Starting with a Dozen Each

As we get ready to begin a new year, I’m looking over my blog and it seems my journaling has slacked way off. In pondering how to get myself excited again to “check” things off, I plan to start with a dozen items for different areas in life. Why start with 12 things to do? Well, I hope to accomplish 12 things pretty easily and then come up with 12 more things. If that doesn’t quite work out, I can at least aim to get 1 thing done each month. It gives me a whole year to complete this task and will feel good accomplishing the goal I set myself at the beginning of the year.

When looking at all kinds of “things to do before you die” it gets overwhelming. If you break it down into smaller lists, you feel so much better and reason that you can get it done. I also hope to incorporate this graphic into my “things to do” goals.

Music: I’m already working on getting through the “1001 Songs to Hear Before You Die” and like how I have it set up to listen to twenty songs each week. By doing it that way, I can get through the list in a year so I’ll leave that alone.

Breweries & Wineries: Go to 12 places that produce that specific liberation and check off the lists that I have created for the different areas.

Movies: watch movies from “1001 Movies to Watch Before you Die”

1. 13th
2. Avengers: Infinity War
3. Babel
4. Cool Hand Luke
5. Dark Knight
6. Enter the Dragon
7. Forbidden Planet
8. Gangs of New York
9. Hell or High Water
10. I, Daniel Blake
11. Kings Speech
12. Life of Brian

Books: read books from “1001 Books to Read Before you Die”

1. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
2. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
3. Divine Comedy by Dante
4. Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald
5. Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
6. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison or H.G. Wells
7. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
8. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
9. Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke
10. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
11. Paradise Lost by John Milton
12. Ulysses by James Joyce

General Things to Do:

Walk on the beach in winter
Have a picnic on the beach in February

Music Monday 02

Ongoing challenge: listen to the 1001(+) Songs you Must Hear Before You Die, 20 songs each week. Read about it, and find the full list here. 

1. Amandrai – Ali Farka Toure (released 1988, album “Ali Farka Toure”, Mande, folk, blues)
2. Elected – Alice Cooper (release 1972, album “Billion Dollar Babies”, Hard Rock)
3. Only Women Bleed – Alice Cooper (released 1975, album “Welcome to My Nightmare”, Soft Rock)
4. Fallin’ – Alicia Keys (released 2001, album “Songs in A Minor”, Neo Soul, R&B)
5. Never Ever – All Saints (released 1997, album “All Saints, R&B, Pop, Soul)
6. Uptown Top Ranking – Althea & Donna (released 1977, as a single, Reggae)
7. Hunger Of The Pine – Alt-J (released 2014, album “This Is All Yours”, Indie Rock, Art Rock)
8. Sabali – Amadou & Mariam (released 2012, as a single, Malian music, worldbeat)
9. Foi Deus – Amalia Rodrigues (released 1956, as a single, Portugese, Rado)
10. Fuck Me Pumps – Amy Winehouse (released 2004, album “Frank”, R&B)
11. Love Is a Losing Game – Amy Winehouse (released 2007, album “Back to Black”, Soul)
12. Pokarekare – Ana Hato (with Deane Waretini) (released 1927, as a single, Maori)
13. Summertime Clothes – Animal Collective (release 2009, album “Merriweather Post Pavilion”, Indietronica, experimental rock)
14. I Can’t Stand the Rain – Ann Peebles (release 1973, album “I Can’t Stand the Rain”, Soul, Memphis Soul)
15. Blackwater Side – Anne Briggs (released 1971, album “Anne Briggs”, Folk)
16. Aguas de marco – Antonio Carlos Jobim & Elis Regina (released 1973, album “Jobim”, Jazz, Bossa Nova, Latin)
17. Hope There’s Someone – Antony & The Johnsons (released 2005, album “I Am a Bird Now”, Baroque Pop)
18. Come to Daddy (Pappy Mix) – Aphex Twin (released 1997, as EP, drum and bass)
19. Strange and Beautiful (I’ll Put a Spell on You) – Aqualung (released 2002, as a single, Pop Rock, Electronica)
20. Rebellion (Lies) – Arcade Fire (released 2005, album “Funeral”, Indie Rock, Art Rock, Post-Punk Revival)

Music Monday 01

I grabbed a list from a site regarding the 1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. Hopefully it’s an accurate list. I’m going to try to get through list in one year, which would be about twenty songs each week. I will be creating this Music Monday Playlist to share which songs I will be listening to, for the week.

1. 96 Tears – ? and the Mysterians (released 1966, album “96 Tears”, Garage Rock, Pop Rock, Psychedelic Rock)
2. Voices Carry – ‘Til Tuesday (released 1985, album “Voices Carry”, Pop, New Wave)
3. Because the Night – 10,000 Maniacs (released 1993, album “MTV Unplugged”, Alternative Rock, Folk Rock, Soft Rock)
4. Dear Mama – 2Pac (released 1995, album “Me Against the World”, Hip hop)
5. Bonita Applebum – A Tribe Called Quest (released 1990, album “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm”, Alternative hip hop, Jazz, Rap)
6. More Than a Woman – Aaliyah (released 2001, album “Aaliyah”, Pop, electoro, hip hop)
7. Dancing Queen – Abba (released 1976, album “Arrival”, Disco, Europop, Euro Disco)
8. Voulez-Vous – Abba (released 1979, album “Volulez-Vous”, Disco, Europop, Euro Disco)
9. The Winner Takes It All – Abba (released 1980, album “Super Trouper”, Disco, Europop, Euro Disco)
10. Whole Lotta Rosie – AC/DC (released 1977, album “Let There Be Rock”, Hard Rock, Rock and Roll)
11. Back in Black – AC/DC (released 1980, album “Back in Black”, Hard Rock, Rock and Roll)
12. Kings of the Wild Frontier – Adam & The Ants (released 1980, album “Kings of the Wild Frontier”, Post Punk, New Wave)
13. Walk This Way – Aerosmith (released 1975, album “Toys in the Attic”, Hard Rock, Funk Rock)
14. The Sun Always Shines on T.V. – A-ha (released 1985, album “Hunting High and Low”, Synth-pop, pop rock, new wave)
15. Save Me – Aimee Mann (released 1999, album “Magnolia” Soundtrack, Contemporary folk)
16. Kelly Watch the Stars – Air (released 1998, album “Moon Safari”, Space pop, chillout)
17. Tired of Being Alone – Al Green (released 1971, album “Al Green Gets Next to You”, Soul)
18. The Snake – Al Wilson (released 1968, first released as single only, Soul)
19. Woke Up This Morning – Alabama 3 (released 1997, album “Exile on Coldharbour Lane”, Electronica, acid jazz, trip hop)
20. You Oughtta Know – Alanis Morissette (released 1995, album “Jagged Little Pill”, Alternative Rock, Post-grunge)

Remembering Pearl Harbor

My mom and I went to see Midway in the theater. I told my mom that we should go see it as part of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. The movie starts with the attack at Pearl Harbor and shows events leading up to, and the battle at Midway. It is interesting to read about the general strategy and events, but it really hits home with the personal stories. Things like this should definitely not be forgotten.

Enjoy a Fluffernutter Sandwich

Every once in a while, I will take a look at the National and International days to see what is being celebrated / observed / remembered. Each day, and month, has several officially recognized days and some of them just seem so odd that I either laugh or scratch my head and wonder why. October 8th is recognized as National Fluffernutter Day.  A simple enough food item, but it’s one I’ve never had. Now, it’s just bread, peanut butter, and marshmallow fluff. I have always loved peanut butter, but haven’t been all that fond of marshmallow.

Being on this “let’s try new things” attitude, I figured I’d give it a try.  Made it as a snack one afternoon, and it tasted okay. I didn’t have a “oh my, this is soooo yummy!!!” moment. At least now I can say I have given it a taste. Need to figure out what to do with the rest of the marshmallow fluff.

Have you had fluffernutter sandwiches?

Things to Do in the Fall Season

Saying there’s a seasonal change in the year is nice in that it breaks up the year. It gives you things to look forward to doing that’s related to that part of the year. Stuff that you do each year that have become traditions, and new things you are wanting to accomplish and experience. Fall season is my favorite, with the changes of colors in the leaves, and my birthday month of October. Some of the following things I’m looking forward to are traditions and some new experiences to try.

• Watch 31 Halloween-ish movies from the “1001 Movies to Watch Before you Die” List
• Apple Hill road trip (located around Camino, California)
• Apple donuts, apple juice, apple pie, apples, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream
• hiking, see the colorful foliage
• pumpkin patch, pick a pumpkin, carve a jack-o-lantern
• corn maze (located in Dixon, California)
• pumpkin flavored food hunt (not pumpkin spice)
• Hayride
• Fall Festivals
• mountain mandarin festival, in November (located in Auburn, California)
• Pizza, go to a new place (October is pizza month)
• fall picnic
• Make some fall recipes
• Fall themed music playlists (Halloween one for sure)

Items listed in the “2001 things to do” book

• order yourself a birthday cake (birthday in October)
• be the guest of honor at your own party
• build a birdhouse
• roast marshmallows in your backyard
• pick, then bob for apples
• have a Halloween bonfire with hot apple cider
• See a ghost
• levitate someone
• have a séance
• work at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving
• learn the Rocky Horror Picture Show routine by heart
• walk knee-deep in maple leaves
• learn to carve a turkey like a chef
• buy a perfect tomato from a farm stand and eat it like an apple
• bake the best apple pie
• Sing Christmas carols around the middle of August
• Have a cookout that ends with S’mores
• Tell ghost stories in a pitch-black room
• Develop your own recipe for chili
• Exorcise demons
• jump into a big pile of leaves
• Cast a spell
• Spring clean in October
• Carve a smiling jack-o-lantern
• Sleep with a ghost in the room
• Cruise the backwoods of Vermont between Oct 7 and Oct 14
• gather a bunch of friends for a Halloween hayride
• perform an exorcism
• study witchcraft

Any other fun things to add for the Fall season?

That was a memorable day

I am looking over my online journal here (aka a blog), and I realize I don’t really think of my lists and my stories as checking things off a bucket list. Sure it’s an easy term, and makes for a good check list or goal list, but I’m NOT trying to check things off just to get it down once before I die. I want to use the lists I find to help keep life interesting. If you have a plan and go experience these things you want to do, at least once, then you won’t feel bored. You have that memorable moment in your life. Thinking of moments, it brings to mind a snippet I grabbed when reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

That’s what I want my journal to be; those moments of life, big or small, experiences, new things, adventures, or goals reached. Plus, it has been fun taking photos and writing up the memories as I check off the item in a list.

Autumn Feels

Been a moment or two since I last posted in here. With it being officially Autumn (even if you cannot tell by the weather temperatures, 92 degrees in Sacramento, California as I write this) I think it is a perfect time to write up some fall things to do. That will hopefully help get me motivated and/or inspired to check some list items. At least to keep life interesting and not a same old work/home routine rut that I find myself currently doing

What’s your go-to things to do in the Fall?

On the Bookshelf: In Cold Blood

read about this challenge and see the full list here

Title: In Cold Blood
Author: Truman Capote
Publication Date: 1966
Country: USA
Genre: Non-Fiction / True Crime
Pages: 343

Synopsis: On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.

My Book Report: Very different from the type of fiction I normally read. This was pretty good. “In Cold Blood is regarded by critics as a pioneering work in the true crime genre” Now I can watch the movie.

The List: 100 Ways to Shake Up Your Life

book by Gail Belsky

Get a tattoo, ride in a fire truck, or use food as foreplay—in short, get out there and shake things up! Fun, inspirational, and incredibly motivating, The List offers one hundred ideas—ranging from challenging to outrageous—for women who have been craving a little novelty in their lives.

With instructions and inspirational stories from women who have risen to the challenge, The List will excite, scare, and push readers to do something they’ve always dreamed of, or better yet, to do something they’ve never dared consider. Whether it’s writing a novel, running a marathon, or taking on a lover, The List delivers what many women are missing—taste of adventure and a light kick in the butt. (description from Amazon.com)

1. Write a novel
2. Do a triathlon
3. Strip
4. Catch a big fish
5. Learn a foreign language
6. Witness childbirth
7. Join an ambulance crew
8. Learn to surf
9. Audition for something nerve-racking
10. Join a relief effort
11. Get a tattoo (or a piercing)
12. Enter a poker tournament
13. Run for office
14. Brew your own beer
15. Do a polar bear swim
16. Drastically change your hairstyle
17. Bake a wedding cake
18. Go horseback riding, bareback style
19. Launch your own website
20. Join a cattle drive
21. Build your own piece of furniture
22. Organize a rally
23. Get hypnotized
24. Learn trapeze
25. Go commando
26. Visit an ashram
27. Shoot a gun
28. Record your own music
29. Buy yourself a sex toy
30. Take a lover
31. Hike Machu Picchu
32. Have nude pictures taken
33. Have a cosmetic surgery procedure
34. Drive over 100 miles per hour
35. Learn an exotic dance
36. Swim with sea creatures
37. Dive off a cliff
38. Sneak backstage
39. Spelunk
40. Create a sacred space
41. Learn to sail
42. Take up an instrument
43. Leave your marriage
44. Start your own business
45. Ask someone out
46. Make over a room
47. Hire a personal shopper
48. Make a big move
49. Conquer a fear
50. Skydive
51. Eat something really weird
52. Become a bartender or sommelier
53. Tell someone to screw off
54. Take singing lessons
55. Switch careers/go back to school
56. Learn to box
57. Get a makeover
58. Buy something outrageously expensive
59. Escape (for the day, weekend, or week)
60. Kiss a total stranger
61. Bike across America
62. play in the snow
63. Ride in a fire truck
64. Watch porn
65. Skinny dip
66. Break a long-held tradition
67. Join the Peace Corps
68. Plan a girls’ vacation
69. Learn survival skills
70. Paint your house a wild color
71. Try high-stakes gambling
72. Play ice hockey
73. Throw an all-girls party
74. Make a sex tape
75. Learn to drive
76. Lie about something
77. Go topless
78. Scuba dive
79. Get a Brazilian wax
80. Use food as foreplay
81. start a charity
82. Find love online
83. Go to Burning man
84. Plan and prepare a seduction dinner
85. Quit smoking
86. Read the classics
87. Blow glass
88. Get a pilot’s license
89. Spend 24 hours in bed
90. Lose 50+ pounds
91. Take a year off
92. Have a baby late in life
93. Live with less
94. Mount an art exhibit
95. Find religion
96. Bungee jump
97. Sleep with a younger man
98. Buy a negligee
99. Blow off the day
100. Make your own list

Drinking Adventures

Most of my posts inspired by drinking, will be on my drinktopia page. Last year, I came across a blog that talked about this book and I was intrigued. It’s very informative and fun to go chapter by chapter and learn about different alcohol. I am now starting out with learning about Scotch whisk(e)ys. It reminded me that I have been Scotland and toured a whisky distillery. Hopefully I can find a photo to share about that adventure.

Have you read this book? Or had Scotch Whisky? And what was a favorite?

Things to Do In Winter

A WINTER BUCKETLIST

Listed in the “2001 things to do” book

• Ski Tuckerman’s Ravine (Sept 2012)
• Ice-skate by candlelight at midnight (Jan 2013)
• ski by torchlight (Jan 2013)
• walk on the beach in winter (Jan 2013)
• dress up like santa claus and play it to the hilt (Feb 2013)
• find out what auld lange syne really means (Feb 2013)
• snowmobile (Jun 2013)
• drink mulled wine on a snowy night in Prague (Aug 2013)
• build a glorious, elaborate snow castle (Aug 2013)
• Christmas carol with candles (Oct 2013)
• build an igloo (Oct 2013)
• skate a perfect figure-eight (Oct 2013)
• spend the winter holidays in Austria or Switzerland (Nov 2013)
• pay Santa for a needy family at Christmas (Dec 2013)
• catch a snowflake on your tongue (Jan 2014)
• take a walk in the woods at night when it’s snowing (Mar 2014)
• attend the winter solstice, or any Paul Winter concert (Mar 2014)
• Write a personal note on every Christmas card (Jul 2014)
• Take a child with you to cut down a Christmas tree on a a snowy night (Dec 2014)
• Hire someone to wrap all your Christmas presents (Dec 2014)
• Have a picnic on the beach in February (Feb 2015)
• Send all your Christmas cards out on time (Mar 2015)
• Decorate outdoors with abandon at Christmastime (May 2015)
• Pack a thermos full of hot cocoa and go for a long walk in the wintry woods (Jun 2015)
• Camp out in the snow (Dec 2015)
• Read A Christmas Carol (Mar 2016)
• Spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square (Apr 2016)
• Make a snowman (Apr 2016)
• Build a snow fort (Apr 2016)
• Snowshoe (Jul 2016)
• Go sleigh riding (Nov 2016)
• Acquire meaningful Christmas ornaments (Jan 2018)

Any other fun things to add for Winter season?

Good Eats: Impossible Burger

#foodiefriday entry

As a kid, I was a pretty picky eater. Didn’t like many sauces and wasn’t happy with spices or trying odd foods. As an adult, I am willing and wanting to try new foods and there are a ton of choices out there. I think it’s been a couple of years now when I first heard about a vegan burger patty that looked so much like a meat burger, people were making waiters take their food back to the kitchen because they thought the waiter got the order wrong. Turns out it just was that good of a meatless patty. I was intrigued and wanted to give it a try but just never got around to buying it in a restaurant or grocery store.

Yesterday, I was heading out to a happy hour at a wine bistro place in town. I saw that they do burger and wine deals on Thursdays and one of the choices was with the Impossible burger. I jumped for joy. (Not really, but was happy for sure seeing that). As soon as I got in the door and sat down to order, I pointed to the burger and said that was what I wanted.

If I hadn’t known that it was vegan, I would have thought it a good flavored meat burger. They had added aioli, greens, pepper jam, vegan mozzarella, crispy onions & avocado (I had it without the vegan bun). I recommend and it is definitely worth a taste, it was super yummy.

Find out more about the Impossible Foods here.  Have you tried it? 

Crab Feeds

Do you like crab? Seems that crab season also creates a crab FEED season that are usually fundraisers for schools, churches, and non-profits. I belong to a non-profit that has been putting on a crab feed for 26 years. Volunteering to work this event got me to try crab and I realized that I enjoy the seafood. I also learned that there are people out there that LOVE going to a bunch of crab feeds each year. I had no idea that it was such a thing to do, but they are a ton of fun (and a ton of food).

I want to take a moment to promote my organization’s crab feed (tickets are still available). And I plan to write up a couple of posts about working a crab feed and also attending one for “bucket” list checks. I really encourage you to go try one out.

Have you worked or been to one? 

Step Right Up for the Active 20-30 Club of Greater Sacramento #1032’s 26th Annual Crab Feed, January 19, 2019 at our NEW VENUE: Citrus Heights Community Center!

General Admission sales ($65). For tickets, click here

Wear 2 Different Shoes

I have posted about this item before

This is a common enough mistake someone could make. In fact, I made it this morning. I grabbed these 2 shoes in the dark and didn’t pay attention to them until I got to work and realized they weren’t the same. This got me to wondering why would someone purposely wear 2 different shoes to check the item off the list in the book? Or is it there because we have probably made the mistake and it’s a funny memory? It sure is something out of the normalcy of the everyday.

Well, either way, I can share that I have now done it on purpose (kind of) with 2 shoes that were different but same color, and now by accident, completely 2 different colors.

What about you? Have you done it on purpose or accident? Did you go all day without realizing?