There's a new print ad campaign for Visa's line of reward credit cards that I noticed is suddenly populating a mix of consumer publications. In the version I saw this past week, Elvis Costello is featured with his "things to do while you're alive" list. I like the positive spin Visa is taking, but doesn't it really means "what would you like to do before you die?" I prefer the urgency that impending demise suggests; It means that you might actually get off your ass and try to do some of these things before you kick the proverbial bucket.
It's also good fun to cross things off a list so I decided to compile my own top 20 list. I'll keep it with me as a working document. While I don't have the exclusive access or income that celebrity might afford Mr. Costello, it doesn't deter me from wishing for these things. I don't subscribe to the notion that things are unattainable so I've included everything my heart desires. There's nothing wrong with aspiration and none of these are that far beyond the pale of plausibility. Check with me when I'm 84 and I'll bring you up to date on my progress.
Here are the top 20 things I'd like to do before I die (in no particular order):
1. Write a novel
2. Try the tasting menu with wine flight at Alain Ducasse in Paris
3. Drive cross country in an RV
4. Go marlin fishing in Baja
5. Travel on the Orient Express
6. Have sex with a stranger in an airplane bathroom
7. Visit Red Square in Moscow
8. Attend the men's singles final at Wimbledon
9. Meet Don Cornelius
10. Splurge on an absolutely useless but utterly fabulous Marc Jacobs dress
11. Attend the National BBQ Festival
12. Visit the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu
13. Complete the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle
14. Cross the Atlantic on the QE2
15. Finish my conversation with Gore Vidal
16. Go snorkeling at Heron Island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef
17. See South Africa with my friend Double D (she's from there and I want to see it through her eyes)
18. Play 18 holes at Spyglass Hill
19. Take a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu
20. Die on my own terms
Come on now, don't leave me hanging in suspense. What's on your list?
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2 comments:
I'm thinking, I'm thinking...
But in the meantime I wanted to ask, is Don Cornelius still alive?
C&W - Haven't met you but am a friend of Hollaback Girl. I have been to Red Square in Russia - just remember to go when it is warm - imaging 120 HS band geeks from Florida wandering Red Square in March 1986 (it was the USSR then) wearing winter coats borrowed from the local ski club.
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