January 27, 2014: The Sushi
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I ate sushi for the first time, but...this...wasn't it. I mean, it was pretty low key and totally uneventful! I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it, either. There was no fanfare before, during, or after the eating of the spicy salmon roll. I didn't make a face, I didn't giggle and squirm a little before putting the first piece in my mouth, and - perhaps most importantly and surprisingly - I didn't spit it out.
I found it to be a little bland and really squishy. I'm sure that had to do with the fact that it was salmon and that this particular sushi chef chops up the raw fish rather than using whole pieces. I ate two pieces, actually, just to see what would happen. Would it better the second time? Um. No. Not really. It was still squishy. And bland.
So, Kirsten let me taste a bite of her salmon sashimi (I think that's what it was. I don't have all the sushi vocabulary down yet). It, too, was bland and squishy. I told her it didn't have any flavor whatsoever. I didn't get it. If it doesn't have a flavor, then what is the appeal? I'm going to be honest, I am pretty disappointed in my first sushi experience. I was hoping I would love it because, well, it just seems cool to like sushi. And now this is just one more way in which I am decidedly not cool. *sigh*
In spite of the disappointment, I am still proud of myself. I did this small thing that I have avoided for years because "I don't like fish." I made this decision that I was going to push myself out of my very cozy comfort zone and I did it. Me. It may be stretching it to say something like, "If I can eat sushi, I can do anything!" but it actually might be true for 50-year-old Chris Potter.
And here's the thing. I've decided I'm not done trying sushi. It's kind of like a challenge now. Maybe I will like a different kind of sushi. Maybe sushi with a less-squishy fish will be better. Maybe I will get to be cool one day. Maybe.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
The List
Here is the list of 50 Things I am going to try my hardest to do over the next 12 months. They are in no particular order and I reserve the right to do them in whatever order I want - and to even edit, delete and replace them if necessary. I appreciate your company on this journey. Wish me luck!
50 Things at 50 Years: The List
1. Eat sushi
2. Perform one random act of kindness per week
3. Move to Newport, RI (July)
4. Get my first real manicure
5. Volunteer somewhere; perhaps an animal shelter
6. Write a children’s book
7. Attend a book reading
8. Join a book club
9. Take a meditation class
10. Walk a 5K for charity
11. Keep a 50 Things blog/journal
12. Get a colonoscopy
13. Read 50 books
14. Download new music in a genre I don't normally listen to
15. Try one new restaurant each season (4 times over the year)
16. Try one new food each month (either something I cook or at a restaurant)
17. Visit a local museum
18. Buy paints, supplies, and a canvas and paint something to hang on my wall
19. Learn how to crochet
20. Go see a move in the theater once a month
21. Find a good park to walk in/relax in
22. Make one new friend (in “real life”)
23. Teach Oscar a new trick or habit
24. Go to a local festival
25. Play trivia in a bar
26. Devote one night a week to being “unplugged:” no TV or computer (Nook is OK for reading)
27. Decorate my new apartment; a.k.a., actually hang things on the walls
28. Note each week with a photograph and create a “scrapbook” at the end of the year
29. Pay off at least one bill
30. Draw something worth keeping and maybe even display it
31. Take a trip to see a friend
32. Bake bread from scratch
33. Help at least one person or family who really needs it.
34. Choose an actor (or some other delineator) and watch all of his/her movies
35. Post a weekly gratitude journal on FB
36. Send birthday cards to my family members
37. Learn one new jewelry technique and post the creations on my Etsy site
38. Write a letter of protest – to a local newspaper or some other organization
39. Leave random “happy wishes” note cards on people’s cars in parking lots
40. Save money to buy a Clavinova
41. Keep a “Blessings Jar” all year. Every time something good happens, write it on a piece of paper and put it in the jar; at the end of the year, compile them all into a memoir of sorts
42. Take a MOOC class (College courses offered by reputable colleges for free to the public!)
43. Take a pottery class
44. Go on a day-long whale/seal/dolphin watching trip in Plymouth, MA
45. Go to at least one live event – a concert, play, symphony, etc.
46. Start a “Healthy Motivations” jar – donate 50 cents to myself every time I exercise and/or everyday I stick to WW. Reward myself with whatever money is in the jar at the end of the year.
47. Downsize and donate items to charity
48. Go somewhere like Gooseberry Island to watch a meteor shower
49. Make my own candles
50. Visit a planetarium and look at planets and stars and other amazing things in space through a telescope
50 Things at 50 Years: The List
1. Eat sushi
2. Perform one random act of kindness per week
3. Move to Newport, RI (July)
4. Get my first real manicure
5. Volunteer somewhere; perhaps an animal shelter
6. Write a children’s book
7. Attend a book reading
8. Join a book club
9. Take a meditation class
10. Walk a 5K for charity
11. Keep a 50 Things blog/journal
12. Get a colonoscopy
13. Read 50 books
14. Download new music in a genre I don't normally listen to
15. Try one new restaurant each season (4 times over the year)
16. Try one new food each month (either something I cook or at a restaurant)
17. Visit a local museum
18. Buy paints, supplies, and a canvas and paint something to hang on my wall
19. Learn how to crochet
20. Go see a move in the theater once a month
21. Find a good park to walk in/relax in
22. Make one new friend (in “real life”)
23. Teach Oscar a new trick or habit
24. Go to a local festival
25. Play trivia in a bar
26. Devote one night a week to being “unplugged:” no TV or computer (Nook is OK for reading)
27. Decorate my new apartment; a.k.a., actually hang things on the walls
28. Note each week with a photograph and create a “scrapbook” at the end of the year
29. Pay off at least one bill
30. Draw something worth keeping and maybe even display it
31. Take a trip to see a friend
32. Bake bread from scratch
33. Help at least one person or family who really needs it.
34. Choose an actor (or some other delineator) and watch all of his/her movies
35. Post a weekly gratitude journal on FB
36. Send birthday cards to my family members
37. Learn one new jewelry technique and post the creations on my Etsy site
38. Write a letter of protest – to a local newspaper or some other organization
39. Leave random “happy wishes” note cards on people’s cars in parking lots
40. Save money to buy a Clavinova
41. Keep a “Blessings Jar” all year. Every time something good happens, write it on a piece of paper and put it in the jar; at the end of the year, compile them all into a memoir of sorts
42. Take a MOOC class (College courses offered by reputable colleges for free to the public!)
43. Take a pottery class
44. Go on a day-long whale/seal/dolphin watching trip in Plymouth, MA
45. Go to at least one live event – a concert, play, symphony, etc.
46. Start a “Healthy Motivations” jar – donate 50 cents to myself every time I exercise and/or everyday I stick to WW. Reward myself with whatever money is in the jar at the end of the year.
47. Downsize and donate items to charity
48. Go somewhere like Gooseberry Island to watch a meteor shower
49. Make my own candles
50. Visit a planetarium and look at planets and stars and other amazing things in space through a telescope
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