Fake goals

Today I officially deleted my 101 Things in 1001 days page. I still want to do all of those things at some point, but I don't want to worry about achieving something that it ultimately insignificant just because I put it on a list and gave myself a random deadline.

I would rather make thoughtful and meaningful goals for myself and work consistently toward those achievements, rather than 'achieving' things that really don't matter (like making 10 kinds of cookies successfully. Who really cares if every time I make cookies they turn out gross? That's what pre-made dough is for.).

I feel like that's all I have to say on this particular subject. Goodbye, fake goals. See you on my bucket list.

SOLD! (or, 17/101)

So, last night I sold my first paining ever! It was #17 in my list of goals to accomplish before fall 2011, and now I can check it off the list!
Jessica saw this painting hanging around in my room, and offered to buy it outright. She picked it up on Thursday when she came for dinner.

Thanks, Jessica!

10/101 - Read one (auto)biography every six months

I have read the following autobiographies to fulfill item #10 of my 101 things.

1) Actually, the first one I don't even remember. I don't remember the title, and I don't remember who it was about. But it was funny.

2) Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman.

3) Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman.

I actually read the Lincoln biography last night. It's a children's book. Yep, that's how I roll. I'm really loving the Eleanor Roosevelt book by Freedman (also a children's book), so I might end up reading another biography or autobiography on her life. That's actually why I decided to read the Freedman books. They were short, so if I found someone I was particularly interested in through reading his books, I could go find some more in-depth materials.

That's it for now! All in all I will be reading 6 (auto)biographies before the end of the challenge.

Caveau de la Huchette

Another reason I will always love Rue de la Huchette is that it is the home of the very first Jazz club I went to.

I wish I would have gone sooner, but I'm glad I got there before I left, at least. (And barely. I went the night before I came home, just after a teaching and dinner appointment with the Sister missionaries.)

If you like music and you're visiting Paris, this was a lot of fun. (Please also note that it is item #46 of my 101 in 1001.)

38/101 - Cooking Terms, Tips, and Tools

#38 on my list of 101 Things to do before December 6, 2011 is:

Learn 100 new cooking terms/tips/tools.

I learned a new term/process yesterday. It's a bain-marie. Which I guess can either be a double-boiler-type item, or just a simple process of dumping a container filled with food into water to be boiled and therefore cooking whatever the contents are without actually exposing them to the water.

This is how I heated a package of pre-cooked quinoa, spelt, lentils, and red beans I bought at a health food store by the Hotel de Ville. On the package it said to cook by bain marie, and showed a pot of boiling water with the pouch floating inside.

So. There's one term. Only 99 to go.

So, how about some help. What is your favorite cooking word, helpful tip, or appliance/utensil that you would hate to live without?

101 Things - Item 60

Eat dinner (or dessert) in every arrondissement in Paris.

For the time being, I have 7 arrondissements left to eat in. Today I spent some time on a restaurant review website (which I can't seem to find anymore, annoyingly enough) (update: found it.), and I found several restaurants I think I'm going to try to cover the remaining arrondissements.

My goal is to try a different type of cuisine in each of the remaining arrondissements I visit.

Some of the options:
-French
-Fusion
-Japanese
-Turkish
-Kurd
-Ethiopian
-Mauritian (from the island nation)
-Senegalese
-Marocain... er, Moroccan. Or however you spell it in English.
-general African
-Tex-Mex (though I don't know if I'm going to mess with it. I'll be eating Cafe Rio soon enough anyway)

One of the restaurants is on an island, in the middle of a lake, in the middle of a huge park right outside the city. I'm still counting it, since the park starts in one of the arrondissements and leads out into the suburbs.

I don't really even know what fusion cuisine is all about, but the menu items they listed sounded really interesting. And several of these cuisines are going to be brand new. Like Ethiopian and Mauritian (and Turkish, and Kurd). Can't wait.

101 Things in 1001 Days

1. Complete ARL application (Alternate Routes to Licensure to teach in UT)
2. Take the GRE with satisfactory results
3. Get accepted to a Master’s Program
4. Be active for 30 minutes every day
5. Learn to bake bread
6. Successfully make 10 different kinds of cookies ( /10)
7. Complete a sprint-length triathlon
8. Learn to cook a dish from 20 different countries ( /20)
9. Master a minimum of 10 different vegetarian main dishes (this means being able to make them without consulting the recipe) ( /10)
10. Read one (auto)biography every 6 months ( /5-6)
11. Throw away or donate 100 material possessions (random papers don't count) ( /100)
12. Be debt free and have X in savings ( % saved)
13. Take a photography class
14. Get really comfortable with manual exposure settings on my camera
15. Take a drawing class
16. Take a painting class
17. Sell a painting
18. Lose X pounds ( % lost)
19. Drink 64 oz+ of water every day for 30 days straight ( /30)
20. Volunteer with an organization I believe in (outside of my church)
21. Donate to a charity organization I believe in (also outside of my church)
22. Write one nice note card a week for 3 months straight (no repeating recipients, either) ( /12)
23. This one’s private
24. Be able to identify all states and their capitals on a blank map
25. Write for 30 minutes each Sunday ( /140)
26. Go without TV for one month straight, 3 times ( /3)
27. Go without my car for one week
28. Learn two simple songs on the piano (by heart) ( /2)
29. Visit one monument/museum/site/park each week for the rest of my stay in Paris ( /13)
30. Learn to make 5 different French pastries from scratch ( /5)
31. Do 30 military-style pushups without stopping
32. Do 5 pull-ups without resting
33. Do 2 dips
34. Learn the correct breathing technique so I can learn to have good form when swimming
35. Go on another cruise – this time somewhere warm
36. Feel confident in a bathing suit
37. Learn to knit
38. Learn 100 new cooking terms/tips/tools
39. Go camping 5 times
40. Go on 2 road trips (no minimum distance, though at least as far as St. George or Denver would be nice)
41. Live an entire 24 hours without speaking—even to myself
42. Go to the opera
43. Go to the symphony
44. Buy season tickets to something (it doesn't have to be fancy: Scera shell, BYU football, something)
45. Get some basic Yoga instruction and practice yoga at least once a week for 6 months or more ( /6+)
46. Go to a Jazz bar/lounge
47. Go a week without spending a single penny (and refrain from cancelling it out by “splurging” the week after)
48. Learn how to play chess
49. Understand the rules of football, soccer, and basketball (not just the general ones)
50. Make 5 free throws in a row on 10 separate occasions ( /10)
51. Put $1,000 in savings on six separate occasions ( /6)
52. Do 5 things that scare me spitless ( /5)
53. Give $50 to a homeless person
54. Volunteer for Project Read
55. Make a quilt that I would be proud to give as a gift (then give it)
56. Rock climb 15 times ( /15)
57. Find at least one song I like (or can appreciate, at least) in the following genres: heavy metal, rap, bluegrass
58. Join a book club and participate regularly
59. Only buy books I really, truly enjoy (otherwise, there’s this magical place called a library…)
60. Eat dinner and/or dessert in every arrondissement in Paris
61. Take a ballroom dance class
62. Take a jazz dance class
63. Find 5 programs on NPR that I enjoy listening to on a regular basis
64. Plant a garden and grow 6 different items (more than a window herb box) (but can be in pots)
65. Find three locally-owned non-franchised restaurants to enjoy regularly
66. Same with retail shops – find 3 additional one-location stores to support
67. Go to the gym three times a week for three months straight ( /3)
68. See Miss Saigon (just found out that Schoenberg and Boubil wrote it)
69. Memorize “The Living Christ” and the Family Proc
70. Learn the regions and 10 biggest cities in France and their locations
71. Be able to fill in a blank world map ( % accuracy)
72. Read the NY Times book review each week
73. See AFI’s top 100 films (except the R-rated ones unless I can find them edited) ( /100)
74. Read the Big Read top 100 books ( /100)
75. Write an average of 10 “memories” a month for my personal history ( /330)
76. Attend the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival
77. Go to concerts of 3 artists or groups that I really enjoy (bonus if traveling is involved) ( /3)
78. Be able to explain the structure of the US government and the process of electing a President in the US
79. Give flowers to a stranger
80. Cook an entire meal using items from my garden, and only items from my garden (with maybe an exception for something like oliveoil)
81. Learn 3 really great jokes
82. Visit 5 obscure museums/monuments/sites in Utah and tell others about them ( /5)
83. Host a “foreign film night” series each Saturday for a month ( /4-5)
84. Make a stop-motion film
85. Submit a secret to Post Secret
86. Attend the 2010 Festival of Color
87. Make a beautiful piece of jewelry and then give it away
88. Make a set of note cards and give them away
89. Donate blood 5 times ( /5)
90. Learn to can my own fruits and vegetables
91. Fly a kite
92. Go to every exhibit at the BYU MOA for one year
93. Go to the State Fair
94. Go to the movies alone at least 2 times ( /2)
95. Go to 5 State or National Parks that I have never visited ( /5)
96. Try sushi at a really good sushi place so I can really justify not liking it (or change my opinion)
97. Learn to accept compliments without qualifying them or pointing out a compensating flaw
98. Get CPR and First-Aid certified
99. Watch the sunrise from the top of Mt. Timpanogos
100. Take a creative writing class and share two stories with my blog friends
101. Put $1 in savings for each task I complete and donate $2 to charity for each task I don’t complete

by December 6, 2011