2007 recap

My progress within this calendar year has been better than I had expected, if a bit lopsided in terms of approach.

I completed 19 of my 101 items, with the majority of them having to do with diet and leisure. I have 24 more items in progress
as of the end of the year.

Overall, I'm very happy with what I have accomplished. However, the job still isn't finished.

Going into the new year, I'll be focusing on a few specific things:

First, I'll be dedicating more time to physical development, through cycling and weight training. Weight training begins first thing tomorrow, and my cycling regimen begins in March. If I'm going to get a tattoo in July while I'm in L.A., I'd like to be in decent shape at the time.

Second, I'll be on task to complete more of my travel goals, with trips to Philadelphia, Austin, Houston, LaGrange, Mississippi, Los Angeles, and Tennessee on the list. This is the subject heading that requires the greatest outlay of time, planning, and money, so accomplishing a number of items on this list will make a total completion of all 101 items that much more likely.

Third, I plan to dedicate time to some of my educational goals, a subject heading in my overall list that has been neglected up to this point. My goal is to complete 3 of the items in the educational subject list.

Fourth, progress on my literary goals is sorely lacking. I will make an effort to read daily, and to tackle some of my specific titles sooner than later. My goal is to complete at least 3 of the items on this subject list.

Finally, I have a few hobby related items in progress, but only one completion as of the end of the year, item 32. My goal is to complete at least 5 items for this subject list.

Thanks for taking the time to keep up with my progress over the past year. During the next year, I will also make an effort to post more often than I did in 2007.

-Ben

Day 307 progress

Just a couple of items to close out the year.

 

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: To this point I have listened to 3670 of 6219 tracks.  I received a few CDs for the holidays, which pushed up the total.  I am 59.01% of the way through this item.

 

84. Visit the Shiloh battlefield: Claudia has a library conference in Tennessee in November of 2008.  As with the conference in L.A., we'll travel together and make a side trip to the battlefield during some downtime.

Day 305 progress

I have 2 more completions, and progress in 3 other items, with one of them not progressing exactly as I had thought.

 

17. Hike all 8 trails at the Cedar Ridge Preserve: On 12/23/07, Claudia, my father, my sister, my sister's boyfriend, and I all hiked the Cedar Brake trail, one of the more difficult trails in the park.  Even though the entire route was only 2 miles in length, it was much more difficult than my previous trip.

The most significant things that I took away from this outing are the facts that my lower body strength and cardiovascular endurance are sorely lacking.  While hiking flat areas is not a problem, inclines are problematic and take a lot out of me.

Based on this experience, I'm going to start my cycling items (13, 14, 15, and 18) in March when the warmer weather sets in in order to remedy these negatives in my physical conditioning.

As for pictures, I failed to take my camera along, and did not document any of the trip.

 

34. Don't eat red meat or poultry for two weeks (COMPLETED): I made it the required 14 days without eating red meat or poultry.  I did eat a lot more seafood than I normally do, but I was pretty happy with the entire experience.

In the future, I'd like to limit myself to no more than one serving a week each of poultry or red meat, and preferably from free-range, organic sources (for poultry) or grass-fed sources (for red meat).

I'd also like to incorporate more game and lamb into my diet, along with the seafood that I'm currently enjoying.

 

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I finally got around to depositing my $338 into my savings account.  I have not added any more money to my pool, and will probably do so near the end of January.

 

82. Visit maternal grandparents: It looks like I'll be traveling to Mississippi to visit my mother's parents in the next week or so.  My grandmother, who has been ill for quite a while, had a heart attack and is currently on a respirator.  Based on the prognosis, things are not looking well, and will likely result in her death sooner than later.

These are not the circumstances that I had expected to make a visit under, but oftentimes we have little choice when it comes to the progress of human events.

 

101. Try 10 wines I have not had before (COMPLETED): This evening I had a couple of glasses of 2002 Gunderloch Red Stone Riesling.  I had used some of the wine in a sauce for some scallops that I prepared, and had accompanying glasses with dinner.

The wine was very nice, and a little different for the Reislings that I tried up to this point.  Many of my previous experiences had apple or pear notes in them, while this one was a bit more grassy with faint hints of fenugreek or fennel.  Very nice.

This being my 10th new wine, this item has been completed.

Day 295 progress

I had some sudden developments occur in a few of the items on my list, all of them in a positive direction.  A few of these items (72, 73, and 80) were slated to occur in later 2008, but with a little on-the-fly planning it looks like I'll be completing these items much earlier, making my other travel plans easier to complete later on.

 

29. Record 3 original songs: I recorded two takes of the bass part a couple of nights ago.  I'm really impressed with how the raw recording of the song is sounding, and after mixing and producing, the finished product should be really nice.

I would have done a few more takes, but a couple of other bands in the building showed up and made it hard to focus.  We're going to try and be more flexible with our recording sessions to avoid distractions such as these.

 

34. Don't eat red meat or poultry for two weeks: I'm on day 5 of 14, and have been successful so far.  I'm consuming a lot more seafood, which is nice because I can pick up fresh fish or shrimp from work and then fix them as soon as I get home.

Claudia and I had snapper the other night and it was great.  I just threw a few things together, and it worked out well.  We had broiled snapper with Nantucket herb rub, quinoa, and a mustard green salad with cranberries and pine nuts.

Last night I made some Thai style shrimp with slivered almonds, ginger, garlic, shallots, honey, and Thai chili paste.  After stir-frying everything in red palm oil, I dumped everything over steamed white rice.  It was a bit on the spicy side, but very good.

 

50. Pay off credit cards: Claudia and I made another payment to cut down our debt.  We did charge some of our trip expenses, but overall we did more good than harm.

 

I'm going to address items 72 (See the Declaration of Independence), 73 (See the Liberty Bell), and 80 (Travel to Philadelphia) at the same time:

Claudia is traveling to Virginia in January to participate in a Tai Chi event, and she asked me to go along for company, navigation, and to help me achieve some of my 101 goals.

Last night we bought our plane tickets, reserved our car, and made hotel reservations.  We're going to fly in to Philadelphia (80) on the 17th, and spend the day there seeing the Liberty Bell (73), Independence Hall, the Edgar Allan Poe house, and finally eating at Iron Chef Morimoto's restaurant, before driving to Washington D.C.

We'll spend the night in D.C. near the Smithsonian, and see what we can of the museums on the 18th, including the National Archives where the Declaration of Independence (72) is kept along side the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

After that we'll go to Charlottesville where we'll spend a couple of days.  Claudia will do Tai Chi, and I'll visit some of the local Civil War battle sites on the 19th.  Finally, on the 20th, we'll see Monticello, and drive to Baltimore, where we'll eat on the waterfront before flying home.

Day 291 progress

I started a few new items since the last update, and made progress on a few more. Since I'm nearing the end of the first third of this project, I've been looking at how I can schedule some of the more involved items, namely the travel and fitness goals, to make sure that I complete them before November of 2009. So far, everything looks possible as long as I stick to the plan.

9. Paint an original work of art: While I haven't settled on the subject matter for this item, I have looked into some techniques that interest me. At this time I plan on using mixed media (news print, acrylics, found objects, and other) on canvas.

17. Hike all 8 trails at the Cedar Ridge Preserve (formerly Dallas Nature Center): On 12/9/2007 Claudia and I went to the Cedar Ridge Preserve. Of the 8 total trails, we hiked 3 of them, totaling 3 miles of travel. We hiked the Cattail Pond trail, the Escarpment Road trail, and the Little Bluestem trail.

When we got up the morning of the 9th, it was raining pretty heavily at our house, but based on the weather reports it looked like it would be clear at the park, which is located at least 40 miles south of us. When we arrived, there was a light mist, but nothing more than that. It was a bit cold, but once we got moving the cold was barely noticeable.

Here are some photos that I took while we were there:

We plan on returning in January to hike at least 2 more trails.

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: To this point I have listened to 3507 of 6091 tracks, which puts me 57.58% of the way to completing this item.

29. Record 3 original songs: Over the past week, the band has recorded three very solid takes of the drum tracks, worked out the lead guitar and fill parts. I should be recording my bass part on Monday if all goes as planned.

34. Don't eat red meat or poultry for two weeks: Today is my start date. This item should be fairly easy to complete. Basically, I can have seafood and plant based proteins for the next 14 days, which is not a problem at all.

From this point on in my life, I'd like to only consume lamb, wild game, game fowl, or seafood when it comes to animal based protein. That routine will take some getting used to, but is totally workable. I don't have a philosophical problem with consuming animal protein, but I'd like to do so in a mindful manner, and factory farmed beef, pork, and poultry doesn't square with that ideal.

Does that mean that I won't have the occasional steak or slab of bacon in the future? I don't think so, but in those rare instances, I will be more selective of what I consume.

74. Take a road trip along route 66: Claudia and I did a little more route planning. The initial plan was extremely ambitious and would have clocked 60 hours of car time, which is a little much when considered in the terms of a week long vacation. So, we eliminated some of the return trip route, like San Francisco and Yosemite, and decided to focus on the Greater L.A. area and Albuquerque.

We will be able to make the hotel reservations for the conference portion of the trip starting on January 2nd. We're also planning on spending a couple of nights in the West Hollywood-Beverly Hills area, and by booking a few months early we can save a heck of a lot of money. More on this as we solidify plans.

101. Try 10 wines I have not had before: Over the past week I've tried two new wines.

- 2006 Georges Deboeuf Beaujolais-Villages

- 2007 Georges Deboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau

The first wine was nice with dark berry flavors, while the second was a bit too young and herby for my tastes.

Day 280 progress

I haven't made a lot of progress since my last update as my time has been filled with work, band practice, and family gatherings.  Regardless, I should be doing more work on this project than I have in the past two or three weeks.  That being said, here's the progress that I have made since my last update:

 

5. Get a tattoo: This item is connected to item 74, which is addressed below.  Since I will be in the L.A. area in the act of completing item 74, I figured that I would take care of this item at the same time.

Of the tattoo ideas that I have considered, two portraits really stuck out in my head: Friedrich Nietzsche or Bill Hicks.  And when someone wants a portrait tattoo, and happens to be in L.A., who else should they visit but Kat von D at High Voltage Tattoo?  I figure that if I am going to get something put on my body permanently, I should go to the best person for the job.

Time to start saving my pennies.

 

29. Record 3 original songs: Since my return to the band in October, we've discussed recording a full length album of our own material.  We had our first full band recording session on Monday, December 3rd.  We cut a drum track for one of our older songs, "Love's a Sigh".

Even though we managed to get a couple of good takes, we decided to slow the tempo of the click track a bit to make room for more guitar fills and to fit the feel of the song as it was originally conceived.  We plan on recording the new click track on Thursday afternoon, and the new drum tracks next week.  Rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and bass will follow soon after.

 

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I put another $6 aside for a total of $338.  I also decided to make my money work for me, so I will be placing what I currently have saved into an interest bearing savings account.

 

74. Take a road trip along Route 66: Claudia has a librarians conference in Anaheim, CA in June of 2008.  We plan on leaving a few days early for the drive out to California, with stops along the way to see a few sights.

While she's doing librarian type things, I'll probably get a tattoo from Kat von D, check out some of the sights in L.A., and maybe even experience the greatness of Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles and In and Out Burger.

After the conference, we'll probably drive up to San Francisco so Claudia can see the Muir Woods, we can eat in Chinatown, and see a few other sights.  After that, we'll drive back through Yosemite before heading to the Grand Canyon.  Sounds like a pretty decent trip to me.

Day 269 progress

I've worked on a few really minor things, and haven't completed anything since the last update.

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: I've listened to 3030 tracks of 6027.  I've over the 50% mark at this point.

 

50.  Pay off credit cards: Claudia and I made a bit of a dent in our collective debt.  It's a good start, but there's still work to be done.  Sorry, no gory details.

 

Since I made a little progress on these three items at the same time, I'll address them in the same manner:

77. Travel to Chicago:

79. Travel to New York:

80. Travel to Philadelphia:

I had a bit of a stroke of genius when it came to these items: Why not try to lump them all together?  So, with the assumption that we'd fly into Chicago, and then fly out of New York City, it is entirely possible to take the Amtrak between all of these cities. 

Not only can we experience rail travel, which has always fascinated me, but I can take care of seeing 3 cities on my list, and be in the right places to knock out 2 more travel items (72. See the Declaration of Independence and 73. See the Liberty Bell) and one of my leisure items (96. Eat at Les Halles Brasserie).

Day 261 progress

I didn't accomplish much over the past week, but I did manage to make a little progress.

30. Refurbish an old guitar: I've decided that I want to refurbish a Fender Precision bass. The P-bass was the first electric guitar I ever owned, and although I love the sound of my Jazz bass, I want to have the punchy tone of a P-bass at my disposal when necessary.

My plan is to find an older one at a pawn shop, Zoo Music, or another mom and pop guitar shop. I doesn't have to be in great condition, since I plan on stripping the body and completely refinishing it. I'll replace all the wiring, pickups, bridge, tuners (if necessary), pick guard, and overall finish.

I think I want to finish the body in a white pearl finish with a white-black-white pearloid pick guard. I plan on adding a black and clear water transfer decal of Nietzsche on the body, and a couple of black racing stripes going across the body.

All the hardware is going to be chrome. My preference is to get a bass with a rosewood fretboard, but in the event that I have to replace the neck, that might change. My goal is to get a bass that has a good neck from the start, as necks are really expensive to replace.

I plan on installing Seymour Duncan-Basslines Quarter Pound passive pickups. For strings I plan on using Ernie Ball Super Slinky medium gauge strings.

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I set aside another $32, bringing my total to $332 of $1001.

98. Attend 5 concerts (COMPLETED): Claudia, Colleen, and I saw Coheed and Cambria at the House of Blues in Dallas on 11/15/07. Clutch was the only opener that we were able to see, and they were really good. I was only familiar with them because of Bam Margera's TV shows on MTV, but they put on a good set.

Coheed and Cambria were really good. Not only were the songs great, but their skill was amazing. They're all talented in a way that almost makes me pack up all my guitars and just give up trying. During the middle of the set they busted out a cover of "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden, which was a great surprise. They ended the show with what must have been a 15-20 minute version of "The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut" that was simply unbelievable.

This makes the 5th concert that I have attended since starting this project, and completes this item on my list.

Day 253 progress

6. Earn a promotion: I started work at my new location on 11/3/07. So far everything is going really well. The people in the store all seem to really enjoy being there, the overall vibe in the store is very upbeat and positive, and my fellow Team Members all seem really cool.

25. Listen to every one of my track on iTunes: So far I have listened to 2770 of 6003 tracks. I'm 46.14% of the way through this item, with the understanding that the total will fluctuate as the entire project progresses.

40. Refrain from ingesting alcohol for 90 days (COMPLETED): 11/5/07 was day 90 of 90. This item wasn't at all difficult, even though it was tempting to just start over a few times. There were days I really could have gone for a beer after work with some of the guys, and when we went to see "Glengarry Glen Ross" a few weeks ago, I could smell Claudia's wine and it was very tempting to get my own glass.

But I've made it 90 days, and I'm happy to have done so. I joked about getting unbelievably demolished to celebrate, but I really have no immediate inclination to drink anything. I may have a beer at the next band practice, and I do have to eventually finish item 101 (Try 10 wines I have not had before), but everything in due time.

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I set aside $36 bringing my total to $300.

85. Attend 3 plays: Claudia, my parents, and I say the Dallas Theatre Center's production of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" on 10/26/07. I'm a huge fan of the movie (which you should see if you haven't done so already, if only for the cast), so I was very excited to see the stage production.

First, the negative aspects, of which there were only a few:

1. The actors played the parts as portrayed by the actors in the movie. While I wasn't totally annoyed by this, it would have been nice to see the interpretations of the characters as done by the actors on the stage.

2. The "Coffee for Closers" portion as seen in the movie was not part of the original stage script, and so it was not part of the performance. In the movie, it's a brilliant addition that helps to flesh out the conflict and the backstabbing between the characters.

3. The language was really salty, which wouldn't normally bug me, but when my mother is sitting 2 seats away from me and F-bombs and even a few C-bombs are exploding around us, it does get a bit tense.

Now the positive aspects:

1. Excellent acting that completely drew me into the action of the play. Even though I knew what was coming, the tension was palpable.

2. Moss was played by John Doman, who plays William Rawls on HBO's "The Wire", which is one of my favorite shows on TV.

3. There was absolutely no fluff or filler. It was a very short play which was perfectly paced.

All in all, it was a great way to start this item on my list. Claudia and I have our eyes on a couple more plays, this time at the Addison Theatre Center. They aren't until the start of next year, but they do look good.

As for upcoming items, 98 will be completed on 11/15/07 when Claudia, Colleen and I see Coheed and Cambria in concert at the House of Blues in Dallas. And it looks like I'll complete 83 when I travel to LaGrange, TX to visit family for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Items with less definite timetables include:

- 17 should see some action as the weather turns colder and bugs become less of an issue.

- 29 as the band gears up to record an album in the start of the new year.

- 99 should be completed as soon as Claudia and I find time, as we've found a nice little Mediterranean restaurant nearby that offers hookahs on their menu.

- 101 should be completed before the end of the year as holiday entertaining inevitably leads to the ingestion of wine.

Day 239 progress

I've reached a point in this exercise where a good sized chunk of my items are reaching completion. Since my last update I've completed 4 items, and I have at least 2 more that will be complete in the next month.

6. Earn a promotion: On this item I decided to take a step back in order to move forward later. I stepped down as Team Leader and will be transferring a store in Dallas. Sure, it's a move back, but in talking with my higher ups in the metro and the region, I feel like this will be a good way to bide my time until a regional level job becomes available. I'll still be able to increase my overall worth to the company, I'll just have much less stress and headache doing it.

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: I've listened to 2731 of 5974 tracks to date.

38. Eat at least 1 serving of fruit every day for a month (COMPLETED): This item wasn't that hard to accomplish, but I wanted to include it as a way of creating a positive habit. I may not continue to eat fruit each day, but I'll be more likely to reach for it as an option in the future.

40. Refrain from ingesting alcohol for 90 days: I've reached day 78 of 90. This one is a slam dunk at this point, even though I'll miss out a bit at Steve's Halloween party this coming weekend.

I did have a weird dream last night where I poured myself a glass of water only to realize it was vodka when I drank it. I remember thinking to myself, "Damn it, now I have to totally start over." November 5th is day 90, just in time for the holidays.

48. Get a new car (COMPLETED): The lease on my Miata was coming due at the end of the year, and the leasing company contacted me about trading out to something new. Initially I was planning on just buying a car, but I wanted to get out of the lease on the Miata with as few excess miles as possible.

Well, everything worked out so much better than I thought. After talking to my leasing consultant about what I was looking for, we set up an appointment for the past Monday afternoon. When I got there he had a car ready to go, and the new lease worked out beautifully. Not only did I not have to pay the end of lease disposal fee, but I didn't get charged for the excess mileage, and the Miata retained more value than was estimated at the beginning of that lease. So, in the end I got a new car with a lower payment, and only my first month out of pocket.

I got a Honda Fit, and it works perfectly for what I need. Not only can I transport more than one other person, but now I can haul around band gear, which I did no more than 2 hours after getting the car.

91. Attend a Mavericks game (COMPLETED): Claudia and I attended the first pre-season game against the San Antonio Spurs on October 9th, 2007 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The game was good, but the group of screaming kids behind us distracted from the game a bit. We both had a good time, and the Mavericks won.

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints (COMPLETED): I went on a tear since my last update and completed 20 games thereby completing this item on my list. My average completion time was around 18 minutes per puzzle.

Day 211 progress

I've passed the 20% point.  I've been working steadily on whatever I can fit into my free time.

 

6. Earn a promotion: I updated my resume a couple of weeks ago just to make it current with my position at work and to reflect some of my more recent accomplishments.

I have my eyes open for a job that hasn't posted yet, but I may bail ship to go to something completely different.  I'm spending more time complying with ridiculous "management" requests rather than running my team, which inevitably results in the team falling behind, and my having to work twice as hard just to catch up.

I am certain that I have no interest in moving up in the management food-chain.

 

7. Grow my hair out again: I've trimmed my hair a couple of times since March.  I've been keeping the underside short while letting the top grow out, similar to a circa 1992 Trent Reznor look.  I'm pretty happy with it because it stays more manageable while it grows out.

 

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: My total is now 2201 of 5902.  I listen whenever I'm at my computer and have made some decent progress over the past few weeks.

 

38. Eat at least 1 serving of fruit everyday for a month: I've been eating a lot of oranges, kiwi, and honeycrisp apples lately.  I did try one of the watermelons that we grew in our garden, and it was pretty good.  I have one week left before this item is complete.

 

39. No fast food for 90 days in a row (COMPLETED): I completed this item on 9/7/07.  I haven't eaten any fast food since the 9th, and really don't plan to do so anytime soon.

 

40. Refrain from ingesting alcohol for 90 days: I've reached day 50.  This one will be easy to complete, but I will be looking forward to having a beer while watching football when this item is complete.

 

42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: I finished Farenheit 451.  I liked the novel, and liked the fact that the scope of the story was contained and didn't wander off into too much musing about the nature of oppression, censorship, or the effect of mass media.  I think that the way the novel was written did an effective job of conveying the appropriate ideas.

I started reading Never Enough: The Story of the Cure.

 

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I set aside another $8 for a total of $264.

 

90. Attend a high school football game (COMPLETED): Claudia and I attended the Richardson Berkner vs. Duncanville game on 9/7/07.  It was a pretty good game, and ran into two overtimes.  At the end, Berkner lost 40-41 in overtime.

 

91. Attend a Mavericks game: Claudia bought preseason tickets to see the Mavs vs. the Spurs.  The game is on October 9th.

 

95. Completed 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: Over the past few weeks, I completed 20 more games bringing my total to 80 of 100.

 

98. Go to 5 concerts: Claudia and I saw the Queens of the Stone Age on 9/16/07 at the House of Blues in Dallas.  The venue was really nice, even if they only took cash for food.  The balcony is constructed so that anyone sitting in it can see the stage clearly.

The band played a variety of songs from all of their albums, and were extremely tight throughout the set.  Josh Homme, the guitarist and front man, seemed a bit bewildered and shocked at the reception that they received.  He made comments about how the Austin crowd at ACL and their club show the night before seemed bored and uninterested in their set.  The crow in Dallas was completely into the show, and I think it shocked the band a bit.

The opening act, Dax Riggs and the Wolf-headed Whores, were terrible.  I can only describe them as "Stoner Folk-Emo".  The lyrics were horrible, and usually a trite phrase repeated over and over, such as "living is suicide".  Real deep stuff.  The singer, Dax Riggs, apparently styled himself as a combination of Jeff Buckley and Jack White, with very little success at pulling it off.  Avoid at all costs.

Claudia also purchased tickets to see Coheed and Cambria at the House of Blues in October.  Once we see that show, this item will be complete.

Day 189 progress

I'm making an attempt to post more often than every few weeks. If I post every few days it will encourage me to work more diligently on my list.

32. Upgrade my Squier '51 (COMPLETED): I've had all the necessary parts to finish this item, but I've been avoiding the last few steps, simply for the fact that the schematic of the audio circuit intimidates me a quite a bit. Well, I finally bit the bullet and tried to complete the wiring today. I went with my original plan of a volume knob, a tone knob, and a 5-way selector switch.

I thought I was doing ok, until I plugged in to my amp and had absolutely no sound come out. A bit frustrated by a few factors (pickup wire length and some confusion about the circuit), I decided to revert to the original wiring plan. Sure, it's not really what I want, but at the very least I managed to get it working on the first try. I still have most of the options of the planned circuit, with the exception of the tone control. I do plan on going back with some help and putting in the planned switch based circuit.

Here's a picture of the stock model:

Here's everything in the upgrade assembled:

I upgraded the following: nut, bridge, neck pickup (Lace Sensor Silver single coil), bridge pickup (Seymour Duncan SH-5 Custom Custom Humbucker). I removed the old humbucker ring and replaced it with a chrome ring. I added a chrome ring for the neck pickup to keep the style consistent, and to make up for the fact that removing the pick guard left a large routing hole in the body under the pickup ring. I also took off the shiny finish and polished the body to a matte finish.

The guitar is strung with Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom nickel wound strings. Since this is a rhythm guitar, I like the extra bottom end that the strings provide, and yes, I only use four of the strings.

I removed the extra bridge saddles and the tuners so they wouldn't rattle. The spots where I filled in the pick guard screw holes don't look great, but they won't even be noticed by someone 15 feet away in a dim club.

The new pickups are amazing when compared to the stock pickups. This guitar went from being a nice cheap instrument to an absolute blowtorch. With my tube amp volume up to 20%, I have to back off the volume on the guitar to almost nothing to avoid pissing off the neighbors. I've only run it through a couple of overdrives and it sounds great in each case. My ultimate test will be to control the output with my Dynacomp while preserving the nice glassy sound that the compressor offers.

For my first ever refurbish/upgrade project, I'm pretty pleased with the results. When I tackle item 30 (Refurbish an old guitar), the lessons learned here will be very helpful. I think item 30 deserves a Les Paul, although I'm also open to either a Gibson 335 style body or a Telecaster. We'll see how I feel at the time, and what I can get a hold of without spending a mint on the project.

38. Eat at least one serving of fruit everyday for one month: I've started over on this item. I had a peach on the way home from work today. I plan on keeping up with this item to avoid another restart.

40. Refrain from ingesting alcohol for 90 days: So far I've made it 28 days of 90. I really would like an occasional glass of wine or beer, but it's more a desire for a flavor diversion than an actual desire for alcohol.

42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: I finished reading The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd. It was a pretty good read, although the sections covering movies, books, and websites were less interesting than the history section. I was somewhat annoyed and amused at times by the author's predilection to certain phases of the Floyd's styles or performances. I have the suspicion that the author was a pro-Waters fan, although he did lean to the Gilmour side of the internal conflict a bit at times. All in all, a great read if long in parts. It's an essential for any Pink Floyd fan who wants a solid look at the history of a rather mysterious band.

I started reading Farenheit 451. I'm somehow managed to have missed out on anything written by Bradbury (and Azimov for that matter) up to this point in my existence. I figure that this is a "classic", and so deserves a read. I'm in a rediscovery phase regarding science fiction, and will probably pick up some of the "essentials" that I've missed over the years.

61. Organize the garage with shelving and storage: I didn't install any shelving and storage, but I did start the process by cleaning out some random garbage items and by breaking down some empty boxes that were just taking up space.

I do know that I want to install a workbench of some sort. I've been assembling guitar effects in my office, and while it's a comfortable place to work, it just isn't appropriate for the sanding and painting portion of the builds. A workbench would also allow me to keep all my tools in one centralized location rather than scattered across my drawers, the closet, and other locations in the office.

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed 1 more game for a total of 61 games out of 100 completed.

Day 184 progress

5. Get a tattoo: I came up with a design that incorporates a Nietzsche quote in German and written in a high German font.  I haven't set a date to get it done, but my sister and I will probably go together, since she has much more experience with this whole process.

 

22. Build a home studio: I finally got a new office chair.  I got it at Ikea and put it together in about 15 minutes.  It is far superior to the chair I was using before, and looks a lot better too.  I still need to get my art on the walls.

 

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: My progress is 1985 tracks of 5903.

 

38. Eat at least one serving of fruit everyday for one month: I made it for 17 days in a row before I messed up and forgot to eat my fruit one day.  And so, I have to start over.

 

39. No fast food for 90 days in a row: I've made it to day 82 of 90.  I don't plan on eating any fast food even when this item is completed.  I'd rather pay a little more, with a longer wait for better quality food.

 

40. Refrain from ingesting alcohol for 90 days: So far I have made it 23 days out of 90.  This item isn't difficult, but I do want the occasional beer or drink now and then.

 

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I put aside another $6 for a total of $256.

 

71. Ride the entirety of the DART rail line (COMPLETED): Claudia and I rode the DART rail on 8/24/07.  We started the morning at the Parker Road station and rode the train to the Westmoreland station.  We then took the red line train back to 8th and Corinth, jumped on the blue line, and rode it to the Ledbetter station.  Then we rode the blue line up to Mockingbird station where we got off the train and at lunch at Margarita Ranch.  After that we got back on the blue line and rode out to Downtown Garland.  From that point we rode back to Mockingbird, got back onto the red line and rode it back to the parking lot where we left the car.

It was a pretty fun trip, and it ended up taking a lot longer than I had expected.  The neatest parts were seeing all the area of town that you would never see when traveling by car, and getting to see the gradual transitions from the various sections of town.  I also liked seeing the different people on the trains.  Whether it was people going to work, kids taking the train to school, people going shopping or to the zoo, it was a bit of an education in observing other people going about their daily business.

 

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed 10 more games over the past few weeks for a total of 60 games.

Day 161 progress

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: My total is now 1479 of 5855, which puts my progress at this point at 25.26%.  My overall number of tracks did decrease as I deleted a large number of anime related tracks that I have never listened to, and that I no longer have the CDs for.  Don't worry, being a music hoarder, my total will creep back up over the next 850 or so days.

 

32. Upgrade my Squier '51: I received my switch and control plate.  Since the stock model did not come with a switch, I had to remove some of the body to make room for the switch.  The new control plate came with a template, and after about 30 minutes with my Dremel, the niche was cut.

Now I just have to wire up the controls and everything will be complete!

 

38. Eat at least one serving of fruit everyday for one month: I started on 8/3/07 and will continue this item for 30 days.  So far I have consumed 2 peaches and 3 pluots.  I am 16.67% of the way to completion.

 

39. No fast food for 90 days in a row: I've made it to day 59 of 90!  I am 65.56% complete and really have no desire to eat fast food in the future.  Sure, it's "convenient", but I can get better food for roughly the same price at any decent "ethnic" restaurant (Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Mediterranean), and the options are a lot healthier and taste much better.

 

42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: I finished The Quiet American by Graham Greene.  I thought the novel was a perfect length, the story was compelling enough to keep me interested, and the subject matter gave me a look at a facet of Vietnam that often gets overlooked, namely the French colonialism.  Excellent read.

 

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I set aside another $25, brining my total to $250.

 

57. Clean out my anime collection (COMPLETED): On 8/3/07 I sold my last listing on eBay, effectively cleaning out all of the anime titles that I wanted to sell off.

 

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I went on a bit of a tear and knocked out 9 more games, bringing my total to 50 of 100.

 

98. Go to 5 concerts:  I attended the Project Revolution show on 8/4/07 at the Smirnoff Music Centre in Dallas.  Of the bands playing, I was really only interested in 3 of them: Mindless Self Indulgence, HIM, and My Chemical Romance.

Mindless Self Indulgence was the final act on the side stage, and they put on a great show.  They had good energy, played a variety of their songs, kept the crowd entertained between songs, and looked like they were having fun.

HIM was disappointing.  I've seen them a total of 3 times, and this was by far their weakest performance.  They played their "safe" hits, and didn't really seem like they were interested in impressing anyone.

My Chemical Romance was excellent as usual.  I've also seen them 3 times, and while this performance didn't beat the first time I saw them, it was still entertaining and impressive.  MCR puts on a great live show, and their CDs don't really convey the strength of their performances.  Even when they aren't the headlining act, they still go on stage and act like they are.

I got a bit sunburned, but overall it made for a good afternoon.

Day 154 progress

32. Upgrade my Squier '51: I ordered my capacitors and potentiometers on 7/21 and received them a week later. Once I had the pots in my possession, I was able to check the size of the holes that had to be drilled in the control plate.

I ordered my control plate on 7/27 from Ian Rich, a guy who lives in New Zealand and yet is the only person that I could find that makes a custom control plate for the '51. For what he does the prices are reasonable, and his shipping costs aren't astronomical. I also ordered my switch, a 5-position Stratocaster style switch. All my parts should arrive late this week.

Since I've never really done any electronics work that involved a lot of wiring and soldering, I asked my dad for help. He can read schematics, something that just confuses me, primarily due to my lack of knowledge on the skill. I also found a clearly laid out wiring diagram, which should help quite a bit.

39. No fast food for 90 days in a row: I've gone 59 days without eating fast food. I'm 57.78% of the way done with this item.

42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: Even though I'm reading The Quiet American, I started reading The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd by Toby Manning since it looked interesting and it was available at the time.

I'm more than halfway through The Quiet American and should have it finished within the week.

57. Clean out my anime collection: I sold one of my two listings, and had to re-list the other one. However, I do have a bid on the last item, so when the auction closes in 3 days, I will have completed this item.

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed a couple more over the past few days, and my total is now 41 of 100.

98. Go to 5 concerts: I bought tickets to see Queens of the Stone Age on the evening of September 16th. We're going to see the Projekt Revolution tour this weekend, and we're thinking of getting tickets to see Interpol in September.

Additional Note: Since I have crossed the 150 day threshold, I wanted to take some time and look forward in an attempt to analyze what my chances are for total completion of all 101 items on the list.

Of the items on the list, I think that all of them are achievable with enough time, but I don't know if I will be able to complete some of the more intensive items on the list in the planned amount of time. Specifically, the travel items may not be completed simply due to the outlay of time and money that has to go into each of those items on the list. I wanted to be ambitious, but I may be in over my head when it comes to the travel plans.

My other hesitation comes from the financial goals on the list. I think that many of them can be completed without question, as evidenced by my progress on item 51, but there are others that may not be achievable if I focus on the other items on the list, many of which require some sort of financial outlay to accomplish.

I think that the items regarding my self, my physical and educational development, hobbies, diet, literary goals, home, and leisure can all be completed give the pace that I have set up to this point.

I have 6 items completed, and 13 currently in some state of progress. Many of the items on the list could be completed very easily as long as I plan ahead and stay on pace.

Overall I am pleased with my progress up to this point. I could have completed a couple of the items that still remain to be done before this point, but I can only plan for the future now.

Expect another update of this nature some time around day 333.

Day 142 progress

I haven't posted in over 3 weeks, and I've been pretty busy with work, work related social events, and other general time-kills. However, I have managed to make some progress on the list.

39. No fast food for 90 days in a row: I've completed 40 of the 90 days so far, which puts me at being 44.44% of the way to completing this item.

42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: I finished Fathers and Sons on July 16th. It took me over a month to finish the book, mostly because I just neglected to pick it up and read on a consistent basis.

Overall I liked the story. The pace of the book was reasonably good, with no dead spots in the story. I was a bit worried as I neared the close of the novel, as I was afraid that I would end up with a "happily ever after" ending, which is pretty much forbidden in Russian literature. My fears were assuaged when the main character contracted typhus about 30 pages from the end, saving me from an ending more appropriate for a Shakespearean comedy.

I will start reading The Quiet American by Graham Greene tonight before bed.

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: Over the past 24 days I added $78 to my stash, bringing my total to $225 of $1001. I had an expense check from the team building that I attended in Austin, and a quarterly dividend check, so I set them aside for this purpose.

57. Clean out my anime collection: I sold 4 listings, although I had to re-list a couple of the items before they finally sold. I have 2 items left to sell off. When those are gone, I will be done with this item.

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed 7 Sudoku games over the past 24 days. My total is now 38 of 100 completed.

101. Try 10 wines I have not had before: I took a flyer on a wine that caught my eye, if only for the packaging. I tried a French Rabbit Pinot Noir. French Rabbit wines come packed in a Tetra-Prisma container, similar to the packaging used for soy milk and broths. It is available in 1 liter containers, and frankly, isn't half bad for a simple table wine.

The company also supports tree-planting organizations and other environmental concerns. So, for every 4 "bottles" you buy, they plant a tree, in addition to the packaging being recyclable.

So far I have tried 7 of 10 wines.

Day 118 progress

22. Build a home studio: I spent a little time working on finishing this item. The plant I had bought for the studio wasn't doing so well, so I moved it into the bathroom where it will get more light. I didn't like having a huge blank space on the wall where the plant used to be, so I decided to keep the DVD shelves in the studio rather than moving them into the guest bedroom closet. Here's what it looks like:

By putting the shelf against this wall, I was able to use a small area of space that would have otherwise been wasted. Since I made space on the other side of the futon where the shelving used to be, I put my guitar rack over there:

You can see, from back left to front right:

- Michael Kelly Dragonfly IV acoustic electric 4 string bass

- Epiphone Korina Explorer

- Squier '51 (currently being upgraded)

- Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass

I don't think I posted pictures of my Ikea CD towers that Claudia and I installed a few months back. So, here they are:

I still need to get my posters, pictures, and those things on the walls, but functionally the studio is ready to use. Once I get the art on the walls, I'll consider this item complete.

25. Listen to every one of my tacks on iTunes: My current total is now 1178 of 5988. My total number of tracks increased because I found some CDs that I had not imported into iTunes, the addition of the Sweet Water album I got at the show in Seattle, and the new Marilyn Manson album and the new Queens of the Stone Age album.

39. No fast food for 90 days in a row: I'm doing well at 14 of 90 days completed. I've finished 15.56% of my time. Really, I have no craving for fast food, but the ability to pick it up on the way to work, while I'm on the way home, or while I'm out running errands make it an easy, almost give-up option at times.

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I set aside $7 on 6/14, which brought my total to $117. Today I cashed a rebate check for $30 that I received in the mail for a new total of $147.

57. Clean out my anime collection: I sold 6 listings, but I also found 3 more items that I felt like listing. This item will be complete when I sell the last 6 currently running listings.

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed 2 more games bringing my total to 32 of 100.

Day 112 progress

It's been a very exciting and eventful week-and-a-half. Claudia and I took a vacation to Seattle, and I managed to finish off a few items on the list.

1. Buy a good quality camera (COMPLETED): I bought a Nikon CoolPix L11 digital camera. I had wanted an SLR camera, but they were out of my price range, and I realized that the purely digital camera would end up being easier to use in the long run. I decided to get it because I wanted to take pictures of my trip, and to use for work, both of which were happening sooner than later. With the 2 GB super SD card, I can hold over 8200 pictures of PC quality before I have to send the pictures to my computer.

39. No fast food for 90 days in a row: Because of the trip to Seattle, my access to fast food was seriously curtailed. My official start date is 6/12/2007 and the end of the window arrives on 9/9/2007. If I can make it for the whole 90 days, I expect that I won't be tempted to eat fast food after September 9th.

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I set aside another $7, bringing my total to $107.

57. Clean out my anime collection: I listed the last 9 items from the pile of eBay candidates. If all 9 sell, then I will have completed this item.

81. Travel to Seattle (COMPLETED): Claudia and I spent 4 days in Seattle for vacation. The trip was amazing, and I took a large number of photos. I will cover this topic in a separate post.

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed 3 more games, bringing my total to 30 of 100.

101. Try 10 wines I have not had before: Claudia and I were killing time in the Seatac airport and we came upon a wine store that featured wines from Oregon and Washington. Since we had extra time, we tried two flights of wine. We ended up buying a bottle for my sister and her boyfriend, and a couple for ourselves based on the tastings.

- Van Duzer Pinot Gris, Oregon, Estate 2005

- Adelsheim Pinot Blanc, Oregon, Willamette Valley 2005

- Apolloni Pinot Noir, Oregon, Estate 2005

- Powers Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Champoux Vineyard 2004

- Fidelitas Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Estate 2004

- Woodward Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Artist Series #12 2003

We purchased a couple of bottles of the Van Duzer, and one bottle of the Apolloni.

Day 102 progress

I've had a busy couple of weeks, but I also managed to make some decent headway on my list.

22. Build a home studio: I removed what was left of my old desk. I also pulled the larger equipment boxes out of the closet for storage in the attic. I still need to cut the DVD storage shelves so I can move them into the spare bedroom, but I have all the measurements.

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: My current total is now 833 of 5895. There are still a few CDs that I need to import, and there are a few CDs coming out soon that I have my eye on, so my total number of tracks will increase in the near future.

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I set aside another $20. My total is now $100 of $1001.

57. Clean out my Anime collection: I posted 2 listings, and both of them sold. I have just a few more items to list and sell, and I will be done with this item!

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed 12 more games since my post of 5/28/07. My total is now 27 of 100 completed. If all goes well, I should have this item completed by the end of 2007, if not earlier.

Day 90 progress

81. Travel to Seattle: Today Claudia and I planned some aspects of our trip. We put together a basic itinerary for the three and a half days that we'll be there. She purchased tickets online for a show at the Crocodile Cafe, one of the homes of the Grunge scene during the 90's. We're going to see Sweet Water, a band from that era.

We tried to order our EMP tickets, but their office was closed for Memorial Day. We also looked at restaurants in close proximity to the hotel, put together a basic map of the downtown area, and checked into ferry times for a trip over to Bainbridge Island. Originally, we were planning to take the ferry up to Vancouver, but tickets were around $140 per person, which we found rather ridiculous, seeing as we could rent a car for $50.00 and drive. Vancouver can wait for a later trip.


95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed one game today, bringing my total to 15 of 100.

Day 89 progress

I'm on the eve of my first 90 days and I feel like I am making good progress. While I've completed some of the simpler tasks, I'm also making progress on the more difficult tasks at the same time.

60. Install and maintain landscaping in the front and back yard: One of my coworkers brought me some nopales for my garden. I stuck them in one of the plots where I had previously planted lettuce. Once they are established, I'll be able to pick my own nopal pads, and I'll have access to prickly pears.

I should also have access to some agave from the same coworker. I'm not sure if it is tequila agave, but either way it's another self starting food plant that I can add to my home culinary resources.

95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: Over the past few days I have completed 6 games, bringing my total to 14 of 100.

98. Go to 5 concerts: On May 25th my sister, Claudia, a friend of Claudia's, and I went to see Morrissey at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas. The venue was pretty cool, and the crowd was pretty much what I expected: younger people mixed with 30-somethings who were into The Smiths and Morrissey during the 80's and 90's.

Before the show, movie and music clips were beamed onto a screen in front of the stage. There were music videos of The New York Dolls and Bridget Bardot, and an extended movie clip of a "wardrobe test" for the movie East of Eden. The silent clip consisted of James Dean and Richard Davalos goofing off while wearing assorted clothing from the movie. Given Morrissey's long standing interest/obsession with both actors, this was not surprising.

The stage decoration consisted of a simple backdrop of two huge identical black and white photos of James Dean. When the lights went out, a prerecorded female voice began listing off a long series of tragic historical events and the names of generally depressing things. The several minutes long list began with "Adolf Hitler", and ended with "miscarriage", with phrases and events like "Tiananmen Square"and "sexual harassment" thrown in during the middle. As gloomy as one could ever expect from Morrissey.

Once the list ended, the band started with "Panic". Morrissey was in a full suit, although he shed the jacket and tie as the set went on. Song performed included "Irish Blood, English Heart", "Girlfriend in a Coma", "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side", and "The Queen is Dead", which faded into the whole venue singing "Auld Lang Syne" before launching into the greatest, most sinister version of "How Soon Iis Now" that I could ever imagine.

The band was amazing, and Morrissey was on target for the whole show. It almost seemed that as the show went on, he got more and more into the performance. Even at his age he still has what it takes to put on an amazing show. While he didn't go with some of the higher lilts of his past recordings, he still conveyed all the force he needed to in each and every song.

I've always viewed Morrissey as a bit of a question, not really sure if he lived up to the greatness of The Smiths once he went solo, but now I can say for sure that Morrissey has absolutely no need for Johnny Marr or The Smiths. He may be egotist of the highest order, but while he was on stage he radiated class and put on one hell of a show.

Day 85 progress

32. Upgrade my Squier '51: My pickups arrived from Musician's Friend today.

I completed the physical installation of the pickups and the pickup rings. I still need to wire the connections, but I have to order my potentiometers, switch, and switch plate.

Here's what the new pickups look like:


95. Complete 100 expert level Sudoku games without hints: I completed two more puzzles over the past couple of days. So far I have completed 8 of 100.

Day 82 progress

32. Upgrade my Squier '51: I made some decent progress on the guitar project over the past week.

First, I received my parts order from Stewart-MacDonald. Included were the new Tusq nut, the pickup rings, and the copper shielding tape. I installed the nut after doing a little sanding for a finished fit, and then started the pickup cavity shielding.


You can see the new nut in the picture above. It's made of a composite material that is a close analog to traditional bone nuts. It will work far better than the original plastic nut, allow for less string buzz, and it should help the guitar keep better intonation after string bends.

The copper tape, while being made of thin rolled metal with an adhesive back, was thin enough to cut with scissors. Then I just had to peel off the backing and apply, smoothing down the edges with the eraser end of a pencil. I did make the mistake of smoothing a couple of the edges with my index fingers, which were promptly sliced by the metal edging. I filled both pickup cavities, and the back end of the control panel cavity. I need to do a small amount of cutting on the control cavity when I install the new wiring, so I left that area of the guitar unfinished.

Second, I ordered my pickups today. I sold some spare effects pedals on eBay to cover the costs. I did finally decide to go with the Lace Sensor Silver pickup in the neck, and the Seymour-Duncan SH-5 Custom Humbucker in the bridge. Both are finished in black, which will look awesome with the chrome pickup rings.


Here you can see the shielded cavities, the new bridge, and a rough placement of the pickup rings. Imagine black pickups in the copper colored areas, and you should have a pretty good idea of what the body will look like.

You can also see the matte finish and a couple of the fill spots that I worked on. Sure, they aren't perfect, but I'm happy with the results.

All I need to order now are the new potentiometers, a .25-.50 uf capacitor, the new switchplate, and a five position switch. Once I have all those parts, I can install the pickups, restring the guitar, and test it out.

81. Travel to Seattle: The dates are set, and the trip is in motion!

Claudia and I are going to be in Seattle during the middle of June. We're going to spend about three days there. My dad was gracious enough to offer us a free ticket from his frequent flyer miles, and then he bought Claudia a ticket as a present for her birthday from he and my mother.

We'll be staying at the Hotel Max in downtown Seattle. The building was erected in the 1920's and was refurbished in 2005. It's close to everything that we want to see, with the exception of Hendrix's grave in Renton, WA.

We'll probably check out the Seattle Public Library, the Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, and the Experience Music Project. On the night of the 16th, we're going to see a show at the Crocodile Cafe, home to many of the Grunge acts of the 90's. We're also planning to take the ferry to Vancouver, and thankfully we won't need passports to travel into Canada by land or sea.

This trip is going to be great, and I can't wait to go. I plan on eating nothing but seafood the entire time I am there, and hopefully I can find dried or fresh matsutake mushrooms at the market to send home via UPS. The weather is supposed to hover around the high 60's, which will be very nice. I even look forward to getting caught in the rain a few times. I've wanted to see Seattle since the 90's, when Grunge music landed in the middle of my formative years.

I've spoken to a few people at work about my upcoming trip, and they all confirm my hidden fear that I will love it so much that I won't want to leave. For now, I'll take the trip as an opportunity to experience yet another small slice of the huge world that lays before me, and if I am somehow entranced by this city, then I'll deal with that when that time comes.

98. Go to 5 concerts: The Morrissey show is on the 25th, and I'm looking forward to it. I hope he performs at least a few Smiths songs.

Claudia bought tickets to the Projekt Revolution tour, which takes place in August. I joked that the best concert would consist of My Chemical Romance, HIM, and Mindless Self Indulgence. Well, they're all on the bill, so this show should be pretty good. Once I see this show I will have seen My Chemical Romance three times, have seen HIM three times, and it will be the first time I've seen Mindless Self Indulgence. Very cool.

Day 76 progress

32. Upgrade my Squier '51: I've done some more work, even though I haven't made much overall progress.

I pulled all the electronics, removed the control plate, and removed the neck. Then I filled the pick guard screw holes with toothpicks (which fit perfectly) and super glue. Once the glue set, I clipped the toothpicks almost flush with the body, and then sanded them down. After that, I painted over the toothpicks using a coffee stirrer to drop pain directly on the spot.

After the paint dried, I sanded down the paint to make it smooth with the body. This is where the fun and headaches began. When sanding, I masked off the area I wanted to sand so I wouldn't damage the original finish on the rest of the body. While this worked reasonably well, it would lead to issues later. When the paint touch up was satisfactory, I removed the masking and used a wipe on polyurethane to seal the body.

Well, when the first coat of polyurethane dried, It was obvious where the sanding occurred. To remedy this, I used medium and fine grain synthetic sanding pads to pull all the original finish off the front of the guitar; I then applied a fresh coat of polyurethane.

After this coat dried, I found obvious application lines in the finish. I did some light sanding and then applied a second coat, thinking that the finish would even out as I applied more coats. Well, it didn't. At this point, I decided to go with a matte finish, which I was somewhat impressed with when I was doing some of the earlier sanding work. I used the damp sanding pads to take down the polyurethane finish to the matte finish underneath.

At this point I am satisfied with the results. Sure, it doesn't have that super glossy candy apple look, but I like the more subdued matte look. Another side effect is that the chrome hardware stands out even more and it looks really good.

I'm waiting on my parts from Stewart-MacDonald, which should be here mid week. I also made a change to some of the electronics I am going to include. I decided to skip the lipstick tube style single coil pickup and go with a Lace Sensor-Silver single coil pickup. This is one of the pickups that Billy Corgan installed in his homebuilt Stratocaster and it should provide a hotter, heavier tone than the more twangy lipstick tube.

So, all that's left to do is order my pickups, install the electronics, glue in the new nut, install the pickup rings, and restring the guitar.

42. Read 50 books I have not read before: I finished An Abundance of Katherines. What can I say without being overly critical? Well, if I had been the target audience, namely a junior-high or high-school student, I may have taken more away from the novel. In terms of style, there were a few things that set me off: overly cute turns of phrase, the willful abuse of periods in an attempt to create emphasis, and an overabundance of pointless footnotes.

In terms of the story and the characters, I could understand their motivations, but could not empathize with their attitudes or their behavior, which were vapid, trite, and often time irritating. If you read it for fun, it's not so bad, but I have the feeling that the target audience would probably look at this book in the same way that The Cather in the Rye was viewed by young readers. In fact, this books tries a bit too hard to be The Cather in the Rye without being nearly so self-absorbed or irritating.

I will begin reading Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev this evening.

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I put aside $20 bringing my total to $80.

Day 71 progress

32. Upgrade my Squier '51: I did a couple of small things over the past few days.

First, I removed the pick guard so I could ship it off and get a replacement. With the variation in production (it is a cheap guitar after all, so there are some inherent quality variations) having a new pick guard made usually requires that the original be used as a template. Well, upon pulling all the screws and removing the pick guard I came to a conclusion: I don't want a new pick guard.

One of the things I love about my '51 is the beautiful finish. Sure, it's a basswood body, and doesn't look anything like a mahogany or ash body, but the sunburst finish is pretty attractive. A lot of the '51 rebuilds that I have seen online always have that awkward '51 Precision pick guard, which covers up a good portion of the wood grain. When I saw the raw guitar body, I couldn't see spending the money on a new pick guard just to cover up the beautiful wood underneath.

I'm adjusting my overall plan based on these considerations. Rather than installing a new pick guard, I am going to fit a chrome pickup ring over the neck pickup. This will give the neck pickup a consistent finish with the humbucker at the bridge, and it will allow me to cover up the neck pickup cavity for a cleaner more finished look.

I will also need to fill the holes left from the original pick guard screws. This is the part that worries me the most, since the finish has dark edges, and a wood grain inner area (see picture from last post). I'm ok with a little bleed over from the dark area into the wood grain, and I think I can match the wood color pretty well where it matters. Sure, it won't be perfect, but in a dimly lit bar or live music venue, no one will ever be able to tell. All that matters is that I am happy with the plan.

I ordered some parts from Stewart-MacDondald today. I order my pickup rings, neck and bridge, both in chrome. I also changed my mind from the Graph Tech Trem-nut, which is intended more for guitars with a tremolo to the Graph Tech Tusq-nut, a compound closer to an authentic bone nut. I also picked up some copper shielding tape. I'm going to line all the pickup cavities with the tape to reduce interference and the hum that can develop from it.

All I need to order now is my control plate kit, two new potentiometers, a five position switch, and new pickups. I also need to pick up some clear lacquer, a small bottle of black paint, a small bottle of maple finish, and some wood filler for the screw holes.

Day 68 progress

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: My current total is now 609 of 5902.

I picked up a few new CDs recently, among them "Year Zero" by Nine Inch Nails, "Wait", and "Fast Man Raider Man" by Frank Black.

32. Upgrade my Squier '51: I bought a Squier '51 a few months back for about $100 because I wanted a cheap project guitar that wouldn't cause me to panic if I managed to screw it up. Well, over the past few months I have grown very fond of my '51, even in its stock condition. For a cheap guitar it plays well, sounds good, and looks pretty good too. Here's a picture of the stock '51:


The '51 is a mishmash of parts from other Fender/Squier guitars. It has a Stratocaster body, a Telecaster neck (perhaps the best part of the entire guitar), and a pick guard and control plate similar to the '51 Fender Precision basses. It has a single coil neck pickup, and a humbucker bridge pickup that can be split for a single coil sound.

My plans for my '51 are as follows:

- Replace the stock bridge: Many of the reviews and build plans that I have read call for the stock bridge to be replaced by a slightly smaller bridge for better tone and less buzz.

- Replace the single coil pickup: I plan to replace the stock single coil with a lipstick tube style pickup, similar to those found on old Telecasters.

- Replace the humbucker: I am going to replace the very respectable stock humbucker with a Seymour-Duncan SH-5 Custom humbucker for a fatter, heavier sound when the bridge pickup is selected.

- Replace the pick guard: The stock pick guard is a single ply piece of white plastic. I plan on replacing it with a White-black-white pickup of the same design, for that vintage Fender look.

- Replace the control plate and rewire the pickups: There is a control plate available that allows for a tone setting, an option not on the stock '51. I would have to remove some material from the control cavity and rewire the pickups for tone and a switch.

- Replace the nut: The stock nut is made of plastic, and while it works okay now, it will eventually start to buzz. I plan to replace it with a Graphtech teflon impregnated nut.

- Change the humbucker pickup ring: The stock ring is black plastic, which looks okay, but I want to offset the pickup some by replacing the black ring with a chrome ring to match the other hardware.

So what have I accomplished so far? I ordered the new bridge on 4/28/2007 and installed it on 5/3/2007. I haven't restrung the guitar yet, since I still need to remove the nut and pickups.

I will post pictures when I complete the upgrades.

42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: I finished Choke. I liked it very much, and place it with Fight Club at the top of the list of Chuck Palahniuk novels I have read.

I started reading An Abundance of Katherines by John Green at the behest of my Librarian fiancee. She works with the young adult collection, and she wanted my take on the novel. So far it is okay. There are some stylistic and character issues that make me a little crazy, but I'm only a quarter of the way through the book.

Day 55 progress

It's been a busy two weeks in non-101 world. Here's what little I managed to accomplish.

57. Clean out my anime collection: I sold two more listings. I also had a strange event take place.

I had sold a book back in February to a buyer in Houston. Everything in the transaction went smoothly, and the buyer left positive feedback. Well a couple of days ago, my doorbell rings, and when I look through the peephole, I see a guy getting into the passenger seat of a car, which then drives off. I open the door, and there is a packing envelope on the stoop. Upon looking at the package, I see that it has not been opened, has my original shipping info on the label, and when I open it, the item inside is the original packing condition.

Well, I tell my fiancee about the strange event, and she tells me that she knows the name of the person that had purchased the item. Apparently they were both in the same student organization in college. Very weird.

60. Install and maintain landscaping in the front and back yard: My dad came over on the 21st and helped in the yard. We finished installing one of the garden beds, prepped the other one, and planted a new tree in the back yard.

In the finished garden bed I planted four pepper plants of assorted types, and a watermelon plant. I planted two other pepper plants, a cucumber plant, and a tomato plant in already existing beds.

Finally, we transplanted a large rosemary bush into a large terracotta pot, and placed it in what will eventually become a curved bed that will be filled with lavender and wormwood plants.

98. Go to 5 concerts: I went to Edgefest 16 on the 15th of April. It was an all day festival, but Claudia (my fiancee) and her friend Colleen decided to show up around 4:00 PM. We ate pho at one of our favorite placed before we went to the Pizza Hut Park, a soccer stadium located in Frisco.

The first band we saw was Blue October. I had some impressions about this band before I arrived at the show, and I'm happy to say that I my impressions were changed for the better. I thought they put on a good show, put a lot of passion behind their music, and they sounded great live. I was suckered in to the point that I got their latest CD, "Foiled", a few days later.

The second band we saw was Muse. I was very exited about seeing Muse. I loved "Absolution", and their latest album "Black Holes and Revelations" is rather good too. The guys in the band are all extremely talented musicians, and I was very impressed with hwo the depth of their studio work translated to the stage.

The third band we saw was AFI. Actually, that's somewhat false. I had no interest in AFI, so we got up to look at merch and buy food. What little I saw did not impress me at all. AFI seemed like they were trying way to hard to fit their image, and it was not convincing in the least.

My Chemical Romance came on as the next to the last band and they were unbeliveable as usual. Say what you want about their music, play the part of "overly educated and high minded music critic", but until you see them live, you really can't judge how truly great they are. Like the show at Nokia that I saw a couple of years ago, this show was extremely high energy, with the crowd getting into each and every song. In fact, before the MCR performance began, I commented on how they would totally upstage the Killers, and they did it in spades.

Finally, the Killers came on. I felt kind of sorry for them, because 25-30% of the crowd left after the MCR set. But, I'm glad I stayed because the Killers put on a very good performance. The only slow part of their show were the gaps between songs, where their banter with the crowd was weak. Had they just rolled from song to song, I think it would have been flawless.

Day 40 progress

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: My current total is 587 of 5818.

42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: I started Choke by Chuck Palahniuk.

62. Set up a wireless network (COMPLETED): I actually completed this item on 3/16/2007, but neglected to state that it was completed. I had lumped it in with item 22 and the studio project. It is now marked as completed.

Day 39 progress

22. Build a home studio: I did a little more tidying up, but no significant work. I'm working several overnight shifts to do some infrastructure improvements at work, so I'll have my days free to finish moving the DVD shelves. I may also paint if I have to chance to talk with my design consultant, my mother's alter ego, about color choices.

Here are some pictures of things so far:







42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: I started Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One on the 2nd of April, and will finish it today. Like all good Waugh novels, this one is filled with absurdity and sarcasm, usually aimed at the cultural stereotypes of the British, and in the case of this novel, Americans too. A good quick read, it is entertaining without being boring.

51. Save $1 cash each day for 1001 days: I added $20 for a total of $60 saved.

57. Clean out my anime collection: I sold another listing over the past week. I'm having so much fun getting rid of all this stuff that I may start listing other junk like older but still functional electronics and non-anime DVDs.

Side note: I'm of the mind that I should redo a few of the items on the list for various reasons. In some cases, I chose to include things for the purpose of experiencing a new activity or place. In some cases, I included things that I wanted to achieve. However, some of these items rely on factors outside of my control, or express an intent to experience something without necessarily sticking to the specificity of the item as originally written.

So, I'll dispense with the internal dialog and make the adjustments where I see fit, but still retain the initial intent of the original goal.

6. Get into the ASTL program: My intent for this item was to set a forward thinking workplace goal. However, outside factors could possibly cause this goal to be unreached by the end of 1001 days. In reality, I feel that I will achieve this goal as written, but to be sure, I will be altering this goal to read: "Earn a promotion."

99. Go to the Velvet Hookah: My original intent was to experience a hookah bar. Of the ones in the area, the Velvet Hookah was the one that I was most readily aware of. It has since come to my attention that there are several in the area, many of which are more desirable for various reasons: they are owned and operated by small proprietors, they are less expensive, and they are not filled with douche-bags. I am altering this goal to read: "Go to a hookah bar."

Day 33 progress

20. Walk in the 2007 Dallas MS walk (COMPLETED): Even though I had a been going for 20 hours the day before, and arrived home around midnight due to bad weather and delayed flights, I fought through the desire to sleep late and made it out to Addison for the walk.

The weather was really nice, especially given that we had a couple of days with severe storms previous to the Saturday of the walk. Conditions were really nice, and parking was a breeze. We started walking at 9:00 AM, and completed the 5k by 10:00 AM. I did get a little winded on the back end of the course, especially around the Arapaho bridge, but by the time I finished I felt fine.

25. Listen to every one of my tracks on iTunes: My current progress is 460 of 5818.

36. Eat at Bob's Steak and Chop House (COMPLETED): My fiancee and I went to dinner with my parents and sister last night. The official reason for the dinner was to celebrate the birthdays of myself (30) and my sister (26) if a bit later than planned. The real reason for going was to eat some fabulous food.

I started with a vodka tonic, then had the Blue Cheese Salad, the 12 ounce Fillet medium rare with Skillet Potatoes with Peppercorn Gravy, followed by the Wedge of Chocolate Cake. Mix in a little wine, a 2005 King Estate Oregon Pinot Noir, and I was happily miserable by the end of the night.

The cigar menu was intriguing, but we we're in the right room for that, and my parents aren't fans of cigar smoke. At least I have another reason for going back.

42. Read 50 books that I have not read before: I finished Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies. What an awesome book. Not only did I walk away with an even greater appreciation for the band, but I had a lot of my own questions answered in the process. If you love the Pixies you must read this book.

It's designed in an interview format, but rather than being several interviews compiled into one volume, the interviews are broken up by chronological setting. So, when discussing "Surfer Rosa", all the people involved that had things to say about the album are included in the chapter. Brilliant book.

57. Clean out my anime collection: I sold three more listings over the weekend. I'm very happy with the progress on this item, and if all goes well, I should have everything I sold off by May.

60. Install and maintain landscaping in the front and back yard: My fiancee and I put in two more 8'x4' planting beds for the vegetable garden. We're going to plan out tomatoes, peppers, okra, and other vegetables in the new beds. We currently have artichokes and lettuce planted in the beds that run along the house.