50 by 50 - The List

Here it is. The 50 things I will do before I turn 50 in two years (in no particular order):

1. Get a tatoo.
2. Go sailing.
3. Climb the rock wall at the gym.
4. Go snowmobiling.
5. Go to the top of Pike's Peak.
6. Sing a solo in church.
7. Go camping (the real kind - tents, peeing in the woods, etc.)
8. Visit Graceland.
9. Go parasailing.
10. Learn to shoot a gun.
11. Bowl a 200+ game.
12. Learn to do cartwheels.
13. Visit a country I have never been to before.
14. Learn to water ski.
15. Learn to drive a motocycle.
16. Sell an article to a magazine.
17. Get certified in CPR.
18. Ride in a hot air balloon.
19. Ride an adult-size roller coaster.
20. Go cross-country skiing.
21. Go jet skiing.
22. Ride a horse.
23. Attend a real rock concert (I was told that seeing Journey in 1981 does not count).
24. Go on an out of state road trip with the youth group. (I've done this many times, but this one was requested by my niece.)
25. Visit Branson, Missouri.
26. Go scuba diving.
27. Go on a blind date.
28. Write a song.
29. Perform in community theatre.
30. Build a house with Habitat for Humanity.
31. Join the bone marrow donor registry.
32. Go hunting.
33. Learn to rollerblade.
34. Go skateboarding.
35. Golf 18 holes. Yes, in one day.
36. Enter a poker tournament.
37. Learn to play poker (I told you this list was in no particular order).
38. Go ice skating.
39. Write a novel.
40. Take a cooking class.
41. Take a karate (or other martial art) class.
42. Learn to speak Polish.
43. Go to the Kentucky Derby (just so I have an excuse to buy an awesome hat).
44. Ride a Segway.
45. Learn to dive from a diving board.
46. Do a flip on a trampoline.
47. Catch a fish.
48. Take a yoga class in Millenium Park.
49. Walk in a charity event.
50. Post a video of me doing any of these things on YouTube.

OK, some of these are kinda lame. But it's a darn long list! I'm not sure which one is more scary to me - #19 or #27.

And to my friend who suggested I could do any or all of these things naked, YES. I will do #42 naked, but I won't be posting it on YouTube!

50 by 50

This is a limited-time offer. You have one week to contribute to a very worthwhile life experience. Fifty of them, actually.

In two years + one week (God willing) I will celebrate my 50th birthday. And between August 29, 2008 and August 29, 2010 I pledge to myself to do 50 things that I have either never done before, or did so long ago that it doesn't count.

I have a list going and it is nowhere near 50 items, so I need your help. I'm not saying I will accept every single suggestion (I'm not crazy), but if it is somewhat reasonable, absolutely legal, and does not conflict with my core values I will add it to the list.

A lot of things on the list will depend on my continuing to get fit and lose weight, like climbing a rock wall at the gym and learning to do cartwheels (seriously). I want to go snowmobiling, horseback riding and water skiing...stuff like that. I might ride a giant roller coaster, but I probably would not go sky diving.

And I want to visit several places I have never been before, like Graceland and Branson. And bowl a 200+ game (my lifetime high score is 197). And maybe sing on YouTube.

If you would like to contribute suggestions, post a comment or send me an email. I'll publish the list on my birthday and start the clock. And if you want to join me on any of the adventures, just let me know!

Sad but true

This news has actually made me very sad. Once again, image wins over substance.

In the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces, Rose Morgan is a literature professor who has never liked her looks. Rose has a beautiful mother, a gorgeous sister and a handsome husband who married her specifically because he is not sexually attracted to her (the reason given is somewhat hard to believe). At one point in the movie Rose asks her mother what it felt like to be admired for her beauty. Her mother hesitates, but then admits - "it was wonderful".

Rose is played by Barbra Streisand, a woman who may not be beautiful in a classic sense, but is extremely talented and successful because she worked hard and made the most of the gifts she was given. Those gifts include one of the most wonderful voices the world has ever known, which could have been ruined if she had succumbed to a common beautifying tactic - a nose job.

Today more than ever, in too many aspects of our culture, beauty is of the highest value - more important than talent or intelligence or personality. I wish I had the strength of character to say with certainty that I would rather be who I am - a woman who might be thought of as beautiful but only after you get to know me - than someone who the world knows is beautiful. But some days I just don't know.

Some days I really want to know what it's like on the other side.

It's good to be home...

...after being trapped in a Walgreen's during a severe storm. A tornado touched down a few towns away.

Even if the power goes out now, at least I'm home.