Thursday, March 17, 2011

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)


2 comments:

  1. 1. Have you read Mansfield Park? It's IMHO the BEST Austen (although admittedly I've only read 2 as well).

    2. I could help you with the; rib roast, yorkshire pudding, and the pies!

    3. YOU'VE NEVER EATEN STREET MEAT?!? You do realize that's exactly the sort of thing I live for right? We are making up for lost time in NYC...the more unidentifiable the better!

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  2. Hannie -- I have a list like this, too. I call it the "Bucket List." But mine is painfully short compared to yours. It's awesome to read yours because it's so "you." Love it! :-)

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