Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Challenge (so far)...

I've discovered I work best when I have a very, VERY long list of things to do. So in order to supplement my light workload at the restaurant and to break up the monotony of LSAT practicing, I am looking for other challenges. Ideally fun challenges that could feasibly be accomplished in one go.

I'm keeping a running list of 2009's small accomplishments that were pride-inspiring and awesome, and will list them here for example purposes:

-made vegan cupcakes that tasted great (according to my neighbors)
-Went ice skating
-saw an early screening of Confessions of a Shopaholic (thank you again Diego)
-sang "Take Me or Leave Me" from Rent at a karaoke bar (with the fabulous Jason as Joanne :D )
-drove from LA to Simpsonville with only me in the car (4 days baby!)
-finally learned how to cook tofu I actually like
-22,590 words of the Manuscript and counting (some was written in 2008, but I haven't edited it to smithereens yet, so it counts)
-read some 15 odd books for non-school purposes
-Put eyedrops in my eyes! And I have youtube proof! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ic4qEhsk14
-Ran my first 5k


I already have one long-awaited item on the suggestion list-- flying trapeze lessons, but that's out in LA, so that'll be later. But what have you always wanted to do? Or see me do? I promise to attempt anything within reason so long as the suggestion is

1) roughly PG-13 rated (various members of my family CAN see this, and I await their suggestions too. But before you type, ask yourself if you would want YOUR 14 year-old cousin to read it)
2) Financially feasible (remember, currently only pseudo-employed)
3) does not include me eating any kind of weird meat. And I consider most meat pretty weird.
Come on! I can take it.


(I pretty much tagged people mentioned in the note itself, people I know to be generally full of creative suggestions, and people I'm pretty sure use facebook frequently)


Update: Accepted challenges:
-Raft on the west coast (relegated to fall)
-Horseback riding near the Hollywood sign (fall)
-Read work at some kind of open mike night (theoretically with Lauren, so Fall)
-Learn to surf (has been on the list FOREVER! If anyone knows how to surf/where to surf, help is appreciated. Fall)

Summer Challenges:
-Read The "Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Orczy(completed 7/8)
-Write and submit 5 poems/short stories to people who can theoretically pay me
-Run 3 times a week after the 5k on 6/20
-Learn to say "I love you" in 25 previously unknown languages (5 European languages, 8 Asian, 7 African, and 5 native/aboriginal languages from NA/SA/Oceania?) (completed 7/4)
-Make Vegan egg salad (completed 7/6)
-Read "Animal Liberation" by Peter Singer
-Learn to play the Harmonica
-Fix my bike
-Find at least 9 new ways to do free things where you live (concerts, restaurants, parks, etc)... in Greenville or Rabun Gap
-Read Cassandra Claire's Mortal Instruments Trilogy (completed 7/19)
-Listen to the Scarlet Pimpernel Broadway Musical soundtrack
-Learn about the history of Downtown Greenville and take a walking tour (Find the Mice!)
-Find a camera and take "unusual pictures of beautiful North Georgia"
-Read "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson
-Run the Disneyland half-marathon (?) (This one is still under consideration)
- Make a stop-motion or time-lapse video.
- Take the answers to a crossword puzzle and write your own clues
-write a short story...for children
-go on a picnic someplace pretty
-taste coconut milk-buy the coconut and do all of the work to crack it open, too (completed 8/7)
-make a bonfire and have s'mores
-visit state/national historic sites
-tackle this-> http://hundredpushups.com/
-construct a slip n' slide
-improve upon your mixology skills
-contact my 5th grade teacher tell her thanks, you're well on your way to a college degree
-spend a day turning over rocks in a creek until you find something interesting (please God, not snakes...)
-go a week without indulging any of your liquid obsessions. So... nothing except water and the occasional juice.
-Write every day. Even if it's just for fiteen minutes, write every single day.
-make your own Popsicles for yourself and your family
-Plan a trip to see Kat (and Nicole? Haven't asked, but have a feeling she'd be down. Other plans to visit other people are in the works, so Kat gets the challenge one).
-Snuggle. (Fabric softener or physical affection? Well, one is banned from my house. Which actually may make that more difficult.)
-Write a scary story and let Kat read it. (NOT the nightmare chapter. I have to write something ELSE!)