Bucket List

I finished my Bucket List yesterday! I've never seen the movie the "Bucket List" concept comes from, but my sweetie started writing one and I was compelled to join in. He put things on his like "make it to space" and "hold public office," but my selections are much less grand. He wants to make a mark on the world; I'm happy just seeing a bit of it, taking some pictures, and helping people research it. Not surprisingly, more than a few list items concern food :D

So here's my Bucket List, a.k.a. 100 Things To Do Before I Die:

1. become super-librarian


2. run an inn/onsen/café


3. live in four-room cottage (bedroom, cat room, sitting room, Sweetie's cave) with kitchen and enormous spa-like bathroom


4. maintain flower garden, water feature and fire pit in the backyard of said cottage


5. be able to try any recipe I find, without the limitations of appliances or $$$


6. ride a shinkansen (completed 5/15/2010)


7. scuba dive in Great Barrier Reef before it dies


8. see wild amborella in New Caledonia


9. have lunch at a Parisian café


10. visit the #1 country on the Global Happiness Index (currently Denmark)


11. see korora penguins in New Zealand


12. spend the night in a Scottish castle


13. visit all 50 states (and their famous monuments)


14. build the world's best cat tree


15. cultivate an "image"


16. sew my wedding dress


17. make potpourri


18. run three miles comfortably without stopping


19. cut my hair short; donate the length to Locks of Love


20. wield a kitchen torch


21. successfully bake a loaf of sourdough that isn't too sour or dense


22. scale a wall (rock or otherwise)


23. spend a week at Disney World


24. finish writing a book


25. eat lobster


26. photograph a hummingbird in flight


27. backpack in Austria/Switzerland


28. try flan (and/or Dire Flan)


29. learn to eat intuitively, without counting calories


30. beat Spider Solitaire on "Advanced" 150 times (completed 6/10/2010)


31. amass $1,000,000


32. drive an electric or solar-powered car (hybrid acceptable)


33. learn to ballroom dance


34. make soap


35. construct a piece of furniture (from wood, not preassembled pieces)


36. ride a unicycle


37. play the dulcimer and/or bagpipes


38. own an auto-scooping litter box


39. think in another language


40. have my make-up/nails/brows done professionally


41. live in a city in which it is possible to conduct daily life exclusively by bike or public transportation


42. live in a city with free public WiFi


43. train a cat to walk on a treadmill


44. hunt down the Elusive Never Stretching Knee High Boots of Destiny


45. host a brunch or tea party


46. blow glass


47. learn how to walk in high heels (not clomping around uncertainly)


48. go to a baseball game


49. use every tile in a game of Scrabble without cheating


50. be able to use joint locks reflexively


51. take a cruise


52. attend a matsuri in full dress


53. eat a raw coconut (completed 5/11/2010)


54. see a Berlin Christmas Market


55. take a photo with a Buckingham Palace guard


56. carve an ice sculpture and/or whittle wood


57. whistle decently


58. throw a vase


59. learn how to fold napkins into flowers/fans


60. master tying a tie (on someone else)


61. take a class on cake decorating


62. speak at a conference or workshop


63. successfully fry a blooming onion


64. make my own nut butter (completed 4/20/2010)


65. finish a wall-worthy work of art (painting, mosaic, embroidery, etc.)


66. learn Tai Chi


67. attend a high-school reunion; flaunt success in the face of former oppressors


68. volunteer at an animal shelter


69. try tinted lip balm, liquid foundation, and liquid eyeliner


70. attend a "black tie" event


71. remodel a library and/or its catalog system


72. win a blog giveaway or recipe contest (completed 4/9/2010)


73. refine knowledge of PHP and Javascript; learn MySQL


74. begin a themed collection to represent travels (pick one from items like dolls/keychains/plates, or subjects like cats/flowers/birds)


75. pen flip


76. memorize at least ten origami shapes


77. master the blind stitch


78. keep an accidental pet


79. get ten stamps on my passport (at least)


80. read up on Norse mythology


81. wean self off of forums and articles about weight loss


82. go inside a pyramid


83. have a proper snowball fight


84. conquer fear of shrimp


85. ice skate in an open-air rink


86. meet blogging buddies in real life


87. learn how to drive a stick


88. have a picnic on water


89. ride an animal (horse, camel, or ostrich)


90. try real maple syrup--straight from the tree


91. visit a natural island that can be traversed by foot in one day or less


92. karaoke


93. fly business class


94. eat a meal cooked at the table by the diners (okonomiyaki, hot pot, fondue etc.) (completed 5/19/2010)


95. raise a climbing vine


96. haggle


97. teach a class (official or recreational)


98. sleep on a memory foam mattress


99. strength train


100. rope in ten blog followers