the first list

I started this blog with a couple of weeks to go in my first 101 Things in 1001 Days.  A few people have asked me to post my first list of 101 Things.  Here it was, as of March 24, 2010, which is just about when this blog started:

1.    Repaint ceiling in hallway. Completed 2 August 2008
2.    Paint bathrooms * replaced by: Paint dining room.  Completed 16 Feb. 2009
3.    Touch up paint throughout apartment where walls are scratched Completed sometime in January, 2008.
4.    Have custom shelves built for dead space near second bathroom * replaced by: Remove drop ceilings in 2nd floor bedrooms. Completed 5 March 2009
5.    Get stuff framed for my office Completed 4 April 2008
6.    Get vent cover for kitchen HVAC thingy Completed November, 2008.
7.    Repair water damage from leak above window. Completed 12 July 2008.
8.    Get floors fixed * replaced by: Take up carpet in living room and make the floors look nice. completed 20 January 2010
9.    Read at least 11 books from my stack of unread books, not including Larry Porter books. Completed 7 March 2009
10.    Read remaining unread Larry Porter books.   Completed 26 August 2007
 NB about #9 and #10.  The reference to the Larry Porter books is a sort of inside-y joke because there was this one time that a guy called up a video store where my friend Rhias works and asked about renting a movie for her grandchild.  Specifically, she wanted "Larry Porter and the Princess of Ashkabob."  So, from here on out, Harry Potter became known as Larry Porter in my general cultural lexicon.
11.    See on average at least one movie per month in a theater (18/33 completed)
12.    See remaining Larry Porter Movies. Completed 1 Sept. 2007
13.    See on average at least two movies per month on either DVD or DVR Completed 24 January 2010
14.    Visit one museum per month on average (27/33 completed)
15.    Visit Bronx Zoo.
16.    Attend one professional sporting event in New York City. Completed November, 2008 (New York City Marathon).
17.    Attend one major league baseball game in a city outside of New York, and eat hot dog while there.
18.    Take a week of vacation and see as much live performance as possible, no fewer than 8 plays and/or concerts in that week, and do it all without spending money on anything except for drinks at intermission. Not Possible, because of letting my memberships lapse.  Replaced by: See no fewer than 10 Broadway shows for free. Completed September 2008.
19.    Go to the top of the Empire State Building.
20.    Visit Ellis Island. Completed 13 Sept. 2008
21.    Go to Australia.
22.    Go to the dentist.  Completed 6 Nov. 07
23.    Weigh 180 lbs. Completed 13 December 2009
24.    Do high tea at an expensive hotel in New York (Plaza, Ritz, Four Seasons, etc.)
25.    Spend a weekend in the Hamptons.  (Completed 5 August 2007)
26.    Have an expensive Sunday Hotel Brunch. Completed 7 June 2009
27.    Leave work to attend a Wednesday Matinee of something.  Completed 29 August 2007.
28.    Buy some actual art for the wall—not just a framed poster, but a painting from a professional artist who’s repped by an honest-to-god gallery. Completed 19 March 2010.
29.    Achieve a ranking somewhere in the top 40 on the Settlers of Catan ladder. Completed 26 July 2007.
30.    Make a new extremely close friend. Completed 13 July 2008.
31.    Ride in a convertible somewhere in California with the top down.
32.    Eat a crab cake in Baltimore. Complete 26 December 2008
33.    See something at Lincoln Center. Completed 4 October 2007
34.    See something at Carnegie Hall.
35.    See something at City Center. Completed circa March 2008

36.    See something at Town Hall. Completed 21 March 2009
37.    Learn to make sausages.
38.    Belch loudly in a Roman Catholic church.   Completed 21 January 2008
39.    Make French onion soup from scratch. Completed 7 March 2010
40.    Get upgraded to first class in a three-class plane. Completed 22 March 2010
41.    Learn to Ski or Snowboard
42.    Correct all information in my address book.  Completed 30 September 2007
43.    Make four unusual flavors of ice cream or sorbet from scratch  Completed 28 March 2009
44.    See at least one complete Matthew Barney movie from the Cremaster cycle.
45.    Attend an entertainment industry awards show in person. Completed 15 June 2008 (Tony Awards), additional Completion 7 December 2008 and 5 December 2009(Kennedy Center Honors)
46.    Eat a whole lobster, except for the green stuff.  Completed 4 August 2007
47.    Try at least a little bit of the green stuff. Completed 4 August 2007
48.    Host a “game night.”
49.    Re-connect in a meaningful way with someone I haven’t seen since moving to New York. Completed 13 September 2007
50.    Train Huckleberry to do something new that is generally positive and not destructive or annoying. Completed circa April 2008.
51.    Play mini-golf.  Completed 18 August 2007.
52.    Beat Scruff in a game of Mario Party. Completed 23 December 2007
53.    Turn 40 in the most spectacular way imaginable. Completed 1 February 2008
54.     Purchase and install one of those heated bidet toilet seats at home.   Either that or some similarly-convenient butt-washing device.[b]Replaced by: [/b]Install new floor on the porch.* Completed September 2009. 
55.    Learn some basic conversational Spanish.
56.    Pay off remaining balance on credit card. Completed 16 January 2009
57.    Get an iPhone. Completed 6 September 2007
58.    Visit a National Park that is at least 65 miles away from Brooklyn, NY. Completed 22 June 2008 (Lake Clark NP), 23 June 2008 (Kenai Fjords NP), 25 June 2008 (Denali NP)
59.    Take trapeze lessons.
60.    Ride in a helicopter.
61.    Win an award or a prize.  Complete 1 September 2007.  Additional completion January 3, 2010
62.    Ride Vespa to another borough.
63.    Go to a Quaker meeting.
64.    Have a rummage sale.
65.    Hold vodka-infusing party. Complete 1 August 2009
66.    Start monthly “Guilty Pleasure Movie Night.” Completed 13 December 2009
67.    Find a delicious recipe for corn chowder and make it. Completed September, 2009
68.    Do something that involves seriously confronting my fear of heights.  Completed November 2009
69.    Visit one state that I have never been to. Completed 19 June 2008 (Alaska)
70.    Go to a dog show. Completed 15 January 2010
71.    Do a zip-line canopy tour (does not count for fear of heights challenge). Completed 17 January 2010
72.    Get a memory foam mattress.  Completed 28 July 2007
73.    Drink 8 glasses of water a day for a solid week. Completed Fall 2007
74.    Go bowling.  (Wii Bowling does not count).
75.    Visit a Spa and have more than one “treatment.”   Completed 24 May 2009
76.    Watch average of one hour of hard science or serious history programming on television per month.  Completed 3 January 2009
77.    For two weeks solid, eat no starch after noon. Completed, but ongoing.
78.    Visit Italy.
79.    Learn to drive stick shift.
80.    Clean up all of the inaccurate track information/album art in my iTunes library.  Completed 19 September 2007
81.    Increase my 401(k) contributions. Completed 15 Sept. 2008
82.    Build an investment portfolio of equities and mutual funds or cash savings account valued at over $10K. Completed October, 2009  adjusted to include cash, because the market sucks
83.    Clean dryer vent. Completed circa May 2008.
84.    Convince my mom to visit me in New York. Completed 17 October 2009
85.    Get either a promotion or a job offer (I don’t have to take the offer, just need to have one made to me).
86.    Sleep in until 10 a.m. Completed 6 October 2007
87.    Ride the Water Taxi.
88.    Reach Two Million Mile Status (Lifetime Platinum) in American Airlines frequent flyer Program. (1.85M of 2M Complete)
89.    Swim with dolphins/porpoises/whatever they are. Completed 18 January 2010
90.    Have no alcohol whatsoever on an average of two days per month.  (47/66 complete)
91.    Lower my cholesterol. Completed circa December, 2009
92.    Ride 10 different roller coasters.  Completed 10 October 2009
93.    Speak eloquently at someone’s wedding, funeral, anniversary, birthday or retirement party. Complete 18 January 2009
94.    Go one entire month without patronizing a fast food chain restaurant.  Completed 19 October 2007
95.    Read every word of every article in the Sunday New York Times (includes Sunday NYTimes Magazine, editorials and letters, does not include text of advertisements). Completed 20 July 09
96.    Sing at an open mic.
97.    Visit two friends who live abroad.  Completed 14 Nov. 2008
98.    Get my eyes checked. Completed 23 January 2010
99.    Plan an average of one “special surprise” per month and execute it flawlessly. Complete 18 January 2009
100.    Go horseback riding in Prospect Park.
101.    Visit ruins of Mayan pyramids.  Completed (Chichen Itza) 17 January 2010.

* indicates home improvement projects that have been rendered moot by my move, and which will be replaced by comparable home improvement projects in the new house.