Ordinary Extraordinary

Crossing Things Off

So with the sudden move, a flurry of activity at work, and an unusually full social calendar I've gotten exactly nothing done on my 101 in 1001 list.

Ah well, May is a new month.

Seven down, ninety-four to go.

We're Even

The comment that made my Carpool Buddy snort coffee, uttered during an alternate merge when the female driver of a white Escalade tried to gun her engine and close a gap thereby depriving my of my rightful place in front of her:

How about you try not being a douchebag? 'Cause I will happily run your ass into the shoulder. Eat guardrail, bitch.

I'm such a delicate flower.

Later, as we're driving past a large Jewish temple where one service is clearly letting out and another is about to begin, he pipes up:

Wow, it's like the changing of the Jews or something!

Good thing I was driving rather than drinking. We're even now.

Therapist-fu

Earlier today, VT and I were discussing the fact that it seems to be National Relationship Drama Week. Though VT and I both have strong therapist-fu, she's had more practice and consequently has these conversations down to a science:

She: . . . i have just had a METRIC FUCK-TON of practice with this
She: sometimes i catch myself thinking, 'hmmm... it's been 17 minutes. we ought to be hitting the 'i just don't know what he's thinking' point of the conversation... oh, yeah, there we go.'
Me: That's both awful and brilliant
She: 'minute 48... ooh, i'm overdue to say DTMFA. better work that in.'
She: and i mouth, 'but you don't know what they're like!' as they say it, or type it.
She: 'yeah, of course i don't know him as well as you do.' [thank all the gods]
She: when they say, 'i just have this feeling that we're somehow supposed to be in each other's lives!' i start waiting until the word 'destiny' comes up.
She: or 'karma.'
She: i ought to make a bingo chart.

She: . . .and then there's the Not Quite Ready To Break Up With Them conversation.
She: which also has its own pattern:

them: Snugglewumpkins is the most horrible person ever!
me: DTMFA.
them: i hate how they treat me like crap!
me: DTMFA.
them: they never do X, or Y, or Z, and i wish they'd stop doing Q.
me: DTMFA.
them: lots of tearful reminiscing about how it used to be good, and wondering what changed.
me, checking the clock: look, you can either go to a couples therapist and work it out, or leave them.
them: oh, it's not that bad.
me: sigh.

She: then it's time for Son of Not Quite Ready To Break Up With Them.

them: i just don't know what i should do!
me: DTMFA.
them: but i love them!
me: news flash -- they don't love you. DTMFA.
them: they're not that bad!
me: okay, look. if 'not that bad' means they lie to you, ignore you, cheat on you, manipulate you, and make you spend time wondering what they're thinking and crying a lot? they're that bad. DTMFA.
them: don't tell me what to do! *stomps off*
me: sigh.

Me: You have the patience of a saint.
She: depending on the person, you can go through: Grandson of Not Quite Ready To Break Up With Them; Second Cousin of Not Quite Ready To Break Up With Them; I Might Almost Be Ready To Break Up With Them;
She: No, Really, I Will Break Up With Them
She: Oh, Shit, I Was Going to Break Up With Them But Then We Had Sex
She: Okay, For Real This Time
She: Not Quite Ready To Break Up With Them, I Know, I Know
She: and HOLY CRAP THEY BROKE UP WITH ME!
She: HOW!?!
She: WHY?!!!
She: and then *those* conversations run like this:

them: they were horrible!
me: yep.
them: they were evil! they lied to me! ignored me! cheated on me! manipulated me! i spent all this time wondering what they were thinking! why did i waste all that time and energy on them?!
me: uh, yeah.
them: why didn't you SAY something?
me: come here and run your head into my fist, won't you?

She: time passes
She: and then, a couple of months later...
She: them: i met someone!
She: AUUUGGGGHHH

I was laughing out loud at my desk as this conversation unfolded; I'm pretty sure my co-workers think I've finally cracked.

Bob Knows Best

I totally have a new favorite local band, and its name is Bob Knows Best. From the website:

The band’s original songs have earned them comparisons to Weird Al Yankovic, They Might Be Giants, Barenaked Ladies, Tenacious D, and Flight of the Conchords. . . The Mission of Bob Knows Best, or BKB for short, is to expose the band's listeners to a selection of songs to quench their diverse musical thirst and put a smile on their faces at the same time. BKB can take you to the funk of the 70’s, the vaudevillian sounds of 1910, the country flavor of yesteryear and then back to the rock sounds of today.

Shy Guy and I went to see them on Friday night and we had an absolute blast. Not only are the band members extremely talented musicians, but the songs are catchy and funny as hell they put on a great show. I highly suggest that you click on over to their MySpace page and listen to a few tracks; you'll be glad you did.

Sweet Ride

The LD and I have been tossing around the idea of carpooling for some time now. We live less than a mile apart and generally work the same hours, but for some reason we haven't quite made the leap to ride-sharing yet.

Today, when prices crossed the $4/gallon mark at our local gas station, I got this email from him:

Gas is expensive. Really expensive. It would be cheaper to fill my car with Voss Water. Are you interested in carpooling? I own an irresistable '99 Mustang. Sweet ride.

Have I mentioned lately how glad I am that I bought an SUV right before gas prices started to spiral out of control? Yeah. Great choice. My response:

Yes! Can't wait to go for a spin in that "sweet ride."

So, as of Monday morning, I'll be carpooling a few days a week. Hopefully now I'll be able to afford to eat again.

Finally Friday

Did anyone get the name of the week that hit me? 'Cause damn.

It's been an exceptionally long week for a variety of reasons and I am really, really glad that it's Friday. Three more hours until I can leave the office, woo! I'm facing an icky southbound drive in rush hour traffic, but at least there will be a Shy Guy waiting at the end of it. (Yes, this will be three dates in one week for those of you playing the home game.) Also, some beverages of the adult variety.

I haven't the brain power to put together a coherent post, so I'm just going to toss out some links that I've been collecting and meaning to share:

• It's Sizzle's birthday! You should go and tell her how awesome she is.


• Buffalo Exchange is having their annual Dollar Day Sale tomorrow to support the Galapagos Conservancy.


• After you're finished shopping, you can stop by the Grilled Cheese Invitational.


• Captain Snarky is blogging for RAINN and she's currently serving up some delicious tales from the dungeon. For hers is the power, the temptation, the prayer, and the fetish, Amen. (Not safe for work, or for the future of your eternal soul for that matter.)


• This is an awesome video depicting the reunion between an adolescent lion and the two men who were forced to part with him after raising him from a cub.


• And speaking of felines: engineers are delving deep into the mysteries of the common housecat...


• ...which is good, since we have no idea how much a kilo weighs anymore. That could be a bit problematic for the Engineering community at large.


• My friends at The Do Lab are putting on their awesome Lightning in a Bottle event again this year. You should go! (Burners, I think you'll find this event of particular interest...)


• Irony, thy name is Kelly L. Barber.

And there you have it! Happy Friday, everyone.

A First

Several weeks ago, I decided to hold my breath and jump back into the online dating pool. I was a little reluctant at first (some of you may remember that things didn't work out so well the last time I tried this), but my policy about not dating people with whom I work combined with the number of hours that I work does make meeting new people a smidge challenging (read: impossible).

Since it seems unlikely that the Universe is going to drop Mr. Right on my doorstep wrapped in a bow, I plucked up my courage, threw together a profile, and hoped for the best.

I'm pleased to report that I have not lost my touch with Turkish men over 40; they love me! Also, insecure asshats still think that all women over 120lbs should be taken out to a pasture and shot. It's nice to know that some things never change.

The site I chose has a nifty feature that allows you to see who has viewed your profile and when and the stalker voyeur in me is completely fascinated by it; I like to click through and check out the men who've been checking me out.

As I was scrolling through the list one day, I happened upon Shy Guy. His main picture involved a pirate hat, so I simply had to click through and check out the rest of his profile. Imagine my surprise when I looked at his photos and realized that in one of them he was standing next to someone I knew.

Someone who passed away more than a year and a half ago.

I was understandably taken aback.

I knew I had to email him but I had no idea what to say. I wrote and re-wrote my introduction before finally sending off a message that started: I think my world just collapsed in on itself a little as I was looking through your pictures; I knew Xxxx too...

Hell of a conversation starter.

We got to talking via email and then the phone, and we went out for drinks (and then dinner, and coffee) on Saturday night. I can't say I was at all surprised when a song that reminded Shy Guy of Xxxx came on the jukebox; I whispered Thank you while he sang along quietly.

My friends have certainly orchestrated dates for me in the past, but I can honestly say that this is the first time anyone's ever done it from beyond the grave. Perhaps that's what was missing from all previous set-ups - none of those dates went particularly well, but this one was an unqualified success.

We had so much fun, in fact, that we decided to do it all over again and had our second date on Sunday night!

Life is strange, and serendipitous, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Preventing Assault

Kevin Apgar has launched his second Grassroots Blogger Book Marketing Campaign for Carly Milne's Sexography, and this time there's a twist:

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, and it’s a big month for the Rape and Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization’s goal is to raise enough money to be able to offer victims of sexual abuse, sexual assault and rape an online hotline offering counseling and assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. RAINN’s Chelsea Bowers, Kevin Apgar and Sexography author Carly Milne have banded together to launch a one-of-a-kind online fundraising event to help RAINN reach that goal.

So for the month of April, the blogosphere is going to talk about sex to raise money for RAINN. That's win-win, right?

All things considered, my sexual history is largely unremarkable. Certainly there were a few awkward experiences (Um, I don't think it's supposed to do that...) and a few things I wish I'd known earlier (You're married? Really? And when exactly were you planning on mentioning that?), but overall I've been lucky. I've never been raped, molested, abused, or attacked.

My friends have, though.

When I turned 14 or 15 and started to express an interest in boys and dating, my father taught me two things: How to break a man's arm with my shoulder, and how not to fight like a girl - to hit soft, vulnerable tissue as hard as I could with my elbows, knees, and heels. My father is not a violent man, but he is a realist. He was very clear that pleading words or logic would be wasted on an attacker and that the only appropriate response was to fight like a caged wolverine.

Unfortunately, he is absolutely right.

In the fall of my sophomore year of college, my friend S and I went to a party at the TKE house with a bunch of other friends. Being savvy young women, we had a pre-arranged system for staying safe at huge parties; we stuck together. Arrive together, leave together. No exceptions.

This particular party was completely insane; people were packed into the house like sardines and spilling out all over the front and back lawns. S had quickly met up with the guy she'd come to flirt with (a cute second string linebacker from her Calculus class) and dragged him to the middle of the madness to dance, so I stuck to the periphery of the party with a few other friends and kept an eye on S as much as I could.

About an hour later I looked up from a conversation with the guy on whom I had a crush and noticed that S and the linebacker were gone. After scanning the room and finding them absent, I excused myself from Cute Guy and set off to look for them. Since I went to college in the Dark Ages, before everyone had a cell phone, there was no choice but to work my way through the crowd and see if I could find them. I was none too pleased that I had to stop my flirting to go hunting, but it a deal's a deal: we stick together at parties, period.   

I did a lap through the house and started to get concerned when I couldn't find either of them - the party was big, but not THAT big. Thinking that S and the linebacker may have taken off to go get some food or perhaps more beer, I recruited a couple of other friends to keep searching the party while I went to see if her car was still parked on the street.

It was, and they were in it. The linebacker had S pinned to the front seat and she was pleading with him to let her go.

S, the tough-talking Brooklyn girl who used to joke that she kept her acrylic nails long so they'd be more effective weapons, was absolutely frozen in terror and very close to being in a lot of trouble.

I don't know what I yelled when I saw what was happening, but it was enough to startle the linebacker. Though truly, I think he was more startled when I yanked the passenger side door open and hauled him out of the car. We ended up in a scuffle on the ground and I was doing my level best to hit him anywhere that would really hurt. S finally found her voice and screamed for help, which brought Cute Guy and a few other friends running. I'd managed to get a few good shots in, but Cute Guy was nice enough to finish the job: he picked the linebacker up by the collar, punched him square in the jaw, and sent him sprawling on the sidewalk.

I don't know what happened after that, S and I collected ourselves and left quickly, but I do know that the linebacker gave me a WIDE berth every time he saw me on campus for the next 3 years.

Later, when I asked S why she hadn't gouged his eyes out with her nails, she said that she didn't want to hurt him, that he was just drunk - as if that were some kind of excuse for his behavior.

When my father stood in the kitchen and taught me how to fight, he taught me so much more than the physical skills. He taught me that an assault is a breech of civilized behavior and that it nullifies all rules of ladylike comportment, and most importantly he taught me that it was RIGHT and GOOD to defend myself, and that I had the strength and power to do so.

100 Things To Do Before I Go, Part V

Questions to ponder:

• What would surprise me if I found out I hadn’t done it by the time I died?
• What are the little things I expect to just unroll in front of me?
• What are the big, amazing things that absolutely wouldn’t happen without some heads-down, teeth-clenched work?
• What things have I been concentrating on that don’t really matter?

Memories that I hope to make before the end of my life; one hundred Things To Do, numbers eighty-one through one hundred.

81. Mentor someone.
82. Buy a deliciously comfortable bed.
83. Endow the New York City ballet.
84. Chair a charity or service organization.
85. Dance in the streets.
86. Live among neighbors I know and like; be part of a community.
87. Give a wedding toast.
88. Write thank you notes.
89. "Unplug" for a week, or a month.
90. Print and frame a series of my favorite photographs.
91. Throw regular dinner parties full of tasty food and snappy conversation.
92. Bonfires on the beach.
93. Repay the teachers who have touched me by sharing their lessons with others.
94. Learn to play guitar.
95. Go rock climbing.
96. Trips with just the girls.
97. Try surfing at least once.
98. Meet someone whose work I admire / appreciate.
99. Spend a day in absolute silence.
100. Be able to look back and think "Yes, I really did live happily ever after."

See also: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Whereas the list of memories got easier as I went along, this definitely got harder. I hit a brief streak of inspiration yesterday with all of the travel (thanks, BBC), but I really grappled with the last twenty or so.

What's on your list?

My source of inspiration is, once again, Mighty Girl.

100 Things To Do Before I Go, Part IV

Questions to ponder:

• What would surprise me if I found out I hadn’t done it by the time I died?
• What are the little things I expect to just unroll in front of me?
• What are the big, amazing things that absolutely wouldn’t happen without some heads-down, teeth-clenched work?
• What things have I been concentrating on that don’t really matter?

Memories that I hope to make before the end of my life; one hundred Things To Do, numbers sixty-one through eighty.

61. Lazy summer afternoons spent outside: warm sun and cold lemonade.
62. Throw a party to celebrate the last day that I ever have to work in a cubicle.
63. Buenos Aires.
64. Rio.
65. Havana.
66. Cape Town.
67. The Maldives.
68. Victoria Falls.
69. Dubai.
70. The Galapagos.
71. Angkor Wat.
72. Masai Mara.
73. Iceland.
74. Norway.
75. Hot chocolate in Switzerland.
76. French Polynesia.
77. The Seychelles Islands.
78. The Great Wall of China.
79. Cruise around Alaska.
80. Do a flip on a trampoline.

See also: Part I, Part II, Part III

My source of inspiration is, once again, Mighty Girl.

100 Things To Do Before I Go, Part III

Questions to ponder:

• What would surprise me if I found out I hadn’t done it by the time I died?
• What are the little things I expect to just unroll in front of me?
• What are the big, amazing things that absolutely wouldn’t happen without some heads-down, teeth-clenched work?
• What things have I been concentrating on that don’t really matter?

Memories that I hope to make before the end of my life; one hundred Things To Do, numbers forty-one through sixty.

41. Sing again.
42. Take a specialty cooking class.
43. Learn more about both sides of my family's history.
44. Safari in Africa.
45. The Nile at sunset.
46. Bali at sunrise.
47. Learn to ride a motorcycle.
48. Have a room in my home devoted entirely to books.
49. Decorate my home with artwork created by my friends.
50. Switch completely to eco-friendly cleaning products.
51. Save up enough money in loose change to buy something completely frivolous.
52. Develop a signature style.
53. Make a habit of getting my clothes tailored - all of them.
54. Give out small gifts to celebrate 10, 20, 50 years of friendship.
55. Comfort someone out of tears and into laughter.
56. Walk hand-in-hand under falling leaves, or falling snow.
57. Crosswords in bed on Sunday morning.
58. "What do you do?" "I'm a writer..." (I stole that from Maggie, but it's true for me too)
59. Tie someone's tie for a special occasion.
60. Go shopping for wedding dresses with Firebug.

See also: Part I, Part II

My source of inspiration is, once again, Mighty Girl.

100 Things To Do Before I Go, Part II

Questions to ponder:

• What would surprise me if I found out I hadn’t done it by the time I died?
• What are the little things I expect to just unroll in front of me?
• What are the big, amazing things that absolutely wouldn’t happen without some heads-down, teeth-clenched work?
• What things have I been concentrating on that don’t really matter?

Memories that I hope to make before the end of my life; one hundred Things To Do, numbers twenty-one through forty.

21. Create a cherished new tradition.
22. Have a dog - at least one!
23. Take a year off of work and spend it abroad.
24. Provide the financial support necessary for someone to achieve a goal.
25. Attend a formal masquerade ball.
26. Buy a cottage on Sebago Lake, or Lake Pleasant.
27. Build a deck or patio.
28. Make ice cream in the summer with children.
29. Go wine tasting.
30. Take ballroom or Latin dance classes with a man I adore.
31. Hike more of the Appalachian trail.
32. Go camping every summer.
33. Learn to snowboard, finally.
34. Raise a family.
35. Follow my father's example: document life through photographs and stories.
36. Complete a marathon.
37. Buy another bicycle.
38. Know the best place to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July.
39. Make a habit of doing something new, fun, and adventurous at least once a month.
40. Have my mother autograph a copy of the first book she has published.

See also: Part I

My source of inspiration is, once again, Mighty Girl.

100 Things To Do Before I Go, Part I

Last week I focused on things I've already done. This week, the things I've yet to do - this is sort of a combination (in theory) of the 101 in 1001 and the Mondo Beyondo lists. Questions to ponder:

• What would surprise me if I found out I hadn’t done it by the time I died?
• What are the little things I expect to just unroll in front of me?
• What are the big, amazing things that absolutely wouldn’t happen without some heads-down, teeth-clenched work?
• What things have I been concentrating on that don’t really matter?

Memories that I hope to make before the end of my life; one hundred Things To Do, numbers one through twenty.

1. Fight in a Muay Thai match.
2. Watch a movie that I've written in a theater full of strangers.
3. Get a book published.
4. Buy a house; make it a home.
5. Get married surrounded by a small knot of friends and family.
6. Teach a class or workshop for high school & college students.
7. Go pumpkin-picking.
8. Dive the Great Barrier Reef.
9. New Year's Eve in Sydney, Tokyo, London, Paris, and New York.
10. Skydive.
11. Parasail.
12. Explore Macchu Pichu.
13. Plant & maintain a year round vegetable and herb garden.
14. Visit all fifty states
15. Visit all seven continents.
16. Have a portrait done of myself.
17. Learn conversational Mandarin and Japanese.
18. Send my parents on a wonderful trip.
19. Win an Oscar or Emmy.
20. Continue my family's annual traditions when my parents are unable to do so.

My source of inspiration is, once again, Mighty Girl. There's a reason she wrote a book full of inspiration!

100 Things Worth Doing, Part V

Memories that I hope flash before my eyes at the end of my life; one hundred moments, numbers eighty-one through one hundred.

81. The stranger in the pristine white suit who pulled over to help me change a tire.
82. Beignets & chicory coffee at the Cafe du Monde.
83. The smell of citrus blossoms and night blooming jasmine carried through my kitchen on a breeze.
84. Kissing Apollo in the rain, in the time before it all went awry.
85. Strolling through the Farmer's Market laden with delicious fruits & vegetables and an armload of fresh flowers.
86. Being so excited to see that Santa hadn't forgotten me, even though I was in Mexico and not at my house.
87. The first month that I paid all of my expenses all by myself.
88. Oscar purring and licking my nose.
89. The electricity of a new lover's first touch.
90. Red-lining at the gym: punching and kicking the bag until exhausted and drenched in sweat.
91. Singing camp songs.
92. Riding a horse beside my father.
93. Winning the cup and taking a galloping victory lap around the ring.
94. The smell of my father's aftershave (4711) and my mother's perfume (L'air du Temps).
95. Late night conversations about life, the universe, and everything.
96. My mother in a sun hat at the Hoover Dam.
97. The smell of a canoe in the hot sun; chipping at the water to send a spray of cold, glittering droplets across the bow.
98. Watching my father play with the puppy in the backyard - at once, he was 12 years old again.
99. Rehearsal dinner: spaghetti, MGD, and Junior Mints.
100. The feeling of wonderful anticipation before a new job, a first date, the next adventure.

Also see: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Though I struggled with the first twenty, now I feel as though I could list 100 more. What flashes stand out from your memories?

As always, many thanks to Mighty Girl for the inspiration.

100 Things Worth Doing, Part IV

Memories that I hope flash before my eyes at the end of my life; one hundred moments, numbers sixty-one through eighty.

61. Spending a day sprawled on a blanket in the park, reading.
62. Deja-vu in the tepidarium at Bath.
63. Laughing until my sides hurt and tears are rolling down my cheeks.
64. Firing a gun for the first time.
65. Blueberries picked on a mountain top.
66. Skinny-dipping.
67. Walking into a theater in the afternoon and not leaving again until the next morning.
68. Sitting in front of the fire in the den to dry my hair.
69. The mysterious boy who gave me a lemon in lieu of his phone number.
70. Driving, singing along at the top of our lungs.
71. Spoons on our noses at dinner at the ranch.
72. Countless late-night meals, all of us jammed into vinyl booths laughing and sharing food.
73. Jellyfish on the dock at Xtina's parent's house "down the shore."
74. Packing all my stuffed animals into suitcases for their "vacation" when we needed the spare bed.
75. Teaching swim classes at the local YWCA.
76. Purposely letting ourselves "get lost" in Rome so that we could get away from the stupid, loud tour group.
77. Having to hide from a group of enthusiastic Greek sailors on leave in Athens.
78. Picnicking by a waterfall after a long, tiring hike.
79. The dizzy feeling you get when you can see miles of blue or starry sky uninterrupted.
80. A movie-quality kiss at Union Station.

Also see: Part I, Part II, Part III

Many thanks to Mighty Girl for the inspiration.

Authenticity

Go read this.

No, right now, because John Mayer just shot an arrow straight to the heart of modern society:

I haven't spoken very much out loud these days, but I've been thinking to myself in what feels like surround sound. I can see so many things clearly, and feel so connected to myself and the world around me that I need to share the perspective with you.

. . .

What I'm about to write isn't about fame or success or celebrity or the media. That's my business.

This is about us all.

This is about a level of self consciousness so high in my generation, that it's actually toxic.

. . .

This is about us all. Every one of us. Who all seem to know deep down that it's incredibly hard to be alive and interact with the world around us but will try and cover it up at any cost. For as badass and unaffected as we try to come off, we're all just one sentence away from being brought to the edge of tears, if only it was worded right.

100 Things Worth Doing, Part III

Memories that I hope flash before my eyes at the end of my life; one hundred moments, numbers forty-one through sixty.

41. Christmas Tree decorating parties.
42. Person of Adventure trips.
43. Mid-afternoon naps in the summertime, ceiling fan gently rippling fresh, crisp sheets.
44. Collecting fireflies in jars with Emily & Paige.
45. The first day of college.
46. Driving around back alleys at midnight with Fusspot, trying to find a dumpster for the scenic trash.
47. Building the Musee set, high on paint fumes and strung out on Mountain Dew.
48. Talking about WNA on the NBC morning news.
49. Trying to call a show that had gone so far awry that I just closed my book and gave up on the cues.
50. Demz's tattoo, locked inside a Hollywood tattoo parlor at 2am.
51. Pansies from my father every Easter.
52. Loud music, a heaving dancefloor, and a gorgeous stranger.
53. Spring break in Santa Barbara.
54. Venice beach at sunrise.
55. Capri.
56. The distinctive smell of a rugby tournament: freshly mown grass, sports cream, and clean sweat.
57. Being tucked into the papazan chair when I had chicken pox.
58. Getting pulled over in Utah, both of us trying not to laugh at the adolescent looking patrolman.
59. Bypassing the line at the Standard.
60. Sprawled on the bed at the Beverly Hilton, sharing a bottle of wine.

Also see: Part I, Part II

Many thanks to Mighty Girl for the inspiration.

100 Things Worth Doing, Part II

Memories that I hope flash before my eyes at the end of my life; one hundred moments, numbers twenty-one through forty.

21. My first breakfast at the King's Road Cafe.
22. Sitting in the sun on the hill where I met The Fireman.
23. Riding a camel.
24. Paddling hell-for-leather into the wind across a vast, cold lake.
25. Lounging in a bathtub that had a view of the entire Hong Kong harbor.
26. Halloween in New York with Pip.
27. New Orleans.
28. Playing solitaire inside on a rainy day in Bermuda.
29. The first time I put on a pair of boxing gloves.
30. Making the Bûche de Noël by myself for the first time.
31. Thanksgiving. The smell of food cooking, the sound of friends laughing, the taste of dry white wine.
32. Jumping on the hotel bed.
33. Rauri's going away party.
34. Bare.
35. Swing dancing at the Derby & the Coconut Club.
36. "I'll make you a cherry pie..."
37. Rolling down the hill behind the tennis courts, trying to stop before the dirt road.
38. Finally being old enough / cool enough to go to The Ridge after dark.
39. Losing a muffler in Massachusetts
40. Seeing myself in a tabloid.

Also see: Part I

Many thanks to Mighty Girl for the inspiration.

100 Things Worth Doing, Part I

Memories that I hope flash before my eyes at the end of my life; one hundred moments, numbers one through twenty.

1. "Uncle" Bruce teaching me to tie my shoelaces.
2. Balloons floating on the surface of the pool at the house in Mexico on New Year's Day.
3. Slurpees with Claire after my high school graduation.
4. Spending a week in London on foot and mostly alone.
5. Yards of margaritas by the Luxor pool for my birthday.
6. Bargaining for rugs in Morrocco.
7. Slipping through the woods without flashlights to prank the boys at Testing Camp.
8. My first kiss.
9. Firebug & I driving back from Kawanhee along pitch-black roads in rural Maine.
10. Fireworks on the beach with Alex.
11. The monkeys on Gibraltar.
12. Being in the shop with my father, taking old clocks apart while he worked or puttered.
13. Nutcracker weekends.
14. The six of us standing together for the first time at my cousin's wedding in Las Vegas.
15. Meeting my cousins for the first time, 7 years apart.
16. Napping on the beach in Hawaii
17. The Northern Lights.
18. Playing a neighborhood-wide game of hide & seek that lasted most of a Saturday.
19. Playing Sorry with my parents on Sunday evenings during football season.
20. Facing Chief in the ring for the first time and feeling a rush of adrenaline as he put in his mouthguard.

Many thanks to Mighty Girl for the inpiration.