Day 22//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Continued//Run a 5k

Ran in the morning, because it's cooler than the 100º heat of the afternoon! Woke up on time, but didn't really manage to write. Will continue to work on this!

Day 21//Things 8+9

Start #8//Tie Dye

Start #9// Practice Guitar

Continued//Picture Everyday

Continued//Run a 5k

Running:

Moved up to the next step of the running. It felt a lot easier than the last day of stage 1, strangely, but it has been a day since I ran so I think the rest helped me a ton.

Tie Dye:

Bought four dyes and a five-pack of Hanes. I did two, both in a spiral pattern, and one big stretch of miscellaneous fabric for later use. My mother did a shirt and my sister did one too. My hands look like I murdered a smurf, stabbed myself between the fingers, have scurvy, and a bad mould problem because of the colors we used and the gloves I didn't.

This had been something that I have always wanted to do, and while it was a little anti-climactic, and we got into at least two fights because of the activity, it was plenty worth it. Besides, I loved being able to create something as cool as I did. Pictures tomorrow!

Guitar:

I used to take lessons, did for a long time, haven't in a long time, and have fallen out of said practice. I really do love the instrument, though, so I broke out the old tabs and tried playing a couple Beatles's hits. I didn't get far, never had a talent for minute finger movements and have always had trouble with this, but I did had fun. I plan to practice at least once a week (whenever possible) in the upcoming year.

Plans for tomorrow:

Instead of getting up when my alarm went off today, I stayed fully asleep, ripped the alarm from the wall and flung it across the room. And woke up an hour and a half later. Huh. I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow! Yoga, here I come!

End//#8

Day 20//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Continued//Read the Bible

Bible: Genesis 24 (That was nine pages... back on track!)

It was 100+, and I was going a little faster on the program than suggested, so I didn't run today.

If I actually get up when my alarm goes off tomorrow, then I'll be able to start my yoga+writing practices/Things. We'll see. My plan is to be waking up at five by school start- a little less than two weeks,

Day 19//Thing 7

Start #7//Dollar Koi

Continued//Picture Everyday

Continued//Run a 5k

It's really, really hot out there. Running was sucky...

I hope to be able to read some more Bible in the upcoming days, and start a writing practice and yoga. I just have to actually get up when my alarm goes off :)

Dollar Koi:

Accompanied by the developer's blog and diagram ( http://havepaperwilltravel.blogspot.com/2009/04/won-park-dollar-koi-tutorial.html and http://www.origami-resource-center.com/support-files/dollarkoifish.pdf , respectively)

I bravely attempted to fold this extremely elegant, intricate piece of artwork. After about an hour and a half, I decided that it was time to admit defeat. I have had passions for oragami in the past, but this was a little beyond me, and the instructions were a bit hard to follow, so I decided to put it away for a later attempt.

Day 18//Thing 6

Start #6//Run a 5k

Continued//Picture Everyday

Yes, I fell into a major slump. At first it was a moment of laziness, but then some bad news hit and couldn't bring myself to care much for a while. My mother lost her job, ostensibly over a relationship that occurred four years ago but really because of one now. Angry thoughts aside, this leave us (a family of three, me, my mother, and my little sister) in a relatively bad spot. We will just have to deal with things as they come.

Anyway, I wanted to get into better shape for school coming up, and also wanted to work on running, one of my weakest points physically. I started 'Couch Potato to 5k' (Free program here- http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtmlkcd.com/ ) and hope to be able to run in a REAL 5k eventually ;)

Day 17//Picture Everyday

Continued//Picture Everyday

Day 16//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Day 15//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Day 14//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Day 13//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Day 12//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Forgot my Bible reading! Damn!

Day 11//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Continued//Read the Bible

Bible progress: Genesis 14:1

... Nothing much going on.

Day 10//Update

Continued//Picture everyday

Continued//Read the Bible

Bible: Genesis 6:5

By the way, I am reading other books at the same time. I couldn't read the bible straight like any other book.

Had to cut short on the beads. There was a storm, so I had to take it out of the tree, and dipped it in the ocean later. I completed Ocean/Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Trees. (Wow, I feel like the avatar!)

Ocean and water deal with emotions, emotional stability, letting things flow (ie not getting hung up on things) and perspective. Earth is to be grounded in my thoughts and strong in will. Trees to help me grow and stand tall under pressure. Fire for passion in the things I love. Air for a healthy intellect and happy mind.

End #4//Beads

Day 9//Thing 5

Continued//Picture Everyday

Continued//Beads

Today/tonight: Sun and Moon. The moon is the quiet half of life (yin, black) and represents femininity, the hand that nurtures. The Sun is the active half (yang, white) and is masculine, the hand that protects. Tonight is a full moon, so that was good timing for once!

Started #5//Read the Bible

The Bible:

I am, in no way, shape, or form, religious. My family is. I don’t mind in any way, rather I would deeply like to be religious, to be devout beyond a doubt to something who I believe will always take care of me. Anyway, I AM interested in reading the Bible, to read all the history from the point a view and discover the interesting interactions between God and His people. Sadly, to me, it’s little more than another story.

I’m going to try to read about ten pages a day, more if I can, understanding if I can’t. Hopefully I will make it through all the slow parts and finish on time, considering I have already found myself prone to asking questions and making notes. I see why it is helpful to have a study group!

Day 8//Thing 4

Continued//Picture Everyday

Start #4//Promise Beads

Promise Beads:

I like to have physical representations of things. I like to have something to remind me of everything that was going on at the time, and so in order to replace the loss of my last necklace (which I wore everyday for at least a year, and took off because it was given to me by the friend who is no longer a friend and so I don’t like to wear it anymore) I have made a chocker decorated with several green and black beads. Each will have an individual purpose, and will represent my goals for the coming year. They are a promise to myself and a reminder of how far I have already come.

I have said that I am not religious, but I do believe in the power of nature and the almost magic effect it has over many people. I guess that sounds cheesy (this whole thing is cheesy) but I want my beads to be... blessed? Infused with the power of nature? Something like that. Anyway, I’ve found a site which has simply given me a few ideas (more are always welcome!). This will take a few days, and as I do the blessings I’ll talk about them, but for now here’s the meaning of each individual beads and what I’ll be doing tonight.

The colors are the colors of my frisbee team, a group that I love to play with (even though I SUCK) and love to be with. Joining the team was the catalyst of the chain of events which put me in a position of great change.

Each black bead represents a goal, or a promise to myself or something I will have achieved by the end of the year. The green bead after is the mean by which I will achieve it.

Black- Be proud of my body

Green- Work hard to maintain a healthy body and mindset

Black- Be proud of my intellect

Green- Work hard in and out of school

Black- Be proud of my frisbee skills, however feeble

Green- Play hard

Black- Be proud of my writing

Green- Practice hard

Black- Be proud or my social skills

Green- Practice often

I will bless the bead with these forces of nature:

Ocean- Dip beads in ocean (perspective, emotions)

Moon- Leave outside in moonlight all night (femininity, yin)

Sun- Leave in sunlight for one day (masculinity, yang)

Earth- Bury for one night (strength, grounding)

Trees- Hang in tree for one day (growing)

Air- Smudge with burning incense (intellect)

Fire- Hold over candle flame (passion)

Water- Ocean

Earth- Earth

I will explain the meaning of these more in depth as they happen. I plan to do them all in one run and be done by the end of the week.

Site: http://www.story-beads.com/cart.php?page=blessings

Day 7//Thing 3

Start #3//Learn to skateboard

Continued//Picture Everyday

A few years ago I got a skateboard, and managed by a series of half-baked excuses to put off the daunting take of learning to ride it. finally getting over myself, I took the board down to the park today (feeling like an idiot for carrying a skateboard) and set it in the middle of the path. It was sweltering, but I was done with skirting the task and knew that I would have to learn if I ever wanted to achieve that day-dream of mine of riding it confidently down the road (considering I hardly ever do things confidently).

I started off slow, very slow. It was a few tentative tries before I shifted my weight onto the board and precariously balanced myself there. And then I started going backwards.

I spent the next half an hour timidly inching forward every so often, going backwards a few times, but I managed not to land ass-down on the pavement, though it did slip out from under me a couple of times. By the time I’d gone twenty or so feet, sweat was dripping into my eyes (blaming the heat and intense nerves) and some girls came out into the field to practice lacrosse. I’ll admit it, I felt a little intimidated. I kept at it a while longer then called it quits.

Summing up: I didn’t make a lot of headway in terms of confidence or skill, but I did learn a few tricks and now feel less intimidated by the thought of practicing. The next challenge is continuing the practice, and how do I measure ‘learning to skateboard’ so I can mark it off? I count it as being able to use it as a mode of transport without fear. Tricks aside.

Overall, very satisfied with today's workings :)

Day 6//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Why 122?

I wanted to pick a good, substantial number for the Quest, something that would require me to complete an average of one Thing every few days, to keep me busy and active. I definitely wanted something over 100, so a Thing every four days (=91 Things) was not enough, and the next obvious choice was three days, at about 121.6, rounding up to 122. The number means nothing special in particular. I had hoped to find something close to 112, which does mean something to me, but 122 rolls off the tongue better and actually has a connection to the time span of one year.

There are a number of things I plan to do that I will not be able to complete in one day, like Picture Everyday, Read the Bible, etc. So I guess the beginning of the Quest will be a lot slower than the end of it, when hopefully I’ll be able to complete a number of things all at once and reach the quota.

Day 5//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

We come home late tonight and leave the next afternoon. By Friday night I should be online again.

Things:

The main purpose of this is for myself. Putting the next year in a blog just gives it an element of being more official, something I have to keep up and write about every day. It’s a commitment, which is why I’m writing a blog though many of these Things are for myself, and things other people might not be able to connect to or care about. That’s okay. I’ll be okay if no body reads this, which is funny to write about because there might not be anybody reading right now :)

Day 4//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Why now?

I guess I should explain why I DID start now, when I have already mentioned how it was such bad timing. Normally I would have waited, and instead spent some time planning of thinking about logistics and the like.

The night before I started I had received some news which was neither bad nor good but the implications of which troubled me greatly.

I live in America now, and I’ll describe my past homes later, but about a year ago I moved here from Australia (Though I was born here). We lived there only about 2.5 years, and the move there was a traumatic one, to say the least. I met the best friend I have ever had there, and moving back was miserable as I had to leave her. Our parents work for the same company, which is how we met. Her family was with me for some very tough times, which is why I feel a very deep loyalty towards them.

In moving back I decided to spend a time trying to make myself a better person, and this is a part of it. A few weeks ago my friend and her family came to America to visit family and us. It was quick to realize that while I had changed (presumedly for the better), she had not. Without going into details, she is no longer the person I would choose to spend time with. I was planning on slowing down our relationship and eventually cutting it off, when we were told that she was moving back. She would need a friend through the tough times, and she had been there for me, so I felt an obligation to stay friends with her. But a friendship that is not built on a want, not a need, to be together is not healthy. So for the next few days I was feeling a little down, acting very moody and spending most of my time brooding and sulking.

Then I decided to get over it. There was still two months before she moved, and I was not obligated to force a friendship that wouldn’t happen. That would not make anyone happy. At any rate, the problem could wait. I turned on some up-beat music real loud, cleaned up the house, and then felt a little let down with nothing to do. I wanted to keep the feeling of accomplishment, knowing something would come along to bring me down if I didn’t keep it up. I wanted to DO something, wanted to keep doing things. I wanted to complete who I’d tried to become this past year. Even if it takes another year, I started the Quest for these reasons.

Thank you for reading this long post. Thank you for reading. Obviously not many people have done so, and I appreciate anyone who takes the time.

Day 3//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

Plans:

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve done anything. Not for a sudden bout of laziness, I just didn’t time starting this very well and we left for a short vacation the next day. Yeah, didn’t think that one through. Anyway, we return in a few days, but leave again the next day! Jeez, that was really bad timing. But I plan on being able to work on Things while on the next vacation (1 week long) and after that will have two weeks of doing nothing before school starts, which will put a little stress on the Quest but not so much that it can’t be done. :)

Day 2//Update

Continued//Picture Everyday

And when I don't have access to the internet? I guess I can upload a number of entries (corresponding with the days I missed, possibly written offline as they happen?) on the first day back. Might miss the next few days. We'll see what happens.

Any ideas for the Quest? Keep in mind I am still in HS and don't have an unlimited budget nor a great social life, but my mother isn't totally restricting either. For example, she wouldn't object to me trying alcohol, but on the same note no cigarettes, drugs, getting shit-faced, etc. I am willing to try things without her knowing, but would personally object to the list above. This IS Quest to learn, to live a little, so I guess Trying new things is a big part of that. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Day 1//Things 1+2

Start#1// Create a blog.

Start#2// Picture Everyday.

Success! Going good so far!

End #1//Start a Blog