#12: Start a journal (wherein the author takes pleasure in small victories)

Okay, so this one is a bit of a 'gimme'...the original list only said 'START a journal', so after having completed two entries, I'm calling this one a success.

I have to thank my mother for making this one possible, because if she hadn't so serendipitously purchased me a journal for Christmas, this probably would have lingered for months in the 'Easy things that require very little effort to complete but somehow aren't getting crossed off' pile.

I was hesitant to add this 'thing' to the list, because my forays into personal journaling as a child were so painfully self-aware and self-impressed; I remember very clearly sitting on my bed at age 11, chronicling the very torrid events of my middle-schooler life in such a way that, if ever my diary were to be found by future generations, I would be remembered on-par with Anne Frank. I don't think anyone had really explained to me what actually happened during the Holocaust, or else I was just so wrapped up in the daily goings-on of play-ground romances that I thought they were of equal importance. Not sure which.

Anyway, this go-around has already has proved interesting; yesterday's entry was a summation of my thoughts about President Obama's innauguration. Again I found myself slipping into a style and metre that was way too self-conscious of who might be reading my 'prophetic prose' in some distant future, but I'm working on that.

#58: Watch all of AFI's Top 100 movies (wherein the author begins to doubt herself)

So, here it is, a few weeks after my first post, and I have completed a grand total of one 'thing'...which was making list and posting it. Hmmm...this may prove harder than I first imagined.

In light of my need to begin crossing things off my list, I started reviewing some of my 'things'. Luckily, there are many which I believe I can complete in the coming few weeks, although undoubtedly there are some that will take months, if not the 1001 days to complete.

One of the 'things' that I am most looking forward to is #58 'Watch all of AFI's Top 100 movies'. Some of you may know that I am an amateur-amateur-amateur film buff, and really enjoy watching movies and retaining the useless array of trivia associated with them. I consider myself to know a fair amount about mainstream American cinema (and a tiny bit about its non-mainstream and non-American counterparts), so I was surprised to find that I had only seen 26 of the top 100.

Here now is the list of top 100 films that I have not seen, arranged in alphabetical (ie. not ranked) order:


12 Angry Men
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
A Night at the Opera
All About Eve
All the President's Men
American Graffiti
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
Ben-Hur
Blade Runner
Bringing Up Baby
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Casablanca
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
City Lights
Do the Right Thing
Double Indemnity
Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
Easy Rider
Goodfellas
High Noon
In the Heat of the Night
Intolerance
It Happened One Night
Jaws
King Kong
Lawrence of Arabia
M-A-S-H
Midnight Cowboy
Modern Times
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Nashville
Network
On the Waterfront
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Platoon
Psycho
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rear Window
Rocky
Shane
Some Like It Hot
Sophie's Choice
Spartacus
Sullivan's Travels
Sunrise
Sunset Blvd.
Swing Time
Taxi Driver
The African Queen
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Deer Hunter
The French Connection
The General
The Gold Rush
The Graduate
The Grapes of Wrath
The Last Picture Show
The Maltese Falcon
The Philadelphia Story
The Searchers
The Silence of the Lambs
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Wild Bunch
To Kill a Mockingbird
Tootsie
Unforgiven
West Side Story
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

As I watch these films (and I have already set about my research assistant, Mr. Meneer, to downloading as many of these as possible), I'll post my thoughts and update the list of "seen/unseen". I'd love to hear comments from anyone who has seen any of these films and any recommendations as to which I should watch first.

For the full AFI Top 100 list, see here.

The Mission

Hello world!

Welcome to my new blog. I must admit, I have long been a member of the anti-blog community, and see most blogs as a self-indulgent and self-impressed outlet for self-indulgent and self-impressed people. But internet, let me please offer this one small explanation: my intention for this blog is to document a very specific mission that I am about to undertake, and my hope is that by documenting my efforts towards reaching my goal that I may perhaps hold myself accountable and improve my chances of success.

I stumbled across this idea a few weeks ago, and its various details and associated opportunities have been rambling around in my mind ever since. I have always been excited by the idea of resolutions, and the ability to make significant changes to our lives by sheer will power and determination. I have found great amounts of fulfillment in making small steps towards a more purposeful life; purposeful in the sense of choosing to follow through on any number of small commitments to yourself. Choosing to go to the gym more often, choosing to change the cat's litter box more often, choosing to actually floss as often as you tell the dentist you do. In the past, I have spent more time thinking about how much I would like to accomplish these goals than the amount of time it would actually take to complete them.

Recognizing this about myself has made me more determined to spend less time daydreaming about how nice my life would be if I actually did these things, and more time actually doing them. That's why this particular idea appealed to me: a framework and established system for achieving the goals I have for myself over the longterm. Achieving this list of 'to-dos' over the next 1001 days will not make my life perfect; but seeing them into completion will bring me closer towards being the kind of person I want to be with the kind of life experiences I want to have.

Internet, I introduce you to the '101 things in a 1001 days' project:

The Mission:
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 my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. 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 or outdoor activities.


My project will begin on January 1st, meaning my 1001 days will be completed on September 28th, 2011. My intention is to photograph as many of my completed tasks as possible, and post them here for anyone who's interested to see.

Wish me luck!