Entries in the Category "30 before 30"
First bad idea of the new year
"Hey, I think I've had this purse for a few years and I've never washed it. Even though it's not showing any outward signs of dirt or grime, it must be gross. I should toss it in the machine with my laundry!"
So does this mean that I have to go out and buy a new purse right away because "30 before 30" says so? Errrrggghhhhhhhh.
30 Before 30 (Six Month Progress Update), Part 2
Yesterday's entry was about achievement and progress and today's entry is about goals which may or may not be attainable, but which, in my naivete, I set for myself last May.
Here are the list items that I am scared to do or confused about how to do (as well as some which, through no fault of my own, have been modified) which, as yet, I still fantasize that I someday check off on "30 Before 30."
Continue reading "30 Before 30 (Six Month Progress Update), Part 2"
30 Before 30 (Six Month Progress Update), Part 1
Just over one month late! Tee hee. Back in May, I established a 30 Before 30 list, tasks I aspired to accomplish within two years. I'm sure everyone's been wondering how I have doing on this, and so, over a fourth of a way through my allotted time, here is (the first half of) my update!
Click ahead for completed and half-completed items! Check back soon for not-completed and modified items.
Continue reading "30 Before 30 (Six Month Progress Update), Part 1"
Julie and Julia, and the Lure of the Self-Imposed Challenge
Just recently I saw the movie Julie and Julia, and the similarity of Julie’s self-challenge to my own (recently, my Summer Movie Watch and more broadly, my 30 before 30 list) prompted me to think about the impulse towards self-improvement.
I think age—Julie was in her late twenties when she embarked on her project, just as I am now—was a crucial component of both projects. There’s a certain amount of stasis associated with being a grown-up. At 14, I thought I might grow up to be a travel writer—why not? At 14, you can do anything. At 18, I effectively crossed that off the possibility list by being too chicken to major in writing, choosing instead to major in literature and spending the next four years passively reading instead of actively writing. No idea at that point what I thought I would do when I graduated—that’s part of the dodge of college, that you have four years to put off thinking about that.
Fast forwarding a bit, I’m in the waning days of my 20s and on what might be called a career track. (Early on the track, way early. But on it.) I’m in a stable relationship. Conceivably, my life will not change except by small margins over the next five to ten years. It would be easy in that case for me not to change for the next five to ten years. For a compulsive self-improver, that is not OK.
Julie and Julia, and my summer of movies, after the jump.
Continue reading "Julie and Julia, and the Lure of the Self-Imposed Challenge"
NEW COUCH!
(Not pictured: two exhausted people who had to remove or partially remove three different doors to get this thing into the house.)
And so it ends...
It's over! The Summer Movie Watch has been completed!
The celebration was marked by cake. (Yes, it was store-bought.)
Here's the moment of triumph: the end credits on the last movie of the day, and the last movie of the list, which was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Squint really hard and you'll see Jack Nicholson's name in there.
I guess tomorrow I go back to books? Who knows? I'm not yet used to my freedom.
Birthday weekend
Saturday: My birthday
Jeremy decided to gift me with two experiences checked off my 30 by 30 list! So thoughtful, that guy. In the afternoon, I went to a massage, which was wonderful, and afterward, we had dinner at Melt Bar and Grilled. I had the Godfather, basically ricotta, tomato sauce and spices between two huge pieces of garlic bread.
Yes, it is literally a lasagna sandwich. A carb, re-carbed.
We came home and, after some debate, chose Spider-Man 2 (a list movie) for the evening’s viewing. I’d seen parts of that movie, on TNT or whatever, always when Jeremy turned it on and I was reading or otherwise engaged in the same room. I’ve never sat down to watch it for its own merits, and now I can for sure state that I will never do so again. What a crap bag of a movie that is!
Sunday
A lazy day. We did some packing, I watched another House marathon, and spent most of the evening letting the precious hours of my life slip away while I surfed the Internet.
On the plus side, I visited SimpsonizeMe.com and Simpsonized Jeremy and myself.
Hee! Jeremy is blond Milhouse! I couldn’t get mine to look like me no matter what I did to it, but I’m posting it anyway because it’s a flattering non-resemblance.
Monday: Memorial Day
More packing! Jeremy went to see the new Terminator movie, and I watched two list movies: All Quiet on the Western Front and Bonnie and Clyde.
Jeremy made burgers and hot dogs on the grill and homemade fries, and we had s’mores for dessert; classic Memorial Day fare.
In other news, we have our new address now and I’ll be e-mailing it around to friends and family this week. Moving day is set for Sunday, May 31! It will be a relief.
30 Before 30
Today’s my birthday. I’ll wait while you offer me best wishes and congratulations. …Thanks!
Anyway, I’m 28 today, which is unbelievable to me. I’m still convinced that I’m in my early twenties, to the point of accidentally checking the wrong box sometimes on forms (20-25 or 25-30?). Also, a few weeks ago my mother made reference to something I did as a baby and I said, “That was 20 years ago…30. 30 years ago.” So the idea that I’m exactly two years away from the triple decade score is still kind of unfathomable.
Me being me, this rapidly approaching milestone prompted me to think about what I’ve accomplished, and what I haven’t. Though I know well enough that I’ve got plenty of good years ahead of me, I feel like I’ve reached a point where putting things off until the future is…at best, unnecessary. I’m a full-on grown-up these days, with the intelligence and the capability to accomplish (within reason) pretty much anything I desire to do.
In that spirit, I created this list of 30 things I hope to do before I hit the age of 30, on May 23, 2011.