Things To Do

Awhile back in Glamour some other equally credible and literary magazine, I read about an article about a woman who died in the World Trade Center. Although, I get sick of the mileage the press gets out of that tragedy, the content of the article about how after her death her family found a her list of 100 Goals to Accomplish in My Lifetime inspired me to make my own list. Some of them are silly, some are serious, some I might accomplish tomorrow and some not for years, but here they are...I look forward to crossing them off one by one.

100 Things to Do (in no particular order)

1. (Attempt to) Repay my parents for all the things they've given me and done for me.

2. Actively be more outgoing and expand my circle of friends.

3. Become a yoga instructor.

4. And then open a yoga studio/vegan cafe on the beach somewhere.

5. Visit India.

6. Research my family's history.

7. Buy my own house/condo.

8. Finish reading Ulysses.

9. Go to the ballet.

10. Learn to speak Spanish.

11. Be a better friend.

12. Donate more $ to charities I believe in.

13. Write/publish a novel.

14. Learn more about art so I can speak intelligently about it.

15. Take more dance classes (belly, ballroom, latin, all of them)!

16. Seek to define my spiritual beliefs and practice them more regularly.

17. See (if not necessarily climb) Mt. Everest.

18. Teach English abroad for a year.

19. Get a PhD in contemporary literature by women.

20. Take a meditation course.

21. (re-)Join a competitive volleyball league.

22. Learn more about Jazz music.

23. Audition for a local theater production (I should be Roxie Heart, or Beatrice, or...you get the point).

24. Read more non-fiction.

25. Mentor underpriveleged girls.

26. Work to be a truly healthy/fit person.

27. Become a talented, creative cook.

28. Advocate/volunteer for an organization that defends women's rights around the world.

29. Adopt another pet.

30. Go white water rafting.

31. Pose for professional, artsy photos.

32. Go on an exotic beach vacation w/ my best friends.

33. Get Lasik.

34. Stand up for who I am and what I believe even when others oppose.

35. Drink more water...thought I was going to say alcohol didn't you.

36. Tour Europe with a significant other.

37. Go to more music shows.

38. Spend more quality time with my siblings.

39. Have better posture.

40. Learn to play guitar.

41. Become a senior managing editor or new manuscript recruiter for a major publishing house.

42. Vote for a qualified female candidate for President of the United States.

43. Make my living space (no matter how small), cozy and "my own."

44. Take a return trip to Ireland.

45. Live in NYC.

46. Learn to respect the views of others even when I don't agree (at all).

47. Fall in love for more than a minute...

48. Buy myself a right-hand diamond ring.

49. Visit Japan.

50. Meet Sarah Jessica Parker.

51. Volunteer for a political campaign.

52. Learn to sew so I can deconstruct/reconstruct things I buy in stores and make them personal.

53. Be more forgiving.

54. Be an extra on a movie/tv show (I would be great as Jack's new love interest on Lost!).

55. Give a fiction reading.

56. Give up my caffiene addiction.

57. Stop caring if I'm tan (Say NO to skin cancer...).

58. Participate in a demonstration/protest.

59. Work at NPR.

60. Undermine racism, sexism, and all those other -isms whenever I can.

61. Adopt a child (some day).

62. Stop gossiping.

63. Take a pottery-making class.

64. Own (or even try on) a pair of Manolos!

65. Organize my closet (and keep it that way).

66. Throw a top-notch dinner party.

67. Compete in a ballroom dance competition.

68. Be less neurotic...relax!

69. Live in Chicago.

70. Go vegan.

71. Continue "decorating" my body with art.

72. Donate my organs and then my body to science after death.

73. Go to therapy (if for no other reason than the experience).

74. Write/make a documentary.

75. Eat dark chocolate in Switzerland.

76. Learn more about wine.

77. Meet Hilary Clinton.

78. Be more adventurous, be it in my entree selection or my life choices.

79. Visit Dracula's castle in Austria (or is it Hungary?).

80. Learn to drive a stick shift.

81. Meet my relative who lives in Scotland.

82. Buy a real bedroom set and other adult furniture.

83. Win a hand (or 20) of blackjack in Vegas.

84. Indulge without constantly feeling guilty.

85. Communicate telepathically.

86. Be less pointlessly vain.

87. Appreciate the beauty of wherever I'm living (ie, Forest Park).

88. Learn to speak Japanese.

89. Elope.

90. Go skiing.

91. Be less cynical.

92. Watch all those classic films I've never seen.

93. Appreciate my body for what it is and stop torturing it to be something it won't.

94. See a kangaroo in the wild.

95. Go to the opera.

96. Be more flexible, physically and in the abstract sense.

97. Go sky diving.

98. Retire in close proximity to the beach--Bonus points if it's abroad.

99. Spend less time on MySpace.

100. Live honestly.

09/07/06