You know how people make those links of 100 things to do or 100 places to see before they die? I don’t have anything like that. My list is mostly, “don’t die”. I wonder, would it be wrong to take the lists of other people and cross off what of their things I’ve done? I know. I don’t even want to do everything they list. And the whole point of the lists is to live my life the way I want, to the fullest, every minute, cherish sunsets, etc. I know. But really I only have two things on my list and I want to just spend my life doing those two things. Which isn’t practical, nor is it even attainable. So other people’s lists it is!
I’ll start with Mighty Girl. I hope she doesn’t mind. Of her 100 things, I’ve done 13. I could have done a few more more, but when presented with the opportunity to ride a camel in the desert, I chose the four-wheel drive. And I didn’t really need a bank account when I was last in Switzerland, although I get her point about putting it on the list. This is why choosing other people’s lists with things you don’t want to do is problematic. Her list as partially completed by me looks like this:
Scuba dive | Cross the Canadian border | Have a croissant at a French cafe | Try escargot | Whiskey at a pub in Ireland | Make butterscotch from scratch | Grow vegetables | Live in a house with a window seat | Ring a church bell | Rewire a lamp | Own land | | Zip line through a canopy | Buy a stock on my own |
I was on the fence about “see Cuba”. I have in fact seen it, but have not actually set foot on it. The seeing was more at a distance, as in, “oh look! That big land thing is Cuba!”
How about this list I found on a Tripod site? 25!
Swim with a dolphin | Throw a huge party and invite every one of your friends | Have your portrait painted | Learn to speak a foreign language and make sure you use it | Learn to rollerblade | Plant a tree | Own a room with a view | Visit the Senate and the House of Representatives | Ring a church bell | Be the boss | Stay out all night dancing (does it have to be dancing?) and go to work the next day without having gone home | Ask for a raise | Learn to play a musical instrument with some degree of skill | See a lunar eclipse | Sleep under the stars | Spend a whole day reading a great novel | Find a job you love | Grow a garden | Drive a convertible with the top down and music blaring | Learn to use a microphone and give a speech in public| Attend one really huge rock concert | Create your own web site | Visit the Holy Land | Ski a double-black diamond run | Fall deeply in love — helplessly and unconditionally |
The portrait thing is only if having a drawing done by one of those artists at Disneyland in the New Orleans part counts. (True story: I have been carting this portrait of me (circa: 11th grade) forever. What do you do with such a thing? It’s not like you can hang it on your wall. And throwing yourself away just feels a little creepy. But I finally did just that a couple of months ago. Maybe you can leave yourself behind after all!)
That whole “go skinny-dipping at midnight in the South of France” seems a little specific. Maybe I’ll try that one next. In conjunction with “Buy a round-the-world air ticket and a rucksack, and run away.”