Woggy #14: MOC Page

Ahh, hubris. Yes, I've finally decided to tackle another of my aging woggies today, while we were on the subject of Legos. If you look carefully at the photo above, you might notice that just under "Tina's LEGO web site" it says

" I am currently in the process of setting this page up, but feel free to have a look around!

I should probably have something more interesting to say here in a few days. "

That hopeful introduction has been adorning my page, oh, for at least a year now. I can't remember the date exactly, but it has been a sufficiently long amount of time that upon my return recently, I found the host site had actually changed their design almost completely. My message may be outdated, but the page itself looks immensely more lovely than it did when I last left it, all having nothing whatsoever to do with any amount of effort on my part. Now THAT is the sort of effortless aging I can get behind!

My initial setup of this page happened sometime after NW BrickCon 07, my very first convention ever that I have ever attended (even though, it is true, I attended as part of the open-to-the-public viewing part rather than the actual fan part. I have just not discovered that level of comfort with any of my assorted fandoms yet). In my enthusiasm and optimism that I would any moment now join my self up with my actual local fan community, I visited many websites and discovered all there was to know about playing with Legos as a respected member of society, known as being an AFOL. Having of course already had many photos of my Lego creations on my computer, and several Lego models sitting around waiting for more photos to be taken, I started setting up my MOC page here as soon as I discovered what the heck a MOC page (and in fact, what the heck a MOC) was.

After posting a few first photos, I put up my now hopelessly optimistic front page message and continued uploading over the next few days, categorizing and captioning until I had everything in my current and past creation history. All I needed to do was finish up a few last things like my profile pic and all would be done.

And so my page has sat since, leaving its optimistic message for any unsuspecting lego-fan passerby, who may to this very moment be waiting for my page message, Halloween skull head video, and real-life valentine photos to be updated any day soon now...

Things Left To Complete This Woggy Project:

• find that Lego mosaic pic I made of myself for my profile page
  
• upload my profile pic to my MOC page
  
• change my front page message to something a little more timeless
• find and figure out how to upload my Halloween skull video, or change my caption
• upload my real-life MOC pics of my Valentine MOC, and change surrounding text
  
• upload, folder and caption my more recent MOC pics
• start hanging out on MOC pages more regularly and actually try becoming a member of the community...
  

Update: Woggy #13

I am happy to report there has been progress, however small it might seem, on the construction of the Taj Mahal. These towers to the right are the only photogenic results as yet, but I have also completed the entire inner structure of the main dome, which still awaits its outer edifice to make it look all pretty for the camera.

These took an entire evening's worth of building to complete, and I can already see my supply of architectural materials diminishing down enough to know that the end of my construction triumph is very nearly in view.

Woggy Index Page

Numbered index to all woggy files:

#1: BC Scrapboook
#2: Mario Livio Book
#3: Learning Calc
#4: Velvet Shirt
#5: Monkey Novel
#6: Looking For America
#7: Election
#8: Lil' Me Cartoon
#9: Mini Walden
#10: Understanding Comics
#11: High Seas Adventure Novel
#12: Giving Plan
#13: Lego Taj Mahal
#14: MOC Page
#15: Getting Out of My Mind
#16: New Bed
#17: Family Tree
#18: Window Shade
#19: Mail Sorter
#20: Home Inventory
#21: Game Night Bag
#22: Driver's License
#23: DJ Dress
#24: Moon Walk Novel

Woggy #13: Building the Taj Mahal

Well, yes, ok, it's not the actual Taj Mahal of course, as that building was built by many other people quite some time ago, and would require Tardean spatial distortion in order to fit it inside my apartment. However, the cost of said undertaking might be said to be somewhat proportional to that of the real one, albeit in micro scale. After many months of long looks in the Lego catalog, I finally decided this weekend to invest in the undertaking. Sunday evening was filled with much sorting of construction equipment, and actual construction began yesterday...
While I have in fact made progress since the above photo, I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me.

Things Left To Complete This Woggy Project:

• complete the four tower spires
• complete the center dome structure
• complete the main part of the central building
• complete the roof of the central building
• put all pieces together
  
• revel in my construction triumph!
  

Woggy #12: Creating a Giving Plan

Resolutions. Everyone's talking about them this time of year. And while I do believe in the general concept of self-improvement through the setting of goals, and even think time-focused goals can also be a positive thing, I have to say I've long had a big bone to pick with the whole specific delivery system of this end via the "New Year's Resolution" as it is traditionally understood. (what do you think? let your voice be heard in my poll to the right)

In general, while I often try to go with the whole feeling of turning-new-leaf-ness that the new year brings as an excuse to sit down to review my personal goals lists and set new ones, I often don't actually have time to do that right at the new year, and like last year, sometimes don't even get around to it until, oh, say ... May.

But my biggest problem here is really with the concept of the "resolution". As most people seem to recognize, this is basically a do-or-die setup for failure. Day one of the year I "resolve" to do item A, and then every day forward for the next year that I do not do said item, I am "failing" at my "resolution". So its no wonder under such an oppressive regime that most people abandon their resolutions by the end of January, if in fact, they didn't already abandon them last weekend.

So, while I here refuse the term "resolution", allow me to today review and insert into the Woggy log one of the "year-end" goals I set for myself last May, which was to "Create a Giving Plan".

Ever since my husband and I began receiving letters from a few worthy neighborhood charitable causes, we've set aside as much as we could towards charitable giving, increasing the number of these groups as we found out about more and have become more sophisticated about deciding which ones we care about the most, as well as increasing the amounts commensurate with the rising income we found ourselves sitting around with due to my husband's good luck in being in a field that our society has decided for the moment anyway, to pay alot for.

In any case, as these amounts and number of causes have grown and grown, this task has become more unorganized and difficult to manage in a way that was making sure we gave as often as we wanted. Thus my goal last year to get this organized in some sort of specific fashion. Enter one very highly recommended book titled Inspired Philanthropy. While alot of us think of "philanthropy" as being something only really super-rich people like Bill and Melinda Gates do, its really a term that can apply to anyone who dedicates their time, money, and or effort in a specific way for the benefit of worthy causes. While sending out a check to some person or cause as the whim hits you is wonderful of course, what this book encourages the reader to do is to focus your gifts of time and money in more specific and fcused ways, in order to get the most benefit for others, and the most satisfaction for yourself in terms of time and money well spent.

The book is filled with actual written exercises for you and any fellow companions-in-giving (in my case my husband) to fill out, asking you to really examine your values, goals, and attitudes about how and where you'd like to do the most good in the world.

While the book itself I read through fairly quickly, it is our slow progress in completing these exercises together that have left this goal as yet incomplete. For whatever reason, remembering to find the time to sit down and complete them, and to meet together to discuss them, has just proved a slow process. Part of this on my part anyhow, I'm sure is a reticence to face the fact that me, a person who once was poor enough for subsidized housing, am now wealthy enough to help assist those who are in that position today. It's a class shift that's been taking me and my husband years to get to used to, and is still a fancy shirt that doesn't quite fit the way you'd expect it to.

In any case, while the progress has been slow, it has been steady, and we are soon reaching the important moment where we create our personal "mission statements".

Things Left To Complete This Woggy Project:

• complete the next "mission statement" exercise
• schedule a meeting to discuss the next stage of the giving plan process
• do the next set of exercises
• meet to discuss the exercises
• repeat, repeat, repeat, until the Giving Plan stage has been achieved
• set a new goal: implement our Giving Plan
  

Update: Woggy #11

In pure woggy style, my best laid plans for writing 50,000 words of a high-seas adventure novel within the month of November (otherwise known as Woggy #11) did not pan out exactly as planned. However, as you can see above, I did in fact get 7413 words of that novel written, and now have a whole host of very interesting characters who now are developed enough to be quietly but insistently requesting completion of their story.

Therefore, while I was unable to complete the immediate goal of NaNo competition completion, this woggy project will now transform itself into a new set of goals directed at completion of the novel in general.

Things Left To Complete This Woggy Project:

• begin writing my sea novel again
  
• write 1,000 words of my story
• repeat, repeat, repeat
  
• dance a salty seamen's jig when I reach 50K
• write 1,000 more words of my story
• repeat, repeat, repeat until novel rough draft is complete
  
• begin novel revisions
• set new goal: getting novel published
  

Holiday break

So yes, I have not posted here in two months.

As I stated at the inception of this blog, it is in such a manner the woggy life goes...