Friday Five (times five) On Wednesday

1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year.
   1. Lose another 20 pounds (I've lost about 15 in the past 3 weeks on the Atkins diet).
   2. Finish the three books I'm currently reading and read another.
   3. Apply for the Masters program in voice at the conservatories that interest me.
   4. Watch LotR:RotK on opening day/night.
   5. Finish the networking course (TCP/IP, DNS, Bind, etc.) I am taking.
2. List five people you've lost contact with that you'd like to hear from again.
   1. My Uncle Glenn and Aunt Ilse. They really count as one because I think of them as a unit. I know how to get in touch with them; I've just been awful about it.
   2. Bryan Kemp, one of my best friends from my childhood in Panamá.
   3. Elsa Kaplan-Vass, my fifth grade teacher. Again, this is my fault, as I am horrible about writing snail mail letters. I haven't seen or talked to her in about 5 years.
   4. Nate Alexander, a friend from college. We drove cross country from Amherst, MA, to Yakima, WA, one spring, and I got to know him better in those three days.
   5. Mary Keldsen, a brief but intense romance from college. I fumbled the ball on this, because she was Asian (half Filipino, half Chinese) and at the time I was very insecure about that.
3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do.
   1. Program in Java. I've got the books; just have to find the time.
   2. Speak French/German/Italian fluently. Yes, I need these for my music, but the reasons for wanting to learn these languages goes beyond music.
   3. Play the guitar. I took lessons for a few weeks as a kid, but tried to learn on an steel-stringed guitar instead of nylon-stringed, and as an uncallused kid that was too much.
   4. Dance. Well, that is. I'm okay as long as I'm not leading a partner, because I have a good sense of rhythm, but I'd like to be able to grab a lady and spin her around the dance floor (swing, salsa, waltz, tango, whatever) and leave her wowed.
   5. Build my own computer(s).
4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit).
   1. Buy the San Diego Chargers and get them to start doing things the right way.
   2. Buy an island on the Pacific side of Panamá, far from the capital or any large population center. Build a nice, eco-friendly home with satellite t.v. (for my football fix), internet, and access to lots of books for reading on the beach or in my hammock.
   3. Travel to every place in the world I've ever wanted to travel to. And really get to know each place.
   4. Find a cause I feel particularly strongly about and set up some sort of charity fund for it.
   5. Open a restaurant specializing in Panamanian cuisine and find someone to run it for me.
5. List five things you do that help you relax.
   1. Listen to music.
   2. Make silly sounds.
   3. Play games.
   4. Get hour-and-a-half to two-hour massages.
   5. Close my eyes.

I'd be curious to see your answers, either in my comments section or in your own journal.