006 Sing four solos at church

What's this about?

I'm a committed member of my church choir, singing (in a typical week, in termtime) two services on Sunday and a practice on Thursday. Our repertoire covers most of the standards of the [Anglican] English choral tradition, not to mention a few things that no other church choir in the country is known to have touched, swinging happily between about 1550 and 2010. Occasionally there's an opportunity to sing a few solo lines or a solo verse. I'd like to take up such opportunities.


Why do I want to do this?

Singing is an important part of my life in both sacred and secular contexts. I'm not a great singer - but I'm not actually a bad one; I'm just very underconfident (it comes of living all your life with people who sing your own part better than you do). I want to force myself out of my comfort zone.


How will I know when it's done?

I will have sung a stretch of music at least four bars long, either alone or in an ensemble small enough that my voice can be clearly distinguished and attributed to me, in the course of worship, four times.


I'll record this in this journal, probably on this post.

007 Sing three solos at another public event

What's this about?

And, more to the point, what does the picture of me in my little brother's hat have to do with anything? Well, I took it towards the end of a rather raucous party, which is a context in which you are fairly likely to discover me singing. Being of a somewhat retiring nature, I don't tend to open my mouth in front of strangers.


Why do I want to do this?

Singing is an important part of my life in both sacred and secular contexts. I'm not a great singer - but I'm not actually a bad one; I'm just very underconfident (it comes of living all your life with people who sing your own part better than you do). I want to force myself out of my comfort zone.


How will I know when it's done?

I will have sung a stretch of music at least four bars long, either alone or in an ensemble small enough that my voice can be clearly distinguished and attributed to me, in front of a group of people that includes strangers, three times. Alternatively, I will have one recording of my singing, other than the Cats' Duet, posted somewhere on the internet, or broadcast as part of my husband's Advent Calendar, and will have sung a stretch of music at least four bars long, either alone or in an ensemble small enough that my voice can be clearly distinguished and attributed to me, twice.


I'll record this in this journal, probably on this post. If a recording ends up on the internet, I'll post a link to it.

008 Do Project 365

What's this about?

Project 365 is a pretty simple concept: you take a photograph every day for a year.


Why do I want to do this?

Something my mum says: you only get good at something by doing it. Oh, you can study something, you can read around it, but you'll only really start to improve when you try it for yourself. It's difficult to learn from other people's mistakes, and you can only prove that you have when you risk making your own. I'd like to be a better photographer.

This is the only goal on my list that runs for more than a month's worth of consecutive days. This is because I will always be able to take a photograph, and it can take me as little as what? five seconds?


How will I know when it's done?

I will have taken 365 photographs on 365 consecutive days.


Progress can be followed at my Flickr page.

009 Collect a set of photographs of the Royal Arms through the ages; be able to blazon and date each

What's this about?

The Royal Arms has changed through the ages. It didn't look like the picture above all the way up to 1640, and it doesn't look like that today. Quite apart from anything else, it hasn't always been the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, though I'll be concentrating on 1603 onwards for simplicity's sake. The heraldic changes reflect the historical changes.


Why do I want to do this?

I've always been interested in heraldry, and would like to get a bit more comfortable with the language and principles.


How will I know I've done it?

I'll have a set of at least eleven photographs depicting the various forms the Royal Arms has taken since 1603. I will include earlier examples if I can find them, but will not break my heart if I can't collect the entire set. I will have written a blazon (heraldic description) to accompany each photograph. In addition, I will be able to put them in chronological order using the heraldic features alone.


I'll record this on Flickr.