You know it's funny -- I've actually done quite a bit of what you suggest: lived in NYC for a year, took a surf lesson (almost drowned), made a table in my twenties but it was terrible so I should probably try again, figured out crypto (the emperor's new clothes for some reason), adopted SO many animals (most recent if featured in my story "I Adopted the Wrong Dog").

The jewelry and very large daunting book sound like great ideas; I feel like I've watched all the television, so this is great.