The bags are packed, the groceries are purchased, and all that’s left for me to do tonight is rest up for the drive out to the desert tomorrow. Ellen has pictures to go along with her version of this one. I’m too lazy for that, but I couldn’t resist playing along if only in words.

Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band – sort of, see #10
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain – do small ones count?
9. Held a praying mantis – how about a tarantula instead?
10. Sang a solo – long ago and far away, I used to sing standards in a jazz club when I was a teenager. Small pond, big fish, long story.
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris – not yet!!! But soon. SOON.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch – knitting, crocheting and sewing.
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning – salmonella. But the norovirus I had last Christmas, which landed me in the ER, was much worse.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables – yup, and even when I grow them myself, I still hate tomatoes.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train – many, many times. It’s much better in theory than practice.
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked – from Riverside to Los Angeles when a friend’s Geo Storm died out there during a holiday weekend of thrifting.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill – I call them mental health days.
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
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 – softball, 6th grade. It was a fluke.
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors – I’d love to. But I think the Tblisi airport was bombed some time ago. And Kars, Turkey might not be the easiest destination to get to, either.
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 Michelangeo’s David
41. Sung karaoke – oh yeah. This song. In Japanese, no less, fairly often at the long-gone and fantastically-named Koma Bar in Little Tokyo. (At least I think it’s gone – can anyone confirm or deny?)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance – scooter crash when I was 17. I don’t remember anything about it.
47. Had your portrait painted – as a kid by my dad’s artist friend, as an adult by my artist friend, and I’ve been sketched by the late Leo Politi, who was once my neighbor.
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 – once, with my dad when I was about 9.
55. Been in a movie – crappy ones, but they were paychecks!
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class – I used to do kendo when I was a kid.
59. Visited Russia – someday. But Paris first.
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies – door to door! And lived to tell about it!
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason – bought them for myself, that is.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma – yup. Used to do it regularly, since B+ donors are rare. But after turning blue and almost going into shock last time, I’ve been a bit reluctant.
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy – I still have the first two stuffed animals I ever owned.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar – eew. Tasted it. No thanks.
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job – once, when I was 14.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone – two toes and a finger. I have fragile digits.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle – Oh yes. YESSSSSSS. Yes.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper – in second grade, the gifted class I attended was profiled in the SF Chronicle and my picture was used.
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve – in my younger days in San Francisco, this was pretty common practice!
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating – fish. Just fish.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone – I was an early adopter. I haven’t had a land line since 1997.
99. Been stung by a bee – not until I was well into my 30s though. It was no big deal.

Okay – who else wants to play?