101 things in 1001 days

A long overdue update

2009-01-26T15:15:00.003Z

So, unless this little blog is the only contact you have ever had with me, you will know that I have been a little busy. You see, I kinda got started on '#1 Have a baby' earlier than planned, which, as well as changing my priorities, has thrown the list into some chaos, since there are now things that I know I will not achieve - some because the opportunity has passed, others because I no longer consider them possibilities with a baby to take into account. That said though, I have actually managed to accomplish a few things off the list and will be updating as and when I get the opportunity (ie, when, like now, the baby is sleeping).
I considered going through and changing the list, but I've decided to leave it as is, do my best to accomplish what I still can and to document everything, even those things I've missed - even if no-one else finds it interesting, I will. Besides, I'm over 2/3 the way through time-wise, so it seems silly to change it now.

Update

2007-09-03T14:21:00.000+01:00

Finally getting around to updating - I am post-dating things to the date they were actually completed and adding links to the completed items on the sidebar. Also on the sidebar are links to the longer-term goals that can be checked off as I go. Apologies if any of you are reading through a reader and getting spammed... I'm going to try and stay on top of this from now on, but first I have to play a bit of catch-up...

#73 - Local Farmers' Market

2007-09-03T14:00:00.000+01:00

We've actually done this more than once now - checked out 2 different ones both within walking distance. But I forgot to take photos and we didn't buy anything. We keep seeing ones in other towns while we are out of London that look really great, but haven't found one close enough to visit every week and actually purchase stuff from. I am still on a mission to find a better place to get my produce though, because the stuff you get in supermarkets here is not up to my ingrained standards on freshness and quality, but I am marking this task as completed. Hopefully I will be able to update it later with pictures from my new, as yet undiscovered, market.

#54 - A photo a day for a month

2007-08-31T14:14:00.000+01:00

August 2007

That's only August 1-30, but you can click on the photo to see the whole set. I think it achieved it's purpose, in that I took more photos because I consciously had to get my camera out and take photos every day. Some days though, it was very forced and I wasn't too happy with the outcome, but I am happy I did it.

#72 - Edinburgh Military Tattoo

2007-08-03T14:37:00.000+01:00

We thought we'd have to go next year or miss out, since we forgot to stay on top of ticket release dates and whatnot. Graeme went online to check out the info so that he could put the appropriate dates in his calendar and was able to get a pair of tickets to the first show. We had a great time and were very glad we went and saw it live, rather than just seeing the tv recap.

#53 - A day in the life

2007-08-03T14:28:00.000+01:00

My interpretation of the idea: Take a series of photos to represent your day. Not just the exciting things, but the mundane everyday things too.

An online forum I am a member of decided to pick one day on which we would all photograph our day. The day chosen ended up being a very out of the ordinary day for me - we travelled to Edinburgh to see the tattoo (another thing off my list). I will probably do this again when I am doing less exciting things, but as much as I like the idea of capturing the mundane as well as the interesting, my life is just TOO mundane at the moment to interest anyone.

This is the first photo of the day.
Click through to my flickr and then follow along the set.

#70 - Tate Galleries

2007-07-29T15:08:00.000+01:00

Tate Modern
31 March 2007

Tate Britain
29 July 2007

The aim was to visit two Tate galleries, which we have now done. I wouldn't be surprised if we visit more, or go back to these ones. You gotta love free museums and galleries.

#37 - HP7 Midnight Release

2007-07-27T14:13:00.000+01:00

We had thought of going early to be near the front of the line and to participate in everything that was happening, but the weather was dismal and we didn't feel like sitting in it for 3 hours, so we left home at 11, walked to the High Street and joined the queue, which grew alarmingly after we had joined it. We had our books and were home again and reading by 1am, so I'm glad with the decision. Not many people were dressed up, but these guys, near the front of the line, looked quite cool and were happy to have a chat about the books (and then relieve me of some of my SPEW badges).

I didn't actually get a photo of myself or of the massive pile of books in the store - I'd forgotten to take my big flash and I was getting annoyed with my camera in the low light without a tripod and only the on-camera flash so I'd put it away. I'm considering putting the costume back on to stage a photo so you can see what I wore, but it wasn't anything super exciting - all stuff I already owned. Though I did get quite a few compliments on my awesome cloak (that I've had for over 10 years).

#82 See tulips in the Netherlands

2007-04-21T17:07:00.000+01:00

Clicking on the photo will take you to the set of photos from Amsterdam and Keukenhof.

#67 - Land's End

2007-04-08T14:44:00.000+01:00

Pretty unexciting, over-crowded, gimmicky and touristy. But we went and now we can say we've been to both extremes of mainland Britain.

#96 Watch the sun set over the ocean

2007-04-07T16:36:00.000+01:00

Atlantic Ocean
Viewed from a beach in Newquay, Cornwall, UK

#69 Visit Monkey World

2007-04-06T16:32:00.000+01:00

1 month on - is anybody out there?

2007-03-09T00:12:00.000Z

first, an update - i have started a LOT of the things on my list, but only completed one.
#86 - See a show on Broadway - we went to the US a few weeks ago and while we were there, we saw Rent. it was great. i need to write up a proper review, but i will do that on my main blog (eventually...)

meanwhile, i'm just wondering if anyone is actually checking this site or if i am just keeping it for my own entertainment... if you are, please let me know - i am woefully behind at updating, mainly because i'm still trying to figure out how to do that.
i'm not sure if i should be making a new post every time something changes (is begun, is one step closer to completion, is finished) or just when things are finished, or what. i've been terrible at updating ANY blogs lately and, since one of my goals on the list is to get my post count on my main blog much much higher, it feels like a waste to be posting here too often. perhaps i should just keep my master lists here and link back to relevant posts on purple8? but then that seems silly, because i don't think there's anyone who is reading this page who doesn't read my other one. maybe this whole separate site was a bad idea and i should just keep it all on my main one? but then i don't want it to become completely about the list, which it potentially could. maybe i shouldn't even be using blogger anymore and should actually be hosting everything at our own domain, since that was kinda the point of getting one. although i do like keeping them kind of separate - thats for our travels and i use blogger for stuff thats more just my stuff...

so, if you're there, let me know and, if you like, an opinion on the above stream of consciousness (if you followed it at all) would be useful

#86 See a show on Broadway

2007-02-16T15:28:00.000Z

My List

2007-02-08T23:46:00.000Z

The Big Things
These probably belong at the end of the list, since that’s likely when they'll happen, but I guess they fit here as eventual goals…
1 Have a baby Pretty self explanatory
2 Move back to Oz As in, Australia, although the Emerald City would be cool too
3 Buy a house Probably won't happen til #2 does, but you never know
4 Make a will With the house and the baby, it just makes sense, right?
5 Reach 1001 blog posts on purple8.blogspot.com. Maybe not a major achievement for some, but it will probably take the full 1001 days, considering my sporadic posting. That, or you will be reading a lot more about my mundane everyday life… either way. I'm currently at about 60.

Things with/for the ones I love
6 Celebrate 5th wedding anniversary on 12 April 2008. And I mean by doing something extra special. Not sure what that entails yet, but it is over a year away...
7 Sisters-only weekend away with Elizabeth, obviously. This kind of relies on us living in the same country again, but she reckons she's moving here so it should be do-able.
8 Hang out with Josh for a day, afternoon, whatever, just the two of us - doing something fun would be a bonus. And in the same vein...
9 Hang out with Chris… paintball would be fun, although there may be too many extras that try to follow us there...
10 Take Mum to see Phantom of the Opera on London's West End (and dad can come too :) ). Gotta get them here first though...
11 Spend a day with Dad in an art gallery
12 Contact someone I haven't seen this century Yeah, I thought it sounded cool worded like that - basically I wanna get in touch with someone I haven't seen or heard from in a long time.
13 Meet someone that I only know online Because I never have.
14 Send out Christmas cards, preferably handmade and at least once, but in 2007 AND 2008 would be good.
15 Make a birthday list and recognise each and every one of them for at least a year

Things that make me a better person
16 Jog for 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks because I want to be fitter
17 (be able to) Buy and wear a nice pair of size X jeans (size X is a size smaller than my current favourite pair of jeans) Not that I think thinner people are better people, I just want to lose a little bit (more) weight to FEEL better.
18 Go to the dentist because I really do need to and I hate the dentist and maybe having it on my list will make me do it before I end up having another emergency visit for a crazy wisdom tooth.
19 Give Blood because its been too long since I did.
20 Volunteer for 50 hours doing something I enjoy, preferably.
21 Complete 20 RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) for people I know or complete strangers.
22 Handwrite a letter every month and, most importantly, post it
23 Go a month without swearing. Have a swear jar. The problem with teaching teenagers from rough backgrounds is you start to speak like them...
24 Find a church to attend in London Kind of a hard one to quantify/measure, especially since we are only actually in London 2 Sundays out of 3 at best, but I will consider it a success if we go back to the same church more than 6 times over 3 months.
25 Take a course for fun something that I don't have to do but just choose to. I like learning :)

Things on my computer
26 Redesign blog so it is unique to me because if I am going to be posting more, I'd like it to look different from every second blog out there.
27 Finish a video game all the way through Usually, I play them for awhile, hit a hard level or get bored and give up...
28 Clean up my iTunes library - delete junk, fix wrecked files, name things so they're easy to find
29 Create 5 x 60 minute iTunes playlists with different styles/themes so they suit different moods. At least one for running to.
30 Make a website in html, as in, write the html myself and don't just use a wysiwyg editor thing.

Things with books
31 Read The Message from start to finish that's a modern adaptation of the Bible
32 Read every one of Australia's Favourite Books from the ABC booklist. I looked at lots of lists - this was the one I liked the look of best.
33 Read 3 new-to-me Shakespeare plays and understand them.
34 Get 10 personal book recommendations from people who know me and read them. If you wanna make a suggestion, let me know...
35 Find a good local library and join it
36 Sign up at bookcrossing.com - release a book
37 Go to a midnight release party for HP7 possibly in costume, definitely wearing something related.
38 Illustrate a scene from each HP book trying not to be too influenced by the films and drawing it the way I see it in my head.
39 Write and illustrate a children's book because it'd be fun more than anything.
40 Fill my art journal with creativity I have a fat-as A4 art journal that is currently empty. That needs to change.

Things to watch
41 Watch the last 50 Oscar Best Picture winners I'm saying since 1956, which I guess by the end of this will mean I've watched more than 50, but whatever.
42 Watch all the DVDs we own but have never seen There are about 25 of them… that’s a lot...
43 Watch 5 of my favourite films with the commentary on because that’s part of the reason you buy them on dvd, right, to get all the extras? I like to see what the people who made the movie say/think.
44 Watch every episode of Scrubs in order I LOVE this show, but keep seeing the same episodes repeated and all jumbled up. I now own the first 3 seasons on dvd and want to watch them as they were meant to be seen (and ad free, bonus)
45 See every episode of Will and Grace because somewhere along the line I missed a big chunk of the plot and couldn't jump back in.

Things to create
46 Make a quilt to show off patches I collect patches, like the embroidered, iron-on kind, when we visit places. I've not actually done anything with them though and I thought a quilt would be cool.
47 Design and make a complete outfit from scratch, for myself.
48 Embroider some tea-towels, specifically the ones that came with my sublime stitching stitch-it kit that I haven't actually used yet.
49 Knit a pair of socks because I never have
50 Paint a landscape on location
51 Paint a portrait
52 Identify and photograph 101 things that make me happy
53 Complete at least one "day-in-the-life" photo series
54 Take at least one photo every day for a month
55 Complete a 26 things photo scavenger hunt
56 Submit to jpg magazine
57 Scrapbook 2006 adventures
58 Scrapbook 2007 adventures
59 Scrapbook 2008 adventures
60 Finish Wedding album
61 Sell a photo, or, even better, be paid to take one
62 Get up super early in summer to take photos in London I think it would be cool to go into the city and take photos as it wakes up...
63 Support other crafters - buy 5 handmade things
64 Replace the pictures around our house with our own we have lots of pictures around our house, but since we are renting a furnished flat, they're not our pictures… yet.
65 Start my own business, selling my own creations

The rest of the list was compiled with help from Graeme, considering they are mostly things we will do together.

Things to see (UK)
66 Visit Bath It’s the main place left in England that I want to visit but haven't
67 Go to Land's End since we've already been to the other extreme of the UK
68 Spend a day in the National Gallery, London because even though its close and free I haven't been yet
69 Visit Monkey World there's a show on animal planet called Monkey Business that’s about this place and I've wanted to go there for years
70 Visit 2 of the Tate galleries
71 Spend one day every season in Hyde Park/Ken. Gardens - reading, taking photos of the changing seasons, whatever
72 Go to the Edinburgh military tattoo - hopefully we can get some tickets… it sells out fast
73 Go to the local Farmers' Market, mainly to see if we can get better produce than we've found so far
74 Go to The Championships at Wimbledon (definitely one of Graeme's additions)
75 Drive around Ireland & Northern Ireland to complete our adventure in the British Isles

Things to see (further away)
76 Visit my aunt in Spain who I haven't seen for years and years. It would be cool to do this with other family members too.
77 See the Sistine chapel
78 Touch the wall in Berlin
79 Go to Gallipoli
80 See the Northern Lights
81 Explore Pompeii - I loved studying this in history at high school
82 See tulips in the Netherlands
83 Go to Christmas markets in continental Europe
84 Go somewhere in Eastern Europe again
85 See the pyramids in Egypt
86 See a show on Broadway
87 Visit 6 US States
88 Go to a Disney theme park specific destination intentionally left a bit vague, because we haven't decided
89 Stopover on a syd<->lon flight for at least a night
90 Set foot on every continent in the world which, if we do everything else on this list basically only leaves South America

Things to do
91 Build a life-size snowman
92 Iceskate on an outdoor rink
93 Learn to snowboard or at least take the lessons, even if I don't achieve too much in terms of staying upright :)
94 Touch an elephant that'd be awesome
95 Watch the sun rise over the ocean
96 Watch the sun set over the ocean
97 Go to a filming of a TV show
98 Go to a professional sporting event in 5 different countries extra bonus points if they're different sports
99 See a live concert of a band/performer I love
100 Buy a nice map and mark with pins the places I've been
101 Make a new list of 101 things for the next 1001 days

#41 Best Picture Oscar Winners (since 1956)

2007-02-08T21:32:00.000Z

The titles are listed by year produced, not by the year the Academy Award was given out.
I have seen some of these films before, obviously, but I like watching films enough that I decided to aim to watch them all in the 1001 days, so they are only crossed out if I've watched them since this started.

2006 - The Departed
2005 - Crash
2004 - Million Dollar Baby
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2002 - Chicago
2001 - A Beautiful Mind
2000 - Gladiator
1999 - American Beauty
1998 - Shakespeare in Love
1997 - Titanic
1996 - The English Patient
1995 - Braveheart
~~1994 - Forrest Gump~~
1993 - Schindler's List
1992 - Unforgiven
1991 - The Silence of the Lambs
1990 - Dances With Wolves
1989 - Driving Miss Daisy
~~1988 - Rain Man~~
1987 - The Last Emperor
1986 - Platoon
1985 - Out of Africa
1984 - Amadeus
1983 - Terms of Endearment
1982 - Gandhi
1981 - Chariots of Fire
1980 - Ordinary People
1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer
1978 - The Deer Hunter
1977 - Annie Hall
1976 - Rocky
1975 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1974 - The Godfather, Part II
1973 - The Sting
1972 - The Godfather
1971 - The French Connection
1970 - Patton
1969 - Midnight Cowboy
1968 - Oliver!
1967 - In the Heat of the Night
1966 - A Man for All Seasons
1965 - The Sound of Music
1964 - My Fair Lady
1963 - Tom Jones
1962 - Lawrence of Arabia
~~1961 - West Side Story~~
1960 - The Apartment
1959 - Ben-Hur
1958 - Gigi
1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai
1956 - Around the World in 80 Days

#32 Australia's Favourite Books (ABC Book List)

2007-02-08T21:22:00.000Z

As I examined this in more detail, I realised there are actually quite a few more than 100 books on the list - a few of the numbers had ties and some of the "books" are actually series. That makes me even more impressed that all 5 (at the time of the survey) Harry Potter books made the list individually. Anyway, I reorganised the list into alphabetical order and am going to put it here so that I can cross them off when I'm done. At this point, I am planning to only cross off books that I actually read in the 1001 days, so if I've read it before (which I think I counted was about a third of them, some of them a LONG time ago though) it isn't automatically crossed off, but is kind of lower on my priority list than the ones I've never read. If it's in bold, that means I currently have a bookmark in it.

The Bible
Douglas Adams The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Richard Adams Watership Down
Louisa May Alcott Little Women
Felice Arena and Phil Kettle Boyz Rule
Jane Austen Emma
Jane Austen Persuasion
Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice
Enid Blyton The Magic Faraway Tree
Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre
Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights
Dan Brown The Da Vinci Code
A.S. Byatt Possession: A Romance
Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
Jung Chang Wild Swans
Paulo Coelho The Alchemist
Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl
Joseph Conrad Heart Of Darkness
Bryce Courtenay Jessica
Bryce Courtenay The Power Of One
Li Cunxin Mao's Last Dancer
Roald Dahl The BFG
Roald Dahl Matilda
Louis De Bernieres Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Charles Dickens Great Expectations
Charles Dickens David Copperfield
Fyodor Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment
Daphne Du Maurier Rebecca
Gerald Durrell My Family And Other Animals
George Eliot Middlemarch
A.B. Facey A Fortunate Life
Sebastian Faulks Birdsong
Raymond E. Feist Magician
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
Ken Follett The Pillars Of The Earth
Diana Gabaldon Cross Stitch
Steve Gerlach Rage
Arthur Golden Memoirs Of A Geisha
Kenneth Grahame The Wind In The Willows
Traci Harding The Ancient Future Trilogy
Joseph Heller Catch 22
Frank Herbert Dune (Dune Chronicles)
Li Hongzhi Zhaun Falun
Nick Hornby High Fidelity
Victor Hugo Les Miserables
Keri Hulme The Bone People
John Irving A Prayer For Owen Meany
Jack Kerouac On The Road
Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible
Harper Lee To Kill A Mockingbird
C.S. Lewis The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Norman Lindsay The Magic Pudding
Melina Marchetta Looking For Alibrandi
Gabriel Garcia Marquez One Hundred Years Of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez Love In The Time Of Cholera
John Marsden Tomorrow, When The War Began
Yann Martel Life Of Pi
Frank Mccourt Angela's Ashes
Colleen Mccullough The Thorn Birds
A.A. Milne Winnie the Pooh
Rohinton Mistry A Fine Balance
Margaret Mitchell Gone With The Wind
L.M. Montgomery Anne Of Green Gables
Michael Ondaatje The English Patient
George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell Animal Farm
Thomas Paine The Age Of Reason
Christopher Paolini Eragon
Dav Pilkey Captain Underpants & The Invasion Of The Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies From Outer Space
Robert Pirsig Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Annie Proulx The Shipping News
Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged
Matthew Reilly Ice Station
Matthew Reilly Scarecrow
H.H. Richardson The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony
Gregory David Roberts Shantaram
Emily Rodda Deltora Quest Series
J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Arundhati Roy The God Of Small Things
Salman Rushdie Midnight's Children
J.D. Salinger The Catcher In The Rye
Vikram Seth A Suitable Boy
Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events
R. L Stine Goosebumps
John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath
Col Stringer 800 Horseman
Col Stringer 'Fighting' McKenzie Anzac Chaplain
Patrick Suskind Perfume: The Story Of A Murder
Donna Tartt The Secret History
J.R.R. Tolkein The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkein The Hobbit
Leo Tolstoy War And Peace
Leo Tolstoy Anna Karenina
Evelyn Waugh Brideshead Revisited
Tim Winton Cloudstreet
Tim Winton Dirt Music
Tim Winton The Riders
Arnold Zable Cafe Scheherazade
Marion Zimmer-Bradley The Mists Of Avalon