Guest Blogger! This post brought to you by Kellie Cat.

No shave November is beginning.

October involved blueberries and concerts.

September involved adventures and the beginning of crunching leaves.

August involved moving and concerts.

July was awesome.

101 update

More than a month into the project, I've only actually completed 4 of the items on my list:

4. Run a 5k - I ran the Lavender 5k at Young Living Farms in Mona, UT. The course goes through the lavender fields there (they grow them to make essential oils) and it was harvest time. Unfortunately, I injured my foot the week before in training, so I ended up walking a little, but I ended with a time of 35:55, which is apparently pretty respectable. I definitely want to run another one again soon.

5. Leave a note in a library book - I finished reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and I decided to leave a note in the last book before I returned it.

19. Road trip somewhere I've never been - I went with 2 of my roommates to St. Anthony, ID for our former roommate's wedding reception. She didn't expect us to come, so it was kind of awesome to surprise her.

31. Get a caricature of myself - For the 4th, they had the Freedom Festival in downtown Provo. So I went. Along with eating spectacular food like deep fried oreos and tornado taters, I got my caricature done. It was an interesting experience, sitting there with people walking by, looking at the drawing, then at me, seeing how the artist was doing.

Goals in progress:

10. Keep a dream journal - I bought myself an Alice in Wonderland dream journal, and I've recorded in it whenever I've actually remembered my dreams - not that often. I'm hoping that writing them down will help me to remember them more easily.

17. Read my height in books - I've read about 7 or 8 inches worth - I made a chart to record my progress. I've read:

• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
• Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz
• Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede
• Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
• Questions About Angels by Billy Collins
• Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
• Ever by Gail Carson Levine

21. Learn 10 songs on guitar - I'm currently working on 'It Had To Be You' by Motion City Soundtrack.

28. Read the Ensign every month - June issue down.

38. 25 random acts of kindness - I've done 3 of these. If I shared what they were, I wouldn't feel as good, so no details for you!

48. Try 20 new restaurants - 5 down, 15 to go. I have so far eaten at:

• Five Guys Burgers and Fries
• i Buffet
• Thai Mango
• Kneaders
• Chinatown Restaurant

52. Take a picture for each task - Just taking them as I work on them

53. Grow a plant from a seed - We planted an herb garden on our windowsill, and I'm taking responsibility for one cilantro plant. It's doing well.

59. Finish Wreck This Journal - This journal's goal is to help you break out of your normal way of thinking - it provides prompts and has you doing things like taking the journal for a walk and dragging it behind you and scribbling with reckless abandon. I highly recommend it.

71. Read the BOM in Japanese - I'm in 2nd Nephi.

72. Listen to a new album recommendation from a friend every week - I have a list I collected at a ward activity, but I still need more if you people have any. So far I've listened to:

• All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone - Explosions in the Sky
• Promotional Copy - Reggie and the Full Effect
• O Mickey Where Art Thou - Various Artists
• Merriwether Post Pavilion - Animal Collective
• How To Train Your Dragon Soundtrack - John Powell
• Rockin' the Suburbs - Ben Folds

83. Read the standard works straight through - I finished Numbers on Sunday.

84. Learn to say 'garlic' in 20 languages - I've mastered 5 languages - English, Spanish, Japanese, Thai, and Russian.

85. See 50 movies off my 'to see' list - 13/50 This task has been greatly helped by my local library and a Netflix subscription. Netflix is kind of awesome. So far I've seen:

• Alice in Wonderland (the new one)
• Newsies
• Serenity
• Much Ado About Nothing
• How To Train Your Dragon
• Toy Story 3
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid
• A Pyromaniac's Love Story
• The King of Kong, A Fistful of Quarters
• Juno
• Twelfth Night
• Kal Ho Naa Ho
• The Importance of Being Earnest

98. Cook 50 new recipes - 4/50 So far I've made raspberry jam, portabella pizzas, lemon cream cheese cookies, and raspberry cream cupcakes. Delicious.

100. Complete 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' - This book is training from an art instructor who worked to develop a program to help other learn how to draw and develop creativity. I'm excited to get more into it.

Yeah! This project is pretty exciting. I feel like it helps me to stay productive now that I'm out of school and just working. At least, it gives me the opportunity to do the things I want to do and call it productivity. :)

101 in 1001

I've made a list of 101 things that I will accomplish in the next 1001 days.

I'll post updates here on the ol' blog. I'm seriously pumped right now.

http://dayzeroproject.com/
Go here. Get some inspiration. Make your own list. Get excited.

I started June 4, 2010, and will finish March 1, 2013.

1. purchase a disco ball

2. write a song

3. hike Timp

4. run a 5k

5. leave a note in a book from the library

6. visit a new country

7. go skiing/snowboarding

8. pay off my loan

9. learn to drive stick shift

10. keep a dream journal

11. NaNoWriMo

12. scoot to SLC and back

13. make an item of clothing

14. go to batting cages

15. re-learn scripture masteries

16. go on a Utah temple road trip

17. read my height in books

18. no fast food for a month

19. road trip to somewhere I've never been

20. mail Ryan his armadillo

21. learn 10 songs on guitar (0/10)

22. attend an anime convention in costume

23. see 3 bands on my 'need to see' list (0/3)

24. throw something electronic of value into a body of water

25. hike Mount Fuji

26. go to the Ghibli Museum

27. go to the MOMA

28. read the Ensign every month (0/33)

29. make a physical photo portfolio

30. hang my pictures in frames around my home

31. get a caricature done of myself

32. send a secret to PostSecret

33. send a postcard to Hopefully Mormon

34. facebook fast for a week

35. host a fancy dinner party

36. attend a film festival

37. do some volunteer work (details to be decided)

38. 25 random acts of kindness (0/25)

39. go to 20 different museums (0/20)

40. attend a photography class or workshop

41. attend a midnight premiere in costume

42. defeat Windwaker and Portal

43. tape someone/be taped to a wall

44. enter a photography contest

45. get a mani/pedi

46. create and display a massively huge work of art

47. go geocaching

48. try 20 new restaurants (1/20)

49. play music for tips

50. see a musical on Broadway

51. go barefoot for a day

52. take a picture for each task completed

53. grow a plant from a seed

54. Cedar Point - live it, love it

55. go to the dentist

56. for one month, pay for everything in cash and save the change

57. buy a plane ticket and just go

58. pass JLPT level 1

59. complete one of those fun journals

60. let myself fall in love

61. fold 1,000 cranes and take them to a peace memorial (0/1000)

62. be in Japan for the cherry blossoms!

63. keytar?!?!

64. buy and eat a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store

65. get my hair cut in Japan

66. for 24 hours, take a picture every hour/24 hour comic

67. go to the fancy onsen in Hakone

68. stay up for 24 hours straight for good reason

69. take a photo of the same landscape through all 4 seasons

70. kiss someone on New Year's at midnight

71. read the Book of Mormon in Japanese

72. every week, get an album recommendation from a friend and listen to it

73. write a letter to the editor

74. learn to french braid

75. become ambidextrous

76. write real letters to friends

77. create a video and upload it to youtube

78. blog tri-weekly for a month

79. journal hourly each waking hour for a week

80. for one day, make all decisions with a Magic 8 Ball

81. re-learn the Rubik's Cube

82. learn handwriting analysis

83. read the standard works straight through

84. learn to say 'garlic' in at least 20 languages (5/20)

85. watch 50 movies off my 'to see' list (2/50)

86. get pushed into a pool fully clothed

87. wear makeup everyday for a week

88. join the Arashi fan club

89. give a 100% tip

90. pull the prank of a lifetime

91. watch a scary movie with a boy

92. for one week, spend no money

93. interview 15 people for my blog (0/15)

94. write on the wall of each of my facebook friends

95. go to the movies alone

96. buy crazy eyeshadows

97. go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

98. cook 50 new recipes (0/50)

99. do something with my Puccho wrappers and sunflower seed shells

100. complete Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

101. spend $50 on one dinner for myself

Lovin' Summer

Life is pretty great. Not gonna lie.

These things are consuming my life:

• work
• The Sims 3
• watching shows like Firefly and 30 Rock
• reading the entire Provo library
• playing. a lot.

For example, today I got up, read some of After the Quake by Haruki Murakami, played some Sims, then went to work. After work, I cam home and played some more Sims, then played Ultimate Frisbee with kids in the ward. Kellie Cat and I went to Smith's and bought food for the ward bonfire tomorrow. They're having us all bring a foil dinner, or as my family likes to call them: silver turtles.

Now I'm sitting at home, watching Food Network and typing a blog post. I'm about to work on a test for a translation site. I'm hoping I pass, so I can start doing some bit translations on the side of all this excitement.

And I still have a billion things I want to do. Hopefully I can make this summer a productive one. If not in outward appearances, at least in a personally fulfilling sense.

The ending of another chapter of Sara

I'm graduated.

It's pretty exciting. :)

An Exercise in Emulation

As you probably don't know, I'm doing a 365 photo challenge, AKA I take and upload a photo everyday for a year.

For this week, I decided to copy other photographers and re-create their works with my own spin.
First up, Girl Playing Cards. The original:
Kellie Cat graciously agreed to be my model for this one:

Next up, a photo from a series by Ralph Gibson:
My version of The Somnambulist:
Finally, you all know this portrait of Einstein by Arthur Sasse:And here is Bensuke in his Einstein-y best:

I took a few more, but they're still in editing.
What do you think? It was a fun project that I may revisit when I'm not a daily deadline.

Cool things about going to Las Vegas:

• Bellagio fountain show
• Blue Man Group!
• The Lion King
• being in a test audience for a TV pilot
  
• wax museum
• FAO Schwartz
• interactive light-up dance floors
• living statues
• HASH HOUSE A GO GO
  
• not getting carded the whole time I was there
  

Not so cool things about going to Las Vegas:

• avoiding people handing out sketchy cards
• expensive shopping
  
• being called a pimp because of a certain yellow jacket
• The Sirens of TI
  
• terrible traffic
• Elvises who "work on tips"
• no chess clubs, just strip clubs