21 to 21

Ciao, Tutti!

I know, this is my third time posting a blog in the past 2 days (go make some friends!). But I realized that, with me turning 21 in exactly three weeks - yep, 21 days - I only have one day left to make a post like this. That way, I'll have to do exactly one of the following things each day to make it work. So, here goes:

21 Things I Want To Do Before I Turn 21

1) Grow up. I figured it'd have happened by now, but sadly that has not been the case. Sadly?

2) Figure out my courses for this semester. I'm only taking 15 credits this time, 3 more than I have ever taken in college so far. So why is it this stressful?

3) Choose a private instructor who will get in my way the least for my recital. I've already got a plan, dude. Sorry.

4) Go to the Metropolitan Museum and see that sculpture that Mom and Dad were raving about so much. And maybe that Michelangelo painting to get my nostalgia for Italy back in gear.

5) Run for president. I'm sorry, I mean to type "Run errands for the president." Much less glamorous, but equally impossible.

6) Go to at least one show at the Jazz Gallery. Next weekend James Carney, Ambrose Akinmusire, and the Claudia Quintet play there, all in the space of four days. I'm going to buy a sleeping bag and sleep under the bass cases in the back.

7) Post another short piece of fiction. I've been writing a lot of new stuff lately, mainly regarding a larger project, as well as editing pieces I've already shared with you. But don't fret! There's more to come. These aren't empty promises.

8) Fulfill my empty promises.

9) Write another piece of music. A good piece of music, I mean. Something I can show to my new private instructor with pride - and so he understands that I want him out of the way of my recital decision-making process.

10) Lose my virginity. Again. Because everyone knows that the first forty-two times don't count (but who's counting?)

11) See old friends. Especially Jordan and Megan, of Owl Eyes, so that we can take over the world together with our music, and Courtney and Aurora because I was in California for their housewarming party, so I still don't know what their new place looks like.

12) Find a way to listen to more music. I still haven't set up my stereo yet, and even when I do, one of the speakers is broken, the other soon to follow. Without being able to listen to music over the air, I've had trouble finding the time to listen to anything but Joe Henry. I can't just leave it on as I go about doing things anymore!

13) Work up wicked bass calluses. I need to dress to impress when I play that instrument in front of people, which I presume I will be doing this year (maybe at my recital...? Insert coy smile here).

14) Stop perspiring. I'd really like to do that at some point before I turn 21, okay, weather? Plus I hate my air conditioner.

15) Use the swimming pool a few times, play basketball a few times. I say this every year. But what else will I do with the time I gain from not taking those three credits? Wait, don't answer. It's too depressing to think about.

16) Get a little bit through "100 Years Of Solitude." Fiction sometimes is the only thing that keeps my mind focused enough to read the endless essays of college assigned reading.

17) Finish buying everything I need for my dorm room and unloading everything from storage. That was on my to-do list for TODAY. I'm maybe - maybe - a third of the way through.

18) Try cooking gnocchi again. I could use a good confidence crusher before I reach 21. Then making it to the drinking age will seem a lot more advantageous.

19) Still have not used a single meal on my meal plan. Wouldn't that be something?

20) Submit my first finished piece of fiction to a literary journal. Most likely that journal will be NYU's 10th Street. Seems like a good place to start.

21) Not tell anyone it's my birthday. God, no.

And now, for my birthday wish list! [insert here: dictionary] Just kidding. Actually, just to make your lives easier, I have absolutely nothing on my wish list right now. Seriously. I have the list in front of me. All I see is the title, "Birthday list." That's it. Sorry.

Yay for creativity!

Until I turn 21 again,

-Sam goldsmith