30 for 30: One Year In

As you can see, this is a list that I'm actually trying to stick too, 6 months later. Several of these are in progress, so, one year in, six months from now I'm hoping the number I have crossed off seems a little more impressive. I've altered a couple of goals as well. For reasons passing understanding, I seemed to have it in my head that attending the Brainerd Ice Fishing Extravaganza was a worthy goal. No longer. It's been replaced by Trekfast. Ditto my somewhat apropos of nothing desire to apparently read 'Ulysses' by James Joyce. That's been replaced with some good old-fashioned political theory/philosophy to keep my political science skills up to snuff...

February 12th, 2012: changed out number 15 today... not that I have anything against boning up on my political philosophy, but I would have to have purchased the Hayek, Guerin and the Gramsci to do it- and I just don't want to have that much philosophy lying around. The Second World War by Churchill was a 12 volume set that landed in my possession after my Granny died. Reading them, I think, is a far more personal achievement.

April 4th, 2012: Changed out number 11 today... a triathalon? What was I thinking... maybe by the time I'm forty. But a 5K by the time I'm 30- provided I get off my ass and get running this summer, that is well within reach.

May 20th, 2012: Changed out number 18 today... there's just not enough cricket on television over here for me to actually watch and while I caught some Rugby during the World Cup, Aussie Rules is mainly the province of very late nights on the ESPN family of networks. Someday, I want to GO to a cricket game. At Lord's. And get quietly plastered on Pimm's and eat cucumber sandwiches. Probably won't manage that before I'm 30 though. Instead I'm going to attempt to tackle the one science fiction classic that just eludes me: Dune. And just for a bonus- maybe I'll pull an all nighter and watch the movie- which always seems to be on from 12AM to 4AM on BBC America for some reason.


1. Finish My Novel
2. Get Another Tattoo
3. Publish My Novel (conventionally would be preferred, but I might be open to Kindle.)
4. Get Something Pierced Again... (I'm thinking labret. Thoughts anyone?)
5. Get Contacts Again (Eye appointment on Monday! Hopefully this will be done SOON.)
6. Go Skydiving
7. Go to a Twins Game
8. Road Trip It To Winnipeg for a Jets Game...
9. Visit All 50 States (or failing all 50, get to the lower 48 at least.)
10. Lose 30 to 40 pounds... (whatever gets me back down to the 190-200 range- and maintain it!)
11. Run a 5k
12. Attend Trekfest! (Something I've never done, despite being a fan of Star Trek!)
13. Go to a Music Festival... (either 80/35 or Lollapalooza? Farm Aid?)
14. Attend the Iowa Caucuses. (I've never actually done this. I did it in Minnesota, but not Iowa.)
15. Finish all 4,532 pages (and 12 volumes) of Winston Churchill's 'The Second World War'
16. Read something by Faulkner- and understand it.
17. Re-read The Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby- and try and appreciate them.
18. Read 'Dune' and understand it... (or kind of enjoy it, maybe?)
19. Attend a Premier League game... (this would involve going back to the UK. Excellent!)
20. Attend a Major League Soccer game.
21. Attend a Civil War Re-Enactment/Commemorations of the 150th Anniversary of the War
22. Expand our backyard patio, put in a pergola and a fire pit
23. Finish off our bathroom, re-floor and repaint our master bedroom
24. Go back to Europe- Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Greece and Cyprus are all on my wish list.
25. Become a father- I know this is dependent on any number of factors beyond my control, but I think trying should be a lot of fun... ;-)

26. Learn How To Make Bread from Scratch
27. Become a good amateur bartender
28. I'd like to take my wife on a real honeymoon
29. Improve my foreign language skills
30. I'd like to save up and get a subscription to The Economist. Probably the best news magazine out there.

BONUS: Finally went to the Lion's Den- any Iowa kid who's traversed the state on Interstate 80 will undoubtedly remember the signs near Baxter, Iowa for a gigantic ADULT SUPERSTORE. I must have driven past that place a million times and finally, at the ripe old age of 28, the Missus and I stopped to check it out. It's pretty much what you would expect out of a gigantic ADULT SUPERSTORE.