#39- Make mixed CD's for at least 12 of my friends

I only have one more to make, so this one will be completed soon!

#27- Make an effort to spend more time with friends that I know on an acquaintance level that I respect and think I could be better friends with if I

Did this with a few of the ladies I work with. I love them to bits now!

#29- Try to make time to see my parents and remaining grandparents

We spent a wonderful week in Alaska with my mom in July!

#43- Have a conversation with Darian's biological father

I would count this as half complete. I called him, heard his voice and hung up. I decided at the last second that I have really nothing to say to him.
Then I contacted his sister via email. (Thinking online conversations are easier to deal with) She finally wrote back saying she would rather talk in person. I heard from someone else that it might not be a good conversation if I do speak to them, so I decided I was not ready for the whole voice to voice contact. So in the end I came closer to talking to him than I have in 11 years, but I think I will wait another five before I actually hear his voice again.

#48- Reveal something to someone that might effect their life in some way.

Did this, but I can't say that it effected them in a positive way. The jury is still out on that one.

#63- Tell a joke to a small group of friends at a party

I did this one at a party at Licia's house. I told the joke:

Q: How do you make a tissue dance?

A: You put a little boogie in it.

Some people laughed, some people groaned. Hey! It counts!

#65- Sing really loud while walking to the corner store and back

My daughter and I did this. A few people smiled, but that was about it. We sang the Skiddermarick a dink a dink song together all the way to the store and back.

#79- Get an arty photo taken while wearing my wedding dress completely out of context, like walking barefoot down the city street or something.

Completed. I took a bunch of black and white photos of me in my wedding dress. They turned out pretty creepy/dark.

#23- Apologize to someone from the past that I hurt

Did this one. It was good because it helped shed some light on some things. In fact after all is said and done, it turns out I didn't really do anything wrong, they just tried to turn it on me because they were protecting a pretty dark secret of their own.

#66- Ask for an autograph

Complete. I asked Leeni for one of her first autographs at her first record release show over the summer.

#59- Go to one of the silent movie nights at the paramount

Complete! With a slight venue change. I went to the Moore and saw a silent movie during SIFF. It was pretty cool.

This is what I wrote about it on June 17th:

Last night Licia, Holly, Carl and I went to see The Unknown at The Moore. (Carl looked like the luckiest guy in the city having three beautiful redheads as his date! Oh and he seemed much healthier now than his posts from a few days back. Seems he is on the road to healing.)

It was a pretty trippy movie. It was the only silent film Joan Crawford ever did and really the best I have ever seen her look.

The best part was the soundtrack! The band Portastatic was playing live as the soundtrack. Having been a Superchunk fan back in the day I was in heaven.

Special thanks to Sean for giving us the tickets! We would not have even known about it if we didn't run into him at the party the night before.

Here is what the Moore website said about the movie:

Tod Browning's freakish 1927 film stars Lon Chaney as carnival knife thrower Alonzo the Armless and Joan Crawford as the carnival girl he hopes to marry. The lo-fi indie-rock ensemble Portastatic, led by Mac McCaughan of Superchunk, will unveil an original live score composed for SIFF for this rarely-seen silent oddity.

#80- Wear fake eyelashes.

I did it. I went and got those fancy new permanent eyelashes. They are supposed to last a week and then you just get fills. The first day I LOVED them. The lady doing them said that my eyes are so big that it took a lot more of the little lashes to fill. Usually it is 16-18 she said mine were more like 25.
When I blinked it felt like I had some sort of fan attached to my lids. The cool thing was it gave me a very heavy lidded 50's look that I have always adored. The downside was after about 12 hours they were driving me crazy. By day three I was blinking like a mad woman.
When I tried to shower with them I didn't realize how they would collect water. I stepped under the stream of water and I was suddenly blind. I had to frantically reach around in the bathroom to get a towel that I could pinch dry my lashes allowing me to open my eyes again. You have to practically wear goggles when you shower with these things. It was like having sponge lids!
I went to my regular therapist appointment and she thought I was not being honest because I was blinking so wildly. She asked, "What are your eyes doing here?"
I realized that my massive blinking made me look all crazy eyed and had to explain my eyelash predicament. She thought it was funny.
By day 5 I was sitting in my cubicle, making calls and yanking them off one by one.

So much for permanent!

The reality is, I have naturally long, full and dark lashes, there really was no point. At least I still had all my real lashes after I yanked all the fakies off! I was terrified I was going to have bald eyelids! Would I do it again? NO WAY!

The photo is the only one I have of me with the lashes. I think I just look like I am wearing really heavy eye makeup.

#36 Take some advanced music lessons to hone my skills in areas I feel I am weakest

In the works.
I interviewed some teachers and found one I like. Going to have my first meeting with her in a few days. Figured it would be good to hone my vocal skills since I have been teaching songs to Nenu to sing. I can sing just fine, but I would like to sing better. Voice is an instrument right?
I might find a guitar coach as well, but we will see. Now that I am back into playing every day things are coming back to me/improving really fast, may not be necessary.

#87 completed

There is no #87 you say. But there is! A girl has to keep some things to herself.

Just so you all know

I will be completing one of these tasks this weekend.

#10 Change my hair color and/or get a really dramatic haircut

Damn. I keep looking at this one trying to figure out what I want to do. I have thought about going dark, like a nice deep brown or something, it will make me look more Italian. But then Jon points out the minute I do that I will want the red again. I argue with him about it, but really we both know he is right.

I also finally got it back to the length I love after the super short bad break up haircut of 2001. I know anything lighter will mean having to take off a couple of feet of hair.

What to do.. what to do?

#84- Take one of those new heated Yoga classes.

It wasn't heated Yoga, but it was Power Yoga. Read about the adventure:
#84 completed

#33- Get one of my stories or comics published

Completed. I will post all of the info about it as soon as it hits the streets!

#47- Do something that really scares me. Don't let fear stop me, just take a chance and do it.

This isn't what I had in mind when I created #47, but it does fit nonetheless.

#47 completed

Happy New Year- and so it begins...

First thing I am going to do is rename my blog. :-)

An update already!?!?! Wow!

As of this afternoon I already have #33 in the works which could lead to #19 if I play my cards right.

Oh and The Lovely Celenus says she can help me out with #16 and #52!

The List:

100 things I want to do before 2007

1- Perform in a rock show in front of people again and actually enjoy it.
2- Spend a weekend shopping and going to shows in New York with a friend, see at least one good play.
3- Go to a Dance with senior citizens, do the waltz. Get as many of my friends to join me as possible.
4- Get one of my paintings hung in a coffee shop
5- Write a song, and have it recorded by someone I respect
6- Make a scarf for a homeless person
7- Volunteer at a soup kitchen or shelter
8- Visit Melissa in Las Vegas, bring Darian with me
9- Go back to Alaska and visit my childhood home in Eagle River
10- Change my hair color and/or get a really dramatic haircut
11- Donate/sell at least half of the clothes and shoes in my closet
12- Sing a Peggy Lee song at a Karaoke bar
13- Eat healthy enough and exercise enough to where I can reduce the amount of insulin moderating drugs I have to take every day by half.
14- Get my teeth bleached using the Xoom bleaching method I keep hearing about
15- Get my student loans all caught up and on some sort of auto pay cycle
16- Get a small supporting role in a play and see it through to the end
17- Record a 4 song demo
18- Write a poem for a friend and give it to them without telling them who it is from
19- Have a meaningful conversation with one of my heros
20- Purchase and address birthday cards for all of my relatives (in-laws included) in advance and then get them in the mail on time
21- Bury the hatchet with my little brother and introduce him to my husband (8 years is too long not to talk to someone you used to be so close to)
22- Spend some time with my older brother and his new wife
23- Apologize to someone from the past that I hurt
24- Learn a new word each week and try to use it in casual conversation
25- Take a foreign language course
26- Spend an entire evening talking to a complete stranger, male or female, at a place I would never normally hang out and pretend I am someone else who's personality is completely different from who I am. Change my name, maybe even my voice and stay in character all night. (maybe just before I do #10)
27- Make an effort to spend more time with friends that I know on an acquaintance level that I respect and think I could be better friends with if I wasn't lazy.
28- Have regular girl nights even when Jon is in town. I didn't realize how important those relationships were to me until I lost them and got them back again after Jon left on tour. They enrich my life and make me a happier person. It is too easy to forget that when you get married and lazy. I won't take them for granted again.
29- Try to make time to see my parents and remaining grandparents
30- Go back to school even if it is only for one class.
31- Finish reading at least three of the books on my night table that I have been rotating through
32- Leave a comment on every one of my 400+ friends on Myspace. If I can't think of anything to write, delete them because that means I don't know them at all and they should not be on my friend list.
33- Get one of my stories or comics published
34- Take one of those first time homebuyer's classes
35- Spend some time with foster children
36- Take some advanced music lessons to hone my skills in areas I feel I am weakest
37- Become pen pals with one of my 52 younger cousins that I have lost touch with over the years. (Yes, I said 52!)
38- Volunteer at Darian's school more, spend more time with the kids so they continue to trust me and talk to me when they are having problems.
39- Make mixed CD's for at least 12 of my friends (One for each month of the year) They all have to be different and meaningful, no cheating.
40- Actually meet one of my lovely UK pen pals in person. We have been writing forever, it is about time!
41- Finish the process of legally changing my name to my married name. (Basically get all of my bank accounts switched over and get a new passport)
42- Finish the process of Jon adopting Darian.
43- Have a conversation with Darian's biological father
44- Get Darian's passport so I can take her to Japan!
45- Have a family portrait taken at one of those silly portrait studios. Send it to all of my relatives.
46- Introduce Jon to my family. (I have known him ten years, it is about time they know him)
47- Do something that really scares me. Don't let fear stop me, just take a chance and do it.
48- Reveal something to someone that might effect their life in some way. (Hopefully something positive)
49- Have Darian's older sister Winter visit us for a few weeks. It has been too long since we spent time with her.
50- Get a new tattoo. Something small, meaningful and discreet that sums up the last several years since my last one.
51- Play a song at an Open Mic night at my neighborhood pub.
52- Create a short film and have my friends come over for a dinner party to watch it.
53- Write a ten minute play
54- Finish illustrating the children's book I wrote for Darian. Have it printed and bound and give it to Darian.
55- Design a flyer for a show and poster the hood with it.
56- Buy a wig that changes my look dramatically and wear it out one night. (Maybe tie this in with #26)
57- Send a sweet secret admirer note and flowers to a stranger (Maybe a random co-worker of a friend so then I can hear the reaction without them ever seeing me?)
58- Make out at a drive in movie.
59- Go to one of the silent movie nights at the paramount (Maybe make out there too? Why not?)
60- See an opera
61- Fly a kite at the park
62- Share an umbrella with someone and silently watch it rain together while sipping coffee.
63- Tell a joke to a small group of friends at a party
64- Flirt with an old man, the older the better. Offer to buy him a drink (Coffee, beer, soda, whichever fits best for the situation)
65- Sing really loud while walking to the corner store and back
66- Ask for an autograph
67- Crash a funeral (try not to be noticed)
68- Crash a wedding and stay until I fill a disposable camera with pictures from it. Post them online.
69- Dance on a tabletop
70- Kiss someone under the mistletoe
71- Wear tennis shoes for a week. I know it sounds like a cop out, but I never wear tennis shoes, so it is a big deal for me! I will go from 5'9 to 5'7 in flat shoes. It will be a weird perspective not being taller than most of my girl friends.
72- Wear my glasses to a rock show and dress down (maybe tie it in with 71) Take note if there is any change in how people treat me.
73- Sleep in a hotel in my city, order dessert from room service and watch a pay per view movie.
74- Have a martini lunch in the middle of the work week. Wear expensive shoes with really high heels that day.
75- Buy sunglasses that cost almost as much as my rent, wear them for a day and then return them and get my money back.
76- Post a secret on the internet for an hour and then delete it and see if anyone noticed.
77- Get a nickname (preferably not one that I already have)
78- Have a poem written for me
79- Get an arty photo taken while wearing my wedding dress completely out of context, like walking barefoot down the city street or something.
80- Wear fake eyelashes.
81- Get colored contacts and change my eyes from green to something dramatically different like dark brown. Wear them for a week and count how many people notice.
82- Share an "inside joke" with someone new and don't ever tell anyone what it means.
83- Make up a new word and try to get it to catch on by using it as much as possible.
84- Take one of those new heated Yoga class. (First figure out what they are really called)
85- Slow dance to a Billie Holiday song in the park
86- Have a champagne picnic in a cemetery

Come up with 14 more things I need to do by 2007... to be continued

The Rules:

The plan is to get this list of 100 tasks completed before New Years eve.
Starting January 1st, 2006 I will start working on the 100 tasks listed.
I will not have to do them in any kind of order, but I will try really hard to get them all completed before we ring in New Years eve 2007.

100 things should keep me fairly busy. Some of these goals are pretty lofty so I will try and balance them with some cheeky/silly things as well. (I can't always be serious right?) I will chronicle each goal as it is attempted/attained, whether or not it was successful, if I ran into any problems and so on. Wish me luck!