Random Observation/Comment #398: I envisioned each year of my life getting better and better as I age and learn more things. Even though I miss that year of crazy study abroad and traveling, I’m happy and still aiming high. Here’s to 2014!
In 2013, I:
Traveled to: South Africa (Kruger National Park), Swaziland, Scotland (Islay, Rothes, Edinburgh), New Hampshire, Grand Cayman, Montreal, Chicago, Morocco, Italy (Rome, Pompeii), Brazil (Rio de Janiero, Parati),
Triumphantly: saw a giant baobab tree, walked on top of a waterfall, drove through South Africa and ran over all the birds, herded packs of animals with a car, stayed in a thatched bungalow, got scuba certified, saw a shark during our first dive, held a stingray, walked a marathon from LIC to Suffolk County, published a book, had my yelp review on the front page 3 times, won 2 first class tickets from a table tennis tournament, went to a Brazil football match, won 2nd place from a humorous speech contest, had a onesie family dinner, went to 4 Halloween parties, got promoted to AVP
Ate/Drank: Scottish whisky tour, Duck in a can from Montreal, Real poutine in Montreal, Chicago dog, Italian beef from Chicago, Philly Cheesesteak from Philly, Mint tea from Morocco, Best pizza from Napoli,Creme Di Caffe, Belut duck fetus at the Philippines fundraiser, and cooked 30 different meals in 30 days
Read/Listened to: Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn), Bossypants (Tina Fey), Fuzzy Nation (John Scalzi), Silver Linings Playbook (Matthew Quick), Touch & Go (Lisa Gardner), Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card), The Interestings (Meg Wolitzer), Speaker for the Dead (OSC), Xenocide (OSC), Children of the Mind (OSC), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz), Color of Magic (Terry Pratchett), A Visit from the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan), Night Watch (Terry Pratchett), Carrie (Stephen King), The Contortionist’s Handbook (Craig Clevenger), Agent to the Stars (John Scalzi), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
Saw: Fun concert, Flight of the Conchords, Dave Chappelle concert, Passion Pit concert,
Completed: 30 day cooking challenge, 30 day healthy challenge (with exceptions), Continued foodspotting (800 food photos) and yelping (191 reviews, yelp elite 2013), 200+ crosswords starting in Sept 2013 (there will be a separate post about this), Covered 40+ events for CS
2013 was another year of exploration in a liberal arts kind of way. As an engineer at heart, I’ve applied these thought processes to traveling, reading, crosswords, and all those little challenges I give myself along the way to shape my world view anew. Some may say my ambition is slightly off course, but I’m certainly investing in happiness more than in security. As I’ve said in the past, life is about making memories and telling stories, and this year did exactly that.
In 2014, I’m looking forward to:
Travels: Nepal riding on top of a bus, Chicago on Valentines Day, Beijing, Roadtrip to Las Vegas and Wyoming with parents, London/France for Monty Python, and either scuba diving trip or Hong Kong
Challenges: Another 30 day party cooking challenge where I host 2 parties a week meeting with some old friends, A 30 Day challenge around photography/drawing
30 under 30 items: Publish another book, Start a podcast (maybe?), Get closer to 2000 for table tennis, fly an airplane, Sell a few photographs, publish an Android app, and study more languages with Duolingo, More participation with MOUSE and some other education philanthropy events
