Monday, August 16, 2010

My Wild and Precious Life List

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your
one wild and precious life-Mary Oliver
                                                                                                                                                                       

Learn how to paint.  o  Hang one professionally matted and framed piece of artwork that I created.   o  30-Days Challenge.  o  Run a marathon.  o  Visit all 50 states.  o  Wear and photograph 100 pairs of shoes, including at least one pair of Jimmy Choo’s.  o  Drink espresso in Vicenza with Charity.   Have a net worth of one million dollars.  o  Live in a foreign country for one year.  o  Take a camel ride to see the pyramids in Egypt.  o  Attend an archaeological field school.  o  Drink pinot noir in France with Allison.  o  Visit Cardiff, England, and see the famous Doctor Who / Torchwood filming locations.  o  Write a novel o Attend a black tie / white tie affair.  o  Host a wine and chocolate tasting party.  o  Institute a weekly movie night with my children.  o  Walk on the black sand beaches in Hawaii.   Gamble in Las Vegas.    Go to a Broadway Show.  o  Have a girl’s weekend in Chicago.  o  See a Red Sox v. Yankees game at Fenway Park.  o  See the Grand Canyon.  o  See Old Faithful.  o  Take a camping cross-country trip.  o  Complete a 365 – Self Portrait challenge.  o  Grow cotton.  o  Spin cotton into thread.  o  Weave thread into fabric.  o  Make a full outfit for myself from scratch.  o  Start a side business.  o  Get a tattoo with Charity.  o  Take my girls to an awesome, this generation’s “Backstreet Boys” concert.  o   Set foot on all seven continents.  o  Visit the aquarium in Sydney, Australia, with Lillie.  o  Be a space tourist.  o  Have a thriving indoor garden.  o  Be featured in one of the Pioneer Woman’s photography contests.  o  Spend a few weeks on a dude ranch.  o  Learn to ride a horse.  o  Buy a vacation home on the shore.  o  Have a recommitment ceremony complete with a beautiful dress and kickass party.  o  Be a contestant on a game/reality show.  o  Speak several languages conversationally: Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Norwegian, Japanese  o  Have a Lord of the Rings marathon.  o  Have a Harry Potter marathon.  o  Read Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Unabridged.  o  In Chinese.  o  Finish my Warhammer 40,000 ork army.  o  Read “Woman of Sand and Myrrh”. In English and Arabic.  o  Ride on the world’s Top 10 roller coasters. Front row.  o  Visit world’s Top 10 theme parks.  o  See the seven wonders of the modern world.  o  Walk among Stonehenge with Dustin.  o  Record my grandfather talking about his World War II upbringing.  o  Make a family tree.   Finish my children’s baby books.  o  Take a wild, spur of the moment, weekend getaway, discount on fares trip to anywhere.  o  Build a House with Habitat for Humanity.  o  Learn to square dance.   Buy a motorcycle.  o  Go on a motorcycle trip with my brother.  o  Grow a fruit tree.   Take my girls to a very fancy tea room.  o  Go to a rodeo.  o  Go to Belgium with my mom.  o  Teach my daughters how to crochet.  o  Visit 100 countries.  o  Make butter.  o  Make hand-churned ice cream.  o  Make caramel sea salt truffles.  o  Remember everyone-important-to-me’s birthdays with a card, present or visit for one year.  o  Vacation on Cape Cod with my mother.  o  Take the kids for Pick-Your-Own strawberries.  o  Take the kids for Pick-Your-Own apples.  o  Knit a complicated cable sweater.  o  Knit myself a pair of socks.  o  Write thank-you notes to my favorite teachers.  o  Earn some beads in New Orleans during Mardis Gras.   Watch the ball drop from Times Square in New Years Eve.  o  Wear a sequined bikini to Carnival in Trinidad.  o  Go to the Acropolis in Greece.  o  Tango dance in Argentina.   Make a lattice-top pie for Thanksgiving.  o  Take a  round-the-world cruise.  o  Go on an African safari.  o  Program an iPhone app.  o  Have a baby boy.  o  Teach my boy to play catch.  o  Go on a tour of the Amazon rainforest.  o  Teach a dog to sit, stay, roll over, speak, and shake.  o  Learn to milk a cow.  o  Make spaghetti sauce from scratch.  o  Make a pizza from scratch with Aubrey.  o  Ride an elephant in Thailand.  o  Attend an opera.  o  Learn to scuba dive.  o  Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef.  o  Complete a triathlon.  o  Learn to surf.  o  Model for a boudoir shoot.  o  Host a Halloween party.  o  Make a music video.  o  Learn to tap dance / ballet dance.  o  Attend the Vendimia festival in Argentina.  o  Taste 100 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.  o  Crochet and donate 100 pairs of booties and hats for preemies to local hospitals.  o  Visit Pompeii.  o  Learn how to fly on a flying trapeze.  o  Hike the Inca Trail in Peru to Machu Picchu.  o  Wire a lighting fixture.  o  Have vision correction surgery.  o  Hand-make a rocking chair.  o  Have a four-generations portrait taken.  o

Celebrate Daily.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Started: 100 pairs of shoes

Today I started the "wear and photograph 100 pairs of shoes" goal on my Wild and Precious Life List. I will be posting all the pictures here.  It should be pretty easy for the first twenty pairs or so ... then I run out of my own shoes and have to start searching for others to sneak a walk around in.

Sensible brown shoes

Sunday, August 1, 2010

States I Have Visited

States I have Visited map


I am up to 16 states starting out. That's after being in the military. Kind of sad, when you think about it. I'm not including any "airport layovers"; these are all places I have spent some good amount of hours exploring or partying or living. Sometimes all three.