I can’t believe it’s been over 3 months since I updated this blog. Time flies when you procrastinate. I have been updating the Facebook page regularly though, so please go “like” it.
Now 1 closer. I went to the Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the summer, and set foot on South America for the very 1st time. Now 3 more to go: Antarctica, Australia and Africa.
Speaking of Brazil…
Goal #4. See a football match at Estadio do Maracana, Rio, Brazil
It’s such a iconic stadium and it was just completed when I went. Loved it!
Estadio do Maracana
Goal #23. Conquer the fear of doing a handstand
Definitely making progress, but there are good days and bad days.
Handstanding in the office
Goal #39 Run a 5k
It was freaking tough! I am not built to run and I will never enjoy running. But I did it! With my yogi friend Lindsey’s support (who ran slowly with me the entire way), I finished it! In fact, we were both winners in our respected age group. I am not telling anyone how many people actually ran.
Goal #24 Jump out of a plane (preferably with a parachute) - COMPLETED!!
Jumping out of a plane at 14,000 ft on my 41st birthday (with Bob). Deland, Florida.
All I can say about that 1 second when you jump out of plane for the first time is, it’s freaking surreal!
I wasn’t scared at all. I wasn’t even nervous. I was surprisingly calm for someone who’s about to leap off a flying plane for the 1st time. I felt that way mainly because of my complete trust in my tandem buddy, Bob Crossman (of Skydive Deland). He has jumped more than 9500 times, and he made me feel very safe throughout. I met Bob on a yoga retreat with his fiancé, Kathryn Budig. When I told him about this goal, he explained the whole process to me. By understanding what actually goes on really helped me dispel the initial fear. Bob was also so welcoming and friendly that I knew I want to jump with him.
That being said, when we leaped off, it was “OH MY GOD, THIS IS CRAZY!!!” and then, “oooohh, this is reeeeally cool….”. It was the most liberating feeling ever. The free fall was indescribably awesome. It was a complete sensory overload, but in a very good way. I was a like puppy sticking his head out of a driving car for the 1st time. I was like, “weeeeeeeee….”. I wanted it to last forever (so it was a good thing that Bob was strapped to me to open the parachute!). The gliding after the parachute was opened was actually more scary to me than the free fall.
This goal is listed under “Courage”. I think my perspective has changed after jumping off a plane at 14,000 feet. I actually do feel more courageous now. Sometimes you have to take a leap to live your life. It was an absolutely amazing experience, and I am so glad I did it.
Some thoughts on some of the goals
I knew when I made the list that some goals would be difficult to measure and there wouldn’t really be a “mission accomplished” state, such as Goal #31 Be aware of praiseworthy situations and efforts, and pay sincere compliments to people. I was willing to give it a go because I really did want to become someone who proactively gives sincere compliments to people. It makes people happy, you know. However, this is proving to be more difficult than expected, simply because I don’t always remember this goal, and it is not my habit to praise people often (hence this goal). I think this kind of behavioral change requires constant reminding, and I am not doing a good job of it. After all, it’s not as straightforward as, for example, visiting 50 states. or skydiving.
In fact, after more than 8 months of living this project, I am getting a much better perspective of how some goals are not set up the right way, such as this one, or Goal #42 Value chance encounters and take initiatives to get to know interesting people. In theory, it’s a good intention. But in practice it’s frustrating not to be able to “cross it off”, so to speak. Another one is Goal #21 Learn CPR. After listening to a RadioLab podcast about how low the success rate is of applying CPR (around 3%), and how often the person (the non-pros) who applies the CPR end up cracking the ribs of the patient, I am now having second thoughts of this goal. Is it worth learning something that is not that useful? And would I feel comfortable or confident enough to apply it after learning it? I think I will give the list a whole year before amending or changing any of the goals. But I am thinking about a few of them.
Other progress updates:
Goal #1. Visit all 50 states in the US
My 41st birthday/Spring Break road trip. (3/16/2013-3/23/2013)
On my week-long birthday road trip, I hit 3 new states: North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi. It was a LOT of driving. I also ate at 9 restaurants featured on the Food Network show, Diners Drive-ins and Dives (it’s a mini-project of mine which started simply because I saw on the show a place called, Leo’s BBQ. I went that one and the rest is history. I have now been to more than 70!). I also met up with friends along the way, celebrated my birthday with them, which was the best part of the whole trip.
I have 11 more states to visit to complete this goal:
Alaska
Delaware
Idaho
Iowa
Kentucky (going there in August to present at a library conference)
Montana
North Dakota (possibly in the fall when I present at the South Dakota conference)
South Dakota (going there in the fall for a library conference)
Utah
Wisconsin
Wyoming
My target is to visit 3 more states by the end of the year. Most likely they will be South Dakota, North Dakota, and Kentucky.
Clockwise from top left corner: at Penguin Drive-ins in Charlotte, NC; South Carolina Welcome Center; North Carolina BBQ; in Mississippi.
Goal #5 Practice yoga in India
The news is, we (the sensory analysis group) will be going to India during the Thanksgiving week this year!! That’s all I know for now. But, soooo excited!!!
Goal #7 Dine at Noma (Chef René Redzepi), Copenhagen, Denmark
Oh I tried. I wanted to go to Copenhagen before my Rome conference. So I tried to make a reservation when their online reservation opened. The tables on the dates I wanted were booked within minutes. Ugh! I read that there were cases of food poisoning at Noma recently. I was really hoping for cancellations. No such luck. This goal is proving to be quite difficult.
Goal #13 Get tenure
I got my official reappointment letter for 2013-2014! So, yippy! I still have a job. Two more tenure and promotion reviews to go. If everything goes smoothly, I will go up for tenure in October 2014.
Goal #18 Learn a new word every week and use that word at least 5 times that week
I have been a bit lazy on learning new words. But, still some interesting ones.
hypnopompic (adj) - Of or pertaining to the semiconscious state prior to complete wakefulness.
lollapalooza (noun) - an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event.
bibelot (noun) - a small object of curiosity, beauty, or rarity.
This is another goal that I am thinking about modifying. I keep forgetting to do it every week. Routine doesn’t work well for me on a long term basis. I am considering changing it to something like, learn 100 new words by my 45th birthday. What do you think?
Goal #19 Learn how to iron a shirt (trousers and jackets would a bonus)
I haven’t started learning it yet but I am starting my research on good tutorials. And I found this awesome one.
Goal #36 Achieve and maintain ideal weight
As of March 14, 2013, I weighed 205.5 lbs, which means I have lost 37.5lbs since Dec.,27, 2011. The weight loss has slowed down a lot, but I feel that this is the healthy way to get to my target weight range of 180-190lbs.
Disclaimer: I stepped on the scale before my week-long birthday/Spring Break Diners Drive-ins and Dives road trip. I didn’t practice as much yoga since 3/14 because of the crazy schedule of late. It’s very likely that I have to gained a few pounds back. I plan to step on the scale once a month, which will be the week of 4/18. I still have a couple of weeks to get back in shape.
Goal #43 See Leo Messi play in person
When I was younger, I never got to see Deigo Maradona play in person, and it’s always been a regret. There have been great players since him, but it is only until now that we have Lionel Messi, who could really be compared to Maradona. Messi dribbling in full flight is thing of true beauty, and I want to see that in person. This goal is listed under “no regrets”.
I will be presenting at a conference in Rome, Italy in June. Messi plays for Barcelona. Barcelona play their final home match (vs Malaga) on June 1st. Most likely, they will have won the league before then, but I think there will be a great celebration at the stadium after the final whistle of the season. Therefore, I am going to Barcelona before my conference (ticket booked!!!). Now, I just need to find a ticket for that match (it’s not easy to come by), and hope that Messi stays injury-free.
Since my last progress update in September 2012, I have visited Jersey City (NJ), New York City (NY), Chicago (IL), Charlottesville (VA), St Louis (MO), Philadelphia (PA), Dallas (TX), Miami (FL), and Norman (OK). However, those were all states that I had already been to before, so I couldn’t take any states off my 50 states list (Goal #1 - visit all 50 states).
The good news is, I will be going to Portland (OR) for the first time next week before driving up to Seattle (WA) for a library conference. Although I will only be in Portland for less than 24 hours, I am already look up local restaurants to try and maybe even a yoga class at Yoga Pearl.
I’m thinking about trying this place, Pok Pok, :
Any other recommendations?
At this point, I still have 15 more states to visit to achieve the goal:
Alaska
Delaware
Idaho
Iowa
Kentucky
Mississippi
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota (possibly in the fall if I present at the South Dakota conference)
Oregon (soon!)
South Carolina
South Dakota (possibly in the fall for a library conference)
Utah
Wisconsin
Wyoming
In terms of Goal #2 - Set foot on all 7 continents, I went on a wonderful yoga retreat (more on that later in another post) in Tulum Mexico over the new year period, and then visited Mexico City (and went on a couple of awesome tacos tours). My knowledge of geography is so limited that I actually had to look up which continent Mexico belonged to (it’s North America). So, no progress on this goal. But it was a fun fun fun trip:
About to climb the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan , Mexico. (1/6/2024)
Taco tasting in Mexico City.
I still have 4 more continents to visit:
Africa
Antartica
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America (likely in the summer)
Some promising news for goal #4 - See a football match at Estádio do Maracanã, Rio, Brazil. The stadium is under major renovation right now, and I was really worried that it would not be open when I go there this August. (I AM GOING TO RIO THIS SUMMER!!!, for a sensory science conference). I just read that the stadium is slated to be the venue for the Confederation Cup in June. Phew. Now I just hope that there will be matches there during the week of my visit in August.
Why do I want to go to that particular stadium? You see, when I was a football mad kid, The amazing Zico was my idol. I wanted to be him. I wanted to go to Brazil because of him. He played for Brazil (a key member of the brilliant 82 World Cup team that didn’t not win the tournament) and Flamengo, which both use Maracana as their home stadium.
Zico at his mesmerising best:
How could I go to Brazil and not go see a football match? Just look at the atmosphere!
Since I am going to Brazil anyway, I am seriously considering making a short trip to Buenos Aires and take a few tango lessons, and perhaps even a Milonga outing or two. On one hand, this is a great opportunity to accomplish my Goal #3 - Tango in Buenos Aires, on the other hand, Argentine Tango is a dance I’d really love to learn, and I have always dreamed to spending a consider period of time in Buenos Aires to learn it probably. Taking just a few classes would not really do it justice. So I am still on the fence about this one. It would be great if I could start learning the dance now and then I could get much more out of it there, except that there isn’t a single tango teacher with 60 miles of Manhattan, KS! I need to come up with a plan soon, as learning to dance is going take some time (especially for someone like me!) , and my goal #20 is to be comfortable at at least one ballroom dance!
In the meantime, a couple of lovely tango scenes from Sally Potter’s 1997 film, The Tango Lesson:
Kathryn Deiss, Michael Stephens, me, and Jenny Levine all loved R2!
I went to Telluride, Colorado for the Risk and Reward Library Conference (aka R2 Conference), which was hands down the best library conference I’ve ever attended. The entire conference challenged convention library thinking. Everything was planned and executed meticulously. It was such an exciting experience. However, while I was intrigued when I first learned of the conference, I actually spent quite a bit of time debating whether I should go or not because it would be an expensive trip (and Telluride isn’t exactly easy to get to). What pushed me over the edge was this goal #1 of my 45 things list. I had never been to Colorado before, and that did it. I was going! And I am so glad I drove 14hrs there (and 14 hrs back, in pouring rain no less!). Not only did I get so inspired by the ground breaking conference, I got to know so many cool people!
After checking off Colorado, I now have 15 states left to visit. Not sure which state I will get to go next though.
Alaska
Delaware
Idaho
Iowa
Kentucky
Mississippi
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oregon
South Carolina
South Dakota
Utah
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Goal #10 Try vegetarianism for a month (in progress)
I’m still in preparation stage for this goal. Since as long as I can remember, a meal is not a complete meal unless it has some meat. And I love meat. So when I first set this goal, I thought it’s going to be a tough one. But as I gradually become more health conscious, this doesn’t seem as daunting as it once did. My plan is to do this in the summer next year.
I have been learning some new veggie recipes. And now I don’t absolutely need to eat meat for every single meal. Here are some of the veggie dishes I made in September:
Whole grain shell pasta with spinach and cherry tomatoes.
Apart from the Dutch oven, the immersion blender is my favorite kitchen purchase. I puree at every opportunity, and make a lot of soups now.
Curried Cauliflower and Carrot Soup
What I’d like to do is to learn how to cook more varieties of vegetables. It’s overwhelming to see so many different kinds of veggies that I have no idea what to do with!
Goal #12 Earn an additional graduate degree (in progress)
I am currently pursuing a PhD in Human Nutrition with an emphasis on Sensory Analysis and Consumer Evaluation at Kansas State University. Here is a description of the programs:
“Sensory Analysis & Consumer Behavior emphasizes issues affecting eating and other consumer product behaviors, and understanding methods for evaluating products from a sensory perspective. Students will integrate food science, physiology, psychology, business, and statistics to help provide insight into consumers’ needs and wants for products, services, and information that enhances their lives.”
I’m taking 1 -2 courses per semester while I work full time. It’s a balancing act, but I’m enjoying it. Expected completion date: 2016 Spring. A lot way to go…
Goal #14 Give a kickass presentation (in progress)
At the 2nd National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC) at Kansas City, I co-presented at a pre-conference workshop with 2 very well-established library deans, past-ALA President Camila Alire, and Dean of Marquette Library, Janice Welburn. It was a great experience to work with two such respected leaders of my profession.
I was ecstatic to learn that many people seemed to like our workshop and my presentation a lot, and the reviews I heard from other people were excellent. However, I’m using the best Ted Talks as my benchmark for “kickass presentations” (so I’m setting the bar extremely high). With that in mind, there is obviously still plenty of room for improvement. Also I’m keeping this item on the list because I feel that I need to give a solo “kickass presentation”.
Yay! Thank you, friends!
Goal #15 Become an expert in multiple disciplines – Publish articles or present at conferences in 5 different fields (in progress)
I have presented on film studies, library science and popular culture at conferences in the last few years (I’m still on the fence about pop culture counting as a “discipline”. Well, I supposed it could be considered cultural studies). In any case, I am now working on developing a sensory research project. The plan is to have something to present at next year Pangborn Conference in Rio, Brazil! This also ties in with my goal #4 See a football match at Estádio do Maracanã, Rio. I really hope the stadium renovation will be done by then.
Goal #18 Learn a new word every week and use that word at least 5 times that week (on-going)
1. Fabulist - 1. a person who invents or relates fables. 2.a liar.
Usage highlight: “I’m thinking about writing a screenplay called Fabulist Fabulist. It would be perfect for Jim Carey”.
2. Bathetic - displaying or characterized by bathos.
3. Harridan - a scolding, vicious woman; hag; shrew.
4. Ataraxia - a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety;tranquillity.
Goal #23 Conquer the fear of doing a handstand
September 26. 5:30am workout. Smiling upside down for the camera. :)
I have been to the Thursday Handstand/Inversion/Arm Balance workshop at Orange Sky Yoga 3 times now. The first session was all handstands. I was quite determined and made some progress. I managed to get upside down against the wall a few times.
The 2nd session also focused on handstand, but for some reason, the fear of hurting my shoulders kept creeping back, and I regressed. I couldn’t even jump up against the wall the entire time. Every time I tried to jump up, my shoulders would resist and hunch. It was very frustrating.
The 3rd one I went to was focused on Pincha Mayurasana (forearm balance), which is a difficult pose. Most people find it more difficult than handstand, but I am actually less fearful of it. But my goal isn’t to do pincha (damn it!), but handstand.
I began to incorporate some inversion practice into my Mon/Wed/Fri 5:30am workouts, and noticed some tiny progress. At least my shoulders can occasionally be relaxed enough to let my body rotate up. I can get some air time every once in a while, and getting my legs up against the wall is much easier now.
It is going to be a long process before I can do it in the middle of the room. I am still not confident doing headstand away from the wall. Baby steps at the moment.
Goal #36 Achieve and maintain ideal weight (in progress)
My starting weight: 243 lbs (on December 27, 2024).
Target weight: 184 lbs.
Current weight: 213 lbs (on September, 29, 2012)
Weight lost: 30 lbs.
I still have 29 more pounds to go before reaching my target weight, but I’m officially more than half way there!
Goal #37 Be able to do splits (in progress)
Hanumanasana on 9/26/2012. Progress is very slow.
Goal #42 Value chance encounters and take initiatives to get to know interesting people (on-going)
I met many awesome people at the R-Squared Conference and at JCLC. And I’m really glad I got to spend some time and got to know Michael Stephens, Jenny Levine in Telluride, and Azusa Tanaka in Kansas City. All very intriguing people that I’d love to stay in touch with.
with Azusa, who also has her own 50 states goal, at Woodyard BBQ. My favorite BBQ place in Kansas City.
