Wednesday, April 13, 2011

31 by 32 - April Check In

Still making progress on my 31 by 32, of course you can read most of my Day to Day over at Brew to Bay.

Here's my three months into 31 status report:

Visit one of my five remaining states - Alaska, Arkansas, Mississipi, North Dakota, or Oklahoma.
No progress made, sorry folks.

Get something published.
I should clarify that this would be something outside of the blogosphere. Because I've been getting shoutouts there.

Do 31 non-girl pushups in a row.
I'm failing miserably on strength training right now. I have plans to join a gym here once I'm back from my Wisconsin trip this weekend.

Change someone's life for the better (other than my own). - TANGIBLY COMPLETE!

Work my way through the entire "Take Off In Italian" CD set I bought in 2003.
Yeah, I'm not sure where this is. Possibly Portland?

Visit one or more family members apart from Christmas.
Still figuring out work schedule to go to Portland or Seattle, but I did get to hang out with my dad in SF last month.

Attempt another recipe out of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"
Again, I think this one ended up in PDX.

See six different local bands live.
1/6 down. Caught part of Colossal Yes (Oakland) opening for Sharon Van Etten & Little Scream. An amendment to this is that I'm going to now count both San Francisco AND Milwaukee bands. So if a MKE band makes it out west, I'm going to make an effort to go.

Read and review one non-fiction and one fiction book a month.
Again, totally slacked on the non-fiction, but picked up Water for Elephants at a used bookstore so I could get something read. I liked it in the sense that there's a better-written cute old people love story that will hopefully get people to STFU about The Notebook. And you know when I pull in The Notebook, I'm setting the bar very low.

Contact an elected official, at some level, once a month about an issue that is important to me.
Actually at the strawberry lecture I went to, I signed a petition to Gov. Brown regarding rebanning methyl iodide. Yesterday I emailed the SF Entertainment Commission (appointed officials though) to express my concern about a new ID law they're trying to implement in the city.

See and review at least one film per month.
WOW. I completely FAILED at this. Good thing the San Francisco International Film Festival starts in a couple weeks so I can make up for it big time.

Try one new recipe a month.
My sauteed kale with shitake mushrooms *may* have been done before, but I know I've never made cheesy lemon asparagus.

Try a new [to me] locally-owned restaurant each month.
This has pretty much been my whole month of March. I think the new goal should be "don't go to a chain."

Go to an art show or gallery once a month.
First, I realized I didn't fail in February/March as I made it to the Olmec exhibit at the DeYoung. For this month I've seen lots of art here and there, but I will count my field trip to YBCA as my completion.

Dedicate one blog post a month to promoting a local business.
Again, I think I've done a good job covering this at Brew to Bay.

Dedicate one blog post a month to promoting a local non-profit.
No 100% dedicated posts, but plenty have come up in my Brew to Bay ramblings.

Leave the county I live in at least once per month.
Thank you Oakland Half Marathon for getting me to Alameda County.

Write one album and one concert review a month.
My reviewing still sucks (although I have a ton of albums, including Panda Bear, TV on the Radio, Battles, and more). I briefly talked about the Sharon Van Etten show. Need to improve on this!

Applaud bipartisan efforts in my social media forums at least four times.
Thankfully I have 3 more times to do this throughout the year because I've been rather politically disengaged (at least for me!).

Attend games of at least four different sports.
Still have three to go. Supposed to get to a Giants game at some point soon.

Go to at least four theatre performances.
This may be my most successful! After seeing Killing My Lobster on Saturday, I only have one left!

Go vegetarian for 31 days.
Have yet to try, but perhaps this will be a project once I return from MKE.

Go for 31 days without consuming any soda.
I was doing fairly well, but a recent sore throat derailed. Also an appreciation for Root Beer. I will revisit once back in town.

Bike to / from work every single day for 31 days.
Once I'm back from my brief trip to Milwaukee, I will tackle this one.

Go for one full week without consuming any alcohol.
I REALLY need this one. Just need to plan.

Go for one full week without consuming any processed foods.
Need to put on calendar and plan.

Have one week where I only consume foods made with locally-sourced ingredients.
Need to plan.

Spend one-on-one time with a friend at least once a week.
Still feel like I'm staying up on this well here!

PREVIOUSLY COMPLETED:
1) Make at least one MAJOR change in my life.
7) Digitize my CD collection.
9) Take advantage of a crazy spontaneous opportunity.

mcarnold's shared items