Summary - Month 7

The 22nd, again? I realise I didn't even get around to writing a summary last month. That means I should have made loads of progress since the last one of these, right? Right?

#1 – The Fundraising Ball. There is going to be one, and it is. hella. exciting. There is much yet to be organised and you will be informed closer to the date. I'm looking forward to it. A lot.

#2 – The Other Fundraiser. See #1.

#3 – Laughing Strangers. Ok, so I've only made 7 people laugh. I've also made a lot of people not laugh. A far larger number. So don't think I'm not trying.

#4 – i. Mediation. Since I became unemployed, I'm not being as strict with my routine as I used to - which is to say, taking my 10 minutes at 11o'clock every morning like a regularly scheduled dose of Chill The Fuck Out. Now that I'm more chilled and a whole lot less when-did-this-pit-of-despair-become-my-life, I have the flexibility to meditate as it comes to me. Audio has become my method of choice again after a couple of months being 'mindful'.

ii. Song Per Month. Although I'm still behind, I'm getting into the swing of creativity and this feels more achievable. You'll have to ignore the fact that I just spent two days trying to complete a song and coming up with nothing more than a few lines of gibberish. It was a total mindfart. It happens.

iv. 26km Coast Track. I was devastated when we had to cancel this. I think we've rescheduled it for the first weekend in May (which ridiculously was the first weekend available). I hope we don't freeze.

#5 – Songs About Challenges. I'm not quite as up to date with these as with the 'regular' songs. In fact I'm three months behind. But that's ok. I'll fudge them if I have to.

#6 – Bathurst. ARGH. The band is not in a good position for interstate travel just now. We figured out there is actually no possible time we can pull this off - March and April are out due to weddings and general mayhem, May has a small window which is unlikely to be available on all 5 calendars, and June/July is out due to our drummer going on an American pilgrimage. I am going to have to find a way to adjust this and make an agreement with Jason, who set the challenge. That, or he perhaps settles for me going and playing on my own, but I'm not sure that really counts.

#7 – Gospel. I hope we get to perform again soon.

#8 – Children’s Hospital. I am resigning myself to this being far more difficult than suspected. The original challenge was to volunteer with a school reading group, with the children's hospital being a secondary option should the first not work out. With a 9 to 5 job getting in the way of the first choice, maybe I can revert on this.

#9 – Harbour Walks. I've made it as far as Taronga Zoo. Perhaps a quarter of the way. I plan to sucker punch a huge chunk of this next week with Ben's parents... but I still don't own any hiking boots.

#10 – Driving. My heart sinks when I think of this challenge. All is not lost, but I feel like so much could have been gained by now should I have not made the stupid decision that I did. Ben doesn't like it when I get down on the car so I will try not to bitch about it any more. Needless to say, I still can't drive.

#11 – Tasmania. COMPLETE!I swam in the Dee Lagoon. It was lagoon-y.

#12 – Scrapbooking. My scrapbook is coming together very slowly but surely. I have managed to lose all of the photos that I scanned, a minor setback. In the meantime I am cutting and pasting and creating a lot of background pages. I don't think it'll make for very good consistency when I get around to putting the substance in chronological order, but who needs a theme anyway?

#13 – Cooking. Again - I need to decide what my 7 dishes are. There is such huge space between each time I make everything that I always (with the exception of schnitzel and saltimbocca) have to refer to the recipe again. However, this is still learning, and each time is a little different, and a little less daunting, depending on the context of the situation.

#14 – TV. For a moment there I thought there was a window - somebody mentioned Foxtel to me, the pay-television channels. Since we don't have this service, I forgot that there was an entirely new scope for TV hijacking out there. The tunnel suddenly gave light! Until I tried to do some research, which is when I realised the calibre of the programming meant I would need to be a 15-year-old chain smoker who got knocked up by her teacher to even get a look in.

#15 – Horseriding. Well, we took one lesson, and plan to schedule another. We may do the second lesson in lieu of the trail ride, but an overnighter is still on the cards. It will have to be May as well.

#16 – Sydney to Gong. COMPLETE.

#17 – Reunion Dinner. I think it's rude not to reply to emails, don't you? If people aren't interested in doing something, they should just say so, not ignore you completely. In the interests of giving this challenge a fair shot, I think I will need to resort to just going up to Gosford and cooking Heath some lasagne myself. We've not seen each other for maybe 3 or 4 years. That still makes it a reunion in my books.

#18 – Breakdancing. When I can afford it, I will.

#19 – The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. COMPLETE.

#20 – Yeats. Oh crap.

#21 – Youtube. Dusker are going in to record a 'single' - although, what is a single these days - on March 19/20. After that we can make a video clip. And put it on Youtube. Oh yes...

#22 – Busking. Why is this so difficult??!

#23 – Cliff. Many of my friends are showing (healthy) skepticism at this one. For the record, if I get there and it is ridiculous, I won't do it. I'm determined to follow through with everything, but not at the expense of great injury.

#24 – Protest Song. The song is written! Now I just need to get it into a format that I can send to a website.

#25 – See Challenge 4.ii
#26 – See Challenge 4.iii

#27 – Blood. COMPLETE.

#28 – Japanese. Tokidoki, Nihongo hanashimasu!Suki desu. Soshite terebi-o mimasu. Kirei-na terebi desu. Zehi! (Translation: Sometimes, I speak Japanese! I like it. Then I watch television. It is a beautiful television. Absolutely!)

#29 – Parents. I need to talk to them more.

At this stage of the game, the newest strategy necessitates a very important factor: compromise. I'm seven months in, time-poor and actually-poor, but fortunately still enthusiasm-rich (for the most part). For example, I'm probably not going to pull off a 500-people fundraising ball. But I'm going to do the next best thing. If I don't make 52 strangers laugh, I make as many attempts as possible. That was always the point - to try to complete the tasks to the best of my ability. If I can't complete them for whatever reason, I'll have still given them all a damn good try. If this was Masterchef, they'd be telling me what a fantastic journey it has been, and George would be up and down on his toes marveling at my pannacotta, which in my case, is singing in a gospel choir. And then I use Matt Preston's cravat to wipe the tears of joy from my face. It's going to make for a surprisingly moving piece of television. Trust me.