Bucket List Addendum

I feel like there will be a good hearty handful of these added in the coming weeks/months/forever. Firstly, because my original bucket list was made in haste and never revised. Secondly, because (and as always) my flakiness knows no bounds and I can never figure out what it is I want my life to be and so I just plan on doing everything. Good theory, no?

Ok, on to the title. I wish to add the following as #s 52 and 53 respectively:

·         Read and watch all of “the classics.” Confession: I’ve never seen A Streetcar Named Desire or Casablanca. I’ve only seen parts of Meet Me in St. Louis but never Citizen Kane, or any of the good ones really. I know Gone with the Wind back and forth, upside down and sideways, word for word. It’s my favorite movie of ALL time and has been since I was tiny. I believe I was the only 5-year-old in existence to sit through the whole thing completely enthralled and then want to watch it again immediately after. I’ve been to the Margaret Mitchell house in ATL and I collect copies of the book (I have a copy I bought in London, one from the MM house, a copy from the 1940s that belonged to my Nana, and I’m on the prowl for more). I’ve even seen the West End production of GWTW in LDN (even though it was AWFUL). At any rate, the rest of the classics are simply off my radar and I am ASHAMED. It’s nothing short of sinful that watching/reading the classics is not part of my daily routine. I sure fill my time with plenty of other junk. (Junk tv, junk literature, junk movies, etc). I admit that I tend to get stuck in certain genres of everything, and never get out. Change + Melissa= stubborn and competitive bedmates. I never can make things easy for me. Enough rambling.

The first classic I’ll watch will be Breakfast at Tiffany’s because it’s on my mom’s Netflix queue and it’s easily accessible. The first classic book (was) Gone with the Wind. Notice  how I wait until now to confess that, until two weeks ago, I had never read it. I’m minimizing the shame of this because it’s just too much to bear. I’ve read my fair share of classic books, so I just tacked this on to the bucket list number to make sure I keep up the practice. The next book will be… ummmm… Anna Karenina because I actually have it and have begun to read it countless times and it’s time that I make myself do it. There.

·         Become a picker. Like, American Picker style. I’m about to start habits of rifling through abandoned buildings, scouring flea markets, crashing barn demolitions…. You don’t even know. I want old stuff. The more the better. My Uncle Jimmy has been digging up artifacts since as far back as I can remember. He has a whole room in his house dedicated to his findings. It was always a special treat to visit his “bottle room” when I was a kid, and you know what, I still sit in wonder at the sight of any kind of pure old junk. It’s gonna happen. I came across these old bottles the other day. They were just lying on the forest floor of the woods surrounding my house. Who knows what else is out there…

 

(The one to the far left is a glass Tropicana jar--- pretty legit, huh?)

One day I’m just going to hock up the courage to make my entire bucket list this: Disappear into the wilds of the unknown and live off the land.

Lord help me. I sound just like my DAD.

Cheers.

P.S. If my bucket list was displayed like so:

I might find it easier to take care of bidness. Or I'm just stalling... as usual.

Scroll to Top

NY Reso. Recap Uno

Blog more. As previously mentioned, “more” is intentionally ambiguous. However, I find that I am simply brimming with things to write down for later bloggage, and I know I’ll get around to all of them eventually. And the “more” is coming easier, I think. I did start the NOLA BASH blog and I’m pretty darn proud of myself. Check her out. Two posts in one day, too! As for this little darling, I’ve planned how I’m going to stay on top of things by making yet another list. (If I had a dime for every list I’ve made… well you know the saying.) My list consists of 5 bullet points to help me stay focused. The first one is inspiration from one of my favorite food blogs where in 2011 the writer posted a montage once a week consisting of a food photo from every day of something she cooked, bought, stumbled upon, was especially aesthetically pleasing to her, etc., and I truly enjoyed following her journey. This year she kept the same montage a week but is capturing life photos instead of just food. I have a feeling mine will morph into some happy marriage of the two. For now, I’m sticking to food because one of my other resolutions (lose weight) is actually rolling along quite well (thanks in large part to this piece of prolific inspiration along with calorie counting and daily exercise) and I find that I want to catalog this edible voyage. My pictures (in quality, detail and consistency) aren’t up to par of shutterbean’s (the first link) but I’ll get there…

Week of Jan 1-8

(I’ll go ahead and confess now, I forgot to take pictures last Mon, Fri and Sat. So sue me.)

New Years Day Tradition. Obvi not low cal what with all the butter and bacon on everything, but I didn't start my resolution until the 2nd. =) And, I'll be damned if there's a Jan 1st that comes around and I don't eat black eyed peas, cabbage and my ma's ridiculously amazing cornbread. (Also, it was mom's birthday and my sister made a delectable dark chocolate raspberry cake with homemade butter cream icing... it was TOO sinful to post.)

1/3/2012 So healthy. I'm brimming with righteousness.

1/4/2012 Egg white omelet with spinach and Gorgonzola, a Cutie clementine, and a shot.5 of Naked Green Machine juice. Yum supreme breakfast.

1/5/2012 Dinner! Stir fried brown rice with veggies--- just the veggies at this point.

1/8/2012 Egg white muffins. My fillings of turkey sausage, cheddar cheese, green bell pepper, green onion and egg whites adapted from this recipe. I made these Sunday night and have been eating very well for breakfast so far this week (at only 55 calories a pop).

Like I said, my pictures are lacking at this point because I always forget to capture the moment and then hastily snap an iPhone pic with no regard for lighting or angles. I will improve.

I’ll also get to my other blogging bullet points later. Hang tight.

Cheers.

Melissa

Resolutions

Ahh... it's that time again. Confession: I've never stuck to a resolution in my life... ever. Shocker, I know, I actually AM just like everyone else. Impossible to believe, but true nonetheless.

Anyhow, I'm making them this year and, by God, I'm going to see (at least some) of them through.

I present the list:

1. Save (all my) $$. Without this step, nothing on the rest of the list can feasibly occur.
2. Lose weight. Yep, same every year. Damn it. It's going to happen.
3. Move to NOLA. Ok, this probably requires a separate post, but I'm going to just condense it here. Move to NOLA *permanently* and in my own place. That pretty much sums it up. I just need my own place.
4. Stop relying on Dad for backup. My Daddy has my back always-- but it's time that I give him a little reprieve. I need to completely stand on my own two size 9.5 feet.
5. Travel to a new place. Pretty self-explanatory.
6. Take piano lessons. I've wanted to be musical for quite some time, and I know that learning an instrument in adulthood is supposed to be rather difficult--- I'm doing it anyway.
7. Complete two bucket list items. I don't know which ones, but two of 'em.
8. Volunteer. I used to be a very active volunteer and I'm not quite sure what happened. I've been too selfish.
9. Fall in Love. So this is not really within my control, not something I can resolve to do, but it's there and there it will stay. C'mon 2012.
10. Blog, more. *More* is intentionally vague. Hey, this is an ambitious list as it is. I have to give myself some slack somewhere. Though, I truly do want and need to keep this one. (Also, watch out for the launch of NOLA BASH's blog. Yeah, I'm sadly and shamefully behind schedule on that too, but -- well no buts-- I'm me. It's what I do. Ok, one but, I DO have three posts already written just waiting to be published. So, hah!)
11. Man up on current events. It's too easy to ignore the world. I don't want to do that anymore.
12. Dress like Elsie Larson. Ok, basically BE Elsie Larson-- but me. Her style is unreal. Just go visit her blog (http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/my_weblog/) and you'll see.


2011 was such a significant year. NOLA BASH was born and brought with it so many challenges and rewards. I had some tumultuous personal relationship moments (more than make me comfortable), and medical upsets. I uprooted, re-rooted, and finally settled to make a huge practical decision regarding my career. I grew even closer to my family. I'm hoping 2012 will be a year of creativity and personal and spiritual growth. Here's to hoping. Happy New Year!

Cheers!