Life list

I asked myself, what do I want to do in this life?

In no particular order. Some are stolen from Birthday letters (3): the best of intentions, a little life list I wrote on my 27th birthday.

  1. Wrap my hands around a steaming cup of coffee while staring at St. Basil's in the snow.
  2. Successfully complete a Mariner's Compass quilt.
  3. Learn to read music.
  4. Finally, actually, really, and truly -- write the novel.
  5. Then write the next one.
  6. Learn to make the perfect biscuit.
  7. Skydive.
  8. Finish off seeing all 50 states.
  9. Figure out why in the world I'd go to North Dakota.
  10. French Laundry. Dinner for one if necessary.
  11. Drive across Canada.
  12. See aurora borealis in person. Extra credit: aurora australis.
  13. Taste a real Kouign-amann in Brittany.
  14. Make a passable soufflé.
  15. Visit Glacier National Park.
  16. Have a favorite bakery in Portland.
  17. Knit something with qiviut.
  18. Make a terrine. Preferably edible.
  19. Pick a destination in South America and just GO.
  20. Get Noah back to Nairobi.
  21. Dust off my manual-transmission skills.
  22. Make fewer lists. Live more.
  23. [Open for suggestions. Tomorrow's another day.]

Things this list encouraged me to do

  1. Ride a horse and dismount in a controlled manner. Done in January 2012 at Disney World.
  2. Finally tour New England. Done in autumn 2011. Taking a job with a Boston-area company helped.
  3. See the Carolinas. Done in April 2013, on a sewing retreat with Jacob.
  4. Finally take that decades-delayed trip to London. Stayed there for two weeks in September 2012. Going back a second time in 2018.
  5. Go back for a master's degree.  But in what? Not sure I really want to do this.
  6. Visit China. October 2016.
  7. Camp overnight within earshot of the ocean. Cape Blanco, 2015.
  8. Learn to drive on snowy roads.  2011, we had a snowstorm. I learned.
  9. Successfully order beer. In German. In Germany. August 2012, DrupalCon Munich, in a beer garden. 
  10. Learn to blow glass. November 2009.  Learned the basics, at least.
  11. Learn to juggle.  July, 2009.  Thanks, Jacob.
  12. Go intercontinental. August 2009. France.
  13. Stand on top of Great Wall. Turn to $traveling_companion and say, "Once upon a time, a random raging Mongol horde looked at this and said, 'Hmph. We'll just climb over it.'" Done on my 40th birthday.
  14. Find some way of making the drink-and-snarkfest with Matthew a yearly event. We're managing.
  15. Spend at least half of dragon*con in costume. Did it a couple of years ago.
  16. Find out how billboards are put up.
  17. Continue to avoid going on a cruise of any kind. This is sort of an ongoing thing.
  18. Find out what the contents of a >$100 bottle of wine taste like. October 19, 2007. See the twitterlog.
  19. Occasionally buy a piece of clothing not because I'm replacing something similar that I just wore out, but because it was pretty and I liked it. I think I've finally hit that point.
  20. Finish Quarto. Done - and moved on to Drupal.
  21. Attend the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Done in October 2013.
  22. Now that I finally have contact lenses again, go snorkeling. February 2014 in the Whitsundays.
  23. Do a work stint in Australia and/or New Zealand. (Preferably 'and'!) Worked from Australia and New Zealand from late December 2013 - March 2014.
  24. Be adopted by another cat. Hi, Beryl and Kolohe.
  25. Resume my Netflix DVD subscription in 2014.
  26. Goal: watch at least 24 movies in 2014.  Done, and Noah and I moved on to the Oscar Project -- watching all of the Best Picture winners in sequence. 
  27. Learn to set up a tent by myself. Crater Lake, 2014.
  28. Hang fairy lights in my next home.
  29. Learn how to use a camp stove. Crater Lake, 2014.
  30. Photograph the Alhambra. Done, and worth every penny.
  31. Get certified on a longarm machine in Portland. - Skipping this one. I made friends with professional longarmers. Leave this work to the pros, Q.