BFSYODN

The Big, Fun, Scary Year Of Doing Nothing: A Gap Year of Awesome.

The premise is simple: Nori is on a gap year. Nori does not know what she wants to do. There is a list. Nori attempts to do all the things on said list during said year.

The list is ever-growing, and very much open to both suggestions and challenges. There’s a certain hazard to being up for anything, but it’s a willing risk.

Golly, is it time for a sum-up already?

The List:
1. Participate in, and win, NaNoWriMo.
Done. By the absolute skin of my teeth, yes, but done nonetheless. I got to the end, but it was mostly written in the last few days, mostly an excercise in word-padding, and I’d like very much to actually try and do it properly. Nine months on, and I still haven’t really looked at it again, but there were bits in it that I know I’d like to come back and do something with – so I guess that’s good?

2. Learn Latin (and Greek?), and get some kind of qualification in it.
Eh-hehehehehem. About that. I very much started towards this one, on the Latin front, and I did enjoy it. But it became difficult, for a number of reasons, and I didn’t finish the course. I still have the stuff, though, and I’d very much like to come back to it sometime.

3. Go back to dancing.
Did that. Like a boss. Then promptly buggered off to Coventry, and didn’t return at Christmas, because I’d like to find a new dancing group. One who I don’t feel about in the same way that I do about this one. Dancing is still love, though.

4. Read at least 52 books.
I believe, a yes. Got terrible at writing them down, but with the amount of reading aloud I’ve done of late…

5. Learn to drive.
Fail. Next year, hopefully. When I have the time and monies.

6. Get a job (or three).
Win. I had several. Varying levels of enjoyment, reward, etc. (I even quit one!) Grown Up Points abound.

7. Finish Queen’s Guide Award.
Fail. Because I quit. Having decided that, although I could, I didn’t want to finish because I didn’t feel proud enough of what I’d acheieved and wanted to start again from scratch and do better. So I am. (Yes, I know. I do know.)

8. Finish Chief Guide’s Challenge.
Not done. But am further towards it, have done some splendid things, and am in no mind to rush it rather than acheive something worthwhile.

9. Buy a ukulele.
Done. Shopping whilst trekking through London with half your life on your back, FTW.

10. Actually learn to be decent on the ukulele.
I’d like to think so. Sufficiently good to be able to sight-read most not-horrendous things. Able to play where people can hear (although, being me, wouldn’t exactly say willing). Enjoy it a hell of a lot.

11. Make a move on that ‘learning the bagpipes’ thing.
An evening of hilarity and horror with a tune-challenged chanter (sorry, Alix!) make this a win.

12. Knit a new winter hat.
So, yes. Have done this. Tend to wear it as an under-hat when it’s chilly, due to the dug-up awesome of my current hat, but it is done.

13. Learn to crochet.
Thanks to the indescribable patience of a certain Dagmar (thank you, and sorry!) battling an unteachable Nori, yes. Although I still do it terribly badly, but hey.

14. Get better at the letter-writing thing.
I did a fair bit of letter-writing/posting things. Never as much as I would like, but that’s because I’m crazy. I’ve also received a lot of lovely, awesome post both up here and at home. Win. <3

15. Write that stuff I’ve been meaning to.
Yes.

16. Find some way not to lose my (pitiful) German skills, and possibly improve them.
“Denke nie gedacht zu haben, denn das Denken der Gedanken ist gedankenloses Denken. Wenn du denkst, du denkst, dann denkst du nur, du denkst. Aber denken tust du nie, du gedankenloses Vieh!”
I’m still as terrible as ever, but do have fun…

17. Go on one of those much looked-at SCdancing courses.
Nope. Not helped by leaving dancing, mind.

18. Do something with some of all that stuff I make.
Acheived, glaube ich. There’ve been a lot of presents, a lot of things put to good use, and am working, quite acheivably indeed, towards what I think I might’ve been getting at here. So, yes.

19. Make some decent stuff.
I like to think so. I’ve certainly had great fun experimenting with a number of things.

20. Improve my juggling/progress enough so that I can use the Damn Batons.
Well, I’m no baton girl. But considering that this time last year, juggling meant throwing things up on the air and hitting others on the head as they came back down, I think that my ability to now do many consecutive passes [usually] without causing anyone else bodily harm is a win. Will eventually master batons too. Yus.

21. FINALLY get the hang of the treble recorder (&itsmusic).
I can do well enough to play most all the morris tunes on it, several hymns, a deal of noodling. Still struggle a bit with the music confusion, but it’s a process. Practise makes semi-not-mediocre, eh?

22. Keep up with Parasesquipedal. Yeah.
Well, we talked about it. I think we made a decision. That’s well enough with me.

23. Sailing! Tall Ship sailing! Woo!
I cannot tell you just how long ago this feels. But it was still awesome. On stilts. Oh, golly. What a trip.

24. Finish the Bible-reading thing.
Nope. But then, this was a big ask. Worked on it, but there are quite a few reasons why it’s not currently going at a massive-fast pace. Am working on it, still, and, y’know, taking a theology degree and that will do some, but am definitely not coming at it from the same perspective that I was.

25. Sort out all the crap in my bedroom. And possibly get rid of some of it.
Oh, yes. LIKE A BOSS, MATE.

26. Learn to play golf.
Ish. My dad’s still meant to be teaching me. I’m still no good. I think I could’ve done more towards this one.

27. Find out more about that family history I should definitely know but of which I only have a fragmentary understanding.
I think, yes? I’d still like to know more, and I very much want to write it down so that I do not forget.

28. Make an active effort to explore my faith.
Most certainly a yes, but most uncertain as to what came out of it. I’ve been in a few very different places this year, and I’m not sure quite where that is now, how I feel (ech, I know), and what the outcome is/will be. But it’s an exploration, and that in itself is both fun and scary. And surprisingly big.

29. Learn to solve a Rubik’s cube.
Yes, but have yet to do a whole one. Somehow it’s hard even with the answer. Perhaps I’m not doing this right?

30. Learn to recite pi to 100 decimal places (not just 50).
(Still a little shaky)
3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679

31. Rewatch all of the Star Wars films.
Still need to watch 6, but am nearly there. Will finish before college.

32. Make laptop, camera, and uke cases.
Yes, and one has dinosaurs! Need to sort out zips, because I am useless at them and one has now broken, but am still a little pleased with how this went.

33. Find myself a spindle and learn to spin wool.
Fail. Must find a spindle and spin, posthaste.

34. Make an item of clothing for myself (that is not the aforementioned winter hat).
I’m counting my morris kit here. If not, my scarf and gloves. Because, yes.

35. Make a time capsule.
Work-in-progress. Quite excited about it. Have decided, I think, to open it after I finish college. Let’s see how things change, eh?

36. Dance out with The Wild Hunt.
Due to Iona-ing, have not danced out. Have played out, and there were attempts to persuade me to dance as well, having been assured that I would indeed be good enough to do so, so that’s good enough for me. There will be many other dancing times.

37. Visit somewhere in England, Scotland, and Wales.
Still, as with the rest of my life, have completely failed to visit Wales. Someday. But two out of three ain’t bad.

38. Handmake all, or the vast majority of, my Christmas presents.
Win. I believe all my presents last year were either handmade or recycled, or both. Which does make me happy, and I think shall become a theme.

39. Expand vocabulary of memory-poems.
Win, if not so much of one as I would like.

40. Learn to skate backwards.
WIN! (Copious amounts of falling over notwithstanding.)

41. Attend a folk festival.
I’m counting Greenbelt, because although I was going to go elsewhere with morris, I then Ionaed, so couldn’t. I very much like this sort of thing, though, so will be persuing in the future.

42. Make an utterly ridiculous purchase and make awesome from it.
Win. On several counts. Not sure about the one I meant or not, but think probably not not.

What a year [and a bit, which totally did not go according to plan in any way even a little]!