*THE* List!

I just turned 21. I've been 21 for about ten days now. And yesterday, I reflected on my 20th year. Okay, that's a lie.... classes end in two weeks, so I was really just procrastinating. But for once, something really interesting came out of my procrastinatory efforts: 20 was amazing. 20 was FANTASTIC. 20 was new experiences, new countries, new ways of pushing my out of my comfort zone and discovering (however cliche) a new way of living my life. And I want 21 to be just as amazing. And 22. And 23. And 94.

So I made a list. I compiled 100 things that I want to accomplish in the next year. Some of them are stupid (like books I was supposed to read for AP English but never got to...), and some are more interesting and important to me. Some are selfish, and some involve helping other people.

But I'm determined, which is I guess what matters most. And I am confident that in 365 days I'll have crossed off everything on this list. Because NOT doing the 100 things is NOT on the list, so it isn't an option.

THE LIST

1. Read the entire Bible, cover to cover
2. Finish The Social Contract by Rousseau
3. Learn to identify, by sight, the most common bird species in Massachusetts
4. Watch the sun rise and set from the same location (I guess this is a fancy way of saying sleep outside…)
5. Climb (at least) five trees in (at least) five different states
6. Get to the top of another mountain
7. Pet a monkey. Somehow, it will happen.
8. Visit a zoo in every state in New England
9. BEAST the GRE
10. Visit Niagara Falls. It’s only eight hours away from Andover. I have NO EXCUSE.
11. Learn to cook GOOD food. And stop burning my pasta…
12. Start using coffee for good, not evil. This means no more pouring it into my body in an attempt to stay awake. No no. This means enjoying mi café.
13. Build something incredible out of Play-Doh.
14. Develop healthy sleeping patterns. Preferably sleeping at night, every night, for a wholesome amount of time.
15. Recognize one thing I am thankful for every day.
16. Adopt an animal J (…okay, or buy, if I must….)
17. Write one letter, handwritten, a week. Oh, and ACTUALLY send it.
18. Remember to call home. Emails aren’t an adequate communication substitute.
19. Mentor someone, one on one, in Nashville during the 2010-2011 school year
20. Start doing my laundry weekly, instead of “as needed” which ends up being “wear that dirty shirt until it is SO CLEARLY dirty it’s embarrassing to put it on”
21. Laser tag.
22. Visit Leah in New York City
23. Eat at Pfunky Griddle with Emily
24. Visit Dinosaur World, in Cave City, KY
25. Visit the Creationist Museum
26. Go to the Science Center in Nashville
27. Karaoke
28. Paint a house (Mom, I guess this one is for youJ )
29. Run a half marathon
30. Ride my bike to the ocean.
31. Go to a Red Sox game!!
32. Walk the Freedom Trail in as little times as humanly possible, while still paying attention to every single site.
33. Go to Plimoth Plantation again.
34. Do funny things on elevators
35. Take Bobby to a big flea market
36. Take pictures of people in a big city, just to creep them out (is this legal?)
37. Go bungee jumping and/or skydiving
38. Make homemade ketchup
39. Drive some type of a construction vehicle
40. Plant a garden
41. …. Tend to said garden.
42. Grow my hair out, and then donate it again.
43. Go this entire year without buying/drinking bottled water.
44. Get the people at Grins to know my name
45. Bake one birthday cake a month. But for a person whose birthday it is. Not just to do it, nor to consume myself.
46. Find Julianna housing for Summer 2010
47. Eat less sugar. Okay, this is going to be HARD to measure. I mean, I can’t swear it off for a year (… or an hour), but I’m sure I can cut down on the candy/mints/sweets consumed.
48. Re-learn every single cloud type, and learn to spot them in the sky.

*The following are in regards to the accusations that I don’t ever watch good movies. Which is true. Thus, to appease these people….

49. Watch Citizen Kane
50. Watch Crash
51. Watch Fight Club
52. Watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (mostly just so I know what people are doing when they say “Anyone…. Bueller? ….. Bueller?”)
53. Watch King Kong (the 1933 edition)
54. Watch Schindler’s List ….in ONE sitting!
55. Watch Brian’s Song (I guess this one is for Dad…)
56. Watch Time Traveler’s Wife
57. Watch The Shawshank Redemption
58. Watch Gone with the Wind
59. …. Read Gone with the Wind….
60. Press my own paper
61. Bake vegan cookies that are just as delicious as the ones that are sold at Grins and Fido
62. Plant a tree on Arbor Day!
63. Visit a rainforest (Is it cheating when I know I’m actually going to be doing this? I mean, I guess something could happen and it wouldn’t end up occurring while I’m in Ecuador but still… I think it deserves to be here)
64. Finger paint.
65. Volunteer weekly for one cause that I’m passionate about. I don’t need to decide the cause or the passion now. But during the school year next year, it’s happening.
66. Decide what my life will consist of upon graduation (which is Friday the 13^thof May, 2011. Are you KIDDING?!?! Yeah, we’re all gonna be super lucky with THAT as our starting-off point!)
67. Build a really cool sand structure. Amazing, even.
68. Have Bobby teach me a song on the guitar.
69. Learn all the words to Eternal Flame, which was the number one song on the day I was born
70. See whales in the wild (I guess this is a more articulate way of saying I want to go on a whale watch in New England this summer…)
71. Sleep on top of MRBIII
72. Learn how to make corn tortillas
73. Learn how to juggle
74. Start singing again, even it it’s just to/for myself
75. Go on a Duck Tour in Boston. I’ve never done that. And I should!
76. Buy something ridiculous at a yard sale
77. Write funny limericks for everyone in my (immediate) family
78. Go to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee

Aaaand I’ve also realized how few books I’ve read, TRULY READ, in my life. It’s actually kind of embarrassing… BUT I have a year to redeem myself!

79. Read The Poisonwood Bible
80. Read Pride and Prejudice
81. Read Catcher in the Rye
82. Read The God of Small Things
83. Read Atonement
84. Read I Know This Much is True
85. Read The Prince (and subsequently take over the world with my new found power)
86. Read Slaughterhouse Five
87. Read The Grapes of Wrath
88. Read How to Win Friends and Influence People (I mean, if this self-help book has been around for nearly 75 years, it must have merits, right? And it should counter the new Machiavellian self that I discover while reading The Prince)
89. Read The American Boys Handy Book. I think I might be most excited to read this one…..
90. Do at least four things from The American Boys Handy Book. I bet I’ll be the best Boy Scout EVER.
91. Learn to play poker. Correctly. Okay, I really want to turn this into “Learn how to count cards” but I’m really not sure I’m capable. So, even if that doesn’t happen, if I can really learn how to dominate five card draw, I’ll die happy.
92. Give up soda for one month. Just one.
93. Create a genuine savings account, not just a bank account with the title “Savings” that is separate from that which is called “Checking.”
94. Go through my closet and get rid of EVERYTHING that should not be there. Stop holding onto things that are pointless to keep.
95. Build my own kite and fly it, preferably by the beach
96. Talk to a random stranger, and hear their story
97. Change a car tire
98. Donate blood regularly
99. Get re-certified for CPR
100. Learn how to golf. And try not to embarrass myself…..

....here goes nothing.