Week 1: #2 Write to my MP about something I am passionate about

OK - quite an easy one to start with, but I have had a hell of a week between my birthday, work woes and London Book Fair. Anyway, it still counts, so there.

I used to be very up on politics and policy - I did my degree in Social Policy so could talk til the cows came home about the pros and cons of privatisation, why meritocracy in education and employment was the ideal but virtually impossible to achieve in reality and why I was never going to vote Conservative. But life kinda got in the way. I was distracted by current affairs, cultural things and idle gossip, not to mention all of the usual work/life interfering stuff. I can't remember the last time I got heatedly involved in a political discussion and really knew what I was talking about. The last time I talked to my friends about an election, it was one that wasn't even taking place on these shores (can any of you tell me what Obama's policies actually are? Thought not).

Then this popped up on my Twitter via @JazCummins. It is called The Map of Gaps, and it's a map put together by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the End Violence Against Women Coalition. It shows the access that women around the country have to various amenities to do with violence, rape and so on. The map is quite startling in terms of how much of a postcode lottery it all is. I hadn't realised that for the 4m women in London, there is one rape crisis centre. One! The NHS spends an estimated 1.2 billion pounds on treating physical injuries sustained through violence on women, but the Dept. of Health has not made any significant investment in specialised violence against women services.

I have been very lucky to not really have experienced any need for these services (the only violence towards me being meted out by muggers) but other women I know haven't been so lucky. And I won't necessarily always be so lucky.

The Map of Gaps has a form to fill in that goes straight to your MP if you enter your postcode. My local MP is Glenda Jackson, who, I can see from theyworkforyou.com has some good views on the Iraq War and gay rights. I think I like the woman (and not in the same way as my Dad, who likes her cos she took her top off on some BBC drama in the 70s). So, through the Map of Gaps site I have sent her a letter lobbying for more access (and equality of access) for women in my local area to the services they will need should the awfulness happen to them. And you should do it too! Go on - it'll make you feel good.

So little time left

So, Sunday brings the start of this year of doing my list. I need to get over my natural reserved-ness and start shouting about it to people to keep me on track. God knows I am prone to letting things fall by the wayside if I think no-one's watching so I need everyone to keep pestering me about this. It's for my own good.
I have a couple already lined up for the next few weeks, so the initial start shouldn't be a problem. It'll be showing some stamina in four months or so that may be tricky. Lots of people have said they would help, so it's just a matter of knowing when I need an extra push and asking for it.

Getting some stuff in order

OK, so to complete some of my list takes a bit of planning. This week I have returned to the simply awesome Camden Society to talk to them about doing some voluntary work with their social groups for adults with learning difficulties (number 3 on my list). Apparently they don't just let any old schmuck loose on these guys. So they are going to check I am not a sex offender or anything nasty, but I should be able to start after Easter, once my ankle metalwork has stopped giving me quite so much jip (I do walk and grumble like a pensioner at the moment).
One of the best things about these guys is just how accepting they are of anyone, and how much faith they have in me to make a difference. It's a real boost after a day at work where you run round in circles getting virtually nothing done to have someone putting such trust in you. They want me to work at their Monday Club, which has recently re-launched and needs a bit of a boost, so there's loads to get my teeth in to. Hooray!
(Oh, and I got a lift on the Sunshine Bus, which was certainly a euphemism when I was at school)

#22 - Skydive

OK, so I am putting some things into action in preparation for 'off' in a couple of weeks. It's getting scarily near, considering this will also mark the leaving of my twenties, which has been easily my favourite decade of my life so far.
But, talking to my lovely friend and colleague Kate in the pub on Friday, I received some good news - she is happy to do my skydive with me! She is constantly raising money for the Bobby Moore Fund - a cause close to her heart - so will jump for them. I am not sure who I am going to raise money for, but I will probably follow suit as it's one of those causes that doesn't get half as much attention as it should. Probably because bowel cancer just isn't as easy to talk about as breast cancer - it's all just a little more 'real' and without the 'fun' fundraising ideas that bras and boobs offer.
So, I need to look into how long I have to wait for the metalwork in the ankle to settle in before I do anything to snap it again, but it's all shaping up nicely!

Dragging other people into it

OK - so it looks like I already have people lined up to help with the following ones:
11 Make my own sushi
13 Do origami
26 Learn a sentence in sign language
37 Visit a spa
39 Eat salt beef in New York (yes, Phil, this will be followed by eating Chicago deep-dish pizzas in Chicago)
Early days but still something!
The feedback I have got from the covert operations I have done so far has been positive, so I may actually be ready to make this a bit more public by emailing people and putting it on Facebook etc.
Any suggestions are more than welcome about self-promotion - it's not something I have ever really been any good at.

The first draft of the list

OK - this is just the first draft. They are in no particular order - just whatever came into my head and I scribbled down.
I am not proposing to do them in order - for a start, I have recently had a metal plate put in my ankle, so tango may have to wait for a while. I may well come back and edit these again in the next few days, but these are the initial thoughts.
The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that there are 53 things on this list. The 53rd is going to be the last - my 31st birthday party on or around 19th April 2010 (which still sounds like a time where we will wear crazy silver space clothing and eat our meals in pill form)

1 Take an Argentinian tango lesson
2 Write to my MP about something I am passionate about
3 Do a project with the Tuesday Club at The Camden Society
4 Have a conversation with someone in a foreign language
5 Cook lamb curry from my Grandad's recipe
6 Dip my toes in the sea
7 Have someone draw/photograph me naked
8 Get back on the climbing wall
9 Go zip lining
10 Speak to a room of people
11 Make my own sushi
12 Make an item of clothing
13 Do origami (make origami? have origami? I am never sure which way to use that word)
14 Get rid of 1/4 of the stuff in my bedroom
15 Go to the Hunterian Museum
16 Visit Paris
17 Go to a workshop at The Make Lounge
18 Read a self-help book
19 Go on an actual blind date
20 Get published (in actual print, in whatever form)
21 Bake bread
22 Skydive
23 Have a therapy session
24 Learn how to play something on the harmonica
25 Write a haiku
26 Learn a sentence in sign language
27 Climb the pagoda in Kew Gardens
28 Go to the Whispering Gallery in St Paul's
29 Watch some burlesque
30 Go to a gig based purely on a recommendation from a friend
31 Watch Casablanca and Citizen Kane
32 Do a sponsored run/walk/something
33 Go to a music festival
34 Write the first chapter of my novel
35 Visit the Whitechapel Gallery
36 Ask an ex for constructive criticism (AKA 'Do a High Fidelity')
37 Visit a spa
38 Learn how to make my Dad's spaghetti bolognese
39 Eat salt beef in New York
40 See the Giant's Causeway
41 Go to a singles night in whatever form
42 Take a sceptical friend to see a band I love
43 Set up my Flickr account and organise my photographs properly
44 See puffins
45 Make my own ice cream
46 Attend a lecture at NPG/V&A/Tate/Photographers Gallery
47 Do a massage class
48 Go to a double bill at the cinema and sit through both films
49 Watch all of The Wire
50 Complain about bad customer service
51 Try a new cocktail
52 Make a really ambitious cake
53 Throw an awesome party to celebrate

By way of introduction...

Hello. I am a mostly average person. I work in marketing. I live in London. I have lots of close friends and a great family. I like the usual things, more or less to the same extent as anyone else really.

Recently I have noticed that I far too often pin my happiness and wellbeing on the thoughts and actions of others. I'm sure we've all done it. Last night I found myself hauling myself over the coals over yet another guy who picked the other girl. And then a very wise friend pointed out that if the same thing was happening each time, the only common factor in the situations was me. I need to change.

So, with a landmark birthday staring me in the face, I made a list. A list of 52 things that make me happy, or scare me, or will give me a sense of doing something good for the world, or my friends, or my family. Some of them are easy (baking bread, dipping my toes in the sea). Some I will find harder (make an item of clothing, speak to a room of people). Some will be downright expensive (eat salt beef in New York, see puffins), so may have to be edited later. In fact, I am saving my list now and going back to it tomorrow, as I always like room to edit.

The idea is that from my 30th birthday on the 19th April to my 31st birthday in 2010, I will try to complete as many of these things as I can - one a week if possible. And I want to do it for charity. How to work this out, I am not sure, but it may be that people sponsor me for each one I complete, or I just put several charitable items in the list. I am not sure anyone will sponsor me to take a tango class, for instance, but they may sponsor me to do a skydive. I will record my experiences each week, and maybe someone will want to read about them - who knows? Stranger things have happened.

I will add the list tomorrow once I have ascertained that there are enough realistic ones to counterbalance the ones that will make a real difference.