010 Make wedding album/scrapbook

What's this about?

I got married last year. Other than sending out prints of group shots with Christmas cards, we haven't done much with the wedding photographs. This task involves getting some prints made and sticking them into an album. If some other things - order of service, fabric scraps, whatever - also get into this album, no harm done.


Why do I want to do this?

Because it's much more fun looking at pictures in a book than on my hard drive.


How will I know when it's done?

I'll have a book full of wedding photos and other mementoes, and these things will not fall out of the book every time I pick it up.


This will be recorded in a post here.

011 Compile a family lexicon/bank of family stories

What's this about?

I used to think that my family was a bit odd. Later, I worked out that it was indeed a bit odd, but not really much more so than anybody else's. Anyway, it has some fantastic stories, and also occasionally communicates in a fasion not entirely comprehensible to the outside world. ('Snape', for example, is not a character in Harry Potter, but a baby's nappy.)


Why do I want to do this?

I hate the thought of stories being lost as people die or grow senile. An oral tradition is all very well, but I'm not convinced that there's enough of us with good enough memories to keep it going. Safer on paper.


How will I know when it's done?

I'll have twenty family stories, and fifty family words or phrases, written down. This will only scratch the surface of the stuff that's out there, but it'll be a start.


I'll record this on el_staplador.

012 Read books by 26 authors I've not read before, one for each letter of the alphabet

Why do I want to do this?

I read a lot, but I do tend to stick to tried and true authors. I'm hoping that this will prompt me to be a bit more adventurous.


How will I know when it's done?

For every letter of the alphabet I will have read a book by an author with whose work I was previously unacquainted.


Progress can be tracked at stapsreads, though I'll also post links to the book reviews below.

A is for Andre
A is for Adams

B is for Beaton
B is for Barrico
B is for Blixen
B is for Boyd
B is for Bates
B is for Beaton (a different one)

C is for Castle
C is for Clément
C is for Cookman
C is for Child
C is for Cox

D is for Duffy
D is for Davis
D is for Delahunt
D is for Deverell
D is for Durrow
D is for Dennis

E is for Ellison

F is for Fleming
F is for Frances

G is for Gavalda
G is for Gerritsen
G is for Gaiman

H is for Holleran
H is for Hanff
H is for Homsher
H is for Hau'ofa
H is for Hislop
H is for Hawkins
H is for Hill

I is for Ishiguro
I is for Iwasaki

J is for Jin
J is for Jackson

K is for King

L is for Levy
L is for Linney
L is for Lightwood

M is for Moorcraft
M is for Martin
M is for Mitford
M is for Michaels

N is for Nothomb

O is for O'Connell

P is for Petty
P is for Pawson
P is for Phillips
P is for Paretsky
P is for Palmer
P is for Pennington

R is for Roy
R is for Roth

S is for Stockett
S is for Schmelling
S is for Stace
S is for Sayle
S is for Sands
S is for Somper

T is for Tropper
T is for Tearne
T is for Truman

V is for Vanderbes
V (or possibly A) is for von Arnim
V is for Veramu

W is for Worth
W is for Williams