Confessions of a Chronic Dork

Singing along to: Iron & Wine, Sunset and Soon Forgotten

Inspired by Miss Zoot, an intense love of lists, the spirit of procrastination, and the creeping sensation that the times, they are a-changing and maybe if I'm proactive about the changes they won't make me so depressed, I'm throwing my hat into the "101 Things to Do in 1001 Days" ring. 1001 days is actually a really long time, almost three years, and hey, the only thing I love more than setting epic goals and forgetting about them is setting epic goals and actually meeting them.

I will add a permanent link to this post in my sidebar so that everyone can easily see how badly I'm doing, or more, optimistically, so that I can easily find it to cross things off the list and link to posts about my achievements as they happen. If they happen. (Italics indicate a goal in progress.)

Epic List-Fest: 2008-2010

Writing & Blogging

1. Finish (as in edit, rewrite, repeat for as long as it takes) one of my novels. Ew, I sound pretentious just saying that.


2. Post to this blog every day for a month. Two different months. [0/2]


3. Post 2-3 times/week on Pop Goes the Artist for three months, consecutively.


4. Submit a piece of writing to Indie Blogger.


5. Comment on at least one blog per day for a month.


6. Comment on at least one art blog per day for a month.


7. Learn CSS and use it to give the art blog a revamp.


8. Upgrade the art blog's version of Wordpress.


9. Finish and submit that Waiter Rant guest post.


10. Do Sunday Scribblings at least five times. [0/5]


Fitness

11. Hike part of the Appalachian Trail (overnight camping not required).


12. Take a yoga or pilates class.


13. Eight-minute mile.


14. 25 real push-ups.


15. 100 crunches. [Progress report: on good days, I can do about 25. Ish. Thank goodness I have another two years, right?]


16. Fifteen mile bike ride.


17. Learn to swing dance.


18. Take Lucy for a long walk every day for a week.


Reading & "Culture"

19. Attend a lecture or seminar not required for class.

four classic novels or plays. [Progress report: I am almost finished The Remains of the Day. That's a classic, right? Modern Classics totally count. [0/4]

20. Re-read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. [0/2]


21. Re-read all seven Harry Potter books.[0/7]


22. Read The Decameron.


23. Read The Divine Comedy.


24. Read four entire books of the Bible (wimpy small books like the epistles do not count, but they are a bonus).(Currently reading: Job.) [0/4]


25. Watch three classic or otherwise old movies. [0/3]


26. Re-read four of my favorite books from childhood. [0/4]


27. Read the whole newspaper every day for a week (news/opinion, local, arts/style, front page of business, no sports).


28. Read three more "classics of science fiction." (Just finished "Dune." Next up is "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick, because it has one of my favorite titles in science fiction. [1/3]


Food

29. Cook all my own food for a week.


30. Find two more vegetables and two more fruits that I like and eat them. [Veggies: 0/2; Fruits: 0/2]


31. Buy more food from the farmer's market in the summer.


32. Record all my meals for two weeks. Boggle at how many involve french fries or coffee. Use this as a basis for healthy change.


33. Go to a wine-tasting festival and learn about wine (after 10/27/08).


34. Make a tasty meal with tofu. (Obviously, this excludes a Tofurkey.)


35. Try veggie burgers. They might not kill me.


36. Try food from three different countries. [0/3]


37. Make a pie, including crust, from scratch.


38. Go one week without coffee.


39. Buy a reusable water bottle. Use it religiously. (Progress report: I scrounged a water bottle from the back of the cabinet and am using it a lot more, but I'm not ready to cross this off the list yet.]


40. Grow basil. Make pesto. Yum! (Progress report: I bought two small basil plants over Easter break. Grow, basil, grow!)


Finances/Charity/Loving the Trees

41. Donate at least $50/year to a charity.


42. Go a week without spending any money.


43. Record all my purchases for two weeks. Boggle at how many are stupid. Use this as a basis for change.


44. Add $1000 to my savings account.


45. Give money to a homeless person.


46. Renew my friendship with the library: Go six months without buying any books (textbooks excepted). Bonus points for reading books I already own.


47. Buy something I need from a thrift store instead of buying it new.


48. Give blood. Probably won't kill me, might just save someone else.


49. Send two different people a nice card, for no real reason. Anonymously. [0/2]


50. Get a battery recharger and some rechargeable batteries for my camera.


51. Be more diligent about recycling.


Travel

52. Get a new passport. (Progress Report: I finally mailed in the "Dear State Department, I lost my passport" form, so I'm halfway there!)


53. Visit two national parks. [0/2]


54. Visit four Smithsonians that I haven't been to. [0/4]


55. Visit the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, which I didn't know existed until just now.


56. See Starry Night in person (and, by extension, visit the Museum of Modern Art in New York City).


57. Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also in New York City.


58. Visit The Cloisters, also in NYC (are we seeing a theme?). Die of glee, a little bit.


59. Visit the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.


60. Visit the Art Institute of Chicago.


61. Travel to three states I haven't been to before. [0/3]


Arts (with a side order of crafts)

62. Do Illustration Friday for at least two months. Post the results to the art blog.


63. Sell a painting.


64. Open an Etsy shop.


65. Finish the quilt I started three years ago. I'm three-quarters of the way done already.


66. Paint a self-portrait.


67. Take a life drawing class.


68. Take (and post) a photo daily for a month.


69. Give all handmade gifts for Christmas or birthdays one year. (Made by me or by someone else.)


70. Fill a sketchbook.


71. Paint in public.


72. Enter a juried art competition.


73. Try oil painting.


74. Participate in a print exchange.


75. Crochet an afgan.


76. Finally do that track scrapbook I've been meaning to do since the day I graduated.


77. Buy a big (at least 18x24") sketchbook and use it.
    
    Life Skillz, Vanity, and Other Miscellany
    
78. Find the perfect pair of boots.


79. Treat myself to a manicure or pedicure.


80. Wear a skirt every day for a week.


81. Find the perfect foundation.


82. Learn how to blow-dry my hair. Wet hair + business clothes = bad look.


83. Change the oil in my car myself.


84. Learn to drive a car with manual transmission.


85. Clean out the crap from under my bed before I move out.


86. Do a hardcore closet/dresser purge and donate everything I don't want to Goodwill. (Progress report: removed a lot of stuff from my dresser and closet, like sparkly homecoming dresses I'll never wear again, but I'm not calling this done yet: my wardrobe can take a little more slimming down yet.


87. Organize all the travel photos I've taken over the past couple years. (Progress Report: All my DC photos are under control and my "recent photos" folder is now empty. Pending: Paris, Berlin, and San Antonio.)


88. Back up everything that is on my computer. I am one hard drive meltdown away from disaster.


89. Find the perfect perfume.


90. Make the bed every day for a week.


91. Get CPR-certified again.


92. Try three new hairstyles. (Progress Report: My roommate helped me straighten my hair. Way too much work!) [1/3]


93. Pick an issue. Write to my congress(wo)man. Try to ignore the fact that they won't read my letter anyway.


94. Do meatless Fridays for a month outside Lent.


95. Graduate with a higher GPA than I have now. (Progress report: Spring 08's GPA was my highest since first semester of freshman year. On track!)


96. Decide on a graduate school and program.


97. STOP PICKING AT MY FINGERNAILS. (Progress report: nine out of ten nails are beautiful and even, but I slipped up this afternoon and ruined my perfect ten. Still, progress.)


98. Learn to locate five stars/planets/constellations in the sky. [0/5]


Last, But Not Least

99. Make a new 101/1001 list.


100. Donate a dollar to charity for every thing I don't complete on this list.

My 1001 days, which start tomorrow, March 15, 2008, will end December 11, 2010.

I don't think, at this point, that my goal is to complete all of these things. Just as many as I can. None of these are things I feel like I must do, or things that everyone should do (well, except maybe #89, back up everything on my computer). Just things I want do to. Some of them, obviously, are silly. Some aren't. Whatever. But I know a few things about myself and one of them is that change depresses me, even when it's change I want. I don't mean "makes me blue for a couple days" and I don't mean "makes me suicidal," I just mean that it throws me into a funk that can take days or weeks or, yes, sometimes months to climb out of. I also know that when I can actually cross things off a to-do list and have tangible accomplishments, I can stay a little more sane. So, in anticipation of the biggest change on record, my graduation in a year and two months, I'm making that to-do list and hoping it will carry me through.

We'll see how it goes, right?

Labels: 101 in 1001, lists