"You could never publish my love..."

I'm a bit of an obsessive list-maker. My documents file on my computer is full of them, there are little index cards with notes all over my desk, I make daily to-do lists in my planner, etc. Recently I've stumbled upon a couple of sites that simultaneously appear to help and encourage my need to achieve little goals.

1. Listography - http://listography.com/
This site is pretty basic; they give you a homepage and the rest is up to you to upload and type out your own lists how you best see fit. I like that they allow for searching - makes it easier to find lists without wondering what-the-heck you named it and browsing for it on your hard drive. I intend to put all of my floating lists from my desk and computer on the site sometime this week so I can de-clutter a little (and save paper!).

2. Lists of Bests - http://www.listsofbests.com/
Users create their own "best" lists and upload them to the site. You check off what you've seen & they calculate your percentage completed. Nothing feels better than checking something off a list. they remember what you've seen/read/listened to too already so it's not too tedious. Some include "Netflix Top 200", "BBC's 'The Big Read - Books 1-100'" & "I Love Pop Culture's '1990s Movies'".

3. We Heart It - http://weheartit.com
Blog Goggles led me to this, actually. Devoted to compiling all images you find lovely, inspiring, creative, etc. in one place. When surfing the web, if you find an image you like, you click "I <3 IT" on your Bookmarks Toolbar (at least on Firefox) and voila! it (usually) appears with the rest of your "hearted" photos. The only things I dislike are that I can't seem to search within my profile for certain images so you have to filter through the pages, but it's better than taking up free space on my computer!

4. 43 Things - http://43things.com/
This is probably my favorite of the four. Users write a list of up to 43 goals for themselves, write entries about the, can "cheer" each other's goals, and write blurbs on "How to do ___" when they've accomplished them. You can also set mini-challenges to complete one goal by a certain date, "or else you will ____". The site keeps track of the number of goals completed - it's always nice to see accomplishments quantified & gives me some motivation to keep raising that number.


P.S.: I want this dog:

From We Heart It

Oregon

So posting Oregon photos has taken a bit longer than anticipated, but here they are!

I took a trip with M. at the end of August to Portland and Euguene, Oregon to visit some friends. Oregon is absolutely beautiful - many tall, cascading mountains, plenty of hiking trails, and Portland is probably the cleanest, quietest large city I've been too, although I only saw a small portion of it. While in Eugene I got a look at the University of Oregon - M.'s a track fan so this was right up his alley. The campus regardless was phenomenal; this was the first large university I've gotten a chance to explore in depth fascilities we incredible. I would love to go to grad school there, but unfortunately they don't offer my program. We also visited the Oregon Zoo, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and got a chance to visit the coast.

Mt. Hood

Cool compass pointing to some of Oregon's peaks


Hayward Field at the University of Oregon

Sign pointing to Olympic cities at the University of Oregon

Japanese Garden

Rock Climbing!

I had a great time and it was a good end to the summer, and I definitely would love to go back!