So Awake

important message

Will Ferrell's Message From White House West.

101 in 1001

You'd think that by simply taking a meme idea from Jessica that I would be slacking, but believe me, this has been much harder than knocking out an entry about my trip to DC or how work continues to take over my life.

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on my part).

I'm not sure if I'll still be in LA in three years, so a lot of my list is about doing things in southern California while I still can. It may not be my favorite place in the world, but there are a lot of fun and unique parts that I too often ignore.

1. Renew my passport.

2. Run a marathon.

3. See a movie at Grauman's Chinese.

4. Visit another country.

5. Develop all the rolls of film that I've shot over the past few years.

6. Fit into my pretty black dress again.

7. Volunteer for something I believe in.

8. Stay at the same address for at least 12 months. (Right now I'm on my fifth in two years.)

9. Visit the San Diego Zoo.

10. Go sailing with my Opa and Popo.

11. Go skiing. (I have never been downhill skiing, unless you count the time my friend Amanda and I took our cross-country skis down a hill and over a road when we were 13.)

12. Visit my family in New Jersey.

13. Go camping.

14. Read at least 10 of the books gathering dust in my nightstand/around the room. [As of 10/24/04, I've read one qualifying book, Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Biography.

15. Subscribe to the Sunday New York Times.

16. Cook one recipe from each of the cookbooks I own.

17. Take a language class.

18. Visit LACMA.

19. Visit MOCA.

20. Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and see William. Also pretend that I am in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

21. Take a surfing lesson.

22. Convince Afsheen to get a Disneyland Annual Passport.

23. Redesign my webpage. [Completed 10/24/04, at least for now.]

24. Vote at the polls. (I've only ever done absentee.)

25. Frame and hang the posters in our closet.

26. Make the switch. [As of 10/24/04, the iMac order has been placed, and I just need to transfer my files from my old Dell when it arrives.]

27. Buy and wear a watch.

28. Beat Tiger Woods on the GameCube.

29. Go to the balloon fiesta.

30. Go to Hollywood Forever.

31. Get a puppy.

32. Go to the Getty.

33. Start improv training again.

34. Use my sewing machine just to see how it works. (Or *if* it works... I got it for free from my old job.)

35. Complete a knitting project.

36. Play a round of golf.

37. See a game at Fenway.

38. Go to Vegas. (I've never been.)

39. Go to Magic Mountain.

40. Get a new cell phone before my current one completely falls apart.

41. Make a mix CD for someone.

42. Sort through my clothes and get rid of the ones I will never wear again. (Carpenter jeans, I'm looking at you.) [Completed sometime in early October, 2004.]

43. Join a gym that is actually convenient for me to go to. [Completed around September 7, 2004 -- thanks to Afsheen for the wonderful anniversary gift.]

44. Learn enough Farsi to not feel completely lost at Family family gatherings. Also enough to swear at Afsheen.

45. Actually go out for drinks with my girlfriends/coworkers/former roommates, instead of just making vague promises to do so.

46. Cook Thanksgiving dinner.

47. Buy cute sneakers that aren't Converse One Stars.

48. Join AAA.

49. Organize my CDs so I know where they are.

50. Convince Paulie to move to LA.

51. See James play live.

52. See Karaugh play live.

53. At the very least buy both their new CDs.

54. Watch Pulp Fiction, Spinal Tap, Titan AE, the Trois Couleurs trilogy, and all the other movies that I've been told to see eleventy fuckillion times.

55. Visit my friend Jamie (possibly in the Ukraine).

56. Actually get together with my quasi-cousin Paul and his girlfriend.

57. Track down at least one old friend I've lost touch with (Matt Cohen, Mary del Savio, Rochelle Graub, Amie Myers, Amanda Colgate... any of you out there?) [As of 10/24/04, I've heard from Mary and also reconnected with another "lost" friend, Abbey.]

58. Eat at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

59. Launch the so-not-top-secret website that Rachel and I came up with.

60. Actually put my photos in my photo box.

61. Buy a rolling pin.

62. Bake treats for Sullivan.

63. Look into Birthright Israel before I'm too old.

64. Swim in the ocean.

65. Take a trip with Afsheen to someplace where we don't know anyone and get to stay in a hotel.

66. Write a letter to my Nana at least once a month.

67. Store my jewelery somewhere other than a big plastic souvenir Red Sox cup.

68. Track down a copy of Pirates, which I worked on but never saw. Maybe I should go stalk Eric McCormack while we still work on the same lot.

69. Go to the batting cages before the next time I play softball.

70. Visit Nicole.

71. Actually read the New Yorker when it arrives each week.

72. Throw a party.

73. Spend a night on the Queen Mary.

74. Write a spec script.

75. Be published (writing or photography) somewhere other than my website or my friends' websites.

75. Learn the Hebrew alphabet.

76. Buy a new jacket.

77. Learn more about JET, consider applying.

78. Re-learn the lyrics to It's The End Of The World As We Know It.

79. Ride a bike.

80. Re-watch Jurassic Park.

81. Make sushi at home.

82. Read enough of Afsheen's econ textbook to not feel like an idiot when I listen to Marketplace.

83. Perform onstage, or at least audition.

84. See Stella live.

85. Find out whatever happened to Jian Ghomeshi.

86. Re-visit Elfreth's Alley.

87. Subscibe to the Economist.

88. Stop taking logging jobs.

89. Stop working opposing shifts with my boyfriend.

90. Clean out my car 100%, including the box of random crap in the trunk. (My trunk has not once been empty since I bought the car over two years ago.)

91. Fly a kite.

92. Buy a pair of work shoes that are comfortable but not flip flops or sneakers.

93. See The Lion King with NotYourEmily and Storey.

94. Make coffee at home in the mornings instead of buying it before work.

95. Find a better place to sort the mail than the dining room table.

96. Work on a show that isn't about people competing for a prize.

97. Drink an Irish car bomb.

98. Lose my t-shirt tan.

99. Post my list before Afsheen does.

100. See the otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

101. Subscribe to KCRW.

Theo Epstein is a heartless man

Baseball trades have never made me cry. Until now.