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Books and Bucket Lists

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Book Lists

Book List 2024

After reaching my 1,000 Book goal last year,  this year is a free reading period. No goals. No aspirations. No structured reading programs. No challenges. Just reading according to whim.

​

READ:

  1. *One Dark Window, Rachel Gillig 

  2. Good Girl, Bad Blood, Holly Jackson

  3. Minor Detail, Adania Shibli

  4. Lightlark, Alex Aster

  5. Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Max Porter

  6. Exteriors, Annie Ernaux

  7. Arch-Conspirator, Veronica Roth

  8. The Employees, Olga Ravn

  9. Glaciers, Alexis M. Smith

  10. The Late Night Writer's Club, Annie West

  11. Mr. Salary, Sally Rooney

  12. Elena Knows, Claudia Piñeiro

  13. Winter Trees, Sylvia Plath

  14. So Much for That Winter, Dorthe Nors

  15. Frankie's World, Aoife Dooley

  16. Ruthless Vows, Rebecca Ross

  17. The Fox Maidens, Robin Ha

  18. Monica, Daniel Clowes

  19. Where Sleeping Girls Lie, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

  20. Notes to Self, Emilie Pine

Book List 2023

This reading year will be dedicated to reaching a long-time goal of reading 1,000 books. 
(*Favorites)

​

READ:

  1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, unknown

  2. The Dutch House, Ann Patchett

  3. Dream Work, Mary Oliver

  4. Sad Cypress, Agatha Christie

  5. Star Wars: The Crimson Empire Saga, Randy Stradley

  6. Source, Mark Doty

  7. The Swedish Art of Aging Well, Margareta Magnusson

  8. Snow Water, Michael Longley

  9. *Golden Ax, Rio Cortez

  10. *Feral Creatures, Kira Jane Buxton

  11. Circe, Madeline Miller

  12. Springtime: A Ghost Story, Michelle de Krester

  13. *Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudine Rankine

  14. Disquiet, Julia Leigh

  15. *The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed

  16. A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid

  17. Borderline Fortune, Teresa K. Miller

  18. The First Lady & The Writer, Provincetown 1961, Brenda Pizzo

  19. The Off Season, Amy Hoffman

  20. Obit, Victoria Chang

  21. Second Place, Rachel Cusk

  22. The Westing Game, Ellen Ruskin (re-read)

  23. The Hunting Party, Lucy Foley

  24. Owed, Joshua Bennett

  25. Tula: Poems, Chris Santiago

  26. The Swimmers, Julie Otsuka

  27. Flamer, Mike Curato

  28. Grapefruit: A Book of Instructions and Drawings, Yoko Ono

  29. Twelve Moons, Mary Oliver

  30. Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe

  31. Partners in Crime, Agatha Christie

  32. Parasitic Oscillations, Madhur Adnan

  33. *Owls and Other Fantasies, Mary Oliver

  34. The Moving Finger, Agatha Christie

  35. The Truants, Kate Weinberg

  36. The Secret Place, Tana French

  37. The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave

  38. This One Summer, Mariko Tamaki

  39. Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, Katherine May

  40. At the Bottom of the River, Jamaica Kincaid

  41. Sea and Fog, Etel Adnan

  42. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History, Art Spiegelman

  43. The Past Hangs over the Future, Art Spiegelman

  44. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began, Art Spiegelman

  45. *I Have Some Questions for You, Rebecca Makkai

  46. Monk's Eye, Cees Nooteboom

  47. The Writing Retreat, Julia Bartz

  48. The Appeal, Janice Hallett

  49. *Towards Zero, Agatha Christie

  50. The Twyford Code, Janice Hallett

  51. Peace is Every Step, Thick Nhat Than

  52. Everything, Beautiful, Ella Frances Saunders

  53. Lightning at Dinner, Jim Moore

  54. The House in the Pines, Ana Reyes

  55. Reckless Girls, Rachel Hawkins

  56. *Gallant, VE Schwab

  57. Zero Days, Ruth Ware

  58. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, Kate Beaton

  59. Given Sugar, Given Salt, Jane Hirshfield

  60. *Foster, Claire Keegan

  61. *Heartstopper Vol. 1, Alice Oseman

  62. *Heartstopper Vol. 2, Alice Oseman

  63. *Heartstopper Vol. 3, Alice Oseman

  64. *Heartstopper Vol. 4, Alice Oseman

  65. *Nick and Charlie, Alice Oseman

  66. The Heartstopper Yearbook, Alice Oseman

  67. Solitaire, Alice Oseman

  68. This Winter, Alice Oseman

  69. *Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros

  70. Sweet Days of Discipline, Fleur Jaeggy

  71. Windhaven: A Graphic Novel, George RR Martin and Lisa Tuttle

  72. What Moves the Dead, T Kingfisher

  73. Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontes, Isabel Greenberg

  74. They Called Us Enemy, George Takei

  75. These Trees, Those Leaves, This Flower, That Fruit, Hayan Charara

  76. *Ace of Spades, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

  77. *Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin

  78. *Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros

  79. West Heart Kill, Dann McDorman

  80. Bluets, Maggie Nelson

  81. Void, Veronica Roth

  82. The Wren, Julia Blackburn

  83. We Can Be Mended, Veronica Roth

  84. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Alison Bechdel

  85. On a Sunbeam, Tillie Walden

  86. We Are Not Strangers, Josh Tuininga

  87. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson

  88. The Orange and Other Poems, Wendy Cope

  89. Decelerate Blue, Adam Rapp

  90. It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, Zoe Thorogood

  91. Haruki Murakami Manga Stories, Haruki Murakami

  92. The Agathas, Liz Lawson, Kathleen Glasgow

  93. Roaming, Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki

  94. Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross

  95. *The Serpent and the Wings of Night, Carissa Broadbent

  96. *Heartstopper Vol 5, Alice Oseman

  97. *The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King, Carissa Broadbent

  98. *Six Scorched Roses, Carissa Broadbent

Book List 2022

This reading year will be a backlog year dedicated to reading books that aren't tied to any newest!, best!, everyone is reading it! influence.

​

READ:

  1. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

  2. How We Fight for Our Lives, Saeed Jones

  3. The Man in the Brown Suit, Agatha Christie

  4. Felicity, Mary Oliver

  5. Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 1: Vader, Kieron Gillen 

  6. Something to Hide, Elizabeth George

  7. Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 2: Shadows and Secrets, Kieron Gillen

  8. Mashpee Nine: A Story of Cultural Justice, Paula Peters

  9. Mrs. Caliban, Rachel Ingalls

  10. Consider the Oyster, MFK Fisher

  11. Tentacle, Rita Indiana

  12. Star Wars: Vader Down, Kieron Gillen

  13. Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War, Kieron Gillen

  14. Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 4: End of Games, Kieron Gillen

  15. Moominland Midwinter, Tove Jannsen

  16. Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie

  17. Kaleidoscope, Brian Selznick

  18. Home Cooking, Laurie Colwin

  19. After the Funeral, Agatha Christie

  20. Cardinal in the Eastern White Cedar, Roo Borson

  21. The Secret Adversary, Agatha Christie

  22. Northern Spy, Flynn Berry

  23. The Labors of Hercules, Agatha Christie

  24. I'll Never Tell, Abigail Haas

  25. Family of Liars, E. Lockhart

  26. A Double Life, Flynn Berry

  27. Thriving as an Empath, Judith Orloff

  28. Murder in the Dark, Betsy Reavley

  29. The Disinvited Guest, Carol Goodman

  30. At Bertram's Hotel, Agatha Christie

  31. The It Girl, Ruth Ware

  32. The Retreat, Sarah Pearse

  33. Under the Harrow, Flynn Berry

  34. Genuine Fraud, E Lockhart

  35. Who is Maud Dixon?, Alexandra Andrews

  36. Daisy Darker, Alice Feeney

  37. Ship Fever, Andrea Barrett

  38. Karate Chop, Dorothe Nors

  39. Moominvalley in November, Tove Jannson

  40. All We Saw, Anne Michaels

  41. Bless the Daughter Raised By A Voice in Her Head, Warsan Shire

  42. Wade in the Water, Tracey K. Smith

  43. Pink, Sylvie Baumgartel

  44. Winter Recipes from the Collective, Louise Glück

  45. Thirst, Mary Oliver

  46. Night Sky with Exit Wounds, Ocean Vuong

  47. Verity, Colleen Hoover

  48. Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals, Patricia Lockwood

  49. Particulate Matter, Felicia Luna Lemus

  50. 28 Paradises, Dominique Zehrfuss

  51. Lean Against This Late Hour, Garous Abdolmalekian

  52. White Pine, Mary Oliver

  53. Holiday in the Islands of Grief, Jeffrey McDaniel

  54. Star Wars: Purge, John Ostrander

  55. Star Wars: Jedi -- Aayla Secura, John Ostrander

  56. Star Wars: Age of Resistance, Tom Taylor

  57. Star Wars, Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes, Jason Aaron

  58. Help the Witch, Tom Cox

Books 2021

My father, a voracious and fearless reader, died from COVID on November 20, 2020. He read continuously and wasn't afraid to tackle massive tomes.
 

This reading year is for him.

​

READ:

  1. The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells That Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, Charles Dickens (104)

  2. The Walking Dead Compendium 4, Robert Kirkman (1096)

  3. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May (256)

  4. A Familiar Dark, Amy Engel (256)

  5. One by One, Ruth Ware (372)

  6. Light Boxes, Shane Jones (175)

  7. Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations, Richard Waga​mese (140)

  8. Pond, Claire-Louise Bennett (195)

  9. Red Bird, Mary Oliver (78)

  10. Spritz: Italy's Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, with Recipes, Talia Baiocci (176)

  11. We Will Be Watching, Ruth Ware (47)

  12. The Tale of Mrs. Westaway, Ruth Ware

  13. Themes and Variations, David Sedaris (18)

  14. I Remember Nothing, Nora Ephron (137)

  15. The Ardent Swarm, Yamen Manai (174)

  16. How to Love a Jamaican, Alexia Arthur (256) 

  17. Saint X, Alexis Schaitkin (343)

  18. The Sea of Lost Girls, Carol Goodman (304)

  19. River Road, Carol Goodman (288)

  20. The Babysitter, Liza Rodman (352)

  21. The Decagon House Murders, Yukito Ayatsuji (228)

  22. The Guest List, Lucy Foley (330)

  23. Notes on Grief, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (80)

  24. Big Summer, Jennifer Weiner (368)

  25. Florence Adler Swims Forever, Rachel Beanland (309)

  26. A Side of Murder, Amy Pershing (320)

  27. Falling, TJ Newman (304)

  28. Catherine House, Elisabeth Thomas (320)

  29. In the Provincelands, Janet MacFadyn (31)

  30. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton (482)

  31. Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 1, Herbert, Frank (176)

  32. The Stranger Behind You, Carol Goodman (336)

  33. The Sun and Her Flowers, Rupi Kaur (256)

  34. The Clarity of Hunger, Cheryl Pappas (46)

  35. Ordinary Beast, Nocile Sealey (80)

  36. Goldenrod, Maggie Smith (128)

  37. Mosses and Lichens, Devin Johnston (96)

  38. What Kind of Woman, Kate Baer (84)

  39. The Conference of Birds, Peter Sis (160)

  40. An Index for Predicting Catastrophes, Madhur Anand (116)

  41. Burn Lake, Carrie Fountain (81)

  42. Of Sea, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett (90)

  43. Field Guide to the Haunted Forest, Jarod K. Anderson (79)

  44. The Tradition, Jericho Brown (77)

  45. Forage, Rose McLarney (80)

  46. Water I Won't Touch, Kayleb Rae Candrilli (88)

  47. Dolefully, A Rampart Stands, Paige Ackerson-Kiely (96)

  48. The Wild Iris, Louise Gluck (63)

  49. Forty-Five, Frieda Hughes (108)

  50. Summer Snow, Robert Haas (192)

  51. Waiting to be Born, Janet Macfadyen (90)

  52. How to Be Drawn, Terrance Hayes (112)

  53. 77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin, Thomas King (96)

  54. Fellow Odd Fellow, Steven Riel (100)

  55. Meadowlands, Louise Gluck (84)

  56. The Summer of Dead Birds, Ali Liebegott (104)

  57. American Primitive, Mary Oliver (88)

  58. Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (272)

  59. Sleepy Hollow Motor Inn, Molly Young (64)

  60. Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation, Kyo Maclear (240)

Books 2020

Resolved: 2020 will be the year I only read books that I currently own and/or borrow from the library. 
Pandemic Revision: 2020 is the year I bought books from numerous independent bookstores to help keep them in business.

READ:

  1. Flush, Virginia Woolf (206)

  2. Dept. of Speculation, Jenny Offill (194)

  3. Broken Girls, Simone St. James (336)

  4. Plum Crazy: A Book About Beach Plums, Elizabeth Post (160)

  5. Summer Solstice, Nina McLaughlin (72)​​

  6. Day Pulls Down the Sky/A Filament in Gold Leaf, Asiya Wadud, Okwui Okpokwasili (56)

  7. The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead (224)

  8. In a Dark, Dark Wood, Ruth Ware (352)

  9. The Last House Guest, Megan Miranda (368)

  10. The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware (340)

  11. The Last September, Nina de Gramont (307)

  12. The Lying Game, Ruth Ware (368)

  13. Moon Tide: Cape Cod Poems, Mary Petiet (43)

  14. The Death of Mrs. Westaway, Ruth Ware (368)

  15. The Night Visitors, Carol Goodman (288)

  16. Snowflakes, Ruth Ware (26)

  17. The Turn of the Key, Ruth Ware (337)

Books 2019

READ:

  1. Florida, Lauren Groff (288) 

  2. The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances, Ellen Cooney (307) 

  3. The Punishment She Deserves, Elizabeth George (704) 

  4. An Embarrassment of Mangoes, Ann Vanderhoof (300)

  5. How to be a Good Creature, Sy Montgomery (200)

  6. My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite (226)

  7. At the Bottom of New Lake, Sonya Larsen (24)

  8. The Seas, Samantha Hunt (232)

  9. The Last Book Party, Karen Dukess (256)

  10. Tending the Marsh: Poems, Linda Marie Steele (48)

  11. Hollow Kingdom, Kira Jane Buxton (320)

  12. Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss (132)

  13. Ark, Veronica Roth (39)

  14. When My Brother Was an Aztec, Natalie Diaz (103)

  15. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, Terrance Hayes (112)

  16. Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Mark Russell (168)

  17. Boca Raton, Lauren Groff (31)

  18. Winter Hours, Mary Oliver (132)

  19. Odes to Lithium, Shira Erlichman (100)

  20. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehihi Coates (176)

Life Lists

50 in My 50s

  1. X finish my 1,000 book goal (DONE: 12/19/2023)

  2. read all of Mary Oliver’s work

  3. read all of Agatha Christie's books

  4. read all of Jamaica Kincaid's books

  5. do The Sealey Challenge every year

  6. rescue more dogs

  7. feed birds by hand

  8. make beach plum and rose hip jelly

  9. learn to prepare fish confidently

  10. perfect five recipes -- cheddar honey rolls + salted maple pie + shortbread with olives and rosemary + tomato tart + blackberry entremet

  11. get a tattoo

  12. X experience a sound bath in person (DONE: 2023)

  13. X meditate in a salt cave (DONE: 2023)

  14. work on becoming fluent in Portuguese

  15. learn to identify mushrooms in the wild

  16. take an animal tracking class

  17. kayak the salt marshes

  18. hike the dunes

  19. do the Thoreau Beach Walk

  20. hike Thoreau’s Seven Ponds (Gull, Newcomb’s, Sweti’s, Slough, Horse-Leech, Round, Herring)

  21. go on a reading holiday every year (DONE: 2021: Land's End Inn + 2022: Breakwater Hotel + 2023: TBD)

  22. stay in a Dune Shack

  23. visit Martha’s Vineyard again

  24. visit Cuttyhunk Island

  25. participate in the Creating A Year List Birding Program at Long Pasture Audubon Sanctuary

  26. celebrate my 55th in grand style (like it's my 50th, which was spent on the couch during the pandemic)

  27. visit at least two of these places: Costa Rica + Uruguay + Lanzarote, Canary Islands + Sardinia + Ischia + Brittany, France + Scotland + Dominica + Northern Lights in Iceland + Portugal +  Madeira +  the Azores during hydrangea season 

  28. visit Star Wars Galaxy's Edge

  29. attend the Agatha Christie Festival

  30. X learn how to do embroidery (DONE: 2020)

  31. learn to knit and make a blanket

  32. take a pottery throwing class

  33. learn to make headdresses

  34. make stained glass panel for the home

  35. publish my writing

  36. pursue my super secret artistic endeavor 

Life List Completed

  1. touch one of the sharks at the aquarium (completed 1/26/12)

  2. taste conch (completed 3/11/12)

  3. eat lobster at the Office of Nature in Negril, Jamaica (completed 3/13/12)

  4. take a swimming strokes class (completed 4/1/12)

  5. float a lantern in the Forest Hills Lantern Festival (completed 7/12/12)

  6. design tshirts for the 5th Annual Family Barhopping Night  (completed 7/13/12)

  7. have my aura photo taken (completed 7/19/12)

  8. go on the Cape Cod Modern House Tour (completed 8/19/12)

  9. create a gallery wall in our home (completed 9/27/12) 

  10. witness a cranberry harvest (completed 10/6/2012)

  11. walk a labyrinth (completed 10/25/12)

  12. attend Camp Mighty (completed 11/15-17/2012)

  13. wear a crazy wig in public (and not at Halloween) (completed 11/16/12)

  14. touch a flamingo (completed 11/30/2012)

  15. create a fun, girly Advent grab bag for my niece (completed 11/22/12)

  16. start an art collection (completed 12/16/12)

  17. own a real disco ball and place it where I can see it every day (completed 12/28/12)

  18. complete a 365 photo project (completed 12/31/12)

  19. drink a martini at Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle (completed 4/13/13)

  20. spend a weekend at Kripalu (completed 8/18/13)

  21. wear a tutu for one full day (completed 8/22/13)

  22. take a glassblowing class (completed 10/19/13)

  23. watch all the episodes of Friday Night Lights from beginning to end (completed 10/25/13)

  24. master dim sum ordering (10/28/13)

  25. change professions (completed 1/1/14)

  26. add a dog to our family (completed 3/31/14)

  27. have my own fireplace and learn to use it (completed 1/20/15)

  28. move my blog to my own domain and to a new platform (completed 2/11/15)

  29. try kimchi (6/23/15)

  30. see a shooting star -- Perseids at outdoor amphitheatre at Province Lands Visitor Center (completed 8/12/15)

  31. live in Provincetown for at least a year (completed 1/16/16 ... and still going)

  32. decorate a giant pink artificial Christmas tree for the holidays (completed 12/15/15)

  33. take a birdbanding class (completed 5/13/18)

  34. take my niece to Jamaica (completed 7/21/18)

  35. have drinks at Floyd's Pelican Bar in Jamaica (completed 7/24/19)

  36. go for a walk in the woods ... by myself (completed 2019)

  37. pick beach plums (completed 2019)

  38. learn to paint in watercolor (completed 2022)

  39. read 1,000 books (completed 12/19/2023)

The Mother of all Lists

  1. learn to make my mom's applesauce

  2. re-visit every lighthouse on the Cape (DONE: 1. Race Point Light)

  3. attend Figawi

  4. stay in a dune shack in the Cape Cod National Seashore

  5. attend the Daffodil Festival on Nantucket

  6. stay overnight at Race Point Light

  7. drive 6A with my mom, stopping where we want in the moment

  8. march in a costume in one of Provincetown's parades

  9. during one summer, visit every art gallery in Provincetown

  10. do the Polar Plunge on New Year's Day in Provincetown Harbor

  11. visit 20 Caribbean islands (DONE: 1. Nassau, Bahamas (2x) 2. Puerto Rico (2x) 3. Jamaica (8x) 4. Dominican Republic (2x) 5. Paradise Island, Bahamas (2x) )

  12. visit all the countries in Central America (DONE: 1. Mexico (3x) )

  13. visit the flamingo colony on Inagua Island, Bahamas

  14. see the pigs swim in the Exumas, Bahamas

  15. visit Harbour Island, Bahamas

  16. walk on the pink sand beaches of Bermuda

  17. drink a mojito in Cuba

  18. celebrate Christmas in a warm place wearing a bathing suit and a Santa hat

  19. eat all the food in Mexico City

  20. celebrate the Day of the Dead in Mexico

  21. see a toucan in Costa Rica

  22. visit Belize

  23. visit Uruguay

  24. stand in front of Picasso's Guernica

  25. eat my way through Spain and Portugal 

  26. see Gaudi's work in Barcelona

  27. visit Sardinia

  28. return to Rome

  29. return to Ireland -- eat all the food in Kinsale and stay at Ballymaloe House again

  30. see the bridges of Prague

  31. visit Croatia

  32. spin the globe/map and go where my finger lands

  33. see the northern lights

  34. visit Nova Scotia

  35. go on a cross-continent train trip (or at least an overnight trip)

  36. sleep in a monastery

  37. go on a cross-country road trip (regional is fine)

  38. visit Fallingwater

  39. attend the Mummers Parade in Philly on New Year's Day

  40. visit Charleston

  41. finally ride Space Mountain

  42. go shelling on Sanibel Island

  43. visit Hemingway's house in Key West

  44. attend Modernism Week in Palm Springs

  45. see spinner dolphins and attend a luau in Hawaii

  46. rent a houseboat

  47. see Lake Tahoe

  48. stay in an A-frame cabin on a lake

  49. attend the Westminster Dog Show

  50. attend the US Open (tennis, that is)

  51. see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in person

  52. eat at Red Rooster in Harlem

  53. visit Mackinac Island

  54. see puffins in Maine

  55. go on a silent retreat

  56. make Basque chicken

  57. have a traditional New England clambake on the beach 

  58. prepare a Feast of Seven Fishes

  59. go blueberry picking

  60. learn to make cocktail garnishes

  61. pickle something (cranberries? daikon radishes?)

  62. go clamming in my own pair of waders

  63. learn to cook fish myself

  64. learn to shuck an oyster (without injury)

  65. tap a tree for maple syrup

  66. roast chestnuts over an open fire

  67. learn to take better wildlife photos

  68. read all of Mary Oliver's poems

  69. organize and preserve our family photos

  70. be conversant in Spanish

  71. knit or weave something

  72. read a Murakami book

  73. see the Whirling Dervishes

  74. finish collecting the mismatched china set for my niece and give it to her when she moves into her first apartment

  75. go whitewater rafting 

  76. try snowshoeing

  77. explore the ocean in a Scubadoo

  78. attempt firewalking

  79. go dogsledding (bonus: yell "mush!")

  80. learn to sail

  81. go tubing down the Pamet River

  82. learn the salsa

  83. play a game of bocce

  84. ride a Vespa

  85. see a blue whale

  86. train a companion or therapy animal

  87. swim with a whale shark

  88. take an animal tracking class

  89. feed a hummingbird by hand

  90. disentangle and properly dispose of 300 balloons from the wrack line on the beach (Stop letting your balloons fly free, people!) (147/300)

  91. save sea turtles on the Cape 

  92. volunteer for a research project addressing marine debris issues

  93. volunteer at a wild animal care facility

  94. see my original $100 loan on Kiva go to 100 people (currently at 57/100)

  95. wear giant angel wings

  96. make friends with a drag queen

  97. get a watsu treatment

  98. get a fish pedicure

  99. build a fire on the beach

  100. learn more about Caribbean history

  101. swim in bioluminescent water

  102. participate in an archaeological dig (satisfying a goal I made in 4th grade)

  103. live on an island, on the beach, and/or some place where there are palm trees

  104. live in a foreign country for at least 3 months

  105. claim "snowbird" as my profession

The Original Mother of All Lists (Jan. 2012)

For months now I have been working on a list that I originally christened "The Mother of All Lists," and then quickly shortened to "The Mother List." Some people call it a Bucket List, a Life List, or even a Mighty Life List. Some of my list items have been rattling around in my head for awhile or have been intentions for a long time. Others are more recent ideas. The Mother List will expand and contract over time, I am sure. And it's a given that it will be hard to complete them all, but it sure will be fun trying. Without further ado, The Mother List ...

  1. See a blue whale

  2. Complete the Swim for Life in Provincetown

  3. Visit 20 Caribbean islands (done: 5/20)

  4. See the northern lights

  5. Go to Skywalker Ranch

  6. Wear giant angel wings

  7. Make Basque chicken

  8. Swim in the largest pool in the world at San Alfonso del Mar, Chile

  9. Eat fromage, a baguette, and pain au chocolat in Paris and kiss the Mr. at the top of the Eiffel Tower

  10. Make my own salt from seawater

  11. Hear Handel's Messiah performed at Boston Symphony Hall

  12. Complete a 365 photo project (completed 12/31/12)

  13. Visit Mass MoCA

  14. Own a set of really, really high thread count sheets

  15. Enjoy a gondola ride in Venice 

  16. Complete the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, raising money for cancer research

  17. Go on an Earthwatch expedition

  18. Participate in the Night of Writing Dangerously

  19. Have a traditional New England clambake on the beach 

  20. Take turns reading a book out loud with the Mr. until we finish it together (he is not enamored with this idea and suggested a Dr. Seuss book)

  21. Live in Provincetown for a year

  22. Ride a Vespa

  23. Attend the Winter Music Conference in Miami

  24. Go ziplining

  25. Post 1,000 posts on this blog 

  26. Train a companion or therapy animal

  27. Go whitewater rafting 

  28. Prepare a Feast of Seven Fishes

  29. See Waterfire in Providence, RI

  30. Take a pottery class

  31. Decorate a giant pink artificial Christmas tree for the holidays

  32. Go skydiving (indoors)

  33. Have my own project funded on Kickstarter

  34. Learn to DJ

  35. See a murmuration in nature

  36. Take hip-hop dance lessons

  37. Publish photo books for wedding, honeymoon, and our special trips

  38. Join a CSA

  39. Float a lantern in the Forest Hills Lantern Festival (completed 7/12/12)

  40. See puffins in Maine

  41. Do a walking tour of Russian and/or Jewish cuisine in Brookline

  42. Get a watsu treatment

  43. Attend the Mummers Parade in Philly on New Year's Day

  44. See my original $100 loan on Kiva go to 100 people (currently at 39/100)

  45. Hardboil an egg (Shut up.)

  46. Start an art collection (completed 12/16/12)

  47. Walk on the pink sand beaches of Bermuda

  48. Attend ComicCon ... in costume (I'm thinking Darth Vader but fear I may end up looking more like Dark Helmet.)

  49. Go blueberry picking

  50. Make a documentary about the Ptown Pool

  51. Walk a labyrinth (completed 10/25/12)

  52. Stay at the Boston Yacht Haven

  53. Finish collecting the mismatched china set for my niece and give it to her when she moves into her first apartment

  54. Stand in front of Picasso's Guernica

  55. Save sea turtles

  56. Film and submit a Cancer Dancer video in memory of Sarah Sadtler Feather

  57. Go snowshoeing

  58. Do some line dancing wearing cowboy boots

  59. Touch one of the sharks at the aquarium (completed 1/26/12)

  60. March (or shimmy) in a Pride parade

  61. Read Ulysses

  62. Pet every dog I see for a week

  63. Go on a silent retreat

  64. Learn to use a letterpress

  65. Have fresh flowers in our home continuously for a year

  66. Learn to scuba dive

  67. Watch all of Errol Morris' films (Gates of Heaven; Vernon, Florida; The Thin Blue Line; The Dark Wind; A Brief History of Time; Fast, Cheap and Out of Control; Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.; First Person; The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara; Standard Operating Procedure; Tabloid; The Unknown Known)

  68. Drink a martini at Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle (completed 4/13/13)

  69. Stay at Castello di Spannocchia in Tuscany

  70. Attend all 25 hours of the Moby Dick marathon at the New Bedford Whaling Museum

  71. Design tshirts for the 5th Annual Family Barhopping Night  (completed 7/13/12)

  72. Dance all night at a club in Ibiza

  73. Pickle something (cranberries? daikon radishes?)

  74. Go clamming in my own pair of waders

  75. Move my blog to my own domain and to a new platform

  76. Learn to skate backwards

  77. Celebrate Christmas in a warm place wearing a bathing suit and a Santa hat

  78. Read 1,000 books (currently at 714/1,000)

  79. Perform a synchronized swimming routine wearing glittery eye shadow and a fabulous sparkly swimsuit

  80. Eat a Burmese tea leaf salad

  81. Go firewalking

  82. Visit Fallingwater

  83. Learn to roll a kayak

  84. Cover my ceiling with tiny lights

  85. Go dogsledding (bonus: yell "mush!")

  86. Work on a film

  87. Attend the White Party in Provincetown held during Labor Day Weekend

  88. Hold a koala bear

  89. Finish a paint-by-numbers painting

  90. Try kimchi

  91. Volunteer on the Charles River Cleanup Boat

  92. Take my dad to dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club

  93. Spend a weekend at Kripalu

  94. Attend Figawi

  95. Write a short story and publish it

  96. Do a high-speed RIB (rigid inflatable boat) tour of Boston Harbor

  97. See Metallica in concert

  98. Create a fun, girly Advent grab bag for my niece (completed 11/22/12)

  99. Completely finish a New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle

  100. Go to the Galapagos

  101. Attend Friday After Thanksgiving (FAT) Chain Reaction at MIT

  102. Wear a crazy wig in public (and not at Halloween) (completed 11/16/13)

  103. Rewatch every episode of The Love Boat (watched through Season 1, Episode 12)

  104. Learn to hand roll sushi

  105. Fly on a trapeze

  106. Get a fish pedicure

  107. Swim in the infinity pool atop the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore

  108. Go on the Cape Cod Modern House Tour (completed 8/19/12)

  109. Own a boat

  110. Meet Peter Sis and have him sign my books

  111. Go on a reading retreat

  112. Taste conch (completed 3/11/12)

  113. See the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in person

  114. Knit a chunky wool blanket with giant knitting needles

  115. Stay at The Summer House on Nantucket

  116. Work on a political campaign

  117. Disentangle and properly dispose of 300 balloons from the wrack line on the beach (Stop letting your balloons fly free, people!) (74/300)

  118. Attend the US Open (tennis, that is)

  119. Live in a foreign country for at least 3 months

  120. Successfully set and fill a champagne tower

  121. Conquer my fear of sharks

  122. Stay in a dune shack at the Cape Cod National Seashore

  123. Ride a camel

  124. Try 25 different brands of salt and vinegar potato chips and rank them

  125. Write enough reviews on TripAdvisor to be a Senior Contributor

  126. See spinner dolphins in Hawaii

  127. Have my own gallery show filled with work I've yet to create

  128. Explore the ocean in a Scubadoo

  129. Volunteer at Best Friends in Utah

  130. See the crab swarm on Christmas Island

  131. Complete a Fight for Air climb

  132. Watch every Academy Award-nominated documentary

  133. Make Baked Alaska

  134. Have drinks at Floyd's Pelican Bar in Jamaica

  135. Finish a One Slow Thing a Week Project

  136. Walk a Great Dane

  137. Go fly a kite

  138. Go shelling on Sanibel

  139. Spend a day at the spa at the Mandarin Oriental

  140. Learn to silkscreen Tshirts

  141. Wear a tutu for one full day (completed 8/22/13)

  142. Go candlepin bowling

  143. Participate in NaBloPoMo

  144. Learn to take wildlife photos

  145. Churn my own butter

  146. See an orangutan in Borneo

  147. Change professions (completed 1/1/14)

  148. Go to The Smiths Reunion Concert (It's my list!)

  149. Learn needle felting

  150. Attend Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Tribeca, and Silverdocs or Hotdocs film festivals

  151. Have my aura photo taken (completed 7/19/12)

  152. Sleep in a lighthouse

  153. See a concert at Tanglewood

  154. Taste sea urchin

  155. Run the Tufts 10K and the James Joyce Ramble

  156. Live on an island

  157. Read all of Edgar Allen Poe's Work

  158. Take a tour of Legal's fish processing plant

  159. Maintain a koi pond

  160. Build a fire on the beach

  161. Attend a roller derby match

  162. Visit Plimoth Plantation

  163. Attend the Westminster Dog Show

  164. Ride a Carsten Holler slide

  165. Learn Italian

  166. Run through an enormous field of sunflowers

  167. Attend Art Basel

  168. Participate in the citizen scientist program on the Boston Harbor Islands

  169. Experience tailgating at a real football game

  170. Share the hot springs with the snow monkeys of Nagano

  171. Eat at every restaurant in our restaurant jar

  172. Make a bottle tree

  173. Host an exchange student

  174. Take a SeaDream Yacht Club cruise around the Caribbean

  175. Swim with a whale shark

  176. Eat lobster at the Office of Nature in Negril, Jamaica (completed 3/13/12)

  177. Have my own fireplace and learn to use it

  178. Learn to hula dance

  179. See the gardens of Kyoto

  180. Tour WGBH

  181. Wear false eyelashes

  182. Roast chestnuts over an open fire

  183. Fold 1,000 paper cranes

  184. Learn to play bocce

  185. Relive the romance of Joey Potter and Pacey Whitter (rewatching all of Dawson's Creek)

  186. Stand on the Great Wall of China

  187. Learn to surf

  188. Volunteer at a wild animal care facility

  189. Mentor someone

  190. Care for a bonsai tree

  191. Fly on a plane that has a bar/cocktail lounge

  192. Enjoy Summer Shack's clambake on Spectacle Island

  193. Own a real disco ball and hang it where I can see it every day (completed 12/28/12)

  194. Stay at the Wickainnish Inn

  195. Participate in a Holi color fight

  196. Drive the length of 6A from Ptown to Sandwich and back with my mom

  197. Try waterskiing

  198. Have a panchakarma treatment

  199. Finally ride Space Mountain

  200. Live on the beach

  201. Complete Red Cross disaster relief training

  202. Attend a workshop at Salt Water Farm in Maine

  203. Swim in bioluminescent water

  204. Take my niece to Italy 

  205. Touch a flamingo (completed 11/30/2012)

  206. Complete a month of Naikan

  207. Stand on the equator

  208. Catch a marlin or a shark

  209. Go on a cross-continent train trip

  210. Visit all of the Boston Harbor Islands (1. Georges, 2. Peddocks, 3.Bumpkin, 4. World’s End, 5. Spectacle, 6. Lovells, 7. Grape, 8. Thompson, 9. Little Brewster, 10. Deer, 11. Webb Memorial, 12. Nut)

  211. Visit Nova Scotia

  212. Do a year's worth of 30 day projects

  213. Participate in an archeaological dig (thus satisfying a goal I made in 4th grade)

  214. Attend a workshop conducted by Carolyn Myss

  215. Learn to make preserves

  216. See Gaudi's work in Barcelona

  217. Rent a houseboat

  218. Make it through a Hell Night meal at the East Coast Grill

  219. Learn more about jazz music

  220. Participate in a Relay for Life, raising more money for cancer research

  221. Climb a rockclimbing wall

  222. Get a plot of land to garden in the Victory Gardens of the Fens

  223. Witness a cranberry harvest (completed 10/6/2012)

  224. Try fencing 

  225. See the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year ceremony

  226. Sleep in a monastery (preferably in Italy)

  227. Volunteer for a research project addressing marine debris issues

  228. Witness a live performance of Saturday Night Live

  229. Jump off a high-dive

  230. Learn to make my mom's applesauce

  231. Attend Camp Mighty (completed 11/15-17/2012)

  232. Meander through a corn maze

  233. List "snowbird" as my profession

  234. See the wild ponies of Chincoteague

  235. Make a pinata from scratch and fill it with confetti

  236. Volunteer at the New England Aquarium

  237. Complete one complex scherenschnitte

  238. Sail on the Liberty around the Bahamas

  239. See more of Iceland than just the airport

  240. Do a walking tour of Boston's Chinatown

  241. Own personalized cocktail stirrers

  242. Cross all the bridges in Prague

  243. Tap a tree for maple syrup

  244. Complete a 5,000 piece puzzle

  245. Attend ROFLCon

  246. See the whirling dervishes

  247. Watch all the episodes of Friday Night Lights from beginning to end (completed 10/25/13)

  248. Go tubing

  249. Sit at the gliding table at Yuerba Buena in San Juan, Puerto Rico (and finally see Old San Juan)

  250. Make a list of all the great things I did before I made this list ***

  251. Finish all the cocktails on Clio's cocktail list

  252. Stay in the Igloo Village at Hotel Kakslauttannen in Finland

  253. See the green river in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day

  254. Watch a live Sumo wrestling match

  255. Ride a mechanical bull

  256. Participate in a Japanese tea ceremony

  257. Take a swimming strokes class (completed 4/1/12) -- learn that damn butterfly once and for all 

  258. Learn to sail

  259. Knit my own scarf

  260. Walk entire length of the Boston Harbor Walk

  261. Take an ikebana class

  262. Master dim sum ordering

  263. Participate in a sake tasting

  264. Take a self-defense class

  265. Learn to cook fish

  266. Learn the salsa

  267. Go iceskating on Frog Pond

  268. Have a salt-tasting party 

  269. Visit Mt. Auburn Cemetery 

  270. Have a smoked foods night

  271. Feed a hummingbird by hand

  272. Make a meal entirely from items found at the farmer's market

  273. Take a glassblowing class (completed 10/19/13)

  274. Tour the Taza Chocolate Factory

  275. Have a Diane Keaton movie marathon (watched 4 of her movies so far)

  276. Make coconut shrimp

  277. Learn to play mah jong (with real tiles) 

  278. Learn the elusive art of origami

  279. Learn to shuck an oyster (without injury)

  280. Make 3 different types of bread

  281. Learn to make paella

  282. Participate in an Ethiopian coffee ceremony

  283. Publish this list on Bucket List Productions

  284. See the pigs swim in the Exumas, Bahamas

  285. Visit the Corning Museum of Glass

  286. Be a guest blogger on someone else's blog

  287. Visit Croatia

  288. Do 10 DIY projects: glitter disco balls; galaxy glitter play dough; owl paper figures from a kit; paper flower party headbands; star projector kit; Sparkle Labs solar kit; geometric paper ornaments; crepe paper flower garland; paper hats; giant tissue paper flowers

  289. Complete the Cape Cod Ragnar Relay Series

  290. See a performance at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, MA

  291. Eat at Hartwood in Tulum, Mexico

  292. Visit City Museum in St. Louis and climb Monstrocity

  293. Own a working neon sign

  294. Create a gallery wall in our home (completed 9/27/12)

  295. Learn to play the steel drums

  296. Bend a spoon (see Martha Beck)

  297. Sing The Girl from Ipanema on Ipanema Beach

  298. Learn how to open a champagne bottle with a sword

  299. Visit Hemingway's house in Key West

  300. Drink a mojito in Cuba

  301. Visit all the Shaker round barns in New England (1. Canterbury Shaker Village)

  302. Learn to make mole sauce

  303. Live some place where there are palm trees

  304. Get paid to be creative

  305. Find a group of like-minded creatives

  306. Make friends with a drag queen

  307. Visit the flamingo colony on Inagua island

  308. Go on a moonwalk during a full moon

  309. Do the Ultimate Trainer for a Day at Atlantis, Bahamas

  310. See a shooting star

  311. Watch the Winterfest Boat Parade in Fort Lauderdale

  312. Dance with Ellen

  313. Attend an Ace Camp photography workshop

*** End of original list, created 1/29/12

Mondo Beyondo additions (added 10/24/2012):

  • be a National Geographic photographer

  • be a documentary filmmaker

  • live in the Caribbean -- Negril, Jamaica to be specific, the "Capital of Casual"

  • learn to snorkel really, really well and do it every day

  • never work in an office or wear business attire ever again as long as I live

  • be outside most of the time

  • meet Jimmy Buffett

  • throw out all of my wool except a couple of sweaters for nostalgia sake

  • wear flip flops only

  • walk on the beach every day

  • meet Diane Keaton

  • have a pet monkey (a dream from childhood -- I had to settle for a stuffed monkey that I named Uncle Jessie. From Dukes of Hazard, people!)

  • write my tell-all book

  • use my blog as a vehicle to make a living that is not location dependent

  • become known as an expert in something

  • be healthy and fit

  • have a studio space that I share with other creatives

  • add a dog or 3 to our family (completed 3/31/14)

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