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101 Things in 1001 Days: Done (Sort Of)

poweredbytofu — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:00:22 +0000

Well, well… my 101 Things in 1,001 Days project is finally over… ummm, last month (I wrote this recap and then forgot about it). I’m a little disappointed to report that I only finished 71% of my list — but I’m really excited about the things I’ve accomplished and experienced in the last 1,001 days. Highlights: finished my MBA, white water rafting (2x), got a cat, quit my job to travel for a year, traveled to: Mexico, Panama, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Morocco, Azores, Bahamas, and Costa Rica, went to Bumbershoot, watched the top 100 grossing films of all time, read 52 books in 52 weeks, found my signature cupcake, volunteered, tried SCUBA diving, started my first garden… and a few others.

So instead of doing another 101 Things list, I’ve decided to try out a 30 Before I’m 30 list. Aaaaaah! :) So dear Internet, what should I add to my 30 Things Before 30 list? Ideas so far include: buy a house (update: done! I kind of sandbagged this one, but I’m totally going to keep it on the list), visit Iceland, try kiteboarding, start strength training, learn a really hard yoga pose (which one?), run a half marathon or try an easy triathalon (I suck at swimming though), visit all 30 microbreweries in Portland…

What else should be on my ’30 Before I’m 30′ list?

#69: Eat at Every Restaurant in My Neighborhood

poweredbytofu — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:00:54 +0000

Well this one was pretty easy — I had a little help since some restaurants went out of business last year. :| There were a couple of restaurants that I’d been meaning to try just because they’re close, but I’m disappointed to report that I wasn’t missing much and I won’t be back. However, there are two restaurants in my neighborhood that I really love — so I guess it evens out.

Maybe next time I’ll add “Eat at every restaurant in my work neighborhood” to the list. Oh, and I defined my neighborhood as 1/2 mile from my place using the Yelp map. (photo by yoppy)

#86: Get a Wax

poweredbytofu — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:00:42 +0000

Potentially awkward blog posts — saved by haiku (via yes and yes)!

not bad, but not fun
my budget doesn’t thank me
swimsuit season, please?

On that note, for Portland waxing salons, Urban Waxx is seriously awesome — great staff, wine for a little liquid courage :P and 15% off your first visit/referral.

#35: Get A Cat

poweredbytofu — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:30:33 +0000

Oh hai! Well after three trips to the Humane Society — and several “OMG, why am I getting a cat, how will I travel, what if it’s stupid, what if it’s too much commitment, what if I don’t like it, maybe I should get a dog, what if it never dies” panics — I finally got a kitteh.

It’s a girl cat, but I think she looks like a boy, so I may just refer to her as a he? Is that bad? Anyway, now she he needs a name! She he has a mustache, which is quite hilarious so I was thinking of naming her after a dictator — Stalin, Lenin, Franco? Twitter pals suggested Selleck, Burt Reynolds, and Mario. I was also thinking of places that I’ve traveled… like Sofia (Bulgaria), Essaouira (Morocco, and then I could call her Essa), or Zooey (Salinger book, Franny & Zooey)… So dear Internets, help me name my kitteh!

Take Our Poll

And now I must go to IKEA, for my cat requests cat-sized Swedish furniture and dinnerware. :)

#59: Watch All 5 Best Picture Nominees Before the Oscars 2010

poweredbytofu — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:07 +0000

Oscar 2010 time! So I almost completed #59 (Watch all 5 10 Best Picture Nominees before the Oscars) in 2008, and then last year around this time I was in Costa Rica, so 2010 it is!

I’m starting with 2 for 10 this year, but seriously why are there ten Best Picture nominations? Usually there are only five. I need more time! At least the plan is logistically possible this year, but there are two movies on the list that I don’t think I can bring myself to watch (how are Sandra Bullock and Mariah Carey in Oscar nominated movies anyway?).

2010 Best Picture Nominations:

Avatar (James Cameron and Jon Landau) – in theaters
The Blind Side – in theaters
District 9 (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham – DVD
An Education (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey) – in theaters (DVD in March)
The Hurt Locker – DVD
Inglourious Basterds (Lawrence Bender) – DVD
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness) – in theaters (DVD in March)
A Serious Man (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen) DVD on February 9
Up (Jonas Rivera) – DVD
Up in the Air (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman) – in theaters

What movie gets your vote?

#59: Watch all 5 Best Picture Nominees before the Oscars

#36: Get A New Bed

poweredbytofu — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:00:01 +0000

I finally bought a bed! :) I feel like such a grown up — my first bed purchase. And after hosteling for a year, and then sleeping on the floor for [almost] a year, it’s nice to finally have a bed again.

Now I get to complain about mattress manufacturers and retailers… #1. Having several names for the same product for different retailers is UNCOOL — I don’t want to play games, just give me the facts! #2. If you refuse to quote me a price when I walk in your store, I will leave and not return (*cough* BedMart *cough*). /rant

I wish IKEA would bring back the Hopen bed frame in a lighter color. I love the design of the HOPEN, it looks like a park bench… hmmm not sure what that says about me, but… loves it!

“Always buy good shoes and a good bed as if you aren’t in one you are in the other.” –some random quote I heard once

In other news, I considered painting one wall in my bedroom last weekend, and then promptly drove to Home Depot. For making disturbingly quick decisions, I was conservative and bought a sample paint for $1.50 (awesome deal, yeah? I was chatting to an employee and they said Home Depot is closing out all of their Ralph Lauren paints and switching to Martha Stewart, so deals galore!). Anyway, Mediterranean blue is officially awesome and I can’t wait to finish my paint project next weekend. :)

I’ve also been considering putting Blik artwork on the blue wall or leaving part of it a white outline of some kind. Unfortunately, I found a Blik “headboard” and it’s called the Olivia. Dammit, don’t they know I have issues with wanting to buy things that say my name? ugggh. I don’t really like it, but the narcissism is totally calling my name. ;) I really like this one though. Thoughts?

#58: Read 10 Classics That I’ve Never Read

poweredbytofu — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:00:50 +0000

OK, I may have gone a little overboard on the Hemingway. After I finished the first five unread classics (including A Moveable Feast, that got me on the Hemingway bandwagon in the first place), I checked out three more! So yes, to recap… 4 of the 10 were Hemingway, and after For Whom The Bell Tolls, I was thoroughly depressed with war stories.

I really liked The Alchemist. I wouldn’t call it a life changer, but I very much enjoyed the “create your own destiny”, “follow your dreams”, and “live in the present” fable. It’s also full of good quotes! :)

The 2nd five classics:

The Old Man and The Sea (Hemingway)
A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway)
For Whom The Bell Tolls (Hemingway)
The Alchemist (Paul Coelho)
The Invisible Man by (HG Wells)

The 1st five: Animal Farm (George Orwell), 100 Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez), Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand), A Moveable Feast (Ernest Hemingway), Slapstick or Lonesome No More (Kurt Vonnegut)

What have you been reading lately?

#58: Read 10 Classics That I’ve Never Read

poweredbytofu — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:19:54 +0000

I am now half done with #58! I just finished Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast this weekend, and absolutely loved it. For being such a bookworm, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’d previously only ever read portions of Hemingway. So after finishing A Movable Feast I put holds on 5 more of his books at the library!

Animal Farm by George Orwell – I checked this one off the list in 2007
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – this was a slow read for me. It was good, not the greatest book ever, but I enjoyed it.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand – loved it — one of my new favorite books! Yes, it could be condensed (1200 pages!), but it’s a still an excellent read. After several recommendations, I finally checked it out at the library.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Slapstick or Lonesome No More by Kurt Vonnegut – I typically enjoy Vonnegut, but this book just didn’t click with me. For whatever reason, it took me ages to finish as I kept reading other books in between!

OK, five classics down, and five to go. What should I read next?

#52: See the All-Time Top 100 Grossing Films

poweredbytofu — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:32:47 +0000

Two years later, and I’ve finally finished watching the Top 100 Grossing Films of All-Time! I had already seen 68 of the 100, so I averaged about one movie every three weeks. While I’ve enjoyed more of the movies from Ebert’s 102 Movies You Must See list, watching the top 100 grossing gives you an interesting snapshot of American culture through the past 100 years. Some of the movies are hardly classics, but it was fun to consider why they were so popular in the specific decades.

My Favorites

I didn’t watch 3 horror movies that were on the list, because I hate horror movies — and it’s my list, so I can do what I want!

#96: Volunteer with SMART Reading Program

poweredbytofu — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:59:41 +0000

This 101 Things in 1,001 Days goal was originally to volunteer with the Big Sister program, but the gist of the goal was just to volunteer. I ended up choosing S.M.A.R.T. — Start Making a Reader Today — based here in Portland. SMART partners with Oregon schools to help kids “discover the joy of reading.” It’s really a win-win program because it only takes an hour a week (and there are so many elementary school locations that it’s quite convenient). You read one-on-one for 30 minutes with two different kids. Depending on the age, or their comfort level, you might end up doing all the reading at first, but it’s so much fun to watch their progress over time.

My two little boys were 1st graders and they had the funniest little personalities. I think I might have been given a “problem child” because the notes in his reading file said he wasn’t cooperative and didn’t enjoy reading, but we got along just fine and he did an outstanding job. My favorite memory was when he interrupted me when I was reading and asked loudly, “Why are there so many old people here?” I quietly told him that there are many different ages and then he said “Why do they look soooo old?” and I said “Shhhhh… it’s not nice to say that about people.” To which he replied, “Well why do you have such smooth skin?” :) Priceless!

I joined SMART after I came back from Costa Rica in March, so I only caught the last 3 months of the program, but it was a really great program and I’ll definitely be volunteering next school year too. If you live in Oregon, check out their volunteer page for October 2009. (photo: foreverphoto)