The Life List

For a while now, I've been working on assembling my Life List -- things to do, experience, or achieve before I die.  At first it was a little daunting, but it ended up being rather enjoyable. 

The great thing about a project like this is that it's always active, and I can continually add and update things.  In my case, the list is also retroactive.  I've been fortunate enough to experience certain things in my relatively short life that--if they hadn't already happened--I would have included anyway.  They are listed as completed items. So without further ado.....

The Life List 

DO

Take 1,000 pictures • Do karaoke • Watch every Oscar-winning Best Picture (so far: 25)

Read War and Peace • Christen a boat • Give $100 to a busker   

Complete the New York Times Sunday crossword with no help 

Own a pair of Louboutins • See Dolly Parton in concert • Scuba dive

Kiss someone under mistletoe • Read 50 books in one year 

See Elton John in concert • Teach my child A.A. Milne's "Three Cheers for Pooh" 

At least attempt to read something by Proust • Take a ballet class again

Host 30 parties • Own a bookstore • Take each of my grandmothers out for lunch

Create an oral history • See Billy Joel in concert • Commission a painting

Take a daughter or niece to The Nutcracker • Read all 6 Jane Austen novels (so far: 2)

Send my parents on a vacation somewhere

FOOD/DRINK

Have a drink with Neil Patrick Harris • Eat at Le Bernardin • Eat crepes at a French cafe

Have an Irish coffee at a local pub in Ireland • Eat at The French Laundry

Have a Manhattan at the famed Algonquin Hotel • Eat at Craft

Have hot chocolate at Angelina in Paris • Buy a hot dog from a street vendor

LEARN

Take flying lessons • Learn to cook a rib roast • Become fluent in Spanish

Learn conversational Italian •  Learn to dive (just the simple, into-a-pool kind)

Learn to ski • Change a tire • Learn to play poker • Learn to make Yorkshire pudding

Learn to swear in 7 languages • Memorize 25 poems • Learn the two-finger whistle

Use two-finger whistle to hail a cab • Bake 40 delicious pies (so far: 2)

TRAVEL/EXPERIENCE

See an Italian opera at La Scala • Sing "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway

Climb Diamond Head • Cruise the Greek isles • Vacation in a Tuscan villa

Attend a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers playing

Go to the Kentucky Derby with Jules for our 40th birthdays

Attend a University of Tennessee football game • Hike Cinqueterra

Sing "Feed the Birds" on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral • Visit the Egyptian pyramids

Attend Service of Lessons & Carols at King's College, Cambridge

Drive a moped along the Italian coast • See the Bolshoi or Kirov Ballets in Moscow

Set foot in all 50 states (so far: 26) • Go on safari • Set foot in 25 countries (so far: 10)

Fly a small plane over the African serengeti, a la Out of Africa

Ride a camel in the desert • Attend the Last Night of the Proms

Have bespoke clothing made for me in Singapore or Thailand

Visit Machu Picchu • Pray at the Wailing Wall • Tour Ireland's Ring of Kerry

Do/see 10 things in DC I've never done/seen before

Cross both the northern and southern borders of the U.S. by car or foot

Visit the U.K. with my parents • Ice skate at Rockefeller Center • Salsa dance in Cuba

Attend the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany • Attend Carnival in Rio

Go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my family

Go to 10 baseball games with Dad (so far: 1. Texas Rangers/The Ballpark at Arlington, 2. LA Dodgers/Dodger Stadium, 3. Washington Nationals/Nationals Park, 4. Atlanta Braves/Turner Field, 5. Cincinnati Reds/The Great American Ballpark)