Wednesday, July 30, 2008

the list.

The Mission:
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 my part).

Learn more at Day Zero.


and without further ado, here's my list of 101 things i want to do in 1001 days:

1. sell the car
2. get 100% out of debt
3. build a welded tallbike
4. go bike camping
5. do "100 miles on a tallbike" film
6. print and distribute "on your left"
7. have art in a show in an actual gallery
8. read the complete baroque cycle books
9. complete art project with amy, complete with custom die
10. lose 30 pounds
11. go to another country
12. help my parents finish their bathroom
13. sell 5 shirts with that many designs
14. season cast iron skillets
15. walk polly the dog once a day for 7 days in a row
16. clean up poop and mow lawn once a week
17. get a tattoo
18. read all the ender's books
19. read 5 books i own that i haven't read
20. get rid of 20 books i've read
21. make one recipe from 5 cookbooks for every one new cookbook i buy
22. make one recipe from every cookbook i own
23. blog once a day for one month
24. create and publish a cookzine
25. put up pegboard and organize the garage
26. clean up desk
27. put books on bookshelves in library
28. listen to all cassette tapes in milk crate, discard the old dead ones
29. rip cds, lps, and remaining tapes to mp3.
30. watch, rip, and discard video tapes
31. go on a picnic
32. help my parents to be vegan for 1 week.
33. balance my checkbook, use it, and keep it up to date for 1 month, including EVERY purchase and deposit
34. learn flash
35. create a short flash film/video 5-6 minutes long
36. create a flash game
37. get a "bingo" word in scrabble
38. play a game of chess long distance with someone
39. learn about and develop a training regimen for commuting to work by bike
40. ride from home to work (11 miles) in 35 minutes.
41. frame anna's print, hang it in the house
42. freecycle, craigslist, donate, or ebay one thing per day for 60 days in a row.
43. cook dinner for thedalyn for 30 days in a row
44. do all the house chores (dishes, cleaning, laundry, trash, feed animals and clean animals' poop for 30 days in a row.
45. pick 3 of my favorite recipes, learn them by heart, and teach them to 3 friends.
46. take a multi-vitamin for 7 days in a row
47. watch all of ebert's 102 great movies
48. learn all the major parts and systems of a bicycle in spanish
49. finish and collect my awesome list of 80's songs
50. become a paying member of community cycles
51. plant a garden
52. cook a meal using only ingredients (spices not included) that i've grown from seeds
53. eat for 1 week using only ingredients that were grown within 100 miles from me, spices not included
54. make every recipe in 1 cookbook
55. learn a recipe from someone in my neighborhood that i've not previously met, and teach them a new one.
56. visit carl in north carolina
57. donate blood
58. mail carl's package.
59. work 8 hours in a row during a weekday without checking my personal email, websites i frequent, blogs, etc, note any difference in productivity.
60. take a ride on the cog railway
61. ride my bike to record store in arvada
62. design and build a bike trailer
63. build dalyn a bike noguchi table
64. organize craft tools, materials, etc. discard/donate/freecycle what i haven't used in 12 months.
65. climb a 14er
66. give a slideshow
67. rank 75% of the songs on my ipod and itunes.
68. plan a monthly budget, and stick to it using cash and envelopes, dave ramsey style
69. join a csa
70. contribute to savings $5 for every item on this list completed.
71. contribute to savings $10 for every item on this list not completed.
72. buy ipod for my dad. fill it 25% with music i know he likes. fill it 25% with music i hope he'll like that i love.
73. find a vegan bed and breakfast in colorado, stay there with dalyn
74. get a replacement driver's license
75. visit anna's grave
76. read for 1 hour a day for 7 days in a row
77. interview 3 non-immediate family members about what their life was like before i was born
78. cull my wardrobe to things i've worn in the last 12 months
79. brew a batch of root beer
80. make a painting for above the stairs
81. take a class on illustrator
82. send korbin a package of cool stuff
83. upload photos of anna to picasa, share with family
84. put birthdays and anniversaries into google calender
85. get a physical
86. get my teeth checked
87. leave early for work with the express purpose of enjoying the sunrise at waneka lake. bring dalyn if she'll let me.
88. ride up to ncarr
89. bake cookies for a friend and give them anonymously
90. enter a contest
91. run the bolder boulder
92. find, download, and listen to lectures online that interest me
93. visit the louisville historic museum
94. have 5 friends/families i don't talk to regularly over for dinner.
95. design, print, and distribute holiday cards for 08/09
96. buy birthday gifts for all my immediate family members in 1 year
97. file my 2007 taxes
98. take a day off work with nothing to do
99. watch dr who starting with the original season 1
100. pay for sarah to come visit colorado.
101. make new list

it's a lot to think about all at once. i'm glad i have 1001 days to do it in. making up the list was a several hours long project in and of itself, and i had to go to the internet to visit some other folks' lists to get ideas. there's a ton of people doing this thing, and it's interesting to read what other people put on their list.
i was thinking about just how much stuff i have on this list. it's a big damn list. some of the things (number 55, anyone?) are a little unnerving, and i'm not sure how i'll pull them off. if i didn't have to work, eat, sleep, spend time with dalyn, i wonder how long ticking all 100 of these things off would take. i'm starting the project on 7/31/08, and my end date is April 28, 2011. that seems like so far from now.
if i think back to 1001 days ago, and what i was doing then, it seems like so long ago. i was still running the babysitting business, delivering bread for the bakery. i'm not sure how this list would look different if the me from november, 2005 had written it. that's a really weird thing to think about...
one thing that did occur to me is that this will be a great list to go back to on weekends or evenings, when we're sitting around with nothing to do, and looking for something to entertain us. hopefully we won't burn out and lose interest once the fun/easy things are completed.

3 comments:

thedalyn said...

Man, your list is totally better than mine. It will definitely give us something entertaining to do, but I refuse to let it get in the way of TV watching. Maybe laying off the TV for a few days should be on my list...

veganboyjosh said...

does it count if you have "accomplish things on the list" as a list item? then you can get like, double credit.

and my list was only better cos you already had down the cool toy purchases.

evan said...

I've been struggling lately to make sense of my scatter-brained goals dreams and ambitions. Maybe I should try to make a similar list. It may take me 1001 days to publish the list after something distracts me at item 33. I've been keeping a to do list on my blog, www.evinem.blogspot.com, and it rarely exceeds like 7 items. Maybe I just need to think more long term. Nice blog