List 1- Thing 21

21. Donate 100 books to charity/the library

On February 6, I donated 50 books to the library. Most (but not all) were poetry books, taken from the shelves at work because we needed to make room and I volunteered to take them to the library rather than have them thrown out! I hope they find loving homes!

So that brings my total up to 59.

List 1- Thing 54

54. Watch every nominated movie from the Academy Awards (excluding foreign film) from 2007-2009

I'm not quite done with last year's list:
http://listography.com/action/list?uid=6257205037&lid=8294885561

But I've drawn up this year's list and am working on it now, too:
http://listography.com/action/list?uid=6257205037&lid=8910287576

I've decided each year to give myself one pass. Last year I refused to watch The Poseidon Adventure because those types of movies scare me to death. This year, I'm using my pass on Norbit because... well, it's Norbit.

I'm watching Elizabeth: the goden age right now and enjoying it. I love the costumes and the way Elizabeth is so strong and surprisingly sympathetic! Cate is wonderful. Sometimes we forget historical figures were human... even when they put themselves in places so much higher. The cast is astounding and the colors/angles/music/pacing is gorgeous.

List 1- Thing 20

20. Send 30 care packages to soldiers through AnySoldier.com

I sent out a package in November.

Sent to: SGT Michael Cuffee in Iraq

( Picture )

Contents:
1 card
1 AnySoldier postcard
11 paperback books
4 snacks (tootsie roll pops, oatmeal cream pies, assorted crackers, crunch ‘n munch)
1 can opener
18 washcloths
1 DVD (Galaxy Quest)
3 writing pads
2 flat twin sheets

List 1- Thing 20

20. Send 30 care packages to soldiers through AnySoldier.com

I sent out a package in December, also.

Sent to: Andria M. Jones in Iraq

( Picture )

Contents:
1 card
1 AnySoldier postcard
10 paperback books
6 snacks (tootsie roll pops, oatmeal cream pies, granola bars, gummi worms, crunch ‘n munch)
7 drink mixes (coffee, hot chocolate, iced tea, etc.)
2 DVDs (Adam Sandler, Tomb Raider)

This makes 7 of 30 sent out.

List 1- Thing 53

53. Clear 50 books off my To Be Read bookcase

Wow. I really haven't been keeping track like I should have been! But I can say I've read these books since my last update and all were on my TBR bookcase:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Blood and Fog by Nancy Holder
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Kids Joker: Volume 1 by Maki Fujita
Miracle Girls: Volume 3 by Nami Akimoto
Spike: Asylum by Brian Lynch & Franco Urro
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
Shout Out Loud Vol 2 by Satosumi Takaguchi
Anything Considered by Peter Mayle
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
Autumn Bridge by Takashi Matsuoka
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

Unless I'm much mistaken, that makes 32 of 50.

List 1- Thing 69

69. Finish Farscape series

Last month I finished season 2 (wowsers, what an ending to a season!!!) and am now patiently awaiting season 3 on Blockbuster Online. I loved season 2 even more than I thought I would :-)

List 1- Thing 73

73. Read the entire Hornblower series of books

I read Flying Colors last month.

I never thought I'd like one of the books more than the second one, but I think this one might just be my favorite in the series! It's a close call, though, and there are so many moments throughout the series that I absolutely adored. However, Flying Colors pushed all my buttons *G* There was plenty of angst, yes, and also adventure of all sorts. But it was also PACKED with Hornblower & Bush moments (and, like the good little slasher that I am, I was in heaven for most of them!) and OVERFLOWING with hurt/comfort. I loved where the story went, watching them be the noble soldiers they are and trying to escape. I loved watching them suffer and worry about their places (and news about Hornblower's wife adding to that). And the ending absolutely put tears of joy in my eyes. If the series ended with this book, I would be happy. I am, though, quite glad there's still more Hornblower to enjoy!

List 1- Thing 75

75. Get everyone moved to Adobe CS3

In looking over the list, I realized this one was still marked as in progress. I had it as such because I still had Matt's laptop to update to CS3 from CS2. However, he doesn't use InDesign at all and there's no reason for it to be on his laptop. So I'm going to declare this one officially finished. All of our in-house computers and laptops have officially been upgraded to CS3. Thing done!

List 1- Thing 6

6. Learn basic sign language (i.e. more than what I know already)

Today I went through lesson one of the 'Getting Started in Signing' DVD I got for Christmas. Whoa boy, I'm in trouble! There's so much spelling... I'm not good at spelling. It's hard enough for me to spell words out, but I'm AWFUL at recognizing words when they're signed because of how I learned how to read. I know how words are spelled because of how they look on paper (I can't sound words out letter-by-letter) so without paper... yeah. I'm screwed. LOL

But apart from that stumbling block (which I had anticipated, actually) I'm doing all right after lesson one. I learned terms for family members (which I think I've retained all of), I learned some pronouns (none of which I really retained), and I learned some professions (some of which I retained). Also, I have been signing the letters 'm' and 'n' kind of wrong for the last twenty years; so it's good that I know what they are now. Not bad for the first lesson! I plan to repeat lesson one over and over again (maybe adding lessons each time) until I know it all.