Getting The Lead Out...

It finally dawned on me that, despite having a blog and some grand ideas, I don't really have any concrete goals written down.  That's probably not a good thing.  So, I'd like to take this opportunity to list a few things that I'd like to do in order to achieve a higher level of fabulousness and fulfillment in my life.

1.  One thing I want is to become very well-read.  Finding the BBC and Guardian(UK)'s Must-Read book lists was fortuitous.  I have thoroughly enjoyed plowing my way through them.  In the past month and a half, I have read Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities, Thackery's Vanity Fair, and De Berniere's Corelli's Mandolin.  I am currently reading Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo - and a corking good read it is.  Once I've finished pouring over the adventures of Edmond Dantes, I shall move on to Love in the Time of Cholera, and The Kite Runner.  Fortunately, The Guardian's list is not just full of fiction.  It also lists many books about government and some History.  Ultimately, I wand to read things like Machiavelli's The Prince, Lao-Tzu's The Art of War, and the writings of Socrates as well as the other ancients.

2.  Another thing I'm dying to become is extremely well-traveled.  I want to see every corner of the world.  If this is not possible, I want to see as much of it as I can.  I thrive on going new places and trying new things.  This is where a winning lottery ticket would come in handy.  I could hop the first plane out of O'Hare and be in Paris or Istanbul, Calcutta or St. Petersburg, Jerusalem or Rio.  I want to see Petra, the Via Dolorosa, the Pyramids at Giza, the Taj Mahal, St. Basil's, Notre Dame/Sacre Coeur/Sainte-Chapelle, Christ of the Andes, Westminster Abbey, The Great Wall of China and Versailles.  By this weekend, preferrably. Travel is a great educator and it doesn't matter if you go to see the Buddhist temples in Thailand or eat your lunch in a different park.  This entry flows into the next...

3.  I want to have a new adventure every week.  Since I am not (currently) overburdened with the worldly wealth that would enable me to be a 21st century Marco Polo, my adventures are not going to be considered grand and glorious.  However, I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a small adventure.  Whether it's trying a new food or going a different way to work/school, it qualifies as adventure and it's all good.  Fabulous doesn't happen overnight.  Small steps are more than acceptable.  I'm lucky enough to live in an area that offers many opportunities for entertainment and edification.  My town is a darn good place to start.  And if I can start here, who knows where I could go...

4.  I'm a good cook.  I would enjoy getting better.  I have no desire to attend the Cordon Bleu but that doesn't mean I can't learn new recipes and techniques.  I can expand my repertoire quite nicely at home.  I want to try a new recipe or two each week:  Indian (Curry Chicken or Chicken Korma), Chinese (General Tso's Chicken), cappuccino cheesecake, Tiramisu, Coq au Vin and Beef Wellington are just a few things I want to attempt.  A new recipe each week would be an adventure in itself.

5.  I want to shed the blubber that's currently clinging to my frame.  I want to get fit.  I want to have the most magnificent damn figure I can get.  Adiposity is a terrible burden physically, mentally/emotionally, and socially.   I want to see what a better body can get me in terms of physical health, mental well-being and social freedom.  This will be another adventure.  

6.  I want to get my personal space cleaned and better organized.  My bedroom is deplorably dusty and cluttered with books, shoes, clothes and cosmetics, but mostly books.  I want to pare down, reorganize and polish everything to a fare-thee-well.  I want to make my space the cleanest, neatest, prettiest and most fragrant space possible, and keep it that way.   I've gotten to the point where I can't think in a mess.

7.  I want to become as well-educated as possible.  Harvard is out of the question but true fabulousness doesn't necessarily come out of the Ivy League.  I intend on returning to University as soon as finances permit to finish my degree (Foreign Languages) and maybe get a postgraduate degree (possibly in Library Science).  This one kind of scares me a bit, because I can be a somewhat indifferent student in classes that don't generally interest me, plus, Math and Math-based Science courses are sort of my Waterloo.  Almost everything else is as easy and effortless as blinking.  I want to conquer my indifference and fear of Mathematics so as to become as well-educated as possible, plus I want to brush up on my etiquette, which is not easy to do in an era and society where manners no longer seem to matter.  If I'm going to travel, the last thing I want is to go around with my ignorance on display, especially in foreign lands.  I want people to say, "You know, I never used to like Americans, but Lily changed my mind - she has a brain and good manners."  I don't care if I'm in Iowa or Vatican City, I don't want to leave people behind who feel affronted and disrespected.

8.  I want to get over past sorrows and not continue to allow them to negatively affect today and tomorrow.  I want to conquer my tendency to whine and complain.  I want to take the cards I've been dealt and play them well and with grace.  I also want to clean up my language.  I could make a longshoreman blush with shame.  That's appalling.  I'm terrified of slipping and letting loose at an inopportune moment or in front of decent people, or worse yet, children.  

9.  I want to stop whining and cowering and write my books.  Just to see if I can and, maybe down the line, get published.  I may not become another JK Rowling but maybe I could still become pretty hot stuff in the book world.   At the very least, it'd be an adventure.

10.  I want to look back at the end of my life and be satisfied.  I want to use my struggles and triumphs to help struggling people.  I want to live with grace and aplomb, humor and fire, passion and valor.  When I turn up my toes I want people to laugh when they think of me, rather than cry.  In fact, I think my funeral should be more of a cocktail party. Before Janis Joplin died, she set aside money for people to buy booze and organize a bash in her memory.  If I die wealthy, I think I'll do the same.  And as for my interment, just cremate me and bury me beneath center ice at the local Hockey rink.  That's my idea of a peaceful repose.