A really nice post was written recently about Project 183, on a blog called Wireless Oxygen.

Click here to view the post.

I think an extra goal I should add to the list is to inspire someone else to start their own list.

For goal 132 I took a big risk.

I let someone else decide what the goal would be.

The first person to notice that goal 132 was open, and then nominate the goal for me to complete, would be what I do. No questions asked. Now that one has been nominated, I am beginning to regret the decision.

George from work is responsible for the nomination, and this is what he has said that I need to complete:

Drive to work in the nude

So there it is. Goal 132 is to drive to work naked.

George did give me one condition – all my clothes have to be in the boot, but I can have a pair of undies in the glovebox.

Not sure how I will do this one yet, but I will be sure to put up official proof of goal completion when it is done. Prepare to shield your eyes!

Month completed: August 2007

To complete this goal, I bought garbage.

Literally, garbage.

Not just any garbage though. I bought garbage from the streets of New York.

Justin Gignac is an artist in New York. A few years ago, he came up with the idea to sell garbage that he found on the street. Whatever he could find, whether it be subway ticket stubs, used paper cups or even cigarette butts. He carefully arranges his selected garbage into clear plastic cubes, which are then individually numbered and personally signed. Once a cube is completed, it is sealed to prevent it leaking or smelling.

Then he sells it at his website to whoever is willing to pay $50 US dollars for it. And so far hundreds of people have.

I loved this idea so much that I just had to buy a cube. For someone to turn garbage, which is considered by most to be completely worthless, into something clever, unique and significantly more valuable, is remarkable.

Those who think I am crazy to spend $50 US dollars on garbage, think about this. If someone was to say to you ‘How would you like to buy a piece of art that is completely unique and one-of-a-kind, individually numbered and personally signed by the artist, and provides a snap-shot of life in New York, for just $50?‘ I would say most people would take up the opportunity.

My NYC Garbage cube (cube #705, shown above) arrived the other day, and here is what it contained:

- Starbucks paper coffee cup

- Plastic icecream spoon

- Drink bottle lid

- Blue balloon with the word ‘better’ on it

- A Metro subway ticket (very New York!)

- Official New York City police ‘Do Not Cross’ tape (well, at least it looks like that)

This will now take pride of place on my desk in my apartment, serving as a constant reminder that how creative I can be is only limited by my imagination. My next challenge is convincing Nat that spending $50 US dollars on garbage was a great idea. Wish me luck!

I read a great quote the other day, which I agree with 100%.

‘Why not’ is a slogan for an interesting life – Mason Cooley

If you are looking for a personal motto, why not try ‘why not’ on for size. It might just lead you down a very exciting path.

Before Friday, I had never ridden a motorcycle*. Now, being Sunday, I have a motorcycle learner’s permit.

Goal 14 is to get my motorcycle license, and in getting my learner’s permit I am now halfway there.

In order to get ready for the learner test, I went for a 12-hour training course at Stay Upright. The course taught the absolute basics such as how to get onto the bike, up to advanced riding skills such as emergency braking. It was amazing how much improvement everyone in the group had from the first ride on Saturday morning, to the riding test on Sunday afternoon. If you are ever looking for a motorcycle training course, go with Stay Upright – the trainers were terrific.

The first obstacle was the written test, which has the same set up as the car learner’s permit test (32 questions, with a pass being at least 26 out of 32 correct). There were some dodgy questions on the test, but I ended up with 29, which was a massive relief.

The riding test was made up of a combination of bike controls knowledge, slow manoeuveres, emergency braking and cornering. Unlike a car license, there was no room for error. One mistake (that’s right, just one mistake) and it is an automatic fail. Not sure that is the best way to test, as it just makes the whole situation more tense and less comfortable for the rider, thus making them more likely to make the one mistake they are so desperately trying to avoid.

Regardless of this pressure, somehow I got through it, and now the open road is mine to enjoy – much to Nat’s concern. She even tried to confiscate my permit as soon as I showed it to her!

So what is the most important thing I learnt this weekend? Definitely ‘the nod’. If you’re not sure what this means, ask a motorcyclist. They’ll know!

Here is my flattering licence photo. Sorry ladies, I’m taken.

* I did ride a dirt bike once, but did a big skid, fell off and the bike landed on my ankle, giving me a nasty sprain. I have been blocking it out of the memory bank ever since.

Movies are not really my thing. I have an annoying habit of falling asleep almost every time I go to the cinema, even if it is during the middle of the day. My guess is it has something to do with the lights going out, and my brain thinking that it is night time. As a result, I have seen the start and end of dozens of movies, but missed out on the crucial middle sections.

So goal 92 will prove to be very difficult. This is the goal to see every movie to have won the Best Picture Academy Award. When I went through the list, I had seen only 6 of the 80, so I have a long way to go (Nat is my opposite. She had seen 39 movies from the list, and is obsessed with old movies from the 40s, which I find terribly boring).

So here is the list. Movies in green, I have seen (yes I know, nice rhyme).

How many have you seen?

2008 Slumdog Millionaire

2007 No Country for Old Men

2006 The Departed

2005 Crash

2004 Million Dollar Baby

2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

2002 Chicago

2001 A Beautiful Mind

2000 Gladiator

1999 American Beauty

1998 Shakespeare in Love

1997 Titanic

1996 The English Patient

1995 Braveheart

1994 Forrest Gump

1993 Schindler’s List

1992 Unforgiven

1991 The Silence of the Lambs

1990 Dances with Wolves

1989 Driving Miss Daisy

1988 Rain Man

1987 The Last Emperor

1986 Platoon

1985 Out of Africa

1984 Amadeus

1983 Terms of Endearment

1982 Gandhi

1981 Chariots of Fire

1980 Ordinary People

1979 Kramer v Kramer

1978 The Deer Hunter

1977 Annie Hall

1976 Rocky

1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

1974 The Godfather Part II

1973 The Sting

1972 The Godfather

1971 The French Connection

1970 Patton

1969 Midnight Cowboy

1968 Oliver!

1967 In the Heat of the Night

1966 A Man for all Seasons

1965 The Sound of Music

1964 My Fair Lady

1963 Tom Jones

1962 Lawrence of Arabia

1961 West Side Story

1960 The Apartment

1959 Ben Hur

1958 Gigi

1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai

1956 Around the World in Eighty Days

1955 Marty

1954 On the Waterfront

1953 From Here to Eternity

1952 The Greatest Show on Earth

1951 An American in Paris

1950 All about Eve

1949 All the King’s Men

1948 Hamlet

1947 Gentleman’s Agreement

1946 The Best Years of our Lives

1945 The Lost Weekend

1944 Going My Way

1943 Casablanca

1942 Mrs Miniver

1941 How Green Was My Valley

1940 Rebecca

1939 Gone with the Wind

1938 You can’t take it with you

1937 The life of Emile Zola

1936 The Great Ziegfeld

1935 Mutiny on the Bounty

1934 It Happened One Night

1933 Cavalcade

1932 Grand Hotel

1931 Cimarron

1930 All Quiet on the Western Front

1929 The Broadway Melody

1928 Wings

1927 Sunrise

Month completed: September 2007

I am not a massive adrenaline junkie. I would much prefer to spend a day in the comfort of my house, reading a good book with a nice red to keep me company.

But I have found one thing that makes me think that I do have a junkie streak hidden deep down inside of me. That thing is skydiving.

I did my first skydive in Mercer, New Zealand in early 2006, and absolutely loved it. It was from 15,000 ft, which means about a minute of free fall before the parachute needs to open. I am not a big fan of heights (really, who is?!) so I was extremely apprehensive, but Nat applied a healthy dose of peer pressure, which I am now very glad she did.

The feeling is hard to describe, but impossible to forget. But to get back into a plane, and go through the anxiety of having my legs dangling out of a plane thousands of feet from the ground, above the clouds, I felt was going to be a struggle. Thus goal 145 was born, to see if I was game enough to go through with it again.

And on the afternoon of Saturday September 15, I was. This time the jump was from 14,000 ft, in Nagambie in central Victoria (anyone wanting to do a jump, go with Skydive Nagambie – they were brilliant). Nagambie is pretty much the home of skydiving in Victoria.

We went for my brother Nicholas’, as Nat, my sister Mel and I had bought him a skydiving voucher for his birthday. Nat and Emma (Nat’s friend) also decided to jump.

I gave him clues in the weeks leading up to the jump, so that he could try and work out what he was doing on the Saturday, rather than just tell him he was skydiving, as this may have led him to have two weeks of sleepless nights before the jump. So here were my clues:

A big name

Feet

Lagoon

Fauste

90 plus 55

The day of the jump was ideal. Not more than a few clouds in the sky, plenty of sun, and not many other jumpers meant that we could jump pretty much as soon as we arrived.

And the jump itself was even better than last time. I think the fact that I knew what to expect made it much more enjoyable. I was much more relaxed, and I even did some spirals (the name explains what they are) on the way down.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Anyone up for a dive, let me know. I am definitely ready for another leap of faith.

Here is a picture of the crew, post jump as you can tell by the relieved smiles. Me, Emma, Nat and Nicholas.

And here is me with Marty, the tandem master that I jumped with. He freaked me out a little, by mentioning problems with the release handle just prior to jumping.

And what did the clues mean, you ask?

A big name - An anagram for Nagambie

Feet – the measurement of how high you skydive from

Lagoon - Nagambie is an aboriginal word, meaning lagoon

Fauste - Fauste Veranzio is credited as the first person to perform a parachute jump, or skydive

90 plus 55 – equals 145, the number of this goal. I made it an equation to add a little bit of a red herring

Would you have worked out the clues?

Month completed: September 2007

I love AFL. Its probably in my top three sports of all time. For those who want to know, I am a Brisbane Lions supporter (ex-Fitzroy if you are wondering why).

So I have been to plenty of games. But never once have I watched a game from a corporate box. Yes I know it is a bit swanky and uppity, you have to wear a suit, and you don’t experience the real atmosphere of the game, but I have always wanted to do it, just once. Thus goal 104 was born.

I was luckily enough, through work, to be invited along to the Geelong v Kangaroos qualifying final in the first round of the 2007 finals series. The Kangaroos went into the game as serious underdogs.

Lunch of scallops and lamb was in the Jim Stynes room on level 2 of the MCG and football legend Tommy Hafey spoke to the group before the match.

At 2.45 it was time for the game to start. One team turned up, and the other forgot to. The end result was a Geelong team handing out a 106-point thrashing.

But the lack of an exciting contest was the only downside to the day. The rest of the elements of a great day were there – great company, great food, and plenty of beverage.

So which is better – corporate box or out with the crowd? Now that I have done both I can finally answer this for myself. And my answer is – out with the crowd. As much I loved being in comfort with food plentiful and drinks flowing, there is nothing better than being surrounded by passionate (albeit often bogan) fans, with a pie in one hand and a Footy Record in the other. Plus, you don’t have to wear a suit.

Nevertheless, this was a fun goal, and highly recommended if you ever get the chance.

Below is a picture of me with Kevin (left) and George (right) from work. Both are Kangaroos supporters, as you can tell by the forced smiles, which hid serious disappointment, given this photo was taken near the end of the thrashing.

If you have started to think about making your own list of things to do, maybe this cartoon (from the Saturday Herald Sun on Sept 1, 2007) will provide some inspiration.

Month completed: September 2007

The blog that allowed me to achieve this goal was Wireless Oxygen. The author wrote a really nice post written about Project 183. Thanks J.B.

Building the website has been great fun, and quite a bit more challenging than I thought. If you have any suggestions for how I can improve it, please let me know.