It’s not exactly a secret — at least among people I’m close to — that I’ve been feeling a bit, erm, burnt out lately. My productivity isn’t as high as it was last year; my motivation is waning. Frequently, I feel like I need a change of scenery or something, but the weekend-to-weeklong vacations I took in the last few months just don’t seem to cut it.

Since late May, I’ve been eligible for a month-long sabbatical from my full-time job. Sadly, various circumstances — mostly those of practicality — won’t really allow me to do so until early next year.

In the meantime, I thought it might be appropriate to think about how to better my output, both in quality and quantity. (Not that I think the quality is hurting, mind you; people at the office seem pretty pleased with that overall, but there’s always room for improvement.) The list pictured above is something I consider a step in the right direction. I came across the list today at Lifehacker and decided to print out a version for myself. It’s hung prominently on my cube wall where others will not only see it but also perhaps benefit from it.

We’ll see how it goes.

Good thing I caught this one before GLBT Pride Month came to a close: the Gay 10 Commandments. Among them, “Thou shall participate in the political process” and “Thou shall learn and understand Gay History.”

Courtesy the Mangina Monologues, a list of 18 things gay men should never have.

Another list to ponder: 7 TV Shows That Desperately Need DVDs. Of the shows listed, Liquid Television is the only one I’d even remotely consider purchasing. Of the shows missing from that list, I would have to add Daria… an maybe Hey Dude. Oh, and a proper release of Designing Women.

And if you haven’t checked out the TV Shows on DVD site already, you should.

Dickipedia is a wiki of dicks. Not penises, mind you, but notable people who display prickish tendencies.

Each dick’s entry contains a biography with reasons supporting their inclusion on Dickipedia. The site currently lists 40 dicks, with Hillary Clinton as the token female. (She “was president of the Young Republicans [at Wellsley College], as dick a position as they come.”)

Others on the dick list include David Blaine, Tucker Carlson, Bill O’Reilly, Ralph Nader, Lance Armstrong and Barack Obama.

Looking to capitalize on the forthcoming Valentine’s Day holiday, Amazon.com came up with a list of the 20 “most romantic cities” in the U.S. Three of the entries are part of the Washington, DC, metro area.

1. Alexandria, Va.
2. Cambridge, Mass.
3. Miami, Fla.
4. Irvine, Calif.
5. Ann Arbor, Mich.
6. Orlando, Fla.
7. Berkeley, Calif.
8. Scottsdale, Ariz.
9. Arlington, Va.
10. Atlanta, Ga.
11. Washington, D.C.
12. Pasadena, Calif.
13. Bellevue, Wash.
14. Seattle, Wash
15. San Francisco, Calif.
16. Columbia, S.C.
17. Tallahassee, Fla.
18. Austin, Texas
19. Richmond, Va.
20. Knoxville, Tenn.

The list is based upon the book buying habits of the cities on Amazon, namely romance novels and books otherwise on sex and relationships. With that criteria, I’d say the above cities spend far too much time reading about it and not nearly enough time doing it.

The BBC presents a list of 100 things we didn’t know last year. While the vast majority of the list was news to me, I was at first surprised to find one item that made it to the list:

34. Kryptonite exists.

Originally I thought kryptonite actually existed for some time, but I was wrong. Krypton, one of the noble gases on the periodic table of elements, does indeed exist. The planet Krypton from the Superman comics was named for it.

The Beeb reported that a kryptonite rock was discovered last year. Contrary to Superman lore, the mineral is white and harmless, but will glow a pinkish-orange when under an ultraviolet light. (list link via kottke)

The folks over at 43 folders offer a list of seven “deadly” sins of instant messaging. I see some merit maybe in a couple of them. (via del.icio.us/urbanbohemian

Saw this link passed around on the LGBT group email list at the fruit stand: Ten Reasons Gay Marriage is Un-American. Number five is a favorite: “Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany [sic] Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.”

Five years and nearly one month ago, I put together a list of 100 things about me, spurred on by a blog meme. I came across the entry just now, thanks to a random search for references to “porn” here on Grapefeed. (For the record, I don’t bring up porn that much, compared to everything else I post about.)

After reading the list for the first time in a few years, I realized some of the items on it either changed or are no longer true. That said, I think it’s time for a new list. It’ll take me some time to create it; I’ll call it “100 More Things.” (I’m baking that future post as we speak.)

In the meantime, the following items from the original list are no longer accurate:

• 10. I sometimes put ice cubes in milk. I no longer do this, especially since we now get milk delivered to the house in glass bottles, which keep the milk much colder than the plastic jugs we typically see in the local megamart.
• 11. I believe decaffeinated anything is just plain wrong. I limit this belief to coffee and tea. (And tea just barely because it has far less of it than coffee.)
• 22. I’m a doormat. I don’t let people walk all over me anymore… much.
• 33. I stopped eating at McDonald’s altogether; Burger King is next on my eradication list. This became an issue of convenience when I started my part-time job last year. That’s a blog post for another time.
• 39. My basic daily wardrobe: black or navy blue t-shirt; denim shorts or pants; Airwalks or Doc Martens. Dark-colored polos are the norm for me, shorts were banned at the office, and I replaced Airwalks with Chucks.
• 43. I’m too cheap to buy new pants. Recent weight loss forced me to be less cheap.
• 46. I enjoy mocking awards shows, especially the ones that started out as a farce but now take themselves far too seriously. I haven’t found much pleasure in this lately.
• 51. I don’t own my computer out right. I do now!
• 92. I’m considering a lava lamp for my desk at work when we move to our new building. Considered it, bought it, didn’t work out.

Everything else remains true to some degree.

Part 2 coming soon.

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