Monday, November 24, 2008

100 things {big & small}

I got this from Sara, who got it from Lucrecer, who got it from someone else's blog...you know how it goes...now it is your turn! Leave a comment if you post a list on your own blog.
Bold the things that you have done:
1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 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 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 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 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 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 32. Been on a cruise 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 41. Sung karaoke 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 47. Had your portrait painted 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 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 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 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 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 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 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 99. Been stung by a bee 100. Read an entire book in one day

Saturday, November 8, 2008

{here on earth}

{eek! it's been a whole month since I last posted!}
Here's a full-circle story for you: my friend Monica recommended Earth: the biography which opened the startling realization that I completely missed out on anything space-related during my no-television childhood. So I thought I should re-learn some physics. And maybe some astronomy, and then maybe all this astro-physics stuff wouldn't be so inaccessible. Yeah. So, bottom line: I'm a little more informed, but it should go without saying, I'm light-years away from any kind of true understanding. It's comforting, though, to know that I'm not alone in my on-earth, human ignorance. While I was doing all this up-ward gazing, trying to squint through the light pollution to spy Venus, I also concluded that there is a whole world right here at my feet. Places I really want to see that are accessible; I don't need a rocket booster strapped behind me. Even places in my home city. Part of my house. My brain. Enter Ashley's latest class: {Evidence}. Oh, geez, the relief! It was a put-down-the-crazy-space-text-and-make-something-meaningful refresher. I'm happily cruising thought my 12th entry in this journal, and it's only been a week! Wish this class could continue on, but Ms. Wren supplied us with everlasting prompts for when I need to be grounded. Peace.