30 before 30 cont.

As it turns out, there are books on the topic!!  

Many of them are related to skills you should have before you turn thirty, but others are about things you should do.  Some are more of the "before you die" variety, but they are giving me good ideas!!  My list has 3 spots left, but I might change one of the existing items if I come across 4 fantastic things on my list.

Okay, so here's the book list:

30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30

The Expert Guide to 100 Things That Everyone Should Know How to Do

101 Things to Do Before You're 40

 

The Pocket Guide to Adulthood: 29 Things to Know Before You Hit 30

1000 Places to See Before You Die

And finally, I found this fun blog with an old post of 50 things everyone should know.  It has a lot of other fun posts with other lists of things to do and know.  I love lists.  I need to make more for myself.

All images from Amazon.com

30 before 30

26.  

Today I turn 26 years old.  I kind of sounds old in my head, but it doesn't really bother me that much.  I am hopeful that 26 will turn out to be a joyful and productive year.  Recently, I came across a lovely blog, 30 Before 30 List by Suz.  I was inspired by her ambitious list to create my own.  I've had it for a few months now, but have yet to finalize the items.  I have 30 things now, but I want to replace a few of them.  They seem kind of silly.  But now that today is my birthday, and I have exactly 4 years to complete my goals, I want to start to finalize it.  

As I have thought about my 30 list, I've begun to realize that many of these goals are micro-steps towards greater goals I have for my life and who I want to be.  Here are a few of my life-time goals.  I think they might help explain some of my 30 items (these are in no particular order):

-Visit all 50 states (I'm at 27)

-Be well-read

-Be well-traveled (domestically and abroad-visit at least 2 more continents)

-Raise a family and be close with the family that raised me

-Write a book

-Speak Spanish fluently

-Have an individual and distinctive sense of style

-Be a wonderful friend and nurture many meaningful friendships

-Be creative, crafty, musical and artistic

Those are just a few of my life-time goals.  Here are a handful of my 30 before 30 list.

-Visit at least 3 more states (which will make 30 states in 30 years-although I won't stop at 3 if I have additional opportunities)

-Use my passport again

-Learn Spanish

-Learn to sight-read piano pieces and be able to play at least 5 songs from memory

-Learn to play guitar well from tabs

-Reconnect with at least 5 friends

-Join a choir

-Find a church home

-Take at least one big risk

-Read at least 12 "classic" books

-Establish a yoga practice

-Create a piece of art

-Be financially stable

-Learn to ballroom dance

-Learn to sew and knit

-Learn to drive a standard car

-Learn to find the constellations

-Learn a new sport (probably tennis)

-Have a book plan/proposal or draft

-Finish my family tree

That's 20 things.  I have a few more I'm considering.  Many of these are hard to quantify.  But the end of the week, I'd like to have my list complete.  

Does anyone else keep "life lists", "bucket lists", etc?  Anyone else done a 30 before 30 or something like that?  Anyone have some awesome goals that I can steal?  I like the idea of having a few off the wall things on my list.  Do share!!!

The Author of Wicked

This morning I was driving back to San Antonio from a fun-filled weekend in Austin.  It's a drive I've been making a lot lately, and my Sirius Satellite radio makes things go much quicker.  This time, I was listening to Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane on NPR (which is a fantastic show out of the Philadelphia area).  Today she was speaking with Gregory Maguire.  Don't know who he is?  I didn't by name alone, but surely everyone has heard of his book, Wicked, and its musical adaptation!  I haven't read the book or seen the show, but I've been wanting to.  And listening to this man for an hour has only increased that desire.  

He was compassionate, funny, deeply thoughtful and supremely intelligent.  He has written dozens of books for adults and children that I was unaware of.  Many of his books and stories are reworkings of classic fairy tales and myths.  Click on the link by his name and read his answer to the question about his inspiration for Wicked.  It is deeply moving and profound.  He made me want to read old fairy tales again--the Grimm's/Andersen version though, but the Disney-fied stuff.  (not that I don't love Disney).  Oh, he's also written a book about Maurice Sendak!  

Have you read Wicked?  What did you think?  Seen the show?  What versions of fairy tales should I read??

Reflections and A Reader's Wishlist

Most recent read: Latino in America by Soledad O'Brien

I've been MIA from this blog for over a month.  I'm still trying to sort out why...

This fall has been a struggle for me in many ways.  Still being unemployed has been difficult, and I find myself lacking motivation.  Plus, I've moved, and am still hopelessly unorganized.  Now even more of my books are pack up in boxes on far away shelves and so I've been reading less, much to my own dismay.  This lack of reading, and lack of motivation in general has meant silence in my corner of the blogosphere.

I've found that starting up the momentum again is the hardest, so here I go.  Sometimes, I wish I could blog about things not entirely related to books and reading.  After all, reading is about life, so this blog should be about life as well.  It will still be focused on reading, words, books, and other literary endeavors, but I'm going to share more daily thoughts as well, in an effort to help the writer within me blossom.  

Despite this small shift, books are still on the forefront of my mind, so I am going to conclude today's discombobulated post with a wishlist:

On That Day, Everybody Ate: One Woman's Story of Hope and Possibility in Haiti by Margaret Trost

Cornflakes with John Lennon: And Other Tales from a Rock 'n' Roll Life by Robert Hilburn

The Finishing Touches by Hester Browne

The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art, and the Comforts of Home by Jane Brocket 

Street Saints: Renewing America's Cities by Barbara J. Elliott

Let the Great World Spin: A Novel by Colum McCann

The Backyard Homestead: Produce All The Food You Need on Just a Quarter of an Acre! by Carleen Madigan

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester and America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose

My taste in books, as is the rest of my life, is highly eclectic and contradictory.