101st Post and 101 Things to Do

This is my 101st post! Woohoo! To mark this milestone, I plan to not only listen to the Depeche Mode album of the same name, but I also joined the Day Zero Project. According to the website, “Day Zero is a place to record your goals, discover new challenges, and gain motivation to achieve them.” In other words, I created a list of 101 things I want to do in the next 1,001 days. Because as we already know, I am clearly insane. (many thanks to my friend Stoopmama for the inspiration! The Day Zero Project inspiration, not the insanity inspiration. I get that all on my own, thankyouverymuch.).

I’m not sure why I’m a fan of milestones. My type-A self is perhaps reassured to have a before and after point; ways to measure progress (or lack of) and accomplishments (or, once again, lack of). This post’s milestone, as post #101, hopefully illustrates that I am, in fact, committed to this blog and, more broadly, my writing. Yay! While I am fully aware that I have mixed success in terms of meeting such lofty goals (see, Triathlons and 365Project), I think these 101 things are perfectly attainable in 1001 days: between today, Tues. Nov. 22, 2011, and  Tues., Aug. 14, 2014. (holy shit I’ll be 39 then. maybe I need to add more plastic surgery goals to this list??).

So who out there is with me and Stoopmama? We can track our miserable lack of progress together!

Here is additional information from the Day Zero Project website:

The Challenge:
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 your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple challenges such as New Year’s resolutions or a ‘Bucket List’. 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 organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

So for better or for worse, I pasted my list (in no particular order) below. You can also track my project here. In my typical fashion, I will be brutally honest about how I’m doing. Because that’s how I roll: I don’t need to add it on my list of things to do 🙂

1. Become Yoga Alliance-certified
2. Teach yoga classes at a yoga studio
3. Become “intermediate” flying trapeze student
4. Run a 10 mile race
5. Read Anna Karenina
6. Finish my brother’s photo album
7. Adopt a dog
8. Attend my 20th high school reunion
9. Visit Lafayette College
10. Pay off my credit cards
11. Visit my grandparents’ graves at least four times a year
12. Attend a Buffalo Bills game in Buffalo
13. Go to Hawaii
14. Build a photography portfolio
15. Expand my business
16. Buy my first home
17. Get another tattoo
18. Bake bread from scratch
19. See a Broadway play
20. Visit a new Smithsonian museum
21. Spend a holiday volunteering at a food bank
22. Meditate
23. Bake vegan cupcakes
24. Host a vegan dinner party
25. Master a handstand
26. Learn how to apply false eyelashes
27. Be an extra in a movie
28. Begin writing a book
29. Build the “Life After Normal” brand
30. Get new veneers
31. Stop parking illegally
32. Go to Australia and New Zealand
33. See a Broadway musical
34. Make my own jewelry
35. Dress up for Halloween
36. Donate blood
37. See 10 classic movies I’ve never seen
38. Pet a lion or a tiger
39. Sing karaoke
40. Wear makeup more often
41. Dress up for no reason
42. Mentor a younger PR professional
43. Mentor an at-risk youth
44. Drive less. Bike more
45. Grow a vegetable
46. Watch all six Star Wars movies
47. Watch all the Harry Potter movies
48. Vote for an American Idol
49. Vote for Obama
50. Go to Spain
51. Improve my Spanish
52. Learn basic French
53. Write a thank-you note
54. Send more greeting cards (snail mail, not e-mail)
55. Live authentically
56. Use Twitter regularly
57. Be featured in another magazine
58. Learn to play the guitar
59. Play the piano regularly
60. Perform on the piano in public
61. Re-learn Rachmaninoff’s Prelude Op. 32, No. 2
62. Do 10 chin ups
63. Take a vacation with my girlfriends
64. Wear the “sexy” underwear for no reason
65. Drink champagne for no reason
66. Go on a vacation by myself
67. Visit the GWU bookstore
68. Visit the new MLK monument
69. Publish an article with MY byline
70. Go to a jazz club
71. Max out my 401(k) contribution
72. Try Bikram Yoga
73. Try Ashtanga yoga
74. Try Iyengar yoga
75. Try vinyasa yoga
76. Play softball
77. Go to a NHL hockey game
78. Call my grandma
79. Call my mother
80. Call my father
81. Have a birthday party
82. Finish a crossword puzzle
83. Do a 5-day juice cleanse
84. Sunbathe at a nude beach. Nude
85. Attend a formal black tie event
86. Cheer on people running a marathon
87. Go out dancing
88. Get professional headshots
89. Go snowboarding
90. Go wakeboarding
91. Visit a state I’ve never been to before
92. Sew something
93. See a taping of the Ellen Show
94. Create my wedding album … regardless of what happens with my marriage
95. Use Wii Fit
96. Play the lottery
97. Play video games
98. Get botox
99. Learn to play chess
100. Go hiking
101. When I start dating again, be completely honest in terms of what I feel. No games