A Big 101 Accomplishment

So, I established I'm not doing "101" as it is intended, I think I might start calling it "General Life Pursuits." Either way, I'm crossing a big one off the list next month:

#63 - FINISH MY MASTERS

Yup. I buckled down and did the thing. I have all my work done and my approval in writing. I'm graduating and getting my Masters degree.

Let's see where I'm at on the rest of the list:

101 in 1001

Plain text = haven't started this goal
Italic text = goal in progess
Colored text = finished & hyperlinked to the appropriate blog post about the accomplishment (commentary added)
I've removed counts from things like weekly/monthly, since that's not really applicable anymore.

Physical
1. Perform in a play
2. Perform in a dance show/recital
3. Get En Pointe
4. Get to Circus Skills school at least 3x (0/3)
5. Get to an aerial silks class (I got into silks January of this year and attend weekly classes)
6. Go to the indoor trampoline park (meh)
7. Learn to rollerskate again (was doing OK, until I hurt my elbow. haven’t been on skates since)
8. Run a 5K in under 30 minutes (Hate. Running.) (I picked up C25K over the summer, stopped 2 weeks from the end. Won't revisit it until Winter is done)
9. Bike to/from work 40% of the year
10. Take a horseback riding lesson (loved riding as a kid, but it has been about 18 years since my last ride)
11. Do a morning workout 1x per week (Hate. Morning. Workout.) (I do morning exercise now as needed)
12. Do a workout DVD 1x per week (no srsly, I only have a TON of workout dvds collecting dust) (Do as needed. I've gotten better about exercising overall, but prefer weightlifting & aerial classes)
13. Walk in the park at least 1x per week (picked our house in part b/c of park proximity. I best use it) (not quite once a week, but I am better at taking advantage of this amenity)
14. 1 pleasure bike ride per month (Apr. - Oct)
15. Relearn Poi
16. Learn hoop dance (just found a local club very recently and started on this)
17. Be able to do the full splits (both front/back & side)
18. Have 1 week per month with daily physical activity
19. Get back to rainbow colored hair
20. Learn to rock the long-hair fauxhawk (& get back long hair) (got it, but no pics, so maybe next time...)

Physical & Crafty
21. Be Star Sapphire Wonder Woman for Halloween (get strong & make the costume)

Crafty
22. Sew a men’s dress shirt (for Mr. Burly)
23. Sew myself a blazer
24. Sew a duvet/coverlet/or quilt for our master bed
25. Refinish the master bed
26. Make a headboard for the Queen guest bed
27. Make a headboard for the Twin guest bed
28. Make our wedding album
29. Create 10 items (or variations of items) I’ve “pinned” on Pinterest (0/10)
30. Repurpose my armoire to hold crafting supplies
31. Make 1 recipe every other month I’ve “pinned” (0/17)
32. Make my special kitchen & bathroom signs (sssh. secret plans. you’ll see when done)
33. Finish Mr. Burly’s scarf (I only started on it 1.5 years ago; it’s only ⅕ finished)
34. Clean out my yarn stash (make more things, gift to friends who’d use it, sell on craigslist. Just GET IT GONE)
35. Create a home message & planning center (this was mostly done, then it fell off the wall and I haven't rehung it yet)
36. Make a monthly file system (I don't even know what I wanted from this anymore, there are other ways to file)
37. Refinish a piece of furniture to sell (no need for "sales" pressure, I'll just refinish pieces I WANT to refinish, for me)
38. Finish sewing my UFOs (unfinished objects: pillowcases, curtains, clothing, and the like)
39. Construct a cookbook (or 4) of favorites - get rid of unneeded cookbooks once this is compiled)
40. Learn to do silver plating. Replate my favorite necklace.
41. Reupholster our wingback chairs
42. Sew/Construct a proper Wonder Woman costume

Non-Physical Self-Improvement
43. Play my instruments 2x per week (I've been rather enthusiastic about aerials, music has taken a back seat)
44. Blog at least 1x per week (haaaaaa)
45. Create my new website
46. Learn more Adobe Creative Suite (specifically, complete a tutorial book I own but haven’t cracked)
47. Learn to take better pictures
48. Take more pictures with the freshly acquired skillz of #47
49. Book my photos (not necessarily “scrapbook,” just put them in a freaking book already)
50. Keep a daily journal (mundane things) (this started with 101, then stopped, but I actually restarted a few months ago and am keeping at it)
51. Keep a weekly diary (the juicy bits)
52. Digitize CDs, clean MP3 tags, organize music (sorta ongoing, as the mood hits me)
53. Digitize photos, organize photos
54. Grow a veg/fruit garden
55. Can/Preserve things from the veg/fruit garden
56. Grow Queen of the Prairie flowers (now looking into peony bushes,QotP are not practical for the type of land around my house)
57. Grow a formal rose bush
58. Start/maintain a compost pile
59. Learn basic lockpicking
60. Travel to Colorado to visit family (super fun!)
61. Travel to a new-to-me state or Canada
62. Brush up on German 1x per week (I do a daily email thing, but haven't been "actively learning," just maintaining)
63. FINISH MY MASTERS DEGREE
64. Go camping each year (1/3) (didn't this year, but I'm rather ...meh... about camping in general)
65. Visit the library (again, it’s within walking distance of the new house) 2x per month
66. Resume our CSA
67. Visit 1 new restaurant each quarter
68. Read 12 books (4/yr. I'm supremely slow at getting around to reading anything longer than most long-form magazine articles. I read a lot of those, yes. And sometimes some pseudo-science non-fiction book, and a few comic books per month, and that's about where I stop. I used to read so, so much more. But then, I don't think reading a lot is the key to living life, just a great enhancement - and I still question anyone who flat-out scoffs at reading):
a. Sandman
b. Watchmen
c. Female Chauvinist Pigs
d. Underworld
 e. Something by Christopher Moore
f. Something by Bret Easton Ellis
g. Something by Warren Ellis (probably Transmetropolitan)
h. Something by Terry Pratchett
i. A Biography/ Autobiography/ Memoir (Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson)
j. A NYT Bestseller (see letter "i". Yeah, I'm gonna cheat this one, 'cause Bloggess is awesome, and I'm lazy.)
k. I am Legend
l. Something a friend recommends
(I've been reading, just not necessarily this list)
69. Memorize 18 poems (6/yr) (1/18)
70. Improve my touch-typing by 20 wpm
71. Learn to do more w/ Excel/spreadsheets
72. Conquer left-handed writing (I have it legible, now it’s going to be pretty)
73. Work through How to Think like Leonardo DaVinci
74. Work on a Habitat for Humanity home
75. Make a Bucket List
76. Streamline style/closet

Culture
77. Visit each 1x/yr

a. IMA (2/3)

b. Indiana State Museum (1/3)

c. Indiana Historical Society (0/3)

d. Children’s Museum (1/3)

e. 1 other unvisited location within the state (0/3)

78. Attend 10/12 First Fridays per year (I'm not making 10/12, but I'm getting out enough)
79. Buy a painting
80. Become a member of NPR
81. Get to a convention (Gen Con, C2E2, something of those sorts) (Been to Gen Con twice now)
82. Go to a ballet (never been!)
83. Go to an opera (never been!)
84. Go to the symphony (technically never been to a fancy pro symphony, just college orchestra concerts. Close, but much more Free.)
85. Go to the drive-In (never been!)

Other

86. It's a surprise! (and not of the baby kind, so you can forget that. Just something I want to do but not tell anyone about until after the fact).

87. Get a couch (the futon is a zombie. It died so long ago, yet it lives through some crazy voodoo magic)
88. Get a piece of jewelry in celebration of #63
89. Spend 1 week per month carb-free (0/33) (pointless exercise)
90. Spend 1 week per month dairy-free (0/33) (pointless exercise, if in part b/c I should really just be dairy-free pretty much 24/7, but I'm noooooot)
91. Go to a casino. Gamble. (I’ve never even purchased a lottery ticket. I’m just weird about any sort of gambling.)
92. Create our Emergency Binder, update yearly (0/3)

Fiscal
93. Fully fund emergency savings account
94. Start retirement savings
95. Write my will
96. Start saving monthly for a trip to europe
97. Donate to at least 1 charity per year (1/3)
98. Save $5 for each goal accomplished
99. Save for the Colorado trip & another in-North-America trip
100. Pay off either car or small Sallie Mae loan (if not both)

101. Personal goal, not to be shared on the blog. (Done in December!)

WHAT NEXT?

Sometime over the next few months I'll reformulate/reformat my "General Life Pursuits." Will I update more frequently? ehhhhh....

2014 may bring more blogging.

It remains to be seen. I'm terrible at blogging, and it stems from things I'm not going to hash out in this specific entry (but will hash out). The 101, for lack of a new/better title, is still going/ growing/ evolving. The timing is coincidental, this is not a NY resolution. I don't really do those; I don't wait for arbitrary dates to start things. 

101: Reflections

So, in my absence, a lot of my thoughts pertaining to the blog circled around the 101 in 1001. 

The tl;dr version is: Naturally, like all grandiose goal-setting endeavors, this has technically failed. But there's a nice long read here about the ways in which it did not fail, and how I'm OK with the "failure" this endeavor entailed.

What the 101 has done for me

It had been years since I wrote out a list of all the discrete things that interested me. More shockingly, given that I am a planner by nature, I'm not sure I ever compiled anything resembling a to-do of personal development. I guess my planning was always externally-focused.


But there is nuance. There is grey area. This has only failed in the strictest sense: I will not complete those 101 goals in 1001 days. I'm OK with this. I've been whittling at the list in my blogging absence. Blog silence did not cleanly translate into goal stagnation. I slowed down, yes. My 101 was very ambitious given that the math works out to just over 9 days per goal. I won't accomplish everything on the list. Which translates to...

The 101 was a larger lesson in prioritizing. I had fallen into that classic trap of "Oh, That'd be cool if I could/would..." but, you know, never actually doing anything. Spending a little mental energy to compile all those wishes & wants, and to compare them to each other, gave me more motivation - especially once I looked at the time I had on my hands. The catch to this is that while I have some time, I don't necessarily have energy to match it. I was very gung-ho those first weeks, and there was - to a point - a feedback loop where the sense of accomplishment fueled me even more, keeping the energy going. But that eventually has diminishing returns. There is an equilibrium I have yet to establish where I'm accomplishing things with enough downtime to not burnout, which I struggled with in February. Note I've been talking about time, not money. 

There is, of course, the money prioritization. A LOT of my list demands funding. Whether it's saving for goals, or spending to gain materials/teachers for skills, this is probably the biggest constraint - and the major force in slowing the 101 down. But money as a constraint has brought focused creativity in working around it. In fact, this problem as posed by the 101 has, in part, solved itself with one of the goals buried within the 101: to visit the library more. In one of the bigger "Well, DUH" moments known to man, I remembered that the library (which, for those first 10 weeks, I failed to get to even once), packed all sorts of information for the various skills I'm looking to improve.  Ugh. DUH. So, yeah, weekly library visits - not a problem anymore.

So, I loosened up my ambitions due to time, energy & money. I also loosened up the "101" part. 101 is a large number, even when time/money/energy constraints are loosened. I knew I was simply creating filler toward the end...the last 10ish items in particular. So when I sat down to re-evaluate the goals I had set for myself it was no surprise that I wanted to replace ~8 goals and modify 2-4 more. 

The 101 likely won't continue on as "The 101" in this blog. I just haven't thought up a clever name to replace it yet. Who knows, I'm generally carrying on in the spirit of the 101 either way. 

So, What Have I Done?

-My dancing was going very well, until the studio took their Xmas break. I lost motivation in those couple of weeks. My foot started hurting. When I came back there was a new ballet teacher I don't learn as well under. It's been rough. Same with my flexibility work -  I *was* doing well, but going easy for my foot's sake and getting discouraged overall have undone the progress I was making. But my foot slowly gets better, and I'm finding new ways to dance (namely, Salsa). So I'm on the upswing again.
-Visited the indoor trampoline park

-Mr. Burly & I refinished the master bed together. 

-The home message & planning center is maybe 2/3rds finished

-I'm taking more pictures, even if with just my phone, for the purpose of having pictures in my blog. It's a start.

-The daily journaling has stopped. This is one of those goals that is very conflicting. I certainly have a desire to have a daily record, my memory can be sorta crappy - especially as days seem to blend together. But somehow it seems to take too much energy to write about the day. So, it's just not happening.

-Started my music file cleanup. It happens in fits and spurts.

-I work enough on my German to keep the low-level of ability I have, but I'm not working enough to get better.

-We covered the library goal.

-Visited new restaurants, continue visiting new restaurants

-Reading plenty more, knocked Let's Pretend This Never Happened off my list.

-Actively working on my left-handed legibility

-Building, and tackling, a Bucket List

-Weekly working on wardrobe streamlining/updating

-Going to First Fridays

-Planning on attending GenCon

-We got a couch

-Pinterest-inspired things: my planner, wardrobe cleaning/streamlining/updating, meal planning, a few recipes
-Visited the Eiteljorg (to see Nat Geo pictures), the Indiana State Museum (for the corn-lobby sponsored corn exhibit), the IMA (for Ai Wei Wei)

Look, Ma! I got corn! And a Corn God!

-Oddly enough, started working out, to dvds, in the morning. Something just clicked here. This will be its own post.
-Got back to my rainbow colored hair. (It's rather faded to blonde now, and I think that, while I'll continue color, it won't be as rainbow-ific in the future. But the blonde needs to go, and soon.)

Hey how 'bout another picture? I got this beauty for super-cheap at the neighborhood garage sale!

I'm not creepy at all. And my new owner has no intention of hanging me in the guest bedroom to creep.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

When we last left our heroine, her computer had died. Though she tried valiantly to blog from Mr. Burly's netbook, it just wasn't the same...

Lo, she returns as if from the dead (indeed, she's rather felt as such the past 2 months. The winters of Indiana are cruel [expound upon any place further north, though you may]).

Melodrama aside. It's probably good to be back. I think. I had lots of time to think about my blog while I was away, and will have very little to show for it (in this post, as in the blog as a whole, too). Rather, some things will change a little, a lot of things will stay the same; because, while I entertain fantasies of full-time home-blogging as much as anyone, I totally don't have that sort of initiative. But for the time being, I'm just gonna throw a picture post in here of my five month absence (hint: I plan on putting more pictures in my posts, because popular bloggers say pictures are ALL TEH RAYGE).

So We Begin.

I purchased my very first (hopefully not last) Jonathon Adler item. Yeah, it's one of his super-mass produced items. Yeah, I totally got it on clearance in February. Yeah, it's totally an Xmas ornament when I don't even have a tree. But I love all things ballet and circus, and what better than a circus ballerina? I do aspire to own something more distinctively JA, but this is a start.

I bought an awesome lamp at GWill that just needed the $8 lamp kit replacement and a shade. So, I gave her a good washing, dolled her up with some new hardware, and bought her a brand new ill-fitting dress so that she'd be my new bedside lamp. 

Disproportional is how I roll. Also, this light makes the color of my bedroom wall look awesome.

In October, I saw Coheed & Cambria in concert (Ft. Wayne). They were a Bucket-List band & it was everything I hoped it would be. They had just started touring their new album Ascension (first half of a two-album concept release; Descension followed in Feb). These two albums are half of my top 4 from the band. I could go on a long time about the show, I listened solidly to C&C for the next 2 weeks - no room for any other band in my headspace (with only limited music expansion for the next 2 weeks after that).

I live a better life when a planner is involved, and I'm one of those types that can be a bit obsessive about the planner. This time around I made my own, following this design. I'm liking it. I have way more space than I use.

I will soonishly attempt one of those GWill refashions that are so-oft blogged. We'll see what this little beauty becomes...

And on the subject of sewing*, I picked up some gorgeous orange wool for a pencil skirt.

*I used to sew. Then I stopped. I'm slooooowly getting back into it. First with curtains for the house, and experimental GWill refashions, then some easy-sew patterns. This skirt is some ways away, but damn I love me some orange wool.

My office, while my computer was dead, became quite the mess since it was generally unused. Became one of those dreaded catch-all rooms. The cleaning & reorg (as it is also intended to be "library") has begun. It starts with:

a new wall color. I've tried living with this color since we slapped it up pre-move in July, but it's just too blue. In certain lights it's practically periwinkle. I want a true silvery-grey.



On Feb. 21 I drove 1 hr. 45 minutes in the beginning of an ice storm to Newport, KY to see Man Man!

 No Really, This was my view.

But when I looked up:

Or if Honus Honus went to my left (and he spent the majority of his standing time over here):

So, you know, not too shabby.

Man Man was another Bucket-List band, and also the name-sake of this blog. It took me another 2 hrs. 45 minutes to drive home since the ice storm was ongoing while I was in the concert, and during my drive. It was exhausting. But it was worth it. In contrast to Coheed & Cambria though, I geeked out on Man Man so much pre-concert that afterwards I was done. No need to listen to them non-stop for the next month. I needed to get some new music into my system. Namely, the new Nick Cave (BUCKET-LIST ARTIST PRIME, WHOM I WILL SEE IN APRIL).

I found my Soul Cider. It's season has run out. You can bet I'm buying caaaaaaases when it comes back in August.

And I found my Soul Ice Cream. I don't know a B&J "limited batch" entails. I currently have several stashed in my deep freezer. I hope someone is looking at the numbers and thinking "Damn, there's a crazy person in Indiana. Maybe we should make this part of our regular line, just for her."

Consider yourself caught up with my life.

101 week 10

The 101 re-evaluation is still re-evaluating. Nothin' to see here...

Weekly Goals:
- daily journals
- weekly German
- weekly blogpost (this one, natch)
- weekly diary
- morning workout 
- DVD workout
- walk in park 
- play music 2x 


Monthly Goals:
- 40% Commute by bike
- 1 pleasure bike ride
- 1 week carb free, 1 week dairy free
- visit library 2x

Reflections:
mmmhmm

101 Week 9

A few goals will be changing. Rather, I've decided on the changes, just not quite on how to implement them yet - whether I'll "reboot" or what. Starting the 101 at the same time we closed on a house was kind of a ridiculous plan. And I  made a few goals that just aren't quite in line with who I am/want to be. So a change is forthcoming. But in the meantime, here's this week's 101:

Weekly Goals:
- daily journals
- weekly German
- weekly blogpost (this one, natch)
- weekly diary
- morning workout 
- DVD workout
- walk in park 
- play music 2x 


Monthly Goals:
- 40% Commute by bike
- 1 pleasure bike ride
- 1 week carb free, 1 week dairy free
- visit library 2x

Reflections:

I got a new one in: the walk in the park.  That's about it. Other's suffered, but it was a much-needed down week from the past two months of housework, culminating in the housewarming party. And it took me the full week to recover to the point that I resumed housework (getting the recreational areas setup & organized) at a much slower pace. 

101 Week 8

Entropy and what not. 

Weekly Goals:
- daily journals
- weekly German
- weekly blogpost (this one, natch)
- weekly diary
- morning workout 
- DVD workout
- walk in park 
- play music 2x 

Sporadic Goals: 
- Make one "pinned" recipe every other month
- pseudo-progress on a goal I've previously alluded to but am still iffy about

Monthly Goals:
- 40% Commute by bike
- 1 pleasure bike ride
- 1 week carb free, 1 week dairy free
- visit library 2x

Reflections:
Sometimes I want to do things, like build a home in Skyrim - courtesy of the Hearthfire add-on, or read comics, that are in direct conflict with my time to be productive. Given that I have a few goals that have opened up (I'm looking at you, weekly diary), Should I replace it with something low-key like "Beat Skyrim"? I mean, I do have a serious issue finishing just about anything I start, for fun or any other reason, and videogames are no exception. The list of videogames I've beaten, ever, in my life (all of which has had access to a game console):

-Final Fantasy 3 (American #3)
-Puzzlequest 2
-Viva Pinata (as much as one can "beat" this game - by having acquired each pinata, but not having completed each and every variation (but a vast majority), nor bred each pinata to its max of 7 (but again, each at least a few times).

Yeah, that's it. I'm like, 3/4ths the way through Fable 3, and have been for a year now. And now I'm rambling about videogames. 

I want to be optimistic that I'll get better about the goals again. The House is still eating up time (with the Warming party preparation & all, but that has just passed). But some goals need House progress to continue (like, getting my craft space set up). It's also eating up money (in the case of any goals the specifically need money to progress). Not having a functioning computer certainly restricts progress on a select few goals, also. And, well, Life, right? 

I missed this month's First Friday. That's 1 of the 2/yr allowed.

I'm definitely going to reconfigure some goals by the end of this first quarter, probably 5-10 will change. This whole experiment has provided me with an interesting sort of microscope to analyze my life through. Even on a pitiful week such as this one, I feel progress in my life, if maybe only because I'm taking a moment each week to chronicle it.