July Goals

1. Take my camera out with me every day. I was deplorably bad about this the whole month of June, and consequently I feel like I got hardly any of Beijing on film (figuratively).

2. Leave some of my stuff behind when I move to Shanghai on July 8th. I feel like I have so much crap, way more than I need, so some of the clothes and general junk that I just don't need are staying in Beijing. I'm planning on giving away my books to friends I've made here, at least. But yeah, this needs to happen.

3. Remember that it's better to learn behind the camera than in front of the computer screen. The more I recognize that someday I want to make a living off photography, the more I realize that being entirely self-taught is a problem. (When I say entirely self-taught, I mean it -- I never read books on photography, not even really camera manuals, nor took classes but instead opted for just playing with settings on my camera until things worked out. Frankly, I couldn't have even defined 'f stop' or 'ISO' for you until about a week ago.)  But now I'm spending so much time reading about photography that I'm not actually photographing anyone. I need to find a balance.

4. Explore Shanghai. This was actually on my May goals until I found out that I would be interning in Beijing, not Shanghai. I am taking a six-week class in Shanghai though, so I'm still getting to go. There's so much I want to see!


5. Travel within China a little. I hardly left Beijing at all the six weeks I was here other than to go to the Great Wall. I already know who my room mate in Shanghai will be though (she's a friend of mine from TAMU), so we've already decided we'll be traveling a lot next month. I'm dying to go to Hong Kong and the beach in Qingdao!

6. Keep up with my friends back home more. I miss them all. A lot. I feel like I haven't kept up with them as well as I can (other than Boyfriend Man), so I will be working harder at that this month. :)

What are your goals for July?