Have I Ever? 100 Memories or Not

Casey Klahn - What Did I Do?

This meme is going around the art blogs, and it is much fun. It gets you thinking, especially at this time of year. I enjoyed seeing this one at Tina Mammoser's and at Harry Bell's and Tracy Helgeson's. I did happen on a new blog, for me, and the author, Finnish-Canadian artist Marja-Leena Rathje (December 10), seems to be the one with the most accomplished. Way to go!

The ones that I have bolded are what I've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii [ long lay-over at the airport :-( ]

5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain [ dozens ]
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea [ I grew up very near the ocean, but can't directly recall this- I mean I didn't see the beach from my house ]
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning [ but self-diagnosed ]
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort [ on Mount McKinley! ]

25. Held a lamb [ and fed, and given medicine to ]
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise [ I did the Alaska Inside Passage from Tacoma, but it wasn't a cruise ]
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors [ just my father's pioneer birthplace ]

35. Seen an Amish community [ my neighbors are Hutterites, which is a type of German speaking Christian community somewhat similar to the Amish. A Hutterite reader has informed me that I need to parse this closer, so I gladly yield to that request ]
36. Taught yourself a new language [ I have lived for a few months on my own in Japan and Costa Rica, and I began the languages, but that's all ]
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person [ Darn! Just barely missed it! ]
39. Gone rock climbing [ hundreds of routes, including slept on them ]
40. Seen Michelangelos David [ another just missed! A pattern! ]
41. Sung karaoke [ with a group at a bachelor party ]
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted [ ohh, good one. I did my self-portrait with Photoshop. Some would count that, but I think it needs to be painted. Darn. ]
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie [ T.V. many, many times. Dang! I knew this guy once, who jumped from the collapsing tower in The Green Berets.]
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies [ Boy Scout ones, though ]
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving [ no, but I have jumped from helicopters at @ 7 feet ]
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp [ no, but I did see an atrocity location where they burned a church full of citizens ]
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter [ All kinds, including one long trip in the co-pilot seat ]
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt [ helped a few times ]
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book [ self-published ]
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car [ received a new Ford Ranger from family ]
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible [ Bible college graduate, I read it, wrote on it and studied ad infinitum ]
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating [ deer, turkey and upland bird - I ate venison stew last night ]
88. Had chickenpox [ can't remember, but I had mumps and measles ]
89. Saved someone’s life [ mountain climbing, and on the mission field, and in the Army ]
90. Sat on a jury [ dodged that, barely, twice - including a big, grizzly murder trial !!! ]
91. Met someone famous [ Bill Gates - and I secured his life at 65 feet in the air by a rope ]
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby [ although I am wholly disqualified to have a baby, I did see my son and daughter a nano second before my wife. She insists she had more intimate involvement, though ]

95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit [ witnessed at a few, but I have not sued or been sued ]
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Obviously, I stretched a couple to get in a yes, but I judiciously omitted a number that were marginal. I have, technically, been to Hawaii, but it was hardly a visit. I must have witnessed lightning over water, but can't really recall. I filled in the Amish visit because I have had a lot of interaction with the Hutterite community who own property on three sides of me, and know them all by name.

Contemporary-speak had me actually saying, "I had a baby" when my kids were born, but I couldn't post that with a straight face. I can't say I pulled anyone from a railroad track with a train bearing down, but I have climbed and adventured countless times, including some very scary technical climbs. It is arguable that someone may have died without my hand, but the preponderance of incidence forces me to say yes to this one. I did guide my lost party out of a trackless jungle at night, and have rescued and self-rescued in the mountains. I pulled five live mortar rounds that were mis-fires out of the mortar tube, but really all of that army stuff was just the job.



Did you find this blog for the first time at this post? Thank you for the visit. My list of the Top Ten Art Blog Posts of 2008 is found here. A very interesting series of recent posts is Artist's Traits, which had a large readership participation. And, fine art shopping for my work is found here.