Monday, August 17, 2009

Twenty Things for the Next Twenty Years (started the list in 2008, just finished it last night)

1) Ride in a hot air balloon.
2) Weld and form metal into something beautiful.
3) Hike alone for a long time.
4) Go to Africa and see hippos in the Zambezi River.
5) Do a creative writing sabbatical.
6) Be the sole caregiver for a child for more than just one day.
7) Train a pony.
8) Ride a bike for a good long distance.
9) Paint a landscape in watercolor.
10) Build a boat 
11) Live in a place that doesn't use English that often
12) Party more with Carrie.
13) Try to write everyday.
14) Publish in "The Sun" magazine.
15) Ski Naked.
16) Always choose to have a new experience. 
17) Sing with others more often.
18) Fall in love, wildly and with abandon. 
19) Witness a birth
20) Alter consciousness without drugs.




A first night on the journey...
A first night on the journey...


Sunday, February 8, 2009

25 Things

• My life is comprised of a lot of moving pieces right now. Everything except my dog seems to be moving fast and in unpredictable ways. I am poised to respond. 

• Chilidog is my black Labrador friend; he's about 12 or 13 and his arthritis meds need adjustment. Recently, he hasn't been able to get into the car nor onto my bed without help and sleeps a lot.

• I am planning to go to Africa and run the Zambezi River before 2014.

• I am wondering what the end of the Mayan calendar will look like in 2012.

• I only get to see my nephews about once a year. This is a real bummer.

• My house is my greatest physical asset. I've had about 30 people live with me over the past ten years that I've owned it. They have stayed from anywhere from a week to a year. Some folks are friends of friends, others are found through Craigslist. There have only been 4 significant sub-prime tenants over the past ten years. This helps pay the rent and offers a great sense of community.

• The house also has a 4 star energy rating, which I achieved with my own hard work ten years ago. I was able to leverage three different mortgage assistance programs to get a 30 year fixed rate below 4%. I am very proud and happy about both of these accomplishments.

• I wish I had an employer match to my 403b contributions right now.

• Never get me started on the insanity of health insurance coverage.

• Most folks forget or don't know that I've lived with Type 1 diabetes since 1970. This is generally a pain in the ass to manage-- but what are you going to do?

• I am working on an application to present a creative piece for Out North's "Under 30", which features one-person performance art shows that are less than 30 minutes. If selected, I'll be doing the show in January 2010.

• I love reading. I'm using my library card and receive three periodicals-- The Week, The Sun and Newsweek. Will probably ditch Newsweek when it expires.

• I can't understand parents that take their young kids to late night movies with adult themes. They should be home reading the kids a story before they go to bed. But I'm not a slacker parent.

• Only one of the tropical freshwater fish that I adopted last year is still alive, although only one progeny survived the massive "tank tanking" that occurred in December.

• --I've never married or even had a relationship that lasted longer than 3 years. Right now, I don't think that it’s my role in the world. My dream is to find a guy who's open to new experiences, happy to deal with occasional neurosis and is willing to discuss credit scores and financial management approaches before committing to a serious relationship.

• I often develop campaigns to orchestrate my personal development goals. Ranging from "Get some in '97" to “Lighten up 2000” to “Sex in '06"; I have had varying success over the years. One of my friends reminded me that campaigns can include both a specific candidate, a public education effort, or simply be a long-drawn out effort like a war. That made me re-thinks this strategy.

• I am active in community- on the "core group" of Bioneers in Alaska and on the board of Neighborworks Anchorage that fosters low-income housing. For some reason, I signed on as the chair of their board development committee last week- but people are eager so I am hopeful we can do good work together.

• I love the theatre arts and am eager to see Spamalot and laugh my ass off with my crackly friend Holly.

• I am torn between being a “free-wheeling vagabond river chick” and a “smart and savvy executive business person”. My main goal is to work with smart and fun people, always.

• I’m an optimist, but I can get pretty grumpy and stressed out under the right circumstances.

• I have an amaryllis on my kitchen table-- it is almost ready to bloom and its stalk is almost 30 inches high.

• I really like cookies, especially when I make them.

• I am fascinated with the community building connections possible on the internet, but worried that youth won’t know how to function in teams and groups when they need to enter the workforce.

• I thought “Hold this Thought” and “AK” were really cool radio shows while they lasted.

• I hope the economic downturn is going to slap a whole bunch of sensibility into Americans about what is really important in life. Hopefully folks will realize they gain more when they share…