Dave on 43 Things

Dave's Life List

1. live my one wild and precious life
37 entries . 36 cheers 5 people
2. change the world, twenty minutes at a time
17 entries . 9 cheers 18 people
3. write one page every week
3 team members . 16 entries . 5 cheers 3 people

give back more than I take;in my work, my family, my community, and in the community of humankind
2 entries . 8 cheers

2 people

5. reflect on things for which I'm grateful
47 entries . 12 cheers 8 people
6. post random thoughts from my journal
19 entries . 8 cheers 1 person

Sit by the side of the road, drinking white wine and eating local cheese, in a bistro in Saumur, France
4 entries . 9 cheers

1 person

8. start a blog
4 entries . 8 cheers 708 people
9. write
2 entries . 3 cheers 1,145 people
10. write a poem in afrikaans
1 entry . 5 cheers 2 people
11. Write a novel
1 entry . 6 cheers 8,037 people
12. write some short fiction
2 entries . 2 cheers 2 people
13. Write like Amy Hempel
3 entries 1 person
14. write a story in journal form, and post it here
1 entry . 2 cheers 1 person
15. read all the volumes of my journal from beginning to end
11 entries . 7 cheers 1 person
16. study archaeology
4 entries . 11 cheers 22 people
17. contribute to the field of Oceanography
1 entry . 6 cheers 1 person
18. create a board game
2 entries . 13 cheers 193 people
19. see my kids graduate college
1 entry . 8 cheers 7 people
20. Travel in space
4 entries . 5 cheers 491 people
21. Pay it Forward
2 entries . 11 cheers 534 people
22. have grandchildren
5 cheers 55 people
23. live in a foreign country
1 entry . 9 cheers 2,219 people
24. help my kids get what they want out of life
1 entry . 10 cheers 2 people
25. Work on my Secret Goal
8 entries . 8 cheers 63 people
26. read and discuss cutting-edge fiction with other 43T'ers
2 entries . 2 cheers 1 person
27. use 43T more like a blog-site and less like a chat-room
2 entries . 4 cheers 1 person

28.

Drench myself in words unspoken, Live my life with arms wide open, Today is where my book begins, the rest is still unwritten
2 entries . 10 cheers

1 person

29. live in a way that honors Paul Forman
1 entry . 2 cheers 1 person
30. Fund micro-loans through Kiva.org
10 cheers 5 people
31. upload all my music to my iPod
3 entries . 4 cheers 9 people
32. make level 60 in World of Warcraft
4 entries . 2 cheers 3 people
33. become a wine connoisseur
5 entries . 2 cheers 186 people
34. drink responsibly
4 entries . 1 cheer 5 people
35. read 25 books in 2008
21 entries . 4 cheers 64 people
36. hit my revenue target for FY2009, long before the end of FY2009
3 entries 1 person
37. Spend less than I make
2 entries . 11 cheers 2 people
38. make a smaller ecological footprint
51 team members . 6 entries . 9 cheers 1,007 people
39. live small
1 entry . 4 cheers 2 people
40. publish my first piece of short fiction
2 entries . 2 cheers 1 person
41. Do something useful with my facebook account
1 entry 1 person

Recent entries

change the world, twenty minutes at a time (read all 17 entries…)

Vote with dollars 1 day ago

I’ve concluded that we vote with our money in the modern political system. Sad, but true.

So I donated $100. to Barack Obama’s campaign. I cannot remember supporting the platform of a political candidate more. Obama is our best chance at restoring democracy in America.

1 cheer | 0 comments

read 25 books in 2008 (read all 21 entries…)

Book 20. A long way from Chicago, by Richard Peck. 1 day ago

This is a young-adult book in the same family as “A year down yonder”, which was actually the second in the series. I enjoyed that one so much that I decided to read this one.

It is written as a series of linked short stories about the two weeks each summer a boy and his sister stay at their grandmother’s, throughout the 30’s. The theme is one of independence and doing the right thing, regardless of what others think of you, and the character of Grandma is so delightful that I don’t hesitate to recommend these two books.

1 cheer | 0 comments

Do something useful with my facebook account

Faces and things 3 days ago

I just don’t get it.

It seems to me that Facebook is a complete waste of time, but perhaps I’m just not trying hard enough. Sure, it’s fun at first to connect with all the people I haven’t seen in 20 years, but let’s face it, the reason I haven’t kept in touch with most of them is that I have nothing in common with them. Other than an occasional chuckle from a photo of an overweight, stressed out 40-something whom I haven’t seen since they were an anorexic, uptight 20-something, there isn’t much value there to extract, at least for me.

Contrast that with 43T. Here, I have a dozen or two people I correspond with because of common interests or attitudes about life. Sure, they’re total strangers, but I feel more in common with, say, someone curious about political systems and structures than someone who happened to graduate from the same high school as me.

Anyway, I’ll give it another couple of weeks, but I’m starting to see Facebook as a lost cause for me, and nothing but an endless time sink with very little return.

3 cheers | 7 comments

Home:	Connecticut, United States
Member since:	Mar 11, 2007
Birthday:	Nov 21
About me:	“I’m a freelance scientist and amateur historian, trying to become a freelance writer and amateur oceanographer, while living on the edge of civilization in south-central Connecticut. I have three kids, two cats, and about 10 chickens.”

Dave

Dave's Life List

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