we had a surprise visitor to purl,interrupted today -- suzanne, a friend of tk's friend kerry. suzanne's delighful knitting blog has much more knitting on it than my does these days. it also has the following cool meme, which i offer up as part of my continued apology for so little knitting or knitting news. it's a little to-do list (or, as ingrid rightly points out, not so much a to-do list as an inventory). i've bolded the ones i've already done, and my comments on the rest.
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain -- I'm being pretty liberal with my definition of "mountain." And "climbed," for that matter...
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone -- someone other than a rubber ducky?
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it -- and I'm not just talking about the last time I visited the ann taylor outlet
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise -- not as hard as it sounds when you live in the land of the midnight sun. but i've done it elsewhere, too.
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game -- what's 'huge'?
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa -- I assume they're not talking about the popular pizza place in uptown minneapolis?
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables -- only if basil is a vegetable
18. Touched an iceberg -- does a glacier count?
19. Slept under the stars-- there's a very funny (in retrospect) story in here about me, tk, a beach in mexico, and a scorpion under my sleeping pad. good times.
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne -- anyone who knows my family will find this question hilarious.
24. Given more than you can afford to charity -- isn't it a little crass to refer to the Kerry/Edwards campaign as "charity"?
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment -- the image coming to mind is being in the front row of a christmas eve church service with my whole family, sitting next to my brother and sister, and all three of us in giggles over the choir member, about a foot away from us, who looked just like mel brookes. a she-mel-brookes.... And let's be honest, who hasn't almost had the terrible giggles at some inopportune time in court?
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse -- yes, but it was a wooden horse in one of those dice-rolling parlor games they used to play during summers at the Tides Inn when we were kids, where they roll the dice and move along the various horses based on what number they roll. Good times.
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight -- i have several siblings, i attended 2 years of boarding school in new england and 6 years of college/grad school in minnesota -- this one seems inevitable
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster -- i hate them.
35. Hit a home run -- no. hand eye coordination and i have never really gotten along.
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment -- usually this involves lattes and knitting.
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales -- watched 'em. kayaked with 'em. always amazing.
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip -- and then some! TK and I have driven from SF to AK twice, and back once; we drove to/from Vancouver island for our honeymoon, and SF - PHX twice for holidays; my dad and I drove little nellie (my old jeep) out to college at the end of my freshman year; and I drove from DC to Western Mass by myself one night when I was 16 to pick up a friend who has having a tough time.... But please don't tell my parents.
48. Gone rock climbing -- in case it's not painfully obvious, that was about 15 years and 3 shoulder surgeries ago.
49. Midnight walk on the beach -- my favorite was probably at Lake Louise, between Tok and Anchorage, the 1st time TK and I moved up here. We got to the Lodge around 11:00 p.m., had dinner, and then took a canoe ride into the lake, then came back and took photos along the beach of the (finally) setting sun.
50. Gone sky diving -- not gonna happen.
51. Visited Ireland -- probably should, now that i've married a kelly.
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them -- better still, once had strangers pay for my dinner after casually chatting across a sushi restaurant. good people.
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day -- recovering from surgeries.
60. Posed nude in front of strangers -- about as likely as sky diving. In fact, less so.
61. Gone scuba diving -- used to go every chance I got. Then got a little too paranoid and claustrophobic about the whole thing, and stopped enjoying it. Great memories though.
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud -- I spent a summer in high school living in Kenya. One word: monsoon.
64. Played in the rain -- see above.
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites -- Yes! Temples in India
70. Taken a martial arts class -- Tai Chi as part of the thus-far unsuccessful "heal the shoulder and avoid shoulder replacement surgery" campaign
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch -- how else do you make them?
78. Won first prize in a costume contest -- I was seven.
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo -- only henna tattoos, though. In Kenya.
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" -- News Night Minnesota, baby, where I got to use TK's favorite phrase, "the dollar follows the scholar"
83. Got flowers for no reason -- secretly I suspect there's always a reason, even if you don't know what it is.
84. Performed on stage -- I was a very mediocre high school actor. Good times.
85. Been to Las Vegas -- to watch my sister liz play at the billiards congress of america national championships. one such trip involved babysitting my 2-week old nephew which, in retrospect, is not a good thing to do in vegas.
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand -- i think that's enough about that topic...
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone -- does the 19 bus to potrero hill count? how about Nairobi on 7/7/91?
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently -- does pig latin count?
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children. -- no, but i was a nanny
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour -- does Terry Kelly count?
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over -- why yes, in case you hadn't heard, we moved to Alaska last summer.
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge -- no, incredibly, despite having lived in the Bay Area for several years.
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone -- okay, it was just fractured. but it was very dramatic.
114. Gone on an African photo safari -- well, went on safari while spending the summer in Kenya doing other stuff.
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol -- and I've got the photos to prove it!
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse -- I used to be really into riding, even had a horse briefly, which is a long and slightly sad story. That, too, was many years and several surgeries ago.
119. Had major surgery -- yes, why do you ask?
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe (KAYAK) trip that lasted more than 2 days -- twice -- our honeymoon in 'romantic canada,' and a trip to baja in 2004
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi -- every chance i get
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school -- no, i just didn't leave for a LONG time
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating -- no, but it seems like only a matter of time if we stay in AK much longer.
137. Skipped all your school reunions -- no, i'm a sucker for reunions.
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office -- does student council in high school count?
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care -- this is why it's not a to-do list...
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you -- yes; jewelry
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair -- wow, when have i NOT dyed my hair?
147: Been a DJ -- in highschool i had several radio shows on the ever popular WNMH. One year Heather Billings and I hosted "This is not a hootenanny." Senior year Ben Schwabe and I hosted "Dumber than a BBQ." (In a related story, where the hell are Ben Schwabe and Heather Billings? I miss them both....)
148: Shaved your head -- can't see that being a good look. besides, isn't there a one shaved head per marriage rule?
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life
There you have it, my friends. My long and boring life story. If it's any consolation, I too hope that I start knitting more soon so I have something interesting to talk about....
sorry, knitters, i haven't been doing much blogigng lately. we had a barrage of out of town visitors during july, and we're just starting to recover from all that adventure.
speaking of adventures, TK and i had a very romantic date last night to ... sportsman's warehouse. no, not really romantic. or a date. we did, however, visit the famous fishing-camping-hunting megastore, and i was very, very sad not to have brought my camera. we're going to go back, just once, so we can get action views, perhaps including ... cheryl with the pink barbie plastic fishing pole ... cheryl with the grown-up size pink barbie fishing rod ... cheryl admiring pink child-size shotgun ... cheryl in 3-d camouflage outfit. the possibilities are endless.
in other news, i'm coming to SF for labor day weekend. if you need me, you can find me at shalimar, as i plan to spend the entire weekend gorging myself on cheap ethnic food, which does not exist here.