As of today, I am officially 275 days into my 1,001 day challenge. If you don’t remember what that means, here’s a brief reminder: Ken recommended that I look at the Day Zero website and compile a list of 101 things that I would like to accomplish in 1,001 days. It’s one of those The Secret-type things, I think. Through the power of suggestion, a person who is forced to compile a list of goals will compelled to revisit that list and subconsciously go about accomplishing them. Whatever, I just wanted to see if it would work. So, I took him up on the offer, and constructed a list of 105 things I would like to achieve. 101 things are for pussies. I’m four better than a pussy. Ha!
Anyway, I posted the original 101/1001 list on New Year’s Day of this year, but it has undergone some changes since then. I realized there were some unrealistic goals on the list, so I was forced into rewording the goals or changing lengths of time…etc. etc.. Now that I’m almost a full-year into the project, I think it’s time to look back at my list and see how I’ve progressed through the first 275 days. Anything that is bold has been accomplished. Anything that is italicized has fallen through. For some of the more exciting goals, I’ve gone ahead and included a running tally. You’ll see what I mean.
Family / Friends
001. Return to New Jersey and visit with family at least once a year. [1/2]
002. Treat my father, mother and sister each to a nice meal. [0/3]
003. Visit the graves of my grandmothers. [0/2]
004. Send one handwritten letter a month for 6 months.
005. Send a gift to someone for no particular reason.
006. Say something positive/uplifting to a friend each day. [275/1001]
007. Plan/Host a party.
008. Purchase card and gift for each immediate family member’s birthday for one year. [2/3]
Health / Food
009. Find a doctor and schedule healthy check-ups.
010. Find a dentist and schedule regular visits.
011. Find a good multi-vitamin, take one each day from that moment on.
012. Try 100 new foods. [45/100] (rum cake, crab rangoon, lentils, lebneh, olives, quail, radish, okra, navy bean soup, jackfruit, plum, vegetable wantons, crepes, yellow peppers, plantains, goat cheese, guava, mole, french onion soup, caprese salad, Brusselsprouts, white raisins, sun dried tomatoes, squash, snap peas, swiss chard, coxinha, yucca flour, potato leek soup, Mexican tortilla soup, butternut squash soup, shish kebab, lobster bisque, tuna fish, artichoke quiche, “hot clam dip”, cherimoya, Gorgonzola, cantaloupe, cassava, cornmeal, eel roll, monte cristo, pear, tamarind juice)
013. Go to Venice Beach. Start walking north. See how far I get.
014. No soda pop for one week.
015. Drink the recommended daily allowance of water (50 fl oz) for a month.
016. Subtract “fast food” from my diet for one year.
017. Bake My Own Bread.
018. Learn how to make Fawn’s vegan sushi. Make it for friends.
019. Eat a piece of fruit every day for a month.
020. Buy a fixed-gear bike to ride instead of driving locally.
021. Do 100 sit-ups every night before bed for one month.
022. [Private]
023. Go vegan for one week.
024. Make my own tortilla chips in the deep fryer, make salsa to go with it.
025. Try ten new styles of cuisine. [3/10] (Brazilian (04/12/08), Persian (04/17/08), West African (05/24/08))
026. Eat the fried egg/chili/bacon/cheeseburger at Fatburger.
027. Fast for 24, 48 and 72 hours.
Projects: Artistic / Creative
028. Get my book published.
029. Put together a band for live shows/recordings
030. Have 10 friends recommend a book, and read all ten. [0/10]
031. Read five books about L.A. [0/5]
032. Make a collection of favorite poetry.
033. Watch all unseen movies in AFI’s Top 100 List. [47/123]
034. Create stencils for homemade t-shirts.
035. Write a screenplay.
036. Write one song a day for one week.
037. Learn to read music.
038. Think of a unique, marketable idea and try to sell it.
039. Put out an album for an artist/band you enjoy.
040. Have an article published in a newspaper/magazine.
041. Wear a suit one day for absolutely no reason.
042. Call into a radio show.
Home
043. Rescue a dog from a local shelter. Keep it alive!
044. Find a residence and sign a long-term (or open-ended) lease.
045. Make your bed every morning for one month.
046. Clean, then maintain a spotless bedroom floor.
047. Vacuum whenever you think “this room needs to be vacuumed”.
048. Paint something and hang it on a wall.
Financial
049. Find advertisers for my website, make some money.
050. Get a job that pays better than the record store.
051. Pay one month’s rent entirely from blog income.
052. Sell at least twenty items on eBay/Craigslist/Amazon [20/20]
053. Give money to a beggar. Get money from a beggar.
054. Spend $0 For One Week.
065. Donate $2 to charity for each task on this list not completed.
Travel / Leisure
056. Attend a Lakers game and a Clippers game. [0/2]
057. Visit remaining 13 states I have not visited. [0/13]
058. Drive cross-country again.
059. Go on one multi-night camping trip.
060. Go on a real picnic.
061. Go SCUBA diving.
062. Take one of the long hikes in Joshua Tree.
063. Drive to Mexico
064. Ride a roller coaster. (Great Dipper; San Diego (03/03/08))
065. Attend a rally or protest.
066. Drive the PCH up to San Francisco.
067. Drive to Vancouver.
068. Spend a summer day in Death Valley.
069. Sleep on a beach one night.
070. Fly somewhere first-class.
071. Make a list of local weird sites, visit twelve. [2/12]
072. Visit the remaining two Pizza Port Breweries [1/2]
073. Tour 5 breweries. [0/5]
074. Visit 5 museums. [1/5]
075. Memorize the Alpha Bravo Charlies.
076. See a theatrical production. (Wicked, 1/31/08)
077. Take The Scientology “Free Stress Test” with a friend.
078. Attend Dia de los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Personal / Capitalist Urges
079. Have name printed in newspaper, in a positive article.
080. Buy a nice pair of sunglasses.
081. Do not use a computer for one week.
082. Do not say anything sarcastic for one week.
083. [Private]
084. [Private]
085. Do a system cleanse.
086. Try five new beers each month. [60 /190]
087. Buy something from the Rose Bowl flea market.
088. Don’t speak for an entire day.
089. Play poker at a casino in Vegas.
090. Pay for the car behind me at a fast food drive-thru.
091. Learn and identify 10 constellations.
092. Buy a Jerry Jones baritone guitar.
093. Buy either a Hiwatt, Orange, or Sovtek guitar amplifier.
094. Buy a nicer camera than the one I have.
095. Make a new 101 in 1001 list.
096. Write three letters of complaint for a bad product/customer service. [3/3]
097. Convince somebody else to create a 101/1001 list. (See: antisanta.blogspot.com)
098. Win something. Anything.
099. Visit a psychic.
100. Buy An Extraordinarily Expensive Bottle of Bourbon.
101. Subject myself to hypnosis. Why? I don’t know, just because.
So, what have we learned? I’ve accomplished 18 goals! That’s like, more than one per month! Wait a minute, that’s not very good at all. Oh well, at least I’ve made some headway in accomplishing chunks the long-term goals (new foods, beers, etc). I’ve only failed at three goals, and quite frankly they were impossible to accomplish because I started with way less than $10,000 in savings so it was implausible for me to keep at least that much amount in savings. Also, I’m fucking broke, I shouldn’t have expected to be eating fancy meals once a month. As for the saving $1 a day…I tried, but then I spent it on something. Oh well.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, when I’ll review all 60 new beers I’ve consumed this year. Oh yes, it will be good.
