I'm doing 37 things
#30 - Steak Soup
2 days ago
Brown strips of lean New York steak, sautee onions and mushrooms, add beef broth, a packet of vegetable soup mix and a can of mixed veggies, simmer, then serve piping hot with oyster crackers: Steak Soup.
TajLV's Life List
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1. write another novel
11 entries . 39 cheers25 people -
2. go to bed earlier
1 entry . 21 cheers1,486 people -
3. try 43 new recipes
31 entries . 17 cheers35 people -
4. Get an appointment for car maintenance
2 entries . 8 cheers1 person -
5. Lose 30 pounds
6 team members . 29 entries . 27 cheers4,776 people -
6. practice tai chi
2 entries . 29 cheers118 people -
7. start using positive affirmations daily
2 entries . 31 cheers43 people -
8. be a better Buddhist
8 entries . 84 cheers98 people -
9. start an internet company
2 entries . 18 cheers161 people -
10. go green
1 entry . 15 cheers229 people -
11. End the war in Iraq
4 entries . 28 cheers19 people -
12. find and cooperatively cheer-bomb 43T newbies
53 team members . 41 entries . 14 cheers43 people -
13. exercise more
8 entries . 19 cheers4,608 people -
14. spend more time outdoors
21 entries . 49 cheers872 people -
15. go to my high school reunion
1 entry . 2 cheers45 people -
16. be a good father
5 entries . 72 cheers551 people -
17. Rewrite my will & write a living will
2 entries . 30 cheers2 people -
18. tour the blogs/websites of the people I subscribe to
5 entries . 15 cheers1 person -
19. publish a book of poetry
3 entries . 28 cheers319 people -
20. philosophize
6 entries . 13 cheers20 people -
21. learn Tantra
1 entry . 18 cheers110 people -
22. find inner peace
2 entries . 24 cheers659 people -
23. save for retirement
3 entries . 19 cheers214 people -
24. go on a cruise
1 entry . 15 cheers3,406 people -
25. Cross the equator
2 entries . 24 cheers16 people -
26. own a jacuzzi
1 entry . 10 cheers13 people -
27. take advantage of being a senior citizen
6 entries . 17 cheers1 person -
28. read Ulysses
4 entries . 22 cheers289 people -
29. Publish a collection of short stories
5 entries . 28 cheers17 people -
30. write my memoirs
1 entry . 25 cheers115 people -
31. endow a scholarship
1 entry . 34 cheers8 people -
32. build a house
1 entry . 16 cheers1,085 people -
33. learn some Spanish
1 entry . 20 cheers19 people -
34. Skydive
1 entry . 17 cheers8,981 people -
35. Introduce people who want to "find $100 in change" to those who want to "drop 43 pennies in random places."
26 cheers1 person -
36. keep my new years resolutions
6 entries . 16 cheers18 people -
37. Give 5000 cheers
6 cheers7 people
How I did it
It made me
parsimonious 
How I did it: Saved and wrapped every rubberband I came across for a little more than a year, till the collective sphere was a little larger than a baseball. Read how I did it…
Recent entries
Judge a book by its cover
2 days ago
if a cover is all you’ve got to judge it by. I’m still working on the innards, but I’m motivated to finish this and mark it as done.
The Marvelous Middle
3 days ago
There is so much pressure in our society to excel. Being “average” is somehow less than acceptable. Yet by definition, the majority of us must be average, and this is true in all aspects of our lives. Most of us are of average intelligence. We earn average incomes. We enjoy average health and live an average lifespan. And this will always be true, because even as norms increase or decrease, so does the measurement of what we call typical. Average is always in the majority.
So today, this not-particularly-special Friday after Thanksgiving, I’m celebrating all that we call average. Being in the middle of the bell curve in any regard is not only “okay,” it is absolutely normal and expected.
Sure, I can strive to do more, feel better, have more, be happier, live longer, etc. Superlative experiences will occur on occasion, too. But if I am honest with myself, I know that for every day I mark as an eight on my 43T Morale-O-Meter there will be a corresponding three at some point to balance it out. Tens and ones will be rare; fives will be common. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, fives are just fine with me. Here’s to all that is unexceptional. Here’s to being unsurprisingly, dependably, marvelously in the middle.
