11 Things I Wish to Accomplish

Bucket lists. New Years resolutions. Goals. Whatever you call them, I apparently have them. Fortunately, my list does not include impossible goals, such as "solve world peace," "plant a money tree," or "learn to speak Icelandic." They are simple goals. Nothing extremely life changing here, unless you count being able to enjoy the simple pleasure of building snow forts or being able to accurately tell what time it is. These 11 things can easily be accomplished with a little bit of time, effort, and YOU. Yeah, typically these are better done with a friend because I'm probably so helpless on my own that I will pathetically fail each and every one. But I'm still going to try.

And, hopefully, with each item that I can cross off the list, I will write about it here and tell you about my awesome failures or awesome AWESOMENESS.


1. Build a giant snow castle.

A castle that is likely to have snow alligators.

I'm not talking about a pathetic little fort here. I'm talking HUGE BADASS CASTLE. With turrets and tunnels, and possibly a moat. With snow alligators.

Okay so maybe snow alligators aren't that realistic. But a giant snow fort IS.

2. See the Rocky Horror Picture Show at least once.

Yes, as in I want to dress up all crazy and go watch this movie with a bunch of other crazy dressed up people. I've never actually seen the movie, but it sounds weird and fun. What's better than dressing up in really odd / hot outfits? NOTHING.

Odd and hot. My favorite combination.

3. Go to the opera.

I've never been, and I want to see one. Doesn't even matter if it's not in English. I've listened to some opera thanks to my freshman Listening to Music class and it's actually quite beautiful. I wouldn't be able to understand what they were saying if I hadn't taken the class, but that really doesn't matter. I think the music conveys what it's about anyway.

4. Learn how to brew my own coffee.

Because right now I have no idea how to. I know, I'm pathetic. There's something with the filter (which are a lot of a fun to play with, actually, they're quite fantastic for throwing about) and then there's either beans or they're ground up. And there's something with the water and then POOF there's coffee.

Yet as my friend Alli said, "Alyssa, it's a lot more than just water + coffee beans + poof = coffee." Or something to that effect.

Dear God I should really get on this.

And when I'm done, my coffee will look like this, i.e. PERFECT.

5. Make new friends.

But keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. (Yeah I was a girl scout, what of it?)

This is actually serious though. I have wonderful friends, don't get me wrong. But the past couple semesters I've met a few people in my classes who were genuinely nice people, and then after the class is over I've never spoken to them again. Which is sad. And makes me wonder if I'm somehow defective. So I'm trying to stay in touch.

6. Get As in my classes.

Yeah, unlike this semester where I was SO EFFIN CLOSE.

This letter also begins my name. I guess that's one "A" I'll always have. OH GOD I'M SO LAME.

7. Buy a pipe and name it Alfred.

Don't ask why. I really don't remember at this point why I want a pipe named Alfred. I suppose pipes are just bad ass.

Hello, Alfred J. Prufrock the Pipe.

8. Get a watch.

I used to have a Puss n' Boots watch, which I got out of a cereal box. It was the best watch ever and I always knew what time it was. I was a happy youngster of 15.

Unfortunately, disaster struck, and Puss n' Boots died from drowning. Ever since then, I've relied on my phone to tell me the time, which is usually enough. However this weekend I had no computer, my phone died, and I kept asking for the time every 2 seconds. So enough is enough. I need a fricken watch. Hopefully this will lead to being more organized in other aspects of my life. Probably not, but oh well.

*Note: I just spent about 45 minutes searching for a picture of that watch that I know I had, but I could not find it. Oh woe.

9. Learn a new word everyday and incorporate it into a sentence.

Bonus points if the sentence contains a clever sexual pun, a la Shakespeare. Did you know that in Shakespeare's day, "dance" was also another word for "to fuck?" Yes, I'm serious. The sentence, "Hey, didn't I dance with you last night?" takes on a whole new meaning. I freakin love Shakespeare.

Yeah, I don't understand the cover either.

10. Find trivia (and a trivia team) that takes place in Boston.

Because while The Blind Assassins are awesome, I need something to occupy my Tuesday nights with in Boston.

11. Learn how to play Chopin's Nocturne on the piano.

Because it's so damn beautiful.

And complicated. Shit.

Well, I'll update on how my efforts go. And if all else fails, I'll just buy lots of blankets, make a fort, and never come out.