Day Zero Project

101 goals in 1001 days

Start date: September 1, 2009
End date: May 29, 2012

Resolutions are fleeting so I have made the commitment to complete 101 goals in 1001 days as part of the Day Zero Project.

    Academic

  1. Take the GRE
  2. Apply to grad school
  3. Apply to at least one grad school that’s a “reach” school
  4. Take an academic class
  5. Teach a class/workshop [4/30/2010]
  6. Attend SXSW [3/12–3/16/2010]
  7. Learn a new language

    8. Web & Personal Branding

  8. Bookmark 500 interesting sites (500/500) [7/7/2010]
  9. Choose colors for my personal brand and stick to them
  10. Create a logo for myself
  11. Design/develop a WordPress theme
  12. Improve my CSS skills
  13. Make a custom 404 error page for my domain
  14. Keep my resume up to date

    15. Travel

  15. Go to a Michigan State game
  16. Take a vacation to a place I’ve never been [1/16–1/18/2010]
  17. Visit NYC
  18. Visit Las Vegas [4/19–4/23/2010]
  19. Make [realistic] plans to travel out of country
  20. Host 5 CouchSurfers (1/5)
  21. Go camping [4/9–4/11/2010]
  22. Go backpacking

    23. Reading

  23. Reread all of Francesca Lia Block’s work
  24. Reread the Chronicles of Narnia
  25. Reread the Harry Potter series
  26. Reread the Little House on the Prairie series
  27. Read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in French
  28. Read 10 new books (11/10)

    29. Writing

  29. Start writing my novel [11/2009]
  30. Write 3 poems
  31. Attend a writing workshop given by Francesca Lia Block
  32. Write 150 blog posts (34/150)
  33. Write the story of my life by writing unsent letters to people in my past
  34. Complete my “History of the Internet According to Kristen M. Byers” project

    35. Financial

  35. Get orthodontics (and figure out how to pay for them!) [10/2/2009]
  36. Get Nigel’s teeth cleaned [1/22/2010]
  37. Pay off student loans from undergrad ($11,715.14 to go! Original amount borrowed: $29,901.98) [as of 7/27/2010]
  38. Buy a new Mac (…with cash) [1/31/2010]
  39. Buy at least 10 items off my Amazon wish list (14/10)
  40. Buy a Kindle
  41. Buy a Time Capsule
  42. Set monthly budgets
  43. Each year, make cool graphs using my Mint data (or otherwise show cool graphs of my budgets, just in case I’m no longer using Mint in the future)
  44. Make $2000 from eBay sales ($817.19/$2000)
    • September 2009: $238.92
    • October 2009: $114.94
    • November 2009: $415.35
    • January 2010: $3.99
    • June 2010: $14.03
    • July 2010: $29.96
  45. Discover a craft I can sell in my Etsy shop
  46. Save for a down payment on a car
  47. Go 1 week without buying anything but groceries

    48. Food

  48. Avoid buying a microwave Failed since we inherited a microwave when Katie moved to South Dakota.
  49. Make bubble tea [2/14/2010]
  50. Cook for 1 week
  51. Find a good recipe that uses artichokes
  52. Find a good recipe that incorporates lots of sriracha
  53. Go out to eat at a fancy restaurant
  54. Go vegetarian for a week
  55. Make an entirely vegetarian Thanksgiving meal
  56. Make my grandmother’s Christmas cookies using a cookie press
  57. Discover a beer I like (not merely tolerate)
  58. Discover a wine I like (not merely tolerate, white zinfandel & sangria do NOT count): vinho verde [3/2010]
  59. Create a signature cocktail

    60. Music

  60. See the Get Up Kids in concert [9/21/2009]
  61. Eliminate unnecessary music from my iPod
  62. Rate all of the songs on my iPod (6409/8053)
  63. Perform with a senior drum and bugle corps
  64. Learn a new piece on the piano
  65. Compose a song using GarageBand
  66. Compile old Shelter[ed] footage into a cool video (& make 4 copies for the appropriate girls)
  67. Learn the Beyonce “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” dance

    68. Video Games

  68. Beat Tomb Raider 5, the only game in the TR series I haven’t played through completely (currently on level 11/13)
  69. Learn to play DragonForce’s “Through the Fire and the Flames” from Guitar Hero III on Hard
  70. Play one family on the Sims 3 through at least 10 generations (8/10)

    71. Just for Fun

  71. Buy (and wear) a pair of cowboy boots
  72. Force myself to use keyboard shortcuts on my Mac; set up [and use] Spaces on my Mac
    • have mastered (and regularly use) SHIFT + COMMAND + T to switch to plain text in TextEdit
    • learned SHIFT + COMMAND + S to “Save as…” in Photoshop
  73. Design my own calendar
  74. Drive a motorcycle
  75. Retrieve my old journals from my mom’s basement
  76. Wreck a journal
  77. Host a holiday at our house [Thanksgiving 2009]
  78. Teach Nigel 3 new tricks
  79. Get Nigel a lion haircut
  80. Back up my hard drive 1x/month
  81. Frame my Kurt Halsey print (I believed it would be forever)
  82. Dress up for Halloween (no store-bought pre-packaged costumes allowed!)
  83. Have a 1,001 days completion party
  84. Send a postcard to PostSecret

    85. For a Better Me

  85. Learn yoga
  86. Wear my hair in dreadlocks [1/24-3/20/2010]
  87. Get modified by Brian Decker [9/5/2009]
  88. Draw a first draft of a tattoo and see it to fruition
  89. Take a dance class
  90. Learn how to swim (like, really swim…not doggy paddle!)
  91. Get a massage [4/20/2010]
  92. Get a pedicure
  93. Get my eyebrows waxed
  94. Stop biting my nails (FOR GOOD)

    95. For a Better World

  95. Take the Canine Good Citizen test with Nigel
  96. Play an entire Akoha deck Need to revisit this goal now that Akoha has transitioned to a mobile app.
  97. Send homemade Christmas cards
  98. Use only reusable bags for grocery shopping
  99. Stop buying bottled water and use something more environment-friendly
  100. For every uncompleted item on this list, donate $5 to a charity
  101. Inspire 5 people to make their own 101 goals list (4/5)

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Tara September 10, 2009 at 7:55 pm

Great list!!

A fellow 101er and I started an online community for people doing the 101 in 1001 at dayzero.ning.com. We’d love to have you join!

I’m looking forward to following your journey! Good luck!
Tara
http://101.tarasg.com

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