hot with a juicy pink center (half-done)

I saw a variation of this on Jenn’s blog and thought it would be fun (& easy) excuse for a post…

(Quotes grabbed from Charmaine’s blog.)

“To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.”
~ Emily Dickinson

Bold the activities you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (not unless you count the off-Broadway productions my sister, cousins & I put on in the basement as a kid)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (& Disney World)
8. Climbed a mountain (eh, I don’t think what I climbed technically qualified)
9. Held a praying mantis (no, never actually considered picking the thing up. I’ve seen several up close & personal.)
10. Sang a solo (Used to cantor at church!)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (2 cats, but no humans)
16. Had food poisoning (Curses to the tainted tomatoes of Memorial Day weekend, 2007)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (not on an overnight one… but the trip from Luca to Pisa at 6 am lulled me to a nap.)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (petted, but not held)
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 (in the neighbor’s front yard)
32. Been on a cruise (Honeymoon)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself 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 (AWEsome. Seriously.)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (in the drive-thru — see the Drive-Thru Difference)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (Drawn by an ex as practice for class — being painted is different, though…)
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 theater
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 (Tried. Does that count? They don’t want my anemic red stuff.)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (Thank goodness for overdraft protection.)
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 (on New Year’s Eve, no less!)
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 (Rode on a motorcycle with my grandpap, but that was hardly “speeding.”)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (a chapbook, technically, but still, the same process, just a shorter product)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (probably, but not straight through, so I’m not sure.)
86. Visited the White House (saw it in person from the road, but didn’t walk in.)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (not that I know of)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (twice!)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit (not unless you count “class action.”)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
~ Abraham Lincoln

Does this mean I need someone to unfreeze me?


Well, it seems I’ve been double-handed tagged by not one, but two bloggettes. And since sacred blog law states one must submit to a double double-handed blog-meme tag, here goes…

What Ifs:

What if I could meet someone in the art world to chat with?
This is kinda funny to me for a couple reasons. One, because I essentially could copy and paste Jenn’s answer. But also because I had a dream along these lines a couple nights ago. In the dream, I had the chance to pick the brain of a certain singer/songwriter, but I was a total introverted idiot. I was so disappointed in myself. Anyhow, since I’m going to restrict my answer here to the living, author Dave Eggers is way up on my list, not only for his writing, but for all of the writing programs, publications, etc. he’s played a part in creating. As for a contemporary visual artist, I think I’d like to get in touch with Chris Clamp, a painter — he was a classmate of mine, and I always respected him and admired his work.

What if I could have one wish granted for the benefit of all mankind?
Ok, so take this with a grain of salt and an eyeroll if you must: I would wish everyone had as much clean water as they needed or wanted, without restriction or consequence. That is where I’m least “green”; I love long showers. Thirst would never be an issue, and the world would be a happier place if we’d all take the time to de-stress in the water of our choice. (Shower, bath, jacuzzi …) 😉

What if I could travel anywhere in the world?
Depends: is this all inclusive or on our current budget…
There are so many places I’d love to go. I can’t claim to want to go everywhere, but I think it would be incredible to hit every country at least once. More realistically, though, I’d like to take my husband for about a month in Lucca, Italy, with excursions around the country.

What if I could live in a period other than the present, for 24 hours?
Just for a day, I think I’d like to experience life on the American Frontier, maybe in the early 1800’s. I know I’d be totally ill-equipped, and I doubt I could survive much more than the given 24 hours, but as a kid, I drifted toward that setting in the books I read. (Caddie Woodlawn was a favorite.)

What if I could make over three areas of my body?
My complexion — is that possible to makeover? My teeth — I wish I’d have taken better care between college & kids. My eyes — lasik someday.

What if I could become an animal for 24 hours?
Idunno, but I “keep wishing I was living the life of a cat”… seriously. Every time I see one of ours sunning herself on the floor in front of an open door, I envy her.

Otherwise, I’d be something with wings, preferably something that glides… guess that’d make me a bird of prey. I’d hate the diet plan, but I’ve flown like that in dreams, and I think it’d come naturally.

What if I could bring someone back to life for 24 hours?
I keep thinking of the part in Aladin where Genie says “I can’t bring people back from the dead. It’s not a pretty picture. I don’t like doing it.” I really can’t think of any good reason to do that.

Ok, so now it’s time to say who’s “IT” next: zila, Meg, and –as promised, Jason Mraz (that means you’ve been at least double tagged, Jason — may I remind you that blog law requires you submit to the meme).

A girl can dream, can’t she?