Day Zero Update

It has been very many ages since I updated about the Day Zero Project. Admittedly, my progress has slowed a bit, but I attribute that to my knocking off the "low hanging fruit" of goals early. Now I'm into the weeds.

(Sorry, Charlie, that was a lazy mixing of metaphors and a shameful use of cliches.)

Linguistic malfeasance aside - here is what I have accomplished since I last updated.

Go to the Australian Open


We went in January, and it was an ace of a time. I may have become a little obsessed with the tennis.


Go to the dentist

Lucky for me, Partner-in-Crime's tennis buddy happens to be a dentist, so, I was able to go someone I could trust. It had been a shockingly long time since my last visit, and I was amazed that I did not have any new cavities. The bad news was the one of my old fillings had started to erode, but he fixed it on the spot, and caught it before it got the the stage where I would have needed a root canal. Lesson learned. See your dentist!

Go to New Zealand

Done and done. (And done, and done, and done, and done). Hope we'll get to go back again one of these days.

Take a dance class with Partner in Crime

It's all very Dirty Dancing (the funny beginning at the resort, not the sexy part), but we took some dance lessons on our cruises last year. They were all on the short side - each a half an hour or so - so I decided that we needed to take more than one to cross it off list. In the end, we took tango, cha cha, merengue and salsa. Tango was my favorite, though maybe merengue was really more my skill level. Still, it was all pretty much a hoot.

Om. Om. Om.

Go to a yoga retreat

Been there, done that, and literally got the t-shirt.

Take a CPR class

Thanks to Groupon, and one of the most boring afternoons in recent memory, I am now certified in CPR and First Aid.

Learn to use camera beyond auto function

It is a bit appalling how much of this list has been completed via Groupon. But, last weekend, I took a photography basics class. Basics, indeed, but I picked up a few "pro" tips and now at least understand what aperture and shutter speed are. So, we're calling this one done.


Recap: here is where I am. Some of these goals, I now have no idea why I put them on the list in the first place. And some I know that, realistically I will not get done. But, I have just under a year left, so plenty of time to keep pushing on and crossing off...


Literary Ambitions

-Read 5 books by Australian authors 
-Read the August Wilson cycle
I'm at 3 out of 10, and currently working my way through
-Read all the Greek plays
-Own a Complete Works of Shakespeare
-Memorize one of the sonnets
What's the point, I ask myself. Silly goal. (Did you catch my use of iambic pentameter to deride studying Shakespeare?)
-Read a biography of Joe Papp
-Read "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
-Re-read To Kill a Mockingbird
-Read 100 pages of Proust

Travel Goals

-Go camping
-Go to Whitsundays
-Go to Fiji or Bali
-See whales migrating
-Go to the Great Barrier Reef
-See the little penguins 
-Go to Japan
-Plan a trip with my college girlfriends
-Go to Uluru
-Go to Tasmania
-Go to New Zealand
-Take a train trip
-See ancient ruins (hike to Machu Picchu or go to Guatemala)
-Go to the Australian Open

Personal Relationships Goals

-Get married
-Send 25 postcards for no particular reason
-Take a dance class with Partner-in-Crime
-Write 15 handwritten letters
-Make a birthday list of all friends/family and put it in Google calendar for reminders
-Host a game night in Australia
-Make a list of 10 people I want to stay in contact w/ and email or call once a month for 12 months

Professional Goals

-Have professional headshot taken
-Teach a class or master class
-Write an article and submit to a professional journal
-Start my own business
-Find an Australian playwright to form a working partnership with
-Research PhD programs


Projects, Food, and Craftiness

-Finish knitting my blanket
-Send wedding announcements
-Take a sewing class
-Take an improv class
-Give my blog a makeover
-Make my own sushi
-Cold brew coffee
-Participate in NaBloPoMo
Twice.
-Cook 10 vegetarian meals that don't just substitute fake meat
I have recently become the owner of a vegetarian cookbook, so I have no excuses on this one, now.
-Make a recipe box
-Print travel pictures and frame for wall

Personal Health and Wellbeing

-Complete a 10K
-Lose 20lbs
-Drink only water for one week
I got a headache after two days without coffee. It's unlikely I'm going to find the motivation to complete this one.
-Donate blood
-Go to the dentist
-Do a silent meditation retreat
-Find an organization to volunteer for
-Get a hot stone massage
-Make a will
-Run a 30 minute 5K
-Find people to play tennis with
Not exactly, but I did start tennis lessons yesterday!
-Go to a yoga retreat
-Floss at least twice a week for a year
2 more months of faithful flossing, and I can tick this one off.
-Join a gym
-Go a week without complaining
-Pay off credit cards
-Take a CPR class

Things to Watch

-Finish watching the Ken Burns National Park series
-See Kathy Griffin perform
-See Bangara Dance Company
-Go to Darlinghurst Theatre
-See movies from 15 different countries
-See Adam Hills perform
-See Regina Spektor in concert
-Watch 15 TED Talks
- Attend an Australian sporting event
-Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the Alphabet

Things to Buy

-Buy a better camera
-Buy a crock pot and master 5 recipes
I have the crock pot, but an still trying to find recipes I like. It's sad to say, but most of my crock pot dishes have been fails.
-Invest in the perfect little black dress
-Buy 3 board games
-Get a blender, food processor, and mixing bowls
Have the blender, have the mixing bowls, still need the food processor.
-Buy a surfboard
Again with the why did I put this on the list?.
-Get a dog
Unlikely in our current living situation. Our apartment is definitely not dog-friendly.
-Get our own bikes

Sydney To-Do

-Go to Sydney Mardi Gras parade
-Go to Taronga zoo
We went to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo, but have yet to be to the Sydney zoo. This one should be so easy!
-Go to the Powerhouse Museum
-Watch the New Years Eve fireworks over the Sydney Harbor Bridge
-Season tickets to Sydney Theatre Company
I've found other theatre companies that I actually like better than STC, but we've yet to make the season ticket investment in any of them. We're so fickle...
-Walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Misc.


-Ride a horse
-Eat lobster
-Have my makeup done at a makeup counter
-Go for a week without buying anything but groceries
-Learn how to use my camera beyond "auto" function
-Go a week w/out logging onto Facebook or Twitter
-Start a conversation with a stranger x5
I'm just not a stranger chatter. That's why I married an extrovert - he can chat the strangers.
-Learn to drive on the left side of the road
It's not that I can't drive on the left side of the road so much. It's that I won't drive in Sydney.
-Fill in a map of the world with at least 150 countries
My map is coming along. I've done 90 countries. Europe awaits.
-Put aside $1 for each goal completed and donate it to charity
Still saving ... I'll be finished when I'm finished, eh.