Have No Fear, This Blog Is Not Going the Way of the Forgotten Stepchild

Though I have to admit, I like my other blog better. I can write about whatever I want over there. It's prettier. It contains an "If You Wanna Be My Sugar Daddy" list. It doesn't shout at me to save money or read faster or be kinder or pluck my eyebrows. And while those are all very nice and important things, I am forced to focus my efforts on more immediate matters. Like making sure I catch The View because Rosie O'Donnell is on it and I can't help but like her, even though I shouldn't because she writes like a 12 year old who is attempting to document some deep thoughts for the first time in her life. Or attempting to win the lottery. (No such luck, yet.) Or worrying about the cost and condition of my car, which has been sitting untouched at the garage since Wednesday, presumably because it's so old and filthy and hopeless. Or, you know, packing. I think about packing a lot.

I'm sure that once I am moved in and settled, I will have more opportunities to work on scratching some things off this list. This blog will be hopping soon enough. (Or I will owe lots of money to yet unspecified charity in May, 2009.)

Until then, more books!

Here's what I came home with after subsequent visits to the secondhand store:

• The Invisible Circus - Jennifer Egan
• Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
• Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
• Prep - Curtis Sittenfeld
• Native Son - Richard Wright (One of my all-time favorites, though I've never owned it. It's in rough shape, but it was only a quarter!)

So yay for reading materials. And yay for moving (hopefully this week.)

Busy Little Bookworm

I've actually completed a task (#20) already . . . well, mostly. I have donated 3 bags of books to the new secondhand bookstore in town. It has been a relatively painless process thus far. My books are kind of spread out throughout my house, so I keep finding more of them and sending them off. My rule is that if I haven't listed it as a favorite at some point in my life and in all likelihood will not read it again, it's gone. As I am a huge nerd, it's kind of tough to part with good books, but it's really fun to get new books as a result.

Upon sorting through through the various remnants of my past, I came across some interesting reading selections that didn't make the "It's Unbearable to Part With You" short list. The most humorous, by far, is Jewel's poetry book. It's funny enough that I owned it. I soon discovered, though, that I had marked pages hosting poems that I must have particularly liked with what I can only assume are ripped up pieces of an old journal entry. Um, yes, I must have been feeling rather deep at some point back in the day. Heh.

Using the store credit from the first two bags, I now own copies of:

• Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marish Pessl (I've been super excited to read this book, which was just released this month.)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (brand new!)
• White Noise - Don DeLillo (perfect condition)
• Fast Girls - Teenage Tribes and the Myth of the Slut - Emily White (pretty good condition.)

I'm rather excited and ready to make more exchanges in the short amount of time I have left in town.

(Below is the scale I am going to use to rank each task upon completion. Yeah, I'm dorky like that. Each category is out of 5 possible stars.)

**********

Stress: *

Effort: **

Fun: ****

Big Plans

Here's my list:

Let's Be Practical

1. Find a job.

2. Begin graduate school.

3. Put at least 5% of every paycheck in a savings account.

4. Organize my pictures.

5. Exercise at least 4 times a week for at least 6 months straight.

6. Go to the dentist.

7. Declutter my living area daily.

8. Sell something on ebay.

9. Create a living will.

10. Purchase a new (to me, anyway) car.

11. Buy and wear a pair of sunglasses.

12. Learn to read a map.

13. Obtain a primary physician.

14. Drink 8 cups of water daily for 1 month.

15. Learn to drive standard.

16. Get rid of all of the clothes that no longer fit me/I no longer wear.

17. Dry clean all of my sweaters.

18. Improve my credit rating.

19. Pay off at least one of my debts in its entirety.

20. Donate/trade in all of the books I don't really love to a second hand store. (8/22/06)

21. Eat breakfast every day for 2 weeks.

22. Buy a planner/calendar and actually use it.

Pretty Me Up, Please

23. Purchase a great bra.

24. Learn to wear heels.

25. Purchase a new belly ring.

26. Have my eyebrows waxed at least every two months.

27. Get a manicure.

28. Take appropriate measures to obtain clear skin.

29. Buy an outfit that is trendy and totally impractical.

30. Get a risky haircut.

31. Learn to apply make-up well.

32. Whiten my teeth.

It's Oh So Daring, Darling

33. Quit smoking.

34. Drive a long distance (on a scary highway that involves tollbooths) to visit a friend. Or a bunch of friends.

35. Wear a swimsuit without making a degrading comment about my body.

36. Protest something.

37. Write a letter to the editor.

38. Eat at least 5 things I consider "too complicated."

39. Confront someone in a mature manner.

40. Speak about my past experiences in an attempt to further awareness.

41. Kiss someone under the mistletoe.

42. Eat in a restaurant by myself.

43. Fall in love.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

44. Host a cocktail party.

45. Create the soundtrack of my life.

46. Pull an all-nighter and watch the sun rise.

47. Go wine tasting, actually pay attention to what I like this time around, and purchase a bunch of it.

48. Watch all of the movies nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award in a given year.

49. Explore a cemetery.

50. Reconnect with an old friend.

51. Go on a gambling excursion.

52. Give a homemade gift.

53. Put $.50 a day in a "fun fund" that cannot be touched until the completion of the 1001 days.

54. Learn a new craft.

55. Host a CLR. (Even though it won't likely be the central location. Will you still come?)

56. Apply for Survivor or The Amazing Race.

57. Have at least one Christmas Eve brunch with Lauren and Terry.

58. Visit Boston.

59. Dance in the rain.

60. Watch 20 of IMDB's top 250 movies that I haven't seen yet.

61. Spend a night playing drinking games with old friends.

62. Purchase something great at a yard sale/flea market/thrift store.

63. Buy a Powerball ticket weekly for a year.

Isn't That Thoughtful?

64. Actually send out Christmas cards.

65. Remember and acknowledge birthdays.

66. Write thank you notes.

67. Send out wedding gifts to everyone I am behind on. (Sorry guys . . . I really am working on it!)

68. Give blood regularly (at least 5 times in 1 year.)

69. Volunteer with at least one charitable organization.

70. Buy lunch for a homeless person.

71. Serve as the designated driver.

72. Teach something to someone.

73. Compliment at least 1 person every day for 1 month.

74. Walk/run for a charity.

75. Write a letter to someone who has positively impacted my life.

You Tell Me

76. Allow a friend to choose a meal for me at a restaurant. (And make an effort to eat it. Without whining at all.)

77. Read the next 5 books recommended to me.

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J. K. Rowling (Recommended by Laura, my sister, who is evil because she knows that I have been adamently opposed to reading anything from the series. Though I, admittedly, never really had a legitimate reason. Such is life, I guess.)
• Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (More or less recommended by Kasey the bookstore girl.)
  

78. Watch the next 5 movies recommended to me.

• X-Men (Recommended by Brett, younger brother and avid X-Men enthusiast. And by avid, I do imply obsessive. He has been begging me to watch the movies with him for forever. Viewed 8/26/06.)
• The Butterfly Effect (Recommended by Laura, who thinks it's way fun to boss me around. She told me I should watch it because, "It's weird, and you like that kind of stuff.")
  

79. Take someone's advice that I'd typically dismiss.

One Smart Cookie

80. Read 75 books.

81. Obtain a library card.

82. Write at least 5 days a week for at least 1 year.

83. Research a subject I know little about.

84. Purchase and read 3 poetry books.

85. Submit something I've written to a publisher.

86. Learn the basics of founding a non-profit organization.

87. Become involved in a political campaign.

88. Memorize 5 poems or literary passages that I find striking.

89. Read at least 10 Pulitzer Prize winners that I haven't encountered yet.

90. Take the GREs.

Roll Call

91. Attend a Take Back the Night vigil.

92. Attend the Voices, Not Bodies vigil.

93. Take a dance class.

94. Join a book club.

95. Attend a book signing and get an autographed copy.

96. Attend a concert.

97. Visit a museum.

98. Attend a ballet.

99. Enroll in a fitness class.

100. Visit a brewery.

And Finally

101. At the completion of day 1001 (Monday, May 18, 2009), I will allow myself to get a new tattoo, as long as 75% of the list is accomplished. For everything not accomplished, I will donate $2.00 to my favorite charity.

101 in 1001

While I was wandering around the internet, rather bored and sick of job searching, I came across this site. It suggests creating a list of 101 goals/tasks to accomplish in the next 1001 days. I think it's a pretty brilliant idea, especially for people like me who might have slight (er, okay, major) slacker tendencies. I intend to create the list, display it, and, following the completion of each task, blog about it.