A Lefty Writes

The Tally So Far
Date Started: September 20, 2004
End Date: June 17th, 2007
Items Completed: 35
Items Remaining: 66

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Over recent months various friends have completed a list much like the one below. And I, being a sheep, cannot help but follow suit.

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in 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).

Admittedly, some of the following don't follow the criteria to the letter. It was actually pretty tough to come up with 101 reasonable goals for the next three years. On the one hand I didn't want to be too mundane but then again I tried to avoid giving myself far too many impossible tasks. In the end I suppose the list will have to speak for itself. I plan on updating when I complete an item and setting up a link to the right so that everyone can follow my progress.

So here goes...

1. Buy original art
2. Visit Ari & Elana in Israel
3. Visit Scott in Prague
4. Perform at an open mic night
5. Get my and David's TV show produced
6. Direct another feature film
7. Work (or volunteer) for a political office or campaign
9/12/2005 - I've spent the past 3 months volunteering for Pat Jehlen for State Senate. We've made it past the primary (the difficult part) and are now working towards the general in a few weeks.
8. Play an 18-hole golf course
9. ... and score under 100
10. Buy my own TiVo
11. Add a bigger hard drive to said TiVo
12/16/2004 - Okay, I cheated. I actually bought my friend Jason's already-upgraded TiVo. He added an additional 120 gig drive, making it capable of recording about 60 hours at best quality. I haven't set it up yet because we need to get an additional cable box and I haven't started service for it, but at the very least I have my own TiVo. I feel like such a grownup.
12. Create a photo section on my blog
1/27/2005 - Check it out
13. Find a local synagogue and attend services
14. Meet John Stewart
11/2006 - Well, I didn't really MEET him, but I went to his stand-up performance at the Wang Center in Boston. It's as close as I'm going to get for the sake of this list.
15. Attend a taping of The Price is Right
16. ... and The Tonight Show
17. ... and The Daily Show
18. Run the AIDS Marathon
19. Skydive
20. Visit Boston
11/24/2004 - Spent Thanksgiving in Newton with girlfriend's family.
21. Go to a continent I haven't been to yet
22. Visit Hawaii
23. Surf at least once a week for a month
24. Take a romantic vacation
1/11/2005 - My girlfriend and I went to Santa Barbara for a few days while she was in town. Though the trip from LA is usually short and simple - 2 hours with light traffic - it took us 9 hours to get there because so many roads were closed due to recent flooding and mudslides. It would have taken around 6 but there was then the issue of an overturned truck that closed down the only open road. The town, though beautiful, was pretty dead since it was already the off-season and I doubt many tourists wanted to take the long road to get there. But we had a very good time anyways.
25. Go on a “just-the-guys” road trip
6/12/05 - Jason and I drove from LA to Boston for my move across-country. We took 4 days with a slight detour to Mount Rushmore.
26. Leave Vegas with money in my pocket
On the road trip to move to Boston (see #25) Jason and I went through Vegas, stopping for lunch. Of course the truck stop had a casino so I took $20 and hit the blackjack table. After a few winning hands I was up $25 and called it quits, thereby leaving Vegas for the first time with more money than I started.
27. Go to Chinatown
28. Say “forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown” while there
29. Win something
30. Cook dinner at home at least 6 nights a week for a month
31. Take cooking classes
32. Take dancing lessons
12/12/2004 - This wasn't quite what I had intended, but it works. For my friend Danielle's birthday a group of us went to the Derby for swing dancing. We happened to get an impromptu lesson from the house instructor and then a friend of a friend showed me some moves beyond the three I remembered from swing dancing with Karina in college.
33. Play tennis again
8/27/2006 - Met Andy at a local public court and played for an hour and a half. I have to say that after a decade of not playing, I suck. I can't serve to save my life, but my backhand is still decent. Also, I need to re-grip my racket. The old grip is literally crumbling.
34. Play texas hold-em in Vegas
2/5/07 - Afsheen's bachelor party. Spent about 14 out of 24 hours in Vegas at the poker table and only lost $100. Not too shabby, really...
35. Find that one piece of furniture to fit in the corner of my bedroom
36. Watch Paula’s copy of The Others
37. Finally return it to Paula
10/20/2004 - After about a year and a half I have finally, finally watched the movie, and I plan on returning it within the next couple of days. I really feel pretty ashamed about the fact that I've been in possession of this borrowed DVD for so long and I think that returning it will involve some sort of apology gift; flowers maybe or a Best Buy gift certificate so she can buy a new movie or something. But two items in one blow... I'm on a roll!
38. Get my suit pants altered
39. Wear my suit to something
12/29/2004 - Went to The Magic Castle with my family during their visit to LA. Good food, amazing performances, and I got to wear my suit.
40. Become at least passably conversational in a new, non-romance language
41. Go to Sea World
42. ... and Legoland
43. ... and the San Diego Zoo
5/7/2005 - Weekend road trip to San Diego. Didn't get to Sea World or Legoland this time around, but did see the zoo. Pics here.
44. ... and Magic Mountain
45. Buy a bottle of wine to save for something special
1/12/2005 - During the trip to Santa Barbara (see #24) we spent a day wine tasting in nearby towns. One vineyard had a particularly good Sauvignon Blanc so we bought a bottle that my girlfriend then took home to NY. The plan is to drink it when I visit sometime next month.
46. Drink one of the bottles my parents gave me for my 21st birthday
47. Buy a bottle of champagne to save for something special
48. See a movie at the Santa Monica Pier
49. See a movie at Hollywood Forever
50. Go on a picnic
6/21/05 - I've actually gone on two picnics this summer. The first was in June for my girlfriend's birthday. The second was when I visited LA in August. Went to Griffith Park with the Mag 7 crew. There were lots of bees, but otherwise good.
51. Go to the Griffith Park Observatory when it re-opens
52. Have a party featuring a piñata, preferably at Pan Pacific Park
53. Throw a formal cocktail party
54. Get a new cell phone
11/06/2004 - Switched to Cingular and got the Sony Ericsson T637. It has bluetooth!!!
55. Give blood
56. ... without passing out
57. Attend at least one of my sister’s; dance recitals, birthdays, other performances, or at the very least, graduation (and yes, she will be graduating within the next three years…)
58. Write a song
59. Write a song about something other than love
60. ... or women
61. ... or relationships
62. Fire a gun
10/02/2004 - Jason and I went to a local range today where they had a class for beginners. We learned the basics of proper handgun operation and then fired off 50 rounds on the range. I still think guns are atrocious, but at the same time there's something a little bit comforting about the fact that if I ever had to handle one, I'd at least know the safe way to do so.
63. Get paid for something other than post-production
12/14/2005 - For the past week or so I've been working part-time to help a pollster I know arrange and manage some phone banks. It may not be full-time or long-term, but it fits.
64. Go whitewater rafting
65. Organize my photos into something resembling albums
66. Find a charity that I like enough to support annually
67. Go to a film festival that I have a movie in
68. Go skiing
69. Go on a ski trip to somewhere cool (aka more than 2 hours away, overnight stay required)
70. Do something spontaneous
71. Attend an awards show
72. ... and the after-party
73. Experience a good thunderstorm
More than a couple here in Boston in the few months since I moved. It's been a long while since I've felt thunder that made the building shake.
74. Flirt less with friends
75. Flirt more with strangers
I think I've been good about the first one, and I can't really do the second any more, as I'm in a serious long-term relationship. But I think I got what I wanted out of these two items.
76. Go a week without making fun of anybody
77. Get my friends to do the same
78. See my family during a time other than between October and New Year’s
3/15/06 - Went to Atlanta for my dad's 60th birthday. Also got to see them a couple of times this spring for Afsheen & Gwen's wedding and my sister's graduation.
79. Pay off the credit cards
80. Put the annual maximum into a Roth IRA
81. Make a (reasonable) budget
82. Stick to it
83. Get out of bed when my alarm first goes off for an entire week (good one Afsheen)
84. Go through my clothes and give the stuff I no longer wear to charity
12/26/2004 - About a dozen good shirts, some t-shirts, and a few pairs of pants were given to Out of the Closet, a nearby thrift store that supports The AIDS Healthcare Foundation .
85. Go on a week-long backpacking trip where I’m totally self-sufficient
86. Make a meal from foods bought exclusively at the Farmer’s market
87. Get good at juggling again
88. Perform for money at the Santa Monica promenade
89. Do something wild and semi-permanent with my hair (eg dye it, a funky haircut, and no, ‘lose it’ doesn’t count)
1/25/2006 - Today I look like a tennis ball
90. Watch all the Six Feet Under episodes that I haven’t seen yet
91. Go to the Body Worlds exhibit at the science center
Okay, so I saw Body Worlds 2 at the Boston Museum of Science... but really, it's the spirit of the item that counts,
92. Take the cats to the vet
11/09/2004 - Took them to TLC Pet Medical Center for a check-up and vaccinations. Everyone's healthy and happy!
93. Have a good, healthy fight with a significant other
94. ... followed by make-up sex
95. See a concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall
96. Get into Club 33 at Disneyland
3/6/05 - My friend Jess got reservations for the group of us to have lunch there and then we went to the park. Pictures in the gallery.
97. Audition for something (not professional... for fun)
98. Skinnydip at night
99. ... with a girl
100. Live alone (I never have)
6/15/05 - I have my very own 1-bedroom apartment in Brighton, MA. I still have the kitties, but they don't leave dishes in the sink.
101. Live with a girlfriend (ditto)

UPDATE: If my math is correct, I have until June 17th, 2007 to finish the list. Let the countdown begin!