i never did get around to writing about the end of my first '101 in 1001' list ("complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days") last may. most of my notes at the ol' denouement would have been things i'd already said as i chugged through ("hey, accidentally popping up in books is great! so, goals involving gambling are really stupid! hot shit, i really did quit smoking!"), and i was on the fence about bragging about completing only 36 of my list items. then again, managing to accomplish one out of every three things i claim i'm going to do as a general proposition...would be pretty staggering. really, who's that effective all the time?
i am ready, internets, to begin a new list. a handful of items (like 046 buy an apartment) will migrate from the first edition to the second; some are dying the deaths they deserve (053 visit a nudist colony, i'm looking at you); others are meaner versions of goals i liked before (i'll be saving more money and hitting the gym a bit harder). other others don't exist yet; i'm trying to pace myself as i put this one together (and i'd love some suggestions). here's what i've got so far; what would you add? for that matter, what would you drop?
001 visit iceland
002 write (publish) another mcsweeney’s list
003 donate platelets at least 12 times
004 work out at a gym at least 200 times
005 take a foreign language class
006 attend shabbat service at a synagogue
007 reach a balance of at least $5000 in original ‘101 in 1001’ savings account
008 see elvis costello in concert
009 visit an acupuncturist
010 buy an apartment
011 contribute work to a gallery show
012 watch duck soup
013 attend mass at saint patrick’s cathedral
014 tour an abandoned subway tunnel
015 frame my college diploma
016 go birdwatching
017 make a blurb-ish photo book
018 have 3 photos featured on flickr’s explore page
019 print, mat, and frame one of my photos
020 take another class at the astor center
021 visit canada
022 walk across the brooklyn bridge
023 have pizza at grimaldi’s
024 get another tattoo
025 take a martial arts class
026 complete and frame another needlepoint project
027 invent a bitchin’ cupcake recipe
028 attempt a gozer costume for halloween
029 visit the new york city tenement museum
030 buy a bikini (and wear it in public)*
031 go to an MLS game
032 go to the opera
033 make pickles from scratch
034 take an etsy labs class
035 write (publish) three ‘letters to the editor’
036 buy a pair of hot shit designer shoes
037 volunteer at a soup kitchen
038 cook with 12 ingredients I’ve never used before
039 run 8 miles in less than an hour
040 make a blanket
041 get a bikini wax**
042 read gravity’s rainbow (thomas pynchon)
043 enter a cooking or baking contest
044 get my name printed in the new york times
045 get a shout-out at design*sponge
046 score at least 3 new bylines
047 learn to identify at least 12 constellations
048 donate whole blood at least 12 times
049 watch three kubrick films i haven't seen
050 read the big sleep (raymond chandler)
051 read neuromancer (william gibson)
052 visit at least 3 cemeteries in the new york area
053 attend tea ceremony or a cooking lesson at cha-an in the east village
054 have dinner at sripraphai in queens
055 subscribe to another literary magazine
056 write a fan letter
057 go skydiving
058 dip my toe in the atlantic and pacific oceans on the same day
059 see the northern lights
060 take a class at mud, sweat & tears
061 make a terrarium
063 watch a video at the paley center for media
064 visit the russian tea room
065 have a drink at a sneaky-sneaky hipster bar
066 take a photo every day for a year
067 visit the new york botanical garden
*this might be two items for the price of one. both are pretty scary.
**i already know this is a terrible idea, but jen's new list made me do it.
10 comments:
hey - this is unrelated, but what did you think of _never let me go_?
re: 30 and 41 - warm wax, and the right timing. which might be never for either or both, admittedly, but it can make a difference...
i loved it; best thing i've read in a long time. i think ishiguro has a fantastic hold on the neurotic relationships between girls, and the way that affects his narrator is really well done. i managed to read the book before really hearing much about it, so nothing was spoiled for me;* if it's possible for you to do the same, go for it ASAP (and really, read nothing. there are spoilers in the library of congress info at the front of the book, even). never let me go made me cry like a baby, and it's kind of talking me into becoming a vegan for the long haul. i'll let you know how that turns out.
anyone else read it? what did you think?
*though i did read it right after watching a ton of twin peaks, so instead of kathy, ruth, and tommy, i was imagining laura, donna, and james the whole time. that was weird, to put it mildly.
Duck Soup is well-worth the eighty minutes invested. The courtroom scene is priceless.
And Canada is worth it, too. I was actually thinking about Vancouver for the Olympics, but might pass on it -- hotels might a wee bit expensive. (Plus I might not make good company, unless you're into hockey or curling. The eyerolling I do during Olympic figure skating competition -- similar to that which was done during endless beach volleyball coverage -- could power a city block.)
Incidentally, I would add a Rangers' game to your list, if you haven't gone already, and particularly if you've never seen live hockey. Any antipathy which you may or may not have towards MSG notwithstanding (which I can understand, certainly): you will enjoy.
obviously, i approve of homemade pickles. you may want to wait until spring or summer, though, so you can get a draft moving through the apartment. pickle-making may be a form of chemical warfare.
i'm open to teaming up on 042 - there is no way that book is moving with me, unread, to yet another residence.
visit iceland, visit iceland, visit iceland!!! it is one of the BEST places in the world.
i like your others too, and am just hands down impressed you made this list.
@tom: you make a strong case for hockey, but george would never speak to me again if i went to a rangers game: he's a die-hard devils fan. that said, if free tickets meandered into my life (as they have a way of doing, like with that giants game a few month ago), i would totally go.
@jacob: solid advice on the pickling, and we should totally clothesline gravity's rainbow together. it'll be much better than when we were in that dostoevsky reading group and everyone else cheated.
@cevd: my dear, there's a reason that one's #1. iceland is happening if i have to swim there!
- David is confused by your obsession with Iceland. When it comes up (re: new McSweeny's sitting on the bedside table printed in Iceland), he says BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY?!
- I've been to a nudist colony. I'm clearly an insensatve person, but I have a hard time controlling my giggles when an old naked guy rolls by with socks and sandels on..
- #6. Friday before our wedding. Shul + wedding blessing = crying.
iceland: ludicrous natural beauty, saturated in crazy norse mythology, one of the birthplaces of poetry, great indie music, adorable children, emerging modern design scene, volcanic nonsense, puffin-chucking. shall I continue?
nudism: joe and i boated past a scottish nudist colony in the middle of a loch when we were on our honeymoon. i think that's the best we're ever going to do.
yr wedding: we're all over it, obviously.
059 see the northern lights
This is something I've actually done. Trick is to get a window seat on the left side of the plane flying from Chicago (or Toronto) to London in the November-January range. After the first movie is over -- BANG! Light show. May work from New York, too -- but you might not get close enough to the Pole.
Yes, yes, I know: it doesn't count unless you're outside. I live for cheap thrills.
list completed! well, list creation completed. here it be.
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