101 in 1001: the end of an era

Remember back in the day when I started a crazy project in an effort to cheer myself up and drag myself out
 of my lonely French apartment?

Times sure have changed.

In the beginning I used this project much like a crutch; it helped me baby step my way out of some serious depression after my cousin died & I moved as far away as possible from the rest of my family. (Don't worry, it turned out just fine.) I spent hours perfecting my list and hours choosing how to successfully cross things off.

Slowly but surely I ventured out of my apartment and out of my comfort/fear zone & life started picking up speed again. Soon I didn't need a crutch to help me anymore, and before you know it I had forgotten the internet entirely, fully invested in my amazing uncyber life!!

Well, it has come to my attention that the date of completion for Project Zero has passed! (Over a month ago!!!!) And it's time to do a little recapping.

(More after the jump!)


I decided early on that it would probably be impossible for me to finish all 101 tasks, but that was ok. The idea was that it was challenging enough to push me out of my normal routine and the goal wasn't necessarily to cross every single item off my list (although that would have been nice!) but to grow significantly over the almost three years it took to complete.


I am proud to say I finished over 3/4 of my list!!! There are some things that will still be coming this year (I'm going back to France this summer and will hopefully knock off a few of the travel items; I'm doing another project including a month of studying religion, which will knock off a few texts), there are some things that became less important and were more or less replaced by others (instead of knitting a sweater, I completed two knit stuffed animals for friends who have kids), and some became unimportant in my life. Some of these from the latter category surprised me (I figured I would have completed the yoga retreat/certification rather quickly, but realized I like doing yoga for me, not for others) and some were frankly expected (I was pretty sure I wouldn't return to Taiwan any time soon, but one can dream).


But there were MANY many many things I accomplished that I honestly didn't think I would! I completed a ten day fast, became vegan, made tons of homemade goodies for the first time (wine, jam, bread, soymilk, tofu, beer) and went to Africa!!! Some dreams can come true if you just make yourself do them!

The blog layout might change sometime soon, so in the interest of posterity, here is a copy of the final list, as of today. I am so proud of myself! Maybe someday I'll complete another one, but until then, I will always have the memories of my very first Project Zero!

PROJECT COMPLETE!!!

the official 101 list, completed in full as of monday, april 2, 2012:

yellow = in progress
green = complete!!!

today is:
monday, may 14, 2012

completed:
days:1001 weeks:143 month:36

100% time complete!
75.325% stuff complete!

HEALTH / BEAUTY
1 complete "40 days to personal revolution"!!! (40 / 40)
2 go to a yoga retreat
3 get certified as a yoga instructor
4 start & end each day with meditation!!! (1001 / 1001)
5 get a massage every month!!! (33 / 33)
6 drink 64oz. of water every day for six months!!! (185 / 185)
7 complete a ten-day fast!!! (10 / 10)
8 chop all my hair off!!!

THINGS TO LEARN
9 learn spanish (well enough to travel in spanish-speaking countries & only communicate in spanish)
10 learn every region of france and its capital city!!!
11 learn every department of france and its capital city!!!
12 learn to place every country on a map!!!
13 learn the capital city of every country!!!
14 learn how to develop my own film
15 learn how to rock climb
16 learn a martial art
17 buy an eisel and learn how to paint!!!
18 really learn how to play the guitar
19 learn to recognize the main constellations in the sky!!! [big dipper, little dipper, dragon, eagle, lyre, cygnus, pegasus, cassiopia]

ACTIVITIES / RECREATION
20 start the divine beings project
21 run a half marathon!!!
22 run a marathon
23 take a dance class
24 finish knitting the patchwork quilt ( 55 / 192 patches)
25 knit a sweater
26 go kayaking/canoeing!!!!! [aug 1, 2010 canoeing in les gorges de la sioule in a giant thunderstorm!!!]
27 jump off a waterfall!!!
28 find or create a group that slacklines regularly/recreationally
29 be in a play
30 go skinny dipping
31 ride in a hot air balloon
32 see the tour de france live
33 go to the opera
34 go to a concert of an artist i've never heard of!!! [ian mcferon band]
35 go to a rugby match
36 sing karaoke!!!
37 sleep under the stars!!! [aug 15, 2009 at the observation spot]
38 throw a potluck!!!
39 make my silk screen frame and silk screen a tee!!!
40 unplug for the weekend (don't use any electricity)
41 go to a museum!!! [musée bargoin; the sam]
42 go to an amusement park & try all the scary rides
43 do twenty puzzles (16/20)

ONCE A...
44 spruce up the apartment with flowers once a month!!! (33 / 33)
45 go on "photo shoots" once a month!!! (33 / 33)
46 write at least one letter each week!!! (143 / 143)
47 blog once a week for 12 weeks!!! (12 / 12)
48 go swimming at the pool once a week for twelve weeks (4 / 12)
49 start hosting a "game night" once a month for one year!!! (12 / 12)

FOR ONE MONTH
50 journal every day for one month!!! (30 / 30)
51 record my dreams every day for one month!!! (30 / 30)
52 be vegan for one month!!! (30 / 30)
53 no alcohol for one month!!! (30 / 30)
54 wake up before 8am every day for one month!!! (30 / 30)
55 go to bed before 10pm every night for one month!!! (30 / 30)

TRAVEL
56 return to taiwan
57 visit a national park in france [parc des volcans d'auvergne]
58 hike in the alps
59 go to italy
60 touch a new continent!!! [africa!!]
61 go on another two week bike trip
62 have visited (not just passed through) every region in mainland france (6 / 21) [auvergne, île-de-france, languedoc-roussillon, centre, rhône-alpes, provence-alpes-côte d'azur]
63 visit amsterdam
64 visit vulcania

READING / WRITING / RESEARCH
65 read 52 books in 52 weeks, no cheating (half in french [28/26], a quarter non-fiction [20/13]) !!! (52/52) [harry potter à l'école des sorciers by j.k. rowling; the kite runner by khaled hosseini; twilight by stephenie meyer; new moon by stephenie meyer; eclipse by stephenie meyer; breaking dawn by stephenie meyer; harry potter et la chambre des secrets by j.k. rowling; the highest tide by jim lynch; bamboo by william boyd; silent spring by rachel carson; alice in wonderland by lewis carroll; le père de nos pères by bernard werber; 40 days to personal revolution by baron baptiste; one hundred years of solitude by gabriel garcia marquez; the alchemist by paulo coelho; the wind in the willows by kenneth grahame; city of thieves by david benioff; talk to the snail by stephen clarke; harry potter et le prisonnier d'azkaban by j.k. rowling; les thanatonautes by bernard werber; the no. 1 ladies' detective agency by alexander mccall smith; carnets de mémoires by michèle rotman; harry potter et la coupe de feu by j.k. rowling; le marin de gibraltar by marguerite duras; harry potter et l'ordre du phénix by j.k. rowling; the circle by laura day; la route by cormac mccarthy; le lait une sacrée vacherie? by dr nicolas le berre; un jardin dans les appalaches by barbara kingsolver; harry potter et le prince de sang-mêlé by j.k. rowling; notes from a big country by bill bryson; stupeur et tremblements by amélie nothomb; harry potter et les reliques de la mort by j.k. rowling; le bizarre incident du chien pendant la nuit by mark haddon; the complete illustrated herbal by david hoffman; texas marijuana et autres saveurs; a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini; les aliments qui guerissent by sophie lacoste; le guide marabout de la future maman by marie-claude delahaye; bébés bio by sioux berger; faut-il être végétarien? by claude aubert & nicolas le beurre; l'affreux joujou by pierre siniac; les fourmis by bernard werber; contes zen by henri brunel; travels with charley by john steinbeck; les tribulations d'une caissière by anna sam; interview with the vampire by anne rice; 99 francs by frederic beigbeder; fans de bio! guide pratique pour les jeunes by sylvie hampikian; vive la terre: voyages vers le monde de demain by cyrille des ombre et al; a short history of nearly everything by bill bryson; interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lahiri]
66 watch ten foreign films (not in english or french) in the original language!!! (10 / 10) [waltz with bashir (lebanon) ; no man's land (bosnia) ; court métrage; the taste of tea (japan) ; estomago (brazil); emmas glück (germany) ; women without men (iran); ariel (finland); respiro (italia); jellyfish (israel)]
67 finish research & complete "the yoga journals"
68 read the most important works of each major religion (islam: the qur'an, the hadith of bukhari; judaism: the old testament, the talmud, the kabbalah; christianity: the new testament; hinduism: the brahmasutras, upinashads, the bhagavadgita, the mahabharata, the ramayana; sikhism: the guru granth sahib; baha'i faith: the kitab-i-aqdas, the kitab-i-iqan; & buddhism: as much of the tripitaka as i can find)
69 join a bookclub!!!
70 research & buy a real camera!!! [canon eos 500d!!!!]
71 study phytotherapy/ayurvedic medicine/healing with plants (and plant my favs in the garden)!!! [catnip, lavendar, thyme, camomille, oregano, basil, sage, dill, parsley]
72 subscribe to a newspaper!!! [the international herald tribune (global nytimes)]
73 write a short story!!!

FOOD
74 check out cookbooks & try 1 new recipe per week for 12 weeks!!! (12 / 12)
75 buy produce at the famer's market at least once a month!!! (33 / 33)
76 go wine tasting!!!
77 learn when fruits & veggies are in season and try to eat accordingly!!!
78 no more meat!!!
79 eat out at ten local restaurants!!! (10/10)
80 try a new kind of tea every month!!! (33 / 33) [bourbon vanilla; chai rooibos; sleepytime; tension tamer; organic nettle tea; apple cinnamon; sleep & serenity infusion; cinnamon & orange rooibos; pumpkin spice; thé rouge vanille des îles; organic thyme & mint; rose tea; white tea berry; soothing chamomile; destress tea; raspberry leave tea; cold season tea; good night tea; green jasmine tea; hawthorne tea; lime blossom tea; women's balance tea; detox tea; moroccan thé à la menthe; echinacea; red chai; classic cinnamon spice; good night; choco aztec spice; feel good; himalaya ginger harmony; joint well being; purifica]
81 try ten new foods i've never tried and/or heard of!!! (10 / 10) [cracking a raw egg over a pizza (not so much my thing); paté (yuck); rhubarb sauce (like apple sauce, but just rhubarb... SOOO yummy!!); brussel sprouts (actually very tasty); figs (didn't have much flavor, but not bad); turnips (tasty, kindof like radishes); leeks (delicious, i love them & will buy them all the time now!!!); beets (honestly am now in love with them, eat them all the time); endives (a bit too bitter for my liking); rocket (surprisingly nutty, very good)]
82 make my own soy milk!!!
83 make my own jam!!!
84 make my own wine!!! [started 8/30/09; stage two as of 9/13/09: secondary fermentation; currently at stage three as of 12/10/09: bottled; siphoned & just waiting to be consumed as of 06/15/2010]
85 make homemade bread!!!
86 make my own tofu!!!
87 make homemade beer!!!

GOOD WILL
88 volunteer & donate!!! (2 / 2) [donated clothes & shoes to secours catholique; donated books to café lecture les augustes; donated $1 for MS; volunteered at ingraham high school, washington middle school & madison middle school]
89 give blood three times!!! (3 / 3)
90 go on "trash walks" once a month (5 / 33)
91 donate my hair to locks for love!!!
92 donate 100,000 grains of rice at freerice.com (76,000 / 100,000)
93 plant a tree

LOVE
94 go on a date with rémy twice a month!!! (66 / 66) [7/7: dinner & drinks @ café magma near the cathedral; 8/1: dinner, games & cuddling @ home; 8/2: disastrous day in vichy; 8/20: two month married anniversary pizza date; 8/23: fireworks @ montjuzet park; 9/20: dinner & new tarantino movie; 9/23: la tonkinoise & taking woodstock; 10/27: café anglais & astrophysics lecture; 11/18: dinner & away we go; anniversary dinner & 2012; 12/12: dinner downtown; 1/2: dinner @ 1513; 1/25: dinner @ 3 brasseurs; 1/26: lunch @ la grignoterie; 1/30: court métrage; 2/12: harry potter movie night; 2/14: ice skating; 3/7: snowy walk; 3/23: picnic in the park; 4/22: couscous & soccer match; 6/11: noodles & world cup; 6/14: night walk; 6/20: one year anniversary dinner; 6/21: fête de la musique; 7/1: lunch in paris; 7/2: lunch in paris; 7/14: chinese buffet; 7/21: dinner & inception; 7/27: drinks at the derrière; 8/06: at home wine tasting; 11/17: bob's juice bar; 11/18: kitchen; 11/18: loving hut; 12/07: marché de noel; 12/09: dinner in lyon; 12/09; festival of lights; 12/10: lunch at soline; 12/20 dinner at 1513; 1/11: airport dinner date; 2/5: dinner @ casa & art show; 2/10: birthday dinner @ cafe flora; 2/20: dinner & black swan; 3/4: coffee at cafe zoka; 3/5: lunch at both ways cafe; 3/9: coffee @ whole foods; 3/18: dinner & chinese take-out; 3/26: tourist day in seattle; 4/4: jazz night at tula's; 4/19: hike mt. si; 5/2: the zoo & zeek's; 5/4: picnic at alki; 5/24: french movie @ siff; 5/30: folklife festival & dinner @ bamboo garden; 6/4: fort2fort bike ride in port townsend; 6/20: romantic getaway to lake chelan; 7/1: picnic at alki; 7/3: bday dinner @ zoe; 7/4: picnic @ lincoln park & fireworks on lake union; 7/10: tour de neuf; 7/15: hp7.2; 9/10-11: bike ms northwest & camping; 9/17: date day in bellingham; 9/27: remy's first mariners game!; 10/31: bastyr day; 11/1: mushroom hunting hike; 11/8: leaf walk & brownies; 11/29: skylark for the last drink]
95 give rémy a massage once a month (13 / 33)
96 go on a date alone!!!

CAREER / FINANCE
97 only accept a job that is doing something that i believe in/love/where i am making a difference!!!
98 put aside $1000 each year and don't touch it!!! (3 / 3)

MISCELLANEOUS
99 make a new friend!!! [amandine & aladin, kyle, elise, guillème; kyle & maria]
100 calculate my carbon footprint for the first half of 2009 & try to reduce it every six months (6 / 6)
101 spend five days (not necessarily consecutive) not speaking!!! (5 / 5)

ALTERNATES
> see a significant astronomical event!!! [the perseids, august 2009]
> learn ten new card tricks (1 / 10)
> collect wild mushrooms!!!
> make homemade pasta!!! [mushroom eggplant garlic ravioli]
> buy a lottery ticket!!!
> buy a piece of artwork!!!
> make my own curtains!!!
> go to the sziget music festival in budapest
> go to the festival of lights in lyon!!!
> make & fly a kite that works
> bury a time capsule
> go ice skating!!!
> expand my vocabulary