The List

noreply@blogspirit.com (Pickle's Papa) — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:00:00 -0400

To continue the parade of internet thievery. . .

The bolded items are the things I done. The non-bolded items are the things I haven't done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (it was closed the day I was there)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states (currently at 33)
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music.
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (in progress)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident (suicide attempt) that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (in conjunction with numbers 29 and 88)
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life

Feel free to rip this off and post it yourself . . . I did.

p.s. - I have come to the conclusion that at some point a computer geek of the highest order got ahold of this list and made certain additions to validate their existence. See #'s 39, 71, 140, 143. I would have deleted them, but I just dont have the same time to renumber the list that they appearantly did.

Here's the situation

noreply@blogspirit.com (Pickle's Papa) — Mon, 08 May 2006 21:35:00 -0400

So this is it. This is where I've ended up. Here they are, the entire cast of characters. Lucky and Aristotle - the two cats, Harold and Maude - the Beagle and Husky mix respectively, and (of course) mom and pickle. We all live together in a really cool, really small house in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. My entire adult life has now been spent living in Cleveland. I never had an aversion to this, but I always thought that I'd end up in more of a transient lifestyle. But here it is - this is where I am starting my family.

I spent my early twenties working as a professional theatrical actor here in town, and started my own production company when I was twenty-five. The company did very well, and I got really burnt out by thirty. I had been working as an actor still in the summer (the off-season) at a local amusement park - and when I reached critical mass as Artistic Director I jumped ship and accepted a low-level, seasonal management position at the amusement park. In conjunction with this I decided to go back to school and get a Masters Degree in Business Management. Kindof a bizzarre turn for someone who was supposed to be a rock star. I have an Associates Degree in Music and a Bachelors Degree in Theatre.

I wasn't supposed to be where I am. I know - we all say that, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with. I dont feel any different than I did when I was 16 - yet now I'm supposed to know something, and soon act like one of 'them' in the big sense. I am a natural born actor so I'm sure noone will be any the wiser as to my true disfunction, but there seems to be so much more at stake now - because now I sit holding another person that I am wholey responsible for.

I am amazingly lucky in that I get to spend the first six months of my daughter's life with her every day learning who she is and what kind of father I can be. I attend evening classes while the mom works during the day. In August I need to re-enter the work force when I finish my degree. I intend to find an entry level position at a large arts organization and build my resume for the next 10 years so eventually I can get hired to run an arts facility somewhere.

The mom is the one with the law degree, but unfortunately for our finances - she's also the idealist. She isn't liscensed as of yet. Mainly because she hates lawyers. She sticks to the world of immigration where she tries to make more Americans as a paralegal in a small firm. She's a fairly impressive woman - except for putting up with me.

Together we have made the most beautiful creature I have ever laid my eyes on.

I have three and a half more months to entrench myself in fatherhood before I get swept off to the working world. Not that school is a piece of cake. I still have to finish two classes, including my Capstone project - but at least I get to look at her while I'm doing it.

As time moves on I am sure that I will expand on the pre-pickle scenario, but for right now - this will give you a cursory understanding of the world we're living in.

We have the biggest hopes and dreams for her, and dont even know where to begin in the ways we can screw it all up.

pickle's papa

. . . and then there was pickle. - pre-pickle_past

The List

Here's the situation