Update!

There are 27 more days until summer begins, and I can't wait. In science class at school, we are learning about eclipses and such, which reminded me of #2 on my summer list (Camp out in the backyard and watch the Annular Eclipse on July 15). Our teacher told us that there are no eclipses coming up soon, so I was confused. I did a little research, and I discovered that there will be an eclipse on July 15-in 2102. 

Long story short, I had to change this item on the list to just simply, "Camp out in the backyard." It won't be as exciting, but since we don't exactly have a time machine...we won't be seeing any eclipses anytime soon. 

Summer.

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning again with the summer."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

There are about 80 days of our summer vacation, and I am determined to not let them go to waste. This is the fourteenth summer of my life, and I want to make it count. With all of the craziness of the school year, I want to start new and actually do something. So my friends and I created a list of 100 things to do over the summer. Some are crazy, and some are goals that we would like to achieve by the end of this wonderful season. 

Here's the list:

1. Wake up at 7:30 or earlier every day.
2. Camp out in the backyard and watch the Annular Eclipse (July 15, 6:00 pm).
3. Learn how to cook a whole meal.
4. Choose a country and learn its language, customs, cuisine, art, and history.
5. Learn how to play tennis.
6. Watch "500 days of Summer".
7. Ride a train.
8. Pick a random person from the phonebook and write a card to them.
9. Superglue a quarter to the sidewalk. Wait. Watch. Laugh.
10. Write a short story.
11. Go swimming while fully clothed. 
12. Have a water fight. 
13. Have a garage sale.
14. Go kayaking.
15. Do something for charity.
16. See a psychic/palm reader.
17. Win a radio contest. 
18. Learn how to cartwheel.
19. Make sushi.
20. Go without electronics for a whole day.
21. Bake a cake.
22. Play soccer in the rain.
23. Go vegetarian for a whole week.
24. Say "yes" to everything for a whole day.
25. Plant a tree.
26. Paint a picture.
27. Pull an all-nighter.
28. Re-learn how to play poker.
29. Try underwater photography.
30. Attempt to ride a unicycle.
31. Get over my fear of bees. 
32. Try reverse graffiti (clean graffiti).
33. Go buy something and pay in pennies.
34. Give money to a homeless person. 
35. Dot the mentos and coca cola thing.
36. Go to a cemetery at midnight.
37. Go up a down escalator/down an up escalator.
38. Send a message in a bottle.
39. Go to Olivia's dance performances.
40. Drink 8 glasses if water a day.
41. Ride a segway.
42. Learn to say hello in 20 different languages.
43. Go on a road trip.
44. Have a picnic.
45. Pour orange juice in the milk carton and milk in the orange juice carton.
46. Wear clothes backwards for the day.
47. Walk up the street playing instruments.
48. Wear mismatched socks and shoes for the day.
49. For one day try not to talk. (Key word-TRY.)
50. Learn a new sport.
51. Learn sign language, then...
52. Use sign language for the entire day.
53. Make ice cream.
54. Hang up pieces if paper around town with the strips that you tear off at the bottom that say, "free paper!"
55. Go downtown and say, "Hello! How are you doing today?" to random people.
56. Photograph the ABC's on different things.
57. Go to the grocery store and when someone comes on the speaker, say, "The voices! They're back!"
58. Color the whole sidewalk with chalk.
59. Cut hearts out of leaves and put them on the sidewalk everywhere.
60. Leave inspirational messages on peoples doorsteps.
61. Leave a dollar bill on someones windshield.
62. Check out the thickest book in the library (or check out the dictionary).
63. Take a picture of each thing we do on this list.
64. Make a bunch of food with food coloring so everything is rainbow.
65. Compliment every single person you see for a day.
66. Switch names or go by a different name for the day.
67. Hang out with Hayden.
68. Put vanilla pudding in a mayo jar and eat it in public.
69. Go to the zoo, and skip everywhere you go.
70. Wear all stripes for a day and tell everyone you broke out of jail.
71. Sing for the entire day instead of talking.
72. Draw a hopscotch thing downtown and play on it.
73. Pretend to be a boy for a day.
74. Go somewhere and scream, "Mental Fish is back!" (inside joke...hahah)
75. Dance and sing in public.
76. Tell someone that you are taking a jog in the ocean.
77. Pretend you have imaginary friends for a day.
78. Do the "look at this" thing to a random person.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF8GhC-T_Mo)
79. Watch anime.
80. Go into a store, ask what year it is, say "it works!" and run out.
81. Call everyone "Fanny" for a whole day.
82. Go to a hardware store and ask for striped paint.
83. Get my ears pierced. Finally.
84. Shout, "Ugh! Why is it snowing in summer?" on the hottest day of summer.
85. Make Smoothies.
86. Write happy things all over the sidewalks in town with chalk.
87. Change your voicemail to sound like you actually answered the phone.
88. Read at least 4 books.
89. Re-read "Catching Fire".
90. Stop complaining.
91. Choose an official "Summer Song".
92. Wash your neighbor's mailboxes.
93. Play softball at least once a week.
94. Paint my room.
95. Learn how to do a new hairstyle.
96. Go to the beach.
97. Mow the lawn.
98. Eat cereal from a wine glass.
99. Have everyone you meet for a day sign your shirt.
100. Make a movie/slideshow of the whole summer, that includes the "summer song" (#91).

So, starting on June 15th, I will begin this list.

DISCLAIMER: These were not all my own ideas. I looked online for things to do over the summer, and asked my friends for ideas. In fact, My inspiration for this blog came from another blog (http://gonewiththesummer.wordpress.com/). Her blog is really amazing, and you guys should definitely go check her out!!

39 days. See you then.