The 99 things meme
If the eminent blogger at Still Life with Cat can participate in this
frivolity, so can I! so can you.
Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicise
Things you haven't done and don't want to: leave in plain font
Things you wish you'd done but you know in your heart that it's too late now: underline
1. Started your own blog.
Yeah, well, anyone doing this meme is likely to be doing it in their own blog, right.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
Not so much as too late as too talentless.
4. Visited Hawaii.
I ate my first Japanese noodles there, but didn't get to the beach.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
... though it often feels as if it's more than one can afford.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
Opposite of underlined.
8. Climbed a mountain.
Not exactly climbed: in each case it was more a matter of trudging up. Mount Batur in Bali on to see the sun rise on New Year's Day; the volcano on Vulcano in the Aeolian Islands; a mountain with a monastery on top in China.
9. Held a praying mantis.
But not one of those wonderful creatures from Lord Howe Island.
10. Sang a solo.
When I was 13 I sang 'The Railroad runs through the middle of the house' in the Innisfail Eisteddfod. Some years later I played Bunthorne, the poet in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience. A G&S expert who was called in to advise asked the director why I wasn't singing in tune. My children objected vehemently whenever I sang around the house.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
For a week a couple of years ago.We walked and walked and walked, so much that I thought I'd permanently damaged my feet.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
Developed a rash all over from a spaghetti marinara in Newcastle.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
I walked around the bottom though.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
If working in the vege garden when at boarding school counts.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
Innisfail to Brisbane many times during my two years at boarding school.
21. Had a pillow fight.
Times beyond number, mostly as an adult, sometimes with other adults
22. Hitch hiked.
From Innisfail most of the way to Sydney in the early 1970s. Our most memorable lift was with one Wally Needer, who said, 'The tropics are like a drug. Once they get into your system you can't shake them off.' When he said the tropics, he meant Mackay, which to my youthful mind was like saying Sydney and meaning Gosford.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
Almost certainly.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
At my quasi in-laws' retirees' commune. See also 45.
27. Run a marathon.
I did see a little bit of one once.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
I've never even played baseball. Nor have I ever hit a four or a six in cricket
32. Been on a cruise.
Yuk!
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
I have been to England and Ireland, but nowhere more specific than that.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
Tiny bits of quite a few, but never to the point of having a conversation.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
Does not compute.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
Only in indoor climbing centres
40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
Just the once, on a boat trip up the Three Gorges in China.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
But I've been to Rotorua and seen the big one there.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
Astonishingly enough, given what a conventional and timid person I am at heart, I'm remembering going skinny dipping by moonlight at Bondi Beach circa 1972.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
Yes. By Peter Sheehan. He submitted the portrait in the Archibald, but it didn't get hung. I now have the portrait in the spare bedroom.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
Before it was restored by the Japanese, and then again after restoration. The first time with my elder son, nearly two years old, then with my younger, almost 20.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Part way up, but.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling.
Snorkelling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
Surely.
53. Played in the mud.
There was a lot of it in my childhood.
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.
A movie I remember seeing is who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
55. Been in a movie.
On the cutting room floor of Gill Burnett's Circuit, and small parts in a number of short didactic films.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
And I have the faded t-shirt to prove it.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
Not even biscuits.
62. Gone whale watching.
From the cliffs at Bondi.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
A couple of times a year since I was 18, with a pause recently because of mysteriously lowered iron count, but currently back to donatable condition.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
Sachsenhausen. It may seem odd, but this is something I'd recommend: visiting the place of such horrors makes them less the stuff of horror movies and more the stuff of life.
67. Bounced a cheque.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
A fiendishly expensive half hour over the New Zealand Alps.
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy.
Like Dr Cat, no toy but a book. I now own the dilapidated collection of Hans Christian Andersen stories that is the first book I remember my mother reading to me.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
Not the Henry Parkes Motel in Kempsie either.
71. Eaten caviar.
If taramasalata counts
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
And sat in a cheap cafe there and been lectured on Australian Native Title law by a learned lawyer friend who was working at Columbia University at the time. Our meal was interrupted by a woman from a nearby table who came over to thank my friend for the very interesting talk.
74. Toured the Everglades.
But I've visited Kakadu.
75. Been fired from a job.
If retrenchment counts.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
A wrist, falling from a skateboard at the age of 36.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
Does a motor scooter going 50 k count?
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
Sort of. I've worked in publishing, and have a sense of ownership of a number books.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
Not really. My partner has.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
A couple of times. In the Catholic Weekly in early 1968, and then in the mid 1980s, a cute photo of my younger son painting my nose in, I think, the Sydney Telegraph.
85. Read the entire Bible.
Probably not. I've come pretty close.
86. Visited the White House.
Shudder!
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
But watched my father closely many times when he killed, cleaned and plucked a chook.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
I've avoided driving my car into oncoming traffic so far, so I've saved the lives of all those people I could have mowed down. in cadets at school I was once in charge of a machine gun firing live bullets, and I managed to get it under control before it killed anyone.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
Actually, it's more that I know many people who should be famous.
92. Joined a book club.
I'm currently a member of two.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
Not in person, you understand, but I've been as involved as it's possible for someone of my gender to be.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
'Please don't smoke. Heroes have died here.' It's a very US place.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
Does applying for Conscientious Objector status count as a law suit? Does sitting through my partner's libel case count as involved?
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
------
I'm a bit alarmed to see how few italics I've used. Does this mean I have a nunc dimittis mentality? I don't think so. There's life in the old boy yet.
Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicise
Things you haven't done and don't want to: leave in plain font
Things you wish you'd done but you know in your heart that it's too late now: underline
1. Started your own blog.
Yeah, well, anyone doing this meme is likely to be doing it in their own blog, right.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
Not so much as too late as too talentless.
4. Visited Hawaii.
I ate my first Japanese noodles there, but didn't get to the beach.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
... though it often feels as if it's more than one can afford.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
Opposite of underlined.
8. Climbed a mountain.
Not exactly climbed: in each case it was more a matter of trudging up. Mount Batur in Bali on to see the sun rise on New Year's Day; the volcano on Vulcano in the Aeolian Islands; a mountain with a monastery on top in China.
9. Held a praying mantis.
But not one of those wonderful creatures from Lord Howe Island.
10. Sang a solo.
When I was 13 I sang 'The Railroad runs through the middle of the house' in the Innisfail Eisteddfod. Some years later I played Bunthorne, the poet in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience. A G&S expert who was called in to advise asked the director why I wasn't singing in tune. My children objected vehemently whenever I sang around the house.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
For a week a couple of years ago.We walked and walked and walked, so much that I thought I'd permanently damaged my feet.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
Developed a rash all over from a spaghetti marinara in Newcastle.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
I walked around the bottom though.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
If working in the vege garden when at boarding school counts.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
Innisfail to Brisbane many times during my two years at boarding school.
21. Had a pillow fight.
Times beyond number, mostly as an adult, sometimes with other adults
22. Hitch hiked.
From Innisfail most of the way to Sydney in the early 1970s. Our most memorable lift was with one Wally Needer, who said, 'The tropics are like a drug. Once they get into your system you can't shake them off.' When he said the tropics, he meant Mackay, which to my youthful mind was like saying Sydney and meaning Gosford.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
Almost certainly.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
At my quasi in-laws' retirees' commune. See also 45.
27. Run a marathon.
I did see a little bit of one once.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
I've never even played baseball. Nor have I ever hit a four or a six in cricket
32. Been on a cruise.
Yuk!
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
I have been to England and Ireland, but nowhere more specific than that.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
Tiny bits of quite a few, but never to the point of having a conversation.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
Does not compute.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
Only in indoor climbing centres
40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
Just the once, on a boat trip up the Three Gorges in China.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
But I've been to Rotorua and seen the big one there.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
Astonishingly enough, given what a conventional and timid person I am at heart, I'm remembering going skinny dipping by moonlight at Bondi Beach circa 1972.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
Yes. By Peter Sheehan. He submitted the portrait in the Archibald, but it didn't get hung. I now have the portrait in the spare bedroom.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
Before it was restored by the Japanese, and then again after restoration. The first time with my elder son, nearly two years old, then with my younger, almost 20.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Part way up, but.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling.
Snorkelling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
Surely.
53. Played in the mud.
There was a lot of it in my childhood.
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.
A movie I remember seeing is who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
55. Been in a movie.
On the cutting room floor of Gill Burnett's Circuit, and small parts in a number of short didactic films.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
And I have the faded t-shirt to prove it.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
Not even biscuits.
62. Gone whale watching.
From the cliffs at Bondi.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
A couple of times a year since I was 18, with a pause recently because of mysteriously lowered iron count, but currently back to donatable condition.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
Sachsenhausen. It may seem odd, but this is something I'd recommend: visiting the place of such horrors makes them less the stuff of horror movies and more the stuff of life.
67. Bounced a cheque.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
A fiendishly expensive half hour over the New Zealand Alps.
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy.
Like Dr Cat, no toy but a book. I now own the dilapidated collection of Hans Christian Andersen stories that is the first book I remember my mother reading to me.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
Not the Henry Parkes Motel in Kempsie either.
71. Eaten caviar.
If taramasalata counts
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
And sat in a cheap cafe there and been lectured on Australian Native Title law by a learned lawyer friend who was working at Columbia University at the time. Our meal was interrupted by a woman from a nearby table who came over to thank my friend for the very interesting talk.
74. Toured the Everglades.
But I've visited Kakadu.
75. Been fired from a job.
If retrenchment counts.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
A wrist, falling from a skateboard at the age of 36.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
Does a motor scooter going 50 k count?
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
Sort of. I've worked in publishing, and have a sense of ownership of a number books.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
Not really. My partner has.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
A couple of times. In the Catholic Weekly in early 1968, and then in the mid 1980s, a cute photo of my younger son painting my nose in, I think, the Sydney Telegraph.
85. Read the entire Bible.
Probably not. I've come pretty close.
86. Visited the White House.
Shudder!
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
But watched my father closely many times when he killed, cleaned and plucked a chook.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
I've avoided driving my car into oncoming traffic so far, so I've saved the lives of all those people I could have mowed down. in cadets at school I was once in charge of a machine gun firing live bullets, and I managed to get it under control before it killed anyone.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
Actually, it's more that I know many people who should be famous.
92. Joined a book club.
I'm currently a member of two.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
Not in person, you understand, but I've been as involved as it's possible for someone of my gender to be.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
'Please don't smoke. Heroes have died here.' It's a very US place.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
Does applying for Conscientious Objector status count as a law suit? Does sitting through my partner's libel case count as involved?
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
------
I'm a bit alarmed to see how few italics I've used. Does this mean I have a nunc dimittis mentality? I don't think so. There's life in the old boy yet.
Posted: Sun - December 21, 2008 at 06:46 AM |
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This started out as a patchy journal about family life with my mother-in-law, Mollie, who has Alzheimers and was then living with us. Mollie has moved, first into a "low-care facility" then, in July 2004, into a nursing home. As these and other events have overtaken us, the blog has moved on ...
A note on comments: You can read comments on the same page as the entry rather than in a pop-up window, by clicking on the category button ("Mollie" etc) at the end of the entry and then on the "Read more" button.
A note on comments: You can read comments on the same page as the entry rather than in a pop-up window, by clicking on the category button ("Mollie" etc) at the end of the entry and then on the "Read more" button.
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Published On: Jan 22, 2009 06:24 AM
Total entries in this category: 379
Published On: Jan 22, 2009 06:24 AM