Awful quiet in here lately …
You might think I’m hibernating— but actually, I’ve been absorbed in revision, (more on that soon) reading fellow writers’ works-in-progress (you guys are awesome, all of you!) and, okay, sleeping.
But I’m back because one of my cyber-buddies, the lovely and super-talented Jamie Ayres, has a book release coming up! This week, on January 24, her debut novel, 18 Things comes out. Be sure to check it out!
As a way to promote her release, she’s sponsoring a fabulous blog hop that poses the question:
What are 18 Things on your bucket list?
Since I love to ponder what I want to do with my life, I simply had to come out of my winter slumber and post mine. So, without further ado:
My Abridged Bucket List:
- Experience weightlessness or zero-g
- Visit the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa.
- Read the top 100 novels of all time (though opinions vary widely on what those are!)
- Work at an archaeological dig
- Learn to play all twenty-one of Chopin’s Nocturnes on the piano.
- Swim with dolphins
- See an opera
- Visit the Haleakala Observatories on Maui and look at the stars
- Go hang gliding
- Ride an elephant
- Celebrate Midsummer Night in Sweden
- Live on a sailboat for a year
- Pay off my mortgage
- Drive a Porsche
- Walk a half-marathon
- See the Northern Lights
- Visit Australia
- Hold a real live copy of one of my books published in hardcover
Whew, that’s a lot of things! Makes me want to take a nap just thinking about them all …
How about you? What are some things on your bucket list? And, can you tell I love astronomy?
Congrats, Jamie on your upcoming release, 18 Things!
Images courtesy of Dave Dyet and Stephanie Syjuco @stock.xchng
Nice to see you back on here! Revision really does take you to another dimension of brain, time, space…everything! Love your list, I’ve been looking through mine recently and making tentative dates when things might happen. I’m really looking forward to life that isn’t about wedding planning and flower arrangements…as fun as that is. As for visiting Australia a) Lets have coffee b) Lets have coffee c) Melbourne have the best coffee in Australia 😉
http://findingmycreature.wordpress.com/30-before-30-list/
Coffee and Australia and writerly company all at once?! Count me in!
I haven’t gone so far as to assign a date to all my aspirations, but maybe I should–life is short after all!
Your list is awesome. I should have had going to the Hawaiian observatory on mine! We share a lot of the same dreams. I’ve already been to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, or we would’ve had that one in common, too. And yay for Jamie!
Jamie always inspires me with her energy and enthusiasm!
The Haleakala Observatories were on my list from the day I spied them on our helicopter ride over Maui (another bucket list item scratched off 🙂 )
And I’d probably need to spend a week in the Louvre to see everything I want to see there, but I’d start with the Mona Lisa!
Your list is fantastic! I have to say, I went swimming with dolphins by accident once. I was surfing off the coast of California, and I saw these dorsal fins. They did flying jumps and came surfing with me for a while. When they left I definitely got the feeling that they left while muttering “rookie, that one can barely catch a wave.”
And that’s exactly how I imagine it should be–not staged, just spontaneous, here we are dolphins coming to say, “Hi!” Very cool. 🙂
I’ve went swimming with dolphins by accident too–they’re all around Fort Myers Beach when we get there early enough and come right up to shore chasing the fish! I’ve also done #4 as part of my social studies club in 8th grade (yeah, I’m a dork!), and #10 at the circus with my kids, I’ve kinda topped #15 in that I’ve actually ran a marathon (and never again, it about killed me!), & planning on #17 very soon b/c our bff’s have a house there! THanks for playing & for the congrats:-)
I don’t think I could ever run a marathon–I’ve finally concluded that my body is simply not designed for running, but I do love to walk. 🙂
Thanks for cooking up such a fun blog hop, and I’m counting down to the day I can finally read 18 Things!
I love the cover of 18 Things, and it sounds like such a poignant story from the blurb. I will definitely keep an eye out for it!
I’d love to go hang-gliding—and it’ll be way out of my comfort zone. O.o I also want to visit Australia some day.
Other things on my bucket list: visit Mongolia, learn to draw people, play Requiem for a Dream on the piano, and take a historical swordsmanship class.
Drawing people is hard! I took a whole year of figure drawing in college, in addition to all kinds of other art courses, and am still not satisfied with how my people end up looking. I haven’t quite given up, and I’ve discovered they appear much more clearly when I write them than when I try to draw them.
Perhaps someday I will be able to do both … 🙂
Hey,
Y’all need to come back to Hawaii one day – we can help you take care of at least several items 🙂
LOL, you’re absolutely right!
After I drive my Porsche up to Haleakala Crater, I can hang glide back down, walk 13.1 miles to my sailboat, equipped with my 100 books on a solar powered Kindle, and swim with dolphins, then plot a course to Australia …
Whew. Sounds like fun!
I totally related to 15 and 18. (‘Walk’ LOL)
Congrats, Jamie!
I love walking! It helps to relax, and untangle tough story dilemmas. 🙂
Thanks for reminding me to think of my list. Sometimes it gets lost in the day to day rumble.
I really want to return to Canyon Lands, Utah – this time with my husband. Like many people, he’s never seen the Milky Way up close and personal It’s a mystical sight!
And, yes, I’d love to swim with dolphins.
Of course, seeing my novel in the science fiction section at the local bookstore is way up there!
The Milky Way is amazing–one of the reasons I would love to look at it with a really big telescope!
Awesome list! I have #3 on my list as well (http://castlesineurope.wordpress.com/), although you’re right, there are a lot of opinions on what those top 100 novels are! Good luck completing everything. 🙂
Hi Alyssa,
Welcome to A Scenic Route!
I checked out your list, and I like it. Thanks!
You have a beautiful blog! I might have to add it to my blogroll. 🙂
I definitely want to join you for number eleven, and number sixteen while we’re at it 🙂
I’ve been fascinated by Midsummer’s Eve for a long time, and your story only made it more intriguing to me. What a party! 🙂
I’m with you on 16 and 17 and I should probably go with you to Sweden, since that’s where my ancestors immigrated from 🙂
I just realized how many travel related items are on this list! I guess there really is a twofold reason I called my blog A Scenic Route. 😉 Sweden just sounds like a great place to visit! Lots of girls named Kirsten there …
Nice list! (By the way, you’re already reading one of the 100 greatest novels of all time, LOL). And I’m reading one too! 🙂
I love how you say “walk” a half-marathon. Totally with you. In fact, I’ve always wanted to do that El Camino walk in Spain.
I think you should try and see which of those things you could actually do. I think taking a trip to the Caribbean to swim with dolphins is doable. Likewise, The Lourve and Mona Lisa.
The Northern Lights..yes, I agree.
Awww, I never considered that there are some great novels being written right now. 😀 Sometimes I daydream about that, and sometimes, well not so much …grrr.
I’m hoping that with some effort and a lot of time, that I could do most of these things–even the Nocturnes. 😉
P.S. You were chosen as a winner by random.org for a prize . . . so hop on over to claim:-)
Thank you!!! I know exactly which one I want. 🙂