Even though I haven’t checked in since my first, in February, I have been keeping the eyes on the prize with my goals this year. One of the things I’m doing differently is tallying an overall percentage in my tracking spreadsheet (oh, you KNOW I have one, right?).
I’m of course hoping to be at 50% by July 11, although I’d be happy with 40%-45%. I’m not displeased that with four months under my belt, I’ve hit over 29 percent so far this year, including already completing some goals.
GEOGRAPHY
Visit six countries.
Thanks to my 16 days in Asia, I returned to Vietnam and added Cambodia and China to my passport.
Complete at least six modules of six languages in Duolingo.
I’m hoping to have six modules in three languages completed by July so I can move ahead with three others. I’m at about 2.5 modules in Spanish and Italian and 3.5 in German. Getting there.
Attend six different ethnic cooking classes or special dinners.
While I obviously ate a ton of amazing ethnic food on my trip, I’ll call out three very food-centric special events of different cultures. Though many nights dining in Vietnam could fall under this category, the Saigon Street Foodie Tour I took in Ho Chi Minh City, was absolutely top-notch in terms of experiencing a city through food. As my Siem Reap Food Tour was a morning affair, the Cambodian meal I’ll highlight was the six-course tasting menu at Cuisine Wat Damnak in Siem Reap – the first restaurant in the country to make Asia’s top 50 list. Finally, when I returned to San Francisco, good ol’ 18 Reasons treated me to a delicious Palestinian spread at the member dinner with food prepared by Bi-Rite’s Sam Mogannam and his nephew Samir (my table may have been unfriendly, but the food was fantastic).
Read six books by authors from six different non-US countries.
I’ve added Adios, Cowboy from Croatia and the Vietnamese classic satire, Dumb Luck, to my list.
See six films from six different non-US countries.
Thanks to SFIFF and a couple of lazy afternoons with HBO Go, I’ve almost completed this goal.
- A Girl In the River: The Price of Forgiveness (Pakistan)
- What We Do In The Shadows (New Zealand)
- Assassination Classroom (Japan)
- Granny’s Dancing on the Table (Sweden)
- As I Open My Eyes (France/Tunisia)
Although the SFIFF Shorts program featured non-US selections, as did the Food Farm & Film Festival, I’m reserving this for more feature-length films.
Swim in six different bodies of water.
I took a good dip in the South China East Sea while in magical Hội An, Vietnam.
ENTERTAINMENT
See films at six different theaters. [COMPLETE]
Again, SFIFF made this easy, but I was well on my way before then. I’ve added AMC Van Ness, The Clay, The Embarcadero, The Kabuki, The Castro, The Roxie and The Victoria to my list this year.
See concerts at six different venues.
I skipped NoisePop this year and was out of town for Fauxchella, so I’m only halfway through my goal. New shows since February were the Infamous Stringdusters with Nicki Bluhm @ The Fillmore (2/20) and Waxahatchee @ The Chapel (3/8). I need to get back on a live music kick.
Host six dinner parties for six.
While I did host a housewarming, I still need to plan out my dinner fêtes. Any ideas?
Read six books by entertainers.
Added Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari (and Eric Klinenberg) to the list, bringing me up to 4/6.
Go on six dates.
I actually made progress on these and went on Internet dates of varying degrees of meh to terrible with four dudes during February and March. Go me.
Participate in six performances.
Can I count feigning interest on above dates?
HISTORY
Interview six family members.
I’ve given this a lot of brain time. Time to make it actionable.
Visit six historic sites within San Francisco
I’ve likely hit this, but specifically calling out a pop into Coit Tower, a baby shower tea at The Fairmont Hotel and a history walk beginning in Portsmouth Square as meaningful ones. That puts me at five. This is certainly an easy one to achieve.
Go to six historical society events.
Despite having a few scheduled, I’ve only been able to make it to the Barbary Coast Pt. I walking tour entitled “San Francisco: Second Chances & New Beginnings” just last weekend. It was seriously great and more young people should do these. And by young I mean under 65, like myself.
Write six chapters of a memoir.
Need to figure out where to begin.
Watch six documentaries about historical events.
One random afternoon I caught Here Come the Videofreex at The Roxie – a documentary about hippies with video cameras documenting the counterculture of the 60s and 70s.
Read six books about historical figures.
I need to buckle down and go through the recs y’all have thrown out!
ARTS & LITERATURE
Visit six visual art exhibitions at six different museums or galleries. [COMPLETE]
Yay! This one is done (but it’s not like I’m going to quit seeing art, especially with SFMOMA reopened). I continued on my art journey by seeing Luke Butler’s Afterimage at Jessica Silverman Gallery, Vision Not Victim at Rayko Gallery, Neon Robot Iceberg at Fort Mason, Farmers Got Power at galeriequynh (part of the excellent Sophie’s Art Tour in Saigon), and, out off all that’s at SFMOMA, obviously Typeface Is Interface resonated most with me.
Attend six performing arts events by six different companies.
Although I returned to the ballet, I haven’t added anything new here. That should change.
Read six novels published in 2016.
No progress. Have you read anything good and new?
Take six arts/crafts classes/workshops.
I’ve only done one so far, but HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS I LEARNED TO MAKE NEON. Thanks to Type Camp I now have a pink “M” that lives in my apartment.
Attend six author talks.
Geeked out with my fellow feminists at the JCC for Rebecca Traister‘s talk on All The Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation and type nerds at Valerie Lester‘s Type@Cooper West Lecture on Giambattista Bodoni: His Life and His World.
Write six short stories of six pages or more.
Again, something I need to carve out time for.
SCIENCE & NATURE
Visit six science museums/nature centers.
Surprisingly I haven’t done this yet.
Take six hikes of at least six miles each.
Breaking my toe in March threw off a couple of my goals, including this one. Need to scramble to catch back up.
Kayak six times.
I’m a third of the way there. I got 30 minutes of surprise kayaking (didn’t know it would be an option on my tour with Yesd Tours) in on Ha Long Bay and Mary Ann and I did the bioluminescence tour in Tomales Bay with Blue Waters this past weekend. I love kayaking so so much.
Read six science/nature books.
I have The Botany of Desire lined up as my next “to read”.
Tent camp in six different locations.
Angel Island and Steep Ravine campouts were great. More need to be booked!
Attend six science/nature lectures.
Brilliantly the bioluminescence kayak tour I took (see next category) included a big learning component! Got a talk on the geology of Tomales Bay (on the San Andreas), species of sea and sky, and of course glowing microorganisms!
SPORTS & LEISURE
Attend six yoga workshops/retreats.
Took a Valentine’s Day workshop on Radical Self-Love taught by my friend Autumn.
Participate in six organized runs.
I was devastated to break my toe just a week before the Oakland Half after training up to 11 miles. I’ve yet to get back out there with a group run and my rescheduled half in June is no longer happening. I need to do some small DSE or City Beer runs to get my passions back up.
Go to the gym six times each month.
I’ve done it so far! Aaaaaand bought a training package to help drop the 15 pounds I’ve gained in a stressful couple of years.
Attend six sporting events.
I can’t afford playoff tickets and haven’t made it to a baseball game yet. Hopefully this changes soon.
Read six sports-themed books.
No progress.
Go to six different spas/hot springs.
Hit up two spas in Vietnam, so hoping to round this goal out with three hot springs!
How are your 2016 goals coming along?
Brew to Bay 