Uberlist 2016

It’s been a long time since I’ve tackled the Uberlist. I first heard about this via the far-more-talented-than-I Kelly Sue DeConnick. She and her old roommate Nikol Lohr made New Year’s To Do Lists back in 1998 instead of New Year’s Resolutions, which is sheer brilliance. In 1998 they had 98 items on their lists (“98 Things To Do In 1998”), and every year since then they expanded the list by one. Since is 2016, there are 116 items on the Uberlist, because there’s nothing very uber about a 16-item list. My first attempt was back in 2003 and I participated through 2008, where life got in the way and I never finished figuring out what I’d even accomplished and what I hadn’t.

In the words of Kelly Sue:

I think I only accomplish about 30% of the list in any given year (one year, I didn’t finish MAKING THE LIST) and generally by June there are a good 10 items that are no longer applicable or even desirable, but it’s a fun thing to have nonetheless, and it keeps me focused for the first few months of the year. Then I forget all about it until about, oh, say, NOVEMBER, at which point I scramble about trying to remember where I put last year’s list.

I enjoy the process partially just for the making of the list; it lets me think about things I’d like to do as one year comes to a close and another one begins. I’m never too worried about what does and does not get done; in some ways it’s a list of wishes and desires, not of things that I simply must accomplish. And it’s fun at the end of the year to look back at what seemed important or enticing at the time. It’s simply not possible to do it all; I’d never expect myself to.

With school over it felt like a good way to try and remind myself of goals and ideas I had dangling. On some level this one’s a little less original than others, with a few items repeated to count for multiple times achieving the same goal, and a bunch of items either finishing up projects/games or finally tackling specific books, but at least it’s a completed list. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully next year’s list can be a bit more robust and varied as I cross off items this year.

(Oh, some items are slightly truncated in terms of writing what they are, because I have a printed copy near my desk and squeezing 116 items onto a single page, even using three columns in landscape mode, is difficult. Also there are a few items that I’m not posting onto the web and have redacted accordingly.)

Anyway, let’s see what happens.

  1. ADMIN: Finish writing my 2016 Uberlist
  2. HEALTH/BIKING: Bike a 50-miler
  3. HEALTH/BIKING: Regularly in non-frigid months
  4. HEALTH/EXERCISE: Go to MadFitness twice a month
  5. HEALTH/EXERCISE: Try kayaking
  6. HEALTH/RUNNING: Regularly three days a week
  7. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 5 or 10k race (1)
  8. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 5 or 10k race (2)
  9. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 10-miler/half marathon
  10. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 750 miles
  11. HEALTH/RUNNING: Run 846 miles (beat 2015)
  12. HEALTH/SWIMMING: Start swimming again
  13. HEALTH/TRIATHLON: Run a triathlon
  14. HEALTH/WEIGHT: Be under 155 lbs.
  15. HEALTH/WEIGHT: Be under 160 lbs.
  16. HEALTH/WEIGHT: Be under 162 lbs.
  17. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (1)
  18. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (2)
  19. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (3)
  20. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (4)
  21. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (5)
  22. HOME/ENTERTAINING: Cook for friends (6)
  23. HOME/REORGANIZING: Clean out filing cabinet
  24. HOME/REORGANIZING: Clean up “Olympian” external HD
  25. HOME/REORGANIZING: Frame vintage Italy map
  26. HOME/REORGANIZING: Hang new art on staircase wall
  27. HOME/REORGANIZING: Sort through pants and donate excess
  28. HOME/REORGANIZING: Sort through the gift box
  29. HOME/REORGANIZING: Transfer Ben’s VHS to DVD
  30. HOME/REORGANIZING: Transfer Charlie’s VHS to DVD
  31. LEISURE: Do things with friends more often
  32. LEISURE/CAMERA: Complete #366photos
  33. LEISURE/CAMERA: Complete 1 Second Everyday
  34. LEISURE/CANNING: Make blueberry jam
  35. LEISURE/CANNING: Make new type of jam
  36. LEISURE/CANNING: Make sour cherry jam
  37. LEISURE/CANNING: Make strawberry jam
  38. LEISURE/CANNING: Make tomato sauce (1)
  39. LEISURE/CANNING: Make tomato sauce (2)
  40. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Akira Kurosawa DVD (1)
  41. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Akira Kurosawa DVD (2)
  42. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Yasujiro Ozu DVD (1)
  43. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Yasujiro Ozu DVD (2)
  44. LEISURE/FILMS: Watch a Yasujiro Ozu DVD (3)
  45. LEISURE/FILMS/AFIDOCS: See full-length doc
  46. LEISURE/FILMS/AFIDOCS: See shorts compilation
  47. LEISURE/GAMES: Join a gaming group
  48. LEISURE/GAMES: Learn how to play Settlers of Catan
  49. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Disney Infinity: Guardians of the Galaxy
  50. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Disney Infinity: Star Wars: Rise Against the Empire
  51. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Disney Infinity: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  52. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Disney Infinity: The Incredibles
  53. LEISURE/GAMES: Win Professor Layton and the Last Specter
  54. LEISURE/GAMES: Win The Witcher 3
  55. LEISURE/LEGO: Put together Bike Shop/Coffee Shop
  56. LEISURE/LEGO: Put together Doctor Who set
  57. LEISURE/LEGO: Put together Toy and Grocery Store
  58. LEISURE/LOCAL: Go to an amusement park
  59. LEISURE/LOCAL: Go to DC United game
  60. LEISURE/LOCAL: Go to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
  61. LEISURE/LOCAL: Go to Nationals game
  62. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Jackie’s before it closes
  63. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to La Casita Pupuseria
  64. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Quarry House
  65. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Rose’s Luxury
  66. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Urban Butcher
  67. LEISURE/LOCAL/EATING: Go to Velatis Caramels
  68. LEISURE/READING: At least 5 book club selections
  69. LEISURE/READING: At least 20 prose books
  70. LEISURE/READING: Be better at tracking (on Goodreads) comics read in 2016
  71. LEISURE/READING: Best American Comics 2009
  72. LEISURE/READING: Best American Comics 2010
  73. LEISURE/READING: Best American Comics 2014
  74. LEISURE/READING: Best American Comics 2015
  75. LEISURE/READING: Get better about donating
  76. LEISURE/READING: Jane Eyre
  77. LEISURE/READING: Lucky Jim
  78. LEISURE/READING: One from the Mieville stack
  79. LEISURE/READING: One from the Murakami stack
  80. LEISURE/READING: Read half of stack on dresser
  81. LEISURE/READING: Read or donate new series Doctor Who novels
  82. LEISURE/READING: Saturn Apartments
  83. LEISURE/READING: Vagabond backlog
  84. LEISURE/TV: Daredevil S1
  85. LEISURE/TV: Orange is the New Black S2
  86. LEISURE/TV: Transparent S2
  87. [REDACTED]
  88. [REDACTED]
  89. [REDACTED]
  90. [REDACTED]
  91. LIBRARIANSHIP: Volunteer with Lubuto 12 times
  92. LIBRARIANSHIP: Volunteer with Lubuto 20 times
  93. PERSONAL: Wear sweaters more often
  94. TRAVEL: ALA Annual or Midwinter
  95. TRAVEL: Big vacation with Charlie (not listed)
  96. TRAVEL: Florida/visit parents
  97. TRAVEL: Gallifrey in February
  98. TRAVEL: Iceland
  99. TRAVEL: Lost River
  100. TRAVEL: Spain
  101. TRAVEL: Weekend getaway (not listed)
  102. WORK/LEARNING: Learn Captivate
  103. WORK/LEARNING: Learn DSpace
  104. WORK/LEARNING: Learn PHP
  105. WORK/LEARNING: Learn Python
  106. WORK/LEARNING: Look into PMP certification
  107. WORK/REORGANIZING: Clear out books for eBay or donations
  108. WRITING: Finish a short story
  109. [REDACTED]
  110. [REDACTED]
  111. WRITING: Regularly contribute reviews to CBR
  112. WRITING: Submit for publication a short story
  113. WRITING: Write a new short story
  114. [REDACTED]
  115. [REDACTED]
  116. ZENITH: Be happy

6 thoughts on “Uberlist 2016

  1. […] I start working on my 2017 Uberlist, it seemed like a good idea to look back at what I tried to accomplish in 2016. Life has a funny way of surprising us, and 2016 was full of a lot of personal surprises and […]

Comments are closed.