Week 2: Am I going against fate?

Week two of the day zero project and already I am experiencing the 'wall'. Its actually proving harder than I thought, maybe its been one of those weeks where time slips by & before you know it its Sunday. I think I'm also on the back foot, because I've either failed at achieving a challenge or I've gone against what fate may have sent my way....

Item 57 on the list was go to Wimbledon and watch a tennis match. I'm a huge tennis fan, especially of the mens games (it has nothing to do with the Roddicks legs or Nadals 'guns' I promise!) & every year whe wimbledon is on, I'm swearing that next year i'm going to be there, fanning myself on centre court - cos obviously the sun gods would be shining. So last October, I entered the ballot and low and behold I had notifcation that I had been allocated tickets for the semi finals on centre court......... but the only hitch is that they are for the ladies semis. Now not to be ungrateful but it does seem to be money I don't have being blown on tennis I don't actually follow. So, I've made the brave decision to go against fate and let them go. Part of my Wimbledon experience will now be more than likely spent queuing up from silly o clock next year.... hope its not a tick I fail to achieve due to my meddling with fate.... time will tell I'm sure.

I went away for the weekend to Bristol & had a super time. Laughed, drank, ate & danced (repeat to fade) my little socks off so I managed to slurp a few cocktails, another work in progress tick. Need to add a small something though....... I had given up chasing boys for lent in the hope it would kickstart me for the rest of this project, but due to the influence of aforementioned cocktails, I fell off the lent wagon in spectacular style. RUBBISH! Do I feel I learnt from my slip up, honestly? No. One thing I've probably learnt already in the early stages of this journey is that you can't alter human make-up. That may be a work in progress for a long time to come.

Before I go, one bit of exciting news resulting from my project, remember last week I told you in order to make my appreciation known more I had written to my favourite author? Well he only replied didnt he! Albeit a short a sweet oneliner, but he called me ace so thats more than fed my little ego. Being nice pays kids.

So.... short and sweet from little old me this week. Have decided that in order to tackle the items on the list I need to make another smaller sublist (told you I had an addiction) each week to make some progress otherwise this blog is going to make for pretty dull reading (if its not already!)

Have a great week! x

101 things in 1001 days...... pfffffttttt no problem!

So, its been on my personal to do list for some time - the to do lists to top all to do lists....... The Day Zero Project. Now for those that aren't aware of what this is (shame on you) its a to do list of 101 things that you have a 1001 days to complete it in. No sweat. No pressure. The idea is to have items on the to do list of things you have wanted to achieve for some time, be it minor or major which you the have 3 years to complete.

I finally managed to come up with the 101 items, which in itself is harder than it sounds,if you are interested in the things that float my boat and that are going to make me complete then check it out here.......

http://dayzeroproject.com/user/teecee1979

I decided it might (or might not) make interesting reading to blog about my weekly achievements so that when I finally get to the end of the project on somewhen in 2012, (I did try and work it out bit it was too much for my little cold filled brain on a Sunday morning) I can look back over the blood, sweat, tears and sore fingers (see item 14) and reflect on my achievements whilst stroking my new mulberry handbag (see item 44)

So here goes week one..... bear in mind there is alot of work in progress at this stage:

Enter more competitions: After my astonishing win of BRIT tickets a few weeks ago and my attendance this week wishing I could look as good as Cheryl Cole & Lady Gaga (I just want her body not her mind I promise) I decided that maybe, just maybe, this was the start of my winning streak. So this week I have been entering competitions online on a daily basis.... watch this space to see if I win a 32inch LCD TV or a holiday to Oz.... I've decided to aim big, if there is anything such as a winning streak I might as well win the best things eh?

Contact old friends: Sometimes its nice to take stock and realise that you don't need a special occasion to make contact with old friends. With the convenience of social networking websites, you can see what friends are up to without having to ever make contact. You can see where they spent their holidays, how their children are growing up and what 'they are doing' in the big brother world of facebook. So I set about emailing an old friend to catch up on all their news & to fill them in on my less than interesting start to the year.....although after I hit send I did wonder whether they would think it slightly strange to find an over enthusiastic email from me asking for all their news. No fear, 2 days later I had a lovely reply and it made me realise that is definitely worth taking the 20 mins to catch up with people on a personal level - definitely gave me feel good fuzzy factor.

The start of Lent has co-incided well with another to do item, let me explain:

Don't chase boys: Now, I am a typical female. I like a boy, I chase him. For reasons I cannot work out, the boys don't like this, they want to chase me.... but only if they want to. So therefore, I want to free myself from the horrendous cycle of 'i've contacted him, why hasn't he replied' I decided that I need to STOP CHASING BOYS. To kick start this compaign, I decided I would give this up for Lent (Jesus would be proud) if I can get through the 46 days then I am hopeful that I will be free of this dreadful disease. One can hope.

Express my gratitude more: The reading of Mike Gayles To Do List was part of the reason behind my finally getting off my backside and doing the dayzero so I decided he would be the target of my first expression of gratitude (read arse lick) I have written a lovely email to Mr Gayle....... am still hopeful he might reply.

I will end the weekly update with results of the full ticks I have achieved, end on a high as they say. This week, to wean myself in, I went for an easy one, sort out car insurance. Well, I say easy, the dark, mystical confusing world of car insurance renewal is not a place I want to return to anytime soon. Confused.com was supposed to be for like minded peeps who too, struggled with this process and was going to take the confusing part out of it all. It didnt. In the end, after much note scribbing and calculating I found a policy which should hopefully save me £1.64 a month. RESULT and so worth it.

So thats it, over and out list fans.

You know that small low key music awards ceremony? Well I got to go!

So yesterday was the day when I, ‘Tracey ‘I never win anything’ Cooper collected my tickets to the hottest show in town that I had won in conjunction with my lovely local station Midwest Radio. Understandably this was very exciting for an extreme fan of all things music. I am an avid Brits follower, every year I watch from the sofa, not always in agreement with the industry’s decisions but equally keen to see who they feel deserves the silver statuette to sit pride of place on their mantelpiece. So, after many wardrobe changes and with crucial killer heel decisions made (a girl never knows who she might meet in a strange town) we were whisked away, chauffeur driven no less, to Earls Court, home for the night of the Brit awards 2010.

For once, the pouring rain didn’t phase me (okay okay I might have complained once or twice but this is at least 122 times less than I would’ve normally done so) & once inside we loitered in the foyer to do some celeb spotting as they arrived coming in off the red carpet, all looking ultra glamorous and making my hours of deciding what to wear seem slightly insignificant - although I spied Alicia Keys has a make up lady in her shadow to touch her up every 30 seconds it seems, don’t worry Alicia your secret’s safe!

Now to the good bit, the reason you’ve all stuck with me and my ramblings so far, my review of the show…. and my alternative awards:

'Underwhelming opening of the show' award goes to…… Lily Allen. Not convinced, it certainly wasn’t showstopping. She had also clearly been on the grape juice so I’ll mark her down for that, how unprofessional ;) and not because I had wine slurping envy obviously). And Best British Female….. hmmm me thinks Florence & the Machine was robbed.

The ‘I thought this show was sponsored by Mastercard but clearly not’ award goes to –The Spice Girls well the ginger & scary one, I was beginning to panic that they were the only guests booked for the evening, phew they weren’t.

The ‘I wish they had put fewer clothes on’ award goes to …..JLS who put on a great performance. It was fantastic to see them be accepted at the Brits only some 18 months after winning a rather contrived reality show and even though their two awards (best British single & British breakthrough act) were public voted rather than industry awarded, you cannot take that away from them and I am sure that won’t take any of the shine off of winning at all.

Brings me nicely on to the ‘I wish they had put more clothes on but only because I am jealous of the body’ award which goes to…. Lady Gaga. Now, this creature can do no wrong in my eyes. I am in the ‘yes she may be slightly bonkers but heck she is fantastic at what she does’ camp and I was thrilled to see her pick up three hugely deserved awards (international female, international album & international breakthrough) My only criticism, and I use the term loosely because its only a small flaw, is that she should have sung one of her hits, but hey that’s why she is so successful, she does her own thing and is proud of it.

Award for ‘Most courageous performance I’ll even let you off the lip synching’ goes to Cheryl Cole. I was excited about seeing her perform, she is one of my guilty pleasures. The irony of singing ‘fight for this love’ to 10 million people it even brought a lump to my throat. Enough said.

The ‘I’m so far up my own **** even though I wasn’t the real talent in the band’ award goes to Mr Gallagher. Whilst I am in total agreement with the award going to Oasis for best album of last 30 years, I am not in agreement with Liam. That Brit award will be on eBay before the day is out I am sure……..

All joking aside, my personal highlights of the evening were Florence & the Machine picking up the best British album award. For those that don’t know, I am a MASSIVE fan and this was most deserved of the night. If you don’t own a copy of Lungs, firstly get your head read and then go and purchase a copy, you won’t regret it. Also, aside from Robbie, my favourite performance was Alicia Keys and Jay Z – she looked gorgeous & has the best voice I have heard live in a long time, whilst he is so cool it’s unreal. Everyone was out of their seats, even the industry big wigs were indulging in a spot of dad dancing.

Now, Robbie Williams. Ironically, the last time I was in that very arena was in 1994 watching Take That minus 1 as Robbie had decided to jump ship 4 weeks earlier leaving me a heartbroken 15 year old. Forgetting all about my 16 year grudge, I let myself be truly entertained by this born to do it performer. He flawlessly jumped from one Robbie classic to another, (even throwing a Take That song in for good measure) which I hope will silence any critics still unsure over his live performing ability of late, there were certainly no sign of nerves on his part, it was a well polished, humbled performance. Not surprisingly he welled up at the whole of Earls Court singing Angels back at him – it was a real special moment and one I am so glad I was there to see.

So that’s a wrap, I was thrilled to be at the Brits during a time when British music seems genuinely exciting. This is a happy if a little hoarse Tracey Cooper signing off. Thank you Midwest!