After successfully defending my PhD and getting married within a 3 month span, my life was bound to become a little dull. Where was the motivation? Thus, I recently decided to set a collection of new goals for myself. Big ones, little ones. Ones that seem a bit outlandish. Just a few items to keep the engine primed.
- Successfully land a tenure-track faculty position for the 2013-2014 academic year.
This of course is the big kahuna. Ideally, I would like to land a position in the northeast (or Texas or Colorado), but I am open to other options as well.
- Run sub-3:00 during the 2013 Austin Marathon.
This goal is a bit conservative, but I just need to get on my feet again.
- Learn Italian.
This may seem a bit out of place, but I always wanted a greater command of a second language. I took several semesters of Spanish during High School, but Italian always seemed more natural to me. Besides, I spend a decent amount of time in Italy, and it would be convenient if I better knew the language.
- Check out every BBQ joint on Texas Monthly's Top 50 list.
Seriously, I have lived in Texas nearly six years and still not accomplished this feat. This is not something I am proud of. After tasting the fare at Franklin's BBQ recently, I have slowly gone the way of a BBQ snob, and it has honestly been quite a lot of fun.
- Successfully brew a halfway-decent gluten-free beer.
Gluten-free beer is a disaster. It does not even come close to the "real thing". Sorghum malt is sour and a poor substitute for barley malt. I am convinced there has to be another way. Maybe millet or quinoa? In any event, my friends Chris and Zohaib have started their own brewing endeavour, and we have decided to bring gluten-free brewing into the mix. I am quite excited to play beer engineer with them.
