Here are the 50 things I want to do before I die (in no particular order):
1. Write and publish at least a dozen novels
2. Go on a cemetery tour of New Orleans
3. Attend the Academy Awards
4. See the aurora borealis
5. Visit New Zealand
6. Be a guest on “Fresh Air”
7. Write/syndicate a column
8. Play the piano
9. Learn to fight
10. Become fluent in French, German, Scottish Gaelic, Italian and ASL
11. Get at least three more tattoos
12. Write a screenplay that’s produced into a Hollywood film
13. Host a radio show/podcast/interview program
14. Go on a whale watching tour – and see a whale
15. Take a hot air balloon ride over something beautiful
16. See the earth from outer space
17. Tour the Pyramids in Egypt
18. Live in a house with an ocean view
19. Hit the best-seller list
20. Take a cruise around the world
21. Buy and complete a Bob Ross paint set
22. Spend Samhain on a moonlit beach next to a bonfire
23. Have coffee with Henry Rollins
24. Become a top-notch cook/baker
25. Win the lottery
26. Create a tour of a historic boneyard
27. Become a better photographer
28. Do the castle tour through the Black Forest
29. Get my body into optimum shape
30. Launch a podcast
31. Launch a wire service
32. Discover treasure (perhaps a rare and priceless book once thought to be “lost”)
33. Finish/publish the Belva bio
34. Plant a fruit tree and eat what it produces
35. Win a bake-off
36. Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
37. Receive a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Fellows Program
38. Fully organize and catalog my library
39. Move to Scotland
40. Build our dream home(s)
41. Own a Manhattan townhouse
42. Work on a movie
43. Change the world for the better
44. Appear in a photograph taken by Annie Leibovitz
45. Live a life worthy of being the subject of a profile by Chris Jones
46. Live a life worthy of doing a Not My Job segment on “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”
47. Live a life worthy of an obituary in The New York Times
48. Become immortal
49. If immortality is not an option, then live a healthy life until at least 104
50. Appear in a quote book of famous (and awesome) last words
Photo by ikitje
