50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind (21-30) & A Few Other Things

I will just jump right into the questions:

21. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton? As important as I feel being happy in life is I would absolutely want to be a worried genius. I don't want to be happy because I don't know any better. 

22. Why are you, you? I just am. I don't really know how to answer this question. Maybe I am me because of my mom. Maybe I am me because of my friends. Maybe I am me because of where I grew up. Maybe I am me because of me. Maybe I am me because of everything I have been through. I would like to think that everything in life affects you in someway. 

23. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend? When I was younger, no. Now that I am older I think that I have. My friends mean so much to me and I would do anything for any of them. 

24. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you? When a good friend moves away. When you lose touch with a friend who live right near you that is a choice. When a good friend moves away that is out of your control. 

25. What are you most grateful for? My mom. She has been everything to me. She has been my mother, my father, my best friend. She has loved me when I was at my worst and never judged me for anything I did. My mom has always allowed me to express myself (even when that meant dyeing my hair black, wearing black lipstick, and painting my face pale white) and even helped me express myself. She taught me how to stand on my own to feet and how to love someone unconditionally.

26. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones? This is a really tough one. I have some pretty awful old memories but some really great ones too. Having recently lost my grandfather who was basically my dad losing every memory of him would be tough. I also think a lot of those memories make me who I am. That being said I would say lose my old ones. I see great things in my future and many amazing memories to come (I can pet a penguin for 25.00 a the Florida Aquarium). 

27. Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first? No! How can you know it is true without making sure yourself. 

28. Has your greatest fear ever come true? No. 

29. Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Yeah.  Does it really matter now? Yes and no. The anger is no longer there but that time 5 years ago really changed me. 

30. What is your happiest childhood memory? A trip we (Grandfather, Sister, Aunt, & Myself) took in our RV to North Carolina, New Jersey, & Pennsylvania.  What makes it so special? Being with my family!

On to other stuff. I now have my first Daring Cooks challenge in hand. Unfortunately, I can't disclose any details until July 17th. I will share details and hopefully lots of pictures. As mentioned in the above questions I discovered that I can pet a penguin for 25.00 at the Florida Aquarium. I honestly thought this was one of those things I would always want to do but never get to do so it is nice to see that it is possible. The rain has been insane and it is making it really difficult for me to clean my apartment the way I have been planning. The good news is Walt's brother can use our other couch for his new apartment and our extra microwave so yeah that is 2 things out of the apartment. I finished knitting the second UF scarf. NO MORE SCARVES for a while. Unless they are mindless garter stitch scarves that I can pick up and knit when I need a break from a project or I can knit while walking. 

Yay!! I did it!!

I actually accomplished all the goals in my blog from yesterday plus some and well, our kitchen looks great! It is so freeing to walk into our kitchen and it is clean and uncluttered. Maybe I will tackle our bathroom when I get home today. Bathroom cleaning list:
1. Take out garbage.
2. Throw away old razors & empty shampoo bottles.
3. Clean sink, toilet, & bathtub.
4. Pick up dirty laundry from floor.
5. Put up towels.

Seems like a longer list than the kitchen but it is a much smaller room and the projects are a lot easier. On to other exciting news....

I am still working my way through a few projects on my Day Zero Project list which you can view here. The project that I seem to be making some good head way on the past few days is the list of 1001 movies to see before you die.

 The list contains the recommended 1001 movies plus a supplemental 64 movies. You can view the list I am working from here. I am only attempting to watch 1001 movies from the complete list. They can be the suggested 1001 or include any of the supplemental movies to total 1001. I decided to do it this way for fear of not being able to find copies of certain movies as some of them date back as far as 1902. I have watched a total of 120 movies from the list so far. I watched 2 today on Hulu (Animal Farm & Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer) and yesterday I watched Dances With Wolves. The other 117 movies I have already seen.

The Daring Kitchen

So I recently discovered this sited called The Daring Kitchen. After reading all the rules and FAQ I decided that both the Daring Cooks & Daring Bakers challenges would be going on my 101 in 1001 list. It's a very interesting site indeed. Basically, once a month you are given either a baking or cooking challenge (both if you select both when signing up like I did)to complete and then blog about on the end date. This will be my first one of both challenges. The cooking challenge will be announced on Thursday ( I am so excited). I looked at some previous challenges and they included making things such as Pate, Enchiladas, Brunswick stew, & Risotto. So while I am excited about the cooking challenge, it also means that I need to seriously clean and organize my kitchen to even have a chance at completing the challenge. I do not yet have access to the Daring Bakers private forums as the challenge will not be listed until the end of the month. So a small to-do list for the evening. Wash as many dishes that will fit into the dish drainer, take out all garbage, & clean refrigerator. Sounds so easy and simple in my head at the moment but I know I will arrive home drained from the brain numbing day I have endured here at work, unwilling to do anything, but eat and watch TV.

50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind (11-20)

Here I am again answer the next series of questions that should free my mind. I have enjoyed asking both loved ones & friends these questions. It has sparked interesting conversation & helped me to learn lots about them. Let's begin:

11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do? Honestly, I don't think I would ever respect and admire these kinds of people but for the purpose of the question I do. I would say something. That is just who I am. The only time I have ever been in trouble in my life was for fighting for someone who could not fight for themselves.

12. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be? This one is really tough. I feel like there is so much you need to know coming into this world. I have heard various answers from my friends including things such as: Good Luck! Live, Laugh, & Love! I think for me I am going to go with Bobby McFerrin and say "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"

13. Would you break the law to save a loved one? Yes! Yes! Yes! I would do anything to save a loved one.

14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity? I see this everyday in Walt.

15. What’s something you know you do differently than most people? I don't know that I do anything different from everybody. It is impossible to know that I am the only one who does something. Our world is very diverse and I sure there is somebody out there who does things just like me.

16. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy? We are all different. We all enjoy different things.

17. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back? Take a vacation. I don't have any vacation time or the funds to take a vacation.

18. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of? Nope.

19. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why? A state: Illinois. I would love to live in Chicago. Yay for snow & the bears! A Country: Ireland. I would love to get in touch with my heritage.

20. Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster? No. I have never even heard of this.

50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind (1-10)

So as part of my "101 in 1001" I have decided to answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind." In an attempt to not bore you to much I will be answering them in increments of 10 questions. You can find the complete list of questions here! Let's begin shall we:
1. How would you be if you didn't know how old you are? I say it depends on the day. Some days I am a carefree 3 year old who wants to watch cartoons and play on the slide at the park. I want to be tickled and laugh until I cry. Other days I am 40 and all I can think about is how our bills will be paid, what to make for dinner, & work. The good news is I have more 3 year old days than 40 year old days.

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying? This was a quick and simple answer, failing. I don't like to fail, I don't even like for people to be better at things than I am. Also, I am not one of those "what if" people so the never trying thing doesn't really bother me. There are lots of things I have waited to try for fear of failure.

3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don't like and like so many things we don't do? Well, for starters life isn't as short as everyone makes it out to be. Second, we have to, to survive. Would I love to quit my job and move to Ireland......sure I would, but how would I eat, where would I live, etc...

4. When it is all said and done, will you have said more than you've done? I hope not!

5. What is the one thing you would most like to change about the world? The hate. I would like to take away all the negativity that comes with hating someone or something.

6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? Anything with penguins. I love them so much. They are the cutest thing ever!!

7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? At the moment I am settling so that someone I believe in can do what they believe in. I know soon I will get do what I believe in.

8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently? I would spend more time with those close to me. I would be more open about my feelings.

9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken? I have controlled everything. I tried to think of things about my life that I wasn't currently fond of but if I really break it down it all comes back to some decision I made at some point.

10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things? Doing the right things. Doing what I feel is morally correct is what is important to me.

Hopefully, that wasn't too boring and some of you are still awake. I need to get on some other 101 projects so I am off to read the Wiki featured article of the day. Hoping to increase my brain power.

Day Zero Project

I just recently learned about this. I mean like 20 minutes ago recently. It is a really neat concept and I am excited to see how I do with it. I am naturally a list person so this is right up my alley. So, basically the way it works is you make a list of 101 things you would like to accomplish in the next 1001 days. Blogging everyday for 30 days is on my list so I really better find something interesting to talk about. I have a lot of knitting related goals because that is where I feel I can improve the most & those will be the most fun to accomplish. Here you can read all about what becoming a master knitter is. I only plan to complete the first level as part of my 101 project. This is offered through The Knitting Guild Association. Among my other knitting goals are: Knitting from my queue, organizing my stash, knitting everyday for 30 days, & designing a pattern. I have also added learning to crochet to my list for many reason but mostly because I love all the cute amigurumi animals.

I will keep you posted on new additions to my list as well as completions on my list. You will also see some blog post that correlate with task I am working on completing such as: 50 Questions that will set you free & 1001 Movies to see before you die.

Pattern Designing

So recently my good friend Julie was talking about designing some more Florida friendly designs. I agreed to help her with the numbers (I'm a numbers geek!) & any test knitting she may need to have done. I am excited at the thought of more Florida friendly patterns. It is so hot here 75% of the year and it would be nice to know there are other things out there to knit that I could wear all year. I am missing winter and being able to throw on my garter stitch mitts, a scarf, & some smooshy hand knit socks. So I have been browsing lots of patterns for inspiration, ideas, looking at sizing information, etc.... It's very exciting I may even make an attempt to design one or two items.

On another sort of designing note. I started making my own stitch markers. I made 4 sets for a relatively small amount of money. Yay! I have been coveting other peoples stitch markers for quite some time now. I used to make beaded necklaces and such so I thought I would find some stitch markers instruction and go from there. I am really excited about them. It didn't take long to make them and they are super cute. I can't wait to make more of them.

My current WIP (work in progress) is yet another UF inspired scarf. Boo! How do I get talked into these things. I do love how pretty it is and well it reminds me of Charlie Brown. I used the Chevron Scarf pattern so there are nice zigzags instead of just plain stripes. It is for Jeannie's niece who was recently accepted to the University of Florida. While I hate the football team it is a very nice school and tough to get in to. I am very excited for her.

 
I used Cascade 220 which I always enjoy knitting with. Walt's socks are in time out. I was really okay with frogging them, but now I am so paranoid they won't fit the second time around I can't bring myself to finish them. Hopefully, I will get there soon.