Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Talking About What It Might Have Been, Thinking About What It Used To Be

Ok, so I started writing a bucket list the other day. I got about ten items deep, and thought, 'this is boring for me to read, and I'm the one who is actually going to do these things.' Now, instead of a bucket list, I'm going to make the list of things I don't think I'll ever do before I die. (Aborted bucket list included at the end)

Beyond the obvious ones (be convicted of anything requiring jail time), I feel like I have a decent list of things that I plan to never do. So, in no particular order, I plan to never:

Watch Avatar or Zoolander. Avatar because I hear it's all about how stunning the visuals are. That's not enough to draw me in for 2+ hours. The Zoolander abstinence started out as a promise to a friend's mom, but now I don't think I'll watch it for two big reasons: 1) everyone has already told me all the truly funny parts, and 2) why bother with it? Made it this far and my life's been pretty good. I don't think learning about the less than funny parts will make it any better.

Pass on dessert. I will however decline seconds on dessert. Sometimes. Rarely.

Watch 'Lost'. Ship sailed on that one a long time ago.

Buy another hat to wear. As a souvenir or for a team I will, but I have two that I like to wear. One's light, one's dark. I don't see a need for a third.

Purchase a set of cleats. I just bought a pair about year ago. Fact: My shoe size isn't going to change in the next 25-30 years. Fact: After that time, I don't think I'll be playing things that require cleats.

Get in a sun-tanning bed. I've talked about this. I'm 0 for 10 in positive experiences with these things.

Join Twitter. Too much pressure to be witty every hour on the hour, not to mention the entire twitter-language that I would have to learn. Plus, I do enough following with Facebook and other blogs.

Read 'Harry Potter'. See 'Lost', although I'm not sure which one would actually take more time.

Perform the Macarena or any other line dance aside from the Electric Slide. Can't let that one go.

Climb a mountain. No thanks. Requires a bit too much prep work, not enough return. Maybe hike to the Y, considering you can drive half the way.



It's so played out, it's ridiculous, but for kicks and giggles, and I'm going to put out a bucket list. The scariest part of all this is that if I actually put it down, the odds of me doing it move to about 92%.

Attend a game in every baseball stadium. Ideally, I'd go on the dream summer road trip of 30 stadiums in 30 days, but that window is closing fast.

Spend a week in Greece. I've never seen an ugly photo from this country, and the history there is bar-none.

Bungee jump. Would go tomorrow if anyone else wants to come. Just don't want to do it by myself.

Write a book. Easily, the hardest of all the things on this list, mostly because I would never think it was complete.

Learn the piano. If 7 year olds can play it, I think I should be able to figure it out. I'm not talking concert pianist level here, but I want to be able to knock out the majority of the hymns. That, and understand why I need three foot pedals. I know one makes the notes longer, but I can't figure out why I would need 2 more?

Throw out the first pitch at a professional baseball game. I will be bringing the heat, from the slab.

Visit Oregon, Michigan, Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota, Rhode Island and Alaska, otherwise known as the only states I'm yet to visit. Out of all of them, the lowest percentage shot has to be Oregon. The only sports team they have is the Trailblazers, and I don't really care about basketball. It's tucked in a corner, so I would almost have to make a trip solely to go there. Slim odds.

Word.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Where to begin?
Hmm... I think with... wow we are so much more similar than I thought, and I thought we bonded quite nicely over tootsie rolls and word games.
I have to say that I agree with most of your "never do" list... EXCEPT for the Harry Potter thing. This I do not understand. And I could go on for ages about why you really should read it... with very legitimate reasons, but I feel like that would only make you more stubborn and more convinced never to read them just on principle. Just know that the book are straight up genius. And I'm going to be a HP character for Halloween.
Next, Greece is the one place I would drop everything and go to without a second thought.
No way in hell you're getting me to bungee jump. I'd rather skydive and even that scares the poo out of me.
And I can play the piano decently... so I'll give you a hint on the other two pedals... one helps you play very quietly... and that DOES come in handy.

P.S. Oregon has some beautiful places.

McKay said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
McKay said...

Really Rick (no you did not stutter - I'm just incredulous)? Oregon over North Dakota. Tell me one thing worth seeing in North Dakota and it's COMPLETELY out of the way. I do have one friend that went to North Dakota and he had to take a side trip for 5 hours just to enter the state and cross it off his list.
Oh and I have an even better hint for the pedals than Raechel's http://tinyurl.com/3xf36td

Laura, Ella, and a Pair of Toms said...

To help you with your future endeavors: Piano pedals:

Middle pedal is a partial sustain pedal. It allows you to hold the bass notes, while having unsustained upper register notes to be played simultaneously.

The left pedal is called the "Una corda pedal" and shifts the hammers so they only hit two or one of the three strings for each note - therefore making the sound softer.

The right pedal is the "Damper pedal" which is the most used and allows you to "hold" the notes out. It works by lifting the hammers off the strings completely until released again.

The left and middle pedal are relatively new to the piano and you can still find some pianos with either one pedal (the sustain) or the right and left pedal only.

Anyway, hope that helps ;) You really won't use any pedal except the right unless you are in pretty advanced music. Also, if you are reading music and you see a...

*--------------^ that means, push teh pedal down...hold it...and release. In the hymns, though, it si completely up to you how much or little pedal to use. Use wisely. ;)