Mikey D

I have come up with a T0-Do list! After reading Mike Gayle's "The To-Do List" (how appropriately named) I am inspired to start and finish one of my own.

When I think of To-Do lists, there two types that come to mind. The first is like the one my mom used to make for me during my summers as a kid. On it would be a list of chores I'd have to complete during a given week. I hated those To-Do lists with a passion. Thankfully Grace has not taken over my mother's role by converting it into a 'Honey-Do' list (although she's probably reading this right now and thinking, "Hey, that's not a bad idea...").

The second is the type that you create yourself. Traditionally when people create their own lists, they are too vague and unrealistic. For example, if someone put "lose weight" on a list, that's too vague. It's almost like an empty New Year's resolution that you know is going to go unfulfilled. Another item on a list might be something like "go skydiving". Is that realistically what you want to accomplish? For some, yes, but for others it's on the list because it's something they want to say they did, but don't really have any true desire to do. Like I would love to say I went skydiving, but in reality I'm scared of heights and would be afraid my parachute wouldn't open, and therefore I know I'd never complete that item on my list.

Anyway, I've come up with a list of things I want to accomplish, and they are all realistic and achievable. Of course, I'm lazy as shit, and I know there's no way I'm going to have the motivation to do all of these things, so I need to hold myself accountable in some way. So in referencing Mike Gayle's book, I shall do the following to hold myself accountable:

1. Post my To-Do list on my refrigerator so I am reminded of it each and every time I open the fridge door.
2. Once I think I have completed a task I can only check it off my list after I have consulted with Grace, who will serve as my judge and jury in ultimately deciding whether a task has been truly completed or not.
3. I will provide constant updates on my blog, which will be less than exciting for you guys to read, but if I'm not accomplishing the items on my list I am giving you a medium in which you are free to ridicule and yell at me for not getting my ass in gear. Or praise me for a job well done if I'm progressing nicely, but who am I kidding.
4. Time frame. I want to complete the list by the New Year. If I do not complete every item by the New Year, I will consider myself a failure and deserve to be told that I am such.

So, my To-Do list for the remainder of the year:

To-Do List
 Put WD40 on hinges in master bedroom.
 Take more pictures/video of Chloe while she still does cute things.
 Figure out how to stop the buzzing sound that comes from your new computer tower.
 Get lighting mess sorted out.
 Write letters to both grandmas because they’d like to hear from you more.
 Email Bill with more regularity.
 Figure out the best avenue to pursue a PhD because you will be bored in a year or two with your current position, and Dr. Dennison sounds like a nice title.
 Look into tennis club memberships for the spring time because tennis is fun and you miss playing.
 Keep up with current events better by reading news websites more frequently.
 Buy a Red Wings hoodie like the one that you see in ‘Hung’.
 Watch ‘Gran Torino’, return movie, and cancel Netflix membership because you’d rather pay for the HBO package.
 Look into how much money is in your pension plan because it’s something you should know.
 Go hiking in the mountains before it gets too cold.
 When you go to the apple orchard this year, buy apples and actually eat them because apples are not only a healthy snack, but they are kind of delicious.
 Create a list that ranks your favorite bands of all-time.
 Read Kevin’s Carl Sagan book.
 Learn and then apply for IBR with student loans because saving money is good.
 Clear the clutter out of the upstairs office closet and downstairs basement closet by getting rid of some of the numerous (and unnecessary) childhood mementos.
 Purchase two more pictures for the kitchen, and frame them.
 Send Kevin the ‘Science Mystery Theatre 3000’ book that sits on your bookshelf collecting dust.
 Get rid of old computer tower.
 Buy at least one pair of work pants and one pair of jeans that are better fitting than the ones you have now.
 Organize CD collection by getting rid of CDs that are scratched and basically far past their prime.
 Make a back-up CD of your entire music collection so when your computer crashes you are better prepared.
 Update your resume.
 Do at least one Sudoku puzzle from your yellow Sudoku book that you have been working on for the better part of 5 years now (mostly during oil changes in the waiting room).
 With Grace’s assistance, make a voicemail recording for our home phone.
 Learn how to check voicemail on home phone.
 Figure out the number to your home phone and memorize it.
 Actually tell people you have a home phone and let them know the number.
 Take Grace shopping because she truly enjoys doing it.
 Write to Grace more.
 Put up pictures that are currently sitting on the floor in the office.
 Wash and vacuum your car more often.
 Buy small touch lights for the master bedroom closet.
 Buy a new ink cartridge for your printer because you are going on 4+ months with the message that blinks, “ink extremely low”.
 Trim toenails with more regularity.
 Decide on an internet security option once and for all, and go with it.
 Network Grace’s computer and your computer so you can access each other’s music.
 Buy a carbon-monoxide detector and new smoke alarms because the ones you have currently look scary old.
 Try a new restaurant on a Friday night.
 Resist the temptation to bet on football games this season.
 Clean nalgene water bottle before the start of the school year.
 Clean knives from knife block in kitchen.
 Call Lesley more.
 Call Andy more.
 Watch season one of The Wire (although this may require keeping the Netflix membership a little longer).
 Update online address book.
 Delete contacts out of cell phone you have long since stopped contacting.
 Write a short story and share it.
 Close bank account in Maryland and open a new one with a bank that is not 30 miles away from you.
 Take your man vitamins that Grace bought you awhile back with regularity (like, once a day).
 Use your Visa card only at places where American Express cards are not accepted.
 Inform mom about what types of diploma frames you’d like for Christmas so she doesn’t choose for you and you end up unhappy.
 Get sports newspapers from Kevin that you asked him to save.
 Take more pictures, especially of the stuff you do with Grace, because you like memories.
 Find a use for the middle drawer of your desk.
 Decide on what flowers to plant in your backyard patio garden for next spring/summer.
 Learn how to install a ceiling fan by watching your dad.
 Play the Mega-Millions lottery each time the jackpot is over 100 million because you should take more chances and this is as good a place as any to start.
 Play less video games. Meaning, do not get Madden this year, despite the temptation to once football season starts.
 September 21st ‘Big Bang Theory’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’ return. Do not forget.
 Find out when ‘24’ starts up again.

That's my list. All completely achievable. Some items will take multiple weeks in order for me to earn the check mark on, others can be completed in a day. The tasks are varied.

And on that note, I begin my quest.

The new season of '24' starts January 17, 2010 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_(season_8) and will be set in New York City with the day starting at 4 p.m. Save the date.

~Mikey D