"Kings and Queens," 30 Seconds to Mars
When Jimmy Buffett blasts the line: "Sometimes I wish I was back in my crashpad days, 'fore I knew what cash flow meant" into my iPod, I can certainly relate-- (unlike him, I'm sure). Everyday I see dozens of "For Sale" signs broadcasting the availability of a new condo or house, and sometimes I cringe at our current inability to seize upon the opportunity. There are lots of things I want to do before I die, and own a home (or a condo. Or apartment. Or a livable storage space) is one of the them. Other items I wish to someday check off my Bucket List:
- Raise a family. Can't wait. But not quite yet.
- Memorize all the state and country capitals. So far, I'm done with the U.S. This, of course, makes me an excellent guest at parties.
- Travel to every continent. Except maybe Antarctica. I don't really have any desire to go to Antarctica. Andrew Denton said, "If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame it." I agree with him. I like the idea that a pristine, hardly-touched piece of land still exists somewhere in this over-industrialized and under-appreciated world. I just don't need to go there to realize it.
- See U2, Rod Stewart, and The Killers live. I have to admit, I've been to lots of really great shows in my life. Aside from the
hundreds(okay, dozens? My mom says I have an exaggeration problem) of punk shows I saw in college (as well the arbitrary slough of shows I saw in high school, like Third Eye Blind, Sugar Ray, Dishwalla, etc.) I've seen Dave Matthews Band (x2), Jack Johnson (x3?), John Mayer (x3?), Counting Crows, Ben Harper (x2), Black-Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz (x3), Steel Pulse, LOTS of country shows, and many others I'm blanking on right now. In terms of more "classic" type shows, I've seen Bryan Adams, Jimmy Buffett, Tom Petty, Garth Brooks, Madonna, and The Eagles (second row center! Better seats than Bill Walton!) BUT, there are still three bands left on my see-before-I-die list. - Write a book. It doesn't have to be published. It doesn't have to be read by all kinds of people. Really, it doesn't even have to be good. I just want to be able to finish it.
- See Les Miserables live. Because I'm a little bit of a Showtunes fiend, I've been lucky enough to see a variety of live, professional performances: The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, 42nd Street (twice!), Mamma Mia, Aida, West Side Story, Newsies, The King and I, and of course Rent (x5...nothing can even come close). However, I've never seen Les Mis live, and it's something I've wanted to do for at least a decade. No matter how many times I listen to the soundtrack, I get goosebumps at the end of "Do You Hear the People Sing?"
- Cage dive with great white sharks. Trips leave from Ensenada; out to Guadalupe Island for five days. Cost is about $2,500-3,000, but Tim has friends on the boat, and can probably go as a crew member. I'm MUCH more afraid of spending five nights on a boat than I am of being in the water with a white shark...
I like that I don't quite know what's next for us. I like that my days, months, years--my life-- doesn't feel planned out, and I don't feel the need to adhere to a specific road map. Maybe we'll one day take our kids backpacking through Europe. Maybe we'll run a vineyard. Maybe we'll never own the two-story house with the spiral staircase that floats on the edge of my childhood fantasies. Maybe Tim's second car will be an ambulance. Maybe I'll still be teaching high school English in thirty years and loving it. There's so much possibility, hope, freedom, and beauty in the not-knowing.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
-Anthem, Leonard Cohen
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