A Man Reborn

I haven’t been keeping this list updated monthly like I said I would… mostly because I’ve been busy doing the stuff on it :D

I have no idea if I’ll finish the list – at this point it’s halfway through the year and I’m just over a third done.  No matter what, I’m having a blast and expanding my horizons and that’s all that matters as far as I’m concerned.  Having this list around has given me something to shoot for, something to push me a little more and something to branch off into other fun things to do.  I’ve got an Evernote document with a increasingly massive list of things I want to try / accomplish now.  Some of them are simple and some of them are outlandish and I know that every year I’m going to repeat this process and pick out a bunch of things that I want to take a shot at.

As my good friend Carolina told me tonight – “why lead a boring life, do EVERYTHING”.  I want to do everything.  There’s so much to see, smell, hear, taste, touch and experience in the world and I want to do all of it or at least give it my best shot.  I want to create more – I am often most content when I am working on a craft or project of some kind.

“I say never be complete. I say stop being perfect. I say let’s evolve.” – Tyler Durden – Fight Club by: Chuck Palahniuk

I am happy and content with my life, yet I am not content at all.  I’m really not sure how to articulate that feeling.  All I know is the spark I feel and the smile on my face when I’m trying something new.  Anyway, on to the list!

Finished since last update:

1. 10 – Spend a weekend camping with my dog - going June 11-13 @ Rockwood
2. 15 – Ride 50 km on my bike in one go - June 6, 2010 – signed up for the 2010 Ride for Heart 50km ride
3. 30 – Grow a herb garden - going to start planting soon
4. 31 – Climb a Tree
5. 39 – Bake a cake
6. 50 – Learn 5 new effects in After Effects - learned 2 so far
7. 52 – Make a new snowboarding video - editing is underway
8. 57 – Donate blood
9. 58 – Make a gift for someone by hand
10. 65 – Decorate a Munny! - got it in the mail and did it today!
11. 72 – Sculpt something out of clay
12. 95 – Explore a cave - will do at Blue Mountain or at Sauble
13. 97 – Finish 3 major projects at work - 4 down!

2010 List – as of July 15th, 2010

1. DONE - Create a new set of 1 year and 5 year goals - done in March after an eye-opening February
2. Get a new tattoo - my planned reward for when I get down to 200 pounds
3. Get my advanced-green ranking in Muay Thai - working on it!
4. Go skydiving – might go in August… gah… scheduling issues
5. DONE – Explore an abandoned building – explored Michigan Central Station and a ton of others in Detroit with Myla and Nix
6. Climb the CN Tower in under 30 minutes - will do this at the United Way climb in October
7. DONE - Snowboard at Whistler - went during the Olympics in Feb!
8. DONE - Stomp a FS 180 off a kicker - did it at Beaver Valley in March
9. Do a proper FS/BS boardslide - never got the hang of BS boardslides… gonna try this summer at snow park though!
10. DONE – Spend a weekend camping with my dog - going June 11-13 @ Rockwood
11. Beat last years record of 30 snow days - tied currently at 30 days… gonna break it with a day at snow park in the summer
12. Get down under 200 pounds - aiming for a 5 pounds a month pace which is somewhat conservative
13. Take my Mom to the Art Gallery
14. Get rid of clutter from my room - have donated/given away/thrown away 7 large boxes and 9 garbage bags of clutter… feels awesome, more to go!
15. DONE – Ride 50 km on my bike in one go - June 6, 2010 – signed up for the 2010 Ride for Heart 50km ride
16. Build 5 Halloween props - got all my materials gathered
17. Build a fake disemboweled torso out of latex/foam – got some ideas from a bud who does excellent fx work
18. Take my Dad to a football game
19. Learn to rollerblade - I think I’m going to replace this… not very psyched about it
20. Make 95% of the food I eat from scratch - this is an easy one for me as I shy away from processed foods
21. Get 5 new freelance clients - 1 down and 2 more potentials being worked on
22. Do a 48 hour weekend fast – will do this in the fall sometime
23. Learn 5 magic tricks  - got a wicked teacher for this! Thanks Anastasia!
24. Go to the Science Centre
25. Go to the ROM
26. Deadlift 315 pounds - progress is underway
27. Squat 225 pounds - progress is underway
28. Read 25 books - 12 down
29. DONE - Spend a weekend snowboarding with my little brothers - went for 3 different weekends
30. DONE – Grow a herb garden
31. DONE – Climb a tree
32. Ride the entire single-track trail at Albion Hills - started biking again in March
33. Ride the entire single-track trail at Glen Eden - started biking again in March
34. DONE - Walk in the rain - a Squamish necessity!
35. Become proficient at AJAX
36. Do a 22 km run - Sunday October 17, 2010 – Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon
37. Launch the zombiepedia website
38. Go to the carnival
39. DONE – Bake a cake
40. Volunteer my time for a good cause – in August!
41. DONE - Try being vegetarian again for 21 days - was much easier than I thought and I’ll be reducing the amount of meat in my regular diet
42. Try being vegan for 21 days – tried doing a raw diet for a month… made it 2 weeks – not for me!  will try this again in the fall
43. DONE - Get a raise
44. Revise and stick to a new budget - budget done and have been sticking to it
45. Have a 100% TV-free month - I tried this in March… didn’t watch any TV at home… but still had a few hours at other people’s houses / bars… tough to avoid!
46. Build a Facebook application - working on an idea for a small app this month
47. Take a night class
48. Paint a giant painting
49. Go to the shooting range - sometime this summer
50. DONE – Learn 5 new effects in After Effects - learned 2 so far
51. Teach the dog to not be scared of the nail clipper - making progress
52. DONE – Make a new snowboarding video - editing is underway
53. Create 10 website layouts - 3 down, working on 2
54. Build my portfolio website
55. Try indoor rock-climbing
56. Learn to Salsa
57. DONE – Donate blood
58. DONE – Make a gift for someone by hand
59. Visit a Renaissance fair- in August!
60. Snowboard in the summer - http://www.snowparkniagara.com/ – aww yeah!
61. DONE - Be part of a zombie movie - I got to shoot with George A. Romero… one of my favourite directors and the king of Zombies!
62. DONE – Start a new business venture – initial planning is well underway
63. DONE - Start a conversation with 50 strangers - probably did close to double this # during Feb alone :D
64. Learn to make a Paella
65. DONE – Decorate a Munny! - got it in the mail and did it today!
66. Go on a random and pointless roadtrip
67. Write a children’s book - started to write
68. Become a triathlete - changed to August 8, 2010 – Niagara Try-a-tri Triathlon – 375m swim / 10km bike / 2.5km run – started swim training
69. Try wakeboarding
70. Train with a champion
71. DONE - Zombie around with my ghouly friends! - done at the Romero shoot!
72. DONE – Sculpt something out of clay
73. Give a speech - got asked to be my buddy’s best man at his wedding!
74. DONE - Re-pierce my labret - it didn’t close up as much as I thought
75. Eat chicken wings in Buffalo - gonna go with MicHELLe!
76. Spend an entire day at the beach - will do at Sauble in the summer
77. Go on a brewery tour - gonna go with MicHELLe!
78. DONE - Ride through the glades - rode the glades at Blue Mountain and then at Whistler and loved it!
79. DONE - Surprise someone
80. Work at a haunt – - in August!
81. Do 10 pull ups - currently training – at 2 consecutive right now, but will get much easier as the weight comes off
82. Do 100 push ups - currently training – at 25 consecutive right now
83. Go to a big music festival - got my ticket for Heavy MTL 2010 – going with Greg and some others!
84. Learn Yoga
85. DONE - Watch the clouds drift by - sat and watched the clouds drift through the mountains every chance I got out west
86. DONE - Watch a sunrise - watched it come up behind the mountains in Squamish
87. Go kayaking – missed a good chance to do this, but will still for sure!
88. DONE - Watch a sunset - watched it on the bus ride back from Whistler
89. Hike part of the Bruce trail - will do at Sauble in the summer
90. Do a handstand pushup
91. Eat a tasting menu
92. DONE - Eat 5 things I’ve never tried before - way over 5 now… should have set a bigger number, I love trying new foods
93. DONE - Ride on a powder day - got to do this twice at Whistler… best 2 days of riding in my entire life
94. Build a haunted gingerbread house - found a sweet blueprint
95. DONE – Explore a cave - will do at Blue Mountain or at Sauble
96. Make a Turducken!
97. DONE – Finish 3 major projects at work - 4 down!
98. DONE - Reformat my laptop - nice and clean
99. DONE - Backup all my important files - bought a spindle of DVDs and finally did this.. have them on a hard drive too – took forever
100. DONE – Eat at a White Castle – did this while on a trip to Detroit with Myla and Nix – it was gross!

Other memorable fun stuff from 2010 not on the list:

1. Went to the Olympics!
2. Started a chant at a Hockey game in a bar
3. Officially shelved my shy side
4. Did a 600m vertical hike up the Stawamus Chief
5. Learned to love side hits
6. Discovered my Canadian pride
7. Did a wicked overnight road trip to Mont Tremblant
8. Had a zombie board game night
9. Made lobsters for the first time ever
10. Learned to slow things down a bit
11. Went rafting
12. Jumped off a cliff