myself a goal of going to one cultural event a month. But then I decided why not challenge myself a little? Thus the cultural challenge was born! Starting Feb 22, over the next month, I will go to one cultural event a week.

WHOA, RADICAL!

OK, I know it's not that much. But it's waayy more than I've done in the recent past.

The reason I'm starting this challenge on Feb 22, is because that's the date of my first event of the challenge: underwater photographer David Doubilet giving a presentation at Benaroya Hall. 

The cheap stuff comes later 
This event is a bit pricey. (I got a bit of sticker shock when I started exploring cultural events). So the next few events will have to be on the free or cheap side. I'm thinking that the next up could be a performance at The Pocket Theater. This place is near my house in Greenwood and looks cool.

Oh, and then definitely I'll have to take advantage of first Thursday on March 1, when various museums in Seattle have good deals.

Oh, but wait, I'll be teaching my upcoming class at Hugo House! Well, something always seems to come up on first Thursday. Luckily there are a million bazillion other things to do so I'll figure something out.