Thing 32

32. October 2012 Project

I put together a scavenger hunt on the National Mall for my Harry Potter meetup group. The event didn't happen until November 4, 2012, but I worked on it during October and finished it off just a few days into November, so I'm counting it for October.

Marauder's Map Scavenger Hunt in D.C.

We had about 20 people attend, making up 5 teams. There were dozens of items on the lists. Some were things they needed to get and bring back (like a map of the National Gallery of art with little footprints for each team member drawn on the map, something shiny a niffler would like, a gum wrapper, etc.) and some were photos they needed to take (like a patronus, the house mascots, a sorcerer's stone, etc.). The race for first place was VERY CLOSE. It actually came down to seconds!

There are some fun photos of the event on the meetup group. Here's one of me in my Marauders sweatshirt & of the command station:

Thing 61

61. Re-experience the magic of the dollhouse store- FAIL

Here's an example of why you shouldn't wait to do something you want to do. I used to go to this beautiful indie dollhouse store when I was a kid. My family went there maybe a half dozen times--we even brought my friends and friends' families once or twice. It was an event just to visit! There were tons of unique, handcrafted items. I think there was actually a workshop inside the store as well. I have a few little dollhouse items in my shadowbox. Every inch of the store had little items. There were stuffed animals and dolls. There was a room where it felt like you were walking into a forest. There was even a village with a train all in miniature scale. It was incredible, like another world inside a store.

I found out last week that they went out of business a year ago. My family and I are crushed. They were open 30 years and their website doesn't say why it closed, but it seems like a sudden thing. SO sad to see such a wonderful store go.

http://uponatime.com/

Thing 68

68. Watch the Academy Award Best Picture nominees each year (2010, 2011, 2012)

War Horse- I watched this while dogsitting. It was bad timing, and I ended up watching it over the span of 3 days. By the time I'd finished, I'd forgotten to even noticed dear Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch, and I had to go back and watch parts over again. It was a lovely movie, but unbelievable in the way heartwarming animal stories are. As long as you can suspend disbelief or embrace the beauty of coincidence as well as the amazingness of this particular horse, it's a great movie. I was terrified at first that the horse would die in the war, but am glad it didn't end that way. I also couldn't get the Saturday Night Live sketch about the play out of my head. I kept saying "It's my warm horse!" throughout the whole movie; good thing I only had the dogs for company and didn't annoy anyone :-)

An Education- At first, this movie felt like it could have been set today. But then little things like beat poets or segregation was thrown in. It was almost like watching a beautiful car crash. You were amazed that something so wrong could happen so easily, so beautifully. You see it coming and, yet, you're not even sure what you're looking at until... until you're definitely sure. And then you can't look away! I definitely liked it and felt for the main character.

I REALLY thought I was going to be able to do this one. I gave it such a good shot at the end here. But I just ran out of time. I've got eight left to watch and only 3 of them here at home to watch. I was actually going to give myself a pass on 127 Hours, but after watching the full trailer for it before (I think) Black Swan, I think I might actually give it a go. I know what I'm getting into. I'm just not going to get it done by December 6!

Thing 27

27. May 2012 Project

On May 24, I started my very first group on swap-bot: Fandom in a Bag

It's been a fun way to geek out with other fans and to craft fun fandom things as well!

After finalizing the concept and putting together a good description and group image, I put together a schedule for the rest of the year for fandom bags. Then I went through swaps and communities that were geeky and invited a ton of people. The community is still going strong and it's a lot of fun!

Thing 29

29. July 2012 Project

In July, I joined a swap called "Baby steps get on the bus..." after a movie that always makes me laugh "What About Bob?"

The idea was to choose three goals--one in each different category00--and baby step your way to finishing them. I started on July 14, so I didn't finish until August 14. The goals I chose were:
1. Diet/Fitness- do something physical/work out every day
2. Home- do one thing every day for my new house
3. Mind- read a book I need to read to move off my shelf



What I learned was that I can only handle one goal at a time. I got the book read & reviewed within the month. And I tried baby stepping my way to the other goals, but I failed miserably at them. I did, however, make a decorated, color-coded, and tabbed composition full of my exploits and adventures relating to each goal. My swap partner also only managed to complete one of her three goals. So we both learned a valuable lesson--you can only walk in one direction when taking baby steps.