101 in 1001

No commentary required, except to say that most of the "private" things mentioned below will become public once I do them. (That's less intriguing than it sounds.)

These are mostly off the top of my head, so they get fairly simple toward the bottom.

Anyway, hopefully this will provide a little focus to the next few years. There's lots to do.

Cheers,
John

DEADLINE: Feb. 9, 2010

101 things in 1001 days
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2010

1) Read every book I own (completed: America: The Book, by the Daily Show staff.) (There must be 50 books I own that I've never even tried to read. I give myself the right to opt out of a book at page 40 if I'm really hating it. No need to torture myself.)
2) Write three more plays
3) Get at least one of those plays performed
4) Perform in a mainstage show
5) Direct another play
6) PRIVATE DO (HBR)
7) Get a piece published in a major newspaper
8) Get a piece published in a major magazine
9) PRIVATE DO (DG)
10) PRIVATE DON'T (DWP)
11) PRIVATE DO (NeJb)
12) Get back to Vienna
13) Become debt-free
14) Get a book published
15) Run a marathon in under 5 hours
16) Floss every day for an entire month
17) Get every Tragically Hip song ever in my iTunes
18) Get to 155 pounds
19) Get to an NHL game
20) See the flowerpot rocks
21) Learn to skate
22) Learn to swim
23) PRIVATE DO (CB)
24) Make contact with This Hour has 22 Minutes, the Content Factory, and the Rick Mercer report (maybe some Comedy network people)?
25) Perform standup
26) Build a library of humour books, humour recordings, and favourite comedy movies
27) Go a month without television
28) Climb Mt. Katahden (non-technical)
29) Get a Euphonium
30) Start playing goal again
31) Meet up with every friend I feel guilty about not seeing in a while (Paul, Ron, Carol, Mike)
32) Make a collection of all the articles I've written that I'm proud of, also make a portfolio
33) Walk the entire trail system around the perimeter of Grand Manan
34) See the Northern Lights again
35) Photography basics (real camera, take a basics course)
36) Run a successful TMNT campaign
37) Basic guitar
38) Have an entire day trip or night out where I pay Anthony's way
39) Get a mountain bike and use it
40) Get my hotmail inbox in order
41) Ride the train again, if only to Montreal
42) See Montreal
43) Take a road trip to the Bay of Chaleur
44) Take a road trip to Cape Breton
45) Get to St. John's
46) See Ljublana
47) Get the complete history/architecture tour of Saint John
48) Make a true meal for Sabine
49) Have friends over for a summer party
50) Spend a day with each member of my immediate family individually, and Uncle Ron
51) Get a true massage
52) Don't eat at a restaurant for a month
53) Resurrect the Beaver Examiner
54) Go fishing again
55) Get a motorcycle permit
56) Pick up tennis again
57) Write a decent poem for Sabine
58) See all of the top AFI films, and all of Jim Emerson's films you must see to be movie-literate
59) Apply for a bad Canadian game show/reality show
60) See New York
61) Sell something on eBay for more than $10
62) Win another journalism award
63) Golf 18 holes
64) Astronomy basics (buy Telescope, able to recognize constellations, other rudimentary knowledge)
65) Watch the sunrise and the sunset on the same day (just missed this on Grand Manan this weekend, watched a sunset and then a sunrise)
66) Get a video game machine (to be used sparingly, but I want one)
67) Eat all of BBC's 50 things to eat before you die (starting anew)
68) See Canada's seven wonders, whatever they are decided to be
69) Go an entire day without complaining (perfect days don't count)
70) Do a polar-bear dip
71) Get my German to a conversational level
72) See the Hip again
73) Get signed up with Y for helping immigrants
74) Go to soccer on the weekend
75) Get my laptop sorted out, or get a new one
76) Get that wedding piece I wrote published
77) Go sea kayaking
78) Finish a crossword puzzle (I've never been able to!)
79) Watch any one acclaimed show you haven't seen, from beginning to end- (Buffy, Sopranos, Babylon 5, The Wire, and Six Feet Under are all good candidates)
80) Fly - skydiving, gliding, control of an airplane, something
81) No computer for one week
82) One month without alcohol
83) One month without coffee
84) Get an aerobie frisbee and use it
85) Get a hydrofoil kite and use it
86) Get a boomerang and use it
87) Read a German book
88) Be at the first showing of the Simpsons Movie
89) Spend a day calling people out of the blue
90) Give blood
91) Define a monthly spending budget, follow accordingly
92) Go to at least one event at the Imperial or Harbour Station (not hockey) once a month for a year
93) Write down the names of 101 people I should thank, and thank them in writing
94) Get my RRSP in order
95) Get my desk, notes and phone numbers at work completely organized
96) Write a fiction story
97) Buy nothing except necessities and bills for one month
98) Have a vegetarian week (just curious)
99) Get an agent
100) Learn how the various soccer leagues work and what the storylines are
101) For every incomplete task after 1001 days, donate $10 to charity and give one hour of volunteer time

Stop the world, I want to get off

Brilliant, depressing, and terrifying editorial in the NYT today.

Here's to a year of great memories

Happy anniversary to us . . .

I married an old-time gal . . .

Sabine and her friend Regula in their new middle-age dresses . . .

So I'm 30

Unfortunately, I have no deep thoughts for you. Age has always meant zilch to me, except that I like the ego boost from presents.

The only age I can remember being excited about was age 10, which was thrilling to me because I had been playing Trivial Pursuit and learned that 10 years old was the age when a human is least likely to die.

This year - as a mature, grown-up man beginning his fourth decade - I received Stars Wars original-trilogy scripts, a Calvin and Hobbes collection, and five Simpsons figurines.

The only thing I that I can note as I age is that my favourite films have gone from being about kids' stuff to being about nerd stuff to being about nihilism to (now) being about men struggling to be moral. The Insider, L.A. Confidential, Groundhog Day, it's the common thread. And I just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird, which fits that bill and is now my favourite work of fiction. If you haven't read it, please do.

Cheers,
John

As much for me as for you

So, after an August where I just sort of drifted - what's a summer for? - I have what a brochure might describe as a "full and exciting" September ahead of me.

On the agenda:
- Get my last look (for a couple of years) at this tremendous city, including a look at the catacombs, and a few other things I've missed.
- Find a job somewhere in the Maritimes. Keep your eyes peeled (seriously) for anything that would fit a writer and/or editor, not necessarily in the media. I'm available Oct. 1.
- 90 hours work on my book, which basically means 90 hours work on the website.
- Pitch to CBC radio for an on-air version of The Beaver Examiner.
- Into crunch time for my running.
- A month of special dates, including my mother's birthday, a brother's birthday, my birthday, a night at the Vienna Opera, a Pearl Jam concert, and, of course, our wedding anniversary.

Sounds like fun.

Cheers,
John

Innsbruck, ringed by mountains

Lienz, next to the mountains

Hochalpenstraße, on the mountains

Heilingenblut, in the mountains

Salzburg in the rain