On inspiration, intention and inclination

I started writing a list of 101 things to do before I die several months ago, and was inspired by my friend Katie to finally finish the thing. I was delighted to notice on coming back to the half-finished list that I had actually acheived a couple of my goals. Here is the completed list, with asterisks indicating completed goals:

101 Things to do before I die

1. Learn to blow smoke rings
2. Throw a drink over someone
3. See the Aurora Borealis
4. Have dinner at the Fat Duck
5. See a glacier
6. Have my photo taken nude and like the result
7. Finish my book and have it published
8. Give 50 pounds to a busker
9. Go scuba diving
10. Try an oyster*
11. Become fluent in another language
12. Swim with sharks
13. Go to a Pride parade
14. Take a ride in a hot air balloon
15. Write a script*
16. Learn to drive
17. Skydive
18. Genuinely forgive everyone who has hurt me
19. Learn to juggle
20. Go to Torture Garden*
21. Volunteer at Burning Man
22. Accept that I will always need to be on medication
23. Read every book listed in ‘1001 books you must read before you die’
24. Learn sign language
25. Own a bath big enough for two
26. Smash a plate on purpose
27. Send a message in a bottle
28. Have a library room in my house
29. Own a snake
30. Stay in the ice hotel
31. Try caviar*
32. Ask someone on a date
33. Stop having to order enough takeaway that they won’t realize I’m eating alone
34. Learn to knit
35. Fly first class
36. Start a blog*
37. Go a year without forgetting a single friend/relative’s birthday
38. Live in another country for a year
39. Learn to salsa
40. Get a degree
41. Get a masters degree
42. Get a doctorate
43. Adopt a child
44. Make jam
45. Visit the pyramids
46. Give a dinner party
47. Go white water rafting
48. Learn to cry on cue
49. Have a food fight
50. Be debt free
51. See a manatee
52. Go into space (and take my dad with me)
53. Have afternoon tea at the Ritz
54. Work in a job that I love
55. Hold a koala
56. Learn how to take a compliment
57. Go skiing
58. Spend 24 hours solid in a pub
59. Go to the Galapagos islands
60. Mudlark on the banks of the Thames at low tide
61. Get a massage
62. Own a stuffed animal (taxidermy, not a teddy)
63. Go to Mardi Gras
64. Take singing lessons
65. Go to a shop and try on wedding dresses a la Muriel
66. Learn to spin fire poi
67. Celebrate the Day of the Dead in Mexico
68. Change somebody’s life for the better
69. Hitchhike
70. Think up some really great last words
71. Learn to play poker
72. Go to an airport and get on the next available flight, regardless of destination
73. Stand on the equator
74. Swim with bioluminescent plankton in Puerto Rico
75. Take a holiday on a canal boat with friends
76. Have enough cats to cross the line from ‘cat-lover’ to ‘crazy cat lady’
77. Find the perfect bra
78. Visit the Sistine chapel
79. Do a cartwheel
80. Give somebody flowers for no reason
81. Go to Iceland
82. Learn to ride a motorbike
83. Be kissed under mistletoe
84. Become a regular in a pub and have a ‘usual’
85. Learn the proper use of English grammar
86. Deliver a crushing comeback when insulted instead of gaping in disbelief like a stunned trout
87. Write a love letter
88. See penguins in the wild
89. Run (or more likely walk) the London marathon
90. Take a picture every day for a year
91. Go to Glastonbury festival
92. Take horse riding lessons
93. Organise a grown-up sleepover
94. Put on pyjamas, get into a show bed in a shop and see how long it takes to get chucked out
95. Busk
96. Travel on the Orient Express
97. Live independently for a whole year
98. Couchsurf
99. Get my affairs in order
100. Write my will
101. Watch out for that…! Too late.