99 things to do

Stole this from the ever-entertaining Mr Farty. As he rightly points out, it is hugely USA-centric, but still.

Let's see how many of the 99 activities below I can highlight as having done.



1. Started your own blog - Yes. This one. Look, right here.
2. Slept under the stars - Yes. Under canvas, under a tree, in several ruined castles, between cars, oh, so many outdoor sleeping times. And it was always bloody freezing.
3. Played in a band - Yes! Hurrah! A lifelong ambition fulfilled.
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower - Yes, many times. Lovely.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world - Over my cold dead body.
8. Climbed a mountain - Hills. Small ones.
9. Held a praying mantis - Yes...the album "Time Tells No Lies" by Praying Mantis.
10. Sang a solo - Yes. In choirs, in pubs, in clubs and even on stage with aforementioned band.
11. Bungee jumped - nope, too attached to my retinas, thanks
12. Visited Paris - Yes, loved it.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea - No but saw a doozy of a storm in Bavaria. Which is like the sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch - yes if you count embroidery as an art
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning Hell yes.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - No, but went up to the top of the big park in Barcelona which was pretty high.
18. Grown your own vegetables - Potatoes, carrots and parsnips.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France - Yes, and which other Mona Lisas are there??
20. Slept on an overnight train - never been on a long enough train journey. Sleep quite a lot on the train into Waterloo though.
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked - Winchester to Durham when I was a student. Took 14 hours.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - heh, not these days, but when I was young and crazy
24. Built a snow fort - seldom enough snow. Did make a fantastic snowman a few times though
25. Held a lamb - Yes, it was smelly and greasy
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run - no, am not American
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - see no. 31 above
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - Yes, Wales
35. Seen an Amish community - no, but have re-enacted seventeenth century life in all its glory many times
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - Intermittently. But there's always something else you could spend 20 quid on.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing - Once. Carved my name on the Cow and Calf rocks on Ilkley Moor as a teenager. How environmentally reprehensible.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke - yes, won a bottle of champagne once
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt - no, see 31 above
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa - Yes! Forgot this one - went to Morocco on a day trip when we went to a mate's wedding in Gibraltar. Was v smelly and intimidating and hot.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight - yes, was lovely
46. Been transported in an ambulance - no, but did do a mercy dash to Casualty when Mr Withay was bleeding like a stuck pig and had to have a transfusion.
47. Had your portrait painted - yes! By the artist Mick Cawston, in a pub.
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - Scuba diving off the Turkish coast. Was interesting.
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud - Usually with gunpowder
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre - We don't have those over here
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class - Yes, the instructor took the piss out of me for "obviously liking cake". I complained and got my money back. Bastard.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching - Yes, saw humpbacks, off the coast of Massachussetts
63. Got flowers for no reason -Yes, have been sent them by others, and also bought them for myself.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma - blood. Am A negative, if anyone needs any.
65. Gone sky diving - Are you insane? No.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial - see No 31 above
71. Eaten caviar - Mmmm fish jam
72. Pieced a quilt - I think my Mum still has the bits in her attic
73. Stood in Times Square - see 31 above
74. Toured the Everglades - see 31 above
75. Been fired from a job - Yep, barmaiding...so the landlord could give his horrible girlfriend my job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London - Often.
77. Broken a bone - right collarbone, left elbow, right little toe (not at the same time) - all from falling downstairs though. Am a clumsy oaf.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - yep (Mum stop reading now) Was doing 110mph on the motorway on the back; when we slowed down to 50 I stood up on the footpegs cos it felt like we'd stopped. Eep.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - no, see 31 above
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper - many times, usually dressed as a scraggy seventeenth century re-enactor
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - well, have watched someone else do it, and helped out a bit.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life - Yep, see Mercy Dash at no 46. Also dragged Dutch woman out of the river when we almost died in the Turkish Ravine Incident.
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - Several, Lorraine Chase tipped me a quid in 1983 when I was waitressing. Which was a lot then.
92. Joined a book club - Yes, left again though
93. Lost a loved one - too many.
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person - again, see no.31
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake - yadda yadda yadda no. 31
97. Been involved in a law suit - yep, sued a nutter who wrote my car off and had no insurance. Git.
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

What a rich and full life.