Life Experience

A silly thing but I thought it might turn out to have useful info for the grandchildren...

1. Started your own blog. Yes, this here journal intended for your edification.
2. Slept under the stars. Many nights, maybe too many, maybe not enough. Stars are nice even in the cold. Clouds can be ok. Wet is just nasty.
3. Played in a band. Music is not my thing...
4. Visited Hawaii. On a jet plane and only long enough to go on across the pond. Dittos for Alaska although we did get off the plane while it refueled.
5. Watched a meteor shower. Who would not run outside to watch a meteor shower?
6. Given more than you can afford to charity. Accidentally. I gave what I thought was reasonable only to discover it was more than I should have done.
7. Been to Disneyland. If Disney WORLD counts. If so I've been there 4 too many times.
8. Climbed a mountain. I take it this is a named mountain and not restricted to Mount Everest, Mont Blanc or some such...
9. Held a praying mantis. They are all over the place here in late summer.
10. Sang a solo. I was often ordered by the music teacher to lip-synch so that nobody would hear me. That's just how badly I sing. Beat out Milli-Vanilli by many years but was never chastised for it!
11. Bungee jumped. There is no reason on earth to trust your life to a minimum wage worker and a rubber-band.
12. Visited Paris. Well, I rode a bus through the outskirts.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. Does looking out over the ocean from land during a hurricane count?
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. Art=singing=no, dittos for artistic drawing.
15. Adopted a child. She didn't want to be adopted but my step-daughter is my daughter...
16. Had food poisoning. Not really but I've had gastro-intestinal discomfort on an epic scale!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables. Yep, but that was in spite of my efforts.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight. A looooooong time ago...
22. Hitch hiked. I was walking the 13 miles home (was between King City and Greenfield) from my broken down car and several migrant workers picked me up and dropped me at my exit. I still remember and am still grateful. Gracias.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. Yes, but I was sick of work.
24. Built a snow fort. Where I lived, EVERYBODY my age who was physically able to has built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.  Yes.
26. Gone skinny dipping.  At Pfeiffer Beach for one...
27. Run a Marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. Many, most due to sleeping under the stars!
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise. And I might get forced into doing it again but it won't be willingly going!
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. 5 times now.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. Of course.
35. Seen an Amish community. Visited several times and always ate well.
36. Taught yourself a new language. I think that is impossible for me to teach myself but I have learned some Mandarin (WAS literate), Korean, French, and American Sign Language. It is difficult to teach oneself language, you need to learn to think it, a hard thing for me to do on my own.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. I'm there right now. To be well fed, warm, dry and able to study the things that interest you, that is a good life.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock (wall) climbing. And rappelling (abseiling).
40. Seen Michelangelo's David.
41. Sung karaoke. Did you miss my comment on singing?
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. In a thunderstorm. A boy scout was struck by lightning. A magnificent juxtaposition of all of nature's power at one place and time. The scout lived.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Asilomar in 1974, Ormond several times between 1989 and 2005.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted/drawn. A characterture.
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. But not often enough. Women do not consider me a good kisser. Don't kiss men.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater. Among others I saw "The Exorcist" in a drive-in.
55. Been in a movie. "Lights of Inchon" as an extra but I'm probably on the cutting room floor.
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. However, I've done my bit by buying and eating a ton of the Thin Mints.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason. Yes, I remember that...
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma. Some crummy fever I had in Korea was reason not to accept my blood.
65. Gone sky diving. And I won't as long as every plane I fly in is still flying.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check. Only because the BANK didn't credit my deposit within 5 days.
68. Flown in a helicopter. Many, many times. Jumped from the skid and rappelled from one, too.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. Crafield, the stuffed bear. Well, really, my mom saved him.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square. I have now (2011). Not that great a thing.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London.
77. Broken a bone. Broke my wrist on an obstacle course.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle. Drove a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. AND floated on the Colorado River, twice.
80. Published a book. I've been quoted in a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car. Several times.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper. Servicing a HMMVW just prior to a big snow storm and teaching school kids about the Army.
85. Read the entire Bible. Hasn't every Christian? Seriously, it was a project.
86. Visited the White House. Took the tour.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Several.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. And been saved.
90. Sat on a jury. Not yet although I return the questionnaire in a timely manner.
91. Met someone famous. Penn and Teller, John O. Marsh (Secretary of the Army), Edgar and Mrs. Bergen, several of the Statler Brothers, several authors and artists...
92. Joined a book club. I suppose everybody can be that stupid.
93. Lost a loved one. Way too many. I doubt that as I age the rate of loss will decline, unless of course I go first.
94. Had a baby. Well, not me personally, but I do have children.
95. Seen the Alamo in person. A lifetime highlight.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake. I've SEEN The Great Salt Lake. My understanding is that few want to swim in it anymore.
97. Been involved in a law suit. Testified.
98. Owned a cell phone. Only this past year and only because I HAD to.
99. Been stung by a bee. I'm sure I'll be stung a few more times, too, although I am getting better at avoiding it.
100. Read an entire book in one day. I've read more than one in one day.