Thing 32

Jun. 22nd, 2019 06:17 pm
just_the_things: (Personal)
32. Walk in the Capital Pride Parade

I walked in the Washington, DC, Capital Pride parade for the first time ever this month! It was an extreme mix of emotions. I enjoyed hanging out with the ace & aro group, chatting and discussing various things. I also got an ace flag painted on my cheek and got genderqueer-colored pride beads. And, as it turns out, my boss was with a group whose staging area was just down the street from mine, so it was neat seeing her outside the office in a different context.

I was NOT prepared at the validation I would feel walking down a street and having thousands of people clapping and cheering for me. What a strange, amazing sensation. I'm just... me. I'm confident in who I am, and just being me, I get applauded? It was amazing. Less amazing was when people started screaming and sprinting past me and there were reports of an active shooter behind us. The parade stopped before we got halfway and then my group stood there without anyone behind us for about half an hour before we were told we could go, that the parade was cancelled. Luckily, no one was shot, but people were injured when people started running and panicking. My first time at Pride with this group was the night of the Pulse shooting, so I wasn't feeling especially celebratory afterward and ended up heading home with some of the group members. From a group on the Metro, I learned how to do a pole dancing move, though, so it was a fun way to end the emotional roller coaster of an event.
More photos )

Thing 32

Oct. 17th, 2016 10:12 pm
just_the_things: (Writing/Work)
32. Have a stay-at-home private writer’s retreat

Accomplished! I spent most of the 14th, 15th, and 16th doing nothing but concentrating on my writing. I didn't get everything accomplished that I wanted to, but I did manage to have a brilliant idea pop into my head that I'm totally working on still (just finishing up the first draft).

Here's what I managedd to get done during the weekend:
  • Picked a notebook out of my collection to use during the weekend (I HAVE WAY TOO MANY NOTEBOOKS; it was great to put one to use)

  • Watched class 1 of this year's University of Iowa MOOC: Who Writers Write Fiction (Storied Women)

  • Read class 1 required reading

  • Wrote and posted assignment for class 1 (ended up writing a short story in my Strokes 'verse about Maylyn and Swan--the first time I've ever written from Maylyn's POV!)

  • Listened to "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield upon waking up on Saturday morning

  • Participated in class discussions

  • Read one and a half books on writing and took notes along the way of things I want to remember

  • Read a few Writer's Chronicle articles I'd been meaning to read for ages

  • Backed up laptop computer to external drive in fire safe (hadn't done that since May) so recent stories will be safe

  • Went through writing shelves and took a bunch of books off that I don't need... then put 80% of them back on again after double-thinking

  • Watched Back to the Future (IMHO, one of the tightest written stories ever; every detail is important. I find it highly inspirational when I'm struggling with plots)

  • Volunteered at the library, to bond with books in a non-writing capacity

  • Went to Story Slayers write-in at Panera and wrote for at least 3 hours straight with some fellow writers

  • Finished my Strokes "Morning After" story which, now, I'm not sure I want to post because it is technically part of a larger piece if I'm going with my original plan of writing Jamie's story as a novel. Still, it turned out good

  • Came up with great idea for a collection I can create to self-publish in 2017 and started work putting it together. Squee! So excited about this idea.



Despite this lovely list about, I only got about a third of what I had hoped to this weekend. It was great to be able to devote a whole weekend to writing and not having to do it in a NaNoWriMo way of doing nothing but writing. I feel like I learned a lot, got some big things accomplished, and was inspired to come up with a great new project. Definitely a great weekend!

Failures!

Aug. 23rd, 2015 08:38 pm
just_the_things: (Thing ?)
I'm nearing the end of my list, so I thought I should own up to some failed goals...

14. Finish wild releasing 100 books at the George Mason statue at GMU
This just isn't going to happen in the time left. Phooey! I got to 31/100, which is pretty good, but not even close to half.

20. Keep BCinDC blog/site updated
I feel so bad about this, but I just didn't keep up with it, and then it was too late to save this thing.

22. Finish watching all of Doctor Who
Ummm yeah. 40-something years of a show in just a couple weeks? Not going to happen. But I'm putting a version of this on my next list.

32. Somehow get Mom to see a meteor shower
I tried for two separate meteor showers, but no luck.

37. Run a 5K
Hahaha! Nope! I feel like this was still a realistic goal for me. If I hadn't gotten sick for a year and then had hip surgery right in the middle of my things, I might have made it.

58. Build the Barge out of LEGO
I still really want to do this... but it's not going to get done in the next few weeks. No way.

96. Finish the 365 prompts in the Writer’s Book of Days
I did some during this list cycle, but I'm still on JANUARY.

Thing 32

Apr. 26th, 2015 10:32 pm
just_the_things: (Personal)
32. Somehow get Mom to see a meteor shower



The Lyrid Meteor Shower happened this month. But Mom wasn't feeling well and we had so many cloudy/overcast nights that seeing them from here was pretty impossible. I tried to get Mom to see them online, but she watched an online stream/feed for 2 hours and didn't see any.

So I'll have to try again in August.

Thing 32

Dec. 5th, 2012 12:23 am
just_the_things: (Fandom)
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:
Photobucket
just_the_things: (Default)
Here's the wrap up of my first list of 101 Thing in 1001 Days. I accomplished 50 (so about half) of the things. Not a great result, considering at the time I made the list, I thought I would do them all. But, I did try hard and I got a lot more done than I would have without the list. So even though it was a half-fail, I'm still glad I did it.

Self-Improvement/ Personal

1. Take a basic car maintenance class/workshop
I did look for such an animal but I couldn't find one anywhere. I even called my car insurance place and they didn't know of any locally. So I was unable to complete this one.

2. Sign-up for a dating service
I checked out a few online dating sites. I even started my profile for one. But, in the end, I chickened out. Bad self image is my biggest hurdle.

3. Stay in touch with college friends I’ve reconnected with
Didn't do so well with this. I did reconnect with some of them, but I haven't been in contact as much as I wish I'd been.

4. Keep in touch with my KS better- 3/10/10
I've done a bit better here. And now that Kate tweets, it's easier to say hi every so often on top of e-mail & snail mail. I love my KS *hugs*

5. Re-write weekly schedule and try better to follow it
Yikes. I did try to follow it at first, but it was a pretty strict schedule and, honestly, my life has changed so much that a schedule re-done 1001 days ago just didn't work for me for long.

6. Learn basic sign language (i.e. more than what I know already)
I learned a little, but have forgotten most of it now. I need to make a more serious attempt at this in the future (a future monthly project, perhaps)

7. Learn how to tie a tie- 04/20/08
Every time I go to tie one, I have to look up the instructions to refresh my memory. But I generally have the right idea.



Health & Fitness

8. Lose 15+lbs
This SO did not happen. I'm still a fatty. LOL!

9. Work out at least 3 times a week
I did have periods of time where I worked out this much. But for the most part, I didn't work out at all for months on end.

10. Start wearing pedometer again and keep track of steps walked- do sit-ups if I fall below my average
[livejournal.com profile] melydia even gave me a new pedometer (after the batteries in my old one died) but I didn't like the new one as much (couldn't calibrate it to my pace/walking style) so I had doubts about its accuracy at times. In the end, I didn't keep up with this one either.

11. Floss at least 5 times a week if not every single day
I definitely improved on this for a while, but I went through periods of doing well and others where I did not so well. On a whole, i call this a fail but I know I need to keep up with this.

12. Drink & finish a bottle of water every week
I made an attempt at this, but I just really hate the taste of water. Couldn't do it for the long term.

13. Go to the optometrist (it’s been 9+ years) and get new glasses- 6/22/07
I still have my glasses, and they're wonderful

14. Go to the gynecologist (haven’t been since I was in college)- 12/12/07
Actually, I should go again...

15. Get juicer out of storage and start using it
I never made any effort on this. Which is a shame.

16. Start taking Centrum vitamins again
Once again, for a while I was doing well with this, but then I lapsed and didn't keep up

17. Walk to the library at least once a month (weather permitting)
I made this goal back when I was going to the library to buy used books every Saturday afternoon. Now I volunteer at that library on Monday nights (used to be Thursday nights) and it's too dark when I'm done at the end of the night to safely walk home. So this one became unrealistic very shortly after I made it.



Good Things

18. Try 5 times to give blood
I did give it a good shot a few times. When I made the goal, I didn't realize what a problem it would be for me to give blood. After more complications arose, it made it virtually impossible for me to donate blood. What a shame, because I used to be so good at doing it every few months like clockwork.

19. Grow hair out to 10+ inches past chin and donate to Locks of Love- 03/10/10
My hair is SHORT now! But I hope my hair will go to help a kid who needs/wants it

20. Send 30 care packages to soldiers through AnySoldier.com
I managed to send 10 out of 30, which isn't too bad at all. I made the goal of 30 back when I sent 1 every month and I just wasn't able to keep up with that pace. But it's still 10 more units out there benefitting from what I've sent.

21. Donate 100 books to charity/the library- 03/29/09
With Accio Books last year, this was done in practically one drop off. LOL

22. Buy 10 things for Toys for Tots- 12/19/07
It's a nice program, and it was fun looking for toys that I thought kids would like.

23. Raise $250+ for AIDS Walk Washington- 9/27/07
Thanks to the generosity of family and friends, I more than exceeded this goal!

24. Get involved with the Cairn rescue group somehow
I did sign up, but I haven't built any pages for them. I feel guilty for letting that slip.

25. Buy fruit at a farmer’s market- 07/02/09
Nom nom nom! I wish there were a farmer's market closer to my house that was open when I wasn't working so I could visit it regularly.

26. Put a recycling bin in the laundry room and empty it myself regularly- 3/10/10
I let this slide for a while, but I've been pretty good about storing up recycling and then taking it up on trash/recycling night


Home/Things

27. Get rid of 5 boxes of things in my room/storage unit
Actually, I have another box of stuff to go. But a full 5 boxes? VERY close but no cigar. I could stretch it and say this was finished, but, honestly, I fell a little short.

28. Separate laundry (don’t just wash all at once on cold)- 3/10/10
I've actually been doing a phenomenal job at this. Seriously, my laundry skills have improved significantly over the past 1001 days.

29. Clean from 3pm-5pm every Sunday- no excuses!
I have no excuse, I just didn't do this

30. Make small fixes to car (paint in front, dome light, reflectors on holes, side shade)- declared finished on 3/13/09
My car looked nice!

31. Keep car gas level at least half full at all times
Fail. I did manage to do this for a while, but there were some pretty important times my tank was definitely on empty.

32. Clean out car (even vacuum)- 8/17/09
I did clean it out a few times (both my last car and the new one)

33. Start making smoothies again
I didn't even make ONE! But we might be getting a blender at work, which means I'll have an excuse to eat/drink yummy soon. A little late for the 1001 days though.

34. Pair down closet and move all clothes out of Simon’s room
I did give away several boxes/bags of stuff. But I still have about 20 things in the upstairs closet I need to get rid of.

35. Clean out/sort Outlook Express Inbox
I am beginning to believe I will never get this mess sorted

36. Back up computer completely once every two months- 3/10/10
I have been backing up quite a lot, and my external hard drive is awesome. Except during the past month, my computer won't recognize it. ACK! I spent some time tonight trying to figute it out, to no avail.

37. Buy a display cabinet and put things in it- 07/02/07
I love my display cabinet so much

38. Get/buy some sort of cataloging software & catalog all books, CDs, tapes, DVDs, video games, and videos
My entire collection isn't yet in there, but the majority is, and I've been keeping up with my new purchases.

39. Go through Real Simple magazines and create a binder of useful pieces
I have a big binder of these, but lately I've thought it would be better to put them all in plastic sleeves instead of punching holes in the flimsy pages. So I'm going to have to re-do what I've already done and then work on all the new issues.

40. Go through digital camera cards and print/save/delete all photos
I'm lazy when it comes to my photos, apparently


Hobbies

41. Register all books waiting to be registered for BookCrossing
At this point, it seems unlikely that I'll ever be 100% caught up on this. I have several hundred unregistered at the moment.

42. Make/refine my BookCrossing car kit- 08/12/07
I still use it

43. Write & submit another BookCrossing article- 09/09/07
I'm proud of my articles

44. Start a state map postcard for book trade on BookCrossing
I'm shy and never worked up the courage to start this

45. Create the Around the World in ? Days Challenge on BookCrossing
Ditto. I acquired 2 copies of the book, but by then I learned that someone else did something fun with the book and I lost my nerve.

46. Send out 25 Ray it Forwards at BookCrossing (books I've actually read first)
Not even close! I did send out some, which is good, but not 25!

47. Create a BookCrossing iCal (publish it?)- 12/29/07
I created it, yes, but didn't keep up with it.

48. Start a Fannish BookBox- 07/06/08
I did one round of an online bookbox before I decided I don't like online bookboxes.

49. Start an LGBT BookBox- 07/06/08
I have since set out two different LGBT bookboxes!

50. Start an LGBT BookRelay and keep it going
Someone else created one, but I participated in it for a while

51. Start an anime BookRelay and keep it going
Someone else created one of these as well, but I participated in it for a while, too

52. Make a better list/system of books I mail out (spreadsheet) and keep up with it
I created a nice spreadsheet, but didn't find it as useful as I had hoped it would be. So I stopped using it.

53. Clear 50 books off my To Be Read bookcase- 09/25/09
Hardly feels like I made any dent at all, but I did read them

54. Watch every nominated movie from the Academy Awards (excluding foreign film) from 2007-2009
Wow. I honestly thought this would be no problem. But I didn't even come close to watching them all

55. Get a P.O. Box and do PostCrossing; send out 50 postcards- 3/5/10
I still have my PO Box (love it) and I sent 50 postcards out!I got some great ones back, but I probably won't keep up with PostCrossing much in the future.

56. Finish my website portfolio- 6/5/09
It's not perfect, but it exists :-)

57. Add to Max’s scrapbook
I actually couldn't find it for the longest time. But I recently un-lost it and plan to pick it back up again.

58. Catalogue Eeyore collection- 01/04/09
I love having a catalogue/list of all my Eeyores!

59. Find out about displaying my Eeyore collection at the library- 12/02/08 through 12/30/08
I am so proud that I got to do this

60. Get a new library card (mine is 20 years old and almost in pieces)- 11/10/07
I love my new library card!

61. Learn how to play Mahjong- 07/29/07
I could probably use a refresher course, and apparently I learned the Chinese version, not the US one. But now I know how it's supposed to be played.

62. Decide what big thing to build out of LEGOs and begin planning- 08/03/07
I built amazingness and displayed them at my first LEGO convention as a participant in 2009

63. Bring TG’s Realm website up to date- 01/31/10
This is one I am especially proud of. I did massive updates.

64. Bring Kintail: the Dreamscape & BookCrossing websites up to date
I wish I'd done as much to this site. I've updated parts a little, but it's not completely done.



Fannish Stuff

65. Make Remus & Sirius sock puppets
I still want to do this!

66. Catch up on Stargate
I bought the whole thing on DVD, so I should be able to get this done during the next 1001 days without problem

67. Catch up on The 4400- 08/17/07
What a great series. I cannot believe they cancelled it just when it was getting amazing.

68. Catch up on The Dead Zone- 12/13/07
DITTO! The ending was amazing. I want more!

69. Finish Farscape series
I came close. Just one season & the Peacekeeper Wars left

70. Finish Gabaldon series to date (reread Outlander-Fiery Cross and read A Breath of Snow & Ashes)
I re-read the first two books and bought the newest. I've got a long way to go with it.

71. Mark up Harry Potter paperbacks with post-its
I really thought this would be useful, but I use the Lexicon so often instead, that maybe I don't need to do this after all.

72. Go to at least one hockey game every season- 9/15/09
I am so happy that I accomplished this one! I saw them win 1 game out of the 5 I went to, I think (so I think I'm 3 in 7 for my whole life). Maybe I'm jinxing them and shouldn't go any more...

73. Read the entire Hornblower series of books- 03/29/09
Oh Horatio, how I love you!


Work

74. Finish archiving the Chronicle and complete the Photo Archives
Chronicle: yes. Photo Archives: still in progress.

75. Get everyone moved to Adobe CS3- 02/18/08
We're all on CS4 now

76. Get a new graphics card for my PC and set up monitors- declared finished on 03/12/09
This was the bane of my existence for so long. I'm glad I completed it finally

77. Bring goodies to work bi-weekly- 3/10/10
Okay, maybe not exactly bi-weekly, but I did bring in a LOT of stuff, and that was my whole point of this goal.

78. Update Webmaster/Admin html manual
I have updated it several times, but it needs a total overhaul now

79. Update Software Inventory & keep it updated!- 09/14/07
Hmm. I did finish that huge project, but I didn't keep it updated throughout 2009.

80. Bring caricature of self to work and put on wall- 08/17/07
It's still there.



Writing

81. Do & win NaNoWriMo 2007, 2008, etc.- 11/25/09
Many, many words written! And I finished my 2009 attempt last month.

82. Keep an ongoing master list (spreadsheet) of all stories I finish- 3/10/10
I absolutely love my spreadsheet of stories. It's a great resource and fun to compile

83. Finish 5 more Strokes stories- 03/10/10
My Strokes boys need more love. But I definitely wrote at least 5.

84. See about doing the Writers’ Roundtable twice a month- 07/25/07
We still have 2 meetings each month.

85. Make one entry every month to my Rectacular journal
Now that I have a separate Twitter account for recs, I've been updating it more easily and frequently. Not quite every month, but an improvement.

86. Finish 25+ WIPs which have been waiting/ignored for a while
Wow. 25. Really? What was a thinking. I tried, though. And I'm happy of the ones I did work on and especially the ones I finished.

87. Submit something to be published
Didn't even try. I'm making next time's goal 5 submissions as a penalty. LOL

88. Start a file of rejection letters- 03/10/10
It's a nice file folder. I hope it doesn't get too full

89. Enter more dreams in my dream journal
Often I said to myself "Kate, that was an amazing dream. Go write it down in your journal" and then I would forget and be lazy and just not do it. Bad Kate.

90. Read 5 books on writing
Um, I am drowning in books. I've read parts of many, but only finished 1 completely.


Miscellaneous

91. Start reading slash-dot and try to keep up with techie news- 3/10/10
I have the RSS feed on my browser and I pay attention to it much more than I used to. Not as much as I should, but I'm more aware on a whole of things that are going on in the Tech world

92. Set up a special savings account and put $1 into it every day for a total of 1001 days- 3/10/10
I am so happy I made this goal. Now I have more than $1020 to spend as I see fit!

93. Go to a Free-For-All Friday at Mix 107.3
Nope. I didn't do this. What a shame.

94. Get a new computer with a flat screen monitor- 06/01/08
I love my new computer, even when it doesn't cooperate with me.

95. Go to the International Spy Museum in DC (for the first time)
I gave my family money for tickets on Christmas a few years ago, but we haven't gone. I did step inside the entrance because I won tickets to the Spy in the City contest. But that was for a GPS tour of the city in a hunt, not something inside the museum

96. Go to the Zoo (see new Asia section & new panda before he’s gone)- 10/05/08
I'm glad I got to see him before he left for China

97. Go to Mount Vernon to see the new museum/exhibits/theaters- 03/07/10
I wish I'd known to watch the full intro movie. But apart from that, I had an excellent time with friends!

98. Visit a lighthouse- 10/31/09
I didn't get to go inside, but I did see one :-)

99. See the Washington Capitals practice at their new facility- 01/02/09
I love Kettler. My boys have such a nice home now (and so much closer to where I am, too). I really want to take my mother there soon.

100. Keep a separate 101 LiveJournal- 06/13/07
You're looking at it!

101. Start a new 101 list when I’m down to my last few things to do- 03/10/10
I've got a new list. I'll post it next! Wish me luck!
just_the_things: (Writing/Work)
32. Clean out car (even vacuum)

Wow. How did I not cross this off my list? I cleaned Love quite thoroughly on August 17, just before the road trip to Chicago. I cleaned the outside, the inside, and even scotchguarded the seats. It was of the gorgeous.
just_the_things: (Personal)
32. Clean out car (even vacuum)

For less than a day in October 2007 I accomplished this mission. I cleaned my car beautifully before heading to FaerieCon. By the time we got back, it was a mess again. I cleaned it a bit a few times after that (not quite as thoroughly, I admit). And now I no longer have the car.

My new car, Love, is pretty clean already but she needs washing and the floor needs wiping off inside after the snowstorm. So I'm going to clean it off and clean it out a little and then I can call this one finished.

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