Tag: mighty life list

Mighty Life List: Go Parasailing? Check.

This is my new friend Amber. Also pictured, Amber’s red glasses. Hello there, cute glasses.

A few months ago Amber emailed me her Life List, you may remember her as the one who wants to gallop on a horse. I read her list, started clicking around her site, and decided I liked her very much. She was baking pies for homeless people, saving up for a trip to Paris, and trying to break the world record for Most Checkers Stacked in the Palm of One’s Hand. Since I’d had a couple glasses of wine, I obviously sent her a note:

Hello,

I think I like you. And I am also afraid of horses. Do you want to do this galloping thing together? How long do you think it would take? Like, a lifetime, or 8 hours or so? I’m betting on the latter. Will you be at SxSW? I will, and I bet there are horses, even in Austin. I think we should do it.

We will need hats.

Best,
Maggie

To which Amber replied:

Hello!

I like you, too. We should gallop together, even though the thought makes me terrified. But I’ll pretend I’m brave.

I’ll be at SxSW in March, for the interactive portion, and I’m sure they’ll have horses somewhere driveable from where we’ll be in Austin.

What sort of hats should we wear?

Amber

(Actually, the original notes included some fear-based Christopher Reeves references as well, which are not amusing in a public forum, but you get the jist.)

Thus began our email courtship and life-list plotting. We called some Austin riding instructors who informed us that we didn’t have time to acquire galloping skills, so we decided to try parasailing (#60 on Amber’s list).

As you may recall, parasailing is also on my list, and I had some misgivings about attempting it again. We decided that if parasailing didn’t work out, Amber would give birth instead (#51).

We both arrived at SxSW having never even spoken on the phone, so we met up in the lobby to assess any latent serial killer vibes before finalizing our plans.

As it turns out, both Amber and her husband Rob are lovely, and gave no signs of verging on murderous rampage.

See?

And so we took a cab out to the lake where we met the folks from Airscape Parasail. The drove the boat out, strapped us in to our harnesses and…

Wheeeeeeeee!

Parasailing is incredible. You just float up from the back of the boat like Superman! In a life vest! With your new friend Amber!

Everything was so peaceful, it didn’t even occur to me to worry that we were nearly a thousand feet up. The feeling was the opposite of zip lining. It was slow and quiet, like floating in space.

They reeled us in so gently that we just set our feet on the back of the boat and walked onboard. I liked it.

And it turns out I was right about liking Amber too.

Go Dogsledding? Check.

Am I the only one who thought you have to go to the Arctic Tundra for dogsledding? The idea is so exotic to me, I expected to be shrouded in seal pelts and lunching on whale blubber. Then again, having grown up in California, windshield ice scrapers are exotic to me, so I may not be the best judge. Turns out there’s a dogsledding operation called Wilderness Adventures in Truckee, California, just a few hours north of my home town. Score!

This is our family riding in a dogsled, you guys. Hank is covering his face because I gave him my sunglasses so snow chips wouldn’t hit him in the eyes. He loved them and got very screechy when I tried to uncover his face. I thought about fighting him, because I was attached to the idea of a crazy-awesome dogsledding Christmas card, until I realized I was in danger of turning a magical day into a Perfectionist v. Toddler screamfest. So you’ll just have to trust me that he’s looking pretty cute under there.

Sledding was a little scary in the beginning because the dogs were so excited to get going, and also because this life list project has made me afraid of going fast without an adult helmet. Bryan asked if we should be prepared for the sled to tip. On the bridge, for example.

Yikes.

Our guide assured us that there was too much weight in the sled. So he basically called us fat. Take that, huskies!

For the most part, dogsledding was sort of like an amusement park ride, only the the bumper cars can poop. Speaking of which, the dogs do let loose while they’re running, sometimes without even breaking stride. So it was nice to have front row tickets for that.

Apparently the motion of the sled is so soothing that it often puts kids to sleep, and Hank was no exception. It was so cozy to have him dozing in my lap while I snuggled up with Bryan. Dog sledding is fun for the whole family!

After the run was over, we got to go play with the dogs, which made Hank delirious with joy and slightly terrified. He’s a little nervous around big dogs, so he kept saying, “These doggies are so nice to me. They will not bite me.”

And he was right.

We rewarded Hank for his bravery by finding him a pair of his very own sunglasses.

Christmas card secured.

A huge thanks to Verizon Wireless for sponsoring my Mighty Life List and helping me achieve my dreams. They gave me a Palm Pre Plus, which I used to find my way to the dogsledding place because it has GPS, and we were totally lost. Our guide also used it to take the first photo of this post, which I frankly would not have believed was from a camera phone if I hadn’t been there. Well done, everyone.

Je Ne Parle Pas Français

So, one of the items on my Mighty Life List is “Be conversational in seven languages.” I studied Spanish for years, and I think language really shapes how I think. Knowing another language besides my native tongue has given me an alternate way of looking at the world. Knowing Spanish specifically makes me sometimes want to cry when I hear a guitar playing at night, and makes me more willing to be the first one dancing at parties. That could also be the tequila of course, but I digress.

When I first made my list, some part of me thought the simple act of writing things down would magically make them happen. Like once I realized that I wanted to pick blackberries and make pies, I’d just find myself passing blackberry bramble on a walk one Sunday with a bucket in hand.

As I’ve started to cross things off, it has genuinely surprised me that I have to plan fun. I guess some part of me thinks that fun will just happen, even very specific types of fun, and that I shouldn’t have to actively put aside time for that stuff.

It took around three years of lessons before I could get the gist of most conversations in Spanish. So if I start now, it will be about fifteen years before I can cross off this goal.

On Wednesday night, I got started. Verizon is sponsoring French classes with Bryan, which we’ll be attending until we can speak French. I’ll keep you posted.

Merci beaucoup to Verizon Wireless for sponsoring my Mighty Life List and helping me achieve my dreams. They’re making my site more interesting by helping me cross off few more goals, and they also gave me a Palm Pre Plus. One that completes calls. Thanks, guys.

Mighty Life List: Choose Your Own Adventure

So, I have news. News that warrants a celebratory hair flip:

(It’s helpful to have one of those on hand.)

The news is that Verizon Wireless is sponsoring my Mighty Life List! Yes they are! We are getting this done, y’all.

I’ll be working on three items this month, and I’ll tell you all about them right here. What I’m hoping is that you’ll commit to doing three things this month too, and keep us updated via comments. At the end of the month, I’ll do a roundup about all the living we got done.

I’ll tell you more about my goals as we go along. Verizon gave me a new phone and the idea is to use it to help me tackle my Mighty Life List, so I chose goals that are more about living my daily life thoughtfully, and less about jet setting. Also, I’ve added “Tattoo a Verizon logo on my bicep” to my list, so I’ll be starting there.

Oh, but I kid. It will be on my ankle next to the Celtic gecko.

Now for you! What are you doing this month? Something awesome? Tell us.

A huge thanks to Verizon Wireless for sponsoring my Mighty Life List and helping me achieve my dreams. They’re making my site more interesting by helping me cross off few more goals, and they also gave me a Palm Pre Plus. One that completes calls. Thanks, guys.

More Life

Just added four more things to the Mighty Life List:

Hear 1,000 new songs.
I want to know more about music, and I want to find easier, more automatic ways to incorporate it into my life. It feels like I have to go through ten steps to find a song I want to hear and listen to it on a device with worthwhile sound quality. I miss my record player. Plus, I’m beginning to feel like I’ve run out of fresh tunes to hum, which feels gross. Fortunately, I already have some friends enlisted to help.

Wear a sequined bikini to Carnival in Trinidad.
This scares the crap out of me. The last time I wore a bikini in public I was sixteen and blinded an entire small town in Mexico. Thank goodness for rum and Karen Walrond.

Go on a night dive with Manta Rays in Hawaii.
Liz wrote that post and it sounded so magic. As does almost everything about the ocean. It’s like visiting outer space.

Make a font.
I’ve always loved hand-painted signs and studying handwriting, and it seems like making a font would be so satisfyingly meticulous. Of course, the urge has only gotten stronger working in the same office with the Typekit team all day.

What have you added to your list recently?

Taste 1,000 Fruits: No. 71-73

allthree

Winter citrus! These are Mandarinquats, tiny Kishu Mandarins, and a Fremont Mandarin.

kishumandarin

Kishu Mandarins are so wee that the segments are about half the size of a quarter.

kishupeeled

They’re very sweet, with barely enough tang to feel like you’re actually eating citrus.

fremontmandarin

Fremont Mandarins tasted similar to the Kishus, but larger, with a brighter peel that would make lovely zest. Also, they have seeds.

mandarinquat

I was most excited about the Mandarinquats, which are a Mandarin-Kumquat hybrid. They’re supposed to be similar to kumquats, which have a super sweet peel and tart fruit. Kumquats are about the size of grapes, so you just pop them in your mouth whole, and I love them.

mquatpeeled

I do not love Mandarinquats. They’re pretty, but the peel is nowhere near as sweet as a kumquat, which means you’re just eating an orange peel. But! If you’re a bartender who wants to make a kumquat drink, these would be less time consuming to juice I guess. Also pretty in floral arrangements?

Meh. Mandarinquat, you are no friend of mine.

Taste 1,000 Fruits: No. 69 Kiwiberries

Taste 1,000 Fruits is an item on my Mighty Life List. I’m currently inching my way through the first hundred.

kbbowl

These are Kiwiberries, and they are rocking me out. They’re grape-sized Kiwis without the fuzzy exterior, and you can just pop them in your mouth. I’m pretty sure Willy Wonka was involved somehow.

kbberries

They’re delicious, by the way — sweeter and more intensely Kiwi-flavored than their larger Kiwi cousins, and so effing cute. Cute, I tell you!

kbinside

Inside, they look just like tiny Kiwis, with the seeds and everything. I want to have a party just so I can use them to garnish Kiwi-themed cocktails.

kbhand

Whooo’s a tiny little kiwi? Wuzzah-wuzzah.