Day Zero Project - Let The List Begin!

Hello all!! The day has finally come where I, Bryan A Murray (aka Bubba Jones), have started a blog! I must admit I am not the most computer-savvy guy in the world and for a long time I was very unaware of the entire blogging community. I chose not to investigate this particular craze because I figured a)they would require a lot of work, b) I wouldn't have super interesting things to write about, and c) not many people would really care. I suppose I eventually gave in to the whole blogging mystery in order to satisfy a need for some sort of a creative outlet (being a barista at Barnes & Noble doesn't exactly fill that void haha). I've had Facebook for a long time now and I recently set up a Skype account so I might as well jump on another fad bandwagon right??

So with my desire to hop on the blogging train, all I needed was the motivation. This particular inspiration came one day about a month ago while I was going about my daily online routine and looking at interesting news articles, pics, videos, etc. I happened to stumble upon http://www.newuniversity.org/, which is the online newspaper for UC Irvine. Since I live in Irvine now, I like to occassionally see whats going on around campus and the surrounding area. While perusing the articles I came across one entitled "101 Reasons To Get Up And Go". As my close friends can tell you, I am extremely OCD when it comes to lists. I am sitting at my desk right now and I'm staring at numerous lists posted on my wall, written on papers, written on dry-erase boards, basically all around my room. Movie lists, music lists, book lists, tv lists, money owed lists, to do lists, resolution lists. You name it, I've created a list for it. So naturally I had to investigate this list of 101 Reasons. It turns out it is a project started by a website named "The Day Zero Project" http://www.dayzeroproject.com/ and what it boils down to is creating a list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days (which is roughly 2.75 years). The list is meant to define goals while the deadline helps to beat procrastination and motivate progress. The intriguing idea coupled with my obsession with lists led me to show the website to my roommate Jim (aka Jimbo Jangles) and my girlfriend Marcella (aka Cella Baby). It kind of caught on fire from there. The three of us instantly started making our lists and comparing ideas, as well as telling roommates and coworkers about the project. The result was a long arduos process but in the end three lists and three blogs were born!! Jimbo's list can be found at http://jimbo10186.blogspot.com/ and Cella's list can be found at http://cellababee.blogspot.com/.

I've gotta tell you, forming this list of 101 things might have been harder than it will be doing the actual things on the list! I spent nearly 3 weeks thinking of ideas, changing goals, consulting other lists, researching, making categories, organizing all my thoughts, and finally compiling 101 achievements that I truly want to accomplish in under 3 years. I didn't want to add goals that were too impossible to achieve or too simple to do without trying so I attempted to find the right balance. Some goals I will probably fail and others I will surely succeed at but I will definitely try the best of my ability to do them all. So without further ado, here it is, the list you've all been waiting for:

101 Things To Do In 1001 Days

Start Date: October 27, 2009

End Date: July 24, 2012

Entertainment
1. Go on a cruise
2. Drive 100 mph
3. Fly first class
4. Go wine tasting
5. Go to a film festival
6. Go to a late night talk show
7. Go to a midnight movie premiere
8. Go to a Coldplay concert
9. Go to a comedy club
10. Order a Flaming Dr. Pepper at a bar
11. Get bottle Service at a club
12. Go skinny dipping
13. Run through sprinklers
14. Build a snowman
15. Kiss in the pouring rain
16. See a sunrise (not from the night before)
17. Watch a meteor shower
18. Get a pet

Multimedia
19. Watch 150 new movies (0/150)
20. Watch the entire Lost series
21. Read The Lost Symbol
22. Read The Game
23. Read Assholes Finish First
24. Read 3 of the following (Life of Pi, The Great Gatsby, Candide, Animal Farm, Catch-22, Slaughterhouse-Five, Confederacy of Dunces)
25. Read the Harry Potter series (0/7)
26. Read the Lord of the Rings series (0/4)
27. Go to a coffee house for at least 5 hours to read
28. Beat Silent Hill 3
29. Beat Burnout 3
30. Beat GTA: San Andreas
31. Get 5 stars on “Through the Fire and the Flames” on medium in Guitar Hero 3
32. Listen to every song in my iTunes library once
33. Beat high scores in spider solitaire (beginner-1202, intermediate-1178, advanced-1100)
34. Win a multi-table tournament on Pokerstars
35. Win a fantasy football league

Sports/Games
36. Go to a tennis Grand Slam
37. Go see Tiger Woods play golf
38. Go to a Lakers game at the Staples Center
39. Go to a pro football game
40. Break 200 in bowling
41. Play a doubles match in tennis
42. Play an 18-hole golf course
43. Make a birdie in golf
44. Make 10 consecutive free throws in basketball
45. Make a free throw, three pointer, half-court shot, opposite three pointer, full-court shot
46. Dunk a basketball on a regulation hoop
47. Hit a homerun at on a baseball field at least 300 feet
48. Go to the batting cages and hit 70 mph
49. Beat a doubles team in beach volleyball
50. Go paintballing
51. Shoot a gun at a firing range
52. Go jet-skiing
53. Catch a fish
54. Ride a segway
55. Win a beer pong tournament
56. Play Poker at the Bellagio and the Wynn in Vegas
57. Play in a Vegas poker tournament
58. Collect 12 casino poker chips (0/12)
59. Put $100 down on blackjack
60. Beat my dad at cribbage
61. Beat someone at chess
62. Beat someone at pool
63. Complete a 1000 piece puzzle by myself
64. Finish my Sudoku book (0/45)
65. Learn a new juggling trick
66. Learn a pen trick
67. Learn a new poker chip trick
68. Draw a detailed picture

Food Endeavors
69. Eat a whole Habenero pepper
70. Make my own salsa
71. Bake a cake from scratch
72. Cook my mom’s Ahi recipe
73. Cook scallops
74. Recreate a Jamba Juice smoothie
75. Go to a fruit festival
76. Buy something at a farmers market
77. Eat at Mesa Grill in Vegas
78. Eat at a Brazilian BBQ
79. Eat at a vegan restaurant
80. Do a restaurant’s eating challenge
81. Eat at 25 new restaurants (0/25)
82. Try 5 things I’ve never eaten before (0/5)
83. Cook 10 recipes from 10 different cuisines (0/10)
84. Take my parents out to dinner

Body, Mind, and Soul
85. Do 100 pushups in a row
86. Run a mile in under 8 minutes
87. Wake up at 6 am and swim laps
88. Sleep for 8 hours every day for a week (using an alarm)
89. Go to a yoga class
90. Get a professional massage
91. Go to a sauna
92. Go to the pool and tan
93. Drink only water for a week
94. No soda for a month
95. No alcohol for a month
96. No candy/sweets for a month
97. Do not speak for an entire day
98. Keep a goatee for a day (must go in public)

Finishing Touches
99. Write a blog entry for every item completed
100.Take a picture of each completed item
101.Deposit $10 into my savings account for every item I complete

I have copied the list on the side of my blog and will be crossing items off as I complete them as well as obviously tracking my progress with blog entries and pics. So be on the lookout for updates!

And as an end to my first blog I want to say to all the readers that I strongly suggest you make a list of your own even if you choose not to blog about your progress. I find it hard to see a downside in creating a list of goals and accomplishments you want to achieve over the next couple years. It will be rewarding to see all the things you end up doing and will certainly motivate you to get out in the world and start living life to the fullest!! Until next time...