100 Things to Do Before I Die: Version 2.0
In 2012 I created my first 100 item LIFE LIST, and I've crossed off not a few of the experiences! A decade later, it's time to revisit, revive, and rewrite my working bucket list! This one is a work in progress! Feel free to add suggestions in the comments!
1. Own a small studio apartment at 4 Rue de Rivoli to use as a writing atelier in winter months and to rent out in tourist season.
2. Visit the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
3. See the Taj Mahal in India.
4. Ride on the Orient Express.
5. Master the waltz, foxtrot, and other basic ballroom dances.
6. Kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland.
7. Enjoy a swimming pool and hot tub at my Dallas house.
8. Create new flower beds at the Dallas house--full of peonies and camellias and roses and blue hydrangeas and "common" irises and gladioli (my neighbor's are blooming well).
9. Learn more French.
10. Learn more Italian.
11. Learn more Spanish.
12. Learn more Japanese.
13. Complete my Ph.D.
14. Attend a World Series Baseball game.
15. Spend a month, writing on the balcony of La Rocca Hotel in Assisi.
16. Spend a night in the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris.
17. Take a writing workshop by Natalie Goldberg in Taos, New Mexico.
18. Get as close as possible to the Lascaux Caves in Southwestern France.
19. Visit Cuba.
20. Make a Neruda pilgrimage to Santiago, Chili.
21. Visit the Art Institute of Chicago.
22. See the Great Pyramids of Egypt--led by Zahi Hawass--and the Egyptian Museum of Cairo!
23. Stand on the Great Wall of China.
24. Visit a market in Istanbul, Turkey.
25. Visit the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia if they straighten up during my lifetime. Visit the Ukraine if they don't, because those brave folks rock!
26. Write and publish "my movie book."
27. Write and publish "my travel book."
28. Write and publish a series of guide books for traveling writers to Dublin, Paris, Florence, Rome, Assisi, Kyoto, Prague, etc.
29. Write and publish "the Rosby novel."
30. Sell the movie rights to "the Rosby novel."
31. Help schools inspire, train, and retain teachers.
32. See the Parthenon in Greece.
33. See lions in the wild.
34. Sleep in a castle associated with a distant ancestor.
35. Visit Easter Island.
36. View the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
37. Own a Chanel suit.
38. Attend Carnival in Venice in costume.
39. Attend opera in Milan.
40. See Machu Pichhu in Peru.
41. Try out for the role of Blanche DeBois in a community production of Streetcar Named Desire.
42. Throw a sunflower-themed luncheon for my favorite ladies.
43. Visit Iran and Iraq when I'm able to do so.
44. Sponsor a showing of Harvey for all my friends who haven't seen the movie.
45. Open a Bed and Breakfast in an old house.
46. Own a beach house on Cape May.
47. See Stonehenge in England.
48. Master "bow," "eagle," and "tree poses in yoga class.
49. Grow my own mint, rosemary, and other herbs.
50. Visit Sophia, Bulgaria during the time of year people mark the first signs of spring with red ribbons.
51. Visit Kyoto when wisteria is blooming.
52. Add locations to my Writing Adventures business: Ireland, Italy, Japan, France, and the Czech Republic.
53. Continue to fill my house with art I love.
54. Complete my dinner-size set of sterling in the King Richard pattern by Towle.
55. Buy a gold Audi TT convertible to use at the beach.
56. Live by the water.
57. Own a grand piano.
58. Learn to play "You Are My Sunshine" on the harmonica.
59. Have high tea at the Ritz, the Fairmont, etc. in Dallas until I find the perfect cream tea in Texas.
60. Continue learning about wine.
61. Walk in the misty rain in Seattle.
62. Visit Casablanca in Morocco.
63. Learn to read Tarot Cards and produce an original set for mass production.
64. Read Ulysses--all of it.
65. Publish a poetry chapbook that uses Laura's surreal picture of the girls on the cover.
66. See a full production of Swan Lake.
67. Publish something in The New Yorker--even if it's just my caption contest entry!
68. Go to tea in Paris at the Ritz in Salon Proust.
69. Have goodies made by the "best pastry chef in the world" -- that's a thing!
70. Visit Alaska.
71. Buy the pink Christian Louboutin heels.
72. Send the grandbabies to private elementary and high schools.
73. Make sure the grandbabies have college scholarships and living expenses so they don't have to work fulltime during college.
74. Maintain a healthy, active body and value it.
75. Provide useful information, services, and kindnesses to those in my realm.
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