100 Things to do before you Die!

[Kerry]

So many lovely ideas! You really inspired me a lot! Another thing I want to do before I die is to spend a week in the mountains running about with bare feet.....maybe I´ll do that in September......but I don´t have planned to die afterwards  .....

Dagi

I hope you get your wish, Dagi. I'd like to do that too! 

[Kerry]

I picked.....

Kiss a movie star
Love your body.
Travel from coast to coast across the USA
Do something you fear
Make love in a tent in Alberta
Smell snow.
Watch a lunar eclipse
Buy a cowboy hat in Wyoming.
Be an extra in a film
Shower under a waterfall.
Make a wish as you throw a coin into Rome’s Trevi fountain.
Spend the night in a haunted house.
Write a song.
Forgive yourself.
Go white water rafting
Yodel on a Swiss mountain
Meditate at Stonehenge.
Buy cowboy boots in Texas
Visit the Mona Lisa and smile at her.
Gallop a horse on a deserted beach.
Make love in a motel room in Wyoming.
Go on a fishing trip with your sweetie in the Big Horn Mountains.

Good choices, Chuck! 

I initially ticked 66 boxes (things I've never done before and also things I've done already and want to do again) but have since modified my list to just a few special things.    

[CellarDweller]

Kerry, I was actually pleased to see I had done a few things on the list!

[Kerry]

Kerry, I was actually pleased to see I had done a few things on the list!

You make an interesting point there, Chuck. 

It's prompted me to go through my responses and see how many I've actually done already. I was surprised with the result. 

And it gave me a great idea for an extension to this poll. How about if we list all the things we've already done, and tell each other when/how we did them? 

It's easy with cut 'n' paste! 

I'd love to read everyone's responses! 

Here's mine:

* Love your body.

“Accustomed to my body” would probably be more accurate!

* Plant a tree.

Yep, and shrubs and bushes and flowers too!

* Watch a lunar eclipse.

I will be watching one this very night, right here in Sydney.

* Have your portrait painted.

It was a self-portrait. There have been several over the years.

* Go to the opening night of the ballet.

Went to the opening night of the Matthew Bourne (gay) production of “Swan Lake” in February. It was stunning and got a standing ovation. I won free tickets in a competition.

* Drink whisky straight from the bottle with your sweetie.

I’ve drunk a toast to Jack and Ennis by taking a swig straight from a whisky bottle. It was vile! I was trying to be like Jack and Ennis! There was no “sweetie” present!

* Be able to take compliments.

I’ve never had any difficulty in accepting compliments. It’s insults I can’t take!

* Shower under a waterfall.

Did this several times in childhood. There was a waterfall near the lake where I grew-up.

* Trace your family tree.

Only back a couple of generations so far.

* Sit for a day in the public gallery of Parliament House in London.

I’ve sat in the public gallery of Parliament House in Canberra! Does that count?!

* Read a book in one sitting.

Many times.

* Milk a cow.

A skill acquired in my youth!

* Learn CPR.

I hope I never have to use it, but I’m glad I learnt how to do it.

* Forgive yourself.

Let’s just say I’m still spending a lot of time in the confessional! Not as much as I used to, though!

* Talk to a stranger on the bus.

More likely it’s strangers who talk to me! If they’re not talking to me, they fall asleep on my shoulder! 

* Ride a motorbike on the highway.

As pillion! It was exciting and scary at the same time.

* Collect something pointless.

I’m not usually a collector. I’m a firm believer in “less is more.” However, having said that, I have been collecting something recently, which is not pointless. 

* Pick wildflowers in an alpine meadow.    

I’ve picked wildflowers in a meadow, but it wasn’t an alpine meadow.

* See a killer whale in the wild.

Yep, and lots of other sorts of whales too, on their migratory path along the east coast of Oz.

* Walk in a rain forest.

Many times. One of my favourite places to be. Last summer, on a blisteringly hot day, I walked down a steep, mountain path, to the floor of a rainforest valley. It was so quiet and cool there. Just the sound of birdsong and waterfall. Magic!

* Memorise a poem.

Done it, but I don’t find it an easy thing to do.

* Subscribe to the opera.

Haven’t subscribed as such ‘cause you have to see the operas you hate when you subscribe, along with the ones you love. So I just prefer to attend the opera when they’re doing something by Puccini, my favourite. Oh, and when I can afford it!

* Gallop a horse on a deserted beach.

I was on a sedate trail ride, not a deserted beach,  when my horse took off unexpectedly. We were on a circuitous, heavily wooded path and I was last in line. I was later advised that my horse panicked when he lost sight of the horses in front. When he took off, I panicked too! But I soon got into the rhythm, standing up in the stirrups (something I shouldn’t have done). It was very exhilarating while it lasted. My horse calmed down when he caught up with the other horses.

* Chant Gregorian plainsong in Chartres Cathedral.

I’ve chanted the Divine Office (that’s what it’s called!!!) in a Carmelite monastery. Does that count?

* Learn to paint solely so you can paint your sweetie’s portrait.

I have painted my soulmate’s portrait but could paint already, before I did so.

* Drink tequila in Mexico.

I drank tequila in a Spanish restaurant in Sydney’s gay ghetto one night, with a rowdy group of friends. We got very drunk and I was soooo sick the next morning!

* Learn the harmonica but vow never to play it.

I had a harmonica when I was a child and used to blow on it (never really could “play” as such, in the formal sense), just to hear my poor long-suffering pet German Shepherd howl!

* Become a vegetarian.

I’m forever in the process of “becoming” a vegetarian. I don’t eat a lot of red meat, preferring to get my protein from chicken and fish.

* Write your autobiography and have it published.

I’ve kept a journal most of my life, but I doubt that it will ever be published.

* Make love in a motel room in Wyoming.

I’ve made love in various motel rooms in New South Wales, but never in Wyoming!

* Own original works of art.

I only own originals. Don’t own any prints. They’re mainly painting I’ve painted myself but I do have a small collection of paintings by other artists also.

[CellarDweller]

And it gave me a great idea for an extension to this poll. How about if we list all the things we've already done, and tell each other when/how we did them? 

It's easy with cut 'n' paste! 

I'd love to read everyone's responses! 

Here ya go, Kerry!





Love your body.   

I'm learning how do do this.....no easy, but making gains

Plant a tree.

did this years ago in the front yard of the house.

Do something you fear.

Jan 1st, 1997, when I came out

Learn to tango.   

Took some dance lessons many many many years ago.

Smell snow. 

do it each winter

Watch a lunar eclipse.

watched both lunar and solar eclipses.
   
Have your portrait painted.   

Done by a friend's mother, and she died a few years after.

Be able to take compliments.    

Once again, a learning process.

Read a book in one sitting.   

Haven't done that in a while, but used to do it all the time with Stephen King books.

Learn CPR.  

Did it two years ago.

Forgive yourself.   

Probably about two years ago....when I started my exercising.

Talk to a stranger on the bus. 

That's actually not unusual for me.  I've a big mouth. 

Collect something pointless.    

I have a ton of Super Friends memoribilia.

Create a cult website.

Had my own website for a while that was for Freestyle artists and fans.  The guest book was signed by many of the artists who perform the music.
 
Walk in a rain forest. 

On a summer vacation to Puerto Rico.

Memorise a poem.  

In school, for an English class.  I also have a few of my own memorized as well.

Shoot a short film.    

Done in my college years, in my film making classes.

Get a tattoo.

Have three tattoos now.

Meet someone with your own name.

I know a few Chucks.  Met a cool one in Co. at the last Brokie BBQ.
 
Gallop a horse on a deserted beach.    

Well, kinda sorta.  Not on a beach, but went horseback riding the first time ever, also at the Brokie bbq.

Own original works of art.

I own two paintings done by an artist that I got from the Jersey Shore
 
Grow your own vegetables.   

Have a garden out back.

[Kerry]

Here ya go, Kerry!

Very interesting responses, Chuck! 

I always love reading responses to questionnaires! I'm just naturally nosey, I guess!        

Seriously, I was particularly interested to read your response to "Do something you fear." Can you actually remember the exact day you came out? That's amazing! And it was something you feared doing?

Chuck, could I tempt you to tell us more details about that fateful day in 1997?

I ask, because my experience of coming out appears to be very different to your own. I was always a "delicate" (aren't euphemisms wonderful things?!  ) kinda kid, so I guess I never really had to come out, as such. People seemed to just know, without me having to spell it out. 

The first person I formally told was my Mum. I was in my mid-teens. Hadn't yet consummated my fantasies, but was concerned about them and wanted to ask my Mum's advice. We were always close. I remember asking, "Should I see a psychiatrist?" She responded, quick as a flash, "Why, you're not mentally ill, are you?"

Would be interested to read of your coming out experience, Chuck. 

[CellarDweller]

Very interesting responses, Chuck! 

I always love reading responses to questionnaires! I'm just naturally nosey, I guess!        

Seriously, I was particularly interested to read your response to "Do something you fear." Can you actually remember the exact day you came out? That's amazing! And it was something you feared doing?

Chuck, could I tempt you to tell us more details about that fateful day in 1997?

I ask, because my experience of coming out appears to be very different to your own. I was always a "delicate" (aren't euphemisms wonderful things?!  ) kinda kid, so I guess I never really had to come out, as such. People seemed to just know, without me having to spell it out. 

The first person I formally told was my Mum. I was in my mid-teens. Hadn't yet consummated my fantasies, but was concerned about them and wanted to ask my Mum's advice. We were always close. I remember asking, "Should I see a psychiatrist?" She responded, quick as a flash, "Why, you're not mentally ill, are you?"

Would be interested to read of your coming out experience, Chuck. 

I would be happy to share that story.

Do you want me to post here, or is there a more appropriate thread where it should go?

[ifyoucantfixit]

     Put it here Chuck, and if someone has a  probem it can be moved....

[Kerry]

I would be happy to share that story.

Do you want me to post here, or is there a more appropriate thread where it should go?

Chuck, I've just located the lovely conversation between you and Lee at the Coming Out thread. I have friends in the same situation as Lee (one, my ex partner of 15 years) and my heart really goes out to him.

[CellarDweller]

Chuck, I've just located the lovely conversation between you and Lee at the Coming Out thread. I have friends in the same situation as Lee (one, my ex partner of 15 years) and my heart really goes out to him.

Hiya Kerry!  Glad you found that.  I forgot I put it here.  lmao

Between the 400+ posts here, and 32,000+ on DCF, I lose track of what I post where!