101 in 1001!

I admit it: I like lists. My husband laughs at me, but I think (or at least I like to think) that he appreciates my lists too, because it keeps us organized. He knows that if he calls me from Costco I will be able to tell him what we need (or even better, snap a photo of the list and text it to him), and he knows I have our schedules straight (mostly) so he can ask if he can play golf on this day or that. (But he doesn’t like it AT ALL when I give him a list with the expectation that he’ll do everything on it by a certain time or date!)

So when I read about the idea of writing a list of 101 items to accomplish in 1001 days on the blog of a photographer I admire (Melissa Jill–her work is BEAUTIFUL!), I was intrigued.

I found two websites that help you to get started. The first is a date calculator, so you can figure out exactly what your end date will be based on your start date, without you having to actually do any math (a bonus for me!). And the second is just kind of a launching pad to help you plan your list: It has pages on brainstorming goals, keeping yourself organized, etc.

I started my list on my birthday last year, and I am writing this blog post today as I approach my birthday again a year later. I am doing OK with it, but am thinking perhaps posting this publicly will hold me more firmly accountable.

My thoughts on this whole “101 in 1001” are numerous. First of all, I know myself–the list can’t be entirely overwhelming or I’d give up before I even began. In other words, there can’t be any goals on it that are basically unachievable in the timeframe allotted, nor can there be any goals that I cannot reasonably control (like, “Become independently wealthy” or “Get an image published in a highly regarded national magazine”). In addition, my goals need to be quantifiable in that I need to be able to COMPLETE them and check them off. For example, “Get better at photography” is not a quantifiable goal, so it’s not allowed on the list, though I have every intention of doing that in the next 1001 days. Instead, I could put, “Take a total of three or more photography-related workshops.” And my last consideration is simply that 1001 days is a long time, and therefore I expect the list to evolve over its “lifetime”. That is, it is not a complete list yet on purpose, as I anticipate thinking of new goals over time and as I cross out old ones that I either complete or no longer deem important to achieve.

SO, here’s what I have so far, nearly a year into it:

Start date: March 4, 2011
End date: November 29, 2013

1. Think of 101 things for this list!
*2. Find out more about being represented on Getty (I am now a Getty contributor!)
*3. Get CS5
*4. Get and become comfortable in LR3
5. Learn more about CS5 (including working through the Kelby book)
6. Work on learning French with Emily
*7. Get an iPhone (and make it work with my car)
8. Take Emily on one “girls’ trip” a year (so far, Bernardus in 2011, and going to Disneyland (where Daddy will meet up with us) in 2012)
9. Read the Jose Villa photography book
10. Complete the Workshop in a Box
11. Carefully read my two Bryan Petersen books
12. Take a family trip to Europe (especially Italy and Austria)
*13. Replace broken P&S
14. Complete at least one 52 in 52, and print a book (so far I have completed 2, but no book yet!)
15. Donate blood (if I can)
16. Go apple picking at Apple Hill
17. Send a card & gift to someone “just because”
18. Read “The Art of Photography”
19. Take one workshop or class a year (so far, Bloom and Create and ACC 301 in 2011)
*20. Start a website or blog
21. Go to a you-pick-it orchard or farm
22. Go on family camping trip
*23. Get a new computer
24. Get (& then keep) my computer cleaned up & organized—old emails, recycle bin, feeds/favorites, My Documents
25. Upgrade my camera (COME ON, Mark III!)
26. Get a 24-70/2.8 L lens
27. Clean out the old den
28. Finish (or eliminate) ALL the projects in the old den
29. Get through ridiculous magazine pile
30. Dress up the old den
31. Get window treatments for windows that need them
*32. Get the new printer working beautifully—paper and profiles
33. Get caught up on Emily’s scrapbooks
34. Use my saved articles to explore around here—think DAY TRIPS
35. See the Broadway Mary Poppins
*36. Get a photo published somewhere (CM Inspire and CM Laughter)
37. Clean out Vera’s cabinet in dining room
38. Clean up Emily’s room
39. Get kitchen remodeled (and clean it out while “moving”)
40. Sell stuff on eBay/Amazon
41. Clean out my bedroom
42. Knit something
43. Put something in that blank spot on the wall between the LR and kitchen
44. Replace the decorative plate that got broken in the kitchen with one equally meaningful
*45. Check into getting a Tax ID and formal business name (not completed, but longer interested in going pro, at least not in the next 1001 days)
*46. Get a macro lens (got the 100/2.8L)
47. Finish all projects on couch and on my desk
48. Get monitor calibrated correctly
49. Investigate professional labs and pick the one(s) I like best
50. Clean out linen closet
51. Clean out front bathroom
52. Get ALL photos on flickr well-tagged
*53. Get Em’s stuff mostly out of livingroom
54. Reorganize new den closet
55. Organize, “understand”, and back up all actions, presets, and textures
56. Learn to use my Speedlight confidently
*57. Get an iPad
*58. Develop a portfolio
59. Check on equipment insurance/get insured
*60. Get accepted into CM Pro
61. Replace my iPad with the latest and greatest
62. Re-read all saved photography notes
63. Get comfortable shooting more “lifestyle”-type photography
64. Get all of my publicly available images registered with the US Copyright Office
65. Help Tom research getting Emily registered with the DAR
66. Re-learn to quickly solve a Rubik’s Cube
67. Make cloth napkins that will match our new kitchen
68. Clean out my closet
69. Read Wuthering Heights with Emily
70. Work on improving my SEO
71. Get a dog (this one kinda goes against my “ideas” for this list as I am not SURE I want to do it within the next 1001 days as DH is 100% against it and DD is 100% for it, but I really DO miss having a dog though I DON’T miss the responsibility, so it’s here just to keep considering)
72. Complete “The Way I View____” for 2012
*73. Check into CPS and sign up if it seems worthwhile
*74. Get 40D professionally cleaned
75. Clean out my file cabinets
*76. Get all of our CDs uploaded to iTunes
77. Investigate whether to get some type of online, automated back-up system for my computer
78. Volunteer at her school in whatever capacity I can each year (2011: Mr. P’s classroom, 2012: Mr. P’s room and 7th grade field trip)
79. Get front and back yards looking pretty again
80. Train Rory to do at least one cool trick
81. Go on at least one trip alone with Tom each year (2011 Sonoma)
82. Take Emily to Alcatraz
83. Get a canvas printed
84. Print and hang some of my images in the house (new den? old den?)
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.

And simply because no blog post of mine would be complete without at least one image, here are two that make me happy from Item 14 for 2012: