Delayed March update!

Well, I’m a little late with my update this month. I’d honestly hoped to post more often than I have been, but this is what I’ve got and I’m not not making progress on my 101 things. So that’s something. Love the double negative, right?

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to.

Updates on already discussed things:

#13 – Travel to three states I’ve never been to before. The next state coming up is Illinois. I do not count stopping over in O’Hare while on my way to states west. This time I’m actually stopping in O’Hare and leaving it! Very exciting. This visit to Chicago is really needed as I’m getting rather burnt out at work and with life here. A few days when no one is able to try to plan anything with me will be very nice.

#14 – Memorize state capitals. – Not doing too badly with this, but I still need to work at it a bit more. I’ve got about 75% of them memorized (I think) and just need to test myself more.

#57 – Keep work desk clean for a month – this was completed but I did get a tiny bit messy again. But I’ve been regularly straightening it up, so it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be. I count that as an accomplishment.

#64, 65, 68 – Vitamins and Situps/Pushups has gone about as expected. Which is still sporadic. BUT that’s the idea is I need to spend a month where I focus down on doing just the one thing and making myself get into the habit of it. Tough, but doable.

New things!

#11 – Take a weeklong vacation alone somewhere restful by myself for contemplation. – This is happening! I’ve already got a week planned in a time share on Cape Cod for a whole week where I think I’m going to just go by myself and do my thing all alone. I’m not positive what all I’ll do, but I think I’m going to bring Euclid’s Elements with me (yeah, bringing #9 with me just in case) and my GRE book and a few other books and notebooks and sketchbooks and see what I feel like doing.

#80 – Eat lunch out only 5 times in one month. I’m very close to accomplishing this. I’ve gotten food in or eaten out for lunch 4 times since the beginning of this month. Almost there!

#85 – Cook a whole chicken – This has been done. AND it’s done me a lot of good in terms of not eating out. One chicken can feed me for a week or more. And the method I learned is slow cooking, but amazing.

#88 – Learn to make 5 kinds of soup – I already had curried butternut squash soup under my belt, but since then I’ve made chicken broth (from scratch), a tortellini, garlic, tomato soup in chicken broth and a guiness beef stew. All were amazingly tasty. I just need to learn 2 more kinds of soup! Maybe 3 if I decide the chicken broth doesn’t count. I do want to learn to make borscht but I may force my roommates out of the apartment while trying to make it.

Slowly but surely I am making progress in all my little 101 things. Hopefully I’ll keep going!

An Update And An Unexpected Thing

Well, it’s been a month and a half and I have not accomplished much.

Let’s see.

#13 – Travel to three states I’ve never been to before. I went to Vermont! Technically I’ve gone through Vermont, but not really stayed there. Where next?

#57 – Keep work desk clean for one month. Done! Now to keep it that way.

Yeah. Not much yet. I think I really need to get some more things done for myself. Vitamin D intake has been sporadic and I really need to make a doctor’s appointment to check my thyroid. On the other hand, I did end up doing something I never would’ve put on my list. I learned how to snowboard! Yeah, it was kind of a random surprising thing. Something I’ve never thought I’d ever try, and yet somehow I found myself buying crazy warm undergarments, and goggles and gloves and lots of other stuff. Then heading up to Vermont where I was being taught how to snowboard by a 16 year old boy and then I fell over a LOT. Regardless, I wouldn’t say I’m a good snowboarder yet, but I’m definitely learning and I’m rather proud of myself for going for it.

I wonder what I’ll do next that’s not on my list?

2009 Ahoy!

Well, here it is January 4th (officially) of 2009, and I need to actually start working on my 101 things. So, that’s the question. What of these 101 things should I start first? Well, a couple of them strike me as doable right away. Learning the state capitals, doing my 25 pushups and 50 situps, taking my D vitamin (I’m out of multivitamins at the moment), and saving money. All are very doable, but how do I go about some of them?

In all honesty, when it comes to state capitals, I get about 43/50 correct when a name is given to me and I have the region of the state, but I only get 35/50 when I don’t have the region at all. Obviously I have work to do. So how to go about doing this? Simple schoolwork-style memorization. Once I can do all 50 without a problem, I get to move on to the next one, which is learning 50 new countries and their capitals! The reason behind these challenges for myself is that although I had some geography in school, I still know so little about other states and other countries. For several years I had a world map as my shower curtain and I found myself enjoying it simply because I had no idea where half of these various countries were located and what their capitals were and what kinds of people lived there. Most of my fellow Americans have this problem actually, and I want to get away from that sense of laziness with regard to simply knowing where things are and what happens there and the significance of these places.

The whole taking Vitamin D every night thing is simply because I have to take thyroid hormones due to having a condition where my body destroyed most of my thyroid and there have been studies showing that when taking thyroid, bone density issues come about. Considering that I’m a woman going into my thirties and Vitamin D helps bones absorb calcium and also helps the body do a whole slew of other things, I think this is something that will just be good for me all over. I just have to get in the habit again.

25 push ups and 50 sit ups are something I am capable of doing. So… this morning I start. I’m writing a reminder to myself now so that I do get those done, and simply put… my arms could use it and my abs have disappeared.

And saving money. I have not started out the month doing a terribly good job at that, but starting today I will be working hard at saving money. I think this will be doable, it’s just a matter of counting what I’m spending more carefully.

And it begins! Wish me luck!

20 “Classics”

I meant to post this on January 1, but hadn’t quite figured out my list of “classics” for the 20 classics in a year. As with that book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, I’m missing a lot of really good stuff. Some of which I’ve read before, some of which I am not sure I’ll ever want to read. In any case, below is a list of 35 books for me to choose from for the year of classics. I’ll mark when I’ve read them.

These books were chosen based on a lot of random interests. The main reason I’m doing the “read classics” challenge is because I read way too much from the science fiction and fantasy genres. Although these genres are absolutely chock full of high quality writing and story telling I do need to expand my reading a bit more to include the influences of the writers I love best too.

20 Classics to be chosen from among the list below:

Middlemarch – George Eliot
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
The White Goddess – Robert Graves
The New York Trilogy – Paul Auster
American Psycho – Brett Easton Ellis
Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Ecco
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller – Italo Calvino
Henry and June – Anais Nin
Ulysses – James Joyce
Walden Civil Disobedience – Henry David Thoreau
The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
Thank You, Jeeves – P.G. Wodehouse
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
Metamorphoses – Ovid
The Grapes of Wrath -John Steinbeck
The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexander Dumas
Paradise Lost – John Milton
Journey to America – Alexis de Tocqueville
Essays of Elia – Charles Lamb
Four Socratic Dialogues – Plato
Imaginary Conversations – Walter Savage Landor
The Canterbury Tales – Chaucer
Inferno – Dante
Hamlet – Shakespeare
The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
The Iliad/Odyssey – Homer
Decameron – Boccacio
The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
The Plague – Albert Camus
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway

101 Things

I’ve pulled together my list of 101 things that I will do in 1001 days. Officially I will be starting this on January 1, 2009 as the end date will then be September 29th, 2011 (my birthday and thus making that day more significant to me than just an “ack! I’m getting old!” moment).

Some of these goals may be totally unreachable, but I’ve tried to give myself some variety. I plan for every goal not reached to donate $2 (or more depending on finances) to a charity that will be chosen at the time (something urgently needing help at that moment or a charity I run into along the way that I love).

The Mission:

Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:

Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?

Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple goals such as New Year’s resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Start Date: January 1, 2009. End Date: September 29, 2011.

The Key:

Not Started
In Progress
Accomplished (with the date)

For Fun/Me

1. Identify 100 things that make me happy

2. Visit Florence.

3. Visit Paris.

4. Learn about physics.

5. Read 101 books in one year. Did well beyond this in 2008 so changing this now to Read 20 classics in one year. The list of “classics” will be in my next post.

6. Watch 101 movies in one year.

7. Get Netflix list down to under 100 movies at least once.

8. Get tattoo (small one – most likely a spiral or an infinite sign).

9. Read Euclid’s Elements through.

10. Have a pot luck party.

11. Take a weeklong vacation alone somewhere restful by myself for contemplation. Done! May 2009.

12. Go to a beach resort with a friend for a long weekend for my birthday.

13. Travel to 3 states I’ve never been to before. (2/3)

14. Memorize state capitals

15. Memorize 50 new countries, capitals and their leaders.

16. Go to a Bryant Park Monday night movie

17. Go to 6 Central Park Summer Stage Events

18. Go to 6 Celebrate Brooklyn Events

19. See a Shakespeare in a park performance (either Public Theater or the wandering troupe)

20. Go to an opera

21. Participate in 10 postcrossings.

22. Write a love letter (to someone else or myself)

23. Buy myself flowers once a month for a year

24. Walk across all the major bridges of NYC. (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro, George Washington)

25. Take the Staten Island Ferry

26. Go to the top of the Empire State Building

27. Go to an event at Governor’s Island

28. Go to a Dr. Sketchy’s event

29. Go bowling

30. Go to a rollerskating rink

Professional Development

31. Apply for 3 Art fellowships/grants.

32. Take a Saturday drawing class from The Art Student’s League for 3 months.

33. Get a story workshopped by a writer’s group.

34. Pull together 6 nice work outfits and take good care of them. Done! This happened sometime in June 2009.

35. Take GRE.

36. Research areas of study that might be interesting/useful.

37. Take a continuing ed class in computer programming for web applications or to help in grad school applications.

38. Study German.

39. Study Spanish

Projects

40. Finish at least one novel and shop it out.

41. Get suitcases painted.

42. Learn Flash.

43. Redesign website.

44. Participate in 365 Day Portrait Challenge.

45. Keep a dream journal and make drawings or write stories from them.

46. Finish a crochet project.

47. Make tshirt quilt.

48. Tailor items that don’t quite fit right to fit.

49. Draw for 3 hours a week for one month.

50. Paint for 3 hours a week for one month.

51. Write and draw a little comic book.

52. Create 10 new original paintings.

For Health and Sanity

53. Move into own apartment. Done as of August 2009! (I know I’m future dating, but it’s happening)

54. Organize books and pare down.

55. Organize CDs and pare down.

56. Organize clothes and pare down.

57. Keep work desk clean for 1 month. Done as of February 2009.

58. Keep bedroom clean and organized for 2 months.

59. Clean bedroom once a week for 2 months straight.

60. Organize hard drive and external hard drive.

61. Empty out and recycle ancient desktop imac.

62. Drink 5 cups of water a day for 2 weeks.

63. Get thyroid level to ideal level per doctor.

64. Take Vitamin D 1000 IU every night for a month.

65. Take multivitamin every night for a month.

66. Eat healthy vegetarian for 1 week a month for 3 months.

67. Lose 20 lbs.

68. Do 25 pushups and 50 sit ups every other day for a month.

69. Go swimming once (plus) a week for 3 months.

70. Go do yoga once a week for 3 months.

71. Do Wall climbing at least once.

72. Do intro Capoeira.

73. Meditate 2 times a week for an hour for one month.

74. Identify 5 bad habits and work on getting rid of them. (1/5 identified. working on getting rid of it)

75. Identify 5 good habits and build on them.

76. Sleep a full 8 hours a night for 1 week a month for 4 months.

Finances

77. Save 6K for move (pre August 2009) Done! as of July 2009

78. Build a 3 month buffer (post August 2009)

79. Track all spending for 3 months running.

80. Get lunch out only 5 times for 1 month (bring food from home for rest). Done as of April 2009.

81. Get dinner out only 5 times for 1 month (make food at home).

Foodie-ness

82. Make pizza from scratch.

83. Have a dinner party.

84. Go to a new restaurant in New York once a month for 1 year.

85. Cook a whole chicken. Done March 2009!

86. Cook something with fish 5 times.

87. Cook mussels.

88. Learn to make 5 kinds of soup (3/5)

89. Make a cheesecake.

Purchases

90. Buy a crock pot and use it 10 times.

91. Replace the dresser.

92. Buy a dutch oven.

93. Buy a wide angle lense for my camera.

For Others

94. Do a regular volunteering gig with New York Cares for 3 months – once every other week.

95. Do a regular volunteering gig with Prospect Park for 3 months – once every other week.

96. Give all handmade gifts for 1 Christmas

97. Give everyone an action gift for Christmas (like a coupon for me making dinner, my time as a helper in some needed activity, etc.)

98. Find a neighborhood community program and volunteer at least 5 times.

99. Do regular volunteer web design or graphics design.

100. Keep a shopping bag in purse and do not accept plastic bags for 1 month.

101. Compliment a complete stranger 10 times.

Welcome!

I’ve finally decided to start a real blog. I’ve “blogged” (read emo whined) regularly before, but this blog is for a specific purpose. It’s to chronicle the next few years where I make an effort to figure myself out a bit and find a direction for myself. Rather self-centered I know, but isn’t that what blogging is about much of the time?

I’m going to have a few items that I plan to focus on regularly. First, I’ve been inspired (many times, but this time I’m really friggin’ doing it) to do the 101 things in 1001 days challenge. I’ll be posting my list as I put it together in a later post and some of my various posts over the next while will be how I do on my list and where I go totally wrong as I change my priorities and what have you.

I will also be documenting various projects (several of which will be part of the 101 things) and various thoughts and ideas that occur to me along the way. Also I expect that I will talk about some of my various obsessions. Included in that will be books, movies, art, politics (when I am paying attention), world events, history, culture, and my home of New York City and Brooklyn.

Hopefully this will be entertaining as well as useful for my own work. We’ll see though. I may be the most boring writer to walk the face of the earth. In the meantim, enjoy!