Autumnal 101 in 1001 Update November 16, 2009

A few big things crossed off the list:

Run a 10K
Run a half-marathon

My marathon training is going well. I ran a bit over 13 miles the other day! My next big goal is to reach 18-19 miles before I leave for Thailand. We’ll see how that pans out. As long as I can run at least 15 miles at a go, I should be fine for the big dance, or so most experts say. I can’t see how only being able to run a little over half of the distance means you can do the full 26.1, but then again, I’ve never run more than about 13 miles at a time!

Eat at Highlands

It was AMAZING! I took the spouse there as a surprise birthday gift, and it was worth every cent! We shared the most amazing salted caramel chocolate cake, and the service was just impeccable. I want to go back, even though it was pretty expensive. That place is truly a treasure, and I can’t believe that it’s in little old Birmingham, AL.

Find a pair of glasses that I actually like to wear

Even though my vision has declined significantly (thank you, grad school), stylish new specs certainly softened the blow. Check it!

Summer 101 in 1001 Update July 30, 2009

Things I have accomplished/crossed off the list:

1. Learn to drive the scooter up the driveway
2. Paint my house
3. Complete an entire crossword puzzle
4. Trim all of the bushes around the house back to their 2005 sizes
5. Recycle all of my glass waste

I’ve crossed 26 out of the 101 things so far. I need to pick up the pace a bit, I think, although a few things will be eliminated together. Also, I wonder if some of the goals are a bit vague and difficult to quantify. This list could almost be a “What Not To Do” for my once-a-semester “Teaching Hope” lecture, and I’m kind of not sure what to think. I may modify some of the goals to be a bit clearer and more relevant.

In general, I feel my life falling into place more and more. Things that used to scare me no longer bother me, and I’m much more apt to say “Yes” to things rather than decline out of fear of the unknown. So many opportunities have come my way recently, and I feel so incredibly blessed. Life, despite its stresses and uncertainties, is good.

101 in 1001 update for April April 25, 2009

1. Send my Grandma more letters and cards
2. Give at least $10/month to a cause I really believe in
3. Get an Epi-Pen so that I don’t freak out whenever a bee flies near me
4. Craft a “for-real” resume

I’ve eliminated a few more items on my 101 in 1001 list. In one case, sadly, the goal has been eliminated for me. However, I committed to give $10/ month to public radio, I got an EpiPen this Friday, and I’ve created my resume for my end-of-year program review. If anything, I feel like this list has pushed me to do things that I otherwise wouldn’t do or would put off indefinitely. A couple of things on the list may be obviated if we are able to sell our house this summer (looking pretty likely), but for now, they’re still there.

My proposal defense presentation is mostly finished, and my symposium stuff is ready to go. After this week, things will be fairly easy for me until I start data analysis after my surgery (which is still unscheduled, by the way…not happy about that at ALL), then I’ll be pretty busy until I get back from my conference in July, and then I’ll need to write up my last two chapters. I don’t see myself finishing those until at least Labor Day. Then I can defend maybe around Thanksgiving or Finals Week, which means a May graduation (and that’s OK). I also have a million conference proposals to think about and write, so I’ll definitely have plenty to do between now and next year.

Update March 22, 2009

I’ve crossed a few more things off my 101 in 1001 list.

Overdue 101 in 1001 update December 30, 2008

I managed to:

• Take pictures of Scott playing with Brubeck
• Pay off my MacBook (yay!)
• Send out holiday cards

Can I get a hell yeah?

101 in 1001 update September 21, 2008

So far, I’ve crossed out 5 of the 101 things I’ve set out to do by May 2011.

1. Learn to make good chai (I keep my own special blend of chai spice in the cabinet now.)
2. Organize my file boxes (So cleansing…I ended up recycling over a ream’s worth of paper!! I had so many duplicates of articles and articles that, frankly, I know I will never read again.)
3. Organize my old photos. I held on to a lot of photos that I really don’t even know why I kept them. In some cases they were duplicates, or they were just pictures of nothing. Whatever. They’re gone now!
4. Compile a list of my top 100 movies. This was a hell of a lot of fun.
5. Compile a list of my top 100 albums. This was way too damn hard. I should have done the top 100 songs. Oh, well.

Top 100 Albums September 13, 2008

1. Amy Winehouse-Back To Black
2. Baaba Maal-Nomad Soul
3. Bar-Kays-Soul Finger
4. Beach Boys-Pet Sounds
5. Beck-Odelay
6. Beirut-Gulag Orkestar
7. Belle & Sebastian-If You’re Feeling Sinister
8. Belle & Sebastian-The Boy With The Arab Strap
9. Bob Dylan-Blonde on Blonde
10. Bob Dylan-Desire
11. Bob Dylan-Highway 61 Revisted
12. Bob Dylan-Nashville Skyline
13. Brubeck-Brandenberg Gate:Revisited
14. Brubeck-Jazz Impressions of Eurasia
15. Brubeck-Time Further Out
16. Brubeck-Time Out
17. Castanets-First Lights Freeze
18. Cat Power-Jukebox
19. Cat Power-Moon Pix
20. Cat Power-The Covers Record
21. Charles Mingus-Mingus Ah Um
22. Coldplay-A Rush Of Blood To The Head
23. Damien Rice-O
24. Dave Matthews Band-Live At Luther College
25. Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach-Money Jungle
26. Duke Ellington-Ellington Indigos
27. Elliott Smith-Either/Or
28. Elton John-Madman Across the Water
29. Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes
30. Francoise Hardy-The Yeh-Yeh Girl From Paris
31. Gotan Project-El Revancha del Tango
32. Incubus-Make Yourself
33. Indigo Girls-Indigo Girls
34. Ingrid Michaelson-Girls and Boys
35. Iron & Wine-The Creek Drank The Cradle
36. Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery-Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo
37. Joanna Newsom-Ys
38. John Coltrane-A Love Supreme
39. John Coltrane-Blue Train
40. John Coltrane-Giant Steps
41. John Coltrane-My Favorite Things
42. John Coltrane-Olé
43. Jump, Little Children-Buzz
44. Jump, Little Children-Magazine
45. Jump, Little Children-The Licorice Tea Demos
46. Jump, Little Children-Vertigo
47. Jump-Between The Dim and the Dark
48. Jump-Live At The Dock Street Theater
49. Jump, Little Children-Between the Glow and the Light
50. Kanye West-Late Registration
51. M.Ward-Post War
52. Miles Davis-Filles de Kilimanjaro
53. Miles Davis-Kind of Blue
54. Miles Davis-Round About Midnight
55. Miles Davis-Sketches of Spain
56. My Morning Jacket-It Still Moves
57. My Morning Jacket-The Tennessee Fire
58. Otis Redding-The Dock of the Bay
59. Otis Redding-The Soul Album
60. Outkast-Speakerboxx
61. Outkast-The Love Below
62. R.E.M.-Automatic For The People
63. Serge Gainsbourg-Initials B.B.
64. Sly and the Family Stone-There’s a Riot Goin’ On
65. Soundtrack: Amélie
66. Soundtrack: Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus)
67. Spoon-Gimme Fiction
68. Spoon-Girls Can Tell
69. Spoon-The Way We Get By
70. Stan Getz and João Gilberto-Getz/Gilberto
71. Stereolab- Refried Ectoplasm: Switched On Vol.2
72. Sufjan Stevens-Illinois
73. Sufjan Stevens-Michigan
74. Sun Ra-Nuclear War
75. The Beatles-Rubber Soul
76. The Beatles-Abbey Road
77. The Beatles-Let It Be
78. The Beatles-Revolver
79. The Beatles-Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
80. The Beatles-The White Album
81. The Ditty Bops-The Ditty Bops
82. The Horace Silver Quintet-Song For My Father
83. The Kinks-Face to Face
84. The Kinks-The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
85. The Meters-Struttin’
86. The Meters-Zony Mash
87. The National-Alligator
88. The National-Boxer
89. The Pixies-Doolittle
90. The Pixies-Death To The Pixies
91. The Postal Service-Give Up
92. The Shins-Oh, Inverted World
93. Thievery Corporation-The Mirror Conspiracy
94. Uncle Tupelo-Anodyne
95. Uncle Tupelo-March 16-20, 1992
96. Various Artists-Tropicaliá: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound
97. Wilco-Being There
98. Wilco-Sky Blue Sky
99. Yo La Tengo-Fakebook
100. Yo La Tengo-I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One

I can’t believe I was able to put 100 together! After about 70, it got tough. There are a lot of albums I like, but I couldn’t name specific tracks off of them. Conversely, there were one or two tracks I loved dearly, but the album as a whole wasn’t really my thing. Maybe I should create a list of top 100 favorite songs or something like that, but definitely not anytime soon!

Top 100 Movies August 23, 2008

1. A Mighty Wind
2. A Perfect Murder
3. Adaptation
4. Amélie
5. Amadeus
6. Annie Hall
7. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
8. The Aviator (2004)
9. Best In Show
10. Bicentennial Man
11. The Birds
12. Blood Simple
13. Blue
14. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
15. The Breakfast Club
16. Bridget Jones’ Diary
17. Brokeback Mountain
18. Capote
19. Casablanca
20. Charade
21. Citizen Kane
22. Como Agua Para Chocolate
23. Contact
24. Crimes and Misdemeanors
25. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
26. Das Leben Der Anderen
27. Dazed and Confused
28. Delicatessen
29. Dial M For Murder
30. Do The Right Thing
31. Drop Dead Gorgeous
32. Eat Drink Man Woman
33. El Laberinto del Fauno
34. Erin Brockovich
35. Être et Avoir
36. Fantasia
37. Fargo
38. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
39. The Firm
40. Forrest Gump
41. Fried Green Tomatoes
42. Funny Face
43. The Godfather
44. Gone With The Wind
45. Good Night, And Good Luck
46. Grizzly Man
47. Happiness
48. Hilary and Jackie
49. Hoop Dreams
50. The Incredibles
51. Inherit The Wind
52. The Insider
53. It’s A Wonderful Life
54. JFK
55. Jackie Brown
56. Legally Blonde
57. Malcolm X
58. Manhattan
59. Manhattan Murder Mystery
60. Mar Adentro
61. The Meaning of Life
62. Memento
63. Metropolis
64. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
65. Munich
66. My Fair Lady
67. Napoleon Dynamite
68. Network
69. No Country For Old Men
70. North By Northwest
71. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
72. Office Space
73. Paris, Texas
74. The Pianist
75. The Piano Teacher
76. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
77. Pleasantville
78. Proof
79. Psycho
80. Ratatouille
81. Rear Window
82. Schindler’s List
83. School of Rock
84. Sideways
85. The Sixth Sense
86. The Sound of Music
87. The Spanish Prisoner
88. Sweet and Lowdown
89. Syriana
90. The Three Caballeros
91. TRON
92. The Truman Show
93. There Will Be Blood
94. To Kill A Mockingbird
95. Unbreakable
96. Vertigo
97. Volver
98. WALL-E
99. When The Levees Broke
100. The Wizard of Oz

First item crossed off the list! August 23, 2008

20. Learn to make really good chai.

I believe in being resourceful, and that the solution to many problems in life are within arm’s reach, so I consulted one of my most trusted cookbooks, Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian (even if you aren’t vegetarian, you need this cookbook), for a chai recipe. I figure if anyone is going to know about how to make chai, she would.

The process wasn’t too difficult and I didn’t use any mixes or pre-made powders. I luckily had a tin full of Twining’s Darjeeling loose leaf tea, and it made fantastic chai. I’ve always been a Darjeeling girl, and it’s never let me down. The mortar and pestle came in to grind the peppercorn and the cardamon. Whenever I use it, I feel like I’m really making something serious. One day I’ll develop the endurance to make aioli from scratch (by mashing garlic and oil by hand for 20 minutes continuously to make a creamy, garlicky sauce).

All in all, it was very good, and I’d serve it to anyone I know. In the winter, a little splash of sweetened condensed milk would be super yummy, but in the hot sticky sauna of Alabama in August, I wanted to keep things as simple as possible. The spice level was perfect, although I like mine really spicy. I’m comfortable with the process now, so I may experiment with other combinations of spices.

In summary: Ain’t no party like a Freckles tea party.

101 in 1001 August 22, 2008

1. Finish my dissertation
2. Get my Ph.D.
3. Get a job I enjoy
4. Move to Chicago (or other cool big city)
5. Run a 10K
6. Run a half-marathon
7. Run a marathon
8. Learn to drive the scooter up the driveway
9. Paint my house
10. Take a road trip to the Northeast or Canada (or both!)
11. Learn how to knit
12. Get at least 3 scholarly publications (co-authorships and my dissertation count)
13. Read at least 5 new books every year for pleasure
14. Learn web design stuff so that my blog is totally awesome and so that I can eventually have my own site.
15. Learn to sew so that I can make my own clothes (and not rely on crappy, mass-produced clothes that were never intended to be worn by people built like me)
16. Finish learning that Chopin ballade I started 4 years ago
17. Read 100 Years of Solitude
18. Read Love in the Time of Cholera
19. Eat at Chez Panisse
20. Learn how to make really good chai
21. Go an entire month without eating any commercially prepared food
22. Visit at least one member of my family every month for a year
23. Develop the ability to do 100 consecutive push-ups
24. Develop the ability to do 100 consecutive ab crunches
25. Ride my bike in to work at least once a week for 6 months
26. Take a trip to Portland
27. Take a trip to Austin
28. Go to significant Alabama landmarks I’ve never visited
29. Watch one new movie every week (By “new,” I mean a movie I’ve never seen before) for a year.
30. Read Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style and apply it to my writing
31. Eliminate all high fructose corn syrup from my diet
32. Take some sort of class to learn something I’ve never done before (painting, pottery, etc.)
33. Frame all of the artwork I’ve accumulated that hasn’t been framed
34. Get re-certified in CPR
35. Do something for the benefit of a stranger anonymously at least once a week.
36. Walk my dog at least once a week
37. Go to the podiatrist about my feet
38. Buy only cruelty-free grooming products
39. Buy only environmentally-sound cleaning products
40. Make a conscious effort to avoid supporting companies that engage in overtly unfair business practices (i.e., WalMart)
41. Send my Granny more letters and cards
42. Send my Grandma more letters and cards
43. Call/e-mail my Nana more
44. Have family members over to the house for a party
45. Invite my friends over at least three times a year for a party of some sort
46. Eliminate toxic people from my life (as much as is possible)
47. Learn to deal with annoying people without losing my temper
48. Go one day a week without using any swear words
49. Give at least $10/month to a cause I really believe in
50. Pay off my MacBook
51. Get an Epi-Pen so that I don’t freak out whenever a bee flies near me
52. Send out cards over the holidays
53. Go see an opera
54. Go see a symphony orchestra play
55. Print out my best vacation photos and display them around the house
56. Craft a “for-real” resume
57. Complete an entire crossword puzzle
58. Complete an entire sudoku puzzle
59. Attend a major league baseball game
60. Find an awesome pair of “professional” shoes in both brown and black
61. Find a really great briefcase/laptop bag
62. Trim all of the bushes around the house back to their 2005 sizes
63. Do more yoga
64. Learn a different type of yoga
65. Invest in a good quality scootering jacket
66. Visit the Unclaimed Baggage store in Scottsboro
67. Take pictures of Scott playing with Brubeck
68. Beat all of the levels on MarioKart
69. Attend a shape-note hymn singing
70. Avoid patronizing chain stores for an entire month
71. Organize all of my old photos
72. Clean out my file boxes
73. Finish collecting all of Dave Brubeck’s records
74. Boost my FICO score to above 750
75. Recycle all of my glass waste
76. Recycle at least 75% of my aluminum waste
77. Recycle at least 75% of my paper waste
78. Avoid using plastics whenever possible
79. When it’s not possible, use recyclable plastics
80. Recycle 90% of my plastic waste
81. Reprint all of my photographs from Egypt and put them in an album
82. Visit every building on campus at least once
83. Tailgate on the Quad
84. Eat at Highlands
85. Grow hair long enough to donate to Locks of Love
86. Take a picture every day for a year
87. Create a list of my Top 100 movies
88. Create a list of my Top 100 songs or albums (whichever is easier)
89. Stop consuming foods that are mostly chemicals (junk food and sodas)
90. Take and pass a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course.
91. Have a brunch party
92. Have a sleepover party
93. Figure out vegetarian adaptations for things I liked as a kid and cook them
94. Eat at Commander’s Palace
95. Eat at Herbsaint
96. Find a pair of glasses that I actually like to wear
97. Go see a movie at the Alabama Theater
98. Go see a movie at the Capri Theatre
99. See a play at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival
100. Develop proficiency in SPSS
101. Treat myself to an entire day at a spa

And that, my friends, is my list of 101 goals for myself. I’ll update periodically as I begin to cross things off the list.