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This time I will have a Sherlock themed challenge, as it fits my goals. Main Goal: Become a legend Goal 1: The Ubiquitous Spreadsheet (+5 CON) My weakness appears to be a combination of needing to do or thing of something daily to keep at it, but also of hoping to do so much as to cease any productivity. At the end of the previous challenge I began a 30-day challenge to check off 9 out of 16 items per day. Each item is some small change or task, and/or from a previous challenge that I wish to continue. After the 30-days it will be more flexible for change but is intended to continue after such a review for the entirety of this challenge. Points awarded by percentage of success days after week zero. Some items on the list include: Exercise and Stretching Tidying - despite dust being a good marker of tampering Sleeping habits - when they do not interfere with a case No Mindless Eating - focus needs to be on the information, not ordinary needs Studying and Writing - to hone my abilities, "Education never ends Watson, it is a series of lessons" Method of Loci - what detective is incapable of recalling the most vital pieces of attic furniture? none. "I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it." Posture - How one holds oneself changes one's ability to blend in or glean information Walking the Dog - there is no better method of infiltration, except that it is fairly memorable to observers Draw - as a method to correct poor spacial reasoning and something that is the nearsightedness (compared to blind) side of face-blindness Complete a project already started - a goal that will end up decluttering the to-do list, and my head-space News - As a Global Studies major I am shamefully oblivious at times, but still deplorable for any person of society. Goal 2: Conquering the Mathematics GRE Subject Test (+4 WIS) The April date for the subject test is directly preceding this challenge. Although I am pessimistic about my ability to be prepared I do intend to try and at least be motivated to review the knowledge I will need in graduate school. I even signed up for a Coursera Calculus class. Benchmarks: (One stat point each, with the test specifics combined into one) -Calculus Textbook -Linear Algebra -Differential Equations -Practice test -Sign-up and pay for the test Goal 3: The Ninja Assassin (+5 STR) (John quote about Sherlock not seeming to workout despite his abilities that I cannot find) I have a tendency to vastly prefer my working out being noticed, and overall being a ninja about it. Being ninja-like is not terribly strange, is it? I make a second spreadsheet with grouping of two or three (mostly 3) exercises to do throughout a day without attracting notice. Groupings: Squats/Box Jump/Long Jump Chin-up/Plank/Hollow Hold Bridge/Wall Sit/Leg Lift Jumping Jacks/Burpees/Ground Kongs Crow/Pk Roll/Handstand Push-ups/Warrior 2 <- link has photos, vid, and real name Benchmarks: (One stat point for each reached) *one full push up *hang with bent arms for chin/pull up 15s *hold crow for 15 sec, twice *move while in bridge *back bend from standing without props Life:The Poised Baccalaureate (+1 CHA) No more computer-age slouch for me, I need to work on holding myself respectably. More than just the check-cell in a spreadsheet, looking better extends to apparel. My clothing preference is loose, ill-fitted, and ill-fitted for the current societal expectations of a respectable personage. I am okay with this, I relish in it, but given that I no longer have just three pants it is time to start looking at the articles that are short, that I rarely wear, or that I favor too much (and display such favoritism negatively) critically. Not only will I attempt to correct my posture during this challenge, but also to clean out my clothing. Replaced articles (white T-Shirt for another without stains) will not count, only removed articles. Significant time organizing such as determining articles to retire for messy chores and sleepwear is acceptable. This will be a difficult goal for me, so I will set it at 50 instances of acceptable activity. This means that if I work on posture every day I need only 5 articles sorted for removal, but I can make up missed posture days with more articles of clothing.

I tried for an interesting thread last challenge, and ended it unsure if I would participate in this one. Un/Fortunately (depends on perspective) the goal of being awesome, being able to transform into a canine or feline, and otherwise being able to physically do anything has neither been reached nor abated. (Actually it received another wind. -.-'') Goal 1: Body Weight Circuit (+5 STR) A total of 21 days (i.e. every other day) of doing this circuit. To begin it will be as follows, but once 3 sets of 20 reps each are achieved the difficulty will need to be increased, which may occur slowly with one item at a time as opposed to all at once. Warm-up: 10 Jumping jacks 10 Burpees BW circuit: half-down push ups squats negative chin ups (rows if I can find a place) stair jumps (1 and 2 steps) planks ground kong hollow hold wall sit handstand Cool = stretch: bridge butterfly, forward fold, open butterfly-like poses with side bends R, L, and forward splits twists Balance: tree, eagle, Warrior 2 with arms wrap around Goal 2: Study 6 hours a week (36h) (+5 WIS) This goal is back for a third challenge, not yet fully successful. Points are awarded based on hours per week average without partial points. This can include driving practice and certification classes if they will be possible around work. (Side Note: The earliest I could try to get a driving license is February which I was tempted to make a goal but is heavily reliant upon others and nature.) Goal 3: Write or read 4 hours a week (24h) (+2 CHA) This includes a diary-like log, stories, or letters. This is to look at lesser goals without allowing them to overshadow studying by merging them. I included reading (non-text book) because well-written book can help my writing that has degraded significantly. News reading is a not mentioned goal, but not to be used for this goal as it would be too broad. Goal 4: Drawing 1 page a week (6 total) (+2 STA) Anything, I have a comic book idea though that I am sure my nephews would love to read and color. Each page must be complete, including color if desired, paper or tablet. Goal 5: Craft (+1 DEX) Okay, finger dexterity, but still mildly relevant. I did this without a challenge goal last go and I really want to make a corset, mostly to force better posture but if it looks nice then I could possibly pair it with a long skirt as an outfit. Any completed project will do for this goal. Additionally: I plan to continue with chores, cooking a dinner (defined as largest/primary meal of the day) on occasion, applying to more graduate programs, and clearing out my old about-to-be-turned-off e-mail address. Reward: Thrift store snowboard, if found, provided goal 1 is on track.

I am going to frame this challenge thread a bit differently; I am going to base it on the main characters of the television show, "Leverage". In summary, it is a series that follows a team of criminals that even the advantage afforded the rich and powerful so that people hurt by them can achieve some form of restitution - leverage. Leverage is the created by some tool or device to afford the wielder enhanced ability to face a challenge: a lever is used mechanically to allow a person to lift or move an object otherwise too heavy. By forming steps to my overall aims as goals matched to the five main characters' roles I anticipate gaining leverage on my life. Thief: (+5 Dexterity) This happens to be my favorite character in the show, but primarily because she is crazy and crazy is not a Nerd Fitness - approved stat. Dexterity is arguably the most important ability for any thief, used to avoid confrontation, not be noticed, and dodge alarm systems. I will tackle this by working on handstands, bridges, and core balance with the eventual goal in mind to reach a free standing handstand without kicking, such as from crow pose or slow and controlled from a bridge. As of starting this challenge I can kick up to a wall-handstand successfully approximately 60-80% of the time and during the previous challenge could hold without the wall briefly before hitting it, hold for about thirty seconds, and not quite remain balanced after bending my knees and slowly curling toward a crow or forward-bend pose. This will be measured by 15 minutes a day with, baring changes, at least 5 being handstands, at least 5 being bridge, and at least enough leg stretches to easily touch my toes. Yes, the days are a bit short considering I am starting early. That is how my grace is built into the grading format. It is possible to complete this early, or make up days by doing more on another day; that too is intentional due to the form of grading I have found to be most effective for my motivation without being overly harsh by allowing one mistake to create an irreparably lower grade. pts: total minutes 5 : 630+ 4 : 567 (90-99%) 3 : 504 (80-89%) 2 : 441 (70-79%) 1 : 378 (60-69%) 0 : anything less Cracker: (+4 Strength) Clarification: Hackers are more of a test, somewhat like Urban Exploration's "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints." Crackers are more malicious, comparable on a scale from graffiti artists just tagging his or her location to burning down the building. What is done on the show is cracking, in that information is sought/taken or changes made. Even the behind-the-scenes person needs to be ready to lend a face, and some muscle, to any operation. Although I could not find any good images or gifs, I know he has participated in his fair number of fights, for which some cursory amount of strength is required. As part of working towards pull-ups I will do dumbbell rows, lifting household objects such as a plastic jug filled with water (~3.8kg, ~8.4lbs). The measure will be 3 sets to fail on each arm once a day. Again, the extra days by starting early are the grace for missed sessions. My starting level is 13-9-8 for both left and right. pts: days 4 : 42 3 : 36 (6/wk) 2 : 30 (5/wk) 1 : 24 (4/wk) 0 : less Mastermind: (+2 Wisdom, +1 Charisma) Being able to know the players, the board, and move with regard to possible moves by the opponent is crucial for the leader of any criminal group. However bad my chess playing ability is, on the other hand, taking the time to play is not much of a challenge. Instead I will reuse, with updates, a goal I failed from the previous challenge. Study something (GRE, mathematics, physics, a foreign or programming language, A+ certification, . . . ) or write (a log from notes, stories, GRE practice, . . . ) for an hour a day. I also split the points to include charisma because when I write it is generally rather similar to writing different personae, which fits in with the grifter, as well as the fact that studying and its results improve how I appear to graduate schools, potential employers, and individuals in general. I anticipate exceeding this goal do to the additional accepted activities but based on my previous result I wanted to be conservative. pts: hours 4 : 42 3 : 36 (6/wk) 2 : 30 (5/wk) 1 : 24 (4/wk) 0 : less Retrieval Specialist/Hitter: (+1 Constitution) There is more to life than just hitting people and retrieval for various employers, cooking is also a fairly useful talent. I will find a recipe, obtain ingredients, and make at least one paleo or no-gluten meal a week. (In addition to any other things I might create, such as banana bread, lemon pie, pretzel bark, . . . I like to bake.) The long-long-range use of this is to eventually try a week of regimented food and try to see if taking some things out will lessen my headaches. The point will be awarded only if all 7 are made, because there is plenty of room for making up a meal from a missed week. Grifter: (+1 STA) The art of a grifter is to accomplish one's aims by gaining access to otherwise restricted opportunities. The most base version of this is to simply trespass without problems, aided by enough stamina to keep up with active or multiple roles as needed. I will continue to walk the dog at least once a week, because although this was a previous goal that was met the habit has not yet stuck. This exercise allows for a plausible excuse for roaming outside my dominion on the longer treks, or stamina training if it is a jaunt around the neighborhood road where I attempt to outrun my dog. Point awarded only for 7 excursions. Pay a favor: (+1 Charisma) I will vacuum the house at least once a week with an aim to at least either do the areas that need an attachment, vacuum thoroughly, and/or vacuum more than once in the week. This is to fulfill an agreement with someone that had leverage over me, and having cleaner floors means that I and my clothes will be cleaner which justifies the charisma stat point. Point awarded only if the floors are vacuumed 7 times.

Base Stats (if week 3 is completed) STR: 0 DEX: 3 STA: 0 CON: 2 WIS: 4 CHA: 1 Main Quest: Gain the shapeshifting skill "dog/tiger transform" (The ability to parkour-run through woods with no low branches.) This is a big quest, step 1 is to develop basic strength (arms and core) with a bit of stamina. The measurements for this will be to manage one chin-up and pull-up consistently, 2x90sec plank, and hold each side of Warrior 2 (yoga) for 2 minutes without a significant break between. Support Goals Goal 1: (STR) Do something at least 6 times a week. (push ups, dumbbell rows, squats, walk through the woods and vault fallen trees, . . . , any intent to move to approach the Main Quest.) A: at least 6 times a week B: average 5 times a week or better C: average 4 times a week D: no less than 3 times any week F: anything less Goal 2: (WIS) Hold posture. This entails sitting and standing up straight, and possibly holding abs while sitting or standing to be measured by conscious efforts or corrections. (The count will be by days, with 3 corrections/intentional efforts required to count the day.) A: at least 6 days of at least 3 corrections a day per week B: at least 6 days of at least 3 corrections a day per week on average C: at least 5 days of at least 3 corrections a day per week on average D: at least 4 days of at least 3 corrections a day per week on average F: anything less Goal 3: (STA) Play with or walk my dog more. Yes, this is stamina if done right. (Walks can double count for Goal 1) A+ BONUS: average 4 days a week A: 3 days a week B: 2 days a week C: average 2 days a week D: 1 day a week F: anything less Life Quest: (I do not know what stat) Study and register for the GRE. (reverse letter order, at cut-off) - Finish the first book - Vocabulary notepad (D) - First book practice tests - Two old book practice © - Get New library book and read ( - Those practices - Register for a date and time (A) - Online Practice tests Diet Goal: (no points) Try to eat fewer extra carbs/gluten. Basically, attempt to eat fruit or something instead of carb junk food.