I can’t believe how terrifying it is to leave something you’ve known for years. At the same time, it’s exciting and I’m actually getting sleep for more than a few hours at a time! I haven’t slept through the night in years, so this is a big dot deal for me.

Found this at Crystal’s (The Song of My Soul) and couldn’t resist.

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.
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
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
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. Played touch football
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 an ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons 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
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
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 well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised (raising) children (child)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
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 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. Touched 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 facial part pierced other than your ears
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. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
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
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
151. Finished a marathon

Technorati Tags: meme

Feast Number One Hundred & Thirty Four

Appetizer: What is your usual bedtime? Do you like that, or would you rather it be different?

• I don’t have anything close to resembling a “usual” bedtime. I’m an insomniac. Sometimes I have difficulty catching more than 20 minutes sleep a night. I go days without sleeping more than 2 hours a night, then usually crash from exhaustion. I’m supposed to take medication to help me sleep, but I try to avoid it as much as possible.

Soup: When it comes to advice, do you give more or receive more?

• I tend to give a lot more advice than I seek out – especially now that dad’s not around to pester for advice. I do have a small group of people I tend to return to for advice over and over again (yep, that’s you Dane) and so I’d have to say the quality of advice I tend to get is likely much better than what I give.

Salad: Describe a memorable meal you’ve had.

• Naked Christmas Dinner – enough said 😉

Main Course: Name a work of fiction that affected the way you think about something.

• I only get to name one work? Oh boy, I’m in trouble… Nah, I’m not even going to bother attempting to limit myself to one book! The power of a book varies based on the person wielding (or reading) it. Meaning I give to books I’ve read over the years will not hold true for others. Read, share, but expect different reactions.
  • Heinlein – Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers
  • Courtney – Power of One
  • Golding – Lord of the Flies
  • Camus – L’Etranger
  • St.-Exupery – Le Petit Prince
  • Little – Ecoute, l’Oiseau Chantera
  • Laurence – The Stone Angel
  • Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale
  • Shriver – We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • Alexander – The Prydain Chronicles
  • Grimm – Fairy Tales

Dessert: What is your favorite type of fruit juice?

• Mater-toe. *yummy*

Condiments:

1. What do you like on a hot dog?
   relish, mustard, & onions
2. What do you like on a hamburger?
   mustard, onions & dill pickles
3. What do you like on a baked potato?
   Mrs. Dash salt substitute
4. What do you like on a slice of toast?
   margarine
5. What do you like in a cup of coffee or tea?
   nothing, i like them black

h/t to Caylynn’s Contemplations for the FF graphic. I shamelessly swiped it from her site.

Technorati Tags: Friday’s Feast, condiments

As you can see, I’m well on my way to completing the 52 books – and many more.

I’m breaking the list down into two parts. The fist list will contain paperback and hardcover books I’ve been able to find and list on Shelfari and the second list contains all the eBooks I’ve been reading that I can’t figure out how to add to Shefari yet. Their ISBN’s don’t bring up any information. If anyone knows how to get an eBook added to Shelfari, please let me in on the secret.

Hardcover/Paperback

1. A Dirty Job – Christopher Moore
2. The Last Juror – John Grisham
3. Goal Analysis – Robert F Mager
4. River’s End – Nora Roberts
5. Rebellion – Nora Roberts
6. Don’t be Afraid – Rebecca Drake – This was my book to review as part of the Debut a Debut contest. After reading everyone else’s reviews, I now know I have a lot more new authors to pick up and devour!
7. Who Moved My Cheese – Spenser Johnson
8. On The Run – Iris Johansen
9. Every Which Way But Dead – Kim Harrison
10. Five Point Someone – What Not to do at IIT – Chetan Bhagat
11. One Night at the Call Center: A Novel – Chetan Bhagat
12. Jack Knife – Virginia Baker – I’m already starting on my 2007 debut author’s list *go me*
13. The Opium Clerk – Kunal Basu
14. I, Lucifer – Glen Duncan
15. Our Iceberg is Melting – John Kotter, Holger Rathgeber, Spenser Johnson
16. The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

eBooks

1. Stripped – Rhonda Stapleton – I won this as part of the Debut a Debut contest and it’s been an interesting read.Â
2. Improper Longings – Dawn Ryder
3. High Seas Desire – Mlyn Hurn
4. Call of the Untamed – Michelle M. Pillow
5. After Sundown: Redemption – Eden Robins
6. Crime Tells: Lyric’s Cop – Jory Strong

Technorati Tags: 52Books, reading, ebooks, books

I left India on Saturday evening (IST) and landed home on Tuesday at 11pm (MT). Yesterday, I slept all day and today I’m back at work.

Man, I need a vacation!