August 2025 Check-In

It’s been a mostly quiet month.

Writing More

I’ve been really trying to get myself to write more by trying to set aside 30 minutes a day to write. I don’t necessarily focus on any specific piece. Sometimes it’s a blog post, other times it’s my novel.

As I wrote at the beginning of the month, I also started scheduling and planning my blog posts in an attempt to help me both achieve my goal of 100 posts this year as well.

I know it kind of sounds like I’m really having to force myself, and in some cases it might be true. But really what it also comes down to is just getting myself in the mindset and setting aside time. I want to get better, but like with everything, it means sitting down and actually doing it. So far, so good.

Lifting More

After reading A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting by Casey Johnston, I’ve been motivated to get back into a lifting routine. I lifted more in August than I have any month this year and for a while. I’d been shrugging off lifting days and opting for walks or runs instead. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as runs, walks, and hockey gets my heart pumping and is still exercise, but it had made every try to get back into lifting make me feel weak again.

All the false starts have thus far been in the past as I’ve been doing a good job of lifting every other day with only a blip here and there. Feeling stronger again so I’m planning on keeping up with it. The next challenge will be on days after hockey when the next season starts in a week or so.

Screen Time Improvements

I’ve been trying to do better with screen time, and I think I’m doing better. I feel better about it anyways. I’ve been focusing more on RSS rather than social. I haven’t abandoned social media, just trying to go through more in-depth pieces rather than Bluesky or Mastodon. I’m still trying to sort out my thoughts on social media. I did kind of enjoy my cleanse at the beginning of the year.

Concerts Galore

Galore might be a strong word, but I saw Halestorm and Volbeat in the middle of August and Dave Hause twice at the end of the month. The weather was gorgeous so my wife and I ventured into Philly to see Dave put on a free show at the Spruce Street Harbor Park with The Tisburys and then again the next night with John Gallagher Jr. at 118 North in Wayne, PA. Both shows were a lot of fun and were enjoyable evenings. Definitely wants me to play guitar more.