Subscribe via RSSWhat I've Done With My Life For A Month July 17
I've been out of school for a month to this day and done nothing with my life. Well, I had my last test a month ago. I haven't really done anything with my four weeks of freedom so far. It's been pretty much wake up, eat (maybe), get on computer until really late, repeat. I did do a couple productive things, but overall my summer so far has been dead. Let me take you through these past four weeks of my of so exciting life.
Because our school district really likes to annoy the kids during summer, they decided to make us read two books this summer, and complete associated projects. Now, I don't mind reading during the summer, it's just the projects that make it horrible. Who really wants to write stuff about a book after they had to read it? I have to admit, some of the books they make us read are actually pretty good, but I dislike them after because I now have to rip it apart for stupid literary terms.
The two books we had to read this summer were The Book Thief by Markus Zuzsak and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I decided to read The Book Thief first so I can get the larger of the two books out of the way. The first couple chapters really bored me and I hated the writing style. However, once I got used to it and figured out why it was written like that, I loved the book. I love the way Zusak used so much foreshadowing, and the narrator he chose was really interesting. The little foreshadowing bits he put in there really wanted me to keep reading. Now, I can't say the same for the other book. I really didn't like it. My friends said that they did, but I really didn't because there wasn't really a plot. Another thing I hated about it was the main theme. RACISM. The stupid school district always gives us racism books to read. I'm so sick of them.
The summer reading took me a week of two to finish, but after that I really didn't have that much to do. Luckily for me, ThemeForest released their PHP Scripts category. I was excited about this because I can't just go out and get a full-time job like most people. I thought it would be nice to get some income from doing something that I really liked to do. To my surprise my three scripts and one HTML template have made me ~$90! I know that I'll be sticking around and selling some more things if I get the chance to think of something to code up. I've also been hanging around the forums there a lot.
Besides selling files at ThemeForest, I've also been working with two people for some money. The first person is my second cousin who makes me do some little PHP scripts. The other person is someone who contacted me through ThemeForest. So not only am I getting money from selling scripts there, I'm also getting some clients! The guy who contacted me just wants me to do a little client/project manager script. Another place I got a little extra money is from Nettuts+. After leaving the article for them on hold from April, I was finally able to finish it and get it published. Check it out!
Do I have something in mind with all this money? Of course! What I should really do is save it for my MBP, but I'd rather spend it on a Nikon D40x with a 50mm lens. I've always wanted to have a nice camera that could get that really nice bokeh in the background. With this, I'll be able to. Of course I'll need practice before I can get good enough to print the photos and hang them up on my bedroom walls, which are very empty.
The Nikon is a "long" term goal for my money making. I figure that I should be able to get it around mid/end of August because Envato sends out the money on the 15th of the next month. I did crack and buy two things with some of my birthday money. I had wanted to start learning JavaScript for a really long time, so I bought JavaScript: The Definitive Guide and a 18 month Moleskine planner for next year at school.
Okay, I'll stop rambling by saying that I put up a new layout (really?). I decided to make it a one column layout because I don't think I've ever done that, and if I have it's only been once or twice. I had to try and polish it off while making two cheesecakes for a family reunion tomorrow. I'm really excited for tomorrow because 1) I get to see lots of people; 2) I get to eat cheesecake; and 3) my aunt is giving me her Wacom tablet!
Lovin' the new layout (as I have already told you via AIM)! I'll have to download FireFox 3.5 to see the drop shadows... but you know how my lovely obsolete piece of junk is.
Blargh, I'm still not even half-way through with "The Book Thief" yet. It depresses me so much! After reading a chapter, I feel like jumping off a bridge or something.
This layout is great! I like it much more than the previous one.
I have to do the same thing you do! Read two books on a list, but I have to write a full report, no less than three pages, single spaced, with 12pt Times New Roman (they were very specific about this). I haven't even started, though I've read about ten books not on the list.
Congrats on earning money from Envato! I'm also trying to earn some money from ThemeForest with my little PHP scripts since I'm saving for college @.@
I want to buy a Moleskine planner too :9 But I don't use planners much, and I don't want to waste money on things I don't really need either. (This includes my websites, which will probably die at the end of this year).
Wow, 90 dollars, that's awesome!
I hated reading during the Summer, thus why I never did it. I always found myself rushing to read the books within the last two weeks of Summer! Still, never finished them. And when time came to take the tests on them, I failed, of course.
Might I add, I LOVE THIS LAYOUT, great job!