Have You Ever

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain Mount Sunapee … it’s not really a mountain mountain … but whatever. I am counting it.
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I will have nightmares tonight just for the suggestion.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights. Camping with the boyfriend in Minnesota, by this little secret lake. Deer everywhere, no other people … we sipped whiskey and watched the northern lights. One of the most spectacular and spiritual moments of my whole life.
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables My parents had a garden when we were kids – and we used to go out and pick the tomatoes, the cukes, etc., for the salad – but I didn’t grow the stuff myself.
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby’s diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment More times than I can count, starting with church when I was a kid.
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
31. Asked out a stranger Good story. But I’ll never tell it.
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier I had this horrible job in Chicago, at a real estate office – these guys were SCUMBAGS – but all the women in the office were absolutely hilarious irreverent goddesses. We became very good friends. One infamous day when the bosses were out of town, all the office-girls ordered in lunch, and we also ordered in frozen margaritas … Before you know it, there goes the photocopier.
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip Many many many many times. I’m from the Ocean State, after all.
38. Taken an ice cold bath During the 1995 heat wave in Chicago. I took a couple ice cold baths a day.
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run Dad – did I? I’m assuming I did. I was in Little League. I was a great hitter. Not so good outfielder.
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day Er – how ’bout for 2 weeks? Last year I was in an Irish play, too – with real Irish actors, I was the only American, so I needed to work my ass off to sound as Irish as them. I spoke in a brogue for 2 weeks. It paid off. Met an Irish guy after one of the shows, and the second I opened my mouth and spoke with my own voice, his jaw dropped to the floor. He said it never even occurred to him that I wasn’t Irish. A compliment indeed.
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends Always. I’ve always had a great crowd.
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country I did a jig with an 80 year old man in a pub off O’Connell Street in Dublin on the eve of the millennium. This most definitely counts.
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Lied to foreign government’s official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke I love karaoke. Recently I actually sang “Lose Yourself”, karaoke-style. I got to be Eminem for 2 minutes. The glory!! I also realized that DAMN does that boy have breath control. I could barely keep up.
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater I saw Empire Strikes Back for the first time at a drive-in, with all my cousins. That movie changed my life.
80. Done something you should regret, but don’t regret it
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who’s not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn’t have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy No one has ever said to me, “Wow, I feel so dizzy” … but the effect is the same, so I’m bolding this one.
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo Er – I think we covered this one last week!
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
105. Got flowers for no reason I have no memory of the moment, but I’m sure it happened. Boyfriend was a flower-giver-type.
106. Masturbated in a public place long long ago
107. Got so drunk you don’t remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read – and understood – your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. …more than once? – More than thrice?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived.
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone’s heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had sex on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon This is also a funny story. My boyfriend and I were hiking down, and it was on the day the “trial of Clarence Thomas” began, and we had been listening on the radio, kind of obsessed – and we almost RESENTED the fact that we were going to take this gorgeous hike, because it would keep us away from the radio. Ridiculous.
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read I’m still doing this – it’s a favorite pastime. There are still authors I’ve “missed” …
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them
183. …and gotten 86’ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language I had an actual conversation with someone who spoke not a word of English and she only spoke Farsi – and it was on the PHONE – and … I cannot describe how it happened – but we communicated just fine.
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you I’m counting writing and acting as artwork.
195. Had a booth at a street fair When I was 10 years old, my friend Betsy and I pretended we were palm readers, and we had a dark spooky booth at the school fair. It was probably 110 degrees inside that booth. We also had no idea how to read palms. But we wore cool gypsy costumes.
196: Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Been arrested