I had been wanting to put this list out since a while, but somehow never got to it. It’s interesting because I guess about 6 months back, the lineup would have been different. It speaks volumes of the tremendous growth both in the quantity and quality of Android apps. Far from being an distant cousin to the Apple store, Android has come of age. From the freckles to the thin mustache to the roughening voice to finally the first official glass of beer, Android has finally grown up. Without any further ado, here we go:
Newsrob: It is probably the best free RSS reader in the market. And even the paid version(ad-free) is well worth the price. They have done frequent updates to keep the app bug free and up to date. For a Google reader addict like me, this app is indispensable.
Cube Music Player: Android’s default music player is one of the best examples of a bare bones product. It is not going to win any brownie points for its looks for sure. Even the features are very limited. There are a few alternatives in the market, but the Cube player is probably the most pretty among the lot. It’s still in beta, so one could expect some more improvements.
Aldiko Reader: This is my favorite Ebook reader app. Now reading books on a 3in screen is definitely not one of the best experiences in life, but for those moments when the phone is your only companion and you need to read that story of Sherlock, Aldiko serves you well. It has a nice clean interface and beautiful wooden style display of your library. It accepts a variety of formats and has an in -built search functionality to find and download publicly available books.
Advanced Task Killer: When Steve Jobs took a dig at Android during the launch of the Iphone 4g OS, one didn't feel the usual indignation at his comment. At least owners of older Android devices like the G1, myTouch, Cliq etc will agree that the Android OS does tend to get sluggish when you have multiple apps open. Although there quite a few task managers, I like this one the best. The best part about it is the widget on the home screen which lets you kill all running apps with one click.
Opera Mini 5: For a firefox like experience with tabs and speed dial on your phone, Opera is the best you can get. Opera is also blazingly fast even on 3g and edge connections. Although I haven’t found a way yet to make it the default browser. Maybe once it comes out of beta, we should be able to do it.
Google listen: This is by far the best podcast app in the market. Although it bears the Google mark of minimalistic design, it is perfectly functional. It' is easy to search for podcasts and subscribe to them. A recent allergy attack had my eyes red for a week. This led to a rediscovery of sorts of the Listen app. Just the right app for those lazy afternoons to spend listening to ‘This American life’.
Google Maps Navigation: This is definitely the crown piece of the Android ecosystem. The one app which the Iphone doesn’t have in its arsenal. Complete voice guided navigation, with turn by turn directions, text to speech and live traffic updates. Best of all, it’s completely free. Google has effectively made all existing GPS systems obsolete.
Pandora: The best internet streaming app across appstores. Pandora’s huge music database is available to you from the convenience of your handset. It runs fine even on 3g and Edge. Also you can run it at the background while doing other activities(Hint: subtle dig at Iphones)
Shopsavvy: There are a bunch of shopping apps on the market including Google’s own Shopper. The best ones have more or less the same features viz. barcode scanner, product comparisions and prices matches from nearby stores. Shopsavvy is one of the older ones and they have updated constantly to keep the product in good shape. Personally I’ve always found the cheapest prices through Shopsavvy.
Sportstap: This is a must have for any sports lover. Got all your scores covered. Instant real time updates and the ability to follow your favorite teams. Simple, elegant and highly functional.
Newsrob: It is probably the best free RSS reader in the market. And even the paid version(ad-free) is well worth the price. They have done frequent updates to keep the app bug free and up to date. For a Google reader addict like me, this app is indispensable.
Cube Music Player: Android’s default music player is one of the best examples of a bare bones product. It is not going to win any brownie points for its looks for sure. Even the features are very limited. There are a few alternatives in the market, but the Cube player is probably the most pretty among the lot. It’s still in beta, so one could expect some more improvements.
Aldiko Reader: This is my favorite Ebook reader app. Now reading books on a 3in screen is definitely not one of the best experiences in life, but for those moments when the phone is your only companion and you need to read that story of Sherlock, Aldiko serves you well. It has a nice clean interface and beautiful wooden style display of your library. It accepts a variety of formats and has an in -built search functionality to find and download publicly available books.
Advanced Task Killer: When Steve Jobs took a dig at Android during the launch of the Iphone 4g OS, one didn't feel the usual indignation at his comment. At least owners of older Android devices like the G1, myTouch, Cliq etc will agree that the Android OS does tend to get sluggish when you have multiple apps open. Although there quite a few task managers, I like this one the best. The best part about it is the widget on the home screen which lets you kill all running apps with one click.
Opera Mini 5: For a firefox like experience with tabs and speed dial on your phone, Opera is the best you can get. Opera is also blazingly fast even on 3g and edge connections. Although I haven’t found a way yet to make it the default browser. Maybe once it comes out of beta, we should be able to do it.
Google listen: This is by far the best podcast app in the market. Although it bears the Google mark of minimalistic design, it is perfectly functional. It' is easy to search for podcasts and subscribe to them. A recent allergy attack had my eyes red for a week. This led to a rediscovery of sorts of the Listen app. Just the right app for those lazy afternoons to spend listening to ‘This American life’.
Google Maps Navigation: This is definitely the crown piece of the Android ecosystem. The one app which the Iphone doesn’t have in its arsenal. Complete voice guided navigation, with turn by turn directions, text to speech and live traffic updates. Best of all, it’s completely free. Google has effectively made all existing GPS systems obsolete.
Pandora: The best internet streaming app across appstores. Pandora’s huge music database is available to you from the convenience of your handset. It runs fine even on 3g and Edge. Also you can run it at the background while doing other activities(Hint: subtle dig at Iphones)
Shopsavvy: There are a bunch of shopping apps on the market including Google’s own Shopper. The best ones have more or less the same features viz. barcode scanner, product comparisions and prices matches from nearby stores. Shopsavvy is one of the older ones and they have updated constantly to keep the product in good shape. Personally I’ve always found the cheapest prices through Shopsavvy.
Sportstap: This is a must have for any sports lover. Got all your scores covered. Instant real time updates and the ability to follow your favorite teams. Simple, elegant and highly functional.
To be honest, this is the year I finally managed to catch a bunch of good international movies. Some of the really small gems which get lost. That is where Netflix comes in, gathering all of those great films in a nice HD streamable format.
‘Turtles can fly’ is the story of a Kurdish village ravaged by Saddam and his army. Its basically a refugee village with only kids and a few old men left. The kids are led by Satellite, a dynamic 12-13 year old named after his ability to install and configure satellite dishes. Satellite also leads the kids on mine clearing missions. He then sells the mines, thus providing the only source of employment. Its a relentless tragedy as one observes kids without an arm or a leg most likely from accidents during the picking of mines. However life must go on and Satellite and his group treat the missing limbs in a matter of fact fashion.
Satellite has his eyes for a pale beautiful girl who lives with her armless brother and an small kid presumably their brother. The armless boy is supposed to have some powers of clairvoyance. And the predictions he makes aren’t always pleasant. There is a lot of pain in the girl’s eyes and as the horror of her past is relived, one realizes the pain and agony that people and specially kids have to go through each day in that region. As everyone around prays for American intervention, war ironically seems to be the panacea to all their problems.
The movie starts off at a meandering pace letting us into the lives of the kids and their suffering. But pretty soon, the story grips you and one is inevitably tied in to each of the characters and they all mean something to you. The music is haunting and the children's performances are scarily natural. It helps that the kids aren't actors but mainly real children from the region. The film takes an tragicomic sort of approach, dealing with the destruction in a nonchalant sort of way. Its been directed by Bahman Ghobadi, an Kurdish Iranian filmmaker and the music is by Hossein Alizadeh. Probably one of the finest movies of the decade; one that is chilling in the effect it leaves on you.
Quizzing was one of my favorite hobbies as a kid, so imagine my pain when one sees inane and utterly ridiculous quizzes on facebook each day. A few samples for your perusal
What Greek god are you?
Really? I’m dull, non-descript with an unimpressive body and you have the nerve to call me Adonis and you show the sculpture of nude young man with flat abs(though he had a small dick). Whoever told them that Gods looked like that anyway.
How perverted are you?
After a series of images of close ups of body parts of women asking what I thought of them and then showing the full image as something else, I came to the conclusion that any straight man would have answered like me. The result, not surprisingly: '”You are really perverted! Would you like to post this result on your status?”. Why on earth would I want to put this on my status, But there was just a “Yes” button and no way to say “No” on the popup. So I clicked the cross to close it, it went out with a message saying, “Thanks! you status has been updated.” WTF!
How cool are you?
This one was an absolute bummer:
What is the capital of Peru: a) Lima b) Chile c) Peru city
Lima! I got this one
Who is known as the father of nuclear physics? a) Rutherford b) Einstein c) Chuck Norris
Not Einstein, its Rutherford. Got that one as well.
Which is the smallest country in the world? a) Bahamas b) Vatican City c) Cuba
That was easy. Vatican
I was feeling confident, years of quizzing had kept everything fresh in mind. It took a little extra time to process the results and then came the surprise: “Sorry! You are a douchebag”.
Who is your celebrity twin?
Now this one seemed to be aimed at girls, but I had no clue. It didn’t ask for my gender before I started. This was clearly the most difficult of them all, I had to think really hard. You needed have the brain the size of pea to crack this one. Anything bigger, you’re automatically disqualified.
How would you describe your character: Hmm… Obnoxious.
What do you do at a club: Do my super seduction dance. Mostly everyone goes away, unless they completely wasted; then they start to find it interesting.
Who is your favorite Disney princess? This one is a tough one man. I’ve to go with Sleeping beauty, she had the best rack in the cartoon illustrations.
What is your favorite candy? I don’t care, I eat them all
Congrats! Your celebrity twin is Paris Hilton! I passed out after that.
What Greek god are you?
Really? I’m dull, non-descript with an unimpressive body and you have the nerve to call me Adonis and you show the sculpture of nude young man with flat abs(though he had a small dick). Whoever told them that Gods looked like that anyway.
How perverted are you?
After a series of images of close ups of body parts of women asking what I thought of them and then showing the full image as something else, I came to the conclusion that any straight man would have answered like me. The result, not surprisingly: '”You are really perverted! Would you like to post this result on your status?”. Why on earth would I want to put this on my status, But there was just a “Yes” button and no way to say “No” on the popup. So I clicked the cross to close it, it went out with a message saying, “Thanks! you status has been updated.” WTF!
How cool are you?
This one was an absolute bummer:
What is the capital of Peru: a) Lima b) Chile c) Peru city
Lima! I got this one
Who is known as the father of nuclear physics? a) Rutherford b) Einstein c) Chuck Norris
Not Einstein, its Rutherford. Got that one as well.
Which is the smallest country in the world? a) Bahamas b) Vatican City c) Cuba
That was easy. Vatican
I was feeling confident, years of quizzing had kept everything fresh in mind. It took a little extra time to process the results and then came the surprise: “Sorry! You are a douchebag”.
Who is your celebrity twin?
Now this one seemed to be aimed at girls, but I had no clue. It didn’t ask for my gender before I started. This was clearly the most difficult of them all, I had to think really hard. You needed have the brain the size of pea to crack this one. Anything bigger, you’re automatically disqualified.
How would you describe your character: Hmm… Obnoxious.
What do you do at a club: Do my super seduction dance. Mostly everyone goes away, unless they completely wasted; then they start to find it interesting.
Who is your favorite Disney princess? This one is a tough one man. I’ve to go with Sleeping beauty, she had the best rack in the cartoon illustrations.
What is your favorite candy? I don’t care, I eat them all
Congrats! Your celebrity twin is Paris Hilton! I passed out after that.
It’s a vain activity; one indulges in near the beginning of the year looking back the year that went by. In retrospect, the impression of 2009 is that of a very weak year. Flops rained left right and center. Some of them, big high budget duds. The producers - multiplex crisis didn’t help as well.
However personally I felt it was a pretty good year in terms of the music. So without much ado, let’s get to the songs. The songs aren’t ranked in any particular order:
1. Nayan Tarse: Amit Trivedi is undoubtedly the superstar of this year, with a breakout album in DevD. 18 OSTs, all of them from different genres were sung by a bunch of new singers. Trivedi wields the megaphone himself and the song is magic right from the first second. This is THE song for the new age Devdas’.
2. Emotional Atyachaar: Amitabh Bhattacharya and Anurag Kashyap should probably get the credit for introducing a new phrase into colloquial language. This song featured majorly in the early promotions for the film. Bony Chakravarthy was a fresh new voice. It had some funky lyrics to go. I loved the Rock version as well with some great instrumentation. (Of course, the unrated X version became very popular underground and on youtube).
3. Rehna Tu: Rahman’s first album of the year, in a year where he got 2 Oscars. Delhi 6 was gold all out. Rahman generally sings at least one song in every album of his. There have been quiet mutterings that maybe Rahman reserves the best songs for himself. But if the results are anything like this song, no one’s complaining for sure. The last 2 minutes are just pure bliss.
4. Sapno se bhare:
“Sukh Hai Alag Hai Aur Chain Alag Hai
Per Yeh Jo Dekhe Woh Nain Alag Hai
Chain To Hai Apna Sukh Hai Paraye”
These lines stayed with me a long time. The visualization is so poignant and the setting so low-key (In a realistic way). The expression on Farhan Akhtar’s face after he washes his face is probably the epitome of restrained brilliance.
5. Duniya: This one is an underrated gem. Piyush Mehra composes, writes the lyrics and sings this song. Inspired by Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, the song mocks at our society and the degradation it has suffered. It’s almost poetic, almost surreal and almost depressing. But it rescues you in the end and we are saved. You know what, just forget all this and listen to the song, eyes closed.
6. Iktara: Shankar Ehsan Loy composed a decent album for Wake Up Sid with 3 nice numbers, but then from nowhere comes Amit Trivedi and composes a bummer of a song. Right from the first beat till the end, it’s a beauty. Kavita Seth renders it in a way that just makes one cozy and happy.
7. Dhan De Nan: It’s a song that just stormed the charts and refused to leave the lips. I was doing Dhan De Nan at every excuse of a surprise. And when you see the song on the big screen that is when Vishal Bharadwaj rips you with not just the music but the visualization. Psychedelic and edgy all at once.
8. Pankhon Ko: “Rocket Singh, Salesman of the year” is one of my favorite films of the year. The movie is an example how to make an honest film. This song got lost somewhere I guess as the movie itself was. Everything was just beautifully underplayed. Salim and Suleiman are probably the most underrated amongst the current music directors. They have always made good music, but somehow they never got the respect they deserve. The lyrics by Jaideep Sahni are simple and yet inspiring. One particular line which I would like to point out: “.. Ulje nahi to kaise suljhoge, bikhre nahi to kaise nikhroge..”
9. Dil Ibaadat: Tum Mile had an amazing knockout of an album. All the songs were chartbusters. Sung by KK, this Pritam composition was an instant delight. The lyrics were just average though. Emraan Hashmi just has this knack of getting great songs for all his movies.
10. Jaao Na: Whats your Rashee was a weird movie, almost 4 hours long, rambling in parts and just a plain boring yawn fest. Coming from Ashutosh Gowarikar, one definitely had better expectations. Music always has been one of the big strengths of his movies. This time he didn’t have Rahman on board and went ahead with a new comer in Suheil Sen. I thought he was unfairly compared to Rahman and panned badly. The music was definitely not bad and had a lot of interesting compositions. This one was a breezy number sung by Sen himself (What is with all these composers singing the best songs themselves). Some great strumming and an overall nice instrumentation make it a nice number.
11. Behti Hawa: Alright, wasn’t this supposed to be a top 10 list? Yeah, but I decided to add a couple of bonuses. Coming right at the end of the year in the biggest hit of all time; the music underwhelmed many who wanted a Rahman – Aamir combo again. But Shantanu Moitra has a quiet confidence in his work, and somehow his songs always seem to work well when seen with the movie itself. Spectacularly shot on a road trip to Shimla and then Ladakh, it’s a feast for the eyes and ears together.
12. Arziyan: I remember reading at Moifightclub about this song being probably a part of Rahman’s conversion process coming in the lines of Khwaja and Piya haji ali. Funny as it might be, one has begun to start waiting for that next soulful melody coming from the master. Javed Ali has had such a good year he is just so brilliant in each of his efforts.
There were a few other good songs:
However personally I felt it was a pretty good year in terms of the music. So without much ado, let’s get to the songs. The songs aren’t ranked in any particular order:
1. Nayan Tarse: Amit Trivedi is undoubtedly the superstar of this year, with a breakout album in DevD. 18 OSTs, all of them from different genres were sung by a bunch of new singers. Trivedi wields the megaphone himself and the song is magic right from the first second. This is THE song for the new age Devdas’.
2. Emotional Atyachaar: Amitabh Bhattacharya and Anurag Kashyap should probably get the credit for introducing a new phrase into colloquial language. This song featured majorly in the early promotions for the film. Bony Chakravarthy was a fresh new voice. It had some funky lyrics to go. I loved the Rock version as well with some great instrumentation. (Of course, the unrated X version became very popular underground and on youtube).
3. Rehna Tu: Rahman’s first album of the year, in a year where he got 2 Oscars. Delhi 6 was gold all out. Rahman generally sings at least one song in every album of his. There have been quiet mutterings that maybe Rahman reserves the best songs for himself. But if the results are anything like this song, no one’s complaining for sure. The last 2 minutes are just pure bliss.
4. Sapno se bhare:
“Sukh Hai Alag Hai Aur Chain Alag Hai
Per Yeh Jo Dekhe Woh Nain Alag Hai
Chain To Hai Apna Sukh Hai Paraye”
These lines stayed with me a long time. The visualization is so poignant and the setting so low-key (In a realistic way). The expression on Farhan Akhtar’s face after he washes his face is probably the epitome of restrained brilliance.
5. Duniya: This one is an underrated gem. Piyush Mehra composes, writes the lyrics and sings this song. Inspired by Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, the song mocks at our society and the degradation it has suffered. It’s almost poetic, almost surreal and almost depressing. But it rescues you in the end and we are saved. You know what, just forget all this and listen to the song, eyes closed.
6. Iktara: Shankar Ehsan Loy composed a decent album for Wake Up Sid with 3 nice numbers, but then from nowhere comes Amit Trivedi and composes a bummer of a song. Right from the first beat till the end, it’s a beauty. Kavita Seth renders it in a way that just makes one cozy and happy.
7. Dhan De Nan: It’s a song that just stormed the charts and refused to leave the lips. I was doing Dhan De Nan at every excuse of a surprise. And when you see the song on the big screen that is when Vishal Bharadwaj rips you with not just the music but the visualization. Psychedelic and edgy all at once.
8. Pankhon Ko: “Rocket Singh, Salesman of the year” is one of my favorite films of the year. The movie is an example how to make an honest film. This song got lost somewhere I guess as the movie itself was. Everything was just beautifully underplayed. Salim and Suleiman are probably the most underrated amongst the current music directors. They have always made good music, but somehow they never got the respect they deserve. The lyrics by Jaideep Sahni are simple and yet inspiring. One particular line which I would like to point out: “.. Ulje nahi to kaise suljhoge, bikhre nahi to kaise nikhroge..”
9. Dil Ibaadat: Tum Mile had an amazing knockout of an album. All the songs were chartbusters. Sung by KK, this Pritam composition was an instant delight. The lyrics were just average though. Emraan Hashmi just has this knack of getting great songs for all his movies.
10. Jaao Na: Whats your Rashee was a weird movie, almost 4 hours long, rambling in parts and just a plain boring yawn fest. Coming from Ashutosh Gowarikar, one definitely had better expectations. Music always has been one of the big strengths of his movies. This time he didn’t have Rahman on board and went ahead with a new comer in Suheil Sen. I thought he was unfairly compared to Rahman and panned badly. The music was definitely not bad and had a lot of interesting compositions. This one was a breezy number sung by Sen himself (What is with all these composers singing the best songs themselves). Some great strumming and an overall nice instrumentation make it a nice number.
11. Behti Hawa: Alright, wasn’t this supposed to be a top 10 list? Yeah, but I decided to add a couple of bonuses. Coming right at the end of the year in the biggest hit of all time; the music underwhelmed many who wanted a Rahman – Aamir combo again. But Shantanu Moitra has a quiet confidence in his work, and somehow his songs always seem to work well when seen with the movie itself. Spectacularly shot on a road trip to Shimla and then Ladakh, it’s a feast for the eyes and ears together.
12. Arziyan: I remember reading at Moifightclub about this song being probably a part of Rahman’s conversion process coming in the lines of Khwaja and Piya haji ali. Funny as it might be, one has begun to start waiting for that next soulful melody coming from the master. Javed Ali has had such a good year he is just so brilliant in each of his efforts.
There were a few other good songs:
- Pardesi, Payaliya from DevD,
- ‘Masakalli’, ‘Dilli hai mere yaar’ from Delhi-6
- Couple of great songs from Raaz and Jashn,
- Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani had a super album with 5 great songs
- ‘Give me some sunshine’ from 3 Idiots
- All songs from Gulal
- A nice all round album in Love aaj kal
- Couple of good songs in Radio (Himesh baba is still not done yet)
Me: (calling a long lost friend) Hey happy new year!
Other side: (Weird accent) Happy new year!
Me: Kaisa hai saale ?
Other side: (Still weird) Do I know you sir?
Me: bahut ho gaya nautanki
Other side: I don't understand your language
Me: Alright , ass****, stop f***ing around. You never called as well.
Other side: ----(profanities ensue)----
Me: (apologizing profusely) ---hang up---
I technically cheated on this one, since I made it on the 31st, but I was just trying to help….. myself. Anyways, the original recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman.(Awesome blog, addictive read).
As always when making new recipes you improvise, intentionally or otherwise. Here is the recipe from pioneer woman. I couldn't find any brie at Walmart, so had to make do with some cottage cheese. I completely forgot about the white wine, since it was optional. The finishing was bad, since I didn’t wait to dress it up but just started devouring it. Thankfully I managed to grab one picture with my cell phone to show for my efforts.
It didn’t taste too bad and the 3 people who tasted it other than me are still alive. So I’m counting it as a success. The secret of happiness is not to go for perfection, but to just go for it.
As always when making new recipes you improvise, intentionally or otherwise. Here is the recipe from pioneer woman. I couldn't find any brie at Walmart, so had to make do with some cottage cheese. I completely forgot about the white wine, since it was optional. The finishing was bad, since I didn’t wait to dress it up but just started devouring it. Thankfully I managed to grab one picture with my cell phone to show for my efforts.
It didn’t taste too bad and the 3 people who tasted it other than me are still alive. So I’m counting it as a success. The secret of happiness is not to go for perfection, but to just go for it.
It’s always a good thing to create resolutions for a new year irrespective of whether one is able to achieve them or not. The very fact that one has identified that something needs to be done is a good first step. Resolutions generally tend to be like promises to adhere to some routine or habit. Conversely they could also be commitments towards forsaking of bad habits.
In the past, my resolutions have actually turned into omens of misfortune. Whatever I included in my list would eventually turn out to the exact opposite. In my final year of engineering, I resolved to get into one of the top B schools and do my MBA. Its been 5 years, I’m nowhere close to it and might never do it. Right from my 5th grade, I resolved each year to top my class. Needless to mention, I never ever topped any class after that. I came third, I came second, but never ranked first. So I actually stopped making resolutions considering them as cursed. But for some reason, I’ve decided to give it one more shot.
But instead of resolving to make changes in my everyday cycle, I’m going to modify the tradition a bit by resolving to knock off items from a bucket list for the year. This will no doubt affect my lifestyle, but it helps to focus towards less abstract goals. Hence, I haven’t included items like going to the gym regularly or waking up early or maintaining a diet. I couldn’t set any specific goals for those unless of course the aim is to work towards a 6 pack or attain size zero. One resolution that doesn’t appear on the list is to blog regularly. The reason being, this whole exercise is a an attempt to provide fodder for my blog.
So here’s my list in no particular order
p.p.s. Maybe I should also set a goal to find a girlfriend. But then that one item on the list might cannibalize everything else since I’m so bad at it.
In the past, my resolutions have actually turned into omens of misfortune. Whatever I included in my list would eventually turn out to the exact opposite. In my final year of engineering, I resolved to get into one of the top B schools and do my MBA. Its been 5 years, I’m nowhere close to it and might never do it. Right from my 5th grade, I resolved each year to top my class. Needless to mention, I never ever topped any class after that. I came third, I came second, but never ranked first. So I actually stopped making resolutions considering them as cursed. But for some reason, I’ve decided to give it one more shot.
But instead of resolving to make changes in my everyday cycle, I’m going to modify the tradition a bit by resolving to knock off items from a bucket list for the year. This will no doubt affect my lifestyle, but it helps to focus towards less abstract goals. Hence, I haven’t included items like going to the gym regularly or waking up early or maintaining a diet. I couldn’t set any specific goals for those unless of course the aim is to work towards a 6 pack or attain size zero. One resolution that doesn’t appear on the list is to blog regularly. The reason being, this whole exercise is a an attempt to provide fodder for my blog.
So here’s my list in no particular order
- 52 new dishes
- 365 interesting photos
- Actuarial Exams 1 and 2
- FRM 1 and 2
- Learn scuba diving
- Learn one musical instrument
- Learn one dance form
- History of rock music
- Course in literary history
- Course in western music history
- Game theory course
- Learn French
- Programming project
- Learn public speaking
p.p.s. Maybe I should also set a goal to find a girlfriend. But then that one item on the list might cannibalize everything else since I’m so bad at it.