Incoherent Scribblings

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

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

Start Date: August 25, 2006
End Date: May 22, 2009

Tasks Completed: 36

Professional:

1. Get a job as a (reference) librarian in an academic library.
2. Start working on my second Master’s Degree in English/Creative Writing.
3. Create a research plan.
4. Create and maintain a “Goals and Objectives” document. Created!
5. Have a professional article ready for publication once every 9 months.
December 2007 - Book Review submitted to The Electronic Library, Published in Volume 26, Number 2, p. 278-279
May 2008 - Book Review submitted to The Electronic Library
September 2008 - TBA
May 2009 - TBA
6. Put together a presentation or poster session in conjunction with one article.
7. Have one article accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
8. Rejoin ALA and/or join TLA (Texas Library Association) and renew my membership to these associations annually.
9. Attend a library-related conference.
10. Keep my résumé up-to-date.
11. Subscribe to the RSS feeds of 2 or 3 professional journals.
12. Subscribe to one or two professional mailing lists. (i.e., LIBREF-L, DIG_REF, AUTOCAT, etc.)
13. Participate in a continuing education workshop at least once a year. (2008; Introduction to Dreamweaver)
14. Get my diplomas framed and hung in my new office.

Personal:

General

1. File for and finalize my divorce.
2. Participate in NaNoWriMo and complete my novel.
3. Eat a vegetarian diet for a week.
4. Try and rate 20 new recipes.
5. Declutter my home/clothing at least once a year.
6. Get broadband in my new residence.
7. Try out Netflix and if happy, subscribe.
8. Introduce myself to my neighbors.
9. Get a professional manicure.
10. Write a blog entry of “substance” at least three times a week for a period of three consecutive months.
11. Contribute to saving an endangered species.
12. Contribute time and/or money to the local animal shelter
13. Attend a Star Party
14. (Re)Register to vote.
15. Buy a new queen-sized bed.
16. Get new tires for my car.
17. Take a photography class.
18. Do something special for my 35th birthday. (To be determined a little closer to the actual date.)
19. Go see a musical. (Cats, Phantom of the Opera, etc.)
20. Start a small Christmas ornament collection.
21. Decorate my residence for my favorite holidays. (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day)

Books/Reading

1. Get a public library card wherever I move so that instead of buying books that I will only read once I can check them out of the library!
2. Listen to The Lord of the Rings as an audio book.
3. Listen to the Harry Potter books as audio books. (1-5)
4. Make a list of 50 previously unread books. See my list!
5. Read them.
6. Join Friends of the Library.
7. Buy the hard-cover illustrated Allan Lee editions of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
8. Buy a hard-cover Harry Potter collector’s set.

Languages

1. Continue practicing my German in the US by joining a German club/society or taking a class.
2. Brush up on my French by taking a French class.
3. Start learning Spanish either by using an audio course or taking a class.

Cats

1. Make sure the cats get an annual check-up.
2. Monitor Mouse’s thyroid condition with regular blood tests and decide if radioiodine therapy is a sensible treatment option.
3. When Scooter turns 13 in 2008, get “geriatric” blood work done to screen for liver, kidney, and/or thyroid problems.
4. Get Dolly and Molly fixed by the time they are a year old.
5. Get Scooter’s teeth cleaned.
6. Try SoftClaws for Dolly and Molly.

Financial

1. Use FlyLady’s FACE system to organize and control my finances.
2. Start repaying my college loans again.
3. Save $1001 to represent each day that I have participated in this challenge.
4. Get a loan for a “new” car.

Family

1. Take my niece somewhere fun like a zoo or an amusement park.
2. Have my niece visit me for a week.
3. Attend my step-sister’s high school graduation in 2008.
4. Celebrate the holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) with my niece and nephew.
5. Attend my nephew’s 1st birthday party.
6. Become friends with my sister.

Stitching

1. Attend a major stitching show like CATS or a stitching retreat.
2. Meet an online stitching buddy (or two!).
3. Stitch something with silks.
4. Create a cozy stitching corner in my new residence.
5. Get some of my larger cross stitch pieces professionally framed. (i.e., “Passing Admirers,” “Catch the Wind,” “Fairy Flora,” “Celtic Spring”)
6. Finish something using the following methods: bell pull, mattress-style pin keep, needlebook
7. Join Silkweaver’s FOM Club.
8. Stitch a HAED design.
9. Join The Project Challenge.
10. Complete The Project Challenge.
11. Complete a significant Hardanger project.
12. Stitch a Christmas ornament for each female member of my immediate family.
13. Stitch something for each holiday that I celebrate during the appropriate season. (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July.)
14. Implement a PIF challenge.

General Crafts

1. Continue to learn how to knit.
2. Piece a quilt top.
3. Make myself a pair Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls.

Health and Fitness

1. Take a yoga class.
2. Reach and maintain my goal weight.
3. Get my vision laser corrected or get new contacts.
4. Go to the dentist once a year.
5. Join a tennis league/club and play once a week, weather permitting.
6. Get my wisdom teeth removed.

Technical

1. Write a Wordpress Plugin or Theme from scratch.
2. Set up a wireless network in my new residence.
3. Buy a new laptop and upgrade to Windows Vista.
4. Renew my domain name.
5. Transfer my domain name to my web host.
6. Regularly check the links on The Literary Explorer.
7. Check for and download Windows/Office patches once a month on “Patch Tuesday.”
8. Become prolific in PHP.
9. Learn Dreamweaver

Travel

1. Visit two of my friends that live in Connecticut.
2. Visit Big Bend National Park.
3. Take a “literary tour” of England.
4. Visit my best friend once a year. (2007)
5. Travel to Canada.
6. Travel somewhere unrelated to work or family for at least three days once a year.
7. Make a list of the 25 places I most want to visit so that I will have a reference point when planning future vacations. See my list!

List Administration
~ Update this list once a month.
~ As I complete each task, write about my accomplishments, set-backs, experiences, etc.
~ When 1001 days are up, update this list and start the process all over again!