I have three New Year’s resolutions this year. The first is that old standby, get in better shape. That’s pretty vague, right? If there’s one thing I remember from my behavior modification class it’s that you have a much better chance of succeeding at a more specific goal. So how about this formulation? Be it resolved that I shall reduce my calorie intake to approximately 2000 calories per day and find time to exercise a significant amount (at least a three mile run) at least once per week. That sounds do-able.

Two: Become a better writer. I feel like writing is a skill that has never come easily to me. Like any skill, it can only be improved with practice. Be it resolved that I shall write one significant piece (a story, essay, or other piece of writing) each week. These do not have to be in any way publishable, they should be rough drafts. The idea here is to get better at the part of the process that involves translating the ideas from mere thoughts to written words.

Three: Take time away from work. Over the last semester I learned what it was to really immerse yourself in your work and make it the top priority in your life. Indeed, there were lengthy stretches of the semester where I did little but work. It feels good to do that, but only for so long. Be it resolved that I shall take at least one day per week and set it aside. On that day I will not do anything to directly advance whatever I am working on for the other six days of the week (which will usually be schoolwork). Additionally, on that day I will actively try to slow down my life, by taking time for contemplation. Look, I invented the Sabbath.

I decided at the beginning of the year to keep track of all the books I read in 2006. The results can be found here: http://nforget.com/blog/books/

According to my record keeping I read thirty-four books, but that’s not entirely correct. There are a couple books on the list which could be accurately described as reference materials and which I did not read cover-to-cover:

• The C++ Programming Language (Special 3rd Edition)
• The C Programming Language (2nd Edition) (Actually, I did read this one cover-to-cover. It’s that good.)
• Macromedia Flash MX Game Design Demystified

Additionally, there are several books on the list which I have not yet finished:

• A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• A Clockwork Orange

There are a couple of recurring authors. I read three Tom Robbins books:

• Villa Incognito
• Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
• Jitterbug Perfume

And three Joel Spolsky books:

• Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers…
• User Interface Design for Programmers
• The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky

Most thought-provoking: The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

Most entertaining: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell : A Novel

Most surprisingly good: Villa Incognito

Most disappointing: To Kill a Mockingbird

Recommended, but not mentioned elsewhere in this post:
If you like history and soccer: How Soccer Explains the World : An Unlikely Theory of Globalization
If you like games: Theory of Fun for Game Design
If you like stories or movies: The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

One year ago I wrote, “When I’m fifty or sixty or seventy I’ll be looking back and I’ll probably think of 2005 as one of the most influential years of my life.” If 2005 was a pivotal year in my life, 2006 was even more pivotal. A year ago I was getting a raise at my job as a web developer and spending most of time sitting in a cubicle daydreaming about being a game developer. Doing the web development thing for a while taught me many things, but the most important was that I don’t want to be a web developer.

Around the end of February I finally finished my application for FIEA. While I nervously awaited word of my acceptance things were getting strange at my job. The company was splitting in two, which created all kinds of intra-office politics.

In April I got word of my acceptance to FIEA. I began making preparations to quit my job and move to Florida.

The summer was dominated by the World Cup, which totally engrossed me for the duration. It was an excellent tournament, during which the best of the sport was on display.

I visited Orlando with Gillian to look at apartments in the early part of the summer. The trip was somewhat discouraging, because most of the apartments sucked and were too expensive. Fortunately, FIEA was able to place me in a rental house with a couple other students.

Around the end of July I put in my notice and quit my job. Shortly thereafter I hopped in a Uhaul and drove to Florida. Just before the beginning of the semester I was lucky enough to be invited to go for an amazing vacation in Key West. When I got back, the semester began. To be continued…

I have been insanely busy for the past couple months. I have been working up to ninety-five hours per week. Is it worth it? I think so. I’m learning a lot.

Today we had two guest speakers, one from Animal Logic and one from retro Studios. Animal Logic is a visual effects studio in Australia that does special effects for films and for commercials. They are releasing their first feature-length film this weekend: Happy Feet. They worked on the special effects on The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, Moulin Rouge, Lord of the Rings, and numerous other recent movies.

Retro Studios is the only first-party Nintendo developer in North America, outside of the Nintendo of America headquarters in Washington state. They are located in Austin, TX, and are best known for the Metroid Prime series, which will soon see its third iteration released for the Wii.

The Animal Logic speech was very motivating, but was primarily aimed at artists and would-be producers. They only employ a handful of programmers, in their R&D department. I have to give the speaker credit, by the end I was contemplating a career in visual effects.

The Retro Studios speech was given by a software engineer and was much more technical, even going so far as to give us a high-level overview of the software architecture of Metroid Prime. The speaker talked a lot about Wii development and about the technical capabilities of the Wii. (Basically, it’s a Gamecube x2.) He also talked about the business practices used by Retro, a relatively small studio, in contrast with EA Tiburon.

There are three weeks left in the semester, including next week which is only two days long. Although I’m enjoying the work, it will be nice to get a little respite over the holidays.

I did something dumb.

Last night I was having weird nightmares all night. This is very unusual for me. There was one where people were setting off an EMP in a neighborhood and then breaking into houses. I knew they were coming, but I couldn’t do anything about it. There was another one where I dreamed I was watching a horror movie. It involved an island in the middle of a lake.

This morning I woke up early because I have a midterm at 10:30 and an important project milestone this afternoon. So I was still half asleep, and I was thinking about why my nightmares always seem to involve lakes in the mountains, and I backed into the garbage can at the end of the driveway. Luckily, it was a glancing blow. Unluckily, it tore the mirror off the driver’s side of the car.

So… my mirror is being held on with duct tape right now. I need to get it fixed ASAP. I wonder what it’s going to cost me. Is this the kind of thing I could or should report to my insurance company? I’m thinking probably not.

I’m sitting in the Denver airport right now, using my FIEA laptop. My oldest brother got married yesterday. He and his wife are perfect for each other. I’m sure they will have a long and happy marriage.

I’ve attended so many weddings in the past six months, but I guess I’m just getting to be that age where everyone starts thinking about those kinds of things. It’s still weird to me to think about someone who’s only twenty-three or twenty-four getting married. I guess I just always assumed that getting married and starting a family were things you did after age thirty, when you were settled down and had money.

It was good to get to see the whole extended Forget family. I also got to meet my half-brothers’ maternal family. I sort of knew them when I was really young, but not very well. A lot of them live in Florida, so maybe I will visit them now that I know them.

My mom officiated the wedding ceremony. In Colorado the only requirement for marrying someone is that you have to know them for at least three years. The ceremony was in the City Park in Denver, which overlooks the skyline and the mountains. The view was lovely.

Everyone thought it was going to rain (it had been raining for days, an oddity in Denver at this time of year), but it cleared up at the last minute and it was clear and sunny for the ceremony. We really lucked out.

I have a project due tomorrow. (Technically it was due on Friday.) I’m having a hard time motivating myself to finish it. I should have plenty of time on the Atlanta-bound leg of my flight. It’s going to be sad leaving my whole family behind to go back to Orlando. On the other hand, school is really getting into high gear and it’s really exciting. I can’t wait to get into the really tough course work.

I’ve probably rambled enough and I should stop procrastinating so I’ll have time to play Dead Rising when I get back home.

Joel Spolsky wrote a few books about software development that are pretty good. He also writes a blog. This morning I was read an essay he wrote: A Field Guide to Developers. It identifies all the reasons I didn’t like my last job.

I think lightning just struck the building. We didn’t lose power, but the internet was gone briefly. It was pretty loud. There’s an alarm going off somewhere.

FIEA’s going really well. I’m still getting settled in and establishing a routine. I have already learned a ton, mostly about Perl and Flash. Next week we are starting assembly for the 68000 processor in my programming class and I will be trying my hand at some basic animation in Flash. In the production class yesterday we practiced analyzing a game (Fable) the way a developer would. I think we’ll be doing that a lot in that class.

Over the long weekend I went down to Miami to visit G. I had a really good time, but even with the extra day on Monday the weekend just wasn’t long enough.

It seems like I just got back to school yesterday (I did.) and I’m already heading out-of-town again tomorrow. I’ll be in Denver from tomorrow (Thursday) night through Sunday night for my oldest brother’s wedding. Pretty exciting.

I put up a few photos of FIEA and a whole bunch of photos of my trip to Key West. More to come.

This one is my favorite.

The first two days of classes are over. I love the FIEA program so far. Yesterday I had Programming in the morning and Rapid Prototype Development (A.K.A. Digital Media Development) in the afternoon.

I didn’t get a good sense of what the programming class is going to be like yet because we had a test yesterday to assess the level each of us is at coming in to the program. The test was not as hard as I was expecting, though I am a little rusty on my C and C++. Tomorrow we are again foregoing the normal lecture. Instead we will be meeting with the professor one-on-one to discuss our background, our test results, and what we want to get out of the program.

DMD sounds like it may be my most taxing and most fun class. The schedule moves in two-week rounds developing a new game in each round. All of the work for DMD will be in Flash. The first couple weeks are spent learning Flash 8; then we start making games. There are two solo projects and four group projects. With such a short timeline for each game it’s going to be hectic. One thing I like about this class is that everyone will be getting a chance to try out all the roles: production, programming, and art.

My one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays is Design for Media. It is intended as an introduction to the production and business aspects of the industry, though not in as much detail as the dedicated producers are getting. I am not crazy about learning all about scheduling and budgets, but I understand why it’s necessary and I look forward to having that knowledge–hopefully it will make me a better game developer. It sounds like, in this class, we will be developing one game idea over the course of the whole semester, but not developing the game, just exploring the production process.

The only class I haven’t had yet is my Improvisational Theatre class, which meets on Wednesdays. I have done some improv in the past. The class could be really fun.

I finally got my camera cord in the mail that I had left up in Virginia, so I should be able to post some pictures of my house and of FIEA pretty soon.