Thursday, November 27, 2008

Things I Have Done ...

OK, I know I just said I didn't feel like blogging, but this doesn't feel like a blog, it feels like fun! I found this meme at MauiGirl's Meanderings.

Try it while you're laying there on that couch, after having consumed more food than is possible to fit in a human stomach, and debating whether to watch more football or try to swallow one last sliver of pumpkin pie.

To participate, just copy and paste the list in your own blog, and color all of the things YOU have done (mine are in red, but you can use any color you want). Things you haven't done will be in black. Happy discoveries!

I HAVE...
1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
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
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
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
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Ridden an elephant

Wow! only 52 out of 100 -- so many things still to do, though I don't really want to be transported in an ambulance (#46), or kill & dress an animal (#87). I'm sure singing in the shower wouldn't count for #10, nor would those old family home movies count for #55 (though I did give the royal wave in many of them, to my imaginary fans, huzzah). I decided, based on absolutely nothing, that if you can't say you've done at least 50, you need to get out a lot more.

Re: #36, I didn't answer "I have" because I took spanish in high school ... but isn't it really your own effort that actually teaches your brain another language? It's not like a teacher can just force-feed it into your brain! Still, the way it was worded, I couldn't answer "I have". I think most of the things I have NOT done reflect a lack of wordly travel (which I hope to remedy someday) and/or chickenness (which may have no cure, brroccckkukuk).

If you like David Sedaris, be sure to see/hear the sad romance of The Squirrel and The Chipmunk (posted below) .

15 comments:

D.K. Raed said...

Here's a weird result: my husband got almost the same # of "I Have"s, but his are very different from mine because he HAS traveled all over ... but apparently never eaten caviar, etc!

Fran said...

Fun! I scored under 50-- but there are things not on that list that should be- Mountain climbed with ropes.
Whitewater raft a Class 4/5 rapid. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Canoe a river, or lake, Backpacked deep into the wilderness, Done a cross country bike trip. So I don't consider myself boring... just have a different list of adventures.

I hope to get to Hawaii in the next few years.... maybe if I stay in my job, I will. Finally got to Alaska a few years ago- it is beautiful.

Seeing the Alamo - not on my list.
I've had the opportunity to eat caviar a time or two, but it grosses me out, as does escargot, so I passed.

Anyway, hope you had a nice quiet thanksgiving.

We did the cook a thon and cleaning....
We should throw another party while the house is still clean!

D.K. Raed said...

Fran:
I know, I thought of some unique things I've done that didn't make the list. Like coming face to face with a bear while hiking around Lake Louise in Canada. That wasn't my only bear experience while camping, but it was my only face-off on a narrow trail. And come to think of it, why weren't touristy things in Canada or Mexico listed? Those are foreign countries I HAVE been to.

I found Hawaii to be both wonderful & terrible. It is a wonderfully beautiful exotic place, so different from anyplace else in the U.S. Terrible humidity for a desert person, though. A miserable neverending hot steam shower. I was afraid I'd be melted before my week was up. In our photos, I look like a limp dishrag, hair & clothes plastered down, trying to smile. My best day there was snorkle diving off a catamaran, looking for sharks.

ps, caviar sucked, very salty, I don't know what people see in it other than that it's expensive. I would've tried escargot except it's always drowned in garlic & that is on my bad list.

jmsjoin said...

Sounds like a nice life I hope you guy had a nice Thanksgiving! I am lucky I have done everything I want and am content myself!

Anon-Paranoid said...

Hi d.k.,

Sorry this is late but I wanted to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving.

God Bless.

D.K. Raed said...

Avg Pat:
You ARE lucky! There are many many things I still want to do & places I'd like to see. We'd been talking about a european vaca for 2010 or 11, but that is on hold now. Ah well ...

Anony-Para:
I'm so glad you dropped by! Hope your T-G was wonderful, too. First one with the new kitty, right?

enigma4ever said...

this is sooooo cool...I want to do this...I need to figure out how to do the colors...so wonderful...

D.K. Raed said...

Enigma: the color key is a tool in your blogger post creator. You have to highlight the word/words you want to change color & then go up to the toolbar & select the color you want to use. Unfortunately, you have to do this every time .... or at least *I* haven't figured out an easier way to do it!

Ingrid said...

how fun..I'll have to see what my tally is..but when you think of it..you or I could always add some to that list as well!!

Ingrid

Ingrid said...

ok, just checked..'only' 35 but like I said, I could add a few of my own;
living in TX..of course, done number 95, having been in Thailand, got to do number 100, done paris.. (and no, I was not ALL the way up the Eiffel tower but half way...good enough me thinks considering I had a wee case of the fear of heights) just to name a few..

Maybe I should make a few additions to the list..hmmmm...

Ingrid

D.K. Raed said...

Ingrid, if you only scored 35, then there is something wrong with this meme. Where is Saudi Arabia, for instance? Well, I hope you had fun anyway. Each of the "I Have"s brought back some memories for me!

enigma4ever said...

okay..I scored pretty good...71...BUT...I did not do well on the travel ones..I clearly need to go to Paris and Italy so I can get more on the list ;-)

and some of the things that I did....like you said - I would wish I hadn't.....

but some I want to do AGAIN....like the elephant...and more sunrises...and there are so many things I would love to put on the list....like swimming with dolphins, or ever had a chicken? or taken care of a sick animal ?
or ever skinny dipped and LOST your clothes ;-)

great fun....thanks ;-)

enigma4ever said...

( when Is say a chicken- I mean as a pet...not for dinner....)

btw I could not figure the color code thing out...ce la vie...it was still fun...

D.K. Raed said...

Enigma:
You are the highest scorer I've seen anywhere yet!

I was thinking many of the items deserved explanations, like when I was on a speeding motorcyle, I swallowed a huge mystery bug whole, right down my throat straight into the stomach, because, naturally, I'm always yakking, even at 90mph! I think it was walking around my stomach for a few minutes. I still get kind of sick thinking about it.

I liked your puzzlement re: losing your clothes while skinny dipping. Methinks there might have been theft involved in that "loss"!

ps, I knew you meant a pet chicken. Heavens, I hate to think what else "having" a chicken might mean!

pps, you wouldn't have to use color; you could just put ***** by the ones you've done.

enigma4ever said...

well DK to be honest...I never have seen a list that asked about things like the ambulance ( well, I used to work on one in New England...)...or about riding an elephant ( I did that has a kid, and found out that I am allergic to close contact with them...but they are my favorite animal...)

so I never thought so many silly things I did would be on a list....but I still need to go to Niagara Falls and Paris ;-)