Moving...

So in light of all of the technical issues I've had, A Better Rhino is moving from blogger.  You can now find me at:

http://abetterrhino.wordpress.com/

You can look for me there. 

Intermission

So I'm having some trouble with blogger.  It doesn't want to let me post and/or publish my posts.  The blog will be back ASAP once I get it figured out. 

A Partial List

So I thought I had better get this up and going a little bit - I have a bunch of goals written out, but I have no idea how many are on the list. 

1. Eat at 15 restaurants that I’ve seen on tv (0/15)
2. Decide on 3 locations to scatter ashes
3. Visit a city that I’ve never been
4. Visit 10 states (starting today), including 1 that I’ve never visited before (0/10)
5. Ride the City of New Orleans train from Chicago to New Orleans
6. Drive route 66 from start to finish
7. Walk to Mordor (hobbit gear optional)
8. Go to the gym 3x/week for two months
9. Complete 100 push up training plan
10. Complete 200 sit up training plan
11. Drink 64 ounces of water every day for 7 days in a row
12. Get a facial
13. Find out my blood type
14. Take a language class
15. Take a knife skills class
16. Take a couple’s cooking class
17. Take gun safety class
18. Take the GRE exam
19. Learn to eat with chopsticks
20. Take a self-defense class
21. Learn to French braid
22. Eat at home every day for thirty days in a row (0/30)      
23. Completely pay off credit card with the highest balance
24. Ride in a small airplane
25. Take a flying lesson
26. Design my perfect tattoo
27. Sleep in a wigwam
28. Go to shooting range
29. Throw a murder mystery party
30. Watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies (0/3)
31. Read Complete Money Makeover book
32. Research all state capitals, 1 each week (0/50)
33. Read all books of the bible – including Apocrypha (0/38)
34. Watch all Elvis movies (0/31)
35. Read all Harry Potter books (0/7)
36. Try 5 new foods (0/5)
37. Watch all of the Best Picture winning movies (0/82)
38. Make a complete family book with contact information for all family and friends
39. Write 50 handwritten notes/letters
40. Spend a weekend with mother-in-law at retreat
41. Send someone flowers for no reason
42. Go on a picnic with a sister-in-law

 I'm still working on it.  Anybody got any ideas? 

Goal i (pre-goal)

Feeling as though I may have been a touch hasty with announcing the blog.  Goal i - a pre-goal, because I refuse to count it toward my total - is to think of 101 things I want to do.  Have you ever realized how difficult it is to think of 101 things you want to do?  I mean realistically.  Not "Marry Orlando Bloom" - which would definitely make the top ten of my 101 goals were I not committed to creating realistic, attainable, specific goals...dammit. 

So I've started a tentative list of categories for goals, which I'm hoping will keep the brain wheels well oiled - like a body-builder.  Without  the steroids.  I actually searched Google for an image to go with that thought, but 86'd it when I threw up in the back of my mouth a little bit. 

Without further ado, my tentative categories are:

Places to visit
Physical/Fitness goals
Skills to learn
Things to own
Financial milestones
Risks to take
Content to consume
Things to create
Relationship changes
Acts of philanthropy 

I have a couple of fun ideas percolating in the brain box.  Including "complete a walk to Mordor."  I love nerds.  Someone estimated that the hobbits walked 1,779 miles.  But, since one simply does not walk into Mordor...(oh, yeah - I went there), the idea is to simply walk 1,779 miles within the given time period.  I am contemplating spicing this one up by completing a walk to Mordor while dressed as a hobbit. 

I mean, it doesn't look as though it would be too hard to scare up a reasonable facsimile of hobbit couture.  Big cape, linen shirt with puffy sleeves, maybe a vest - rub dirt all over my face.  The trick, of course, will be getting Misha to come anywhere with me in public while I'm dressed as a hobbit.  But one problem at a time, I'm getting ahead of myself...

One goal down - 100 to go.

It Begins

So my friend Vitka has a t-shirt with this logo on it. 

We once discussed whether it was an image meant to amuse or whether it is some sort of a statement about society's disdain of anything less than perfect beauty. Vitka mentioned that the shirt had confused a man she was dating.

"Why," he said, "Would the rhino want to be a unicorn? Why doesn't she just want to be a better rhino?"

"He just doesn't get it, " Vitka told me then.

"True," said I, "Because it's never about being a better rhino."

I had thought at the time that this was a kick-ass name for something.  A band? A blog? I didn't know.  Yesterday I stumbled across a project called 101 goals in 1001 days and I thought - There it is, the perfect use for the rhino blog.

My blogging purpose:  To make a list of 101 goals that I'd like to try and complete within the next 1001 days and then write about it as I work to cross each goal off the list.  Will I go all the way?  I dunno - life has a habit of getting in the way of ambitious plans.  But I've started - and that's half the battle, right? 

Let's face it - I'll never be a unicorn. And that's ok - I'll settle for just being a better rhino.