And We're Off...

After just over a week, my progress on the list looks something like this:

-   Completed Goal #80 (Encourage someone else to do "101 in 1,001") - Codi (my sister) & Sam (my bestie) have helped me out with this one (Thanks, Ladies!)
-   Working on Book 1 for Goal #11 - I'm about 1/4 of the way through "A Tale of Two Cities" and trying to read at least a few pages every day, even though it's not the easiest bit of reading I've ever done.
-   I've watched 2 of the movies for Goal #12 (Watch 20 Movies from AFI's 100 Greatest American Films list) - Codi & her husband Mike & I have watched "Casablanca" and "Bonnie & Clyde", and are planning to attempt a weekly "Classic Movie Night." I also picked up a copy of "Rocky" for $1 at a local movie rental store and added a bunch of the classics to my NetFlix Queue. (While browsing the Classics section at Family Video their copy of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" caught my eye, and I decided to rent it, even though it's not on my list. It was insane - I loved it. I think I need to get a copy to add to my DVD collection.)
-   I registered for PostCrossing (Goal #19), got an address, and will be sending the postcard out today, to a girl in Finland.
-  I also registered for a penpal site, (Goal #14) but haven't gotten an address from that site as of yet. I did, however, get an address from a site called "Beyond the Wall", which does penpals for inmates, and I'll be sending out a letter to one of their members today.
-   I found out that my goddaughter's father, Anthony, works with Bonsai trees as a hobby, and he's offered to help me out by giving me one and teaching me about them. (Goal #91 - Get a Bonsai Tree)
-   I started my list of "101 Things That Make Me Happy;" I've currently got 11 items - you can find the list at the bottom of the page. (Goal #31)
-  I've got a swear jar (Goal #43) - and if I keep going the way I am, it'll be full in no time. I never realized what a dirty mouth I have.

On the agenda for this week:
-  I started back on my meds (Goal #82: Take meds daily for a month 20x)
-  Getting in three 30 min workouts (Goal # 68) - got one in Sunday morning, two more to go.
- Continuing with the Swear Jar - & trying to get a grip on the language.
-  Continuing with "Tale of Two Cities"
- Finding a PenPal address
- Doing a BookCrossing Drop (Goal # 47)
- Buying a planner (Goal # 58 - Start using a planner to stay organized)
- Watching another movie - Planning on watching "American Graffiti" Thursday night with Codi & Mike as long as NetFlix comes through on time. Otherwise we'll be finding a substitute movie.

If I get a chance to tackle other things this week, I'll give it a shot. We're in the final stretch for a massive project at work though, so the next 2 weeks are going to be insane...hopefully I can tackle some bigger things toward the end of the month.

My "To Read" List (Goal #11)

After consulting a number of lists for high school graduates on books that should be read before college, I decided that these 50 titles would make up my "To Read" list. While there are a number of other, more contemporary (& fun) books I would like to read, most of these are books that make me feel like a failure because I've never read them despite being an English major. So I want to make it through at least 10 of these before the challenge is over.

1. A Tale of Two Cities
2. Moby Dick
3. Atlas Shrugged
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God
5. Catcher in the Rye
6. The Grapes of Wrath
7. The Sun Also Rises
8. Beloved (okay, that one's mine)
9. Brideshead Revisited
10. Catch-22
11. A Clockwork Orange
12. The Great Gatsby
13. Invisible Man
14. Lolita
15. 1984
16. The Bridge of San Luis Rey
17. Don Quixote
18. Go Tell it on the Mountain
19. Heart of Darkness
20. Red Badge of Courage
21. Robinson Crusoe
22. David Copperfield
23. Crime & Punishment
24. Madame Bovary
25. A Farewell to Arms
26. Cry the Beloved Country
27. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
28. Gulliver's Travels
29. Vanity Fair
30. Native Son
31. Jane Eyre
32. Wuthering Heights
33. Great Expectations
34. Little Women
35. As I Lay Dying
36. Dante's "Inferno"
37. The Last of the Mohicans
38. Uncle Tom's Cabin
39. The Picture of Dorian Gray
40. The Color Purple
41. Treasure Island
42. The Crucible
43. Long Day's Journey Into Night
44. The Call of the Wild
45. 100 Years of Solitude
46. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
47. Dr. Zhivago
48. The Sound & the Fury
49. The Awakening
50. Things Fall Apart

AFI's 100 Greatest American Films - 2007 List

This is the list that I am basing Goal #12 on. I have seen some of the movies prior to starting this project, and am not including them in the 20 that I am supposed to see as part of my goal. I have marked previously-viewed films in blue, and will mark films viewed as part of "101 in 1,001" in red.

1. Citizen Kane
2. The Godfather
3. Casablanca (1/4/11)
4. Raging Bull
5. Singin' in the Rain
6. Gone With the Wind
7. Lawrence of Arabia
8. Schindler's List
9. Vertigo
10. The Wizard of Oz
11. City Lights
12. The Searchers
13. Star Wars
14. Psycho
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey
16. Sunset Blvd.
17. The Graduate (3/1/11)
18. The General
19. On the Waterfront
20. It's a Wonderful Life
21. Chinatown
22. Some Like it Hot (2/6/11)
23. The Grapes of Wrath
24. E.T. The Extraterrestrial
25. To Kill a Mockingbird
26. Mr. Smith goes to Washington
27. High Noon
28. All About Eve
29. Double Indemnity
30. Apocalypse Now
31. The Maltese Falcon
32. The Godfather Part II
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
34. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
35. Annie Hall
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai
37. The Best Years of Our Lives
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
39. Dr. Strangelove
40. The Sound of Music (1/28/11)
41. King Kong
42. Bonnie & Clyde (1/8/11)
43. Midnight Cowboy (1/18/11)
44. The Philadelphia Story
45. Shane
46. It Happened One Night
47. A Streetcar Named Desire
48. Rear Window (1/13/11)
49. Intolerance
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
51. Westside Story
52. Taxi Driver
53. The Deer Hunter
54. M*A*S*H*
55. North by Northwest
56. Jaws (2/10/11)
57. Rocky
58. The Gold Rush
59. Nashville
60. Duck Soup
61. Sullivan's Travels
62. American Graffiti (1/27/11)
63. Cabaret
64. Network
65. The African Queen
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (2/4/11)
67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
68. Unforgiven
69. Tootsie
70. A Clockwork Orange
71. Saving Private Ryan
72. The Shawshank Redemption
73. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
74. The Silence of the Lambs
75. In the Heat of the Night
76. Forrest Gump
77. All the President's Men
78. Modern Times
79. The Wild Bunch
80. The Apartment
81. Spartacus
82. Sunrise
83. Titanic
84. Easy Rider (2/14/11)
85. A Night at the Opera
86. Platoon
87. 12 Angry Men
88. Bringing Up Baby
89. The Sixth Sense
90. Swing Time
91. Sophie's Choice
92. Goodfellas
93. The French Connection
94. Pulp Fiction
95. The Last Picture Show
96. Do the Right Thing
97. Blade Runner
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy
99. Toy Story
100. Ben Hur

**Note: There are a few on the list (like 12 Angry Men & Raiders of the Lost Ark) that I think I may have seen years ago...but since they obviously didn't make much of an impression at the time, I'm considering them "unviewed".

101 in 1,001

Back in college, I discovered something called the "101 in 1,001 Challenge." The basic premise of this project was to come up with a list of 101 personal goals to complete in 1,001 days (or just shy of 3 years). While I didn't really follow through with my first try, I've decided to give it another shot. The start date for this challenge will be January 1, 2011, and the end date will be September 28, 2013. Also embarking on the challenge will be my best friend, Sammo, and my sister Codi.

So, here's "The List":

1. Visit another country
2. Donate blood
3. Participate in at least 10 volunteer projects - 4/10
4. See "Wicked" performed
5. Write a children's book
6. Make a full-sized quilt
7. Complete a scrapbook
8. Take a "Photo Road Trip"
9. Read 5 biographies/autobiographies - 3/5
10. See 3 plays in a theater
11. Read 10 of the books from my "To Read" list - 1/10
12. See 20 of the movies from "AFI's 100 Greatest American Films" (the 2007 version) - 14/20
13. Lose 25 pounds
14. Get a pen pal
15. Get a pet (and keep it!)
16. Make lasagna
17. Participate in NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/)
18. Submit to "PostSecret" (http://www.postsecret.com/) - 12/20/11
19. Send a postcard to PostCrossing (http://www.postcrossing.com/) - 1/25/11
20. Complete a "26 Things" List at http://www.sh1ft.org/
21. Adopt another soldier/unit - 1/29/11
22. Try 5 new foods - 5/5
23. Eat at 5 new restaurants - 2/5
24. Cook/Bake 10 new dishes - 2/10
25. Have a booth at a craft show
26. Music month! Find a new artist to listen to every day for a month
27. Create a cookbook of my favorite recipes
28. Create a journalism portfolio
29. See a movie in 3D
30. Go to a comedy club
31. Make a list of 101 things that make me happy - 11/101
32. Keep a journal - write at least 3 entries a week for a month (x3)
33. See a ballet
34. Sleep under the stars
35. Visit 3 museums
36. Learn how to play chess
37. Keep my car clean for at least a month
38. Go without fast food for a month (Feb 2011)
39. Spend a full day hanging out with each of my siblings - 1/4
40. Visit Sam & Liv (my bestie & my goddaughter) in Wisconsin (2/25-2/27/11)
41. Send Christmas cards out (on time)
42. Host a dinner party
43. Create a "Swear Jar" anytime I swear I pay a nickle
44. Visit a psychic (just for fun)
45. See Niagara Falls
46. Write 25 notes & put them in random places
47. Do 5 Book Crossing drops (http://www.bookcrossing.com/)
48. Attend 5 concerts - 11/5
49. Learn to play a song on the guitar and/or piano
50. Take at least 1 art class
51. Join a book club
52. Go an entire day without insulting anyone
53. Take inventory of my books
54. Take inventory of my movies
55. Go a week without soda (10x) 3/10
56. Get certified in CPR
57. Keep track of EVERYTHING I spend money on for 2 weeks
58. Start using a planner to stay organized
59. Keep my checkbook balanced for a month (x3)
60. Clear my craft table & use it for CRAFTS
61. Drink nothing but water for a week
62. Read the Bible cover to cover
63. Fast for 24 hours
64. Send a random gift to a friend
65. Pay for a stranger's meal
66. Create (& stick to) a weekly meal plan (10x) - 1/10
67. Keep a food journal - complete every day for a month
68. Exercise 30 minutes 3x/week  (25x) - 16/25
69. Take Jae (my niece) to the Circus
70. Write & submit a feature article to a magazine/website
71. Visit downstate family & friends
72. Take Jae to the U.P. Children's Museum
73. Go to an aquarium
74. Learn to knit or crochet
75. Try 5 new mixed drinks - 1/5
76. Write a letter to someone I admire
77. Write a snail-mail letter to a friend (10x)
78. Purchase a piece of art
79. Go on a picnic
80. Encourage someone else to do "101 in 1,001" (Two people, actually  - Sam & Codi)
81. Try 3 types of wine - 4/3
82. Take meds daily for a month (10x)
83. Write a will/living will
84. Learn to play poker
85. Ride in a hot air balloon
86. Get another tattoo
87. Buy an amethyst ring
88. Ride a train
89. Donate 30 clothing items
90. Complete the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"
91. Get a bonsai tree
92. Participate in a Trivia Night
93. Make a Time Capsule
94. Sit & watch a sunrise/sunset
95. Go to an event/festival/convention I think is weird
96. Take Jae to a "real" zoo (with giraffes, penguins, elephants, etc.)
97. Spend a technology-free weekend
98. Learn to say "Hello", "Goodbye", & "I Love You" in 10 languages
99. Get my hair dyed by a "pro"
100. Go to a planetarium
101. See an orchestra perform