Thing to do in 2013

First and foremost, happy new year. As I tweeted a few weeks back, I hattttte when people wish me a happy new year on December, 31st. Either say, "I hope you have a happy new year" or "Have a happy new year." Saying, "Happy new year!" is annoying and inaccurate. It's a lot like people at church saying, "Merry Christmas" on Christmas Eve.

Over the past few weeks I've been asking people what their new years resolutions are. Some answers included be nicer to strangers, kill it at work, do more community service, move out of my parents' house, and get a new job. I've never been much of a resolution guy, but for some reason I felt motivated this time around. I won't reveal all of mine (by the way, having more than one increases your chances to accomplish at least one), but one of them is to be more goal oriented. I've found that I say a lot of things and never follow through. I always want to do this, go there, or try that, but I rarely actually do what I say I want to.

In an effort to inspire me to do the things that I want to do I've compiled a list of 50 things I want to do in 2013. I know that I won't accomplish all 50, but I'd like to look back on the year and feel good about some of the things that I've accomplished, tried, or witnessed.


50 Things to do in 2013 (in the order that I thought of them- read into that what you will)

1.) Get a passport- I’ve been telling people for years that I want to travel, see the world, etc. for years, but I still haven’t taken the first step and gotten my passport. That changes this year.

2.) Finish writing my memoir- I’m a lot closer to finishing that you’d think. There’s also the daunting task of editing and re-editing the entire thing, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

3.) Read 25 books (roughly 2 per month)- I’m off to a slow start, but I don’t think that this is an unreasonable task.

4.) Visit my sisters in Washington DC- I haven’t been to our nation’s capital since the Clinton administration.

5.) Attend a Blue Jays game in Toronto- The last time I saw the Blue Jays play a game in Toronto I was 17 and the stadium was called the Skydome. It’s now named the Rogers Centre.

6.) Run a half marathon- My friend Kate runs the Hartford half marathon every year and always asks me if I want to run it with her (we ran together a few times in college when she was training to run a half marathon) and I always say that I’ll do it before backing out a week or so before the race.

7.) Attend a Knicks game in the newly renovated Madison Square Garden- I’ve been told by 4-5 different people that the latest renovations have rendered the world’s most famous arena unrecognizable.

8.) Buy a new suit and get it tailored- I’m starting to travel more for work, so it’s time that I start looking sharp.

9.) Lose 6-7 pounds- I’m close to what I believe to be my ideal weight, but there’s still some work left to do.

10.) Go sailing- I’ve been anti-water for most of my life, but I’m willing to give sailing a shot. It seems like it’s relaxing and not too much work.

11.) Become a better cook- My culinary skills are not impressive. I can follow directions fairly well, but I’d like to be in a position where I can experiment with different flavor combinations.

12.) Buy a winter coat- My mom (or should I say Santa?) bought me a jacket 5 years ago that I dubbed my “transition to adulthood” coat. I’m almost embarrassed to wear it now, so I rarely do. I need an upgrade immediately.

13.) Attend my 5 year college reunion- I’m getting old. That said, I hear this event is a great time and I’m looking forward to it.

14.) Get a credit card- I think I’m finally ready to cave.

15.) Shoot an 85 or below in golf- This might be the most unrealistic item on the entire list, but I’d love to get better at golf and shooting an 85 would be one hell of a feat for me.

16.) Take a trip to Chicago in the summer- The Second City is one of my favorite three cities in the country and just a great place to be in the summer.

17.) Play more basketball- I used to play basketball 4-5 times a week in college, but have played maybe twice in the past two years.

18.) Go to the eye doctor and get new glasses/contacts- I haven’t been to the eye doctor since April of 2010. My eyes have undoubtedly gotten worse.

19.) Do 100 pushups a day- I currently do 30 after I shower every morning, so this shouldn’t be too difficult to pull off.

20.) Visit 5 states that I’ve never been to before- In a recent post I commented on how I’ve only been to 18 states (20 if you count layovers). One of my roommates has a goal to visit all 50 states before he turns 30. I’m hoping for 30 by the time I’m 30.

21.) Go to the New York State Fair- There’s nothing quite like the Great New York State Fair. All I need is an hour or two to get a pizza fritte, footsy wootsy, and some Byrne Dairy chocolate milk.

22.) Go to a concert- I can’t tell you the last time I went to a concert.

23.) Shave at least 3 times a week- I need to clean up my act/life/look.

24.) Get a raise/promotion at work- Pretty cliché, but still worthy of the list.

25.) Get my (still to be gotten) passport stamped- If step one is to get the passport. This is definitely step two. I’ve been saying for months how I want to go to Ireland. Maybe 2013 is the year.

26.) Take a drive along the California coast- Probably a little far-fetched, but I’ve been told that it’s a breathtaking experience.

27.) Attend a professional golf tournament- People tell me that these are a lot of fun. I’m not sure if I’d pick a group and follow them around or pick a location and watch all of the groups come through. I do know that I’ll be hammered throughout.

28.) Go to the US Open (Tennis)- Every year I say how I want to go down to New York to check it out, but I never get remotely close to going. Hopefully writing this down will be the impetus to actually go.

29.) Go to a taping of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report- Unlikely that I have a free weekday in New York City, but If I do I’d love to pull this off. I watch these two shows all the time, so it’d be a thrill to see a live taping.

30.) Complete my quest to watch every movie nominated for Best Picture in my lifetime- I need to see 6 of the 9 this year, 1 of the 9 from last year, 2 of the 5 from 1986, and 1 of the 5 from 1995, 1992, 1991, 1988, and 1987. That’s 14 films.

31.) Go to an NHL game- Who has Bruins or Rangers tickets?

32.) Attempt to eat as many hot dogs and buns as I can in a 10 minute span- Every Fourth of July I say that I could eat at least 10, but I’ve never attempted it.

33.) Completely overhaul my wardrobe- I have zero fashion sense. I need to start dressing (and acting) more like an adult.

34.) Post at least 50 pictures on Instagram- I joined a week or so ago. You can follow me @danstanczyk.

35.) Take some sort of class- I don’t care if it’s online (I love learning), baking, a work out class, etc.

36.) Run a mile in under 6 minutes- I haven’t given a mile run my all since I was a 6th grader at St. Matthew’s. I think I can break the 6 minute mark.

37.) Watch a fireworks display from start to finish- I’m a sucker for a good fireworks show, but I haven’t seen one in years.

38.) Witness a sunrise- In all of my days on the planet I think I’ve seen one (the night I graduated from college).

39.) Write more- Although I don’t update this blog nearly enough I actually do quite a bit of writing when I have the time. Whether it be fantasy football power rankings, features for work, or a 60,000+ word memoir, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I enjoy putting words together. I need to carve out more time in my day to day life to get better at this craft.

40.) Learn to ski/water ski- I skied as a kid a few times, but never again. I’ve also attempted to water ski once or twice, but never got up.

41.) Keep in touch with more friends- I hardly keep in touch with anyone from high school or college. At least on a regular basis. I’ve finally accepted that this is at least half my fault.

42.) Give a speech- I’d prefer it to be at a friend’s wedding or at some big occasion.

43.) Memorize the world capitals- I know most of the European, African, and South American ones, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.

44.) Create a list of the Top 10 places in the world that I want to visit- Hopefully compiling the list will inspire me to get the time off from work and book a flight.

45.) Eat 0 meals at McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, etc.- I’ve been very good about this in the past year, but I’ve slipped up on occasion. I’ll certainly miss the spicy chicken sandwiches from Wendy’s, but it’s for the best.

46.) Wake up earlier- My alarm goes off at 9:30 almost every day. Most people are at work by at least 9.

47.) Go to sleep earlier- A few years ago I charted my sleep schedule and found that my average lights out time was 2:30 am. It’s probably closer to 12:30-1 am nowadays, but I think I can, and should, do better.

48.) Cook the bacon explosion- I’ve been telling people about this recipe since 2008. It’s time that I finally cook the damn thing myself.

49.) Travel to a different continent- I’ve never left North America.

50.) Watch less television- I watched a lottt more when I lived by myself, but should I really be watching The Challenge on MTV?