1. Sail the Greek Islands - unlikely
2. Do a fun run - in progress
4. Ride a hot air balloon through Cappadocia - unlikely
5. Try different foods (eat more meat!)
7. Go sky-diving
8. Read Don Quixote from cover to cover
9. Follow an English Premier League team
10. See Radiohead and/or Thom Yorke play live
11. See a psychic
12. Use a bicycle as a mode of transport
14. Try yoga - in progress
15. Go to a dubstep club
16. Have a Turkish bath in Istanbul (and eat lots and lots of Gozleme) - unlikely
18. Ride on the tallest ferris wheel in Europe
19. Watch a sunrise (on purpose, not following a big night)
22. Tick off the top ten of IMDB’s top 100 movies of all time - in progress
23. Learn how to cook a roast dinner
OMG how did I let two months slip me by? That equals one sixth of my total time needed to achieve these tasks! So a quick update on things I have and haven’t been doing…
I suppose the one thing that has popped out dramatically is:
13. Appreciate wine
Boy have I been appreciating wine. Regularly. In fact several times a week. I have enjoyed number 13 so much that now I’m slightly worried I may have developed a drinking habit. How does one suddenly and drastically acquire a taste for something they never liked? Either way, I may need to update my list to include “Drink less wine”.
6. Work (preferably paid) for a development NGO
Well I was already working unpaid for one, but now another NGO actually offered money for services rendered! Oh sweet joy. Admittedly I haven’t received my first paycheck, so I haven’t been paid yet but it’s coming…which means now I can possibly afford to chip away at points 1, 4, 16 and 20.
22. Tick off the top ten of IMDB’s top 100 movies of all time
Rank | Rating | Title | Votes | Seen? |
1. | 9.2 | 606,505 | ✔ | |
2. | 9.2 | 466,732 | ||
3. | 9.0 | 285,884 | ||
4. | 8.9 | 191,506 | ||
5. | 8.9 | 481,123 | ✔ | |
6. | 8.9 | 144,993 | ✔ | |
7. | 8.9 | 319,842 | ✔ | |
8. | 8.8 | 250,672 | ✔ | |
9. | 8.8 | 367,705 | ✔ | |
10. | 8.8 | 542,390 | ✔ |
To be fair, some of these I had already seen, but I recently watched Schindler’s List and 12 Angry Men for the first time. I’d just come off a day where I’d spent 6 hours in job interviews and decided to veg out in front of a movie. Mentally spent, I popped on Schindler’s List and two hours later was wailing like a banshee. Probably should have been more mentally prepared for genocide, but that’s ok, it was still a great watch.
12 Angry Men actually really surprised me. It has a brilliant script and concept, and is quite a nice break from modern cinema where there is generally a very poor concept of time. It seemed almost to have been shot in one take and the movie almost entirely takes place in one room alone. I think films rarely rely on only their scripting, the challenge being that it has to be compelling enough, especially in black and white, to hold someones attention for that long. Well it did, so I’m glad I watched it. SO only 3 films left to watch, although to be honest, I think I’ll watch Shawshank again because its awesome.
Speaking of Morgan Freeman, I just saw this video on youtube the other day. Amazing.
AAAAAAAnway….looks like I’m not going to get sail the Greek Islands or visit Turkey in my 25th year…as I’ve only just gotten this job, and it’s mid-July, my leave won’t fall until Autumn/Winter. I fully intend on visiting these places next Summer, it’s just not going to be within range of my challenge….BOOOO
This weekend I am going to a music festival though! Weeeee! Admittedly number twenty is a very easy one, but there’s not enough time and money for all of these to be hard. Give me a break!
Next up! I'm gonna get physical physical and try some YOGA. Just have to wait for my first paycheck...
