#23: Table at a zine fest.

This item is officially in progress! This week I registered as an exhibitor at the Chicago Zine Fest. I went to it at the last minute by myself last year, and dragged a girl I had know for five minutes at my hostel with me to the zine reading. The zine fest itself was great, I bought a bunch of great zines, and traded for even more, saw an old friend from my days living in Grand Rapids, went to workshops and got delicious cheap Indian food. Yums.

So, I'm really excited to be tabling this year! The zine fest is March 25th & 26th and I can't wait. I even put my name in to read at the zine reading on the 25th (they choose randomly from the people who volunteer). This will be my second time tabling at a zine fest, I did Wolverzine at U of M a number of years ago, but there were very few actual zinesters themselves there, it was mostly crafts with a few distros. I'm stoked. And excited to have something push me back into the zine community, which I've been pretty absent from the last few years. Even when I have made zines, I haven't really put them out there. The last two issues of Checkered Past I never even officially "released" or promoted anywhere, mostly just giving them out to friends and family. I have two zines I want to finish before the fest, so I gotta get my butt in gear!

For more info: chicagozinefest.org

#78: Get rid of at least 10 more items of clothing.

Completed 9.17.10

Okay, so, for my whole life I've basically been a pack rat. I think this runs in the family. My grandma on my mother's side was pretty much a hoarder, but a really neat hoarder. Her basement was always full of shelves full of neatly organized, useless things. Piles of paper, boxes of baby food jars, things like that. She was creative and found interesting ways to use otherwise useless things, so she thought there was a use for everything. And would often give people things that she thought they could use. Like when she gave me a couple hundred envelopes which were all sealed shut.

My mom and I both have a bit of that trait, but not to such an extreme. I also attach emotions and memories to objects, so it's hard for me to get rid of things for that reason. Add to this, I've always been a messy person, and it wasn't until I was in my 20s that I actually kept my rooms clean enough to be able to walk around them. Growing up, the floors in my bedrooms were always covered, with only a walkway from the door to the bed.

So, getting rid of anything, especially clothes, has never been a strength of mine. I always think that I will wear it, some day. Things really turned around for me when I started watching A&E's show, Hoarders. Watching that show made me so scared of turning out like those people, with junk and garbage piled throughout their entire house. That's basically what my room looked like growing up, so I fear that I'm capable of it. Once I started watching that show, I was motivated to go through my belongings with a much more critical eye. Plus, during the commercial breaks, I would often get up and clean. I donated a couple bags of stuff, mostly clothes, when I moved to Escanaba. And then when we moved from Esky to Ypsi, packing was a chance to donate of bunch of stuff I didn't want to take with me. I donated 15 items of clothing, plus a couple boxes of random odds'n'ends. Hurray! And in the process of unpacking, I've filled up another box of things to donate. Now I just gotta get around to getting it out of the house. :]

#47: Adopt a shelter animal.

Completed 10.16.10

Robert and I adopted a 2-year-old miniature schnauzer/terrier mix named Chance from the Huron Valley Humane Society last weekend. Chance was actually brought up from a shelter in Little Rock, Arkansas, due to shelter overflow. One piece of paper said he was a stray, and another said he was a surrender, so we don't know his exact story. When we got to the shelter, a bunch of dogs which had been brought up from the South were housed in an overflow room, which we looked through first. I liked him as soon as I saw him, but I went around to meet the rest of the dogs in the room before I went to officially meet him. While I was meeting the other dogs, Robert pointed to Chance and said, "I think I like this one." I said, "Me too!" We went up to his cage and let him lick our fingers. He was so friendly and happy. We decided to look at the dogs in the regular dog area in the humane society, to see what dogs were there, but we were pretty sure we'd be back to see Chance. And indeed, none of the other dogs really made us fall in love with them, so we went back, and got to take Chance into a room to play with him. He was running around like crazy and we were like, "He's just excited to be out of his cage, we're sure he'll be more chill." We were looking for a bit lower-energy dog, but we just liked him so much that we made an exception. We did all the paper work and the adoption counseling, and brought him to his forever home!



Ah! Just look at that face!!

Although I've loved dogs since I was little, Chance is the first dog I've ever owned. I'm actually allergic to dogs, but I know that if I'm around a specific dog enough, my body gets used to them so I'm not as allergic. And I decided I was willing to put up with the initial misery I had to deal with until that happened--plus I stocked up on allergy pills. Robert and I have been interested in getting a dog for a long time, but have always had apartments that didn't allow pets. So when we moved to Ypsi, we specifically looked for apartments that were pet-friendly.

Having a dog has been a big adjustment, I think especially for me. The last couple years I've gotten used to being home alone all day (especially this summer when school was out), so it's hard for me to get used to never being home alone. I kind of miss it sometimes, getting up in the morning and just being able to make a cup of tea and relax on the couch for a bit. Instead I have to take him for a walk, and have him follow me around constantly, and jump in my lap the second I sit down. I'll get used to it, I'm sure. And then in a decade and some change when he passes on, I'll probably find the loneliness depressing.

Chance loves to play fetch with us in the house, and one of his favorite toys is a pop bottle he started chewing on one day. Today I gave him a rope toy, which he likes to fling up in the air behind him and then chase after. He also loves running after the ducks and geese that live in the lake outside our apartment. He also likes to try to eat the goose poop. I think he spits it out, but I can't always tell. My favorite thing he does is cuddle with me--almost all the time I'm sitting on the couch he comes and cuddles with me, usually takes a nap. It melts my heart every time.

5 Most Difficult Tasks to Complete

#26: Complete the 5,000 question survey. My gosh, I didn't realize just how long a 5,000 question survey really is. I've completed under 200 so far. That means I have more than 4,800 to go!

#40: Get a permanent teaching job. Job searching sucks, it's hard to keep myself from getting down on myself when I apply for every job I can find that I'm certified for, and not get a single interview. Leading up to my student teaching, I was the last person of all the people I knew in the school of ed to get a placement, it was kind of disheartening, I didn't understand why no one wanted to work with me. So, it took a while, but I ended up in the classroom that was perfect for me. I keep telling myself that the same thing goes for my permanent job. My perfect classroom just hasn't opened up yet.

#72: Compliment a stranger, 10x. I've done this twice, so far. It's just not in my nature really to compliment people. I don't know why. But I get compliments from strangers on a semi-regular basis, mostly about my clothes or purses, so I put this item on my list to pay it forward. The first time, I had gotten multiple compliments on my dress and my shoes at a sub job, and so the next day I set out with the goal in mind that at some point, I was going to compliment a student on something. And I did. But generally, if I'm not specifically looking for something to compliment someone on, I don't think to. The second one, however, was more spontaneous. A girl at the food co-op with a cool hula hoop. We had a nice conversation about hula hoops, where she got hers, etc. I told her about the one my friend made me, which apartment neighbors threw out a few years ago. She told me that just means I get to get a new one, with new colors to vibe on. The whole interaction made me very happy!

#77: Get all the dishes washed at once, 10x. This has been difficult for me because I have dyshidrotic eczema on patches of my right hand, caused by an allergic reaction to dish and laundry detergent. Contact with detergents gives me hundreds of tiny little itchy water blisters on my hand. It's painful and uncomfortable, so I have to wear a rubber glove when I wash dishes. But then my hand gets sweaty, and the sweat and rubber irritate my skin too, so I can't wash dishes for too long at a time. I mean, I tried, I really tried, and I would do the dishes at least once, if not twice a day, and never be able to catch up. Also, when I wasn't working this summer (and even when I was before, I wasn't working as much as Robert , and I wasn't paying any rent), I wanted to do all the dishes myself, so I didn't ask or expect Robert to help with them. The only two times I got them all done was when he was out of town for a week or more, and there were less dishes to do. Now we have a dishwasher in our new place, but I still can't seem to get them all done at the same time!

#89: Read 100 news articles in Spanish. I put this on here so that I wouldn't loose my language skills. But I've lost them some, and while I used to regularly read articles in Spanish, I now find it a bit more cumbersome. I just need to get motivated.

#83: Move out of Escanaba

Completed 09.18.10

I haven't updated in ahwhile, but I have a semi-good reason for this...I've been accomplishing #83 , I moved out of Escanaba!! In addition to the actual packing and moving, I was also spending a lot of time doing lots of stuff with my friend Barbi before I moved away. And also avoiding packing. That took up a lot of time.

Here's how I ended up in Escanba: I went to school at Northern Michigan University, in Marquette, Michigan, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (most people outside of Michigan have no idea what this is...there are two pieces to Michigan, if you look at a map, there's the one part that looks like a mitten, and above that is a part that looks like a rabbit, attached to Wisconsin. That's the U.P.), on Lake Superior. I loved living in Marquette, I can't imagine a more beautiful city. It was a great mix of nature, historic buildings, local businesses, small-town charm and friendliness, and everything within walking distance. I would never have wanted to leave Marquette if it wasn't 8 hours away from all of my friends and family. And I never managed to really make any friends there, so it was a pretty lonely place. So I always knew I'd move away. Robert graduated a year before me, and immediately got a job in Escanaba, an hour south of Marquette, on the shore of Lake Michigan. When I graduated, I moved back in with him.

Here's why I wanted out: Escanaba always seemed like a consolation prize compared to Marquette. It was on a Great Lake, of course, one that occasionally got warm enough to swim in. But Lake Superior is my favorite Great Lake, even if it's freezing cold most of the year. There's just a spooky strength to Superior, and I felt much more of an admiration for Superior than Lake Michigan. And yes, Escanaba has some small-town charm, being in the U.P. and all. But we also found it mostly boring. Especially in the cold parts of the year. Also, people in Esky always seemed like they were in a bad mood! Cashiers, waiters, no one said hello when you walked past them on the street. Dont' even get me started on the workers at Subway. It just wasn't a fun place to live.

Here's how it turned out: I spent the winter/spring rarely leaving the house except for work/substitute teaching, and grocery shopping/Taco Bell with Robert. Once the weather got nice and I could venture outside more often, things looked up. I fell in love with the city's park--all the open space, small islands and sandy beach. It was just a 5-minute bike ride from my house so I started going there on sunny weekday mornings before the heat became unbearable. I also started spending more and more time with my friend Barbi, a woman from Escanaba who I met in the School of Ed at college. At first I was just glad to have someone to spend time with outside the house, but we became pretty close, and I really valued the time we spent together.

Here's how I got out: Robert and I had been looking for jobs in the lower peninsula since before I graduated from college. In addition to disliking living in Esky, Robert also did not like his job since most of the time he had nothing to do at work. But, it's Michigan, we have one of the worst economies in the country, and I'm a teacher on top of that...schools are downsizing, no one has any money for education or hiring new teachers. But after a lot of trying, and a couple other phone interviews, Robert got a job in Ann Arbor! He's an actual engineer now, and he got a pay raise to boot. We got an apartment in Ypsilanti, actually just on the border between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. As sad as I am about leaving the U.P., the area is just 45 minutes from the Detroit area/most of my best friends and family, and a couple of old friends live in Ypsi. The only things that I didn't like about living in the U.P. was being so far away from everyone (except R) that I loved, and a lack of cultural opportunities (shows, museums, general happenings). Ypsi and Ann Arbor are both college towns, so there's plenty to do, and lots of good restaurants of all types to explore! And as overwhelming and culture shock-y as it is to move from the U.P. back to the city, our apartment has a balcony that looks onto a little lake with a small island, and lots of geese and ducks and a couple cranes (we even saw a woodchuck once), so I still have some calming green space to look at.

Yay!

#32: get etsy shop up and running and sell 12 journals

I finally got my etsy shop, Literary Ruin, back up and running. Woohoo! A few years ago I set up this etsy shop to sell handbound journals I made from old books. Overwhelmed by school and teaching, the rest of the postings lapsed. I wanted to get it back up and make some more journals this summer, since I'm not working. Also, it's the only money I have coming in right now! I buckled down and put up four journals for sale the other day--two days later, I had sold two of them! Now there's five up for sale, which are all that I have made, so I need to get to making those 12 new ones for #31!

5 Easiest Tasks to Complete

These are the tasks which I seem to be having no problem completing! These are all tasks which couldn't be completed all at once, but which I'm finding I don't need anywhere near the whole 2.75 years to finish.

#3: Go on four walks in a week, 5x. I've already completed four of the five, I guess I had a need to get out of the house a lot! Plus, my friend in Escanaba likes to go for walks a lot, and one of these weeks included hiking in the Rockies.

#43: Go on five vacations. I've already gone on three vacations. I don't have any concrete plans for the next two, but I'm sure I'll manage two vacations in the next two years. Robert and I already have vague plans for a trip in the fall--something to celebrate his 30th birthday, my 25th, and our 4th anniversary. Woo!

#55: Grow my hair out. This one doesn't take too much work! Though, I know soon it'll be a length I don't like, and I'll want to cut it! Right now it's starting to look a bit too Justin Bieber for me, but I'm finding new ways to style it.

#76: Clean the bathroom once a week for a month, 3x. This has ended up being a lot easier than I thought, especially during the summer since I'm not working. I've decided Monday is my cleaning day, so I clean the bathroom, do some dishes, and either vacuum or clean the kitchen. It feels nice to keep on top of things before they get dirty.

#99: Watch 10 documentaries. I've watched six so far. And have at least five more in our Netflix instant queue right now.

#61: Visit the Crazy Horse Memorial

I've wanted to go to see the Crazy Horse Memorial ever since I learned about it. It is about 15 miles from Mt. Rushmore, just outside of Custer, SD. Begun in 1948, it is going to be a memorial of the Indian leader, Crazy Horse. Though his face is the only thing sculpted so far, when finished he will be riding atop his horse, pointing to the East (After loosing a battle for their land, an American general asked him, "Where are your lands now?" Crazy Horse pointed East and said, "My land is where my dead lie buried.") Entirely privately funded by donations, and entry fees to view the memorial, the original sculptor has passed away, but 7 of his 10 children continue the work on the mountain.

I found the Crazy Horse Memorial to be much more impressive than Mt. Rushmore. Part of this is just because of where my loyalties lie when it comes to the history of this country. I am much more impressed with the Crazy Horses of History than with the George Washingtons and Teddy Roosevelts. My sympathy lies with those who fought to protect their land and their dignity, rather than those that fought to steal land under a guise for freedom for all (read: rich white men). And so the Crazy Horse Memorial had a much more emotional appeal to it than Mt. Rushmore for me. Also, it is SO BIG! All four heads of Mt. Rushmore would fit inside Crazy Horse's head, with some room to spare.

Here's a contrast of the model (what it will look like finished) with a better view of what it looks like now:

#60: Go to 50 Farmer's Markets

Farmer's Market #1: Madison, WI.



So, Madison's farmer's market fills the entire sidewalk all around the entire Capitol building. It was probably the largest farmer's market I've ever been to--there were just so many vendors, and SO many people, it was hard to walk. But it was really fun! We even stopped and watched and enjoyed some skits by the Madtown Liberty Players--we especially liked their skits about the Gulf Oil Spill and predatory lending traps/bailouts.

It was great, but after awhile, we had got what we wanted to get, and then every table seemed like it had the same stuff, and there were sooooo many people, so we got out of the crowd and left. But it was great!

#51: Watch a sunset.

Technically, I only needed to do this once, but I've watched a sunset a few times, and I've been logging each one.

#3: This sunset I watched while driving through hills on a winding highway between the Badlands and Rapid City, SD (pictured above). It was the most beautiful one I'd seen yet.

#4: This one was witnessed while catching up with my friend Barbi, the only friend I have in the city where I'm currently living. From my journal: "We finished off a bottle of wine while talking on her porch, watching a beautiful sunset. The sky looked stacked in different colors. We had good conversation, and I felt so happy. Talking about how lonely the final years I spent in Marquette were, how desperate I was for friends and couldn't seem to make it happen. It felt so grateful and fortunate to be sitting and talk with a person I've become so close with over the past few months. I was feeling very content with my life."

#42: Try 10 new dessert recipes

#3: Cookie dough pie

I tried this one for Robert for his birthday dessert. I got the idea from this recipe: here. Though, I must admit, since I was cooking him a big breakfast, and we were going out of town for most of his birthday (to Negaunee/Marquette to visit his Mom, and we ended up grabbing a quick dinner from Taco Bell, and eating it on a picnic table on Presque Isle, with a beautiful view of Lake Superior), I didn't feel like spending so much time slaving over a dessert in the kitchen (and Robert didn't want me to spend all day in the kitchen for him). So! I took the total easy route and got a pre-made pie crust, and a tube of premade cookie dough and made it that way. But! It turned out well and we both really liked it. Yum, yum. :]

#37: Alter 10 items of clothing

Item #1: I turned an awkward length/awkward fit pair of pants my mom picked up at the thrift store for me, into a cute pencil skirt with the help of this tutorial!

Sorry, it's been a long day and I'm too lazy to take and upload photos of it now. But, as much as the pants were ill-fitting, the fabric was really interesting--black, with white circle prints--and I wanted to do something cool with them. I've been really into pencil skirts lately, so I just googled to find a tutorial on making some out of pants, because I knew someone, somewhere had to have done it before. I guess if I actually thought it through, I didn't even need a tutorial, but I wanted to make sure I did it right, so I got someone else's expertise.

Plus, I got to strut around town wearing my new skirt and my favorite pair of heels. Mm-hmm.

#43: Go on 5 vacations

Vacation #2: 07.01.10-07.14.10, To the Rockies w/ Mom.

My mom and I took off on the road in her RV van for two weeks, hitting up all sorts of places along I-90, on our way to the final destination of....the Rocky Mountains and visiting my brother. Here's the places we went:

Rockford, IL.





We stopped here on a whim to go to Rockford for a museum we read about in a tour book. Outside of the museum was a beautiful nature walk through the prairie, complete with weeping willows. The museum had exhibits about the Rockford Peaches (A League of their Own was my favorite movie when I was younger), sock monkeys (Rockford is the home of the seamless sock machine, and thus, the sock monkey), and a small airplane, my favorite kind.




Madison, WI.



We stopped in Madison for an evening and a morning, biked around the Monona Terrace Convention center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, ate at the Great Dane Pub, and walked along State Street. In the morning we biked all along the lakeshore bike path to downtown and went to the farmer's market--it was totally bonkers and packed. The above photo is from a booth selling every type of jelly you could ever think of--and then some! Like sour apple and jalapeno jelly--who'd of thought to put those together?! The opening in the line of jars is from the one that I bought--Queen Anne's Lace jelly. Yep, they made a jelly out of a flower/weed. It's super yummy.



Mitchell, SD.

The home of the World's Only Corn Palace! A building covered/decorated in corn. Since it's still early in the year, it's not totally done yet--but they were working away at it! We ate corn on the cob, aaaaand got ice cream.




Mt. Rushmore, SD.



Yeah, the novelty of Mt. Rushmore wore off on me pretty quickly, but it felt like one of those things I was obligated to see, y'know? It bothers me that Roosevelt is up there, but that's a rant I won't subject my lovely blog readers to.




Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer, SD.

More on this in another entry!


Rocky Mountain National Park, CO.

We camped inside the park, with my brother and his girlfriend joining us on and off, and went for long hikes within the park. The mountains are beautiful and peaceful, majestic and awe-inspiring. We saw moose and elk and bighorn sheep. It was a beautiful few days. We also spent some time outside of Denver at Chris and Tracy's house, which was nice. It was my first time meeting Tracy, and I really like her and was happy to have some time to get to know her.



It was a great vacation, but it was a long vacation. We both got homesick, and ended up coming home a few days early. We drove home in a day and half (15 hours straight on the last day!) and got home on Wednesday, instead of Sunday. Then I got to spend a few great days in the Detroit area with my friends and family before returning to the U.P.

#73: read 30 books

The first five books:


1. Lesson Plans and Touring Vans by Dallas Thompson
I got this book at the Chicago Zine Fest. Dallas is in a band and they did some touring, but most of the writing focuses on his time in the education program, and follows him through his student teaching experience. As someone who had just finished student teaching, I thought I needed to read it! It was fun to relate and empathize, and hear his funny stories of his students. He also took a course/taught in Ghana, and it was interesting to get a glimpse into what some of the schools there are like.

2. Hip-Hop U.S. History by Flocabulary
I got this to hopefully use in my future classes. It's a cd of hip hop songs recounting all the major epochs of U.S. History, and an accompanying book with the lyrics and additional information explaining and expounding on the lyrics. It has great lines like, "The Mayans knew dope astronomy too". Can't wait to use it in class!

3. Still Sits the Schoolhouse by Road by Frank Bartol
This book was given to me to read at a sub job--I was working in a special ed class, where the students were all studying for finals, and the class sizes were real small (one class was two students, me, and the aide), so she knew I'd have a lot of down time. I read the entire book that day. It's written by a former teacher from that school, who later became a professor at Northern (the college I graduated from). It's all about his two-room schoolhouse in Traunik (a town in the middle of the U.P./in the middle of nowhere. It was interesting enough.

4. Listening to America, by Bill Moyers
This book was given to me years about by Simona, since I'm a huge fan of Bill Moyers. I started reading it a few years ago, but never got very far, but I picked it back up when I started subbing and finished it largely during lunch breaks and prep hours. In this book, Bill travels all across the country in 1969-70 talking to all sorts of people. The reason that I didn't like it as much as other Bill Moyers books is precisely the reason that it is a great book: Bill Moyers' voice is almost completely absent. It is a reprint of everything that the people he talked to told him. The major issues which came up again and again were segregation/racism, and student unrest.

5. On Subbing: The First Four Years by Dave Roche
As a new sub, I had the read this. I'd heard about this zine for a while, but when I came across it now as a book, I knew I had to read it. Dave's experiences are a bit different from mine, as I subbed as a teacher, and only once in a special ed class so far, whereas he subbed in an aide for special ed classes. But it was definitely an interesting read, and made me reflect a lot on my own experiences as a sub and a teacher.

#71: walk on the beach 20x

walk on the beach #2

robert's work sent him to manistique for the week, and forgot his work boots, so one night i drove out there (it's about an hour east along lake michigan) with his boots and we went out for dinner and went to the beach. he drove back to the hotel, and i walked back along the beach on the boardwalk.



knowing how to swim is always a good place to start!





notice the scarf from item #34!





this little section of the beach had thousands and thousands of little shells washed up in one spot. this is robert pointing it out to me.

#34: Knit something.

i've always liked knitting, but i only know one "knit" (is that what you call it? like a stitch, but in knitting terms). i don't know how to read knitting patterns and i've never tried to learn. i can only knit squares and rectangles, which pretty much leaves me with scarves. and a girl only needs so many winter scarves.

but! i was really inspired for this knitting project, by my dear friend amanda, who is always a source of inspiration for me in many areas of my life. i was inspired for the construction of the scarf by one she knitted (out of denim she had taken apart and spun into yarn) for a fashion show last month. and my scarf was made out of yarn that she had given me--she may have even spun the yarn? i even improvised and figured out on my own how to knit in a stripe down the middle of it.

#25: write a list of 100 things that inspire me.

i subbed in a sociology/government classroom the other day and it was senior skip day, and 4 of the 6 classes i taught were majority seniors, so very few people were in the classes. the ones that were pretty much got down to work, and then just hung out talking to each other or listening to music, so when i wasn't talking to any of them, i was just sitting there, so i decided to start my list. apparently, i was feeling pretty inspired, because i knocked out the whole list, coming up with 120 items. some of it are things that inspire me artistically, some politically, some intellectually, and some just in general, in life. here we go!

....warm days....budding trees....my mother....the coalition of immokalee workers....the civil rights movement....really great teachers....vibrant colors....1920s, '30s & '40s imagery....howard zinn....direct action actions....strikes and worker-organized boycotts....meeting new people....political discussions....non-fiction books....exercise....belly dancing....a visually beautiful movie....documentaries....bollywood....new dessert recipes....bookstores....thrift store finds....cute heels....elephants....cool journals....pen pals....things made from recycled content....crafster.org....foodgawker.com....sex-positive writing/attitudes....queer theory....queer porn & erotica....gender bending/ers....my friends....lively sea....the great lakes....travelling....the inca....the nahua/aztecs....the maya....the araucanians....the ezln....emiliano zapata....benito juarez....evo morales....cocaleros....machu picchu....llamas....nice yarn....indigenous myths....change....dark chocolate....biking....hairy legs & armpits....sewing machines....stacks of fabric....hot cups of tea....visits with friends....drawings of plants....gardens....puppies....my cameras....chunky necklaces....zines....cute mail....food co-ops....local farms....csa's....farmer's markets....old buildings....abandoned buildings....detroit....blair grinn....belle isle....cobblestone streets....emma goldman....the haymarket martyrs....lucy parsons....martin luther king jr.'s speeches....vandana shiva....chicago....stockholm....train travel....tom waits....cute dresses....old books....libraries....marquette....road trips....new grilled cheese sandwich ideas....small shows....mix tapes....lists....writing letters....prose....journalling....drag queens....drag kings....anti-capitalism....drawing....skeletons....airplanes....the human heart....frida kahlo....diego rivera....jose guadalupe posada....old delta blues....forests....crystal clear creeks & rivers....the upper peninsula....the circus....hip hop....long walks....adventure....ancestry....amanda cinco/my sister....wild lily of the valley....the (international) noise conspiracy....carrots....memoirs....photocopiers....

#14: Cook 40 big breakfasts

The reason for this item on my list is that my mom recently mentioned the saying, "Eat like a king for breakfast, a lord for lunch, and a peasant for dinner," meaning that it's healthy to eat a lot to start your day, and less at the end. It's good for your metabolism. I have a really high metabolism, and I'd like to keep it that way. I try to eat snacks/more than three times a day. But lately I have been lazy about breakfasts (usually just a bagel), and Robert and I tend to make really big dinners. So I added this item to the list under health, to try to get in the habit of making bigger breakfasts! I'm not going to blog about every one, but this one was notable.

Big Breakfast #1: In Birmingham, near the cities I lived in in Southeast Michigan, there was a restaurant called The Original Pancake House, right on Woodward. I think they're a chain, but I haven't seen too many. My family would go there on occasional Sundays for brunch after church, or for dinner some times. (That's my mom and I at the OHOP when my brother and I were both in town a few years ago.) There was always a long line, out the door, but it was always worth it because we would always share "The Big Apple". It's a German baked apple pancake, so huge, and so delicious. We'd always share one between two people.





So, I tried my hand at making baked German apple pancakes this past weekend! It required some improvising once I realized that the recipe called for an oven-safe skillet and we don't have one. Instead I cooked the apples up, but then put them in two separate baking dishes before pouring on the batter and sticking them in the oven. That way Robert and I each got our own (square) pancake. And they were great! Next time I would maybe not use nutmeg, but if you like nutmeg, it's not too strong.


If you want to try your hand at these pancakes, the recipe can be found: here.

#39: complete my on-line and paper teaching portfolios

i got a little burnt out on substitute teaching this week, so i took the day off as an at-home work day, and completed my on-line teaching portfolio. now i can send a link to it with my resume when i apply for jobs--hopefully it'll help me stand out a little, and they can get a little idea of what kind of teacher i am besides just what's on my resume.

now i just have a couple more things to print off, and my paper one will be complete, too. then i will be all ready when any interview opportunities come up!

i love feeling productive.

#42: try 10 new dessert recipes.

so, the way that i remember which one has two s's when i'm spelling dessert and desert, is that this woman i worked with in a medical billing office had a shirt that said, "stressed spelled backwards is desserts!" i think of that every time i'm spelling dessert, and that's how i remember it has two s's.

anyways! new dessert recipe #1: peanut butter cheesecake brownies! yeah, you heard that right. and they were totally delicious. when i was working on not eating sugar for a week, ala list item #1, the last two days of that week i was craving sugar. so, i made these brownies the day after my week was up, to reward myself!

the recipe i used can be found: here.

#99: watch 10 documentaries.

documentary #1: i watched the film stupidity. it explores the ideas and glorification of stupidity in our society. i didn't finish it. it's a somewhat interesting topic, but after awhile i wasn't hearing anything new or thoughtful, and i just got sick of watching all the clips of people looking/being/acting stupid.

#54: go on 15 dates with robert.

date #1: in duluth, mn robert and i went to a matinee of the movie kick ass in a theatre right on lake superior. we both liked the movie, it was a lot different than i thought it would be. i thought it was just gonna be these geeky friends being super heroes together, getting up to comedic shenanigans, possibly getting in trouble with the law. but it was a much more serious super hero movie. we both agreed that shortly into it, though, the main character was inconsequential. i really like hit girl, though!

after the movie we ate dinner at an indian restaurant, called, i believe, india palace. we shared aloo tiki appetizers, i had aloo gobi, he had a lamb curry, and i had a chai. really yummy and the left overs were just as good two days later!

we went back to the hotel, digested and watched some tv before going for an exhilarating swim in the hotel pool during the "adults only" swim time. it was a good work out and i was exhausted afterwards. the hot tub was randomly in a different room down the hall, and when we went there after the pool, there were a two couples of middle-aged people who were drinking...we didn't want to hang out with that many people, and i generally get creeped out by the idea of sitting in a hot tub with older men.

great date!

#43: go on 5 vacations.

i feel like this will not be difficult to complete, and perhaps i should have had a higher goal number, seeing as how i've been on three vacations in the last three months (not counting two trips to detroit!). but, at least i will definitely complete this task! and my vacations should be slowing down now.

so! the first check on this list was 4.23.10-4.26.10 when i went to duluth, minnesota for the weekend. robert's work sent him to duluth for three weeks, so on the second weekend i drove the 5.5 hours to visit him. the drive was a little bit boring, but i got to drive through a number of small, U.P. towns which was nice.

duluth was a pretty interesting city to look at. it's on the coast of lake superior (my favorite great lake!), and full of steep hills. it makes for lots of dramatic views. i got into the city at night, and it was great driving over lit up bridges and being able to see the whole city all lit up. the two fulls days i was there it was cold and rainy and windy, so unfortunately we just drove around the downtown a bit, and couldn't walk to explore it much. i would have loved to take some photos of the buildings downtown, but alas. we did find a few great restaurants, though!

wildlife spotted on the drive to/fro duluth: 3 deer, 1 herron, 2 bald eagles, 1 wild turkey.

#18: write a letter to myself to open on day 1,001.

i did this today during a prep hour on a sub job. it was odd writing to a future self. i wanted to ask myself questions, but it's not like i will be able to answer them in the future and have present me know the answer. i suppose they were just more ponderings. i tried to postulate on what my life would be like in early 2013, and gave future me some advice. i put it in a envelope, addressed it to myself, and sealed with a sticker. it's tucked in my paper journal i'm using to track this project.

my 101 list.

here's my list! a few of the items i stole from/was inspired by other people's lists. but it should be fun! i'll be updating the progress of items on this list, but also blogging about specific tasks. completed tasks are in bold, tasks in progress are in italics.

Health
1. Don't eat sugar for a week 7x (5/7 as of 6.22.12)
2. Floss my teeth every day for a week, 6x (5/6 as of 01.29.12)
3. Go on 4 walks in a week, 5x completed 11.03.10
4. Do yoga twice a week, 10x (5/10, as of 6.22.12)
5. Develop an exercise and stretching routine (completed 7.30.10, added on to here and there)
6. Bike 500 miles (75/500 as of 7.13.11)
7. Go jogging 20x (28/20) completed 3.6.11
8. Do a body cleanse
9. Perform 20 breast self-exams (10/20 as of 8.22.12)
10. Do 10 gyno self-exams (2/10 as of 6.22.12)
11. Go to the dentist 2x
12. Buy orthotics/improve posture (completed 11.20.10)
13. Switch back to organic food when I can afford it
14. Eat 40 big breakfasts (27/40 as of 9.30.12, blogged here, here and here)
15. Try 5 new recipes in the slow cooker (completed, blogged here)
16. Chart my cycle ala Fertility Awareness Method for a year (blogged here)

Writing
17. Put out issues 16 and 17 of Checkered Past (completed 3.25.11, blogged)
18. Write a letter to myself to open on day 1001 (completed 4.30.10, blogged)
19. Write a letter to myself to open when I'm 30 (completed 5.12.10)
20. Write 20 pen pal letters (completed 2.12.12)
21. Write 100 love notes and leave in places (8/100 as of 6.22.12)
22. Leave 5 copies of my zine in random places
23. Table at a zine fest (completed 3.26.11, here and here)
24. Submit Checkered Past to 5 distros (3/5 as of 3.30.11)
25. Make a list of 100 things that inspire me (complete 5.14.10, blogged)
26. Complete the 5,000 questions survey te the 5,000 question survey(395/5,000 completed, abandoned 06.28.11, blogged)
27. Leave a note in a library book (completed 4.15.11, blogged)
28. Send a secret to post secret completed 08.24.11
29. Write a letter to my future/possible child/ren
30. Finish/update piece on queer identity and publish in zine (completed 3.24.11, blogged)

Other Creative Endeavors
31. Make 12 new book journals (completed 11.11.11)
32. Get etsy shop back up and running and sell 12 journals (8/12 as of 01.29.12, blogged)
33. Finish a crochet project (completed 4.22.11, blogged)
34. Knit something (completed 05.18.10, blogged)
35. Draw 20 comics in my drawing journal (7/20 as of 5.5.11)
36. Participate in 20 swaps on swap-bot.com (10/20 as of 5.13.12)
37. Alter 10 items of clothing (8/10 as of 5.13.12, blogged here, here, here and here)
38. Make 5 more cloth menstrual pads

Activities/Accomplishments
39. Complete both my digital and paper teaching portfolios (digital completed 5.07.10, blogged, paper completed 8.17.10)
40. Get a permanent teaching job
41. Propose to Robert, completed 10.16.11
42. Try 10 new dessert recipes (8/10, as of 5.13.12, blogged here and here)
43. Go on 5 vacations (10/5, completed 3.26.11, blogged here, here and here)
44. Buy a house
45. Go on a picnic with Robert (completed 7.25.10)
46. Go to Mexico with Blair
47. Adopt a shelter animal (completed 10.16.10, blogged and here)
48. Have at least 200 orgasms (164/200 as of 9.30.12)
49. Ride bumper cars (completed 02.16.12, blogged here)
50. Go to 3 Tigers games (completed 09.03.11, blogged here and here)
51. Watch a sunset (completed 5.19.10, blogged here)
52. Watch a sunrise Watch a sunriseW WaWatch (Com(complete(E(Com(ca
53. Get my heart (or another) tattoo completed 03.04.12
54. Go on 15 dates with Robert (12/15 as of 6.22.12, blogged here and here)
55. Grow my hair out again (completed, blogged here)
56. Post this list on my walls (completed 5.9.10)
57. Go geocaching
58. Make and stash a geocache
59. Pay back student loans to Mom
60. Go to 50 Farmer's markets (15/50 as of 6.22.12)
61. Visit Crazy Horse monument (completed 7.06.10)
62. Make ice cream
63. Cross 100 things off to-do lists (completed 01.06.12)
64. Create a blog about this list (completed 4.30.10)
65. Have 10 event nights (7/10 as of 5.28.12, blogged here, here and here)
66. Use my fondue set (completed 2.12.11 blogged here)
67. Discover 10 new bands to love (7/10 as of 6.22.12)
68. Paint my toenails (completed 5.9.10)
69. Get a keeper cup (completed 6.11.10, blogged)
70. Watch 10 movies in bed (6/10 as of 11.14.10)
71. Walk on the beach 20x (21/20, completed 01.23.12, blogged here, here, here and here)

Intellectual Pursuits/Mentality/Being a better person
72. Compliment a stranger 10 times (completed 8.4.12)
73. Read 30 books (2/30 as of 9.30.12, blogged here, here, here, here and here)
74. Read 50 zines (38/50 as of 6.22.12)
75. Volunteer at a women's shelter/related organization
76. Clean the bathroom once a week for a month, 3x (completed 3.31.11)
77. Get all dishes washed at once, 10x (6/10 as of 5.13.12)
78. Get rid of at least 10 more items of clothing (36/10, completed 09.17.10, blogged here)
79. Clear Mom's house of my stuff and purge everything I can part with
80. Go to a protest (completed 04.05.11, blogged here)
81. Visit Grandma Fleming's grave 8x (1/8 as of 12.20.10)
82. Join a CSA
83. Move out of Escanaba (completed 09.18.10)
84. Save $2 for every goal I complete ($50 as of 4.22.11)
85. Donate $2 for every goal I miss
86. Make a new friend (blogged)
87. Donate my hair again (completed 9.13.12, blogged here)
88. Complete all Livemocha Spanish courses
89. Read 100 news articles in Spanish (11/100 as of 5.13.12)
90. Complete first Livemocha course in Swedish
91. Complete first Livemocha course in Finnish
92. Donate 1,000,000 grains of rice via freerice.com (967,550 as of 9.30.12)
93. Start a garden
94. Have tea with friends 50x (23/50 as of 5.13.12)
95. Send 2 care packages
96. Participate in an event in support of the CIW
97. Join a club or organization (completed June, 2011)
98. Listen to 500 podcasts (369/500 as of 9.30.12)
99. Watch 10 documentaries (completed 1.02.11, blogged)
100. Have 10 political discussions/debates (8/10 as of 01.29.12)
101. Watch no TV for a day, 10x (5/10 as of 7.13.11)

this project.

i was turned on to this project by the lovely ingrid--who sent me a beautiful journal of 31 envelopes/letters as part of the theme-a-day journal swap on swap-bot--and immediately decided i wanted to do it. sometimes i feel like my life is a giant to-do list, and i love crossing things off lists, so this seemed like a perfect project!

the upshot of the day zero project is that you create a list of 101 things you want to accomplish in 1,001 days. it works out to about 2.75 years, so it is enough time to really accomplish some things, but also has a definitive end date to keep in mind. so i made my list, made up a journal for myself to track my progress, but it seemed like a fun idea to make a blog about this, too. plus, it's one of the items on my list (yar har har). so, let the fun begin!

Preliminary links:
day zero project site.
ingrid's mission: one oh one blog.