I started to update yesterday, but my heart wasn't in it, so I didn't. Quite honestly, my heart isn't really in it today either, but I'll give it go. I mean, in the interests of complete honesty, I've not been eager or motivated to do much recently. I have been supremely lame.
Alas, I have watched some movies & read some books, so here we go.
7. Watch all movies on AFI's top 100 (32/100) - in progress
I watched "Forrest Gump" last Monday, which was a lot sadder than I had expected it to be. To be fair, no one had really painted it as a comedy -- all I really knew was the box of chocolates quote, and the fact that he runs, and that everyone I ever met yelled at me for never having seen the movie. I also watched "Singing in the Rain" this past week, which I began with a let's-just-get-this-over-with mentality. Then I ended up kind of liking it.
8. Read 50 books (44/50) - in progress
I finished "Anna Karenina" (finally) last Monday, and to be honest, I was disappointed with how it ends. In fact, I don't even remember how it ended, I just remember being disappointed. I had a huge, dramatic scene in my head of when she throws herself in front of the train, and didn't feel any of the drama when I read it. But hey, now I can say I've read Anna Karenina. I also finished "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan, which I really enjoyed. It made me eager to grow my own food and shop at farmers markets and raise chickens for their eggs.
13. Complete a soundtrack to '09 & '10 & '11 (1/3) - in progress
I updated the soundtrack through mid-July, although it is interesting to me how heavily I relied on music and lyrics in senior year of high school and the first three years of college. I don't know if I listen to less music, or have fewer emotions (?) but it's been harder this year to think of songs that truly remind me of a moment, rather than "Oh, this was popular on the radio." I think I have eight or 10 songs for the first seven months of this year.
25. Learn to cook 52 new recipes & organize them in one place (30/52) - in progress
I adapted a recipe for chicken and summer vegetable tostadas last night. By adapted, I mean made it cheaper by omitting the chicken, more convenient by adding some tomatoes I had in the fridge, and structured for the lazy by making them soft tacos instead of messing with the broiler. So really, it was four types of veggies sprinkled with salt, pepper and cumin and topped with cheese, wrapped in a tortilla. Kind of a recipe?
Then today, I am about two hours into the three-hour process of bread-making. I tried to find the simplest recipe on the Internet, and then dove in with both feet. I hope it's delicious -- it's in its second hour of rising, and then it has to cook for 30 minutes. If it tastes delicious, I am pretty sure I will try it with whole wheat flour, and then stop buying bread from the store. There's something reassuring in knowing exactly what is going into your bread, which is something I've become increasingly aware of after reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Eating more whole foods (or ones I make myself, like the bread) is becoming more attractive.
30. Use my library card to take out 25 books (16/25) - in progress
I checked out "Fast Food Nation" and "Nickel and Dimed," two narrative nonfiction books that have been on my list books I'd like to read for a few months. I also discovered (and immediately put to good use) the option they have at my library to request books. On second thought, most libraries probably have this, and it's not a miraculous invention -- just the option to be notified when a book becomes available to check out, rather than having to constantly check and re-check the online catalog, which I did with Omnivore's Dilemma.
56. Exercise 2-3 times a week (33/143) - in progress
I count this as a mild success this week. I did yoga on Monday and Thursday, and walked down to Walmart on Wednesday. Apparently I need to ease back into an active lifestyle, because I was huffing and puffing during yoga Monday. Embarrassing? Absolutely. An obvious result of not exercising for six weeks? Guess so.
69. Shop at a farmer's market during season for fruits & vegetables I buy - in progress
I bought peaches & cherry tomatoes last week at the farmers market, and after I let the peaches ripen in paper bag for two days, good Lord they are out of this world. I still bought my strawberries & zucchini & lettuce & red onion at the Giant, but that is because I plan poorly. I hope, this week, to meal plan before the market Wednesday so I buy accordingly.
About three days behind on the prompts. Again, I blame the "supremely lame" aspect of my current, non-motivated, somewhat depressing state of mind. I'm working on it.
-- Till next time.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Weekend Update.
7. Watch all movies on AFI's top 100 (30/100) - in progress
I watched Casablanca on Friday, which I ended up loving. I'm not sure why -- maybe because it showed a different side of World War II I didn't know about with all the French coming down to Casablanca to escape to America, but maybe also because I was rooting for the love story part of it. Because let's face it, after all -- I am a girl.
8. Read 50 books (42/50) - in progress
I read Eli Wiesel's "Night" in an afternoon last week. I think I was rushing through it just because I'm so ready to be done with Anna Karenina, but it was a powerful piece. I hope to be done with AK today -- it's on my "Things You Will Do Monday by Penalty of Death" list I made last night, which is apparently the only way I can motivate myself on my days off.
25. Learn to cook 52 recipes and organize them in one place (28/52) - in progress
My mom got me probably 10 cookbooks for my birthday, and wouldn't you know it, the first recipe I try back at home is ripped out of a magazine. I made a three-pepper spicy pizza, which was yes, delicious, but also not lying about the spicy factor. It called for a red pepper, a pablano pepper and eight pepperocinis, but I didn't see the pepperocinis at the grocery, so I just chose two hot yellow peppers, and I was all nervous it wouldn't be as good or as spicy as it should be... lies. First bite I took I was almost crying. But on the brighter side, I drank a lot more water that day?
30. Use my library card to take out 25 books (14/25) - in progress
I took out "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan, because a friend recommended it to me before I graduated. I haven't started it yet (damn you, Anna Karenina) but I'm becoming more interested in the impact my decisions about food have on the environment around me.
90. Use cards that have compiled in my home desk - in progress
I used these to write thank-you notes last week for my birthday, and I also sent a birthday card today, so I'm making progress... a few are holiday-specific, and one is for my daughter, so I'm not sure I'll use that one by 2011. Unless anyone wants to be my surrogate daughter for a quick second? I offer hugs and a (birthday, I think) card.
93. Acquire the basic spices for my kitchen - accomplished
I'm going to consider this accomplished, because I was just looking through the list & realized that first of all, I haven't bought new spices in quite some time (although that may be a product of the fact I simply have not cooked anything besides chicken and eggs in approximately 8,000 days) and second of all, the lazy Susan where I keep my spices is full. Pretty sure I have the basics by now. On a related note, I'm growing my own basil and chives (and something else I can't identify by sight and have forgotten the name of) from seeds and I just repotted them, and I am afraid once again that I have killed them. My green thumb is not so green.
Getting better on keeping up with the prompts, and I may exercise today. When I woke up, I put on my exercise clothes so I'll feel supremely guilty if I end up vegging on the couch... I think that may work? It's also on my list of Things I Will Do Monday by Penalty of Death, so I suppose I should follow through on that. I should've put something noble on there, like "Save the world," or "Get rid of the disgusting trash smell that currently permeates my downstairs." Alas.
-- Till next time.
I watched Casablanca on Friday, which I ended up loving. I'm not sure why -- maybe because it showed a different side of World War II I didn't know about with all the French coming down to Casablanca to escape to America, but maybe also because I was rooting for the love story part of it. Because let's face it, after all -- I am a girl.
8. Read 50 books (42/50) - in progress
I read Eli Wiesel's "Night" in an afternoon last week. I think I was rushing through it just because I'm so ready to be done with Anna Karenina, but it was a powerful piece. I hope to be done with AK today -- it's on my "Things You Will Do Monday by Penalty of Death" list I made last night, which is apparently the only way I can motivate myself on my days off.
25. Learn to cook 52 recipes and organize them in one place (28/52) - in progress
My mom got me probably 10 cookbooks for my birthday, and wouldn't you know it, the first recipe I try back at home is ripped out of a magazine. I made a three-pepper spicy pizza, which was yes, delicious, but also not lying about the spicy factor. It called for a red pepper, a pablano pepper and eight pepperocinis, but I didn't see the pepperocinis at the grocery, so I just chose two hot yellow peppers, and I was all nervous it wouldn't be as good or as spicy as it should be... lies. First bite I took I was almost crying. But on the brighter side, I drank a lot more water that day?
30. Use my library card to take out 25 books (14/25) - in progress
I took out "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan, because a friend recommended it to me before I graduated. I haven't started it yet (damn you, Anna Karenina) but I'm becoming more interested in the impact my decisions about food have on the environment around me.
90. Use cards that have compiled in my home desk - in progress
I used these to write thank-you notes last week for my birthday, and I also sent a birthday card today, so I'm making progress... a few are holiday-specific, and one is for my daughter, so I'm not sure I'll use that one by 2011. Unless anyone wants to be my surrogate daughter for a quick second? I offer hugs and a (birthday, I think) card.
93. Acquire the basic spices for my kitchen - accomplished
I'm going to consider this accomplished, because I was just looking through the list & realized that first of all, I haven't bought new spices in quite some time (although that may be a product of the fact I simply have not cooked anything besides chicken and eggs in approximately 8,000 days) and second of all, the lazy Susan where I keep my spices is full. Pretty sure I have the basics by now. On a related note, I'm growing my own basil and chives (and something else I can't identify by sight and have forgotten the name of) from seeds and I just repotted them, and I am afraid once again that I have killed them. My green thumb is not so green.
Getting better on keeping up with the prompts, and I may exercise today. When I woke up, I put on my exercise clothes so I'll feel supremely guilty if I end up vegging on the couch... I think that may work? It's also on my list of Things I Will Do Monday by Penalty of Death, so I suppose I should follow through on that. I should've put something noble on there, like "Save the world," or "Get rid of the disgusting trash smell that currently permeates my downstairs." Alas.
-- Till next time.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Belated.
I was home for the weekend, so no blog Sunday. But here I am, better late than never.
7. Watch all movies on AFI's top 100 (29/100) - in progress
I watched 12 Angry Men last week, which was interesting to me because all the jurors seemed to prejudiced to me. I like to think juries aren't so openly biased against people of different backgrounds or races anymore, but perhaps that isn't true -- I've never sat jury duty. In any case, I also watched The Godfather last week, which I think I liked over all... but it was also so incredibly long that I fell asleep for a bit of the middle hour. But that movie was especially fun because Marlon Brandon is so much older than On the Waterfront -- and actually, I recognized a LOT of actors and actresses who look very different in The Godfather compared to movies now. Overall though, Goodfellas was a better mob movie.
37. Own a plant for at least a year without killing it - in progress
I repotted my orchid plant last week to give it some room to breathe, but I think I stressed it out. It would be just my luck that one month before the one-year anniversary of mothering my plant, it dies... and especially when I was only trying to help.
57. Get the HPV vaccine - in progress
I got my second shot today, so one more to go around Christmastime.
I'm about five days behind on my journaling -- went home and totally forgot about it -- and I haven't exercised in, oh, a month. Good news is I don't have any food in my house because I didn't go to the grocery yet this week, so maybe the no-eating / no-exercising thing will even out.
-- Till next time.
7. Watch all movies on AFI's top 100 (29/100) - in progress
I watched 12 Angry Men last week, which was interesting to me because all the jurors seemed to prejudiced to me. I like to think juries aren't so openly biased against people of different backgrounds or races anymore, but perhaps that isn't true -- I've never sat jury duty. In any case, I also watched The Godfather last week, which I think I liked over all... but it was also so incredibly long that I fell asleep for a bit of the middle hour. But that movie was especially fun because Marlon Brandon is so much older than On the Waterfront -- and actually, I recognized a LOT of actors and actresses who look very different in The Godfather compared to movies now. Overall though, Goodfellas was a better mob movie.
37. Own a plant for at least a year without killing it - in progress
I repotted my orchid plant last week to give it some room to breathe, but I think I stressed it out. It would be just my luck that one month before the one-year anniversary of mothering my plant, it dies... and especially when I was only trying to help.
57. Get the HPV vaccine - in progress
I got my second shot today, so one more to go around Christmastime.
I'm about five days behind on my journaling -- went home and totally forgot about it -- and I haven't exercised in, oh, a month. Good news is I don't have any food in my house because I didn't go to the grocery yet this week, so maybe the no-eating / no-exercising thing will even out.
-- Till next time.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy Fourth of July!
7. Watch all movies on AFI's top 100 (27/100) - in progress
I watched "On the Waterfront" on Friday, which I may or may not have fallen asleep during. But just for a few minutes. Some movies on the list make me wonder why they, out of the millions of movies made, would be put on a list of the top 100. But I guess if you think about it, if they resonated with the time period... and that was my conclusion with On the Waterfront. Maybe every dock got shaken down by the mob in the 1950s.
I also just realized I need to get crackin' on my movie-watching, because even watching one a week is going to be cutting it close to missing my deadline.
8. Read 50 books (41/50) - in progress
I finished "A Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs last weekend after I posted, and I also powered through on "Buy-ology" by Martin Lindstrom. Then at work the next day, very nerdily might I add, I explained to my co-workers why we cringe at the thought of maggots being found in an overhead bin in an airplane. (Mirror neurons, if you were wondering)
30. Use my library card to take out 25 books (13/25) - in progress
I took out "Night" by Eli Wiesel and "Anna Karenina" by Tolstoy on... Thursday maybe? I dove right into Anna Karenina, and it's not too dense yet. I just feel like it's one of those books you're supposed to read.
72. Attend at least 10 free community events (3/10) - in progress
I went to the parade and fireworks on Friday and Saturday nights, which I'll just count as one because the fireworks were quick. I had friends in for the weekend, so it was fun to show them the town and such. And then today we had the greatest experience ever, also known as Anything Floats. Essentially you can enter your contraption in this competition / race, and then you stick it in a lake and paddle it out to a buoy & back. One team just stuck an air mattress in the water, but one team created this ridiculous thing that had a real truck bed in back and was buoyed by plastic barrels, and then they constructed the front of the truck out of cardboard, and they lit stink bombs in the "pipes" so it looked like the truck was smoking. It was just a ridiculous event overall, and fun to watch.
97. Added April 19, 2010: Journal every prompt from www.journalingprompts.com, one a day, for 365 days - in progress
I've been trucking along in the journaling. The past few days have been fun prompts, so I'm feeling better about it and happier that I'm doing it. One month down, 11 to go!
-- Till next time.
I watched "On the Waterfront" on Friday, which I may or may not have fallen asleep during. But just for a few minutes. Some movies on the list make me wonder why they, out of the millions of movies made, would be put on a list of the top 100. But I guess if you think about it, if they resonated with the time period... and that was my conclusion with On the Waterfront. Maybe every dock got shaken down by the mob in the 1950s.
I also just realized I need to get crackin' on my movie-watching, because even watching one a week is going to be cutting it close to missing my deadline.
8. Read 50 books (41/50) - in progress
I finished "A Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs last weekend after I posted, and I also powered through on "Buy-ology" by Martin Lindstrom. Then at work the next day, very nerdily might I add, I explained to my co-workers why we cringe at the thought of maggots being found in an overhead bin in an airplane. (Mirror neurons, if you were wondering)
30. Use my library card to take out 25 books (13/25) - in progress
I took out "Night" by Eli Wiesel and "Anna Karenina" by Tolstoy on... Thursday maybe? I dove right into Anna Karenina, and it's not too dense yet. I just feel like it's one of those books you're supposed to read.
72. Attend at least 10 free community events (3/10) - in progress
I went to the parade and fireworks on Friday and Saturday nights, which I'll just count as one because the fireworks were quick. I had friends in for the weekend, so it was fun to show them the town and such. And then today we had the greatest experience ever, also known as Anything Floats. Essentially you can enter your contraption in this competition / race, and then you stick it in a lake and paddle it out to a buoy & back. One team just stuck an air mattress in the water, but one team created this ridiculous thing that had a real truck bed in back and was buoyed by plastic barrels, and then they constructed the front of the truck out of cardboard, and they lit stink bombs in the "pipes" so it looked like the truck was smoking. It was just a ridiculous event overall, and fun to watch.
97. Added April 19, 2010: Journal every prompt from www.journalingprompts.com, one a day, for 365 days - in progress
I've been trucking along in the journaling. The past few days have been fun prompts, so I'm feeling better about it and happier that I'm doing it. One month down, 11 to go!
-- Till next time.
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