Saturday, December 31, 2016

Tomorrow It Begins: New Thing Every Day

Well, tomorrow is the first day of my New Thing Every Day and I figure I am about as ready as I am ever gong to be. I have made a preliminary list of 365 things (posted previously in my Happier by Choice blog), just to make sure I can really think the whole thing through. Some things on the list will take significant planning, but most can be done on the spur of the moment or, at least, with relatively little preparation. No, I do not have any expectation that anyone will actually read the whole list (which covers the equivalent of nine pages!).

Over the course of the year, the list will evolve -- some things will not happen and others will be added. A friend also pointed out that I will probably end up doing lots of other new things, without really trying to, and that will be cool. I really am hoping that dong the list challenges me and makes me a better person. Those are the underlying goals for a lot of the kind of weird things I do. Evolve or die, right? Yes. Evolve or die.

Each day, I will do my best to write a blog post about the new experience, and will include at least one picture. I will try to share anything I learn and any value that comes from the whole thing.

Here is the list. Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions. I welcome any communication at all. Have an awesome day!


       Make a list of 5 of the top people who have influenced me and write them letters
       Get rid of three things I never use
       Open a savings account for that thing I want to do
       Fast for one day
       Buy a first edition book I really like
       Learn what my spirit animal is
       Watch the Sunrise & Sunset in one Day
       Make a list of 50+ places I would like to visit in my lifetime
       Buy/write/mail a truck stop postcard
       Leave encouraging notes in self-help books for others to find
       Send someone a big rubber ball through the mail
       Read something by Pablo Neruda
       Read Kahlil Gibran
       Go to Orchids & Art, Columbia
       Write a detailed zombie apocalypse plan
       Read only the last chapter of a book
       Send a virtual thank you note to someone through the State Farm Thanks for Being There program, which will donate to Fisher House for each thank you sent
       Donate to a podcast I listen to
       Shop at the Asian grocery
       Cook a Chinese meal
       Go to Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
       Spend time reading Buddhist Sacred Texts: The Sutras
       Donate blood
       Pick a random name and send them something nice
       Make a Kiva.com Loan
       Make a list of 10+ companies I want to start
       Read something by Joan Didion
       Go to Jim the Wonder Dog Memorial Park, Marshall
       Spend time reading Hindu Sacred Texts: The Vedas
       Go to the World Chess Hall of Fame
       Do Sudoku
       Go to Ha Ha Tonka Castle Ruins (Camdenton)
       Spend time reading Jewish Sacred Texts: The Talmud
       Spend time reading the Koran
       Go to Leila’s Hair Museum (Independence)
       Read The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
       Visit Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum
       See the world’s largest rocking chair, Cuba
       Do a TED Talk
       Participate in Earth Hour
       Go to Bothwell Mansion
       Attend a competitive eating contest
       Create elaborate Easter eggs
       Attend Unbound Book Festival in Columbia
       Go to Welch Springs Hospital Ruins
       Go to Justus Drugstore, Smithville
       Write my will
       Go to Johnson’s Shut-Ins (Lesterville)
       Go to Bonne Terre Mines
       Send Donald Trump a birthday card
       Go to an event at Show-Me State Games
       Do a pop-up restaurant
       Read Columbia’s “One Read” book
       Go to Touch, Springfield
       Go to Glore Psychiatric Museum (St. Joseph)
       See the world’s largest fork, Springfield
       Visit Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
       Go to Mid-Mo Pridefest
       Prepare a traditional Honduran meal
       Go to the Eisenhower Presidential Library
       Go to Kansas City Workhouse
       Two laps around the Cosmo park trail, in my wheelchair
       Go to the Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival
       Celebrate my second anniversary at BBB
       Attend a Special Olympics event
       Celebrate my 9th anniversary with Leigh
       Drink Dom Perignon
       Go to Citizen Jane Film Festival
       Attend the Boone Hospital Foundation Gala
       Shop on Black Friday
       Celebrate my 47th birthday
       Give to Comogives.com
       Run a newspaper ad with a positive message
       50 push-ups (as a 46-47 year old)
       100 sit-ups (as a 46-47 year old)
       Lose 26 pounds in one year
       Complete my New Thing Every Day Project
       Register for an MBA program
       Finish the prerequisites for an MBA
       Submit to Asimov's Science Fiction
       Make an A in my first MBA class
       Roll-A-Thon
       Make a chocolate soufflé
       Donate to an endangered species
       Give Leigh some money to use for her students
       Give to a charity I have never given to before
       Leave a $10 under the windshield wiper of a random car in a parking lot
       Leave a 100% Tip for a Server
       Leave money in a vending machine for someone
       Send a net to help stop malaria
       Visit Bur Oak
       After my purchase, e-mail Craig at Craig’s List
       Get on Instagram
       Get on Whatsapp
       Leave a thank you note for my mail carrier
       Review a book on Amazon
       Review something I like on Yelp!
       Tweet something @ a celebrity I don't like
       Write a letter to the President
       Write a Thank you Letter to a Company that Treated me well
       Contribute to a business on Kickstarter
       Contribute to an art project on Indiegogo
       Contribute to my high school
       Bake a Giant Cookie
       Add Something Useful to Wikipedia
       Write a letter to my future self
       Learn 10 new things by clicking the random articles button on Wikipedia
       Apply to appear on a game show
       Apply to appear on a talk show
       Treat a cough by rubbing Vicks VapoRub all over my feet and put on socks
       Eat for a day without utensils
       List 20 things I like about someone. Now give the list to that person and make their day.
       Bake cookies/donuts/treats and deliver them to the staff at an elementary school
       Tip someone at a place I normally wouldn’t tip
       Write a letter to an elementary or high school teacher who influenced me and thank them
       Visit 2leep.com
       Visit attackofthecute.com
       Visit brotips.com
       Visit dearblankpleaseblank.com
       Visit failblog.org
       Visit fark.com
       Visit fmylife.com
       Visit iwastesomuchtime.com
       Visit lifehacker.com
       Visit oddee.com
       Visit shitbrix.com
       Visit sploid.gizmodo.com
       Visit thechive.com
       Visit thisissand.com
       Visit thisiswhyimbroke.com
       Visit totallylookslike.com
       Visit truuconfessions.com
       Visit wherecoolthingshappen.com
       Visit zergnet.com
       Buy a bow tie
       Buy a fedora
       Buy a lottery ticket
       Buy a pair of Tom’s Shoes
       Buy something from Victoria’s Secret
       Buy suspenders
       Do a Groupon
       Do an Uber
       Text only in emoticons
       Become an ordained minister
       Try to get tickets for the Tonight Show
       Get a letter published in Fast Company
       Get a letter published in Inc.
       Get a letter published in Vanity Fair
       Get my own radio show
       Get published in Huffington post
       Create a digital photo tour of my most important places in Columbia
       Publish a book (not self-publish)
       Write a children’s story
       Write a song
       Post my digital photo tour on Facebook
       Cook a vegan meal
       Cook a vegetarian meal
       Cook with a pressure cooker
       Cut up a whole chicken
       Create a music video for the Web
       Do origami
       Draw a comic strip
       Make some predictions for the next few years, then mull a bit and edit them, and then put the piece of paper away until later and see what happens.
       Write a rap
       Attend a concert for a band/musician I have not heard of
       Attend a poetry slam
       Do something nice for my mom that I have never done
       Find an uplifting news story from the past that struck me. Contact the principal players to show thanks.
       Do something nice for Leigh that I have never done
       Make a list of 100+ things that I am grateful for
       Make a list of 10+ charitable organization I want to create
       Make a list of 10+ interesting charitable fundraisers I want to create
       Make a list of 50+ ways that I waste time
       Write a list of 10+ life lessons
       Write a list of 100+ things that make me happy
       Win or settle a law suit
       Complete one week of no cursing
       Donate books to the Ronald McDonald House
       Donate some of my favorite books to Battle High School library
       Read to a group of children
       Send a care package to an active military person
       Go on one of Cindy Mustard’s Columbia tours
       Go to Columbia Cemetery
       Stay in the Tiger Hotel
       Make a how-to video for YouTube
       Send a Message in a Bottle
       Boil a Live Lobster
       Get Leigh to teach me how to make cauliflower crust pizza
       Grill a pizza
       Make a Pavlova
       Make deep-fried Mars bars
       Make ebelskiver
       Make homemade ice cream sandwiches
       Make homemade mozzarella cheese
       Make kimchee
       Make Kombucha
       Make my mom’s coffee ice cream pie
       Make pasta
       Prepare a meal based on Marcus Samuelsson’s recipes
       Prepare a molecular gastronomy meal
       Prepare an Indian meal
       Souvie something
       Crochet
       Design a piece of jewelry
       Design a toy and give away on instructables.com
       Do a podcast
       Grow a plant I have not grown (some flower in a pot)
       Invent a new food/recipe
       Invent my Own Candy
       Knit something
       Make a time capsule
       Make an infused vodka
       Make beer
       Make wine (at Serenity Valley)
       Name a star
       Plant a tree
       Produce a movie short
       Reupholster something
       Submit a poem to a national publication
       Try needlepoint
       Try to do a YouTube meme the kids are doing
       Complete an Online Class
       Learn a magic trick
       Learn basic HTML
       Learn how to juggle
       Learn how to make sushi
       Learn how to play three guitar chords
       Learn how to use a defibrillator
       Learn proper knife skills
       Learn some sign language
       Learn to butcher an animal
       Learn to knit
       Learn to make crepes
       Learn to meditate
       Learn to tie a bow tie
       Learn to tie a noose
       Learn to write my name in Chinese
       Observe surgery
       Obsess over a randomly selected country and write an opinion paper about one of their current issues
       Stay overnight in a homeless shelter
       Take a bartending class
       Take a photography class
       Tie a fly
       Using dice, choose a page in a dictionary, scroll down to first noun, do a project related to that word
       Visit Boone County Olive oil on 9th Street and learn about proper way to taste olive oil and identify hemisphere it originated from
       Volunteer to judge a high school speech/debate tournament
       Go to a Columbia Entertainment Company performance
       Go to a high school band concert or theater play where I don't know any of the students
       See a musician I have not seen in the “We Always Swing” jazz series
       Watch one of the Housewives shows
       Do an escape room
       Acupuncture
       Get a facial
       Get a massage
       Get a professional shave from a barber
       Go to an MS support group
       Have a tech free day
       Hot stone massage
       Manicure
       Pedicure
       Reiki
       Spend a day alone, in silence
       That thing where you are in a big tank of salt water
       Drink herbal tea
       Drink Mezcal
       Eat a cronut
       Eat a Raw Diet for a Day
       Eat Durian
       Eat geoduck
       Eat Pho
       Eat Poi
       Eat Poutine
       Eat shad roe
       Prepare a pomegranete
       Invite someone new to lunch
       Invite someone new to lunch
       Invite someone new to lunch
       Invite someone new to lunch
       Invite someone new to lunch
       Invite someone new to lunch
       Bring baked goods to a fire station to say thank you
       Bring baked goods to the police station to say thank you
       Send treats to the BBB office
       Tell a little girl she looks smart
       Write a Letter to an active military member
       File a Freedom of Information Request
       Fill out a FAFSA
       Go to a Boone County Commission meeting
       Do that thing I have been thinking about doing for Leigh
       Have a Romantic Dinner on a Rooftop
       Help Leigh buy a new (to us) car
       Hire a private chef to cook in our home
       See Notorious, by Alfred Hitchcock (one of Ebert’s 10 Best Movies)
       See Raging Bull (one of Ebert’s 10 Best Movies)
       See The Third Man (one of Ebert’s 10 Best Movies)
       Watch a silent movie
       Watch The Prince of Arabia
       Board meeting for an organization I do not know well
       Sell something on Craig’s List
       Buy life insurance
       Get a sword cane
       Color in an adult coloring book
       Go Geocaching
       Go to a Jewish service
       Go to a Muslim service
       Go to a beer tasting
       Go to a wine tasting
       Order off the menu at Chick-Fil-A
       Order off the menu at Chipotle
       Order off the menu at Panera
       Order off the menu at Starbucks
       Create a “10 Days to Conquer Clutter” calendar and do it
       Take a train to another city
       Fire a Paintball Gun
       Go one day without speaking
       Milk a cow
       Play a modern computer game
       Police car ride along
       Shoot an automatic weapon
       Try absinthe
       Try to create no trash/waste for a day
       Try VR
       Write a letter with a quill
       Braid someone’s hair
       Change a diaper
       Get our cars professionally detailed
       Put vanilla pudding in a mayonnaise jar and eat it in public
       Ride Mo-X
       Ride the city bus
       Wear a boutonnière on an ordinary day
       Wear a kilt
       Wear makeup
       Write off part of a bad debt owed us to get the tax benefit
       Go to a Renaissance fair
       Go to St. Louis Aquarium
       Go to the American Jazz Museum in KC
       Go in an Inside Skydive Simulator
       Go to The Block, Webster Groves
       Go to a Boxing Match
       Go to a car race
       Go to a rodeo
       Go to Laumeier Sculpture Park, Sunset Hills
       Eat at Port Fonda in KC (2016 James Beard Semi-Finalist)
       Go to Gram & Dun, Kansas City
       Go to The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange, Kansas City
       Go to the Clinton Museum
       Eat at Le Bernardin
       Go to City Museum, St. Louis
       Go to Citygarden, St. Louis
       Go to the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis
       Go to the wax museum, St. Louis
       See The Awakening statue, Chesterfield
       Eat at Farmhaus in SL (2016 James Beard Semi-Finalist)
       Eat at Sidney Street Café in SL (2016 James Beard Semi-Finalist)
       Go to Bogart’s Smokehouse, St. Louis
       Go to The Fountain on Locust, St. Louis
       Go to Cement Land (SL)
       See a live production of Rocky Horror Picture Show
       Be a part of a TV show audience
       Fly first class
       Try Air BNB
       Fly in a helicopter
       Fly in a hot-air balloon
       Ride a Greyhound to another city
       Check the public campaign financing box on my tax form

1 comment:

  1. I call shenanigans on eating durian. We both know why.

    ReplyDelete