Again, and Again...

Why would I start again on a goal that is a set up for failure? However fast 12 months seems to pass these days, taking a photo a day, writing every day, doing art once a week... it seems like a long time, rife with opportunities to stop. I'll have to play catch up at some point, I'll have to stop and snap or scribble something in a rush, I'll probably fail.

But there's a chance I won't. And so 2009, here we go... With a list that is slightly behind (I managed to fiddle some things and cross off a good number that I'd forgotten I'd finished), it's closer to being on track than I expected. I even finally gave it up, 10 inches up, and did Locks of Love. I surprised myself and almost cried as she cut. I got almost none of the goals finished that I thought I would finish, but I'm doing okay. My first sock is coming along, and there's plenty of time to keep working.

This year I have it easy with only 365 photos. I might try to start off each month with a photo of myself (no promises here...), and here I am as of January 1, 2009. Let's see how I change, shall we?

Piece of Cake Pizza

Yeast scares me. I don't know what to do with it outside of a bread machine. So I took a page from the Joy of Cooking (and from my roommate who's amazing with all things baking) and made some pizza (#27 complete!). Turns out, it only takes about 2.5 hours total... not too bad for two large pizzas!

Pizza a la Adrian

Dough:
1 packet Active Dry Yeast
1 1/3c Warm Water
3 1/2c Flour
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar (optional)

• Mix yeast with water and let disolve for 5 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients and mix until the dough combines and is smooth.
• Form it into a ball and drizzle with olive oil. Place dough ball into a bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise until it doubles in size (about 1-1.5 hours) in a warm place (75-80ºF).
• Punch down dough and divide in half, wrap each half in plastic and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and dust 2 baking sheets with olive oil and corn meal and preheat oven to 425ºF.
• Stretch dough carefully (I did this both in the air and then on the cookie sheet) to fill baking sheet. Fold and pinch edge to form crust. Brush with olive oil to prevent it from getting soggy and dimple it with your fingers to prevent it from bubbling.

Sauce (make while crust is rising):
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 small Onion, diced
3 cloves Garlic, crushed
1, 28oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
2-3 tbsp Italian Seasoning (dried)
1 tbsp Parsley (dried)
3 stems of Basil

• Saute onion and garlic. Add tomatoes and seasonings.
• Simmer for 10-15 minutes minimum to thicken.
• Allow to cool. Spread over prepared crust.

Toppings:
1lb Mozzarella Cheese
chopped basil
sliced garlic
sliced tomatoes
chopped onion
chopped red pepper
sliced kalamata olives
...really, anything goes here

• Sprinkle toppings over pizza, cheese goes last.
• Place Pizza in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted and crust is slightly browned.
• Devour... but don't burn the roof of your mouth!

A Book List to End All Book Lists...

I don't know that this is comprehensive or even a good list, but it's a compilation of multiple lists I found online along with suggestions and books I've wanted to read for a while. I went by the criteria of "Have I heard of it before?" to slice off some of the chaff, then tried to get a swath of women writers and some international writers (sadly few of each really...) and I tried to cut down on repeat authors. Faulkner, Joyce, Fitzgerald, and Lawrence could probably fill a list all on their own if some of the "100 best" editors online had their way. I personally banned Joyce and Fitzgerald (Except for The Great Gatsby, out of guilt) due to taste reasons, and my personal opinion that Ulysses and Fitzgerald's books are greatly overblown. So here it is, a list to start pulling from, in no partiular order:

1. The Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger)
2. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
5. The Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
6. 1984 (George Orwell)
7. The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
8. Lolita (Vladmir Nabokov)
9. Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
10. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
11. A Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
12. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
13. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemmingway)
14. Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
15. One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey)
16. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald – begrudgingly)
17. Slauterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
18. On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
19. The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemmingway)
20. To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
21. Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
22. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
23. A Room with a View (EM Forster)
24. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
25. The Jungle (Upton Sinclair)
26. Lady Chatterley’s Lover (D.H. Lawrence)
27. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
28. My Antonia (Willa Cather)
29. In Cold Blood (Truman Capote)
30. The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)
31. Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton)
32. Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe)
33. Cat’s Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut)
34. Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
35. Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier)
36. Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
37. The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias (Gertrude Stein)
38. The Maltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett)
39. The Naked and the Dead (Norman Mailer)
40. Tropic of Cancer (Henry Miller)
41. The War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells)
42. Kim (Rudyard Kipling)
43. Rabbit, Run (John Updike)
44. Of Human Bondage (W. Somerset Maugham)
45. Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather)
46. Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
47. The Prince (Niccolo Machiavelli)
48. The Inferno (Dante Alighieri)
49. The Richest Man in Babylon (George Samuel Clason)
50. Dracula (Bram Stoker)
51. The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith)
52. Moby Dick (Herman Mellville)
53. Peter Pan (J.M. Barie)
54. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
55. All the King’s Men (Robert Penn Warren)
56. A Town like Alice (Neil Shute)
57. The Call of the Wild (Jack London)
58. Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
59. The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
60. Circle of Friends (Maeve Binchy)
61. Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi)
62. The Agony and the Ecstasy (Irving Stone)
63. Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
64. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
65. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
66. The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan)
67. The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri)
68. The House of Mirth (Edith Wharton)
69. Beloved (Toni Morrison)
70. Madam Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)
71. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
72. The Shipping News (E. Annie Proulx)
73. Little Women (Lousia May Alcott)
74. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou)
75. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
76. The Diary of Anne Frank (Anne Frank)
77. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera)
78. The Illiad & The Odessey (Homer)
79. Middlemarch (George Elliot)
80. Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes)
81. An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser)
82. Tess of the D’ubervillies (Thomas Hardy)
83. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
84. In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust)
85. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
86. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
87. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Attwood)
88. Walden (Henry David Thoreau)
89. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbra Kingsolver)
90. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Thornton Wilder)
91. The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
92. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
93. Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
94. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
95. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carrol)
96. The tale of Genji (Murasaki Shikibu)
97. Bleak House (Charles Dickens)
98. The Red and the Black (Stendhal)
99. The Golden Notebook (Doris Lessing)
100. The Trial (Franz Kafka)

Please, Let me know in the comments if I've duplicated a book, left out a priceless gem, or listed a book that is completely not worth my time. For most of these, I am going by hearsay since I've only read a select few. But, that's another one off the list at least!

Short List: September 21, 2008

I need to get some shit done! I'm oh so very close to getting a new leaser for the apartment, and I did some really fun spreads in my journal today (see below to get a glimpse of my mental landscape), but there's more to be done. Packing and moving doesn't take as much time as it sometimes seems like it will. I'm going to pack up a lot of stuff and take a load down on Tuesday, then I've got a shared U-Haul with BL on Saturday, so I think I'll be containing moving to those two days. So then, what else to do?

Short List for the week of 9/21/08:
(yes, I want to get these things done this week, by 9/28/08)

• Take a yoga class and sign up for yoga podcasts. (#2 in progress)
• Get a massage. (#17, in progress)
  
• Drink no soda. (#32, last soda was 9/12/08, and I'm going for it this time...)
• Buy produce at farmer's market. (#25, to complete at the end of September!)
• Make pizza from scratch (and maybe some quick bread too...). (#27, to complete)
• Make/find list of 100 classic books. (#49, to complete)
• Back up hard drive and make note to back up in late October. (#67, in progress)
• Buy another CD (or two). (#94, in progress)
• BONUS: Develop a filing system. (#69, to complete)

If I succeed, I'll have 3 (or 4 if I challenge myself...) things crossed off and many of my in progress items better underway. I think this is reasonable, considering how much time I have to kill. Yay for to-do lists!

Re-evaluating, and #96

So, I guess I was counting on life getting in the way of getting things done when I put in the last few goals on my 101 list. Either that or I was copping out of thinking of four more goals. I've been really bad about getting around to re-evaluating the list, which I was supposed to do in June, but here's my changes:

• 4. Bike to work every day for a month. No longer an option, so it's going to become "Go on a 30+ mile bike ride."
• 6. Take a tap class once a week for three months. I don't see myself doing that, but taking a single tap class will be feasible, and will likely make me want to take more.
• 7. Do a stretch routine every night for a month. and 9. Do an ab workout every night for a month. and 13. Floss 1x a day for a month straight. These are simply not working because i seem to not like to do things on a daily basis (surprise). I'm going to aim for 3x a week, and make the flossing for two months straight because that's a habit that I need to really get into.
• 46. Read Popular Science to see if I'd ever want to write for them. I need to scope out more magazines than just the one, so I'm changing it to "Read three science magazines to understand what science writing is all about, especially medical science."
• 48. Read Bonnie's New Yorker's fiction piece at least 6 times. Well, I never did that and now Bonnie doesn't get the New Yorker, and I'm not going to be living with her anymore... so now it's going to be "Read non-fiction or travel writing in a magazine I could submit to and write an article in the same style." since I need the writing practice anyways.
• 60. Complete a Project 365. Well, the camera met the ocean and I was so far behind already at that point that 2008 is no going to work out, so I'm adding in a little extra goal to this, to entice me to start before Jan 1, 2009: "OR a photo-a-city for BER."

I'm also going to relax a bit on the goals themselves as they reach completion... There have been many that I really haven't kept track of as I was actually doing them. That and I went to Mexico and never really learned any spanish, but didn't need to know any. So completed goals are now up to 15/101. I'm behind by 9 for being at 8 months in (at a 3/month completion average rate required). Luckily, I've got a lot of free time to work on some of the easier-to-complete goals, being unemployed and all.

Lastly,there is number 96... What to put in for that one? I think the new goal, much facilitated by my new job and ever-increasing competition with some friends (who know who they are... ;)) will be to "Increase my states visited to 40/50." Should be fun, relatively manageable, while getting some stories along the way.

coming full circle

So my CSA adventure started off rather well, with almost all of the veggies used up by the time yesterday's box rolled around. Cooking becomes an adventure in "where can I hide the vegetable?" when your crisper drawer is overflowing. This week I have quite the lovely assortment of delectable organic produce:

cucumbers
red onions
celery
carrots
zucchini
russet potatoes
spinach
broccoli
Texas Honeygold grapefruit
kiwi
braeburn apples

So, my eyes wander over the list, and what do I think? Minestrone! That's the only way to get rid of zucchini without masking it in gallons of soy sauce or baking it into a bread. So far, the onions and spinach (along with some ham I had, and some farmer's market eggs) have produced a VERY tasty omelette. I keep forgetting to write what I'm doing in my food journal, which is sad. But I'm going to try to update a few things from last week in it (including mushroom & broccoli fettuchini alfredo, braised lamb with vegetables, and potato & sunchoke gratin). Turns out cooking can be fun!

leap day means an extra chance

So far, February has mostly been a wash. Yes, I actually did get some stuff done (taxes & CSA), but overall I'm feeling frustrated by this month...

• Flossing is not working for some reason. I want to do it every night, and I'd made it over a week before simply forgetting and going to bed after only brushing. Ever since then, I haven't made it more than 2 days in a row, although it's definitely over 3 days a week since I started, I'm not meeting the goal, or really feeling compelled to.
• The snow has crapped out. Suddenly I don't have powder to board on, and I'm going to struggle to get those last 3 trips to the mountains in. Last Monday, Vinh and I rented skis to make the iced-over day more interesting. It worked, but it's not the same. I'm so happy that I have skill at boarding that I want to continue to develop. Now I just have to think of it as spring season... Even though it's still February. Damn Global Warming.
• I need to post pictures of my snowboard gear that I need to sell... Plus now I need to sell my old raincoat since I got a new one. Maybe this weekend I'll get around to it...
• In the career front, I've been actively reading and thinking about a career in science writing. There's a program at UC Santa Cruz that is highly reputable, but I'm struggling with whether getting a science writing certificate rather than a journalism MA would be worth it if at some point I want to move away from science altogether. I suppose once you've established a record and a career in journalism, any kind of writing will open up whether I have a fancy degree or not. Now if I would just CALL the admissions people and see if I have a chance in hell at getting in...
  
• I also realized that I HAVE been trying new restaurants in seattle... Starting with January 1st. Jade Gardens with Vinh (1-1-08) and also O'Asian with my parents (2-9-08). Both dim sum places. Jade Gardens wins for food, O'Asian for atmosphere.

So that's the list of what I'm acctually accomplishing. Maybe more of a story-based entry to come.

taking it to the tax man

Not a particularly exciting tax return, like always, but a finished return! This is the first year that I've managed to file before April... and I think before April 14th. I've never gotten money back, and this year is no different. I'd forgotten to switch my status at PSBC from exempt to non-exempt last January, so I'd earned over $8000 without paying any taxes at all. Luckily, I caught it after I switched to FHCRC, and had them withhold a little more. Not quite enough it turns out, but since I owe less than $500, I'm not upset about it. That's what I get for making money now. I'm definitely not going to be saving money this month, but I'm not going to be pinching pennies, AND I'm not going to be freaking out come April. Check off #39!

The other day I fell off the flossing wagon though. I slept-walked through brushing my teeth and just wandered straight off to bed rather than flossing. It really does take 21 days to form a habit... The 9 days I had couldn't quite cut it. Then I just got lazy last night and blew it again. No more of that!

In other news, I'm signed up to get a CSA box from Full Circle Farm this week (#26 in progress!) and will get to have fun with parsnips, bok choy, and cremini mushrooms. Should be interesting at least...

a month's worth

February dawns are right around the corner and as such, I have 2 weeks to work on my first short list. So, how am I doing?

To finish by Feb. 14th:
12. Brush teeth 2x a day for a month straight. (30/30) (1-30-08)
34. Set up automatic payments for insurance and car payments.
38. Sell snowboard and coat on Craigslist.
39. Do my taxes by Valentine's Day.
40. Get car details completely fixed up (4th headlight, check engine light, etc).
62. Learn to knit cables. (1-1-08)
82. Send thank-you notes for all gifts from Christmas and birthdays. (C07, B08, C08, B09, C09, B10)

The good news is, I've got two things completely crossed off for the month of January and many more in progress. I'm taking my car in tomorrow so I should be able to cross off #40 by the end of Saturday. Taxes shouldn't take long at all, as will sending in the other form for my insurance automatic payment... I just need to get around to them. I'd forgotten about selling my old snowboard stuff, so I'm glad that I've checked this! Perhaps I'll post the whole shebang on craigslist Saturday. This list is completely manageable to finish by Feb. 14th! Then I can start working on some of the more fun stuff... Car repairs are less than fun.

On the other hand, my "hopefully in progress" list looks a little worse:

To start working towards:
2. Become capable enough at yoga to comfortably complete a level II class.
3. Snowboard 10x in one season. (5/10)
17. Take a spa day once every 3 months (Hot House, Massage, Facial, Manicure/Pedicure, or Bubble Bath work!) (1/11)
24. Fill food journal with recipes.
56. Write a journal entry everyday for at least 3 months straight (Embodiment). (30/92)
60. Complete a Project 365 (or 366...). (30/366)
67. Back-up hard drive 1x a month for a year straight. (0/12)
68. Get desk fully organized and keep it neat for 3 months.
93. Join Netflicks and develop a 20-movie list. Watch them. (0/20)
94. Buy 10 CD's rather than downloading. (1/10)

I have taken steps on the road to finishing some things on this list, mostly the journaling, Project 366, and snowboarding (which, if the passes weren't closed and I didn't have to work I would be fulfilling another notch on today *sniffles*). Everything else is really falling by the wayside... which within a 3 year time frame doesn't matter too much. I need things to work on between Valentine's Day and Easter after all...

paring down the enormity

The start of the New Year was really wonderful. Monday night was spent with friends, playing Wii and drinking champagne as the Space Needle fireworks lamely fizzled out. The next morning, Vinh suggested dim sum which was much fun (and so very tasty!) which we followed up with a nice walk along the waterfront all the way through the sculpture garden and Myrtle Edwards park. A little coffee shop chillin' (and journal writing), then the Rose Bowl, and subsequent photo uploading and knitting. Overall, a very laid back and relaxing day off to start things off right!

So in order to start off this list properly, I figure I'll have to create a shorter list from the main one. To kick things off, I'm going to work towards starting at least 10 goals this month, finishing at least 3 since that's the number required per month to stay on track. With one out of the way last night, I'm on a roll! I've also started working on Project 366 and journaling every day, keeping track of my teeth brushing (and dragging myself out of bed to make sure I get it done at night, a downfall of mine sometimes), and sending out thank-you notes for christmas (now I just need to remember to put the stamps on and stick them in the mailbox). So here's the list of what I'm getting started on or hoping to finish before Valentine's Day rolls around.

Vinh and the Dim Sum
Originally uploaded by arirose

To finish by Feb. 14th:
12. Brush teeth 2x a day for a month straight. (1/30)
34. Set up automatic payments for insurance and car payments.
38. Sell snowboard and coat on Craigslist.
39. Do my taxes by Valentine's Day.
40. Get car details completely fixed up (4th headlight, check engine light, etc).
62. Learn to knit cables. (1-1-08)
82. Send thank-you notes for all gifts from Christmas and birthdays. (C07, B08, C08, B09, C09, B10)
To start working towards:
2. Become capable enough at yoga to comfortably complete a level II class.
3. Snowboard 10x in one season. (2/10)
17. Take a spa day once every 3 months (Hot House, Massage, Facial, Manicure/Pedicure, or Bubble Bath work!) (0/11)
24. Fill food journal with recipes.
56. Write a journal entry everyday for at least 3 months straight (Embodiment). (1/92)
60. Complete a Project 365 (or 366...).
67. Back-up hard drive 1x a month for a year straight. (0/12)
68. Get desk fully organized and keep it neat for 3 months.
93. Join Netflicks and develop a 20-movie list. Watch them. (0/20)
94. Buy 10 CD's rather than downloading. (1/10)

starting everything off on day one

iPod Cozy I
Originally uploaded by arirose

In order to have a chance of finishing 101 goals, some of them must be easy enough to cross off quickly. Turns out knitting cables is even easier than I thought it would be! With some scrap yarn, a scarf pattern that I modified, and about an hour of boredom this evening I made this little iPod cozy, allowing me to cross #62 off the list.

Knitting cozies may make me sound insane, but I usually destroy my headphones by throwing my iPod in my bag along with pens, keys, and many other sharper objects. So rather than just making a swatch to simply learn the stitch patern (which would be no fun really) I learned both cable knitting and seaming in one project.

So with that, the list is starting to pare down! Only 100 items to go...