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).

more info: day zero

i’ve still got to come up with the rest of the list. as i was developing this list in december i started realizing just how many of the projects and things i want to do are doable, and quite easily so. yes, some of these tasks require some preplanning or some financial hocus pocus, but nothing is beyond reach. will i complete all of these in the approximately 2.75 years of the challenge? probably not, but it’s not about finishing everything. it’s about finishing something, anything, and breaking that procrastination chain that has plagued me my whole life. i also reserved the right to swap out a goal if i come up with something awesome and new during the course of the challenge!

as far as the tasks themselves go, you’ll notice that there isn’t much in this list that focuses on the greater world. in preparing it, i looked at what some other folks are doing with their own lists. many have things like ‘volunteer at a homeless shelter’ or ‘call my mom once a week just to say hi’. i thought about that and wondered where i could fit such things in my own list. i found myself holding back from putting such things down. they simply did not ring true. i think part of my reasoning was that if i failed at those particular tasks, i wouldn’t just be failing myself, but someone else as well. i know this will sound selfish, but i feel like i need to make this list about me and my own goals. i hope that the results of my efforts will bring some beauty and positive energy into the world and in doing so, help someone else. i guess i feel like there is some kind of larval/cocoon stage going on here with my creativity and i need to honor that feeling and follow my bliss.

anyway, i hope this list inspires some of you to get out there and tackle a couple of your own projects. i know everyone has those little ’someday’ ideas. there’s no time like the present to go out and start doing them!

the tasks:
01. make monkey bread
02. use my smores maker
03. participate in 24 hour comic day
04. put my entire book collection on library thing
05. finish my playlists projects
06. cook a vegetarian full course dinner
07. learn to use flash
08. create a stop action animation movie
09. have a short story published in print
10. donate time to an online organization (wikipedia? eff?)
11. start and keep a paper scrapbook
12. participate in project365
13. take a picture an hour for 24 hours
14. try a new tea per day for one month
15. learn to crochet
16. sew a shirt from scratch
17. upload all my pictures to a pro flickr account and tag them
18. take stock photos and make textures from them
19. make paint and watercolor brushes for photoshop
20. read the full run of usagi yojimbo
21. read the full run of walking dead
22. read the full run of noble causes
23. relearn to play the piano
24. make a terrarium
25. participate in the 24 hour zine project
26. organize all my online passwords
27. lose 10 pounds
28. watch my robin hood marathon
29. reduce my plastic usage, especially with food
30. finish one knitting project currently in progress
31. get a p.o. box
32. learn reiki
33. finish reading a book per month (4/33)
34. produce a zine every two months (0/17)
35. finish the redesign on my website and launch it
36. keep my website consistently up to date
37. learn to properly care for the herbs in my herb garden
38. grow mushrooms
39. learn to use my camera properly
40. profile 10 planets for my worldbuilding project (0/10)
41. write the history of my military orders for my worldbuilding project
42. profile 10 characters for my worldbuilding project (0/10)
43. read all of my crusades books (as of january 08) (3/23)
44. complete at least 6 month-long projects (1/6)
45. learn to draw
46. keep an art journal for one year
47. repaint the bathroom
48. go on a solo vacation (at least one night overnight)
49. watch 10 AFI top 100 that i’ve not seen before (0/10)
50. get my teeth fixed
51. participate in the philly zine fest
52. repair/modify the clothes in my ‘to be fixed’ box
53. go one week completely without the internet or movies/tv
54. go one week without processed sugar
55. get over my habit of treating my tactile art supplies so preciously
56. consistently take my omega3 and multivitamin daily
57. learn the tai chi short form
58. fill my kitty boys’ photo album
59. establish a computer maintenance routine
60. write 3 episodes for a crusades podcast (0/3)
61. take pictures through a microscope
62. write 5 short stories based on all my gathered story ideas (0/5)
63. finish cleaning the basement and organize a painting area
64. create a deck of 72 artist trading cards (use blank tarot deck)
65. take and print 25 photos that i really love (0/25)
66. go see a movie by myself
67. remember to toast The Professor on january 3rd
68. relearn to juggle
69. cut out bottled water completely
70. learn to play 5 video games (0/5)
71. get the tests done i need for lingering health problems
72. write a letter to yoko ono
73. develop the three major religions for my worldbuilding project (0/3)
74. finish my 100 drabbles project, volume one
75. learn to do coptic binding
76. spend an afternoon sketching at the met
77. spend an afternoon sketching at the cloisters
78. read a children’s book per day for one month
79. do my 52 weeks in macro photo project
80. script and storyboard a comic book
81. make my ‘d-book’ mockup
82. go to the medieval congress in kalamazoo
83. remember to mail holiday cards in 2008
84. reorganize my studio
85. go on a sketchcrawl
86. learn to count from one to ten in french, german and latin
87. learn the days of the week in french, german and latin
88. finish and release my first novel
89. make a dress form
90. learn illustrator
91. learn javascript and php
92. write a cooking zine
93. make a letterbox
94. post something on etsy
95. go to a drive-in movie
96. watch the sunset and sunrise at least once
97. make a list of 100 things that make me happy
98. get a passport
99. go to the uk
100. pay off last credit card
101. finish making this list!

key:
unstarted
in progress
completed

as you can see, i’m still a bit short of goals. if you can think of anything i should do, please drop me a line and let me know your ideas!