1. Participate in a 5K.
2. Run 5K in under 30 minutes.
3. Visit the Ghibli Museum.
4. Watch a live cricket or rugby match.
5. Learn how to use a sewing machine and read patterns.
6. Go to an improv show.
7. Give a speech in Japanese. [June 2011]
8. Go vegan for one week.
9. Attend a professional conference/workshop. [August 2011]
10. Get my ears pierced again.
11. Make a rainbow cake.
12. Go to a club in Tokyo. [February 2011]
13. Stay in a capsule hotel. [February 2011]
14. Update my portfolio and blog design.
15. Add two new samples to my portfolio. [July 2011]
16. Buy new glasses.
17. Move Japan blog to own hosting and archive.
18. Read 50 books. [65/50]
19. Write at least 12 letters. [12/12]
20. Go to a pachinko parlor.
21. Read The Lord of the Rings. [March 2011]
22. Read the Foundation series. [June 2011]
23. Give up coffee for one month. [December 2011]
24. Watch 5 films from the Criterion Collection [1/5].
25. Eat kaiseki. [June 2011]

Starting today, I’m joining Kathryn in 100 Days of Writing.

Here’s the deal. Out of the next 110 days, I will write for 100 of them (or declare myself a 100 Days of Writing Failure). I can skip any days I want, but starting today, I’ve got to hit 100 out of the next 110.

For a day to count as a Day of Writing, I must do one of the following:

1. write a completed piece (blog posts count, but emails, no matter how lengthy, do not);
2. write (or revise) for a minimum of 30 minutes; or
3. write a minimum of 500 words

I tend to do better with a set goal or deadline, plus it’s great motivation to be writing/talking about writing/struggling with writing with others (see: NaNoWriMo). My current thought is to use this project to write more short-short stories, revise my novel(s), and catch up on my Japan blog (again). My end date: May 9.

I am an avid dreamer. Think multiple dreams, usually with intricate details and loads of weirdness, and often remembered. Sometimes I’m an active character, other times I’m watching the dream unfold like a movie where I’m either the director and the audience.

I’ve had repeat dreams where I can control what the outcome will be based on previous knowledge, sort of like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. I’ve had dreams that were confusing, where I didn’t know how to do something…until I later remembered the dream when it happened in real life and realized I simply hadn’t learned what I needed to know yet.

What this all means is that I’ve wanted to start a dream journal for a long time, but it’s always seemed like too big of an undertaking. I knew it had to be on the list, a written reminder with accountability. When I saw this notebook, I laughed, bought it immediately, and started my first dream journal.

#16 on the Twenty-five To-dos (Year 28) list: Start a dream journal.

My husband likes to say that my dreams revolve around three themes: water, my hometown, and school. I’ve definitely seen those come up in the first few weeks of recording, but I’m curious to see what other themes surface as time goes on. If my dream-related tweets are any indication, nerdiness also runs rampant.

When I added “11. Make homemade bread” to the Twenty-five To-dos (Year 28) list, what I meant was that I wanted to make bread that required yeast and lots of kneading. I have made cinnamon rolls and quick breads in the past, but nothing that I thought of as “from scratch”. So a couple weekends ago, I decided to spend an afternoon up to my elbows in flour after being inspired by Megan to try my hand at bagels (she makes everything look easy). I also had recently learned the Japanese equivalent of tahini and was anxious to make hummus again, so I found a recipe for pita bread to try out at the same time.

The bagels required the most attention between rising, kneading, rising again, shaping, rising a third time, boiling, and then finally baking. My dinky micro-oven limited me to baking only two bagels at a time, and since each “batch” took 30 minutes, there was plenty of time to switch gears to pita bread in between. The pitas didn’t turn out quite like expected, in that they were supposed to rise enough to allow for pockets. But since we were going to eat them with hummus, that didn’t matter.

There is truth to the saying that kneading dough is therapeutic. The combination of the smell of the yeast and the repetitive movements was relaxing, and I spent the time lost in creative daydreams, mostly writing related. But the best part was eating the results. I’m a bread lover, and so homemade, freshly baked bread? Heaven. I will definitely be doing this again.

#2 on the Twenty-five To-dos (Year 28) list: Walk on the Great Wall of China.

March 23, 2010

One of my Project 25 goals for this year is to do at least one design tutorial each month. I decided to start with an Illustrator tutorial from graphic designer Chris Spooner for creating a doodled business card. This was my first time really using Illustrator, and it took me a bit (read: most of the afternoon) to get somewhat comfortable with the menus. After I finished the tutorial, I decided to create a card that incorporates some editing marks.

This reminded me of a sketch I did several months ago, where I recreated my blog header using editing and punctuation marks. So I played around some more to see how well my pen and paper doodle translated to the screen.

Overall, this tutorial made me realize I don’t have the fine motor skills required for detailed work (especially after a bucket of coffee), which makes me appreciate those who use the tool to create art even more. I’m sure I’ll do more Illustrator tutorials in the future, but for now I’ll stick to the pen tool I know best—the red pen of doom.

1. Do a homestay to improve my language skills. [August 2010]
2. Walk on the Great Wall of China. [March 2010]
3. Edit one NaNoWriMo novel.
4. Wear a kimono.
5. Buy a new Mac. [February 2011]
6. Read five books from Random House’s Best Novels list. [5/5]
7. Visit Hokkaido.
8. Travel to at least two countries. [2/2]
9. Own a pair of knee-high boots. [October 2010]
10. Make a curtain of snowflakes.
11. Make homemade bread. [June 2010]
12. Try yoga.
13. Submit a piece of writing for publication. [July 2010]
14. Take a piano lesson. [July 2010]
15. Embellish a sweater. [August 2010]
16. Start a dream journal. [May 2010]
17. Do at least one design tutorial each month. [3/12]
18. Complete the 100 Pushups training program.
19. Buy or make handmade birthday presents.
20. Add three new samples to my portfolio. [2/3]
21. Apply to grad school. [September 2010]
22. Watch Star Trek: The Original Series. [1/3 seasons]
23. Get my wedding ring resized.
24. Make marshmallow fondant.
25. Track all the books I read. [January 2011]

I am excited and honored to announce that I have been invited to be a virtual guest speaker for Professor Martine Rife’s class at Lansing Community College, Authorship in the Digital Age. I will be talking about international/cross-cultural communication in regards to my experience as a professional writer in Japan, and I would love to share others’ thoughts as well.

If you’re a professional writer, editor, or designer who works with international/cross-cultural audiences, please take my survey. It will take about 10 minutes, and your comments on cultural differences, copyright and fair use, and authorship will be shared with the class in April. If you have any questions about the survey or additional comments you’d like to share, just let me know. Thanks!

I like to make lists. To-do lists, shopping lists, wish lists. I suppose this is why I’m the proud owner of the Listography Journal (thanks Pam). Last year, I started to think about making a birthday to-do list — one big list of things that I wanted to cross off before my next birthday.

I was first inspired by fellow list lover Andrea of hula seventy. Each year, Andrea makes a list of X number of things, with the number being one less than the age she will be next. I liked the idea. A lot. But as a girl who has a hard time making a single New Year’s resolution, I wasn’t sure that upping the ante each year was the best option for me.

The next list project I heard about was the Day Zero Project, where you try to do 101 things in 1001 days (a little under three years). My friend Kristen was taking the challenge, and I liked the idea of having nearly three years to get everything done. But truth be told, I have no idea where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing in three years, and I decided I wanted my list to have more of a focus on the now.

So that brought me to making my own list, the “Twenty-five To-dos” list. I made the first one last year. Here’s how I’m doing so far, with about a month and a half to go.

Twenty-five To-dos (Year 27)

1. Confront my fear of the ocean and learn how to dive. [March 2009]
2. Travel to a new country. [December 2009]
3. Visit Kyoto. [August 2009]
4. Make a traditional Japanese dinner. [March 2010]
5. Learn how to crochet. [February 2010]
6. Eat taco rice in Okinawa.
7. Give a professional presentation. [November 2009]
8. Have a picnic during hanami. [May 2009]
9. Pay off at least one student loan. [September 2009]
10. Paint with oils.
11. Update the content for my online portfolio and convert to WordPress. [October 2009]
12. Get a Thai massage. [December 2009]
13. Visit an onsen. [August 2009]
14. Write a letter to my father. [July 2009]
15. Climb Mt. Fuji. [August 2009]
16. Grow herbs. [May 2010]
17. Take a cooking class. [December 2009]
18. Participate in NaNoWriMo again. [November 2009]
19. Overcome my flying anxiety. [December 2009]
20. Start a new physical hobby. [March 2009]
21. Visit an aquarium. [November 2010]
22. Watch The Seven Samurai. [January 2012]
23. See a traditional music performance in Japan. [November 2009]
24. Own a great pillow. [July 2009]
25. Take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. [December 2009]

I didn’t have my personal blog when I started last year’s list, so I am looking forward to tracking my progress for the next list. In the meantime, I have 46 days to cross off more to-dos…and to think of what will be on the list for Year 28.