The term "bucket list" was floating around for a year or two before I actually learned what it meant. (Sometimes things like this happen when you live in a writer's hole.) So, today, here are some bucket list items of mine that have nothing to do with writing. Because sometimes we just have to LOOK THE OTHER WAY!
1. I want to buy a 1928 or 1929 Mason and Hamlin baby grand piano. My college piano teacher had one in his studio, and he's the one who taught me that '28 and '29 were Mason and Hamlin's best years. I loved his piano, and I've wanted one like it ever since. Note: This will take LOTS OF MONEY or a VERY GENEROUS PERSON IN MY LIFE. But it's something I dream about regularly (and stalk on Ebay).
2. I want to travel to Mexico to work with poor women and children. I'm not even sure what this looks like, but it's been on my heart for years.
3. Related to #2: I want to become fluent in Spanish. Estudié español por cuatro años, pero he olvidado mucho.
4. I want to learn how to play the steel drums.
5. I want to take pointe class. Which means I'm going to have to nail my pirouettes and two dozen other things first. But, dadgummit, I want a pair of pointe shoes!
6. I want to get all the amalgam fillings in my mouth replaced. I have MANY FILLINGS (our family dentist was a quack, but that's another story). And yes, I'm one of those people who believes in the serious health risks of mercury in one's mouth. Again, this will take LOTS OF MONEY (but not nearly as much money as the baby grand), because most insurance companies don't cover this procedure.
7. I want to go to London.
8. I want to make a mini-album of my own songs.
9. I want to make the switch to raw milk. Then I want to commit to making my own yogurt and kefir, and therefore be able to stay away once and for all from these items in the grocery stores.
10. Also, I want to start brewing my own kombucha. As soon as I stop being terrified.
11. I want to buy high-quality leather albums to transfer all my scrapbooks to. And I want special shelves that will accommodate their odd size, so that the gorgeous, tooled bindings will show.
12. I want to learn to ride a horse. English saddle. So I can go galloping across the wilds of Northern England with my dress flowing and my bow slung over my shoulder. (Okay, not really. I just want to learn to ride a horse.)
Anyway, that's me. Because sometimes, without meaning to, we can lose ourselves in our writing--so much so that other things start to grow a little smaller. So here's to turning our heads and looking at other things we'd like to do--dream of doing--that aren't necessarily something we can make happen today. Just like publishing, yes?
So...what's on your bucket list?
Miss Snark's First Victim
Well, if we were closer, I could teach you to ride a horse! My bucket list involves horses to - to ride the Tevis, a 100 mile ride in California. I'm hoping next year.
ReplyDeleteMy non-writing list includes one of yours.
ReplyDelete1. Go to London. I also want to go to Ireland (land of my grandmother) and Wales because Doctor Who and Torchwood are (were) filmed in Cardiff.
2. Live by the ocean.
3. Study at Oxford.
4. Be able to afford a chauffeur, chef, housekeeper.
5. Dye my hair pink or lavender.
I'm sure there are more but those are my top five.
Good luck to fulfilling your list!
Most of mine are travel related. The one with asterisks has been accomplished.
ReplyDelete-Fill my passport
-Visit every continent
-Serve Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen ***
-Participate in or witness in person a flash mob
-Publish a novel
-Hike Machu Picchu
Almost 20 years ago, there was this diet fad going around where you grew this gross thing in a jar and then drank a cup of the liquid it was in every day. My grandmother and mother and aunt were growing it religiously, and my mother gave me a starter to grow in my dorm room. My friends thought I was insane, and it was a source of ridicule for some months until I reluctantly threw it out. Turns out it was kombucha. We were ahead of our time, I suppose. They're insanely easy to grow, so don't be afraid of it. In fact, I've gotten into drinking bottle kombucha again, so I might try growing my own for awhile. :)
ReplyDeleteI knew right away you were talking about kombucha! I'll take your word for it that it's not scary. One of my ballet teachers brews her own, and she's the one who's got me interested (she brought some to class and it was good!). She will give me a scoby whenever I ask. I just...haven't asked.
DeleteGood for you for being ahead of your time! :)
Oh my goodness! When I read this, I decided to click over to your blog. And now I can't remember what's on my bucket list anymore. (Mine's sort of a living, breathing thing with a mind of its own.)
ReplyDeleteUhm....
1) I want to speak seven languages.
2) I want to visit Berlin again.
3) I want to see a West End musical.
4) I want to PERFORM in a West End/Broadway musical.
5) I want to make an optional living out of writing. (I.E. I want to make enough from writing that I could live off the income, even if I don't.)
6) I want to help other people find and achieve their dreams. (Not sure how to make that happen either.)
-Learn French
ReplyDelete-Live in France
-Perform in a Broadway show (not going to happen, but a girl can dream!)
-See the end of human trafficking
-Study at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris
-Figure out my "style"
-Learn how to garden properly
Love the piano one. I hope we can get a little stand-up one day.
I want to make my own mini album, too! And learn Spanish. I know some. I ca read what you wrote, for example, but I wouldn't know how to say it.
ReplyDeleteI cheated and had to look up the present perfect tense for "olvidar". :)
DeleteThanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteLike GSMarlene, I'd teach you to ride if you weren't on the other side of the country! :) Incidentally, riding is one of the things in my life that's taken up a great deal of time I might otherwise have spent on writing. I believe in doing a balance of physical and mental activities though -- I've never wanted to be an 'ivory tower' intellectual type who does nothing but write, and I love incorporating real life experience with things like horses and archery into my stories.
But I probably would have accomplished a lot more with my writing by this stage in my life if I hadn't devoted so much time and energy to horses. (Riding English too, BTW -- and lots of galloping and jumping. And although I've only ridden in costume a couple of times, I definitely want to do that again!)
I have lots of travel on my bucket list too, but since I discovered when I went to Europe a few years ago that I find it impossible (and physically painful!) to attempt to sleep on a plane, I guess I'm going to have to get rich enough to fly first class . . .
What a lovely post. I don't have my own list, which I guess is a good thing, I must be doing the things I want to do, but I wanted to assure you you'll get your tooth wish fulfilled one day. The old amalgams will eventually break down, and one by one you'll need to replace them. With luck, they'll do it over the course of years so as to make it more affordable.
ReplyDeleteMy bucket list isn't too long.
ReplyDelete1. Travel around Europe.
2. Skydive without my couch. I have one more skydive before I can go alone.
3. Go white water rafting
4. Buy a rundown house and remodel it.
5. Build a library/office for my 10,000 books and counting.
6. Move to a different state.
Love this post! My husband is the dreamer in our family and I'm the practical one. So I don't usually allow myself to think about these things. But I'm going to write these down on my computer now so that I can peek at them.
ReplyDelete1. Travel to England and/or France with hubby.
2. Start a financial coaching business.
3. Volunteer in our community, possibly with children who are aging out of the foster care system.
4. Little by little, make our home more minimalist by discarding a lot.
5. Practice yoga at a studio when it's in our budget.
6. Become fluent in Spanish since my husband grew up in Puerto Rico.
7. Balance living in the moment with being focused. I find it hard to pull away from some tasks that I just want to put the time into until they are complete.
8. I agree with Beka. Discover my personal style, as well as develop a capsule wardrobe that only contains items that I absolutely love and that look great on me.
Kondiloma akuminata atau yang sering disebut sebagai kutil kelamin, merupakan salah satu penyakit seksual menular (PMS) yang disebabkan oleh virus yang bernama Humanpapilloma virus (HPV). Terdapat lebih dari 40 jenis HPV yang dapat menginfeksi daerah kelamin laki-laki dan perempuan. Jenis HPV ini juga dapat menginfeksi mulut dan tenggorokan. Kebanyakan orang yang terinfeksi dengan HPV bahkan tidak tahu mereka memilikinya. HPV tidak sama dengan herpes atau HIV (AIDS).
ReplyDelete1. Go to Europe.
ReplyDelete2. Buy a Tiny House and work up to living off-grid for electrical.
3. Spend a month living in one of the places my books are set (India, China, Pakistan, French Polynesia) so I know what it's like.
1. Go to Europe.
ReplyDelete2. Buy a Tiny House and work up to living off-grid for electrical.
3. Spend a month living in one of the places my books are set (India, China, Pakistan, French Polynesia) so I know what it's like.
Liz! I LOVE tiny houses! And I so want to live off the grid.
Delete