30 Before 30

Back in January, my friend Mindy posted on Facebook a list of things she wanted to do before turning 30 this year. This inspired me to create my own list, which I'm calling my "30 Before 30." Some are big; some are minor. A handful I've already completed by the time I've gotten around to composing this blog post. Here they are (with commentary).

1. Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
DONE! A major thank you goes to my friend Kendra for being the impetus to get this to happen.

2. Fill up my passport pages
I have three squares left in my passport, which expires next fall. I'll need to purchase a new one by February (6 months before it expires), so that means I have about 8 months to get this done. I'm hoping to check this off the list when I go to eastern Europe this summer. If not, I might need to make an impromptu trip south of the boarder. :)

3. Learn how to make a good mojito
DONE-ISH. My friend Gino taught me his secret recipe for making mojitos when he and his family were visiting at Easter. Now I just need to practice a few times to make sure I have it right. I'm looking for volunteers. ;)

4. Run a race
DONE! I competed in the Warrior Dash (a 5K with crazy obstacles) a couple weekends ago. Sure, I ended up having to walk half the race because I tore some ligaments in my ankle scrambling down the pyramid of hay bales, but hey, I completed the race!

5. Ride a Segway
Provided plans don't fall through, I'll cross this one off my list tonight! My friend Amy and Dylan and I will be rolling around Tempe Town Lake on a Segway tour. Can't wait!

6. Buy a house.
Eeks! This is a big one. I'm slowly getting the ball rolling...we'll see what happens.

7. Plant an herb garden
The next few items on my list rely on me accomplishing #6, so hopefully that one works out well!

8. Make a compost bin
Because that's just a good thing to do!

9. Stockpile the necessary ingredients for a well-stocked bar
It seems like a grown-up thing to do.

10. Go scuba diving again
It's been a year and a half since I went diving in the Great Barrier Reef. I need to find another excuse to go diving again!

11. Bake bread from scratch
No bread machine allowed.

12. Put together a book of photos and blog posts from my 3 months of travel around Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia in 2007
There's no excuse for why I haven't done this already. My favorite pictures from that trip need to live somewhere other than online albums.

13. Finish putting together my video of photos from said 2007 travels
On a related note, I need to finish the project I started a long while back of compiling ALL the photos I took into a stop-action video.

14. Visit a winery with friends
I've been to one in Washington with my parents before, but I think it'd be a different experience with friends.

15. Read my grandfather's book, Pappy's Boys
My grandfather played quarterback for the Cal Bears when they went to the Rose Bowl in 1948. He helped put together this book about the coach, Pappy Waldorf.

16. Interview my grandparents
This is really just a fancy way of saying I want to learn more about their story.

17. Spend some time shooting alongside a professional photographer
I love taking photos, but there's so much that I still need to learn about controlling my camera settings, getting good lighting, and setting my focus. I'm hoping one of my photographers friends will be amenable to spending an afternoon or something, to impart some wisdom my way.

18. Go to a drive-in movie double feature
I've been once before to see a single movie. I want to kick it old school and see a double feature sometime.

19. Learn to surf
I hear there's a water park in the Phoenix area that has a wave simulator where you can learn how to surf. If that's not true, I'm going to have to find an ocean somewhere where I can learn!

20. Watch all of the West Wing
I just finished season 3, so I have a little more than half-way to go to finish Aaron Sorkin's masterful tv show.

21. Write a will
Because all grownups should have one.

22. Get my fortune told
I wonder if a psychic would be able to tell me if I'll complete everything on my 30 Before 30 list...

23. Go roller skating at a roller rink
I haven't done this since elementary school and I so badly want to go again!

24. Take a cooking class
I don't really care what the topic is. I'd just love to learn how to make something tasty.

25. Eat snails
DONE! I told a client of mine about my 30 Before 30 list, and when she heard I wanted to try escargot, she said we had to order them off the menu at the French restaurant where we were meeting. Butter and garlic make anything taste good!

26. Go see the original London Bridge at Lake Havasu
This has been on my must-do list since I moved to Arizona. I still can't believe they moved the original bridge all the way from London to crazy Arizona.

27. Visit the Phoenix Farmers Market
This is another Phoenix Must-Do item that I've never gotten around to doing.

28. See an opera
Opera seems like a grown-up thing to do, too. I either want to attend a performance put on by the Phoenix Opera, or see one of those performances from New York's Metropolitan Opera, projected live at a local movie theater.

29. See a drag show
I'm all about exposing myself to culture, as you can tell. :)

30. Go camping with friends
I've definitely been camping before, but I've never gone with a group of friends.

Why I Travel: To Make New Friends

#5 in a series.

From Budapest

I get a lot of strange looks when I tell people I travel by myself, but the truth is, I'm rarely alone. And I've never gone on a solo vacation where I didn't make at least one new friend.

When I travel alone, I enjoy the time to focus on myself. I can be selfish in just about every decision I make. Don't feel like spending another day in a museum? I'll picnic in the park instead. Need an impromptu coffee shop visit? Sure! I'm on no one's schedule but my own.

The thing is, I am a social person at heart. When I travel by myself, I need to find people with whom I can talk, share stories and laugh. So I've learned to relish small group tours and hostels.

Three years ago I was in Paris the day the Tour de France arrived for its triumphant final stage. That morning, I woke up in my hostel, walked down to the breakfast room and asked if anyone else was heading to the Champs Élysées. Fifteen minutes later, I was in the company of a half dozen new friends from various countries as we headed out to cheer on the cyclists. It felt like we were a contingent of the United Nations, sharing a bottle of wine while we shared stories of our adventures.

Through the wonders of Facebook, I have maintained friendships forged while breakfasting on mangoes in St. Lucia, gorging on pho in Vietnam, and sipping beers in Amsterdam. We share photos, wish each other happy birthday (in fact, today is Volker's birthday in Germany...happy b-day, Volker!), and celebrate life's passages with notes of congrats on weddings and new babies.

The secondary benefit of these far-flung friendships is the collection of couches I have slowly accumulated across the globe. In a previous entry in this series I discussed that one of the reasons why I travel is to visit friends. Making new friends as I travel is a wonderful excuse to have new places to visit and couches to crash on. Ahh...what a fabulous circle.

On this ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I'm reminded even more of how important it is to create friendships with people of different nationalities, faiths, politics, and beliefs. Naive as it may be, I truly believe my international friendships are positive efforts toward foreign diplomacy. Peace, one friend at a time.

Why I Travel: To Visit Friends

From Last Night in London

I don't need much of an excuse to travel somewhere, but my favorite is to visit friends. Taking full advantage of this excuse, the past few years have taken me to:

Boston (cousin Molly)
London (Megan & Jon)
LA (J-Dub)
St. Lucia (Meg & Jon again)
Denver (Sarah)
Brussels (Simon)
Lima (Laura & Gino)
London again (several friends)
Sydney (Meg & Jon...again)

From Brussels

Having friends scattered about this planet is convenient for someone with my sense of wanderlust. And crashing on couches is by far my favorite method of visiting a new city. I love that it mixes the freedom of solo travel with the structure of a working professional and the invaluable insights of a local. When I visit friends, I enjoy doing my own thing during the day, but relish the social company of a companion in the evening. Plus, you can't beat the price: a place to crash in exchange for salsa/Reese's peanut butter cups/Girl Scout Cookies/whatever favorite American/Southwestern treat my host requests.

From London in a Weekend

In 11 days I leave for my next friend-inspired destination: NYC to visit Sarah, Joel and hopefully a half-dozen other friends who will meet me somewhere in the Big Apple for happy hour. I can't wait to do a little adventuring mixed with catching up on each others' lives, swapping stories, and experiencing someplace new with old friends. Doesn't get much better.

From London in a Weekend

Joy

About a month or so ago I got tagged twice to do a whole post about things that give me joy. I don't have much time before my flight from Lima to Cusco leaves, but I was thinking this morning about the joy I get from traveling and exploring. I've felt very much in my element the past few days. It's been a great combination of being surounded by people I know, people I've never met but who have become fast friends (even if a few of them are Jayhawks), and the anticipation of setting out on my own for a little trekking around Machu Picchu. I feel so invigorated on this trip, even as I'm exhausted by all the salsa dancing and pisco shots. Pictures TK.

Slowly catching up

I'm going to try to catch up over the next few days with pictures and thoughts from the past month or two. First, a couple pictures from Megan & Jon's visit:

Real men drink strawberry milkshakes

From Megan & Jon Visit Phoenix

Megan!

From Megan & Jon Visit Phoenix

We had fun

From Megan & Jon Visit Phoenix

CoMo Photos

Finally, here's a few more pics from Columbia. Link to the albums is at the end. Enjoy!


Indulging in a Missouri staple: Toasted Ravioli!

From Return to Mizzou

I did a lot of walking in these shoes to, from and around campus. Gotta love a pair of comfy AND stylish kicks!

From Return to Mizzou

I spotted Margaret!

From Tiger Game Day (vs. Univ. Nevada)

Matt can't say no to classic stadium food

From Tiger Game Day (vs. Univ. Nevada)

Group shot

From Tiger Game Day (vs. Univ. Nevada)

Truman!

From Tiger Game Day (vs. Univ. Nevada)

Return to Mizzou

Tiger Game Day (vs. Univ. Nevada)

Old Missouri, Fair Missouri

Here are a few more teaser pics. Hopefully Friday I'll get the rest uploaded to write out some captions. In the meantime, enjoy!

From Return to Mizzou

Shakey's! Please ignore the silly expression on my face. I was in frozen custard bliss right then.

From Return to Mizzou

Dan snaps a shot of Matt & Elise in one of the amazing new RJI rooms.

From Return to Mizzou

Trying to look cute. It's amazing how many practice shots it took until I got something decent.

From Return to Mizzou

This one's for Pat.

From Return to Mizzou

Good ol' Lee Hills Hall.

From Return to Mizzou

My freshman year dorm room. This is where it all began.

From Return to Mizzou

Dinner with the Daugherties!

From Return to Mizzou

The new Mizzou Arena

mmmm...digestives...
Mary Pat's British beau got into town this weekend for his three-week visit. He brought with him four packs of McV's chocolate caramel digestives and MP brought one pack with her to class today. She'd better be careful; Sarah and I are going to begin to expect no less than two cookies a class for the next few weeks.

oops
I walked through the MOian newsroom on my way to Vox and saw Joanna (of Scott's favorite FIG fame). We were chatting about Scott's surprise party Tuesday night an I mentioned that I want to see her pics of Scott walking through the door. "He looked like he was about to pee his pants!" I laughed. Just then, a TA rounded the corner and picked up the phone that was laying (lying?) on the desk...not on hold and therefore in complete earshot of every word we had just said. "Columbia Missourian, please hold while we stick our foot in our mouth."

a note to scott and rob
I thought of you when I saw this Sports Night quiz. Who are you?

from the management
It has come to my attention that I printed an error in my previous post. The "Evil Missourian" to which I published a link was created by Goodloe, Fiscus and Sonderman. I apologize for any misrepresentation that might have been insinuated by the omission of the first two names. Lord knows Sonderperson wouldn't have been able to come up with all that. I make this correction in honor of Fiscus' 22nd birthday which was yesterday. How did I make it through 306 without such crass errors?

they like us, they really like us
We had nearly 30 people over here last night for our BBQ. I'd like to think that that's a measure of how cool we at the Chateau are, but it's probably more a measure of how cool Sarah is. I think she's the reason why half the people considered coming. At least, we figured there were four or more people who wouldn't have come if her presence wasn't promised. The best thing was that the four of us (Meh-gn has gone back to Minneapolis for a month to show British Boy Wonder Jon her home) have different circles of friends, so we had a nice eclectic group. It's fun to see how small Mizzou is, when you start getting random people together and figuring out connections. And I made several new friends!

when i finish this, i'm going out to buy leather chaps and gloves
Mom and Dad, don't freak out. I had my first motorcycle ride last night. Ooh! What a thrill! Ben took me out on his bike (he had an extra helmet, don't worry) and we just drove around town a bit. He tried to convince May-gun, but her "anal-retentiveness" forebade her to get on something whose only protection between her and the fast-moving ground were the gnats in the air.
Well, off to the Artisan to pretend I'm a journalist. (I was only kidding about the leather acessories. I know I had you fooled there for a bit.)

the one with all the friends
This weekend was much needed for many reasons. 1) To see Sarah and catch up on our time apart. 2) To get away from Columbia for a while. 3) To relax by water and have no schedule. 4) To watch multiple episodes of Friends everyday.

back in the u.s. of a.
Sarah and I had such a great time catching up. We've been emailing every week since we last saw each other at the beginning of April, but it's always better to talk in person. We discussed our adventures in Europe and the States, reverse culture shock, the changes we've felt (yes, I'm starting to see how I've changed over the past 6 months) and our projections for the coming semester at school. We walked around Super Target and I laughed at Sarah's reaction to the overflowing aisle of cereals and the cheapness of a 2 liter bottle of Coke (39 cents!), knowing that her reaction mirrored my own just two months earlier. Skinny, green money was just as awkward for her as it had for me. And she and I found that we were both losing an inordinate amount of hair. (If you know of a study proving the relation between multi-country travel and the amount of hair one sheds, let us know. We could definitley be participants.)

KA-BOOM!
It was great to spend the Fourth of July with Protz, just two days after she had returned to the country. It really put perspective on the day, that's for sure. I definitely appreciated the Fourth of July more this year. We went sailing (my first time!), boating, sunning...in a word, relaxing. What was especially cool was watching the fireworks. We sat on the dock of the lake and watched the fireworks, set against the backdrop of lightning and magnified by their reflection in the water. It was amazing! Many thanks to Sarah and her family for their hospitality.

props to the protzes
I really enjoyed getting to know the Protzmans. And all the other families at the Outing Club for that matter. Before I left, the neighboring family gave me hugs and said to come again. Everyone was so friendly! In many ways, the Outing Club reminded my much of the Lair (the UC-Berkely family camp my mom's family goes to every summer for a week)...just on a bigger scale...the whole summer vs. a week in July. Thanks again, Sarah for a great weekend!

ps
I forgot to mention that Sarah will be back in town on Tuesday and at our BBQ.

e|iza gorem@n is my hero
I'm in the Vox office, a half an hour behind in my designing because I was immobilized for twenty minutes by a wasp that decided to take a nap on the cord to my mouse. The presence of a wasp paralyzes me and the fact that the devilish creature was just waiting for me to awaken it with the slightest movement of my mouse, giving it reason to sink its stinger into my flesh, propelled me to the other side of the room. I couldn't get onto my computer to work on my layouts and I couldn't use a different computer out of wasp-range because my documents were held hostage by the cord-sitting beast. Dun dun da dun! Enter Eliza, a rolled-up Outside magazine as her weapon. Exit wasp. I have sworn allegiance to Miss Goreman if ever she should need a spider smited (is that a word?). I'm fine with spiders. Just don't get anything with a stinger near me.

wasp event no. one of the week
Jeremy and Jeff shot a rubber band at a rogue wasp in the news bureau on Thursday, perfectly slicing it in two. As payment for their noble deed, I have lent Jeff my copy of Order of the Phoenix. Jeremy already owned the book, so he got a heartfelt thank you.

has God sent a plague?
Cassie, our beautiful beast of a cat likes to hunt bugs in our house. I found a dead wasp on the floor of my room the other day. Can you guess how restful my sleep has been lately? I told her thank you and in return she bit my nose. Ben locked her in the basement to punish her. I think I would have preferred him to lock her in my room to finish off the horde of flying monsters I'm sure have infested the attic.

sometimes a week in which nothing spectacular happens can be a spectacular week
There wasn't one specific thing that made this week good. Nothing too exciting happened. I didn't accomplish any great feats and I didn't solve any foreboding problems. But it seemed like nearly every minute went well. To keep your interest from waning by making you drudge through paragraphs of mundane details, I'm just going to list some of the highlights.

friday
(a.k.a. Harry Potter Day)
That says it right there. Finally got to see Miss Tuttle at the 9th Street Bookstore book release.

the weekend
Chilled in Shelter Gardens with Lucy. We made friends with a squirril we named Fredrick and got in trouble with the park security guard for climbing a very sturdy willow.
Met up with Emily and George in Westport at an Irish pub called Kellys that bared no semplance to anything Irish or any pub Em or I had visited.

wednesday
A Vox-ful day. This was double production week as we put together two issues, allowing us to take the weekend of the Fourth off. I began to really feel like part of the magazine staff: for the first time, my name was added to the masthead as a designer; at the pot luck dinner that night we got to see that Thursday's issue coming off the press; Andrea and I joked about the Lionel Richie cake she brought ("Vox does it all night long..."); and Carolyn and Astrid and I gossiped about a certain former TA we'd all had last year. The best part of Wednesday came when Carolyn gave me an unfinished 4th of July page to work on for the July 3 issue. I worked on it for about an hour and was getting really frustrated, convinced that there was no possible way to arrange all the elements on the page without sacrificing some of the most important design principles. Just as I was about to give up and send layout convention to the infernal realm, everything clicked. Ahh...the joy of design.

Oh. And I finished Order of the Phoenix Wednesday as well.

thursday
Again, nothing all that exciting. Scott ditched our plans to go to the last Twilight Festival of the summer. (Something about a job interview. Hey, I understand that it's your top choice and they're putting you up for the night and everything, but you put that over handouts from the Peace Nook and free samples of strawberry milkshakes from Cool Stuff?) So May-gun and I joined Felicity, Ben and Mark in strolling along Broadway. I discovered a London store. It was closed. I'll be back.

friday
I spent the evening surrounded by engineers. The only non-engineer at the BBQ was a pathobiology student. I felt unqualified to be in attendance. The food and the sand volleyball made for a good time despite the fact that I didn't join the conversations about statistics and the difference between inversion and reversion...or something like that.

'till next time, yo.

14 days
If you know me well, you'll know what I'm counting down to.

battle of the templates
Clark has a new look to his blog. And it's a little too familiar. I liked my template because no one else had it. Now I have a deep desire to change it...but nothing out there suits me like this one. I guess we'll just have to duel it out over this one. Speaking of Clark, though, he had a great entry the other day and since it made me laugh, I thought I'd copy it for you. Enjoy:

Have you ever played Mizzouopoly? Don't. It's Monopoly, but you buy Mizzou/Columbia related properties, like the Ninth Street or the Heidelberg instead of Short Line Railroad or Virginia. It messes you up, because instead of buying properties for their worth, you might find yourself buying crap for it's sentimental value. I couldn't bring myself to get a monopoly, because I wouldn't buy Middlebush because I had that horrible Sociology class.

the cast of characters
I realize that many of you might not know to whom my links (right) refer. Meet the cast.
Appearing in Columbia:
L. Clark (a.k.a. The Little Black Duck): Former fellow FARC-er, Clark lived down the hall from me freshman year. As I no longer live in McDavid, his blog provides me with my fill of post-it note stories.
S. Coll (a.k.a. Pappa Scott): Former Journalism Scholars FIG (Freshman Interest Group) leader, recent graduate of the MU J-School in broadcast and fellow Shakey's connosieur.
M. Crow (a.k.a. Frau): Current roommate, Austin Powers and Spongebob Squarepants maniac and fellow Potterphile.
A. Fisc.: Former Missourian TA, now MU j-school print graduate, roommate of Elise.
P. Garv.: Member of "rival" J-Scholars FIG, Artisan groupie, and fellow "analyst."
M. Harr.: "Sister in the Bond" of Alpha Chi Omega and future wife (wink wink) of Wal-Mart heir J*$h Kr*enke.
E. Hu: Friend via journalism classes, Crusade, and Greek Life, newly graduated in broadcast.
J. Marc.: Fellow former FARC-er and co-editor of Vox Magazine and music afficionado.
M. Ret.: Current roommate, formerly of Singaporean fame. A photojournalist with amazing insights on life.
E. Tut: Fellow former FARC-er and Potterphile, and first friend at Mizzou.
J. Wood. (a.k.a. J-Dub): Fellow former FARC-er, recent j-school broadcast grad and fellow Shakey's connoisseur.
Gracing London's West End:
K. Jeff.: Fellow former FARC-er and one hell of an actress, roommate of Myndi
M. Mey.: Fellow former FARC-er and good friend of Retka, formerly Natalie's roommate.
S. Protz.: World-renowned now, thanks to her appearance in most of the European continent.
R. Shank. & D. North. (Russ and Dave): Fellow London Program participants...their site has pictures!
Performing in Lawrence, KS:
C. Compt.: Good friend from high school who went to the WRONG school. ;)
Cooling off in Vail:
L. Dau.: Fellow sufferer of the MOian, fall '02, currently performing on God's stage in Colorado for the summer.
Entertaining the audience in Brew City:
K. Good.: Former MOian TA and current intern at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the summer with Dan.
D. Pursch.: Fellow FIG-let and Calvin and Hobbs fan, also at the JS for the summer.
Taking to the stage in Nashville:
N. Nest.: Fellow former FARC-er, deserter of 1321 Paris Rd for the summer to be with the man who will make her a Mrs. in about 6 months.
Up to date in Kansas City:
C. Paul.: Fellow FIG-let and current Dow Jones summer intern at the KC Star.
Puttin' in the Ritz in Albuquerque:
J. Adels.: Fellow former FARC-er and recent j-school grad with a job designing for a paper in NM.
Playing to the audience in Tuscon:
E. White: Former MOian TA, recent j-school grad in print with a Dow Jones internship in AZ.

Enjoy their blogs as well as mine. If you read my blog and your name is not to the right (and I know you), let me know so I can fix that!

by the way...if you're a Friends fan...
...you must read my friend Sarah's latest entry on her blog. Sooo jealous!

i want to dance on stage again!
Last night I went to Jenn and Lynn's dance recital at Jesse Aud. It was hard to sit there in the audience and watch my favorite stress-reliever, knowing that I hadn't really danced in over two years. And I probably won't ever again. Dancing for AX is a stress-multiplier and I just am not going to deal with that again.

brush that dust off those memories
I had a really good conversation with an old friend last night. We hadn't really talked for many many many months and haven't seen each other for nearly two years. And yet the conversation just flowed. The best conversations are the ones where you should really go to bed but just can't stop talking. I hope you have someone like that.

a visit to CoMo
My trip to Columbia was good. Most of my friends were loaded with tests to prepare for but it turned out to be a good situation. It meant that no one could spend too much time with me, thus letting me see more people. Many thanks to Cassie and Megan for letting me crash at their apartment. Ellen's birthday was fun and I'm glad I was able to spend it with her. After spending time in pubs surrounded by businessmen, it's odd to go to a college bar where everyone is my age.

in the bond
Monday night I went to chapter meeting at Alpha Chi to see Senior Wills (the chance for the graduating seniors to say their farewells). I barely said hello to Becky before we had to start the meeting, but she was able to get me bawling during her talk.

my favorite dawg
Speaking of people that I can be away from for so long and yet that connection is still there...
I had coffee with Tuttle Tuesday morning before leaving town. It was just as usual: me arriving at Osama's 15 minutes late to see Erin relaxing outside with a book, finding a table for two upstairs and falling into conversation so comfortable that it seems impossible that an ocean separated us for the past nine months. Erin was the first person I met at Mizzou and so many of my favorite MU memories involve her.
Here's a tribute of reminiscences, Erin:

~Pestering Madelyn with questions by the Warm Little Pond during Summer Welcome
~A U2 roadtrip
~Sitting in Phil's van, heading to DCC '01, you reading Harry Potter book 4, me learning the magic of Harry Potter book 1
~Planning sleepovers with Dane and Sterling
~Camping out for Harry Potter movie tickets
(superfans = us)
~Bible study with S@r@h M@gill when you knew how to steer the conversation to exactly what I was struggling with
~Sitting at a table with you, Kate and Eggers at Sarah's wedding, glasses of champagne in front of us, the Rev. D@ve C*ver and Charles, the Crusade director behind us (gasp!)
~Watching you wrestle with Chickens
~Walking back to FARC from RagTag, arm in arm with you, Clark and Kate after being scared out of our wits by Requiem for a Dream
~Two words: John Nash (he's everywhere!!!!!)
~Talks of parallels between HP and the Bible. (We should write a book: The Gospel According to Harry Potter)
~A rainy night playing in the sprinklers on the Quad and stealthily (ha!) taking a dip in the fountain by Brady
~Talks of crushes on your Mountain Men and 'Jesus'
~Watching you fill out forms to study in London and realizing that maybe I could leave Mizzou for a semester, too.

E-Dawg, much love to you and many more cups of coffee at Osama's this summer.