101 in 1001

I'm jumping on the goal-setting bandwagon. A while back I decided that New Year's Resolutions were silly, and that it was more interesting to make resolutions that apply right away whatever the time of year was. I then resolved to turn off the shower while I washed my hair to conserve water. Needless to say, after the first few days I started to fail. Despite that, I still think that resolutions or goals or whatever should be set at any time, to be accomplished at any time.

I've decided to try 101 things in 1001 days. I've seen this around the internet, and it looked like a neat idea. For a laugh. For some self-improvement, maybe. Because 1001 days is long enough to actually get some of these things accomplished, but it is short enough that I can't continuously procrastinate like I might if the end date were my death. We'll see how far I get. I know some of my tasks aren't as quantifiable as would be useful, but I'll be satisfied if by the end I generally feel I've made progress on those things. Many of these things may show themselves to be impossible or undesirable in the future, but that's life. In no particular order, then, here is my list:

Started September 6, 2008
Finishes June 4, 2011

italics = in progress
bold = completed

1. Get a temporary job
2. Write a novel
3. Learn (and use) 150 new words [51/150]
4. Knit a lace shawl (Ishbel, finished Feb. 2010)
5. Knit a cabled sweater (Vivian, finished Dec 2009 / January 2010)
6. Perform a random act of kindness
7. Organize my old notes, schoolwork etc and consolidate it into one box
8. Reorganize my book shelves so that all my books fit without spilling onto the floor completed Sept 22, 2008
9. Steek something
10. Sew a casual dress that flatters my shape
11. Acquire a decent fountain pen
12. Knit knee-high socks (Delicious Socks?)
13. Read Emma, by Jane Austen, all the way to the end
14. Paint something with watercolours
15. Make and fill an art journal
16. (Private)
17. Handpaint some yarn April 2010
18. Take a road trip
19. Reconstruct a man’s shirt into a blouse
20. Launch new webcomic
21. Get prints made of my favourite digital photos
22. Read the Iliad and the Odyssey in their entirety, back to back
23. Paint on a canvas
24. Send something to PostSecret
25. Sew a skirt from scratch, May 2010
26. Knit something for a baby
27. Read Ulysses (cliché, I know)
28. Create embroidery art
29. Read (and understand) a novel in French
30. Read at least 10 works of non-fiction [3/10]
31. Write in my paper journal weekly
32. Buy a suit
33. Read Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, June 2009
34. Write 5 short stories [0/5]
35. Earn $5500 (May 2009)
36. Read something (to be determined) in the original Latin
37. Read King Lear (May 2009)
38. Silkscreen an ironic (or not so ironic) t shirt
39. Teach someone to knit
40. Draw 5 still-lifes
41. Learn to spin
42. Read something by Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart, May 2009)
43. Read something by Sartre
44. Write and send 3 letters [3/3]
45. Read The Brothers Karamazov
46. Read a long book out loud to/with someone (Nicholas Nickleby)
47. Get a steady job
48. Get appropriate visa to work abroad in England (May 2010)
49. Move to England semi-permanently
50. Go to Spins and Needles
51. Enough in savings account to yield $50 interest per month
52. Sing to someone
53. Visit Italy (April 2009)
54. Visit the Uffizzi gallery in Florence
55. Make a short film
56. Bake croissants from scratch
57. Knit 10 things for other people. [10/10]
58. Explore Toronto (Sept 09)
59. Bake bread from scratch (no bread machine) Feb 2010
60. Visit Spain
61. Go to the Canadian War Museum (December 2008)
62. Swim in the sea
63. Move away from home (at least temporarily) (London, ON: January 7th 2009)
64. Invest in some comfortable flat black leather boots (not suede)
65. Walk at least 30 minutes, at least 5 times a week
66. Hike in the Lake District
67. Run 5 km
68. Learn how to cook salmon (Sept 09)
69. Learn 5 songs on guitar [1/5]
70. Take a yoga class
71. Have a 24-hour silent fast (similar to first year, except 24 hours as opposed waking hours)
72. Learn to swing dance
73. Hike in Gatineau once a year
74. Go to 3 classical / orchestral / chamber music concerts [3/3] (Evelyn Glennie at NAC, Nov 26, 2008), (Kanata Symphony, 9 May 2009), (Parkdale Orchestra, May 2009)
75. Get a haircut and donate my hair to a charity, 30 May 2009
76. Be social with friends once a month (Sept 08, Oct 08, Nov 08, Dec 08, Jan 09, Feb 09, March 09, April 09, May 09, June 09, July 09, Aug 09, Sept 09, Oct 09, Nov 09, Dec 09, Jan 10, Feb '10, April '10, May '10)
77. Wear a different pair of earrings every day for a month(started Sept 9, finished Oct 9)
78. Attend a knit night (August 2009)
79. Drag out the bike and do whatever maintenance needs doing
80. Bike from my house to downtown
81. Get my colours done (just for a lark)
82. Get a pedicure
83. Go out and buy a few CDs I’ve been meaning to get for ages (definitive selection to be determined)
84. Try some food I have never had before (cuttle-fish ink pasta, Modena 2009)
85. Do 50 crunches in one go
86. Do my hair without braiding it every day for a month
87. Walk from home to Parliament Hill
88. Design a knit item and write up the pattern.
89. Buy new sport sandals
90. Make lemon meringue pie
91. (Private)
92. Cook from 30 new recipes [8/30]
a. Pepper Lime chicken, New Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (13.01.09)
b. Smashed chickpea salad/sandwich: Smitten Kitchen (30.03.09)
c. Kalamata lemon chicken, New Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (31.03.09)
d. Vegetarian Shepherd’s pie (Sept 09)
e. Quiche! (Oct 09)
f. Boeuf Bourguignon (Jan, 2010)
g. Coq au Vin
h. Pizza (March 2010)
93. Try raw food for a week
94. Be vegan (not raw) for a week (Sept/Oct 09)
95. Write a song
96. Learn to play and improvise on 5 new songs for saxophone [0/5]
97. Go to 3 jazz concerts [3/3] (Jazz at grad club, April '09) (Ottawa Jazz Festival, June 2009)
98. See Leonard Cohen in concert
99. See a play. (professional production)
100. Learn to identify the plants in the garden by scientific name
101. Get a masters degree