Tuesday, January 31, 2006

#28--Continue with Disney DVD collection

Currently, I have Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and The Lion King (all platinum editions), as well as Pollyanna and Mary Poppins (whatever editions of those are out). The other platinum editions that have been released are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (which I'll have to look for used, as it's back in the Disney vault *bleh*) and Bambi (which is still available new). Coming out this year are Lady and the Tramp (February), and the one I'm most excited about, The Little Mermaid in October. Friggin Disney and their limited release schedule. I never know what to get and when.

For the record, I'm not buying any of the direct-to-DVD sequels Disney seems to have a thing for now. There is no fairy tale called Cinderella 3, hate to tell you. (Yet there will be such a movie in 2007.)


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#59--Knit a sock a month, #16--January's beer

I think what I did sort of counts...I knit a full sock and two half socks. I'm hoping to finish the two half-socks in February, then I can get back on my real sock-a-month schedule.

Also, a couple weeks ago (during my brief respite from being sick) I tried a Japanese beer, Kirin Ichiban. (It was either that or Sapporo, and the waitress told me Sapporo was equivalent to Bud Light, so the Kirin it was!) It was a decent lager, nothing outstanding though. Not sure what I'll try in February.


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Tuesday, January 17, 2006

#8--Attend graduate women's cohort in 2006

Applied for the CRA-W grad cohort today. It's being held in San Francisco again, this time at the end of March rather than the end of February. So, most likely I'll be spending my birthday in San Francisco. I'm hoping Laura will be available that night, because even though I don't especially care about my birthday, I think I'd get depressed not spending at least part of the day with someone I know and care about.

Anyway, as applications are due at the end of February, I'd imagine that's when I'll find out if I'm accepted, though considering the application is mostly vital statistics and not any sort of qualitative thing, I can't imagine that I wouldn't be. Hell, I applied on practically the last day last year and was accepted, and today was the first day of applications.


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Tuesday, January 10, 2006

#26--Watch every DVD I own

Well, I've been sick for the past 5 days, so this one has gotten a lot of help. I've gone through probably 20-25 discs since last Thursday. Not helpful that this is also the kind of sick that means I don't sleep much/well, so I've had extra time to watch movies. Yay for working on one of my 101 things, but boo for being sick.

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Wednesday, January 04, 2006

#9--Continue to raise GPA, #59--Knit a sock a month

Well, GPA raising should be easy in the future, as this last semester knocked it down quite a bit. I mean, I'm not going to be cliched and say there's nowhere for it to go but up...but it's a solid B right now. I'm not used to that. My stellar B- in theory brought it down a few pegs. Fortunately this semester I'm taking an AI class, and I'm usually good in that.

As for the sock-a-month, I didn't succeed in knitting one in December, because, well, I didn't really knit in December. But as the first half of January is break, I'm probably going to get through at least two this month :-) That'll make up for it.


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Sunday, January 01, 2006

#21--Try two new cuisines, #33--Watch a foreign film

Russ and I went out for SalvadoreƱo food on Wednesday. It's similar to Mexican food, but I didn't like it quite as much. Rather plainly seasoned. And the restaurant was out of plaintain chips, which are what I really wanted to try. Perhaps next time we go there (the restaurant was a good value, and it's near where Russ lives, so I'm sure we'll go there again.)

Next up: There's a Pakistani restaurant in Bangor that I've been wanting to try. However, I think it's Ramadan right now, so quite likely it's closed for a bit. Edit: I'm an uninformed moron...Ramadan was in October this year. I just looked it up. Thus, I have no excuse to not go eat Pakistani food sometime soon.

As for the foreign film, it's sitting in a Netflix envelope by my DVD player right now. It's Like Water for Chocolate. I absolutely adored the book, and I've heard good things about the movie. I don't think Russ will be into it, so I'm planning to watch it tomorrow after he heads home.

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Wednesday, December 21, 2005

#16--December's beer

Last night I finally got to try chocolate stout. Brewery: Bear Brew, Orono, Maine.

As beer goes, it was good. Smooth, a little sweet, with the bitter-ish aftertaste that reminds you that you're drinking real beer. I couldn't really taste the chocolate though, which I was a little disappointed with. That didn't make it a bad beer, just not what I was expecting.

I think next month I'm going to try to track down a lambic of some sort.

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#26--List of DVDs I haven't watched

If you care about my DVD collection and what I've watched and what I haven't, click on the link. (PS...In my disc count I'm only including the actual movie, not special features if they're on a separate disc. For multi-disc sets, if I haven't completed watching the set, the discs are listed out...italics mean I'm watching that disc--I mean, for TV shows or whatever, I'm usually not going to watch the entire disc at once.)

Status: 139 discs total/98 discs watched/0 discs in progress

Air Force One
Airplane!
Tori Amos--Welcome to Sunny Florida
Aladdin
Anne of Green Gables
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Barenaked Ladies--Barelaked Nadies
Beatles Anthology
Beauty and the Beast
Lewis Black Unleashed
Chasing Amy
Cinderella
Circle of Friends
Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged
Cowboy Up: The Story of the 2003 Red Sox
Dawson's Creek Season 1
Dawson's Creek Series Finale
Dirty Dancing
Dogma
Faith Rewarded: The Story of the 2004 Red Sox
Family Guy Volume 1
Family Guy Volume 2
Family Guy Volume 3
Family Guy--Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story
Felicity Season 1
Felicity Season 2 (1 2 3 4 5 6)
Felicity Season 3
Felicity Season 4 (1 2 3 4 5 6)
Forrest Gump
Frasier Season 1
Good Eats Target Exclusive vol. 2 (1 2 3)
Gone With The Wind
Grease
A Hard Day's Night
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Hello Kitty's Paradise (1 2 3 4)
Heathers
Legally Blonde
Lion King
Live Aid
Live 8 (1 2 3 4)
Mary Poppins
Sarah McLachlan--Mirrorball
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Mona Lisa Smile
Mr. Deeds
Muppet Show Season 1
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Never Been Kissed
October Sky
Pollyanna
Pretty Woman
Raising Helen
The Rock
SNL: 25 Years of Music (1 2 3 4 5)
Sex and the City Season 1
Sex and the City Season 2
Sex and the City Season 3
Sex and the City Season 4
Sex and the City Season 5
Sex and the City Season 6 part 1
Sex and the City Season 6 part 2
Simon and Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park
Sister Act
The Sound of Music
Star Trek: First Contact
Steel Magnolias
Still We Belive: The Red Sox Movie
Sweet Dreams
The Whole Nine Yards
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Wizard of Oz

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Saturday, December 03, 2005

The List!

I've organized the list into categories. Click the link for the list.

Academic
  1. Finish classwork
  2. Do a masters project
  3. Teach at least one class
  4. Pass comprehensive exams
  5. Start completing assignments prior to the evening before they're due
  6. Publish at least two papers, one with first authorship
  7. Present at an academic conference
  8. Attend graduate women's cohort in 2006 (and 2007 if there is one)
  9. Continue to raise GPA
  10. Begin writing dissertation
Cooking/food
  1. Get a really good set of cookware
  2. Conquer piecrust
  3. Develop a set of at least 5 meals that I can cook well, without a recipe
  4. Use all the small appliances I have, or get rid of the ones I don't
  5. Become knowledgeable about wine
  6. Try a new beer every month
  7. Cook Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner
  8. Learn to make sushi
  9. Cook real food 2x/week
  10. Invent a drink
  11. Try two new cuisines
  12. Try uni (sea urchin)
  13. Successfully grow a kitchen herb garden
Entertainment
  1. Go to a Barenaked Ladies concert
  2. Go to a Bon Jovi concert
  3. Watch every DVD I own (including every disc of multi-disc sets)
  4. Attend any play Tracy is in
  5. Continue with Disney DVD collection
  6. See a Red Sox game in a ballpark besides Fenway
  7. See another Red Sox game in Fenway
  8. See a Yankees game in Fenway
  9. Listen to all MP3s on computer
  10. Watch a foreign film
  11. Watch all the Star Trek movies
  12. Watch all the Harry Potter movies on the same day (just want to make a note of this one: As of the writing of this list, the first 3 are out on video and GOF is in theaters. However, by the end of the 1001 days OOTP should be out at least in theaters, so if I complete this item prior to that I reserve the right to recomplete this item...or not. Whatever I decide. It's my list, dammit.)
  13. Bowl a game over 100
  14. Over 150
  15. Watch DVRed items within two weeks or delete them unwatched
Financial
  1. Pay off credit cards
  2. Stop taking out student loans
  3. Stop spending money on unnecessary things
  4. Have a yard sale
  5. Buy a car
  6. Save $20/week
  7. Get renters insurance
  8. Buy stock (even if it's one share)
Health
  1. Lose at least 70 pounds
  2. Begin a 3x/week workout program
  3. Figure out a better birth control method for me (perhaps IUD)
  4. Learn how to cook vegetables in tasty ways
  5. Start drinking more tea
  6. Take up yoga
  7. Cut back on soda
  8. Fix bicycle and ride 1x/week during the summer
  9. Get on a regular sleep schedule
  10. Eat vegetarian for a week
  11. Get a professional massage
  12. Floss every day for a month
Knitting
  1. Knit a sock a month
  2. Learn Fair Isle and Intarsia
  3. Keep stash at same number or lower
  4. Complete 3 projects before buying yarn for another (ongoing, not just once)
  5. Knit a lace shawl with actual laceweight yarn
  6. Design and knit a sweater for myself
  7. Design a pattern with an eye to Knitty.com
  8. Take a spinning class
  9. Knit a sweater for someone else (adult-sized)
  10. Knit a pair of gloves
Mental/geek
  1. Start doing hard sudokus and crosswords, rather than medium or easy
  2. Read 10 biographies or memoirs
  3. Participate in NaNoWriMo
  4. Brush up my Spanish knowledge
  5. Write at least two freeware/open source programs
  6. Get in the habit of updating my portage tree at least 1x/week
  7. Read the Lord of the Rings series (including the Hobbit)
  8. Buy a T-shirt from a webcomic I read (QC is the most likely)
  9. Buy a Firefox T-shirt
  10. Learn a programming language outside of class
Organization/simple living
  1. Either read every book I have or get rid of those I haven't read
  2. Purge clothing once a season until all I have left is what I actually wear
  3. Organize kitchen and get rid of all expired/never-gonna-eat food
  4. Purge makeup collection
  5. Spend a weekend Clean Sweep-style
  6. Find a storage system that actually works for me
  7. Learn to fold a fitted sheet properly
  8. Put together a filing system
Personal/interpersonal
  1. Get engaged
  2. Get in the habit of making the bed every day
  3. Get drivers license
  4. Take at least one decent-length trip
  5. Meet at least 2 Livejournal friends
  6. Make and send a mix CD to each of 5 Livejournal friends
  7. Spend a weekend in Boston
  8. Begin a paper journal and write in it at least weekly
  9. Get through the advanced sheet at swing class
  10. Get into the habit of vacuuming entire apartment once/2 weeks
  11. Have a decadent day of beauty
  12. Swim (or at least wade) in the ocean--which involves going to a place where the ocean is a lot warmer than in Maine
  13. Throw a surprise party for someone
  14. Go to McDonald's in formal dress
  15. Call mother at least every 2 weeks


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