Shipwrecked & Comatose

My bucket list isn't made up of crazy stunts and bizarre experiences.  My main goal for the end of my life is to travel more.  I want to see as much of the world as possible.  In 2013 I made a rather unfocused blog post about my biggest travel priorities.  Since I made that post, I have crossed a few destinations off the list.  I have also made some more focused travel goals for my priority destinations for the next several years.  I thought it would be fun to compare the notes and share my revised lists. Places that were on my previous list that I have been to since then: Costa Rica - I saw much more of this beautiful place in 2014 than I saw on that cruise ship 10 years earlier. I explored rain forests, rode a horse on the beach, and swam and snorkeled in the Pacific.   This is a definitely bucket list destination. Italy - I said I wanted to return there and particularly wanted to return to Venice.  The 2015 cruise took care of some of ...

Do it. Don't do it to lose weight.  Don't do it look hot in a bathing suit.  Don't do it to make yourself more attractive to current or potential sexual and romantic partners.  Don't do it because you fear obesity.  Don't do it because you fear other health risks. Do it because you can. As a klutzy, unathletic nerd, I spent years developing physical skills and a certain level of fitness that I felt I could be proud of.  My accomplishments were never impressive to most people, but to me they were everything.  I was proud of my strength gains and the crazy stunts I could pull off at the gym.  I was proud of how I managed to ride a green pony through the phases of her education.  I was proud of the complex tap dancing steps I could execute.  I was proud of my endurance for long hikes in nature.  I was proud of the time I was able to swim out to a sandbar and tow a drowning man to safety on my boogie board.  I was no athlete, but ...

Thanks to following Spandau Ballet on Facebook, I learned that Tony Hadley has released a Christmas album this year .  I'm not a fan of celebrity Christmas albums.  I don't like most contemporary Christmas music and most popular Christmas songs, both traditional and contemporary, have been done to death.  I wasn't sure what Tony Hadley could bring to the table.  Still, Tony Hadley is my long-time crush and the man can sing Row Row Row Your Boa t and make it sound like a choir of angels singing.  I considered giving the album a chance. I took a look at the song list online. To my horror, the second song on the album was my Christmas musical nemesis Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas .  Why ? I lamented.  Why why why does  every singer need to record that song on a Christmas album?  Does any pop singer every consider that not everyone loves songs that are so hokey and maudlin?  I remembered how several years ago when Sarah McLachlan ...