28/10/2008

Museums, gallerys and yummy food

42. Go to art galleries/museums every month (4/33)
17.10.08 - The royal academy with work mates for an exhibition including the works of Miro, Calder, Giacometty, Braque etc.

I must say that this exhibition was not what I was expecting - I'm not even sure what I was expecting BUT I still enjoyed going. My favorite discovery of the exhibition was the artist Giacometti. His sculptures were amazing and none of the pictures can do it true justice! The scale is too hard to convey. This was one of my favs
I feel that this conveys the the "emotion" of the dog. It isnt life like and realistic but it feel like it it. Well this is why it is part of the impressionists.

All in all it was a good exhibition with great pieces on display and just the right amount, not to much to get through and not to little that you feel cheated.


23.10.08 - The Hadrian exhibition at the british museum

I'm so glad that we made the effort to see this exhibition before it closed on the 26th Oct. After a serious rush we just made it to get into the exhibition (you have to book to enter the exhibition at a certain time). Evne though it was SERIOUSLY crowded and very hard to move around and you had to queue to get to the front of displays to see them I still really enjoyed what there was to see. There was one lady that I had to keep running away from since her loud chewing gum popping and pushy attitude was doing my head it.

I've also decided that I HATE the people that get the audio tour things. They are the rudest of people. They push in front to see what number to listen to and then just stand there listening to the seemingly endless thing. They are bascially too busy listening to what it is saying to even look at the display properly. And the people like me that just want to take in how it looks have to do so by trying to peer passed these people that are like stone in the front and staring into middle space!

ok rant is overs.

The exhibition was all about the life of Hadrian and surprisingly they only had a very small part of it on Hadrians wall. It was fasinating and I found many little pieces of information and beautiful things to satisfy.
After the exhibition and after I dragged C away from the book shop we had a look around at the Statuephilia exhibition which was a piece of sculpture from 5 Bristish artists - click here for more info. They were place at different places around the museum and we managed to find 3 of them. Well one is right at the entrance foyer. I love the Damian Hirst Skulls and would love them in my own house (not that i'll be able to afford it after what he commanded at the last auction of his art.) But the most AMAZING piece is the Ron Mueck head - He does the most amazing work. He does large scale people but they are unbeleivably life like. He implant each individual hair with a needle!!!






11. dine at fifteen restaurants never visited (3/15)
23.10.08 - Souk Resturant, Covent Garden
After all the walking around and cultural stuff we headed off for dinner at a resturant called Souk in Covent Garden. C picked this place since we so want to travel to Morroco ASAP and thought we would take our taste buds there first.
It was a great night. We got to chill in a corner low level table and watch everyone else (and some sad belly dancing later one) I did love the picky food mezze platter to start and it went down so well since I was starving. Since this food is SO foreign to me I had to get some help with the main dish choice. I did enjoy it - but wont say it was my favorite. And of course desert which was ice cream (no creme caramel sadly) Of course we got to use the great taste london card which is serving us well with 50% off all food :)
So another new resturant down and we shall see what next month brings. All in all a good week outside of the work life.

10/10/2008

Fun/Cultural Plans

Well suddenly there seems to be quite a few plans afoot for the fun/cultural things in my life.

What is happening:


37. Go to at least 15 concerts/live music (1/15)
04.10.08 - Went to the Disturbed concert at the brixton Academy - must get pictures!!


42. Go to art galleries/museums every month (2/33)
17.10.08 - going to the royal academy with work mates for exbibition
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/events/

24.10.08 - booked tickets for the Hadrian exhibition at the british museum
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/hadrian_empire_and_conflict.aspx


43. Go to the theater 8 times(min) (1/8)
15.10.08 - Going to play called Cradle me that is produced by a work college. Should be interesting.
http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/productions_cradleme.htm



44. Go ice skating each winter at a classic location in London (0/2)
Have booked this for Somerset House on the 29.11.08 - YAY
http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/ice_rink/default.asp



Wow - that all came together all of a sudden!

#15 - Savings

AS i've completed a few of the tasks and kept count of how much each one is worth today was the day to transfer the amount into my savings. Which I have done. YAY. It is so great to finally be putting away money into savings of any sort.

I'm also finding that by putting a value to my tasks that there is an even greater feeling of accomplishment. As I strick off and entire goal it is worth more and therefore more money goes into my savings. Which in turn makes me feel better about acheciving my goals to save as well!

£130 has now gone into my savings for goals: #11, #64, #29,#42, #72, #21, #33

08/10/2008

#33 - The Contraceptive Implant


SO it is done ! 2 hours ago I had a big hollow needle stabbed into me and an implant stick put into my arm. Lol - it wasnt really that horrendous. It was def more painful when i had my belly button pierced but i did have the same reaction afterwards. I felt incredible weak and nauseous and my vision was starting to black out. But I over came it was a glass of water and some coke when i got home.

I'm happy to so that there was no fighting with this doctor - she was lovely and made it all very easy. Which is a good thing since i've been sick all week and me being menstral she would have had a slightly crazy chick attacking her.

So the extremely happy side to all this....I am 100% sure that i'll not fall preggers for 3 years - WHOOO HOOO!

06/10/2008

Documenting

I did have my 101 things list on my main blog but I found that I wasnt really able to focus on it or to really document what i'm doing. There was just too much other stuff that I needed to write on it and this was getting lost. So here it is in a blog all to itself!

So this it where i'm going to keep track of everything ... this is the progress so far:

Self-improvement
1. grateful diary - I started off really well with this but I was trying to do it weekly and this just wasnt working. I'll now be attempting it more likely on the monthly basis.
2. read ten Inspirational books (0/10) C nicely bought the book Anna Karina for me...this is one of the book on my list. I think i need to make a more definite list though.
6. Unclutter once a month/15 times (0/15) This is in desperate need to be done - am trying to do a bit every day...need more focus!

Self-indulgence
11. dine at fifteen restaurants never visited (2/15) £5 into savings per event
17.08.08 - St John's Restaurant - sunday dinner
30.08.08 - Greigs Grill Restaurant

This one is def an easy one as we love eating out !!! There is plans in the pipe line for dinner next friday and a museum thing to tick off another item...

Financial
15. Put £50 into savings once a task is complete - And a scale accordingly for tasks performed in stages ie. £10 per monthly task
19.08.08 - #11, #42, #43, #61 - £65 into savings
Need to make another payment for goal achieved!
19. BUild savings in SA - send a certain amount each month (0/33)
This needs to be sorted!
21. Work on budget every month (0/33)
29.09.08 - budget for oct

Health and Fitness and climbing
27. Sort back pain out - Need to get xrays from friend...to do this weekend/next week
29. Do boots weight thing once a month (1/33)
08.08.08 - done
Need to go do again !
32. Go climbing at least once a week (3/143)
Went on Saturday to try get into going to the gym regularly ! need to keep it up but need to be careful on the joints! Need to start taking the supplements
33. sort out implant - Have appointment to be put in on Wednesday !

Fun/Cultural
37. Go to at least 15 concerts/live music (1/15)
04.10.08 - Disturbed @ Brixton Academy - this was AWESOME
42. Go to art galleries/museums every month (2/33) £5 per event into savings
10.08.08 - Skin and Bones exhibition @ Somerset House
21.09.08 - Scotland trip stuff

Plan afoot to go to the Hadrian exhibit next week :)

44. Go ice skating each winter at a classic location in London (0/2)
We want to go to somerset house - need to pick a date and book

Creativity
48. Make photo album books - iPhoto - Need to start making head way on this - i have a plan
49. Take a selfportrait once a month (0/33) ok so i forgot about this one...will get it started


Relationships/Friendships/Family
56. Hand write and snail mail 10 letters (0/10) TO DO
57. Write and mail at least one 'thinking of you' card each month. (0/33) TO DO
59. Write to Dad by hand every month (0/33) Have started first one - need to finish and send!

Environmental
61. use a re-useable bag for the shopping
19.08.08 - Bought little reuseable fold away shopping bag
I love my reusable bag - and i'm getting so much better at useing it for everything. I recommend this to everyone.

Travel
72. go on vacation and don't check email/facebook/myspace/etc.
20.09.08 - 24.09.08 - trip to scotland...did not touch anything electronic the whole time...and didnt really think about it.
73. Go Skiing - Need to start putting together the information for this...perhaps visit the metro ski and snowboard show this month.

Purchases
77. buy all christmas presents online - planning to commence
78. Buy digital camera

Goodwill
81. Donate unwanted clothes - huge clothing clear out to take place this weekend!

Random/To Do’s/Organization/IT
85. Convert drivers license - Ok so this def needs to be done! Have the form and have them filled out - need to do passport photos
86. Organise clothing see #81

89. Use Podcasts
have subscribed to some - need to put them onto ipod and start listening
92. Catalog books I've read properly - look into open source software called books for mac

Learning
96. Learn Spanish - C has downloaded stuff to learn - need to get ahold of it from the server and start on this

02/10/2008

The List

I discovered this project while surfing around last week and I was inspired by it. After reading alot of the lists posted I went off and started my own list. I think this is a great idea and even if people dont go all out to blog or set up the whole list I still think that everyone should write some things down and have some goals in their lives, big and small. I fell like the achievement of more little goals lead to the motivation to achieve the big ones. I've back dated the start date to the 08/08/08 cause how cool is that date and I did achieve some of them already this weekend so this will included them. But i'll blog on that later.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as new year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.
2. Stay Focused. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.
3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form.
Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.
4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.
5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

http://www.triplux.com/dayzero/ - The home of the project
Start Date: 8th August, 2008
End Date:
6 May 2011

My 101 in 1001 days


Self-improvement

1. grateful diary - one thing perday

2. read ten Inspirational books (0/10)

3. Learn to ride a motorcycle

4. Identify 50 things I like about myself

5. Join North london ME network

6. Unclutter once a month/15 times (0/15)

7. Start a sketch book

8. Make a house cleaning schedule and follow it for at least 3 months


Self-indulgence

9. get a pedicure & manicure

10. get a massage & Facial
11. dine at fifteen restaurants never visited (0/15)

12. buy one complete sexy lingerie - corset, suspenders, stockings the whole lot

13. Have teeth whitened

Financial

14. Investment & financial planning

15. Put £50 into savings once a task is complete - And a scale accordingly for tasks performed in stages ie. £10 per monthly task

16. Do a will

17. Build special savings fund (parents)

18. Build an emergency fund buffer - 3 months salary

19. BUild savings in SA - send a cetain amount each month (0/33)

20. Buy house in SA

21. Work on budget every month (0/33)

22. Have one "No spend month"

23. Work on taxes stuff

Health and Fitness and climbing

24. take a kickboxing/martial art class

25. Detox

26. be vegetarian for a week

27. Sort back pain out

28. Try to go the no shampoo way

29. Do boots weight thing once a month (0/33)

30. Drink nothing but water for a month

31. Have colonic hydrotherapy

32. Go climbing at least once a week (0/143)

33. sort out implant

34. take a yoga class


Career

35. update resume

36. Create website with design stuff

Fun/Cultural

37. Go to at least 15 concerts/live music (0/15)

38. Host a game night

39. Kew Gardens

40. Go roller blading in Hyde Park

41. Sleep under the stars

42. Go to art galleries/museums every month (0/33)
43. Go to the theater 8 times(min) (0/8)

44. Go ice skating each winter at a classic location in London (0/2)

Creativity

45. Start painting

46. Design a Tattoo

47. Knit a jersey/thing

48. Make photo album books - iPhoto

49. Take a selfportrait once a month (0/33)

50. Mail a secret to postsecret

51. Take drawing course

52. Create and finish 10 scrapbook projects (0/10)

53. Print one photo per travelling trip to create photo wall


Relationships/Friendships/Family

54. send flowers to a member of the opposite sex

55. Surprise partner with a gift for no reason

56. Hand write and snail mail 10 letters (0/10)

57. Write and mail at least one 'thinking of you' card each month. (0/33)

58. Take dance lessons with C

59. Write to Dad by hand every month including inspirational ideas and interesting stuff (0/33)

60. Write emails to the rest of the family


Environmental

61. use a re-useable bag for the shopping

62. Start recycling

63. Start using eco products


Travel

64. go one at least 8 climbing trips (0/8)

65. Visit Marrakesh

66. Climb a mountain

67. Romantic weekend in Paris/brussel/bruge via Eurostar

68. Spa break

69. See the northern lights

70. go on a roadtrip with no predetermined destination

71. stay in a five-star hotel

72. go on vacation and don't check email/facebook/myspace/etc.

73. Go Skiing

74. Take a bike trip somewhere

75. Take the inca Trail to Machu picchu

76. Horse riding weekend

Purchases

77. buy all christmas presents online
78. Buy digital camera

79. buy a computer game - decide on one!


Good-will

80. Donations/sponsorship

81. Donate unwanted clothes

82. Sign up and participate in Postcrossing

83. Build a house for Habitat for Humanity

84. Volunteer with the North London ME Network

Random/To Do’s/Organization/IT

85. Convert drivers license

86. Organise clothing

87. Organise a recipe binder

88. blog every day for a month straight

89. Use Podcasts

90. Organise all my files on both computers and ext hard drive and set up time machine backups

91. Update address book

92. Catalog books I've read properly


Learning

93. Do a photoshop course and self study

94. Scuba dive

95. Skydive

96. Learn Spanish

Home

97. Grow plants, herbs, vegs etc

98. Find, get and move into new apartment

99. Decorate new apartment

THE GRAND FINALE

100. Start a new list of 101 in 1001
101. Give £10 for every list item not completed to charity