ready... set... bloggy blog??
a few years ago a friend of mine introduced me to a blogger friend of hers. and by "introduced", i mean more along the lines of "dude, you have to stalk my friend's blog. she is hilarious." and hilarious she was. i was inspired. i thought to myself... "self, you should start a blog. you are kinda funny." and since then you ask? all talk. definitely no walk.
so here i am. and crap, now i need a topic... i'll start generic. everyone seems to have a bucket list these days. basically we live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round. simple, right? i like simple. but i also want more. i want some show stoppers in-between all that! so it's decided - i'm starting a list. i'm not even sure if there are proper "bucket list" rules or not... like does it have to be called "bucket list" or "100 things before i die" or "the buried life"? and what if i can only think of 99 things to put on my 100 things list? and am i allowed to steal things from other people's lists? can i put outlandish ideas or do they all have to 100% realistic? i guess i'll learn along the way.
for now, ladies and gentlemen, sit back and relax as i introduce to you.....
ali's "murtaugh list" (thank you, ted mosby)
*read more by completing the the NY times "top 100 books of all time" list
*learn sign language
*go to a farmer's market every weekend for a month
*be part of a murder mystery dinner party
*find a 4-leaf clover
*work sports medicine staff at an olympic games
*get a library card (as of 8-2-10 @3:33p i can OFFICIALLY cross off my first "murtaugh" WOOO!! tracey, thanks for the little nudge to get me started!)
*run a marathon (my plan: train for another half and finish in a respectable time. then buck up, train some more, and conquer the full)
*go to an old school drive-in movie
*i've read "1000 places to see before you die". pick my top 10 and visit them
*take a class on meteorology
*lick the liberty bell
*go to a survivor live finale
*volunteer at a soup kitchen
*spend new years eve in times square
*be on a reality show. (clearly my dream...survivor. but if that doesn't pan out, i DO live in laguna. i mean something else has got to come along, right?)
*live in a different country for at least 6 months
*see wicked! (3-13-11... orange county performing arts center)
*fly first class
*learn a foreign language
*go to a macy's thanksgiving day parade
*find my doppelganger (5-7-11... netflix commercial ali. see her for yourself here...)
*become more "green" (9-9-09 to 9-9-10... marked the 1 year mark for, anything i need, me always "bringing my own bags")
*own a really nice camera
*attend game 7 of the world series
*visit a planetarium
*swim in all 5 great lakes (superior, michigan, ontario, erie, huron)
*see at least 2 broadway shows/musicals each year (2011... wicked, 9-to-5. both were fab!)
*meet a member of the 1980 US olympic hockey team
*go on a road bike trip with my mom
*watch a packer game in every NFL stadium
*dance in an open field underneath the stars
*do something totally outside of my comfort zone
*go on a vacation with my best girlfriends
*attend a tree lighting at rockefeller center
*do the 90210 opening theme song "punch" with tori spelling
*improve my posture
*be part of an intervention
*go wine tasting and learn wine appreciation
*become a parent
*attend a movie premiere
*teach a spin class (8-6-10. it was purely luck. our regular spin teacher didn't show and everyone still wanted a class. the guy next to me said "you are a regular why don't you go up and lead us?" it took a little encouragement...but i did it! it was a total blast!)
*kiss a hot stranger and then just walk away
*bang on the glass at a stanley cup
*walk a round at the masters (golf) with my dad
*be part of a slapbet with a friend
*walk a red carpet (7-13-11... ESPY awards. walked the carpet on the way into the nokia theater)
*stop biting my fingernails
*call radio personality delilah and request a love dedication
*explore my spirituality
*go to a superbowl (2.6.11 superbowl XLV in north texas at cowboy stadium. i attended with my dad. world champions: green bay packers!! packers 31, steelers 25. it was a dream!)
*visit the home alone house
*visit the father of the bride house (2.21.11 my friend sarah and i had sweet plans that fell thru... our back-up wasn't too shabby - hollywood tour of celeb homes. FOB house, we found it!)
*see the northern lights (i'm from the upper peninsula... it's common, IF you know the secret places to catch a glimpse)
*drive cross country staying in only small town b&b's or camping
*volunteer as a "big sister"
*make a photo album with a new picture everyday for a year
*attend the march madness ncaa tourney (3.24.11... sweet 16 round. watched sdsu/uconn and duke/arizona. sat 2nd row courtside)
*be fashionable for a week
*sing kareoke...alone
*meet jim cantore
*go to the kentucky derby and wear a fancy hat
*be inducted into a hall of fame
*prove that love actually is all around
*spend a summer in canada
*get my picture taken by the paparizzi (7-13-11... i'm pretty sure it's safe to assume when i met justin bieber on the red carpet before the ESPYs, that the pap got my photo.. i'm big time.)
*learn how to develop my own pictures in a darkroom
*throw a fistfull of glitter in the air under a bright light and spin as it falls down on me
*plant a tree and watch it grow
*dance with ellen degeneres
*visit new york city during fleet week
*laugh so hard i pee my pants
*go without tv for one month
*work as the athletic trainer for an episode of the biggest loser
*take a sabbatical
*practice yoga
*get another tattoo
*watch a game on center court at the US open (tennis)
*learn how to box
*sleep overnight on a boat
*win a trivia competition
*try speed-dating
*do something completely selfless...and tell no one.
*meet mike holmgren
*attend the national cherry blossom festival in washington dc
*grow my own garden of vegetables
*join the "red hat society"
*ride a moped without crashing it
*learn how to play chess
*climb up the statue of liberty
*look fear in the face and say "i just don't care"
*talk to strangers more
*get something published (i was a research assistant in undergrad for one of my professors. early 2011 "cultural competence in sports medicine" by lorin cartwright and rene revis shingles was published. in that book (page xiii), you will find the acknowledgement for my contributions. although someday i would like to be published as a solo act... for now, this will do)
*shake hands with anderson cooper
*workout with bob harper
*complete a bikram yoga 30 day challenge
*send a message in a bottle
*donate blood
*learn how to fly fish
*attend (and survive) mardi gras (june 2011...i highlighted this, but haven't yet crossed it off... you see, i didn't attend a mardi gras, BUT i did spend 5 days in new orleans for my annual NATA conference with a bunch of my favorite ATCs. we partied like rockstars. it was out of control. it was legendary. and it kicked my butt. i'll probably need a few more of these "practice rounds" before i attempt mardi gras. baby steps, people... BABY. STEPS.)
*get my picture "fake" holding up the leaning tower of pisa
*make the front page of a newspaper
*have a better understanding of what people in the "business" world really do
*help 7 people cross something off their "list"
*write a letter to my best friends telling them what their friendship means to me
*find a unique, cute little travel mascot to take with me on all trips and photograph "him" next to touristy sites wherever i go (kind of like the traveling gnome)
and that's my list. for now...