100 Things/10 Years

So, I'm jumping on the, what I've learned is an extremely popular, bandwagon of listing out 100 Things to Do Before I Die. But like others, I do better with limits - thus this list is for the next 10 years. I learned two key things during this process: 1) I've been extremely blessed (and fairly adventurous) in my first 26 years. While reading others' lists, I could usually name at least 30 things that I had already done. 2) If I let myself, all 100 goals would have involved some sort of travel.

As the illustrious Cecil Rhodes said on his deathbed, "So little done, so much to do." And this from a man who died at 48 having created his own empire of railroads, gold, and diamonds. Now if he thought that, surely I can fulfill 100 much smaller goals of my own.

They aren't in any kind of order, more like a stream of consciousness list.

1) Go on an African Safari
2) Adopt a dog from a shelter
3) Run a 1/2 marathon
4) Go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
5) Live abroad
6) Sing a solo at karaoke
7) Tip a really great waiter/waitress 100% of the bill
8) Protest for a cause
9) Get a second tattoo
10) Stay a night here
11) Take a camel ride to the Pyramids
12) Witness the Northern Lights
13) Watch every Oscar winner for best picture
14) Bungee jump off a bridge
15) Earn a business certificate in French
16) Take a pottery class
17) Write a children's book - attempt to get it published
18) Learn passable German
19) Get my palm read
20) Sit in the stands at Wimbledon
21) Have my picture painted
22) Live in an apartment with central air
23) Ride on a motorcycle
24) Go a whole weekend without using electricity
25) Own 50 opera recordings
26) Spend a night in a haunted hotel
27) Sit on the board of a theater
28) Ride in a tiny airplaine
29) Stand in the middle of the Acropolis as the sun sets
30) Be a member of the audience for a TV show
31) See Wagner's Ringcycle
32) Go to a shooting range - shoot something
33) Buy a piece of art from a gallery show
34) Have my own library with an overstuffed leather chair
35) Learn to meditate
36) Push a handcar down a railroad track
37) Lose 20 pounds
38) Create a photo album for someone for a gift
39) Help a perfect stranger
40) Learn how to use my camera, like really use it
41) Have a wine and cheese party
42) Read the Bible from cover to cover
43) Get a cake batter cake from Cold Stone Creamery
44) Ride a bike with no hands
45) See Auschwitz
46) Put all of my loose photos into photo albums
47) Drive a Smartcar
48) Go to a Renaissance Fair
49) Eat 2 funnel cakes at 1 State Fair all by myself
50) Go on a family vacation
51) Drive a tractor
52) Learn to take a compliment
53) Keep a journal everyday for a year
54) Drive across the US - coast to coast
55) Help a child to discover reading
56) Be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras
57) Get certified in CPR
58) Travel the entire distance of the Trans-Siberian Railroad
59) Make an enemy
60) See an opera at the Palais Garnier
61) Ride on a roller coaster
62) Become a mother
63) Go to a midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show
64) Get an expensive manicure and not ruin it within 2 days
65) Continue to see the Nutracker with my dad every year
66) Attend a musical still in previews
67) Make my own candle
68) Go camping
69) Buy a pair of glasses without looking at the price tag
70) Visit Jim Morrison's grave
71) Make creampuffs from scratch
72) Have my picture in a brochure
73) Memorize a poem and recite it in public
74) Paint a room green
75) Read an entire book in French - understand it
76) Visit Mackinac Island when the lilac trees are in full bloom
77) Pet a lion
78) Take the man I love to see Camera degli Sposi
79) Watch all six Star Wars movies in a row
80) Serve a meal at a homeless shelter
81) Bake someone a birthday cake
82) Visit 5 Civil War battle fields
83) Join a book club
84) Send handmade Christmas cards
85) Read Middlemarch, Atlas Shrugged, and Ulysses
86) Stay one night at the The Waldorf Astoria
87) Cross-stitch an entire picture
88) Create a Wikipedia entry
89) Visit the UN building
90) Buy a great piece of furniture that isn't used
91) Travel to Budapest
92) Help build a house through Habitat for Humanity
93) Get my third tattoo
94) Make copies of all of my grandma's photos
95) Play slot machines in Vegas
96) Go salsa dancing until the sun comes up
97) Read all of Shakespeare's works
98) Eat crepes in Paris (again)
99) Watch the sunset from inside the "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" dinosaur
100) Finish this list:)

Some Friday Night Cuteness

Here's what makes me mad...seriously

Why, for the love of all that is sacred and holy, is Bull Durham continuously ranked above Hoosiers on multiple lists of "Best Sports Movies Ever."


That's the case on aol.com, Sport Illustrated 2001 & 2003, ESPN Page 2, and Times Online UK. E-Online, bunch of idiots, has Bull Durham at 7/10 and Hoosiers ISN'T EVEN ON THE LIST. The same for Total Film Magazine which doesn't even have Hoosiers in it's Top 25!!!!


Really, were these people born in a barn?


ESPN even had a recent "Bull Durham" week to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the movie and highlighted how "Twenty years later, Bull Durham is still widely considered among the top sports movies ever made, and is BRAVO's choice for best comedy ever."



Blah, blah, blah.



Look, I've seen them both, and granted, I could, maybe, be biased as a basketball-loving Indiana girl. (Let's be clear - no US pro-basketball, which is practically a mockery of the true game).



But, really, I don't think so.



Bull Durham: Some guy educates another guy in a single A team about baseball, love, and some other stuff that I don't remember. Susan Sarandon blabs on about the "Church of Baseball," and teaches one of the guys about the joys of bondage and poetry.

Hoosiers: Small-town basketball at its best. Features a coach with a past that whips farm boys into the best basketball team in the state while also dealing with alchoholism, prejudice, death, and recovery (mental and phsyical). Plus, every time anyone ever watches it...they are inevitably still tense and nervous at the championship game - a testament to the brilliancy of both the acting and the score.

No contest - please, Hoosiers is hands down a better sports movie.

Besides, if I had to bet between Costner and Hackman - my money's on Hackman.

Sometimes I whine...

a lot...sorry Mom and Dad!


But I can't help it! See, I whine sometimes about living in America. Because, truthfully, I would much rather live in Europe - pretty much anywhere would do for this girl. I blame this urge on studying abroad in the spring of 2003 where Europe was my playground and pretty much any city was only a 30 euro plane ride away!

Alas, since 2003, I haven't been back there, and since 2004 I haven't been abroad! I know, that may sound spoiled, but for everything I do/am passionate about - traveling is definitely at the top. Way at the top - like, Ithinkaboutiteveryday-at-the-top

But, just when I was about drown my sorrows with cheap wine and the Travel Channel the other day, I came upon an article on MSN.com which was pretty fantastic about pointing out to me just how thankful I should be about all I've seen already.


The article was entitled "Europe's Must-See Landmarks." And I was thinking, "Man, I bet, I've only gotten to see a few of these." Insert :( here.

But, really, I had seen 10/19. And that's pretty cool. No, that's really cool. So below, I've listed all of them for your own perusal, highlighting the one's that I've been lucky enough to visit.

(Not in any sort of particular order)

1) Eiffel Tower, Paris, France - Paris, je t'aime. My favorite memory? My dad's attempt at la langue francaise by walking up to the ticket window and telling the man at the window, "I would like trois for the top!" Good times.

2) Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic - Good friends, really cold weather, and awesome photography on this Bridge. I still have a picture that I bought on it hanging in my apartment.

3) The Palace at Versailles, Versailles, France - Ugh, love that Hall of Mirrors! Rainy day, but my parents and I had the best time! The small chapel was probably my favorite room.

5) Buckingham Palace, London, England - Totally - great architecture, not as impressed with the changing of the guards as I thought I would be.

5) Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark - Nope, but I would sure love to go there!

6) Puerto del Sol, Madrid, Spain - Unfortunately, never made it to Spain.

7) Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain - See above

8) Hagia Sophia mosque, Instanbul, Turkey - Nuh uh, but this is near the top of my list - maybe next year I'll go to Instanbul and Budapest????

9) Notre Dame de Paris cathedral, Paris, France - We went to the Easter mass there - just incredible...it's such an undescribable place, I almost cried when we went in.

10) Red Square, Moscow, Russia - Since when is Russia part of Europe?

11) St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome, Italy - Yes!!! Plus, I was there with friends on the day the Pope (John Paul II at the time) gave a blessing. Amazing, just amazing.

12) Piccadilly Circus, London, England - Actually cut through here everyday on my way to class.

13) Colosseum, Rome, Italy - Totes...even cooler in person, but give you the creeps to see where the slaves/animals were held.

14) Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England - Our whole program went out to see this monument. Unfortunately, you can no longer walk among the stones, because all of the footprints were softening the ground and causing the stones to shift slightly. But worth it, nonetheless.

15) Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany - Nope, but would love to!

16) Giants Causeway, ner Bushmills, Northern Ireland - Never made it past Dublin the weekend I was there - not enough time.

17) The Parthenon on the Acropolis, Athens, Greece - Sadly, the closest I've gotten is an obsession with Greek mythology and my 8th grade sugar cube replica.

18) Alhambra, Granada, Spain - See above one more time:)

19) Custom House, Dublin, Ireland - Saw it only from the outside, but that counts!

Well, there you have it, my friends. I've been really blessed to see all of these amazing places.

Not that I'll quit whining any time soon:)

It's a teeny tiny world

Bonjour tout le monde! Hier soir, j'ai mangé avec mes amis de mon classe francaise. Nous sommes allés au bon restaurant Lebanese...

Oh, uh, excuse-moi, I didn't mean to start in la langue francaise, but I've been speaking so much of it lately!! Très bon, n'est-ce pas?

So, on Tuesday, my French class met up at an amazing Lebanese restaurant on the near north side to speak French outside of class, so we wouldn't lose our skills by the time class gears up again at the end of June.

And really, I don't have anything wildly interesting to say about that night aside from two things that stand out:

1) We managed to speak nothing but French for over an hour - pretty exciting!

2) We chatted with our waiter for a bit (in English) and it turns out he was born in Baghdad, lived for awhile in Tehran, moved here several years ago, hasn't seen is family (still in Iraq) since 1982, and his sister was 5 when he left and he's only spoken to her one the phone since then. Oh, and he speaks Arabic, Assyrian, Persian, English, a little French, and understands Greek. I am continuously amazed by the people I meet in Chicago, from those I know well, to those I meet purely on accident. Our waiter was incredibly nice - he mentioned that he hopes things are changing now, and how he hopes to see his family eventually in the next few years. For the most part, aside from reading the news, I feel very separated from what happens in the Middle East, but everyone once in awhile, thanks to events like this, the magnitude of what is going on is brought home to me.