My life list

My Life List was first committed to writing in September 2011, inspired by Maggie and in preparation for Camp Mighty, though for as long as I can remember, I’ve kept a mental tally of “things I want to do someday”. It is a constantly shifting, brutally honest accumulation of my goals and dreams – both big and small. Having this list has inspired me to be, make, and do more than I ever accomplished before putting it into words. It unlocked me.

If you’d like to help me meet of my goals, hit me up! I’d love to hear from you. And if you don’t have your own life list yet, what’s stopping you?

1. 1. cultivate and maintain an herb, sprouts, and veggie garden
   2. learn to compost and make it a practice
   3. learn to run, and run a 5k
   4. Do the Run for Your Life Zombie 5k in 2012
   5. run a 5k without stopping
   6. run a 10k
   7. establish a meditation practice
   8. know the sources of our meat
   9. replace grocery store shopping with farmers market/independent butchers
   10. exercise habitually
   11. quit diet coke, replace it with water and tea
   12. cut back on processed foods
   13. write a book proposal
   14. get a book deal
   15. write my book
   16. publish my book
   17. book a segment or appearance on national programming as BAB
   18. attend TED
   19. climb machu picchu
   20. sail the greek isles and eat saganaki there
   21. throw a proper greek easter feast for my los angeles family
   22. do karaoke in tokyo
   23. learn to exercise moderation in my vices – {ongoing}
   24. visit bob marley?s home / smoke a spliff at his grave in jamaica
   25. pay off my student loans
   26. volunteer regularly
   27. take a private cooking class with and/or have dinner with Rick Bayless
   28. write $1m check to charity for auto-immune disease research
   29. remove money as a concern
   30. create an office space that cradles and inspires me
   31. experience pregnancy and childbirth
   32. attend a yoga retreat
   33. practice living in the moment, not focused on the outcome – {ongoing}
   34. rent a beach house in SoCal for a month in the summer, have a party every weekend
   35. re-learn to use a sewing machine
   36. become organized and learn to love it (or at least maintain it) ? {in process}
   37. own a brand new car
   38. establish my personal brand {that’s this blog!}
   39. hear a live symphony perform Vivaldi?s Four Seasons
   40. attend Loy Krathong, the sky lantern festival in Thailand
   41. set foot on all 7 continents
   42. set foot in all 50 states
   43. move my parents to SoCal in retirement
   44. wear a bikini in public with confidence
   45. hug a koala bear in Australia
   46. rescue my next dog from the street or shelter (or rescue a retired greyhound)
   47. get confident in photoshop
   48. spend a day at a spa in Bali
   49. meet and thank Anthony Bourdain for his inspiration
   50. eat at Per Se in NY
   51. see Peter Gabriel perform live
   52. see David Byrne perform live
   53. see Elton John perform live
   54. see Don Henley perform live
   55. see Sting (or The Police) perform live
   56. See Epik High perform live
   57. experience my natural hair color
   58. meditate in an ashram in India
   59. have dinner with Ina Garten
   60. volunteer at a no-kill shelter or with newborn babies at hospital
   61. take an african dance class
   62. take a bollywood dance class
   63. buy spices at a Moroccan bazaar
   64. stay the night in a castle, preferably haunted
   65. drink a guiness in ireland
   66. look for nessie in scotland
   67. see Edgar Oliver perform live
   68. picnic on a volcano in Hawaii
   69. do the ?Lost? tour in Hawaii
   70. produce a film
   71. fly a plane
   72. experience Zero G / anti-gravity
   73. take a trapeeze class
   74. swim with manatees
   75. make peace with my past – {in process}
   76. put experiences over material possessions {ongoing}
   77. eat fondue in the alps
   78. play blackjack in macao
   79. walk through cherry blossoms in Seoul
   80. hug big bird
   81. go apple picking and make a pie with the fruits of my labor
   82. make preserved lemons
   83. rent a flat in london or paris for a season
   84. hire a regular cleaning service
   85. hire a reliable bookkeeper/accountant
   86. go to david lynch?s nightclub in paris
   87. anonymously pay someone?s bill at dinner
   88. drive a vespa through the streets of Rome
   89. pay medical bills as they arrive, with no more debt
   90. take a girlfriends-only trip with stacie
   91. take a siblings-only trip with dawn, michael and kim
   92. visit Napa/Sonoma
   93. make pasta from scratch
   94. walk across the brooklyn bridge
   95. walk across the golden gate bridge
   96. see the aurora borealis
   97. attend the artichoke festival in Castroville, CA
   98. drive a sky-high highway ramp without panicking
   99. drive up the California coast to San Francisco, stop in Big Sur, Monterey on the way
   100. stand on a glacier
   101. eat at NoMa in Copenhagen
   102. help baby turtles to the sea for the first time
   103. visit the galapagos islands
   104. ride a zipline through a forest
   105. hug a chimpanzee
   106. see the Grand Canyon
   107. explore the pyramids in Egypt
   108. excavate at an archaeological site for a day
   109. eat at French Laundry or another Thomas Keller restaurant
   110. shoot a gun
   111. stay on a houseboat for a week or more
   112. change my entire outfit in a restaurant booth, Crocodile Dundee style.
   113. appear on NPR
   114. write a candid memoir
   115. properly frame the art I care about most
   116. write something, anything, every day (establish a regular writing practice)
   117. lose the 30lbs I gained last year. replace with strength and confidence
   118. complete my divorce
   119. book a feature film
   120. perform in a play again
   121. order everything off a menu in one sitting
   122. go sober for 6 months
   123. visit the Magritte museum in Belgium
   124. get a tattoo of Paco?s pawprint
   125. get a tattoo of Watson’s pawprint
   126. go back to Cinque Terre
   127. learn korean – {in process}
   128. do a buddhist templestay in korea
   129. marry again, this time for life
   130. experience pregnancy and childbirth
   131. Spend a season in korea (or move there permanently)

COOKING LIFE LIST (written 5/2013)

1. croissants
2. brioche
3. pie crust
4. mool naeng myun
5. kimchi
6. homemade dill pickles
7. prime rib
8. spanakopita
9. great fried chicken
10. sikhye
11. shortcake
12. madeleines
13. homemade jam
14. prime rib

These items were COMPLETED before I wrote this list, but would have belonged there anyway:

1. see wild whales, in the wild – {check}
2. speak at a conference – {check}
3. get flown internationally for work – {check}
4. visit london, paris, cinque terre, amsterdam, venice, south of france – {check}
5. go vegetarian – {check}
6. go vegan – {check}
7. downhill ski – {check}
8. snowboard – {check}
9. swim with dolphins – {check}
10. meet Rick Bayless – {check}
11. book a segment or appearance on the local network news as BAB – {check}
12. take UCB 101 improv class – {check}
13. Get my SAG card – {check}
14. Move ?cross country – {check}
15. Fall madly in love – {check}
16. Have a fabulous wedding – {check}
17. Escape cubicle hell – {check}
18. Have my writing published in print – {check}
19. Get paid doing what I love – {check}