Archive
Page turners
Time to catch up the old library. This is going to be sort of a long list so we’ll run through them quickly…
Scared Stiff by Annelise Ryan
This was a fast read about a murder in a small town. You know one of those that everyone knows everyone else’s business? It was enjoyable and I really liked that the protagonist wasn’t taken too seriously throughout. She had more than her fair share of embarrassment which made for a great change of pace from the perfect heroes in most stories. 6/10
A Band of Misfits by Andrew Baggarly
I had to relive the great postseason run of my San Francisco Giants after the disappointment of not making the playoffs last year. What a fun ride! 9/10…but I’m really biased.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The second in the Hunger Games trilogy. Started out great and kinda fizzled at the end. I just expected more before I ran out of pages…7/10
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The conclusion of the Hunger Games. Don’t know why, but I wasn’t satisfied with this one. Wanted more from these characters I grew so fond of in the first two books. 4/10
The Long Run, by Mishka Shubaly
This was a mildly entertainingly narrative of a man that transformed from a drunk, druggie, couch potato slob to a long distance runner. 5/10
The People of The Mist by Haggard H. Rider
Mr. Rider has taken me on a few great adventures now and is becoming one of my favorite authors. They are page turners that a filled with adventures of explorers and treasures. This one didn’t disappoint. 8/10
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Another great classic from THE great American author. I wish I could spend one day in his imagination. 8/10
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J.M. Barrie
The origin story of Peter Pan. Just had to find out how the story started, could have lived without it. 3/10
Sons and Princes by James LePore
A gritty story from the New York mafia and protecting your children. Was a good decent read that kept me interested from start to finish. 7/10
Dust by Arthur Slade
Off the wall story involving missing children and a Piped Piper type character. I didn’t want to like it, but I kept coming back to see what was going to happen. 6/10
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The basis of Apocalypse Now. An journey on a river of chaos and insanity. 7/10
Under Your Skin by JR Chartrand
Teens are literally scratching themselves to death in this mystery novel. One that you have to keep reading to see what is going to happen. 7/10
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, John LeCarre
The best spy novel ever written, even though it’s a bit dated now. I couldn’t put it down and agree with all the hoopla over it. Think that I am going to have to read it again though, I’m sure there are parts that I will love rediscovering. 9/10
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
I had stared this book a handfull of times and stopped in about the same place each time. Just couldn’t get into it for some reason. This time I put my nose down and powered through and was pleasantly surprised that is got really good after that stopping point. A different perspective on the typical Dracula myth. 8/10
Birdmen by Phil Williams
The only reason that I picked this out was that I have met the author. He is the husband of my best friends cousin…full disclosure. What an incredible surprise when I became completely immersed in the story. The twists and turns of a military tour were incredible and I truly came to care for the guys and what they were going through. I would highly recommend and hope that there are more stories to come from this yet pretty much undiscovered author. You’ll thank me for it. 9/10
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
I went for this because of the movie trailer starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. What a weird journey I was taken on. Sad, disturbing and somewhat depressing. Then I tried to watch the movie and was incredibly disappointed, should have never been attempted as a film. I would give the book a 7/10.
Superbia by Bernard Schaffer
A cop mystery that deals with cop killers, child predators and police corruption. 7/10
The Girl That Kicked The Hornets Nest by Stieg Larrson
I just hand to finish the trilogy. While I was into what was going on in the back of my mind I had a nagging voice repeating “this is nowhere close to the first one.” While I am going to miss Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander and where their adventures might have gone. I think it might be best that they separated ways after three books. 7/10
The Parrot Talks in Chocolate by Everett Peacock
Wanted some lighter subjects and this was just the ticket. Nothing can beat tiki bars, Hawaii, surfing and bar stories. No plot to follow, no deep meaning to unearth, just observations of life in an island bar. Good fun read that brought a smile to my face and a desire to get back to an island ASAP! 8/10
Whew…caught up on my reading. Hope I don’t get that far behind again.
Til next time…get out and live!
The List
1. Game at Fenway
2. Game at Wrigley
3. Full Ironman
4. Climb Shasta
5. Game at Lambeau
6. Super Bowl
7. World Series-(10/28/2010) Giants take Game 2 of the World Series!!!
8. Write for 30 days straight – 30 min
9. Climb Half Dome
10. Get an article published
11. Game in McCovey Cove - (10/3/2010) Giants clinch the NL West Title!!!!
12. Play 10 songs on guitar
13. Team Mud Run
14. Marathon
15. Go to church for a month
16. Start a tradition -(Delivering Christmas packages through the Ukiah Christmas Effort – 12/24/09)
17. Own the perfect home
18. Take Dani to Cirque de Soleil “Love” in Vegas
19. Pay my respects at WTC
20. Eat a VooDoo donut
21. Seattle Seahawk game
22. Dine at The French Laundry
23. Swim with dolphins
24. Meet someone with my name (Screwed it up first time…stand by for updates.)
25. Attempt to set a Guiness record
26. Play in a poker tournament - (04/18/10)
27. See a shuttle launch
28. See an erupting volcano
29. Sky dive - (10/16/2011)
30. Meet one of my heroes
31. Go to film premeire
32. Eat at 25 Diners, Drive in’s and Dives – (In Progress 10/25 complete, See Fieri’s Footsteps)
33. Be part of a flashmob
34. Make one of Robbys dreams come true
35. Throw out a first pitch
36. Walk the train tracks to SR
37. Read 1000 books – 250 recommended from others – (In Progress – See Books for #37)
38. Meet a Pres of USA
39. Volunteer as support at a race
40. Ride a horse - (Got a good lead on this one…Thanks Charlie!)
41. Hike the Na Pali Coast Trail
42. Watch Ken Burns – Baseball (08/13/2011)
43. Watch Ken Burns – National Parks (03/24/2010)
44. Compete a City Chase (Urban Adventure)race - (06/19/10)
45. Interviewed on National TV
46. Perform a stand up routine
47. Visit Yellowstone and see Old Faithful
48. Complete the 100 push up program and do 100 consecutive push ups (In Progress…slow progress)
49. Get to an airport and get on a plane without knowing where beforehand
50. Give it another chance – 3 foods (Sushi, Tofu, Brussel Sprouts)(4/16/2010)
51. Get my weight to 185lbs (War has been declared!!!)
52. Learn Spanish well enough to earn bilingual stipend
53. Earn SCUBA certification
54. Go on a firewalk
55. Swim with shark
56. Swim in a shipwreck
57. Fly an aircraft - (02/14/2010)
58. Go white water rafting
59. Go zorbing
60. See Grand Canyon
61. See the Northern Lights
62. Mardi Gras in New Orleans
63. Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center
64. Experience Weightlessness
65. See St Peters Basilica, The Vatican, Rome
66. See The Pyramids, Egypt
67. See Stonehenge, England
68. Sydney Opera house, Australia
69. Indoor Snowboarding, Dubai
70. Vegas Baby, Vegas (4/17/2010)
71. Climb Mount Olympus, Greece
72. El Prado in Madrid, Spain
73. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
74. The Louvre, Paris, France (Mona Lisa)
75. Visit the Colisseum, Rome
76. Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
77. Machu Picchu, Peru
78. Mexican Pyramids
79. See Mount Rushmore
80. Climb the Statue of Liberty
81. Buy an around the world airline ticket and use it
82. Go to top of Empire State Building
83. Enter a photo in a exhibit
84. Brew my own beer
85. Restore an old vehicle
86. Get my bachelor’s degree
87. Have a second career
88. Meet Willie Mays
89. Meet Stephen King
90. Meet Jimmy Buffett
91. Own a pair of Chuck Taylors – (12/29/09)
92. Meet Laird Hamilton
93. Work in a beachside bar
94. Photograph at least 50 different waterfalls -(In progress 2/50 photographed)
95. Rose Bowl Game
96. Make a loan to an entrepreneur through Kiva.com
97. Learn to handle a firearm - (9/25/2011)
98. Grow a successful garden - (8/21/10)
99. Eat a salad of self grown vegetable
100. Make a film and post online
101. Take Dani shopping on Rodeo Dr
102. Drive a car that costs more than my annual salary
103. Milk a cow
104. Watch turtles hatching and help them make it to ocean
105. Be vegetarian for 30 days -(01/31/2010)
106. Participate in a food fight - (07/07/2010)
107. Own the rookie baseball cards of my all time team
108. Write in a journal every day for a year
109. Visit Corippo, Switzerland
110. Send a message in a bottle with instructions to make contact when found
111. Touch the Stanley Cup
112. Sleep in a haunted house
113. Compete in a soap box derby
114. Have my picture taken with someone from Broken Lizard
115. Play my guitar in public and see how much money I can make
116. Write a Play that gets performed
117. 100 visits in 1 day to the blog
118. Get a tattoo - (2/14/2012)
119. Something that someone else comes up with
120. Go without soda for 30 days - (1/31/11)
121. Stand at 4 corners USA
122. See Niagra Falls
123. Call an inning of a Giants game with Kruk and Kuip
124. Take Photos of all the items on my list – (In Progress, posted on blog)
125. Train trip to Chicago
126. Partake in Japanese Tea Ceremony
127. Take the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
128. Take part in a champagne shower celebration
129. Surf and Snowboard in one day
130. Go to a major fight
131. Ride a stage of the Tour de France
132. Play a round of golf on a famous course
133. Drive Route 66
134. Drive a dog sled
135. See the monuments of DC
136. Raise money for a cause that has an effect on my life
137. Snowboard in another country
138. Wake up and run 3 miles every morning for a month
139. Get my personal trainer certification- (5/4/2013)
140. Do half marathon
141. Do 5k
142. Alcatraz race
143. Nautica Malibu Triathlon
144. Meet Robin Williams
145. 24+ hour adventure race
146. Place in my age group at Ukiah Triathlon
147. See the Liberty Bell
148. Hike the John Muir Trail
149. Cross the equator on land, sea, and air
150. Create a way to publicly track my 200 things – (adventurewannabe.wordpress.com- 12/27/09)
151. Tour Ben and Jerry factory
152. Visit St. John
153. Take a Photography class with Dani
154. Own a Nikon DSLR - (2/2/2010)
155. Bike ride 200 miles/month for 3 months
156. Grow a full beard- (8/29/2011)
157. When Dani asks to purchase something big be able to say yes
158. Help 10 others “Do something before they die”
159. Costa Rica
160. Throw a crazy theme party
161. Kayak in Lake Tahoe
162. Hike Tahoe Rim Trail
163. Apply to an Ivy League School
164. Visit Baseball Hall of Fame
165. Own a Longboard (skate) and use it
166. Learn to score a baseball game- (08/07/11)
167. Crush grapes with my feet – (06/19/10)
168. Bike to work for a month
169. Fast for 3 days
170. Drive the Pacific Coast Highway from Leggett to Dana Point
171. Own an Axe
172. Go to Notre Dame football game
173. Zip line
174. Cook all recipes in a cookbook – (Working through Tyler Florence’s Dinner at my Place)
175. See a tornado
176. Try acupuncture
177. Master making 10 drinks -(In Progress 1/10, See The Bar page)
178. Learn to make great pizza crust
179. Save $5000 to use only in emergency
180. See major city parade - SF Giants World Series Victory Parade (11/03/2010)
181. Broadway show
182. Have a team in the 24 hour relay
183. Learn to ride a motorcycle
184. Run a 8 minute mile
185. Learn meditation - (01/20/10)
186. Own another Jeep – (Actually a FJ40) – (06/2/10)
187. Learn to weld
188. Have a pen pal (Postal Service mail)
189. Visit 10 grave sites of people I admire
190. Island Hop in the Caribbean (3 island minimum)
191. Self publish on Blurb or Lulu
192. Visit 10 famous movie locations
193. Start a club- (August 2014) Created the Squeal'n Pigskin Syndicate
194. Take a MIT online course
195. Sit down with a stranger at a restaurant and share a meal
196. Spend the night on the beach
197. NaNoWriMo
198. Snowmobile
199. Learn to write my name in another language – (Charlie found a website…just have to practice)
200. Make homemade cheese- (5/1/2010)
Blogroll
- 365 Days of Cartman
- 6 Feet Over
- A Life Without Excuses
- Alicia's World
- Brandy\’s thoughts.. and memory lane :)
- Cody Davis\’ Blog
- Dee's Bucket List
- Exploring NorCal
- http://jeanineview.wordpress.com
- Kimberly Mahr
- Learn something everyday
- Life List Foundation
- Listverse
- Location 180
- Missnicoleann\’s Blog
- My Bucket List Journey
- not so listless
- Peter Armstrong Photography
- Photofocus
- Project 183
- Raising Rosetti
- running, eating,
- Sand Dollar Adventures
- simplyshaylyn\’s Blog
- Still here, Still foreign
- Taking the Long Way Home
- To Do or Not To Do…
- Val City Gal
- WordPress.com
- WordPress.org