Creeping up on 50....

Ah, so time ticks away... and I find it is less than a month until I turn 50. I am ok with that, but I am still amazed and I don't know how life has flown by so fast. My brain still thinks of me as about 30.

It's leaving me reflecting on "50's" of things.... Like 50 things I still want to do, 50 great memories from the first 50, stuff like that.

Some intial thoughts (and I may return to add to this list....)

50 THINGS I STILL WANT TO DO...

1. See Rome
2. See Led Zepplin live
3. Sell a piece of my art
4. Visit Ottawa and our national museums
5. Visit the Artic
6. Take the train across Canada
7. Learn another language
8. Take a transatlantic crossing
9. See Gaudi architecture in Barcelona
10. Go to the Rock of Gibralter
11. See Moscow's awesome subway stations
12. See a rock concert at Madison Square Gardens or the o2 in London (or both ;-)
13. Make a difference in this world
14. See the Bay of Fundy
15. See Michael Angelo's David - to witness what the amazing efforts in WWII to save it gave us
16. Visit Amsterdam
17. Go to the Sydney Opera House
18. Visit Normandy and the Canadian memorial
19. Take an overnight train in Europe - lie in bed being rocked by the train...
20. A carriage ride around Central Park
21. Have nude portraits taken
22. Get a tattoo of my own art
23. Show my art at a show or in a cafe or something
24. Go through the Chunnel
25. Visit Checkpoint Charlie

50 GREAT MEMORIES.(or some just interesting...)...

1. Paris - sitting outside on the 1st level, journalling and reflecting on all that got me to that point - and just enjoying BEING IN PARIS!!
2. Celebrating my 30th and Carol's 40th in San Francisco...
3. One especially sexy man
4. Breaking a board with my bare hand
5. Seeing Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall
6. The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh
7. Discovering that I have an amazing talent for doodling (who knew?!?!)
8. Waiting for the Dalai Lama to speak in a stadium when the audience broke out in spontaneous singing of "Oh Canada!"
9. Going back to Kamloops for my 20 year high school reunion
10. My very first record album: George Harrision - All Things Must Pass
11. Listening to Who's Next as a teenager, the volume blasting, and me sitting outside on the curb trying to look cool
12. The jade ring my mom gave me as a teenager -- I had received the stone as a young tyke when I wrote a letter to the man who came to town to show off his jade saddle
13. The experience of producing Tommy in Grade 11
14. Having my picture taken with an elephant when I was about 6 (ok, I don't remember, but I remember the pic!)
15. Going to my very first film festival in my 40's - I think I saw 20 films in 2 weeks!
16. Hurling over the handlebars of my sister's bike when I was about 8, knocking out my front teeth
17. The first time I felt flattered to be asked for ID
18. Having lunch with Sophia Loren
19. Going to the Live Earth concert in New York
20. Visiting Chamonix - and getting light headed at the top of the Gondola
21. Summers in Whistler with Kelly
22. Speaking at a conference in Geneva - not so much the "accomplishment", but it was such a great experience - being flown there for free, and such a small and interesting group of delegates -- out for dinner with two dozen people from a dozen countries
23. My very first apartment
24. My first car
25. The day I sold my last car and decided to never own one again
26. Housesitting the cat from hell
27. The 3 months I spent in Halifax
28. Being in Queen Elizabeth Park when a man began singing (practicing?) opera at the top of his lungs
29. The 1888 house I lived in: converted attic with skylights, sunken floor, tin roof and totally private balcony
30. My first university class - a mix of 18-88 - discussing ethics - I loooved it
31. Expo 86
32. The time I wore 2 different coloured shoes to work
33. Seeing the Who - wow... and ZZ Top, and The Rolling Stones ... and Stevie Wonder... and Eric Clapton...
34. Getting picked up on a street corner - and going for it!
35. When I proved to myself that I could flirt
36. Getting my first tattoo
37. Street lights around my rice crispies

50 THINGS I APPRECIATE

1. Patti's art
2. Patti
3. My mom's huggles
4. My mom
5. My brother's generosity
6. My brother
7. Sweet memories of Carol Leigh
8. Grey Goose
9. Avacados
10. Art
11. Being a Canadian
12. Kakuro
13. Purple
14. Kindness
15. Really good coffee
16. All the people who have touched my life
17. My sense of humour
18. Learning to like hockey
19. Swimming
20. Books
21. The awesome Vancouver Public Library - it lifts my spirits
22. Bucky Beaver!
23. That I actually did write a book
24. That Vancouver is my home
25. My creativity
26. New York City!!
27. That I like my own company
28. The CBC
29. 2nd hand book stores
30. Being comfortable in my own skin
31. Documentaries
32. That life is a learning process that never ends
33. Having my assumptions shaken up
34. Learning something new
35. Smart people
36. History - and I appreciate that I appreciate history!
37. The breakwater in Victoria
38. Coincidences
39. The Starbuck's team in my building - who make my drink without me saying a word
40. The Sunday New York Times
41. Doodling

To be honest, thinking about these things also has me thinking about the saddest moments in my life, and difficult times that I somehow got through. I'll save those for a private journal, but this is a GOOD process to go through.
;-)

a fresh look for my blog

and maybe some fresh thinking too.... I love all the gadgets can get now, trying them out...

Also setting up a "beepdoodles" blog to do something with all these wonderful doodles I am creating these days... http://beepdoodles.blogspot.com/















;-)

Interviews with Malika

I have just finished reading "La Prisonniere" by Malika Oufkir. It's also titled "Stolen Lives". I'm about to read her second book, "Freedom".

It was an interesting coincidence (or was it??) that when in NYC recently buying shoes, the salesperson helping me was from Morocco and knew the story, but had not read the book, so we had quite the interesting chat about it, and her life in Morocco.

Also found these audio interviews with Malika, worth holding onto for me, as it seemed important to me to hear her voice: http://www.eyeonbooks.com/ibp.php?ISBN=0786886307

http://www.npr.org/programs/wesat/features/2001/010421.oufkir.html

Travelling the world through books

Stumbled across this today, a woman who is intentionally travelling the world through the books she reads. I love the idea and wanted to hold onto the link while reflecting on the idea more. http://laura0218.livejournal.com/

My continued reinvention...

... of my blog, and of my life.
Made even funnier by the fact that when I tried to post this, somehow my settings had changed to Hindi and I couldn't read what I was posting! Got that figured out... lol

On my mind:

• I have lost 95 pounds


• I have achieved another personal goal I have been working towards for 5 years


• I am going to NYC in a week!

This NYC trip includes:

• Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall


• NY Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Gardens


• A seat on the stage for Xanadu (what was I thinking??lol)

Somehow I have been thinking of spring, but I figure I'd better check the NYC weather forcast...

Now, I gotta go buy some jeans that aren't falling off me!