50 before 50

[puddingcat]

This idea popped up on FB today & for a change I've decided to give it a go. I have long enough that I'll need to average one thing every 2 months, so it seems possible.



1. Host a onesie barbecue! (Guests in onesies. Not barbecuing onesies. That would be silly.)
2. Run a half marathon. (I can currently jog for 90 seconds. Still, I have 8 1/2 years to get in shape.)
3. Cook a full roast dinner with pudding.
4. Go to Russia.
5. Do 5 chin-ups.
6. Learn how to shoot compound (to ~1st Class std. About 45% of archers can get to this.)
7. Get to a size 12 & stay there for a year. (For overseas people, that's a US 8-10.)
8. Raise £1,000 for Mind.
9. Raise £1,000 for Wood Green Animal Shelters.
10. Learn 1 new knitting technique per year.

11. Get my degree.
12. Get a job I love. (Can be a PhD place, if I still want to do that when it's time to decide.)
13. Get good enough at Russian to manage on holiday (probably in new_kate's company, which takes the pressure off somewhat!)
14. Sing in public for an audience.
15. Crochet a Captain America picnic blanket.
16. Make a game pie, a la the GBBO.
17. Make apple strudel (including the pastry) from scratch.
18. Go to a convention with friends (Nine Worlds?). Dress up for at least one day.
19. Eat vegetarian for a month.
20. Host a craft day.

21. Knit a garment out of my handspun yarn.
22. Say "I love you" to another person and mean it.
23. Try out a Pinterest-style home improvement.
24. Get another tattoo. (Current idea - which I've had for almost 10 years, IIRC - is to get dark green lines down the back of my legs so any sort of hosiery looks like seamed stockings. I want little leaves growing out either side, though, to be a bit different :) )
25. Visit San Miniato al Monte in Florence.
26. Eat something traditionally Florentine while there.
27. Visit Berlin.
28. Do a bungee jump.
29. Visit the Minack Theatre & see a play there.
30. Do a Tough Mudder / Spartan race or similar.

31. Dye (some of?) my hair a ridiculous colour.
32. Recreate that scene from Ghost with Margot & let mel film it. (My knitting group, ladies & gentlemen...)
33. Get & use a Grow Your Own Mushrooms kit.
34. Go to dance classes.
35. Go to Erotica with Margot. (Yes, knitting Margot. Yes, the sex convention. No, Margot is not Epic Crush.)
36. Make homebrew & drink it.
37. Read Master & Margarita in Russian.
38. Learn a martial art (Aikido? Tai Chi? Iaido if I can find somewhere?)
39. (Re)learn a musical instrument.
40. Carve a carrot recorder.

41. Design a knitting pattern.
42. Go to The Hill Of Witches (on the Curonian Spit) with daegaer.
43. Take part in a yarn bomb.
44. Stick a pin in a map of the UK & spend a weekend there.
45. Visit 3 museum exhibitions.
46. Try Olympic Trap with Anita.
47. Complete a mindfulness course (Cambridge Buddhist Centre).
48.
49.
50.



Suggestions for the rest are welcome & will be considered, however off the wall they are! I'm not promising anything, though ;)

I'm writing all these in a tiny Paperblank notebook - it's A7 and I'm putting each thing on a separate sheet, so I have room for thoughts / ideas / etc. It feels very grown up & not at all my usual lurching from crisis to crisis, leaving a trail of destruction in my wake, car crash of a lifestyle. You never know, I might end up actually feeling half way to being a grown up by the end of this.

(Edited for suggestions so far.)

Comments

[professoryaffle.livejournal.com]

Is there a complex piece of maths or physics that you currently feel is completely out of reach, theory/proof similar, learn enough to understand it

Read Master and Margarita (or another famous piece of literature) in Russian

Is there a style of food you really like, visit where it was invented and eat some,

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

ATM I'm at the stage in maths where I still believe that if I try hard enough I'll be able to do it :) I reckon possible (probable) PhD would count in there, though, or if I get really stuck on something I'll add it in as an extra challenge.

Will add Master & Margarita, and a few people have suggested a trip to Italy for various things so I'll add in some local (to Florence, probably) specialities.

[professoryaffle.livejournal.com]

Italy is nice, if you go to Tuscany, Luca and walking round the complete city walls (eating gelato) is a nice one

[lokuro.livejournal.com]

+ 1 to reading "Master and Margarita" or basically every other book by Bulgakov :)

Start a martial art of your choice.

Keep a plant alive for a year at least, extra points for 5 years limit (maybe I'm the only one struggling with it, but I see it as a challenge...)


P.S.: Let me know if you have any problems with Russian or want to discuss a particularly nasty case ;)

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the offer! I'm gong very slowly with a 2-pronged approach - I have a Rosetta Stone course, which teaches language the way children learn (so by recognition & repetition rather than hardcore grammar), and a Teach Yourself book (for the grammar & explanations). So far I've got to the point of recognising things I've seen before, but not being able to construct new sentences myself.

I've done karate in the past, but had a bad fall (& actually feel a bit old for it now!). I'll look into Tai Chi or Aikido, though.

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

Oh! I don't have houseplants because the cats would knock them over / eat them / dig them up, and I'm ok at keeping things alive in the garden, so I'll park that idea until I can think of a version that would make a proper goal.

[lokuro.livejournal.com]

Looks like you have already achieved some of the goals ;)

My partner is now trying to learn Russian with the Teach Yourself book "Мост", that's a nice edition, I can recommend it (despite the lack of success, which is rather a personal flaw). But so far your combination sounds very promising and right now I can't think of an insider tip to shorten the path.

(However, have you already seen Russian WK AMVs? :D)

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

Visit the Hill of Witches. With me!
/end subliminal suggestion

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

Done! Well, added to the list.

[pink-weasel.livejournal.com]

These are awesome! I started a 40 before 40 about a month ago because all my colleagues are doing 30 before 30 (little millennial gits) but my list mostly has eating cronuts and duffins and cruffins on it.