The Wordsmith's Forge

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about goal-setting frameworks for goals_on_dw. Read Part 1: Introduction to Goal-Setting Frameworks, Part 2: The 1-3-5 Rule, Part 3: The 12-week Year, Part 4: ABCS (Achievable, Believable, Committed, Specific), Part 5: Backward Goal, Part 6: BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), Part 7: BSQ (Think Big, Act Small, Move Quick), Part 8: CLEAR (Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Appreciable, Refinable), Part 9: Goal Pyramid, Part 10: Golden Circle, Part 11: GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward), Part 12: HARD (Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult), Part 13: KPI (Key Performance Indicators, Part 14: MASTER (Measurable, Achievable, Specific, Transforming, Evolving, Relevant), Part 15: NCT (Narratives, Commitments, and Tasks), Part 16: OKR (Objectives, Key Results), Part 17: PACT (Purposeful, Aligned, Continuous, Tracked).


Part 17: PACT (Purposeful, Aligned, Continuous, Tracked)

PACT establishes goals that are Purposeful, Aligned, Continuous, and Tracked. Purposeful means that the goal supports a meaningful achievement or a key mission within an organization. Aligned means that it matches other objectives and follows the chosen strategy. Continuous means that it requires ongoing work. Tracked means that someone monitors the steps required to meet the goal, ticks them off as completed, and adjusts as needed for changing circumstances to keep on course.



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Today I took a few pictures in the house yard.

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People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

What is the most fertile soil for hatred? Fear, ignorance, jealousy, or something else entirely? Is it possible that some people are genetically predisposed to hatred?

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Today is sunny and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches, along with several blackbirds out foraging in the recently mowed grass.

I put out water for the birds.

I set out the flats of pots and watered them.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- Today's main yardening project is the goddess garden.  I have started trimming around the edge and digging grass from the inside, but it is slow going.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I did more work on the goddess garden.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- The greenhouse has arrived!  :D  It is in two big heavy boxes.  The delivery guys were kind enough to put them in the garden shed  for us!  Quality blue-collar workers still exist, they're just rare as hen's teeth nowadays.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I did more work on the goddess garden.  I'm about halfway around the outside edge.

I've seen several mourning doves, several catbirds, a brown thrasher, and a robin.  Yes, the catbirds really meow, and you can hear it on that page.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I did more work on the goddess garden.  I'm about 3/4 around the outside edge.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I did more work on the goddess garden.  I finished trimming and cleaning around the outside edge.  Next I need to do the inside of the garden.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I did more work on the goddess garden.  I pretty much got the inside cleaned up.  Next will be reinstalling the goddess statue.

I've seen a young fox squirrel in the forest garden, smaller than usual, with a less bushy tail, and not very confident aloft yet.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I reinstalled the goddess statue.  \o/  All I have left is planting copious amounts of moss rose.  That's my usual summer flower for that location, after the spring bulbs have finished blooming.  There are also various types of thyme, some of which have run into the grass but that's okay.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I planted 4 pink peppermint and 4 peach moss roses around the goddess statue.  I'll need to do the outer ring later.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I planted 12 assorted color moss roses around the outer ring, just inside the bricks.  And that project is done! \o/

I saw a skunk digging in the south lot.  This one has a lot of white on its head, a white stripe down the left side, but mostly black down the right side.  So I think it's different from the others I'v seen.

EDIT 5/9/25 -- I planted the last 4 moss roses in a pot by the old picnic table.

I watered the goddess garden and pansy pots.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.  *goflopnow*
 

This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about goal-setting frameworks for goals_on_dw. Read Part 1: Introduction to Goal-Setting Frameworks, Part 2: The 1-3-5 Rule, Part 3: The 12-week Year, Part 4: ABCS (Achievable, Believable, Committed, Specific), Part 5: Backward Goal, Part 6: BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), Part 7: BSQ (Think Big, Act Small, Move Quick), Part 8: CLEAR (Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Appreciable, Refinable), Part 9: Goal Pyramid, Part 10: Golden Circle, Part 11: GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward), Part 12: HARD (Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult), Part 13: KPI (Key Performance Indicators, Part 14: MASTER (Measurable, Achievable, Specific, Transforming, Evolving, Relevant), Part 15: NCT (Narratives, Commitments, and Tasks).


Part 15: NCT (Narratives, Commitments, and Tasks)

NCT stands for Narratives, Commitments, and Tasks. Narratives are the stories you tell about your life and career, which give meaning and purpose to your actions. They create context and motivation for the goals that you choose. Commitments are strategic goals and priorities that follow with your narratives. they shape actions over the long term. Tasks are particular steps that work toward fulfilling commitments and advancing goals. They are concrete and measurable actions that need to be completed. Thus NCT is a resilient framework for making and pursuing long-term projects.



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Today is partly cloudy and mild. It's supposed to rain, don't know if it actually will.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches, two mourning doves, and two blackbirds.

I put out water for the birds.

I moved the flats of pots outside and watered them. There are currently 4 but not all of them are full.

EDIT 5/8/25 -- I sowed seeds in the telephone pole garden including Ageratum 'Red Bouquet', Balsam, Celosia 'Wooster Cockscomb', Four 'o Clock 'Marbles Mix', Hollyhock 'Antwerp', Fig Hollyhock 'Happy Lights', Sunflower 'Autumn Beauty', Sunflower 'Hopi Landrace', Sunflower 'Pinetree Mix', Zinnia 'Mega Diversity Mix', and Zinnia 'Persian Carpet'.

I brought in the flats because it looks like it might rain.

EDIT 5/8/25 -- I planted a 'Lemon Boy' tomato with 4 'Hot Pak Gold' marigolds in a large pot on the new picnic table.

Thunder and a sprinkle of rain, but that's all so far.

EDIT 5/8/25 -- I planted a pot of red and white petunias with 'Dusty Miller' artemesia and sweet alyssum; and a pot of mixed impatiens with sweet alyssum.  I had just started the hot pink torenia when it began raining again, so I'll have to do that one later.

EDIT 5/8/25 -- I planted one pot with 2 hot pink torenia, 1 pink-and-white striped Wave petunia, and 2 sweet alyssum.  I planted another pot with 2 hot pink torenia, 4 sweet alyssum, and 1 'Dusty Miller' artemesia.

EDIT 5/8/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen two male goldfinches, a brown thrasher, and a fox squirrel.

EDIT 5/8/25 -- I sowed dill and parsley seeds in the telephone pole garden.

I saw a skunk, with normal markings so it wasn't Arrow.

I am done for the night.

Maybe you think capitalism is a shitty system from top to bottom. Maybe you think it just has some flaws. Maybe you're curious about alternatives for their own sake. Maybe you've noticed that money is only useful when there's enough to go around, and no matter how you cook the books, you cannot run 90% of the economy on 10% of the wealth. Whatever your reasons, here are some ways you can fight against capitalism, if you want to tilt at that windmill...

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This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about goal-setting frameworks for goals_on_dw. Read Part 1: Introduction to Goal-Setting Frameworks, Part 2: The 1-3-5 Rule, Part 3: The 12-week Year, Part 4: ABCS (Achievable, Believable, Committed, Specific), Part 5: Backward Goal, Part 6: BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), Part 7: BSQ (Think Big, Act Small, Move Quick), Part 8: CLEAR (Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Appreciable, Refinable), Part 9: Goal Pyramid, Part 10: Golden Circle, Part 11: GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward), Part 12: HARD (Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult), Part 13: KPI (Key Performance Indicators.


Part 13: KPI (Key Performance Indicators)

KPI stands for Key Performance Indicators. These are things you measure as part of pursuing your main goal, to see your progress toward reaching it. As a general rule, you will get more of what you measure, so choose mindfully. They can also be goals unto themselves. Say you have a goal of becoming the top cheese seller in your city. As part of this, you might set a target of selling X pounds of cheese per week, which is both a goal of its own and a way of measuring how close you are to becoming the top cheese seller.



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The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this page as I am still writing.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Ethical Supervillains." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.

I'll be soliciting ideas for supervillains, superheroes, supernaries, blue-plate specials, wild young things, tricksters, contraries, rebels, adventurers, damsels/gentlemen in distress, mentors, historians, explorers, partners, teachers, leaders, teammates, ethicists, psychologists, folklorists, activists, queerfolk, other responsible rebels, using superpowers, building gizmos or super-gizmos, doing magic, breaking rules, refusing to stop just because solving a problem is illegal, exploring new territory, upsetting predictions, inventing things, trusting your best enemy, twisting tropes, flipping stereotypes, expecting the unexpected, researching, revising theories, parenting, teaching, adventuring, asking for help and getting it, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, experiments changing paradigms, adapting, improvising, troubleshooting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, coming out, running away from home, going off the rails, subverting fate, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, other fantastic activities, supervillain lairs, Triton Teen centers, SPOON bases, the forest primeval, underwater, underground, liminal zones, schools, kitchens, campfires, libraries, laboratories, apothecary shops, makerspaces, farmer's markets, foreign dimensions, other phantasmagoric settings, radical activism, radical trust, The Care and Feeding of Supervillains, gizmos or super-gizmos, zoomwagons, zipcycles, dirgecraft, dendropolycarbonate, magical artifacts, quests, enchantments, potions, reversals, contradictions, conundrums, puzzling discoveries, sudden surprises, inventions that change everything, time travel, travel mishaps, the buck stops here, trial and error, polarity, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, intercultural entanglements, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Colors Fest Bingo Card 5-1-25


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia is about live happy lesbians in a quirky fantasy world.

Monster House is suburban fantasy with a diverse household, where the line between truth and fantasy isn't always clear.

The Moon Door explores a women's chronic pain group and lycanthropy.

Not Quite Kansas has a helpful demon.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks.

Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. Antimatter & Stalwart Stan are a cross-cape couple, and Antimatter essentially does science-based magic. Aquariana knows Steel, a supervillain whale; and the Kraken thread crosses this one with Thalassia. Berettaflies shows Stylet trying to clean up his act some. The Big One features several supervillains helping out during and after the earthquake. Calliope stumbles into partnership with the supervillain Vagary. Cuoio and Chiara are principled supervillains. Dr. Infanta is a supervillain or superhera depending who you ask. Fortressa is a supervillain with an all-female team. Officer Pink features centaurs and mystic shifters. Pain's Gray belongs to a gang of supervillains in Motor City. Shiv is surprisingly ethical despite his rough past. In Trichromatic Attachments, Tarnish is a supervillain.

Quixotic Ideas is contemporary fantasy where magic integrates with modern life in positive ways.

Or you can ask for something new.

Boost the signal to reveal a verse in any open linkback poem.

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I made these tonight. While I liked the Brownie Batter Granola Butter smoothie, my partner Doug wasn't fond of the texture. So I put most of the rest into a batch of cookies, which we both love.


"Granola Butter Cookies"

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup Brownie Batter Granola Butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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