10 in '10 (-'20)

In ten years it will be 2020. Doesn't that blow your mind a little bit? My family has a futuristic board game called Mars 2020 where you pick a crew member and a space ship and zip around in outer space answering space questions in order to fix various malfunctions on your vessel. It's pretty awesome in an educational sort of way...

... although I always did prefer the less educational/more competitive Spaceopoly, where we could buy planets, collect money and shoot lasers at each other:

The only computer game I was allowed to play as a child was also space-related:

Whew, tangent, not where I was going with this... Also in ten years, I will be thirty-four! Ouch. I can't even imagine it. I wonder if, in 2020, women at the grocery store will still talk to each other about how I don't need to be carded for yet another bottle of red wine, even though I "have a young look." Or if people will still think that my younger brother (by six years!) is my twin. Only time will tell, I suppose.

I know I'm a only nipping at the heels of this resolution trend as it goes flying by me, but the time has come to establish some goals for the next decade. I set goals for 2010 on my birthday (the real new year), so there is really no need to do that again.

1. TRAVEL EXTENSIVELY. If I take one big trip every year until I'm 30, I could go on

A European Tour:

The Netherlands--Germany--Czech Republic--Austria--Switzerland--France--Spain--Portugal

A Cross-Country Road Trip:


An Alaskan Adventure:

An Eastern Excursion (remember the house boat?):


A Sailing Voyage:


...And I'd still have time for my other nine goals!


2. PAY OFF DEBT. This one is pretty self-explanatory, and it will probably take more than ten years (which is why I did not say "pay off all debt").


3. BUY A HISTORIC HOUSE. Maybe it's K's influence (he wants to study historic preservation), or maybe it's the profusion of inspirational design blogs occupying the internet, but lately I've been really excited about the idea of renovating an old house... especially a historic brick farmhouse in New England. Or an old captain's house on the coast of Maine. Or a big, beautiful plantation in Savannah (and that's not just because of Away We Go).


4. GET MARRIED & HAVE KIDS. I'm not even close to thinking about making babies, and Goal #1 must be accomplished before this can happen, but let's be serious: ten years is a damn long time. What woman doesn't want this before she's 35? Okay... plenty, I'm sure... call me old-fashioned!


5. ACHIEVE RELATIVE FLUENCY IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. I think it's very possible that I could become fluent in French if I applied myself. After three years in high school and one semester in college I think I have a pretty decent grip on the language--I just need to motivate myself in order to make any serious progress. I would also really like to be able to speak German.


6. WRITE SOMETHING. A novel, a screenplay, a stage play (something, anything!) and have it published or performed. If I haven't accomplished this goal in ten years I probably never will, and that saddens me.


7. LOVE MY WORK. I hope that I can find something I love to do and someone to pay me to do it (see #6).


8. DIY FOOD. Ever since I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, I have been inspired to make my own food using locally grown, appropriately seasonal ingredients. In my current living situation, this isn't terribly practical... we have little/no storage space and little/no counter/kitchen space, which makes even the simplest cooking project seem like a chore. In the future, I would like to (at least): bake my own bread, have a small garden, join a CSA, learn to cook more multiculturally (Indian, Thai, Sushi, oh my!) and raise chickens for eggs.

9. LEARN TO PLAY JAZZ PIANO. Or just piano in general. Mostly I want to be a jazz singer, and I would love to sit down in a smoky club and play piano and drink martinis and wear red lipstick. In fact, I would probably be content to find a smoky jazz club where someone else is singing and playing piano and wearing red lipstick while I drink martinis and hum along (as I do)... but those are unfortunately pretty few & far between in this day & age. Which is why I should learn to time travel. Or at least go to Europe, where I think my chances of happening on such a place might be better (see #1). At least if I know how to play I can make-believe in my own house, and that's almost just as good.


10. EXPERIENCE THE GREAT OUTDOORS. I've never been very motivated to go out and do things in the wilderness, but I usually enjoy it when I do... camping, canoeing, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing, exploring canyons and caves, sleeping under the stars... even just strolling on a country road. It's going to take a little bit of action and a whole lot of fresh air to keep me lively well into my forties and fifties and sixties and, well, you get the idea. Plus I need to get exercise in fun ways because otherwise it's not much fun (yes, I am conscious of the redundancy here).

That's all, folks!! I should probably add "Post Outfits Daily" to that list because I have been seriously failing lately. Yesterday I overslept and this morning I realized that my camera was not in my possession. I'll try to take my outfit photo when I get home this evening, but I just had to apologize for so blunderingly dropping the ball. Good thing it's the weekend, right!?