Brian's 101 in 1001

Day 305 - More NYC

2010-03-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

#4 Go to “Top 10 Tourist Attractions in NYC” (was 3, now 4 of 10) - A very special thanks to Kelly for helping me cross off a lot of this one. As I mentioned, I have seen some of the most amazing sites throughout the world, but it is amazing how often we take for granted the things that are right in our back yard. Kelly also has a list, and one of the things she has always wanted to do is go ice skating at Rockefeller Center. Being from NY, I grew up walking by there admiring the tree, but thinking "Why would anyone EVER wait in that line in the cold for hrs for 5 min of crappy ice skating??" Well, I have to say I put my foot in my mouth...the weather was beautiful, we were only in line for about a half hr (including skate rentals) and then were on the ice for over an hr. Add christmas music and the world's best girlfriend, and it was truly a night I will never forget.

Day 301 - HAPPY HOUR!

2010-03-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

#65 - Organize a Happy Hour that EVERYONE from the undergraduate admission staff attends - DONE! This one I knew was going to be tough. Even with a week of planning and a nice long email (with a huge guilt trip) explaining the list, and how hanging out with all of them made it in the top 101 of the most important things to me over the next 3 years, I was not able to get everyone. But hey, it's my list, so if I want to evoke the "It's the thought that counts" rule than it is my blog-given right to do so! Also, in my defense, though we may have lacked one or two co-workers, we were able to get out co-workers husbands, wives, sons, daughters, sisters, boyfriends, girlfriends, and even a student-worker alumni to come back and join us. So for that, I am crossing this one off!

On top of a cross off my list, we also used the time to celebrate us completing the first major deadline (Early Action for you admission people out there) and getting about 6,000 decision letters out in the mail that day. It was A LOT of work, but the entire office pulled together as a team, working many LONG hours, and kicked off another outstanding application review season to a good start : )

List 'O Meter:
Melissa - 4, #3 - 3, Katie - 2, Keith - 2, Kelly - 2, Brewery Bartenders - 1, Little Brian - 1, Rachel - 1

249 - No Pants!

2010-01-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

40 - Perform in a “Improv Everywher e” mission - DONE (+1) - I normally do not post "+1s", but I think this one deserves repeating. Kelly and I took the train down to Grand Central (also helping with #4) to join improv everywhere for their "No Pants! Subway Ride." The No Pants! Subway Ride is annual event staged by Improv Everywhere every January in New York City. The first ride in 2002 included 7 participants, all male. One participant entered the train pantless. Then, for the next 7 consecutive stops another "agent" would join him. They pretended not to notice each other, and if asked claimed that they “just forgot” their pants. On the 8th stop, someone came through with a duffle bag selling pants for $1. This year it grew to about 3,000 participants in NYC. Riders met at meeting points spread out all over the city (we met in Central Park) and converged on Union Square. The high was 28 degrees. There were also No Pants rides in 43 other cities around the world in 16 countries!

Day 211 - Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty

2009-12-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

#4 - Go to “Top 10 Tourist Attractions in NYC” ( now 3 of 10) - Sorry for the delay in posting this. A week before Thanksgiving, Kelly and I took a day trip to check out Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I am embarrased to say it was my first time...but I guess it is one of those things that when something "touristy" is right in your back yard you are much less likely to go see it, which was the main reason for adding it on the list : )

We had a blast! You unfortunately need to make a reservation MONTHS in advance to climb 354 steps (22 stories) to reach the Statue's crown, but we were able to climb to the top of the pedestal (just below her feet, 151 feet off the ground).

FUN FACTS:

There are seven rays on her crown, one for each of the seven continents, each measuring up to 9 feet in length and weighing as much as 150 pounds. Ellis Island was once simply a sandy island that barely rose above the high tide mark that served as a hanging site for pirates in the 1760. (And when I say "hanging" I mean the death by noose definition, not "to spend one's free time in a certain place". It was a death spot, not a pirate chill spot.)

List 'O Meter:

Kelly - 2.

Day 152 - "Welcome to West Virginia!"

2009-10-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

#6 - Take a picture with at least 15 “Welcome to…” state signs (1 of 15) My family and I traveled to Virginia for my cousin Ashley's wedding this past weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony and great to get the family back together again. We traveled through several different states, but was only able to stop and take a picture with one sign. Hey, you have to start somewhere! (And do not judge my outfit...when you have a 7 1/2 hour drive ahead of you, you dress as comfortable as possible.)

Day 141 - Win at Trivia

2009-09-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

#57 - Win trivia at Hyde Park Brewery - DONE! This list item deserves a special shout-out to Erik, Mullady, Collins, and the rest of the original Hyde Park Trivia crew. During our junior year at Marist one of the local breweries started a "Stump Pub Trivia" night every Thursday night. Now 5 or 6 years later, trivia is going strong and has become one of the more popular weekly things to do in the Hudson Valley. Nor for those of you that know me, I am awful at trivia. In my defense, Albert Einstein once said "Never memorize what you can look up in books." Much like Einstein would do if he were alive today, I go to trivia for the beer. Oh, delicious brewery beer....

Anyway, I have been going to trivia since the beginning. Our team (The Team That Yells "Hey!") normally does fairly well...winning every now and then, and almost always scoring within the top 5. However, we could have not planned it better for the win to cross it off the list. After coming up short the last couple weeks, we decided to call in the reserves. When it comes to trivia, Melissa's sister Rachel is in it to win it. Last thursday she decided to come down and help me get the win for the list (while I enjoyed my usual Rough Rider Red Ale of course). Not only did we get the win, we did it on Keith's one year anniversary of hosting trivia at the brewery! We love Keith, so it was an extra special occasion. : ) P.s. thanks for the green plastic cutlery!

We took our winnings for the night and celebrated with a round of shots for the team, Keith, and the bar tenders.

"HEY!"

List 'O Meter:
Melissa - 4, #3 - 3, Katie - 2, Rachel - 1, Keith - 2, Brewery Bartenders - 1.

*Special thanks to those that helped me cross off #83, "get 15 followers!

Day 127 - Saratoga

2009-09-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

#1 Find 132 Geocaches (now 33 of 132) - This is a very late post, I apologize. During the early summer, Brian #3 had an outstanding idea to get a group of us to take a day road-trip to Saratoga to see the horse-races. Because it is so difficult during the summer to find a time where everyone will be around and available, we make sure to make these plans months in advance (and even that didn't work, Brian #2 decided it was a great idea to stand us up and go to urope with his g/f for two weeks instead. Stupid little Brian....). Now even though the racetrack is not on my list, we all thought it would be fun to do a geocache while we were there (and thus provide an excuse for me to blog about it!)

Anyway, we started a email chain to keep everyone on the same page; who was going to bring what, what the day was going to entail, how we were getting there, etc... Let me tell you, those emails were almost as funny as the trip itself. Here is an exert:

Brian #3 - 1 p.m.: POST TIME FOR RACE 1! We can stay for as many races as you feel like staying for. A few things to note though: the Sword Dancer, which is the graded stakes race on the card that day won't be until the 9th or 10th race of the day. [ FUN POLICE ALERT!: Whipping it out and shouting 'EAT THIS, HORSE!' is frowned upon at Saratoga Race Track.]

Brian #1 - So I understand the yelling thing....but how about whipping it out and whispering "hey house, check this out! You can look, but you cant touch...."? Is that acceptable?

Brian #3 - You can, but best be careful. Some of those horses might mistake it for a baby carrot....

Brian #1 - Well played my friend....well played....

Us at the track : )

#1 and #3 missing #2

Brian #1 replacing Brian #2 with a Ryan...(it was close enough, and they are both about the same height)

Picking my winners. There was one horse named Zimmer. I have a friend Bill Zimmer. I put money on Zimmer. Zimmer lost. Stupid Bill...

Us with our free shots at dinner : )

P.s. My friend Melissa has been a great supporter of the list idea, in fact she is currently writing one of her own. So, she inspired me to start the "List O' Meter!" After each post I will give you an update on who was involved in the cross off, and how many list items they have been involved with thus far. Here ya go!

Melissa-2, Brian#3-2, KatieS-1

Day 115 - Masters Degree and Line Dancing

2009-08-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

#86 Start my Masters Degree - DONE! Probably the hardest thing on the list (other than going for 20 runs of course). I have been putting off going back to school for a while now, but it is time to buckle down and do it (it's free because I work for Marist, so how could I not). Yesterday I had my first on-line class for my Masters in Information Systems Management degree. I am not going to lie, this is not going to be fun. The only thing good about the first day of school is the new outfit, book bag, and lunch box I bought. Well I need to move on or I will miss my bus. It's just not the same without mom packing my lunch each morning....

#71 Go line dancing with someone that has never gone - DONE! - Hey, stop your snickering....don't knock it until you try it! One Friday night a couple years ago I went with a group of friends to a place called "Joe's" in New Paltz. I felt like I walked through a vortex of some kind. Never in my 6 years of living in the Hudson Valley did I ever think I would experience what I did that night. Cowboy hats, pickup trucks, boots, tight jeans. The places was PACKED with a huge dance floor and hundreds of people out there all doing these line dances together. Now, for the record, we are not talking square dancing crap...this is line dancing to some awesome country music. So last week, I convinced my co-worker Vince Anthony to join us. He was a little hesitant. Ok, maybe that is an understatement. But by the end of the night (and after a couple beers) he was dancing up a storm right next to us. Once again, the list is all about having an open mind, and at least trying anything one. So who is joining us next week??

Day 103 - Geocaching

2009-08-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

Day 100 - Send Mom Flowers 3x

2009-08-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

#46 - Send mom flowers for no occasion, just to show her you love her (now 1 of 3) - So, as you can see from the list, there have been some exciting cross-offs this weekend...but this one I feel deserves a post by itself. My mother is the most amazing woman in the world, I would not be the man I am today if it wasn't for her. In fact, this list would not be possible if it were not for my mom...so therefore I am planning on sending her flowers on day 100, day 500 (half-way), and day 1001. She is upstate with my father for a long weekend, so I have them coming to the house on Wednesday, so if you see her before then, don't tell her and ruin the surprise! It's as good thing she is not great with technology and has no idea how to check my blog updates...either that or she just plays dumb to force me to call her more often and give her personal updates instead of just reading them :). I love you mom!

Day 96 - Stand-up Comedian

2009-08-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

#36 Go see a live stand-up comedian - DONE! - So, I did this one a while ago, just never had the opportunity to tell you about it, I am sorry. So as I mentioned Meagan and I went to Chicago for work a couple weeks ago. One of our very very very very good friends KatieO who we went to school and did theater with grew up there and has since moved back to the area with her husband Justen. Little did I know, Katie is currently working at a Zanies, one of the most popular comedy clubs in Chicago and was able to get the three of us free tickets. Now, if you know me...you know that I LOVE stand-up comedy and have always wanted to go to a comedy club. If you know Meagan, you know she has THE FUNNIEST laugh ever. It was fixn for an amazing night...

So the first couple acts were good, not great. It was honestly really cool though to see "beginner" comedians, trying to perfect their material and/or stage presence. But the final act was this guy named Michael Palascak who was AMAZING. Just watch!

Live at Gotham

Michael Palascak - Chips

www.comedycentral.com

Michael Palascak - Moving Home

www.comedycentral.com

Joke of the Day

Stand-Up Comedy

Free Online Games

Day 85 - Museums!

2009-07-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

#34 - Go to three museums (now 2 of 3) - FIT's Fashion Museum - So as you may know, I run our Summer Pre-College Program here at Marist. The program is for high school juniors and seniors to spend two weeks on campus and take a 3 credit college course. The students live in the dorms, take classes, and get a nice taste of college life while they are still in high school. This year, the Fashion program invited me on one of there trips to NYC. I had the opportunity to tour FIT, and go to their Fashion Museum, "the most fashionable museum in NYC." The main exibit was the work of Isabel Toledo (best know for designing Michelle Obama's dress she wore to the inaguration). It was a lot of fun, and really interesting! Prior to this trip, the only education in fashion I have ever had was a student's college essay about how "wearing black and brown together is a disgrace, and is ruining our society as we know it." But wait....it gets better. That sentence (and yes, that is a direct quote) was followed by a foot note. Follow me to the bottom on the page will you? There it read "*Please note: Khaki is not brown." I love my job...

Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry - Last Week Megan and I traveled to Chicago for a work conference. The last day's workshops ended around noon, but our flight was not until later that evening. To kill sometime, we decided to explore the Museum of Science and Industry. Now, I am not going to lie, I LOVE science museums...but that was not the main reason we went. For a limited time only they had a special "Harry Potter: the Exhibition" display there. Now before you laugh (too late) it was actually really cool. They had a collection of over 200 authentic artifacts (costumes, props, set pieces, etc) used in the actual movies. Now, Potter fan or not, as a movie buff it was SOOO interesting to see the attention to details on these props and stuff, some of which could not have been on film for more than a couple seconds.

They also had the U-505 Submarine, one of the U-boats captured during WWII. The U-505 is the only German submarine in the United States and is the only Type IX-C U-boat in existence today. It also currently serves as a national memorial to the 55,000 American sailors who gave their lives on the high seas in WWI and WWII.

Day 63 - Geocaching!

2009-07-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

#1 Find 132 Geocaches (was 24, now 27 of 132) So one of the many first questions I get after seeing my list is "geocaching, what the hell is that!" So if you are one of those people, this post if your you. Geocaching is most often described as a "game of high-tech hide and seek." The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors using provided coordinates and your GPS. The goal is to get people off the couch and explore their community and grow a stronger support and appreciation for the environment. There are over 820,000 active geocaches in over 100 countries around the world right now. Now, most containers are simple tupperware containers or ammo boxes (like you see in the picture above), but others are a little more creative. Here's some of my favorites:

This one Michelle and I found in a park only 10 minutes north of Marist's campus along the Hudson. Now you can see this one was a traditional ammo can, but it was rigged with one of those musical greetings cards, so when you opened the box it played music.

This one was a rock. At least it looked like a rock, but it was actually cement that you could open up and find the tupperware inside! The first picture is taken from an angle so you can see where it opened...but you can imagine from the top how difficult it would be to figure out.

This one was on the beautiful Dutchess Community College campus, and definitely one of my hardest finds. The first picture small section of a huge electrical box by their athletic field. However, after accidentally moving it, I noticed...

But the gold metal for most creative, but most difficult cache container goes to one I found camping about an hour north of Poughkeepsie. See the acorns up in the tree? Apparently not your average acorns...

Day 59 - 4th of July!

2009-07-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

# 55 BBQ with friends outside 50 times (was 3, now 5 of 50) - So Little Brian and I had a BBQ party for the fourth of July. Let me tell you, if you were not there you missed an amazing time. Outstanding people, great food, music, bacci, and LOTS of alcohol. We had a vodka watermelon, and my personal favorite, an American flag made out of jello shots! Another big hit was the music. I spend the ENTIRE day before putting together a playlist of all songs with America, USA, a city or a state mentioned in them....or any song by John Philips Sousa. (i.e. American Woman, Jimi Hendrix's National Anthem, Sweet Home Alabama, Born in the USA, the song from Team America, Living in America, and of course New York, New York). Yes, I will make a CD and send it to you if you want :)

Status Update

2009-06-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

So, I am early on in the list still...it is only day 54, but I figured it would be a good idea to check on my pace so far. Now I know that should be pretty easy, it's a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, so as long as I do something once every 9.91 days I will be fine. However, as I thought about it I was surprised at how many I put quantitative numbers to (i.e. 132 geocaches). When I did the math I realized it's technically 605 "activities" I have to do, meaning I really should be doing something list-orientated once every 1.65 days. Here is my status so far:

Day 54
List Items Complete: Currently 8 of 101, need to be at least 5.
"Activities" Complete: Currently 86 of 605, needs to be at least 33.

So I am on good pace! I have some big ones still to cross off the list, but so far so good :)

Day 47 - MLB 2K9....and other stuff

2009-06-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

#72 Get and play MLB 2k9 with Jim - DONE! Ahhh, guy time. There are not many things I can think of that I like better than some good, old-fashion male bonding. Jim and I grabbed some beer and pizza, smoked some cigars, and played video games for the afternoon/evening on Sunday. Dictionary.com calls male bonding "bonding between males through shared activities excluding females." Fair enough...Princeton.edu says "The formation of a close personal relationship between men. The rituals known as male bonding do not necessarily involve drinking beer together." CLEARLY written by a women, but I think I prefer Wikipedia's definition: "Friendship between men. The expression is sometimes used synonymously with the word camaraderie. Friendships among men are often based on shared activities, instead of emotional sharing, which is more typical of women's friendships." Damn you Wikipedia...I can have emotions too! :(

#1 Find 132 Geocaches (was 14, now 19 of 132) Today I did a quick and easy one on FDR's Estate in Hyde Park with my good friend Katie. It was her first time, and probably not her last....I think she might be hooked : ) Afterwards we went to go see "Year One" at the Roosevelt movie theater. All I have to say, Michael Cera is a comedic genius. The movie was good, but definitely would have been nothing without him. Check out the trailer here.

#95 Eat a food I normally wouldn't eat, or have never eaten (was 1, now 2 of 25) Went out to dinner with some friends last week and we were talking about my list. I remembered this list item, so decided to order the Sesame Crusted Duck Breast Salad - Tender marinated duck breast, grilled then sliced thin and served over spinach with oriental citrus dressing, topped with toasted walnuts. It was delicious, I had never had duck before...thank you #95!

Day 43 - New Yankee's Stadium

2009-06-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

#29 Go to a game at the new Yankee Stadium - DONE! A very VERY big shout-out to Jim for this cross-off. Couple weeks ago Jim offered to help me out with the list and take me to game one of the Yankee series with the New York Mets. Now, not only was this going to be my first game at the new stadium, but it was also going to be my first Yankees/Mets game....so needles to say I was THRILLED.

A couple days before the game Jim says "Ok, here is the deal: I am going to be flying in from CA that day. It's a 7:00 game, so it should not be a problem, but I want you to hold onto the tickets just in case." Well, I bet you can guess where this story is going, Jim's flight gets delayed and is not going to make the game.

So, in Jim's absence I had to find someone else to go to the game. I figured Jim was so kind in helping me with my list, the least I could do was to "pay it forward" and help someone else with theirs. As I mentioned in a previous posting, Erik is my close friend from college who got me hooked on the "101 in 1001" idea. Ok, close friend may be an understatement, we are basically the same personalities separated in two different bodies.

The game itself could not have been more exciting. First of all our seats were in the bleachers, which was awesome. You want to have a good time at a Yankee game, sit with those die-hard bleacher creatures, haha. We saw 6 lead changes and 5 home runs, for of which from the Yankees : )

But nothing beat the end of the game. With two outs, runners at first and second and the Mets ahead by a run in the ninth, A-Rod hits a pop-up to Castillo. Rodriguez, as well as whole stadium knew what it meant — game over. But a game ain’t over till it’s over. Castillo drifted back for the ball, got into position, and somehow let it squirt from his glove. It fell safely to the ground, and Derek Jeter scored easily. Castillo might have had a shot to get Mark Teixeira at the plate, but for some reason he fired the ball to second, not home. Teixeira scored and the Yankees bounced giddily on the grass, winners by 9-8. Please, watch this video.

Thank you Jim and Erik for an unforgettable first game and the New Stadium. And congratulations to Erik for continuing you undefeated 4-0 streak of Yankee games on your list!

New Video!

2009-06-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

#40 Perform in a “Improv Everywher e” mission - DONE As I mentioned in a previous posting, a couple weeks ago I performed in and Improv Everywhere mission, MP3 Experiment 6. They finally posted the video of the event, click the link to check it out!!

Day 38

2009-06-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

#20 Get “Off the Wall” improv to do their first paid gig - DONE! - This is probably the list item I am most proud of thus far. During my junior year of college I spent about 6 months studying abroad in Sydney Australia. There, I studied and performed with Macquarie University's improv group called "MacImpro." Ever since I have returned I have had a strong passion for improv comedy. I have been studying, performing, directing, and teaching improv ever since. This year, with the help of 4th Wall Productions (the theater group in Poughkeepsie that I have worked with over the last several years and now serve on the board), I created "Off the Wall Improv," one of the Hudson Valley's first community improv troupes. Last week we had our first performance and received some OUTSTANDING feedback. The performance was a corporate event where we were hired as the "comedic relief" in between their workshops, lectures, etc. As you can imagine it was a dream come true : ) Couple Shout-outs:

Holly - So you never answered, if you were on the dating game with a air condition salesman with narcolepsy, a realtor with complementary tourettes, or a life coach that can only speak in rhyme, who would you chose???
Christine - So as you can see from above...when we asked for suggestions of occupations we had to guess, obscure would be an understatement. So you could imagine how funny it was when Christine got stuck with an audience member who could not figure out he was a beekeeper. A BEEKEEPER! Holly figured out Brian and I were firecracker technicians who enjoyed yodeling and you couldn't get BEEKEEPER??? : P
Little Brian - So, as I mentioned one game he had to mime yodeling. Probably the highlight of the night was when Brian jumped on top of one of the tables and did his best silent yodeling impression. I never realized how similar that looks to Andy Kaufman's performance of Mighty Mouse.

A very special thank you goes out to 4th Wall Productions, especially Jim and Christine. Without your support this dream of mine would have never come true. Thank you, I love you guys!

Day 28

2009-06-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

#92 Drive-in - DONE! I am so happy I put this one on the list. I love the drive-in, and I have one about 10 minutes away, but I have not gone in years. So, last Sunday a friend of mine and I decided to see the new Terminator movie and Star Trek. Now Terminator received some pretty awful reviews, so I was not expecting a lot (not should you). Having said that...it was better than I expected. It didn't make me laugh, it didn't make me cry, but it did keep my attention the whole movie and I didn't have a feeling of "what a waste of money" afterwards, so therefore I will give it 2 out of 5 stars. Star Trek, on the other hand, I was very impressed with. I have never watched a single episode of the TV show and still really enjoyed the movie. Great cast too (I was soooo excited to see Simon Pegg in it, love that guy!) and they all looked surprisingly similar to their TV counterparts.

Other Updates, I went camping last weekend for two nights at a

beautiful park only about 45 minutes from my house. Did some geocaches (3 more), hiking, grilling (it was grilling breakfast lunch and dinner for 3 days, but I only counted it as one more for #55), some sudoku puzzles (3 more) by the fire... all in all a VERY relaxing weekend : )

Day 19

2009-05-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Good list week! Here are some updates:

#58, 20 Runs with Friends (was 1 of 20, now 2 of 20). So my favorite number is 32...want to know what my new least favorite number is? ...58.

#40 Perform in an "Improv Everywhere" mission - DONE! So honestly, this was one of the things I was most excited about, if you have not heard of the group please check out their website. The group is awesome, they are the ones that staged the big "Grand Central Freeze" that was all over the news and on YouTube. Anyway, this past weekend we did their annual "MP3 Experiment." It was one of the most fun and different experiences I have had. Check out the website, there is info and pictures of what we did on Saturday, video to follow : )
#4 Go to Top Ten Tourist Attractions in NYC (now 1 of 10) On my way to the Improv Everywhere mission we had a beautiful picnic in Central Park. This one perfectly proves what the list is all about. I had not been to the park since I was a kid, which is kind of upsetting because it is so nice, and so close. The list gives you motivation for the things that you want to be doing, and are easy to do, you just normally don't : P

#55 BBQ with Friends (was 1 of 50, now 3 of 50). Could not have asked for nicer weather on our Memorial Day Weekend. Monday I had a picni

c/BBQ with my very close friends I met through the theater company (4th Wall Productions) that I work with and now serve on the board. Probably the best parts of the day was after food having a cigar with Jim and having the ice cream truck come by, then playing Quelf the board game. I had never heard of it before, best way to discripe it is a combinations of Kings (the drinking game) and Cranium. I might have to buy it, lol.

#1 Geocaching (was 6 of 132, now 11 of 132). Some hi-lights were

that I did my first geocaches in New York City, and I did one with two of my close friends Jim and Jake. It was their first, so they are no longer geovirgins, haha. I think I got them hooked :)

#94 Watch all Indiana Jones movies again - DONE. So their are a lot of movie series that I own (Star Wars, Pirates, Leathal Weapon, Godfather, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc) and every time I see them I think to myself "These are great movies, I really need to watch these again," but never do. So this was my first step, and it was a very enjoyable one. And I watched them in order, so I could save the best (Last Crusade) for last. "I told you....DONT call me Junior!"

#95 Eat a food I normally wouldn't eat, or have never eaten (now 1 of 25). For this one I am relying on my good friend Meagan from work. She is an outstanding cook and knows a lot about food. Basically I told her I am in her hands, feed me! Yesterday Meagan, Little Brian, and myself went out for lunch at "Akari Sushi & Japanese Food" here in Poughkeepsie. I had two rolls of sushi, one spicy crab and the other spicy salmon. Now I am not really a fish person, so sushi was never my thing, but I actually really liked the crab! The salmon one was good, but the uncooked fish texture was a little to weird for me. All in all, I enjoyed it...tho I think I would have enjoyed it a little more if it was served like this...

Fun Weekend - Day 11

2009-05-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

#7 Camp out at least 15 nights (now 1 of 15). So, I slept in the yard on friday

night. Now I know you are going to say "that's not real camping, it doesn't count!" Well hear me out, I think the story gives me credit. We had people over Friday night and Little Brian and I were on a team playing beer pong. Now, normally we are pretty unstoppable, but this night I was playing awful, forcing Little Brian to carry the team. One game it got so bad Brian said "If we lose this game you are sleeping outside".... and we did....so I did.

#58 Go for 20 runs with a friend (now 1 of 20). So I hear the first one is always the hardest. After work Little Brian and I went for a 2.5 mile run....well be both started the run together anyway. A little over half way I faced reality and told him "I am not going to be able to keep up with you...you can run ahead, I will meet you at home. Now, keep in mind that Brian ran the Boston Marathon a couple years back while I was playing online video games with HeftyButterfly, so finishing the run only a couple minutes behind him was a big accomplishment for me : P

Week One Down

2009-05-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

So here is the strategy for the list....I figured worse case scenario there are some things that I can cross off at a moments notice, but others need to be done gradually over. For example, I think it will be easier to jump out of a plane on day 1000 than it would be to donate blood five times, haha.

So, you may not see a lot of crossing out as we start, but you will see me doing a lot of the things I have to do multiple times. Here's the update:

#76 Donate blood, now at 1 of 5. So I made an appointment to donate blood last Tuesday here in Poughkeepsie. It was actually my first time making an appointment and going to donate, every other time was when they come to you (i.e. at school, work, etc). I think that is what the list is all about...stuff that you should and want to do, but you just don't. This forced me to do research, find a place, and drag my butt there. It took 2 hours, but I did 2 bags of platelets and a bag of red blood cells (yes, I know...I didn't think you can donate that much in one sitting either). Learn more here: Platelet Donations.

#1 (now 5 of 132) Found a geocache in the park along the Hudson River on my way to donate blood : )

#70 Bring in coffee and doughnuts for the staff one morning - DONE! As some of you know, I work in the admissions office at Marist College. This time of year is the most important for us, because deposits are due on May 1st. We have to work hard (especially in this economy) to hit our enrolment goals. If we get too many, housing hates us and we have to tripple students, don't get enough and then people don't get paid, lol. Well, I am proud to say we got exactly what we were hoping for, so I got coffee, bagles, and munchkins for the staff to celebrate : )

#57 Win trivia at Hyde Park Brewery. We went last night, did not win....stupid team from the athletic department...

The First Weekend!

2009-05-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

One weekend down, many more to go. Here's a simple update, didn't go crazy because it was Mother's Day, and though I was excited to start the list, you know Mom takes priority : )

#1 Geocaches: Found four this weekend at my parent's river house. It was the first time the whole family went : ) My sister and mother seemed to have a good time.

#85 Sudoku: Did four puzzles in my father's "black belt-most difficult" book while sitting on the back porch watching the sun set and a glass of wine. Not a bad weekend : )

And so it begins...

2009-05-05T15:53:00.001-07:00

Hello all, and welcome to Brian's 101 in 1001. This list was inspired by my good friend Erik from college, who is currently about 175 days into his list (check it out here!). As you may notice, there are some similarities in the lists, but if you know Erik and I....you will understand.

So this list is simple, 101 things I hope to accomplish over the next 1001 days (approx 2.75 years). The only rule is they must be done within the 1001 days. Therefore, if it is something I have already done, I need to do it again. I am officially starting this Friday, you can check out my status down at the bottom.

Feel free to stop by, comment, follow the blog (I do need followers to accomplish #82), hell even start your own if you feel daring enough! : )