Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Life List, part 3

There are some things on this list that I consider "easy," because I know they are going to happen. That doesn't mean they don't involve effort or aren't important -- coordinating ANYTHING with my family is an exercise in patience, planning, and map reading ability. So apples and oranges stay on the list. Really, I should add "annually" to them.

21. Visit all 50 states [Though I have stepped foot in many states, I only count 15 of them that I've actually spent time in. I'm going to enforce a 24-hour and 1 tourist attraction rule.]

22. Visit Madison, Minneapolis, Portland (OR) [There are many American cities I want to spend some time in. Orlando is not on that list.]

23. Sew something well ["Sew something so terribly that no one will know what it is" was accomplished a long time ago.]

24. Have a head board and foot board for my bed [Can be homemade.]

25. Refinish something [Not wood necessarily, just taking something I own and making it new again.]

26. Make pickles [Dill, specifically.]

27. Go to Cedar Point, OH [To ride roller coasters, not just visit.]

28. Go apple picking with my siblings

29. Go orange picking with my siblings [A Christmas-time tradition.]

30. Publish a short story in a real publication [Hardest one on the list...]

Books I Am Thiiiiiiiis Close to Buying

This just makes me laugh so, so hard.


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Crush

I really like the word, and concept, "crush." To me it connotes somewhat innocent, puppy-dog love, where it's more about adoring and being in awe than actually knowing and being in love. Crushes are from a distance, from down a hall, from across a classroom. They're uncomplicated, usually unrequited, and often times slightly embarrassing.

In college, "crush" came to refer to things we liked to a point of shy obsession. There were categories: "Intellectual Crush" for the really smart and insightful grad student teaching your Semantics class, "Book crush" for the characters in books that you want to hang around with, "Non-sexual Crush" for the person of your gender-of-interest who you adore and can't get enough of, but have no interest in being physical with.

Crushes of mine:

1) Keanu Reeves
From Paula Abdul's "Rush, Rush" video right up until Speed. One of the few people whose picture I actually ripped out of a magazine and hung on my wall.

2) Mikey in The Goonies
I've had a lot of crushes on characters specifically, and not so much on the people portraying them. This was a big one for me.

3) JK Rowling
I love the HP series, she's fabulously wealthy, and she seems really smart and down to earth. My version of heaven is a coffee shop where I get to hang out with people like her.

4) John S.
He lived across the street from me when I was a kid. The first of a long line of crushes on my brother's friends.

5) Calvin O'Keefe
He travels across the universe with Meg Murray and helps her save her dad. And he doesn't care how non-lustrous her hair is.

6) Alison B.
Taught a lot of my college courses. She was just so cool. She lived in Harlem, knew karate, was very smart, and not the least bit preoccupied with the rich kids in class. I sort of wanted her life, minus having to teach people.

Like I said, somewhat embarrassing. I could waste a lot of digital ink on the whole "characters (but not the actors) that I have a crush on."

Friday, September 11, 2009

Apple cider donuts = happiness

Things I thought while walking behind a very skinny girl last night, in the order that I thought them:

1) I would like to be skinny like that.

2) You know what doesn't help when trying to be skinny like that? Eating 5 apple cider donuts.

3) You know what makes me really happy? Eating apple cider donuts. Happiness FTW.

Life List, part 2

First off, I reread my last post. There are a lot of commas in there.

Secondly, #11 - #20 on the still-unnamed list:

11. Pyramids at sunset or sunrise
12. Boat down the Nile
13. Get married
14. Have a kid
15. Buy a house
16. Build bookshelves
17. Own a library ladder
18. Go on a multi-day biking trip
19. Go on a real back-packing trip
20. Visit Alaska

#11 and #12 are happening in Egypt. #16 should really be clarified, because I mean "from scratch" and not "from Ikea".

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Life Lists

Maggie at Mighty Girl has this amazing project going on where Intel is sponsoring items on her "Mighty Life List," which is essentially a "things I want to do before I die" list. Some are very simple ("Take [her son] camping"), while others are very ambitious ("Watch the sun rise over the Agean"). Or, I guess, more expensive than ambitious.

I often thought about making my own list, but, like many things I plan, I never got around to it. Recently, however, I realized that I'm about to do 2 things in quick succession that would have seemed impossible a year ago:

1) I am running a half marathon on Oct 11
2) I depart for a 9 day trip to Egypt on Oct 16

Clearly, these belong on some kind of list, and I had better start it before these happen and I don't get to count them anymore. Therefore, I have started my Life List. I'd prefer a more creative name, but I fear I will get so focused on coming up with a witty name that I won't finish making the actual list. Hm...maybe "naming the list" should go on the list...

I have only come up with 56 things so far, including these 2, but I don't want to add things to this list just to make it to 100. So, I'm taking it slowly.

Here are, in no particular order, the first 10:

1. Run a 1/2 marathon
2. Run a marathon
3. Camel ride in the desert
4. Safari in Africa
5. Ride an elephant
6. Travel to India
7. Cross the Canadian border
8. Cross the Mexican border
9. Have my eyebrows "done"
10. Sleep on the roof of a building

More to come in the next few days. Got suggestions? Leave a comment.