As it’s a new year, it’s time for a new Uberlist. I first heard about this via the far-cleverer-than-I Kelly Sue DeConnick. She and her old roommate Nikol Lohr made New Year’s To Do Lists back in 1998 instead of New Year’s Resolutions, which is sheer brilliance. In 1998 they had 98 items on their lists (“98 Things To Do In 1998”), so since this is 2008, there are 108 items on the uberlist. My first attempt was back in 2003 and I’ve participated every year since then.
In the words of Kelly Sue:
I think I only accomplish about 30% of the list in any given year (one year, I didn’t finish MAKING THE LIST) and generally by June there are a good 10 items that are no longer applicable or even desireable, but it’s a fun thing to have nonetheless, and it keeps me focused for the first few months of the year. Then I forget all about it until about, oh, say, NOVEMBER, at which point I scramble about trying to remember where I put last year’s list.
I enjoy the process partially just for the making of the list; it lets me think about things I’d like to do as one year comes to a close and another one begins. I’m never too worried about what does and does not get done; in some ways it’s a list of wishes and desires, not of things that I simply must accomplish. And it’s fun at the end of the year to look back at what seemed important or enticing at the time. It’s simply not possible to do it all; I’d never expect myself to.
(That said, I pin it on my fridge so that I see it constantly.)
But, at any rate, here I go yet again.Â
Exercise:
1. Complete a 5K in under 25:40
2. Complete a 5-miler/8K in under 44:19
3. Complete a 10K in under 57:30
4. Complete a 10-miler in under 1:26:09
5. Complete a half-marathon in under 1:58:17
6. Complete a marathon in under 4:29:06
7. Go to the gym on a regular basis
8. Keep my waist fitting in 30″ pants
9. Run an 8+ mile stretch regularly
10. Run regularly during the week
11. Run a non-DC area race
12. Use the Yoga DVD/cards at least three times
Local Attractions:
13. Attend a Smithsonian Associates event
14. Go to an exhibition at the Corcoran
15. Go to an exhibition at the Freer/Sackler Galleries
16. Go to DC Building Museum
17. Go to Fort Marcy
18. Go to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
19. Go to National Holocaust Museum
20. See a performance at the DC Opera
21. See a performance at the Shakespeare Theatre
22. See DC Nationals play a game
23. See DC United play a game
24. Walk through Rosslyn’s Freedom Park
Leisure:
25. Apply for the Amazing Race
26. Call Grammy on a regular basis
27. Finish reading China Mieville’s Iron Council
28. Get a tattoo
29. Get car serviced every 5000 miles
30. Go skiing
31. Go to a pub trivia night
32. Go to an allergist
33. Go to the dentist
34. Go to the dermatologist
35. Lead the discussion at Lambda Sci-Fi book club
36. Learn how to use an SLR camera.
37. Read at least 8 of Lambda Sci-Fi’s 11 book club books
38. Read China Mieville’s The Scar
39. Read James Joyce’s Dubliners
40. Read Storm Constantine’s The Way of Light
41. Read the shelf of Doctor Who novellas
42. Redesign MarathonGreg.com
43. Resist buying games until you’ve played the ones you have
44. Scan in and post at least 30 images from your wine book
45. Take a 2-stepping class
46. Take at least 30 photos (total) for 50 state street project
47. Try wax instead of shaving at least once
48. Watch all the rest of the Avengers ’67 Set 3
49. Watch Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru
50. Watch Akira Kurosawa’s Ran
51. Watch Batman Animated Volume 2 DVDs
52. Watch Batman Animated Volume 3 DVDs
53. Watch Fellowship of the Ring Extended from start to finish
54. Watch Prisoner Volume 1 DVDs
55. Watch Prisoner Volume 2 DVDs
56. Win Phoenix Wright 2
57. Win Rayman Raving Rabbids
58. Win Super Mario Galaxy
Travel:
59. Go on a small, local vacation
60. Go to Toronto
61. Visit Marc when you’re in Los Angeles
62. Visit Melissa and Sam in San Francisco
63. Visit my grandparents in Pennsylvania
Home:
64. Assemble a Go-Bag
65. Bake a cake
66. Bake something you’ve never made before
67. Clean out and organize linen closet
68. Cook new recipes regularly
69. Don’t buy so many frivolous things
70. Empty out the freezer and eat/discard what’s inside
71. Finish scanning all your books into a database
72. Floss your teeth every day
73. Get a Christmas tree
74. Get rid of things you hang onto but do not need
75. Go through books and donate ones I no longer want
76. Go to bed by 10:30pm on a regular basis
77. Hang more original art
78. Keep piles of stuff from forming
79. Make homemade pasta
80. Rearrange living room (desk & bookshelves)
81. Renew CostCo membership
82. Sell any original art that you are no longer interested in
83. Sell the Big Finish plays that you’ll never listen to again
84. Sell the DVDs you’ll never watch again
85. Soak in the tub and just relax at least once a month
86. Sort through the comics and weed out what you can
87. Spend less time on the computer
88. Sort through my CD singles and either store or sell them
89. Take unneeded clothes and appliances to Goodwill
90. Vacuum every week
91. Wear nicer clothing on a regular basis
92. Work on reducing debt
Work:
93. Bring your lunch more often than buying it
94. Find a home for the bag of old SF magazines and books
95. Get rid of the boxes piled under the table
96. Get to work by 9:30 on a regular basis
97. Learn Flash
98. Learn JavaScript
99. Spruce up the plants in my office
Writing:
100. Regularly backup and archive my documents folder
101. Start and finish a short story
102. Send the finished story to two markets (as necessary)
103. Stay on top of review submissions
104. Write a nice holiday letter and send with cards
105. Write an article for Enlightenment
106. Write comics reviews on regular basis
107. Write travel journals
Most Importantly:
108. Do not let yourself take on inappropriate guilt.