#6 - Figure out where to put all my plants and make sure they all have pots.

I finished this one and I forgot! I put the vine-y plant that I got as an apartment warming gift in the bathroom between the sinks. I set the pot liner in a dish garden dish that I have and now I'm all set! Woo!

This post should really have a picture, but sadly, you are just not that lucky.

#27 - Visit Heather in MD at least one more time before she moves(?).

I visited Heather this past weekend. We went to the MD Ren Faire which was lots of fun. I blogged about it over on my lj:

http://tenthz.livejournal.com/958145.html

The Westing Game

I just finished reading The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. Matt recommended this one, but I've read it time and time again. I think the first time through, it gave me nightmares. Ever since that first read, though, I've tried to see if I can figure out the answer to Mr. Westing's game before the heirs. However, this is difficult since I already know a major piece of the puzzle. I've taken to reading it and trying to figure out who knew what. I debated taking notes or making a diagram this time around, but I decided against it. I just enjoyed reading.

There is one interesting thing about Ellen Raskin's writing style for The Westing Game. If you tried to define who's point of view it is written from, you'd have a great deal of trouble. Sometimes point of view seems to switch from sentence to sentence, however, it only creates planned confusion. Raskin wants the reader of the book to have to work at keeping track of what clues have been spilled and who suspects whom(?). Another great literary device that she uses is the unreliable narrator. In fact, there is rarely a fact told that the reader is absolutely certain to be true! It really makes for great twists in this mystery.

#53 - Go Bowling

Mike and I went bowling this afternoon. We played three games, the 2nd of which went the best... the first game was a warm-up.. and by the third we were over-analyzing our stances and stuff, so things went a little downhill.

I won't go into the scores as to not to embarrass the involved parties. :-P But it was fun and neither Mike nor I could remember the last time we bowled.

#10 - Play the lottery

I bought a $1 scratch-off ticket at the grocery store today.

I didn't win anything. It was moderately thrilling scratching it off, but not thrilling enough to see the draw that people have to it.

Whatever. One more to cross off the list!

#30 - Send all college-going relatives a "care package"

Well, on Tuesday I sent Elizabeth (and her room mate Angel) a package of halloween-y stuff. She just got it and said she has a stomach ache from candy corn already! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. :-P

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#61 - Frame and hang my Jim Craig poster

Well, the last thing I did on this thing was to order the frame. And I have to give another major shout-out to http://wholesaleposterframes.com/. Excellent, excellent, excellent! Straight-forward directions, high quality product, and fast shipping on a custom order. I couldn't be more pleased. The frame arrived a little less than 2 weeks ago, but I hadn't really had the time to do anything with it until just now. I took it apart, put it back together, banged a hanger into the wall, and VOILA! All done! :-)

The Valley of the Dolls, by Jacquelin Susann

I occasionally have moments of panic - you might even say terror - when I hallucinate myself into a fantasy world. Not a world of wonderful things, mind you, but a world where those fleeting thoughts you've had over the past year... they all come true, all at once. Those thoughts born out of jealousy, rage, anger, and fear. A world where one minute your on cloud nine, and the next, you've been chewed up, spit out, and kicked to the ground with not even a hope or a dream to live for.

Perhaps this is what drew me the most to the world of "The Valley of the Dolls". A world where the problems of the moment can be drowned out by a little red pill and a gulp of scotch. An amazingly written book, with amazing characters that you fall in love with from the very start. Unfortunately, they love themselves more than you could ever love them. They never would be able to understand that you loved them even when they didn't. A pity, really.

All this reading...

I'm already starting to think about how I am going to come up with 100 books to read (50 that I haven't read before)! It is a daunting thought. Especially when I haven't been reading like I used to. Anyway, came across this blog today and I decide that their "Super Ultra Amazing Must Read Book List" (which is only 2 books long at the moment) would be a good place to start. :-)

#93 - Obtain copies (1st edition, if possible) of the Harry Potter books I don't have. (2/4)

Last night after my tap class, I made a craigslist run. First Edition copies of both Goblet of Fire and Prisoner of Azkaban! Very excited. They are in very good condition - never read - but stamped with "Not for resale - Bookspan". I'm not sure what that means. Both are stamped on the top edge of the pages. GoF has a slight cut in the cover and PoA's jacket is slightly ripped, but has been taped. All in all, a good deal for $20.

Now I just need to find first editions of SS and CoS. We shall see...

#73 - Try 5 new non-chain restaurants. (1/5)

On Friday night, Mike and I went to Evergreen Chinese Buffet which is off of the Union Deposit Road exit on I-83. My co-workers had raved about the place, so I figured we should finally try it - especially since we were thinking Chinese for dinner already.

Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. It's not more special or better than any of the other Chinese buffet places in the area, and it's hard to get to and kinda run down. I'd rather just go to the place that is up on 22 or something. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't worth the extra trouble. It was $9.95 or something per person which is also normal for the area - especially for a weekend night (Although, JUMBO Buffet is more expensive... but they are JUMBO).

But, I completed a fifth of this "thing" and I didn't even do it on purpose!

#83 - Find a new pair of sneakers.

I "found" out that I had 2 perfect good and awesome and fitting and such pairs of sneakers at my parent's house. They are hand-me-downs from Albert. It is so strange to me that my little brother is growing out of his clothes and giving them to me. I think his feet grew a size the week after my mom bought these shoes for him, so they are barely even worn. I completely despise shopping for shoes, so it is awesome that they fit me so nicely. I even wore one of the pairs to Wegmans on Sunday. Very comfortable.

This is the first item that I completed! YAY!

#46 - Read 10 books recommended by friends, no questions asked.

This one is pretty straight forward, but first I need suggestions of books! I'd like to do one book, per person to start off, so comment with a book you would recommend I read.

1) Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn (Recommended by Jacquin)
2) Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About, by Mil Millington (Recommended by Melissa)
3)The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin (Recommended by "Matthew") (I've read this before, but I never had a rule about reading books that I've read before, so it's in!)
4)The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, by Edward Tufte (Recommended by Adam)
5)The Lake of Dead Languages, by Carol Goodman (Recommended by Heather)
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#61 - Frame and hang my Jim Craig poster

Well, framing a poster that is 12x18 is waaaaaay harder than it should be. I went to Michael's the other week and they said that it was an "irregular size" and that they only carried 1 frame - which was gold leaf and like $70. HAHA, no. I think my Jim Craig poster would take one look at it and say "WTF!?!". Anyway, I just ordered a custom frame from http://wholesaleposterframes.com. Once that comes in, I'll have to put it together, get the poster in the frame, and then decide where to hang it (although, I have a general idea). So, I'm 1/4 of the way finished with this one!

# 76 - Change the beneficiary on my 401k plan.

Well, I got the ball rolling on this one just now. I thought maybe I could update it from my fidelity account online, but it seems that we have NO FEATURES AT ALL on whatever plan my employer chose. It is really annoying. It makes me wish it was with Vanguard. *sigh*