I'm doing 43 things
I don’t live with my mom anymore so I don’t speak Japanese on a daily basis but I’ve been writing actual letters to a relative and I’m much more involved with using Japanese on the computer. I have found online dictionaries which has made me super lazy from picking up an actual dictionary. Very briefly I even had a temp job at a Japanese company so I’ve discovered the joy of Japanese on a PC rather than a Mac, which makes me a bit sad. (I know of no Mac way to look up kanji by writing it with your mouse.) I’m listening to music in Japanese much more often and since my last entry have been active in the Nikkei community though I’m stepping down my involvement this year. (being Nikkei isn’t hand in hand with knowing Japanese) I even found among my stuff a photocopy of the poster in my mom’s restroom of the required kanji so maybe I should mimic her and contemplate kanji even in there. Though that poster is better for native speakers as a reminder rather than a learning tool. That is helpful though since most Japanese abroad forget kanji from lack of seeing it on a daily basis and god knows that’s me too. (I have sumo wrestler names in a restroom as decoration but that’s not helpful at all.)
????'s Life List
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1. spend less time screwing around on the web
1 entry . 4 cheers217 people -
2. Pay off all of my debt
2 entries . 4 cheers549 people -
3. Learn to speak and write Japanese fluently
3 entries . 9 cheers153 people -
4. learn the okinawan dialect
1 entry . 2 cheers2 people -
5. Learn to speak Spanish
2 entries . 5 cheers1,995 people -
6. learn to play shamisen
2 entries . 2 cheers15 people -
7. Donate blood more often
4 cheers29 people -
8. lose another 40 pounds
3 entries . 2 cheers5 people -
9. go to the gym regularly
2 cheers740 people -
10. be a better vegan
1 entry . 3 cheers69 people -
11. learn to cook delicious vegan meals
6 cheers6 people -
12. understand macrobiotics intuitively
1 cheer1 person -
13. develop social skills enough to hold a conversation with anyone
5 cheers12 people -
14. make everyone laugh as much as possible
1 entry . 5 cheers1 person -
15. make more friends
2 entries . 2 cheers4,244 people -
16. Write a book or screenplay
1 entry . 1 cheer9 people -
17. become a filmmaker
1 entry . 2 cheers83 people -
18. decide what the hell I would like to do with the rest of my life
1 cheer6,189 people -
19. live in tokyo for a few years
1 cheer1 person -
20. Live in San Francisco for a few years
2 cheers12 people -
21. visit more museums
3 cheers71 people -
22. Read more books
1 cheer9,259 people -
23. Improve my photography
2 entries . 1 cheer528 people -
24. have nicer clothes
1 entry . 2 cheers2 people -
25. increase my capacity for patience and tolerance
1 entry . 1 cheer1 person -
26. learn to SCUBA dive
2,203 people -
27. learn to mountain bike
1 entry . 1 cheer16 people -
28. Explore California!
1 entry . 1 cheer12 people -
29. Drive across the USA
2,011 people -
30. visit all 50 states
2 cheers5,800 people -
31. see the Mayan ruins
14 people -
32. explore Japan
2 entries9 people -
33. Walk the Great Wall of China
1 cheer415 people -
34. see the remains of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
1 cheer8 people -
35. play in the snow
1 cheer128 people -
36. See the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis
114 people -
37. convert my web sites to CSS
1 entry71 people -
38. Start playing guitar again
1 entry79 people -
39. Minimize existing clutter and excess possessions
1 entry385 people -
40. learn to play bass
3 cheers654 people -
41. Run a mile without stopping
261 people -
42. be on Flickr's interestingness
17 people -
43. Go camping and hiking more often
1 cheer8 people
In the past year I’ve been losing friends so I’m failing this goal miserably. But I’ve also had some life changes like a new job that gives me the chance to meet more people. There’s a couple people on my possible friend list so I’m hoping I can make at least as many friends as I’ve lost recently.
My biggest obstacle from getting rid of stuff is I feel that there is some value I could get, no matter how small, if I sold things instead of just getting rid of it. (Better to put money in pocket than throw it out.) I’ve been mostly selling CDs but recently opened it up to books and DVDs, of which I have much less. I learned DVDs sell the best and books don’t sell. So I should just give away the books and sell all DVDS I’m not 100% in love with. Then there’s boxes of emotionally attached junk—liked things I used to collect or ‘I know it’ll be useful one day’ crap. But it’s time to stop that sort of thinking and let go. A motivator would be to think of people I know with lots of crap in their home and how I want the opposite of that. I never take the time to target decluttering so that’s what keeps the boxes move after move. No more. Decluttering is now a priority.
