Guys, holy crap, I'm a lame delinquent loser who apparently never writes anymore and definitely never has any fun. (One of those statements is true.) I've been slowly but steadily checking off my 101 in 1001 list over the course of the last several months, and it's been a grab bag of incredibly fun, amusing, and just plain productive experiences to have!
Up first: #84, See a comedy or improv show!
Dave, Laura and I are all obsessed with Iliza Shlesinger, who won "Last Comic Standing" in 2008 and has produced several Netflix specials since then. We marathoned through all three of them within the first couple months we lived together, and some of her jokes have become so integrated into our day-to-day interactions with each other that I find myself checking in with outsiders, asking "Wait - have you seen Iliza?" Inevitably, the answer is no, which makes me think I must have really un-funny friends (or, more likely, friends who DON'T just watch Netflix comedy specials for fun on a random Tuesday...).
Dave found out she was coming to San Francisco in December, and once we discovered that those tickets were sold out, I immediately jumped on her shows in San Jose at the end of September. We grabbed dinner in downtown San Jose before the show, took a quick tequila shot, and headed over.
Friends, it was such a win of an evening. I honest-to-goodness laughed so hard I actually cried at a few of the sketches, which are incredibly relatable and universal. Her skewering of Millennial female stereotypes, the all-encompassing physicality of her performances, and her voices and - best of all - random noises ...it all set the stage for an evening of complete giddiness. I can't wait for her book to come out (next week, already pre-ordered, nbd) and for her next Netflix special.
Also on the list: #42, Subscribe to a podcast. I've written in the past about my love for Minnesota girl Nora McInerny Purmort, who lost her husband to a brain tumor and has turned tragedy into empowering triumph with her Still Kickin' foundation, Hot Young Widows Club outreach group, and gorgeous memoir, "It's Okay To Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too)." She's taken her empire-building one step further in her American Public Media podcast "Terrible, Thanks For Asking," which delves into how the human spirit experiences, works through and survives tragedy. I, for one, am totally riveted.
The honesty behind the podcasts,and the way they don't gloss over and shy away from the negatives, is really refreshing in this world where everyone is always "so busy!" "so happy!" "so grateful!" "so #blessed!" - I derive a lot of value from the gorgeous storytelling and the reminder that there are people in the world who are fighting terrible battles with grit and humor and frustration and anger every day. Check it out if you need a reality check - and let me know if you do!
An item I've had on my housekeeping list for way too long: #47, Join the bone marrow registry. This one couldn't have been easier to check off - I did a quick survey and provided some information on Bethematch.org, and a kit was mailed to my apartment. After a simple, painless cheek swab, I popped the kit in the mail and called it a day.
This is legitimately one of the easiest ways to do some good in the world that I have ever found. It takes all of twenty seconds to do the actual swabbing, it's free, and there's no guarantee that you'll be called upon to be an actual donor. Even so, though, putting the possibility out there is a great thing to do - get your kit today!!
On the admittedly shallow end of the scale, I derived SO MUCH SATISFACTION from calling "#63: Figure out how to fold fitted sheets" complete. Fitted sheets have long been the bane of my anal-retentive, perfectionist existence - I can't stand floppy, imprecise piles of sheets in my closet, and with space at an all-time premium in my non-walk-in here in Cali, I prioritized this. How'd I do it? I watched this video no less than ten times, cursing and sweating a little bit as I battled with my own sheets, and then - suddenly, miraculously - it clicked. Look at that sweet folded pile, below! Proud of me, and you should be too.
And wrapping up this round-up, #56: Try to grow an herb garden. When my mom was in town helping me move, we blacked out a little bit in the Palo Alto Anthropologie and Co's gorgeous Terrain outdoor department, and before I knew it, I had dropped like $75 on plants and herbs and gardening kits. OOPS #basicfail.
We potted cilantro, basil and mint, and parked them on my sunny little windowsill to see what happened. Call me a bad blogger, but below are the only two photos I took after the (messy) potting process:
So how'd it go? Well, my cilantro flourished, and I used it twice on Taco Nights with the roomies! My basil came in profusely, but was kind of undersized and a little bit bitter...I threw it in pesto to use it all up. As for the mint? Total fail. I never saw even one seed sprout. What a disappointment - I guess all my fantasies of mojitos and juleps were meant to come to naught. Oh well!
With the holidays approaching, I'm planning on checking off a few more fun items and seeing what I can get done...check out the rest of my 101 in 1001 here!