Monday, December 01, 2008

100 Things

THINGS I'VE DONE (in bold):

1. Started your own blog. 
2. Slept under the stars. .
3. Played in a band.  (Orchestra.  Badly).
4. Visited Hawaii.  (Don't want to.  Miserable tropic hell).
5. Watched a meteor shower. 
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland. And Disney World.
8. Climbed a mountain. 
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris. (I'll stick with photographs.  I dislike long journeys.  Intensely.  I dislike tourists even more and don't care to be one -- blundering, inept, ordering deep-fired tractors, O spare me).
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. (From the shore)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. It's fun!.
15. Adopted a child. (Cats don't count?)
16. Had food poisoning. 
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. (Can you even still do this?)
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. (See 12)
20. Slept on an overnight train. Coach class -- still good.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping. 
27. Run a Marathon. (On this knee?)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice. (See 12)
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. 
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise. (No way).
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. (Might do it, if I can get over that aversion to travel thing)
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language. (Failed Latin two years running)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. But not for long.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person. (See 12)
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo's David. (See 12)
41. Sung karaoke.  (There may be enough Seagram's in the world to make this happen but I have no intention of finding out)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.  (No, thank you.  Bit of mess most countries over that way, isn't it?  I'd just be in the way.  Also, it would involve travel.  Ick). 
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Alone.
46. Been transported in an ambulance. 
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person. (See 12)
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  (See 12, though I would consider it if the Condorde was still flying and I could hire a chauffeur/translator and get it all done in a day or two).
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. (This, I'd love to do!)
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China. (See 12)
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class. 
59. Visited Russia. (See 12)
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.  
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square. (NYC?  Not 'til I can carry my sidearm there).
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London. (See 12.  Also?  Yawn.  Nice lads, lots of snap but I'd almost rather watch golfers rust).
77. Broken a bone. (See "been on a speeding motorcycle")
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.  (See "broken a bone")
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book. Two.  But I didn't write them.
81. Visited the Vatican. (Lovely place, see 12)
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem. (No no no.  Not even with a teleporter.  Yes, all that history is there but it is all written down in books.  Books that do not get on the bus and explode.  Not exploding, I really like not exploding.  YMMV).
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.  (Oddly, no, never in order; I have read most of it, one time and another).
86. Visited the White House. (Washington D.C.?  Not until I can carry my sidearm there).
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury. (Can't get past voir dire: works in the media, shoots and own guns?  "Out you go!")
91. Met someone famous.  (Lots of 'em.  Even Werner von Braun -- I have his autograph somewhere).
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.  (I really should.  Also Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository; I've been in the same town twice).
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake. (Came close.  The smell is unbelievable)
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

11 comments:

Home on the Range said...

And that's a life well lived, with all that is contained in those items.

The last holiday house guest left in the wee hours in the morning. I finally did the Bersa post but need to pick something from that list to do. The house is MUCH too quiet now.

word verf: cloge. A backup in the sink in your French hostel.

Julie said...

Shame about the aversion to travel ....

Roberta X said...

People say it's a shame but I don't feel any lack -- traveling, I don't have any of the stuff I'm used to. I'll start to go for a book or a tool and remember it is X thousand miles away; see motion from the corner of my eye and think it is one of my cats and so on. It's too frustrating.

And that's even before leaving my hotel room, where I am stymied by lack of the right accent, knowledge of the roads and geography, etc.

Some people find that sort of thing relaxing, living out of a suitcase, never being quite sure what's where. For me, it's almost like having to go around four drinks drunk all the time.

(Conversely, I enjoyed some camping out when I was younger; but that was all on foot once camp was established and usually not too far from home).

I've spent a week at a time away from home when I have had to but it is not something I would do for fun.

karrde said...

Werner von Braun's signature?

Impressive.

If I may ask, how did you meet him?

Comrade Misfit said...

#17: No, you can't. The most they will let you do is to walk into the base and gaze up into the base of the Statue.

It's like climbing the stars of the Washington Monument; they won't let you do that anymore.

I've done both. I am old.

Anonymous said...

95. Seen the Alamo in person. (I really should. Also Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository; I've been in the same town twice).

You do realize that the Alamo is in San Antonio and that Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository are in Dallas. That's about an 8 hour drive from one to the other through the worst traffic in Texas.

If you make the trip be sure to stop at the Texas Ranger museum in Waco. That's worth seeing for the guns alone.

Now the Alamo You walk in and out and you think to yourself "That's it, I was expecting something more. It was more impressive when John Wayne filmed it."

Roberta X said...

I kind of like the fact that the Alamo is not so very big: it was the actions and the individuals that made it large!

--I am aware that the Alamo in San Antonio is a long drive from DFW; took for granted most readers would be.

the pawnbroker said...

no 26? hard to fathom (heh), but easy to fix and well worth it, along with 48 & 51...maybe even all at once?

jtc

the pawnbroker said...

btw, 43? when wifey and i were still in our teens and my employment was an old-fashioned hardware store (at two bucks an hour), we along with our year-old daughter, went for a (very) rare meal out at the grassy waters motel diner in the tiny lake okeechobee town of pahokee, fl.

when i went to pay the check, the lady said it was already taken care of...i was shocked and so happy that someone made such a gesture to our tiny, struggling young family; turned out to be a travelling salesman for the old-line kentucky belknap hardware supply company who had remembered me from the store that day, though i didn't know that till much later; he never owned up to it.

anyway, over the years, perhaps a dozen or so times, my wife and i would notice a nice, unassuming young family obviously in the same poor buy happy boat we were in ourselves back in 1972, and do for them what mr. schultz did for us; it has brought us much pleasure to see their looks of shock and appreciation, and all but one time we were able to remain anonymous (a nice young guy recognized me from my store and called me on it).

these days, i guess they call it "paying it forward" or something...we always called it pure joy. and each time, we are transported back to that tough and scary, but precious and long ago time when it was us on the receiving end.

thanks, rx, for bring that memory back to me once again.

jtc

NotClauswitz said...

There's traveling and then there's traveling...

Roberta X said...

...The nice thing about a starship is, all your stuff travels with you -- and so does your "neighborhood!" And the nice thing about motorcycle touring is, just about none of it does. It's the in-between sorts of travel that fret me.

In re von Braun: he came to a nearby university, lecturing. I was very young but already mad about space travel, so my Father took to hear him and we lucked into the handshake-and-autograph line afterwards.