Modified hundred-experiences meme from cette_vie

[fpb]

The original of this meme was fairly obviously American-orientated. Where I thought the questions were too American, I struck them out, placing European-oriented ones in italics, and, of course, bolding the ones that I have carried out. (I also placed my own observations in italics and brackets.)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (No, but I tried to)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (This one is dumb. If I had, would I say it in public? Let your left hand not know what your right hand does.)
7. Been to Disneyland Land and World.
8. Climbed a mountain (Walked up a few, actually.)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a thunder and lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (Is it possible to be a student in a small flat with a small allowance and not get it?)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty With the parents! (Will the top of St.Peter's dome with my grandfather do?)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (London-Rome, Rome-Paris. Also on a night coach and ferry, London-Dublin.)
21. Had a pillow fight (Pretty sure I did when I was a child.)
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
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 Scored a goal after dribbling past the whole defence
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community Visited an ancient local religious community, such as Italy's Waldensians or local Jews
36. Taught yourself a new language (It doesn't say well or successfully, does it?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (For about six seconds...)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person (Alas, no)
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sang karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt Seen Mount Etna erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance And went to the emergency room. (At 13, when my mother had a road accident)
47. Had your portrait painted
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 snorkelling (Only once, but it was in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia! CAn you say "unforgettable"?)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (Ye gods, this is impossible to translate! Can anyone think of an European equivalent? I've been in the Boy Scouts, but it's hardly the same.)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
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 Visited a national historical memorial or site
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square Stood in Trafalgar Square
74. Toured the Everglades Toured the Camargue
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon
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
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House Visited Versailles or Schoenbrunn
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Will a fish do? Because if so, I helped catch and dress a fish with my father when I was a child - an experience that contributed to my enduring distaste for fish)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (More cartoonists than I can remember, including Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman; also a singer or two and some scholars)
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person Visited one of Garibaldi's battlefields
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake Swam in the Red Sea
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Comments

[cheyinka]

Hmm, I think the one for Old Faithful should be substituted (if necessary) by seeing some other geyser erupt, rather than a volcano.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

There you go... I know of no geyser in Europe, unless you count Iceland.

[mentalguy.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I think Mount Etna beats any geyser. :)

[fpb.livejournal.com]

It's a big old bear of a mountain that does a lot of growling and never hurts much of anyone. I've never heard of it killing anybody, though its eruptions are frequent. Vesuvius, on the other hand.. Vesuvius is scary. When I visited Naples, I was struck by how dark and threatening it looks, standing right in the middle of that marvelous bay. It only erupts every several decades, and it is due for another big one soon - and five million people live within its shadow.

[mentalguy.livejournal.com]

If only it weren't for that rich volcanic soil...

This reminds me, actually -- have I ever pointed you at SPQR Blues? It's a (rather good, in my opinion) comic that R. found, set in Pompeii and Herculaneum in the late 70s. Yes, those 70s...

[fpb.livejournal.com]

It's not just the soil - the Bay of Naples is the best natural harbour on the whole west coast of Italy, and it would always have been a place for great cities and dense population, whatever happened. Vesuvius i just in the worst place it could possibly be.

[mentalguy.livejournal.com]

Aw man, what a combination. As they would say on less erudite portions of the Internet, "YO DAWG, I HERD U LIEK PYROCLASTIC FLOWS, SO I PUT A VOLCANO IN UR IDEAL NATURAL HARBOR..."

The real bitter irony would be if the Bay of Naples were of volcanic origin in the first place (which it may well be, for all I know).

[elegant-bonfire.livejournal.com]

Hee, the person who draws that is a fannish friend of mine. She might be at MediaWest Con next week.

[panobjecticon.livejournal.com]

did you see etna erupting from a distance? i understand it's not very easy to see it close up, not that anyone in their right mind would want to stand next to an erupting volcano...

curious about your total eclipse (1999, here?), the life saving and the lawsuit?

btw did you see this? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279252/Jehovahs-Witness-15-dies-refusing-blood-following-crash.html

[fpb.livejournal.com]

As for the Jeohva's Witnesses, that is always happening. In Italy there are legal precedents which allow doctors to treat children in danger of their lives without the consent of parents, but wrenching tragedies still happen. (the J'sWs are one of the largest religious minorities in Italy, and the one with the most native Italian converts.)

Saving a life? I helped a guy who had been ruined by the Scientologists, and I am confident that without me around he would have starved to death.

Lawsuit? Against SOAS, my former college in London. Ended inconclusively, but basically I won.

Eclipse? As I recall it, it was 1997 in Britain. I was a little outside the real area of darkness, but you could feel the light go a nasty shade of bluish dark, and the air get cold.

[panobjecticon.livejournal.com]

'In Italy there are legal precedents which allow doctors to treat children in danger of their lives without the consent of parents'
i posted it to highlight that religious views are taken into account where relevant in service provision, that there is a mechanism there to override the belief is a good thing. it seems it's a pretty woolly legal area here, but i, and others, think that the views should definitely be ignored in these cases.

scientologists: good for you, or him rather, i have a friend who got involved with them. his experience was positive, up to a point. he left before getting too closely involved - don't know the full story but iirc the issue was to do with interference in the relationship with his kids, which he wouldn't accept. from what he's said, whilst they want the money, i don't think they intentionally prey on the vulnerable, but that's the reality. i have the impression that being involved could be pretty destructive. his activity with them has been an object of much mirth and merriment over the years!:-)

why were you suing soas?

the last total eclipse here was 1999. i went to cornwall on a motorcycle with a friend - a rather portly passenger. it must have been worn but his weight broke the rear suspension damper on the way. each time there was even the slightest ripple on the road, the suspension would bottom out and then top out with quite a thud. this would carry on for five or six times or so until it settled. uncomfortable for me, he was sitting directly over the point where the wheel struck the underside of the seat assembly. i could hear him squeal every so often when we slowed for roadworks and traffic but, needing to make time, we were unable to stop quite as frequently as he would have prefered. we got to a hilltop near camborne in cornwall and as far as the eye could see, the sky was clouded and it was raining. so we stopped to experience a grey sky go impressively dark for a little while without being able to see the sun, and as we both needed to work the next day, made the return journey: about 250 miles at a steady 90 mph. i did try my very best to console him, but i wasn't very successful really. iirc he visited the doctor, next day, and had about a week off work:-o

[fpb.livejournal.com]

If it was in Cornwall then that is the one I remember. Sorry about the wrong date. I was unable to go to Cornwall, but you could feel all that I described in London.

I was suing SOAS to get rid of an injunction they had slapped on me to prevent entering their grounds, and also to have a legal record of my contention against them. The suit ended inconclusively, but later I was allowed to enter the place without anyone objecting (and the senior authorities were aware of my presence).

[panobjecticon.livejournal.com]

the eclipse was better in many places other than cornwall:-/ i think i was most impressed at how it went quiet, the traffic stopped and there was just the odd bird sound, a little like the recent 6 days without any aircraft flying.

what did you do for soas to take out an injunction against you?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

And no, I did not see Etna in person. I just put it in as the most appropriate, I thought, parallel to Old Faithful - since I know of no geysers in Europe except for Iceland. For that matter, only Iceland and Italy have any kind of volcanoes.

[panobjecticon.livejournal.com]

'only Iceland and Italy have any kind of volcanoes'
i thought that too. apparently, there's also some in greece (santorini is pretty active), slovenia and lanzarote too!

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Santorini was active 3800 years ago, to the best of my knowledge. Slovenia? Hunh? Slovenia is an Alpine country, and Alpine countries are not volcanic. And Lanzarote is geographically in Africa (that is also why I have issues with counting Iceland and Greenland as parts of Europe).

[panobjecticon.livejournal.com]

i was surprised. but according to this: http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/en/santorini.html my mistake, there's a geyser in slovakia: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herlany_gejzir.jpg
you could argue that iceland is half european, half north american. i'm not sure it matters that much, but i think they consider themselves part of europe. ever been? they have early texts of the sagas at the culture house and an interesting exhibition on bookbinding. it's a fascinating place that's well worth a visit.

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

How do European Scouts raise money to go camping? That's the Girl Scout Cookie substitution (#61). (There is a lot of competition to sell the most, but that's the point of all the nonsense.)

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Parents pay fees for joining, and if extra expenses are required, they are notified well in advance. Same as with schools and outings.

[sanscouronne.livejournal.com]

I find #15 very unrealistic (well, in a list of accomplishments that are rather elusive for most). Even in very wealthy countries like the UK and US, the proportion of people who adopt is likely extremely small.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Well, if you've done most of them, you certainly are an unusual person.

[panobjecticon.livejournal.com]

in the uk, the authorities pay an allowance for foster carers, not sure if it's the case for adoption. do they do that in the us?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

But that is fostering, not adopting. Adopting is so appallingly difficult that many people basically buy children in Asia or Latin America.