It’s been a long time since I’ve tackled the Uberlist. I first heard about this via the far-more-talented-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”), and every year since then they expanded the list by one. Since is 2016, there are 116 items on the Uberlist, because there’s nothing very uber about a 16-item list. My first attempt was back in 2003 and I participated through 2008, where life got in the way and I never finished figuring out what I’d even accomplished and what I hadn’t.

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in any given year (one year, I didn’t finish MAKING THE LIST) and generally by June there are a good 10 items that are no longer applicable or even desirable, but it’s a fun thing to have nonetheless, and it keeps me focused for the first few months of the year.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.

With school over it felt like a good way to try and remind myself of goals and ideas I had dangling. On some level this one’s a little less original than others, with a few items repeated to count for multiple times achieving the same goal, and a bunch of items either finishing up projects/games or finally tackling specific books, but at least it’s a completed list. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully next year’s list can be a bit more robust and varied as I cross off items this year.

(Oh, some items are slightly truncated in terms of writing what they are, because I have a printed copy near my desk and squeezing 116 items onto a single page, even using three columns in landscape mode, is difficult. Also there are a few items that I’m not posting onto the web and have redacted accordingly.)

Anyway, let’s see what happens.

1. ADMIN: Finish writing my 2016 Uberlist
2. HEALTH/BIKING: Bike a 50-miler
3. HEALTH/BIKING: Regularly in non-frigid months
4. HEALTH/EXERCISE: Go to MadFitness twice a month
5. HEALTH/EXERCISE: Try kayaking
6. HEALTH/RUNNING: Regularly three days a week
7. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 5 or 10k race (1)
8. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 5 or 10k race (2)
9. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 10-miler/half marathon
10. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 750 miles
11. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 846 miles (beat 2015)
12. HEALTH/SWIMMING: Start swimming again
13. HEALTH/TRIATHLON: Run a triathlon
14. HEALTH/WEIGHT: Be under 155 lbs.
15. HEALTH/WEIGHT: Be under 160 lbs.
16. HEALTH/WEIGHT: Be under 162 lbs.
17. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (1)
18. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (2)
19. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (3)
20. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (4)
21. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (5)
22. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (6)
23. HOME/REORGANIZING: Clean out filing cabinet
24. HOME/REORGANIZING: Clean up “Olympian” external HD
25. HOME/REORGANIZING: Frame vintage Italy map
26. HOME/REORGANIZING: Hang new art on staircase wall
27. HOME/REORGANIZING: Sort through pants and donate excess
28. HOME/REORGANIZING: Sort through the gift box
29. HOME/REORGANIZING: Transfer Ben’s VHS to DVD
30. HOME/REORGANIZING: Transfer Charlie’s VHS to DVD
31. LEISURE: Do things with friends more often
32. LEISURE/CAMERA: Complete #366photos
33. LEISURE/CAMERA: Complete 1 Second Everyday
34. LEISURE/CANNING: Make blueberry jam
35. LEISURE/CANNING: Make new type of jam
36. LEISURE/CANNING: Make sour cherry jam
37. LEISURE/CANNING: Make strawberry jam
38. LEISURE/CANNING: Make tomato sauce (1)
39. LEISURE/CANNING: Make tomato sauce (2)
40. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Akira Kurosawa DVD (1)
41. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Akira Kurosawa DVD (2)
42. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Yasujiro Ozu DVD (1)
43. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Yasujiro Ozu DVD (2)
44. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Yasujiro Ozu DVD (3)
45. LEISURE/FILMS/AFIDOCS: See full-length doc
46. LEISURE/FILMS/AFIDOCS: See shorts compilation
47. LEISURE/GAMES: Join a gaming group
48. LEISURE/GAMES: Learn how to play Settlers of Catan
49. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Disney Infinity: Guardians of the Galaxy
50. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Disney Infinity: Star Wars: Rise Against the Empire
51. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Disney Infinity: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
52. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Disney Infinity: The Incredibles
53. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Professor Layton and the Last Specter
54. LEISURE/GAMES: Win The Witcher 3
55. LEISURE/LEGO: Put together Bike Shop/Coffee Shop
56. LEISURE/LEGO: Put together Doctor Who set
57. LEISURE/LEGO: Put together Toy and Grocery Store
58. LEISURE/LOCAL: Go to an amusement park
59. LEISURE/LOCAL: Go to DC United game
60. LEISURE/LOCAL: Go to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
61. LEISURE/LOCAL: Go to Nationals game
62. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Jackie’s before it closes
63. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to La Casita Pupuseria
64. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Quarry House
65. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Rose’s Luxury
66. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Urban Butcher
67. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Velatis Caramels
68. LEISURE/READING: At least 5 book club selections
69. LEISURE/READING: At least 20 prose books
70. LEISURE/READING: Be better at tracking (on Goodreads) comics read in 2016
71. LEISURE/READING: Best American Comics 2009
72. LEISURE/READING: Best American Comics 2010
73. LEISURE/READING: Best American Comics 2014
74. LEISURE/READING: Best American Comics 2015
75. LEISURE/READING: Get better about donating
76. LEISURE/READING: Jane Eyre
77. LEISURE/READING: Lucky Jim
78. LEISURE/READING: One from the Mieville stack
79. LEISURE/READING: One from the Murakami stack
80. LEISURE/READING: Read half of stack on dresser
81. LEISURE/READING: Read or donate new series Doctor Who novels
82. LEISURE/READING: Saturn Apartments
83. LEISURE/READING: Vagabond backlog
84. LEISURE/TV: Daredevil S1
85. LEISURE/TV: Orange is the New Black S2
86. LEISURE/TV: Transparent S2
87. [REDACTED]
88. [REDACTED]
89. [REDACTED]
90. [REDACTED]
91. LIBRARIANSHIP: Volunteer with Lubuto 12 times
92. LIBRARIANSHIP: Volunteer with Lubuto 20 times
93. PERSONAL: Wear sweaters more often
94. TRAVEL: ALA Annual or Midwinter
95. TRAVEL: Big vacation with Charlie (not listed)
96. TRAVEL: Florida/visit parents
97. TRAVEL: Gallifrey in February
98. TRAVEL: Iceland
99. TRAVEL: Lost River
100. TRAVEL: Spain
101. TRAVEL: Weekend getaway (not listed)
102. WORK/LEARNING: Learn Captivate
103. WORK/LEARNING: Learn DSpace
104. WORK/LEARNING: Learn PHP
105. WORK/LEARNING: Learn Python
106. WORK/LEARNING: Look into PMP certification
107. WORK/REORGANIZING: Clear out books for eBay or donations
108. WRITING: Finish a short story
109. [REDACTED]
110. [REDACTED]
111. WRITING: Regularly contribute reviews to CBR
112. WRITING: Submit for publication a short story
113. WRITING: Write a new short story
114. [REDACTED]
115. [REDACTED]
116. ZENITH: Be happy