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One of the items on my 101 in 1001 list was to keep a reading list, and I've recently started (link also available on side menu under Projects). I've been on a bit of a reading tear this past week, and one of the books I read affected me so much that I had to write about it.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is an incredibly haunting book. I read it in just over a day, and spent literally the second half of the book weeping. The story (in broad strokes) is of an Afghani boy, Amir, describing his childhood in Kabul, in which he did some seemingly unforgivable things, his flight to the United States in the early 1980s, and the opportunity many years later to atone for his sins. It truly is a heart-breaking story, and is beautifully written. It certainly isn't what one would consider light reading, but I cannot recommend reading it enough.
For reasons unexplained, I find myself perusing a dating site, and I must note the following. If you're going to pick a super clever user name, like say, Da Vinci? Learn to spell it, Mr. DeVinchi.
Haha! Mr. DeKarte! What are these losers thinking?
I'm feeling very generous today. If you'd like a gmail invite, I've got about 10 or so to give. Drop me a line with your name and email address to frappy at gmail dot com.
I had to go to the bank yesterday, to pick up a cheque book. It should be noted that I absolutely detest banks, and in particular, my current one. My bank is currently in the process of privatization, and its employee union is rather under the impression that each employee deserves a privatization bonus of almost a full annual salary. And so, they strike. They strike when the negotiation continues, they strike when the negotiation halts, they strike when the temperature rises above 23 degrees and when it falls below 19 degrees. In short, they strike whenever the fancy strikes. Understandably, after a three day strike, the place was more crowded than usual. Add to that the utter incompetence and inability to grasp customer service demonstrated by their employees, and the bank becomes a confusing place.
But yesterday, after floundering a bit trying to find said cheque book, I won a moral victory that lifted my spirits considerably. See, there's this habit Israelis have, of showing up anywhere they need to line up for something, tapping you on the shoulder, announcing they're behind you in line, and then disappearing. So if you're the tapee, you're left there to defend this person who you don't even know who has suddenly popped up just when their turn is called, to the people who have since lined up behind you. As the person behind the phantom presence, you end up waiting in line about 7 hours, because there are elevnty thousand people who suddenly appear to claim their place in line, just as your turn is about to be called.
Well. Not at my school, my friends. I got in line, and of course, seconds before my turn, a woman brushes by me, tells me she's in front of me, and then flits away. I loudly say: "If you're not in front of me, then you're not in front of me in the line." She ignores me and moves on to talk to one of the bankers. When she comes back, an old man barely standing up and aided by a cane has already joined the line behind me. She flits back to the front of the line, and the old man tells her there's a line and she can stand in it. She begins to argue that she was there before. I say: "You can stand in line just like the rest of us. My time is just as valuable as yours, and I don't see fit to walk out while waiting to take care of other errands." She continues to argue that she was just gone to the ATM, and I continue to hold my own that I don't give two shits. Either she's IN the line or she's not, and if she's not, she can go to the back. She yammers something and then goes into the manager's office to take care of something else, and of course, comes back to stand at the front of the line. When the next turn is called, she says to me, as if doing me a HUGE personal favour, that she "guesses I can go on up". I walk up to the teller with a big grin of victory, but that isn't where the story ends! Oh no! The little old man made her wait too! Yay! I love getting the upper hand on idiots.
I'm in a rush right now, but all I have to say is this:
SPYDADDY IS RAPTOR? HA! HAHA! HAHAHA!
One of the items on my 101 in 1001 list is reading 150 books and keeping a reading log.
1. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama. Started 03/01/05 - Finished...
2. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Started 23/01/05 - Finished 24/01/05.
3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Started 25/01/05 - Finished 26/01/05.
4. Night by Elie Wiesel. Started 28/01/05 - Finished 29/01/05.
5. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. Started 29/01/05 - Finished 30/01/05.
6. Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. Started 31/01/05 - Finished 2/02/05.
7. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Started 3/02/05 - Finished 6/02/05.
8. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugindes. Started 7/02/05 - Finished 20/03/05. Most boring, interminable book EVER. Feh. I'm not even linking it to Amazon to spare y'all.
9. Opowiadania Zebrane (All the Stories) by Ida Fink. Started 13/03/05 - Finished 20/03/05.
10. Gone for Good by Harlan Coben. Started 02/04/05 - Finished 02/04/05.
11. No Second Chance by Harlan Coben. Started 03/04/05 - Finished 03/04/05.
12. Timeline
13. Just One Look
14. Night Fall
15. Harry Potter and the Sourcerer's Stone
16. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
17. The Charm School
18. The Secret History
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
20. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
21. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
22. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
23. Nights Of Rain And Stars
24. Killing Floor
25. The Time Traveler's Wife
26. Little Earthquakes
27. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Started 17/12/05 - Finished...
28.The Damsels' Farm by Shulamit Lapid. Started 28/02/06 - 1/03/06
29. Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger. Started 1/02/06 - 3/03/06
30. Funny Mirrors by Aliza Meuchas-Elroyr. Started 2/03/06 - 4/03/06
I've never claimed to be the most original person on the planet. Highwaygirl and eyeball have both been on my case to do one of these, so here goes...
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.
1. Learn to ride a horse [Completed 10/11/06]
2. Go to Paris [Completed 16/12/05]
3. Sell a photograph
4. Go to Jerusalem [Completed 19/04/05]
5. Buy a digital SLR camera [Completed 17/08/05 - Canon EOS 350XT]
6. Meet a boy
7. Go to culinary school
8. Be a blonde (again) [Completed 22/01/05]
9. Read The DaVinci Code [Completed 24/01/05]
10. Lose 5 lbs.
11. Join a gym
12. Knit a scarf
13. Spend a stupid amount of money on one pair of shoes [Completed 2/01/06 ($142.62USD and so what if they were spiffy Adidas running shoes and not sexy stilettos?)]
14. Go to Ireland (*waves at heewee!*)
15. Live on my own (again)[Completed 23/02/05]
16. Climb a rock wall [Completed 16/04/05]
17. Bake a layered cake [Completed 31/12/04 - Nigella's Autumn layer cake.]
18. Learn to appreciate red wine (this one might be my downfall) - I can now drink a glass or two without wanting to spit it out, which I think qualifies. There are some I even quite enjoy (Dalton's Canaan, particularly)!
19. Learn to swim freestyle
20. Grow my own herbs [Started 11/03/2005 - Mint, oregano, thyme, sage, and rosemary, so far]
21. Learn to scuba dive
22. Borrow a book from a library
23. Return a book to the library by its due date
24. Obtain a local credit card [Completed 13/01/05 - Banks are the devil.]
25. Get a cat [Completed (x2) 4/05/05]
26. Name it Schnitzel [ibid]
27. Or And Kiwi [ibid]
28. Go to a movie solo [Completed 1/05/05 - The Wedding Date]
29. Go camping (shut up, eyeball!) [Completed 15-16/04/05]
30. Cook a whole chicken
31. Make a Challah cover
32. Wear a halter top
33. Learn to use a sewing machine
34. Sew myself an item of clothing
35. Be part of a television studio audience [Filming of Rechov Sumsum, the Israeli Sesame Street. And so what if the audience was me, the filming crew and the two children of the head writer? It still counts!]
36. Learn to drive stick - Started 11/11/06, a bumpy start if you will, but a start nonetheless...
37. Learn to drive a scooter
38. Reopen sixth ear piercing - Sort of, as 5th piercing also closed, decided to forgo third pair altogether. I'm all about symmetry
39. Wear earrings in all 64 piercings
40. Buy pretty Michal Negrin earrings - [Completed 14/12/05, 2 pairs]
41. Make cream-filled, chocolate-topped profiteroles
42. Kiss a boy on New Year's Eve [Completed 31/12/2006]
43. Whiten my teeth [Started 01/01/05 - Crest White Strips 7 day program]
44. Get stylish glasses (sun or other) - [Completed 07/05, needing to be redone as I cracked the lens about 2 weeks later][Redone][And once more]
45. Make flavoured vinegar
46. Using my home-grown herbs
47. Decline a wedding invitation [Completed 22/08/05]
48. See at least one movie a month at the theatre [January: Ocean's 12/Alfie, May: The Wedding Date, June: Monster-in-Law]
49. Go to a psychic.
50. Watch all movies Oscar-nominated for best movie in 2004 and 2005 [2004: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/Lost in Translation/Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World/Mystic River/Seabiscuit 2005: The Aviator/Finding Neverland/Million Dollar Baby/Ray/Sideways] [Completed 4/7/05]
51. Start running - [Started August 2006, have gone out about 4 times. Still too tenuous to consider complete, but definitely in progress. After running 2k the other day, my boyfriend said - only 40 more to go! (He's under the impression we're running the NYC marathon next year).][Stopped September 2006. Started again January 2007.]
52. Participate in a race
53. Read 150 books
54. Keep reading list [Started 04/01/05]
55. Learn to make a cappuccino with an apple on top
56. Go bowling
57. Visit museum [Completed 04/01/05 - Tel Aviv Museum]
58. Get a museum membership [Completed 04/01/05 - Tel Aviv Musem]
59. Read about photography
60. Learn to program the VCR [Marking as complete as a. I have no VCR and b. I knew how to program my last one]
61. Get bangs in my hair [Completed around 10/02/05]
62. Do laundry once a week for three months [Completed around 25/09/05]
63. Wear funky socks [Completed 06/12/06, if by fancy you mean not plain black, but rather brown with cool blue swirly pattern.]
64. Redesign my site - [Completed 30/12/05]
65. Go out with a friend at least once a week for a month - [Completed - I've been a social butterfly in the summer of 2006]
66. Subscribe to Donna Hay magazine [Completed 27/08/05]
67. Figure out Israeli tax benefit and open appropriate tax plans
68. Go to a concert in Caesaria ampitheatre
69. Volunteer for a worthwhile cause [Started 8/02/05]
70. Learn to play pool
71. Get the black pants I bought at Gap last December (2003!) hemmed [Dropped off 28/03/05]
72. Frame my photos and hang them on walls
73. Do 100 situps a day for a week [Completed 29/01/05 - 04/02/05]
74. Buy a bed
75. Learn to use bitorrent [Completed 05/01/05]
76. Get a physical
77. Buy an expensive purse [Completed 09/06 - not exactly a purse, but a $160 camera bag from Crumpler certainly counts]
78. Purchase music from iTunes[Completed 28/03/05 - Crowded House]
79. Watch all Lord of the Ring movies: Fellowship of the Ring 18/06/05 / The Two Towers 22/06/05 / Return of the King 25/06/05.
80. Watch the first season of 24[Started 10/01/05 - Completed, uh, sometime after 10/01/05]]
81. Throw a fancy dinner party - [Completed 14/07/06]
82. Buy flowers every week for a month - [Completed April 06]
83. Eat a meal at "Catit"* - [Completed 06/07/07]
84. Successfully bake a passionfruit tart - [Completed... can't recall, at A & A's house, using the awesome recipe from the Orna and Ella cookbook]
85. Go for a walk in the rain (intentionally, rather than getting caught in downpour) [Completed 5/01/07 - actually went out for a run while it was pouring, which very much counts in my mind. Repeated the exercise 6/01/07.]
86. Make a charitable donation [Completed on a couple of occasions. Most Recent to Israeli Society for the Blind]
87. Register with a political party - [Completed (can't remember date), The Israeli Green Party]
88. Do a crossword puzzle a month. Possibly in Hebrew.
89. Play a board game other than monopoly
90. Receive a bouquet of flowers from a boy - [Completed 19/06/06 (squee!)]
91. Cook a recipe a week from my cookbook collection (and not from the net) for two months.
92. Get whisks and dough hook for hand-me-down Kenwood mixer - [Completed 25/08/06]
93. Make donoughts for Hannukah - [Completed 31/12/05]
94. Wear a watch[Started 27/02/05]
95. Create a photo log for this site (or, um, find someone to do it for me)
96. Get a scanner [Completed 12/10/95 - HP PSC 1315 All In One]
97. Go to a play [Completed 03/05 (can't recall exact date), Stephen Belber's "Match", adapted by the Beit Lessin Theatre.]
98. Get an Israeli driver's license
99. Get hold of a car and go on a road trip from one end of the country to the other
100. Start and document a photography project
101. Watch the sun rise from Masada
