Before I Die

I was on the subway the other day and for some reason decided to make a list of things I wanted to do before I die. I think I learned things I didn't know about myself. Here it is:

1. Go to a FIFA World Cup Final Match (or any match)
2. Visit all of South America
3. Visit Italy, Turkey, Germany, and Switzerland
4. Write a book
5. Design my own house
6. Learn how to surf, ski and snowboard
7. Go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef
8. Dye my hair a ridiculous colour (blue, red?)
9. Learn piano again - guitar too
10. Sing at a karaoke bar

Some are silly, some I'm dying to do. A lot of traveling on my list

11. Bake an outrageous cake like on Ace of Cakes
12. Learn Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian
13. Create my own blog (hmm I guess I can cross this off)
14. Work for OMA, MVRDV or with Renzo Piano
15. Write a movie script
16. Paint a huge mural
17. Love someone so much it hurts
18. Invent something pointless but cool, like this or this
19. Make my own jewelry
20. Buy my parents a beautiful home

mmm I might just bake a regular cake right now...

21. Ride a horse
22. Drive a Ferrari or Corvette for one day
23. Own a Jaguar
24. Live in Spain, L.A. or N.Y
25. Die absolutely happy ( I don't know if this counts...as the list is called Things I wants to do BEFORE I die)
26. Speak to a total stranger for a whole day
27. Visit Moscow (Michael Jackson inspired this with "Stranger in Moscow")
28. Marry a Scot, Spaniard or Italian man
29. Try the lotus (yes yes I know)
30. Try new food (like sushi...I still can't bring myself to try it)

What does sushi taste like? Smells fishy...

31. Go backpacking through a jungle or the Amazon
32. Go camping
33. Host an amazing party at my OWN house/apartment
34. Make up my own drink and name it
35. Open my own firm
36. Open my own restaurant ( I just came up with that one!)
37. Sell my artwork/photography
38. Go to a cooking school/class
39. Go to a concert of a legendary performer (such as MJ)
40. Spend a weekend in Vegas

41. Go skinny dipping in the ocean
42. Get a tattoo
43. Take a dancing class (salsa, samba, tango!)
44. Graduate with honours
45. Meet Ricardo Kaka
46. Swim with a dolphin
47.Visit Rio during Carnivale
48. Get over my fear of heights
49. Send a message in a bottle
50. Get my portrait painted with all my flaws present

Thoughts on Relationships

My friend just became a lesbian after giving up on men. I know she had an attraction to both sexes, but recently she's been exclusively into women. I wonder if we should all take the same route. Hmm...

How can someone find their so called soul-mate in today's world? With MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, and dating websites and so on I feel like the fun of meeting people has been watered down. Whatever happened to meeting people at a bar or on the subway. A month or two ago my friend told me that she met a random stranger because he had lost his phone. They had a conversation for 4 hours outside her apartment. They're friends, nothing more. Even just meeting new people has become so much harder. The world is in such a disconnect. If you say hi to someone on the street or simply smile at them you're immediately deemed a creep or 'weirdo'. There was a time people used to know their neighbors and who they lived next to. I haven't met one person from my apartment building in the 5 years I've lived here. Doesn't that strike people as strange? Everyone is so focused on their Blackberry and the newest game or application they can download to their iPhone. I don't have dinner on a table anymore with my mother, instead we both sit on our respective couches with our laptops in front of us and the T.V. on eating off our laps.

I remember there was a blackout in Toronto a few years ago, resulting in no T.V., internet, radio, nothing. It was only then that my brother, mom and I sat around and actually had a deep conversation. Is that what it takes to bring people together? A blackout? I feel like it would do our world good to live without our phones and computers for a day. Ofcourse there are two sides to any argument and I wouldn't be blogging with out the internet. I'm simply stating anything in moderation is good. We, however, have gotten so out of hand with the techonolgy and how it controls our lives.

I'm ranting now. I'll stop. Stopping.

Image courtesy of defencedebates.com