101 things

I've been keeping a 101 things in 1001 days list for quite some time now, but since MadDog asked me to post it in English as well (Swedish version is found here) I thought I'd translate it. I'll bold the ones I've already completed.

1. Grade nidan in iaido.
   
2. Grade shodan in kendo. [still only 3kyu]
3. Get picked for the national iaido team.
4. Sew a juban.
5. Mend my torn clothes instead of piling them up.
6. Go to Japan.
7. Get into my favourite pair of jeans again.
8. Get a driver's license
9. Get a decent piece of furniture to put the TV on and rearrange the living room.
10. Get a membership card at the local gym and exercise there regularly as long as it's valid. [failed once]
11. Take all my failed exams again, and not fail them.
12. Not fail any more exams.
13. Start studying Japanese again.
14. Get my bad knee checked.
15. Keep track of all my expenses for two months to see what I do with my money.
16. Actually sew the things that I've bought fabric for.
    
17. Eat lunch at (local sushi restaurant) Nori.
18. Sew curtains and get them up.
19. See at least 10 films by Akira Kurosawa. [4 seen so far]
20. Run at least once a week for a month.
21. Use dental floss every day for a week.
22. Read all fictional books in my shelves that I haven't read, 46 total. [11 read so far]
23. Try marine kayaking (is that what it's called? I couldn't find it in a dictionary).
24. Get a VISA.
25. Go to Karesuando and visit my friend Marika there.
26. Go see a concert with a good band.
27. Watch at least one obscure film that Kalle tells me that I just "have to see".
28. Watch the 10 most popular anime series at Animenfo.com (as of March 9th, 2006).
29. Finish watching the anime series that I've started (total of 7).
30. Not watch TV for a week.
31. Donate blood.
32. Swim naked (outside, bath tub doesn't count).
33. Get a new (better) camera.
34. See Eddie Izzard perform live.
35. Get a new bike.
36. Try doing yoga.
37. Publish this list on the website and along with comments on every finished thing.
38. Buy a Disney film on DVD.
39. Re-read the New Testament.
40. Read the Koran.
41. Keep at least 1500 registered minutes each month at Funbeat. [failed!]
42. Sleep at least 8 hours a night for a month.
43. Write a poem.
44. Attend NaNoWriMo and win.
45. Throw out all the old floppies and put the interesting files on CD or DVD instead. (The problem here is that my new computer doesn't even have a floppy drive. ;)
46. Learn the lyrics to a new song.
47. Visit Mölndals museum.
48. Finish summer course in Faunistics and floristics.
49. Bring a lunch box to school every day for a week.
50. Learn to make nice-looking yukiwa-maki (sushi rolls with the rice on the outside).
51. Buy a CD by an artist that I've discovered through Pandora.
52. Stop getting Sverox (a magazine that I wasn't prescribing for anymore).
53. Sing karaoke.
54. Learn a new style of calligraphy and practise it until it looks good.
55. Go on another over-night hike on horse-back.
56. Get all the tiny wounds on my arms to really heal.
57. Attend a massaging class.
58. Do 100 suburi a day for a month (outside regular practice).
59. Go to church in Linköping at least once.
60. Make a cake from scratch and get it to look good.
61. Watch the news every day for two weeks.
62. Get to know at least 3 new people who are not member of the budo club (yet ;).
63. Read a book about meditational techniques and try them.
64. Learn at least 50 kanji outside of school.
65. -
    
66. Get a penpal (e-mail counts, but it can't be anyone that I know on beforehand).
67. Be the "peer student" of an exchange student coming here.
68. Key 10 different plants in a weekend.
69. Play through Sid Meyer's Pirates to the end.
70. Stop using Hannes' computer all the time and use my own instead.
71. Do something fun with my sister.
72. Get all Christmas presents before Lucia day (Dec 13th).
73. See a musical.
74. Read two fictional books by Japanese authors. [1 so far]
75. Get a new cell phone.
76. Come up with and get a really good birthday present for my mom.
77. Travel somewhere for vacation and nothing else.
78. Look through the entire website (kendoka.se) and at least update the link page.
79. Grade sandan in iaido.
80. Learn all 10 of the kendo no kata. [so far I know five of them, more or less]
    
81. Get dance mats. (This one is not probable that I will finish, I don't have room for them.)
    
82. Get a black iPod nano.
83. Get a smaller stereo.
84. Get someone else to also write a list like this one.
85. Finish editing the grading footage.
86. Wear out my kendo clothes and get new ones. [failed as I got new ones without wearing out the old ones]
87. Raise my grades at at least two exams (yes, we can do this).
88. Learn five new constellations and the (proper) names of those stars.
89. Vote.
90. Get a new iaito (preferrably under the same conditions as #86).
91. Be able to do 100 push-ups on my toes.
92. Turn "updates" back into a blog.
93. See what I kind do to make the image gallery more effective.
94. Go see the dentist.
95. Get a medal at the iaido nationals.
96. Win a kendo match (on points).
97. Get a new bed.
98. Get a new (good) board game.
99. Learn all 12 of the MSR shodan kata.
100. Find a decent alternative to shaving my legs.
101. Make a new list when this one finishes.
     

Yet another back to kendo post

Yup, after another all-too-long break I've made my return to kendo practice. Again. I have this list of 101 things that I want to do in 1001 days (in Swedish though - sorry) and one of the things on the list is to grade shodan in kendo. Since the 1001 days will be over in December 2008, I really need to get a grip if I'm going to have a chance.

Of course I want to do kendo because it's fun and not just because of the list, but I'm hoping it will keep me motivated enough for a long enough time. Apart from more kendo practice, I will also need more stamina to get anywhere. I'm considering taking up running.

Silver

Here I felt almost embarrassed going to the nationals because I had been practising so much less than what I planned. And then, this. I'm...well, surprised to say the least.