The 2010 Reading List

As I mentioned a few entries back, I'd already started building my reading list for the coming year. Thanks to more impulse buys and friends who know me well enough to give me books as Christmas gifts, the list has grown considerably. So here goes:

1. About a Boy by Nick Hornby

2. Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin

3. The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes

4. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

5. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

6.The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman

7. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

8. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

9. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

10. Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

11. The Diary by Eileen Goudge

12. Old School Ties by Kate Harrison

Add to that Pride and Prejudice, five books from TIME's All-Time Top 100 Books list, and three books from my Gabriel Garcia Marquez collection, I have a total of 21 books to read as part of my 101 Things to Do in 1,001 Days project. That's completely achievable! And until I've gotten through these twelve books, a book-buying ban is in place. I hope I can stick to it. :)

101 Things to Do in 1,001 Days

I've been wanting to come up with this list for so long, and with the new year just around the corner, I figured this is the perfect time to get to it. I am now officially joining the Day Zero Project of doing 101 Things in 1,001 Days. Here are the guidelines as posted in the website:

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple challenges such as New Year's resolutions or a 'Bucket List'. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

Without further ado, here's my list. Bold-italics means I've completed the entry.

START DATE: 01 January 2010

END DATE: 28 September 2012

READING AND WRITING

1. Write one journal entry every day for two weeks. (0/14)

2. Write one blog entry per week for one month. (0/4)

3. Finish my reading list. (3/12)

4. Write a short story.

5. Write a poem.

6. Read "Pride and Prejudice" then watch the movie again.

7. Read five books I already own on TIME's All-Time Top 100 Books list

- Animal Farm

- Catcher in the Rye

- The French Lieutenant's Woman

- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

- To Kill a Mockingbird

8. Read three books from my Gabriel Garcia Marquez collection. (0/3)

9. No buying books until I've completed my reading list.

10. Come up with five books I would recommend to anyone. (0/5)

MOVIES

11. Finish watching my VCD and DVD movie collection.

12. Watch the whole series of "30 Rock".

13. Watch "Terms of Endearment", Academy Award winner for Best Picture on the year I was born.

14. Watch five Academy Award winners for Best Picture:

- Casablanca

- Gone With the Wind

- Kramer vs. Kramer

- Amadeus

- Rain Man

PHOTOGRAPHY

15. Own and maximize the features of an SLR camera

16. Learn something new from the Digital Photography School once a week for six months. (0/24)

17. Have photos from travels printed and organized in an album per trip.

18. Join Project 365.

19. Take more pictures of family and friends.

ARTS

20. Re-learn how to play "Tarantella" on the piano.

21. Learn a popular song on the piano.

22. Be able to play three pieces from memory. (0/3)

23. Learn more Photoshop tricks.

TRAVEL

24. Visit three new places in the Philippines. (0/3)

25. Go on at least one trip abroad.

26. Go on a beach trip.

27. Explore a city I've never been to.

FOOD AND HEALTH

28. Eat in a new restaurant once a month.

29. Eat vegetables once a week for a month. (0/4)

30. Sleep before midnight every night for a week. (0/7)

31. Enroll in a gym and work out for a minimum of three months.

32. Try eating kare-kare.

33. Learn to make five different fruit shakes. (0/5)

34. Finish my jug of water everyday.

35. Have some cotton candy on a random day.

36. Learn how to swim.

37. Cut down on sweets.

FASHION AND BEAUTY

38. Buy ten dresses. (0/10)

39. Update my wardrobe.

40. Grow my hair to ponytail length before getting a drastic cut.

41. Wear my hair differently once a month.

42. Learn how to put on eye makeup.

ORGANIZATION

43. Clean up my office email.

44. Clean up my personal email.

45. Do a general cleanup of my room quarterly.

46. Do a general cleanup of my office space monthly.

INTERNET

47. Get all dishes on Restaurant City up to Level 10.

48. Use the computer for only two hours a day during the weekend, twice a month for a year. (0/24)

49. Go for an entire day without Facebook once a month for six months. (0/6)

50. Submit a secret to Post Secret.

51. Greet all my Facebook friends a happy birthday-- even the ones I don't know.

WORK-RELATED

52. Get to work by 9:00 A.M. everyday for one week. (0/5)

53. Update my resume.

54. Get promoted.

55. Get a raise.

FINANCES

56. Get my bank account to 100K by the end of this list.

57. Save all spare change for 1,001 days.

58. Make a budget and stick to it.

59. After computing for my expenses budget, withdraw everything and deposit into my savings account.

DRIVING

60. Be able to drive the big cars.

61. Take a different route to work once a week.

62. Take a different route home once a week.

63. Conquer my fear of driving in Makati by driving around on a Sunday for no reason.

FAMILY TIME

64. Get home in time for dinner twice a week for one month. (0/8)

65. Treat siblings out to lunch/dinner, just the three of us.

66. Have a sleepover with my cousins.

67. File a leave on my parents' birthdays. (0/2)

68. Go on five random weekday mall trips with my mom. (0/5)

69. Bring home pasalubong for my family on a random day. (0/3)

70. Have a Scrabble night with the family.

MELBERT

71. Go on an arcade date.

72. Watch DVDs together for an entire afternoon.

73. File a leave that coincides with his day-off and go on an unplanned, spontaneous date.

74. Go on a videoke date.

75. Go on a fancy dinner date.

76. Go on a trip together.

FRIENDS

77. Catch up with an old friend over dinner or coffee.

78. Make a personalized gift for friends this Christmas.

79. Have a videoke night with the girls.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

80. Give 12 "saw this and thought of you" gifts to people who are not Melbert. (0/12)

81. Treat an officemate to lunch for no reason.

82. Buy fries and a drink at a drive-thru and give to a street kid on the way home. If not, to the neighborhood guard.

83. Leave a very generous tip at a restaurant.

84. Send a "just thought of you and hope you're well" text to ten people. (0/10)

ME-TIME

85. Take a birthday leave. (0/3)

86. Have a massage monthly for a year. (0/12)

87. Pray every morning and every night.

88. Write down something I'm thankful for everyday.

89. File a leave just to stay home three times. (0/3)

90. Go to Ateneo on a Sunday for some quiet time. (0/3)

91. Take an afternoon nap during weekends twice a month.

THE FUTURE

92. Decide if I want to take graduate studies or not.

93. Have a list of things I would like in my future wedding.

94. Have a list of random things about my future.

MISCELLANEOUS

95. Write an entry for each day in my Starbucks 2010 planner.

96. Watch a concert.

97. Finish a coloring book.

98. Vote wisely in the 2010 national elections.

99. Get braces removed.

100. Join the lotto.

101. Get a henna tattoo, just because I've never tried it.

looking forward to 2010

It's strange, but I can't quite feel the Christmas spirit. More than anything, I'm really looking forward to the new year.

It hasn't been a great year. So many tragedies, so many people died, and life has had so many unexpected twists and turns that I'd just gone along with. Everything just rushed by, and I feel like I've been on auto-pilot mode for so long, just trying to make it through it all.

Now that the new year and the new decade is looming, I've found myself pausing to think. When was the last time I consciously took the time out of my day to sit, write in my journal, and offer some sort of prayer? When was the last time I slowed down enough to soak my feet and relax a little? When was the last time I came home not feeling dead tired and had enough energy to really watch a good movie or a good show?

This is the year that all my aches and pains came out-- as I write this, I have a major backache that won't go away. It's the year I got diagnosed with GERD, aka the acid reflux thing that took away my coffee and booze. There are very few good things (like the Bangkok trip, my room renovation, and adventures with my love) that really stand out this year. Everything else is... eh. *shrug*

This year, I lost my routines. No regular sleeping and waking hours. No planners and time to even sit and plan the day. No order to the papers stuffed in my in tray. In 2010, I want to be able to wake up everyday at a certain hour, be at work by a certain time, and leave work at a certain time too. I want to simplify my life: get rid of the papers that I don't really need, bring less things in my bag, delete more emails.

So I think that more than anything, 2010 is the time to get out of my auto-pilot mode and start really living. And living at a pace that isn't frazzled or stressed or frenetic. I want to have enough time and energy to be with the people I love. I want to take better care of myself-- soak my feet when I come home, watch a good movie or read a good book, and okay, maybe even hit the gym so that my aches and pains will be of the good kind (still subject to negotiation, haha).

2010 is the year to live slowly and simply. It's the year to be present. It's the year I will start to actively live my life.