Monday, April 13, 2009

The New List

I was watching sportscenter a few nights ago when I stumbled upon a stark realization: with the Seattle Supersonics changing their name and moving to Oklahoma City this past summer, I will never fulfill my quest to spend a day that’s an exact reenactment of Ice Cube’s “Today was a Good Day”. It’s just never going to happen, and I’m going to have to live with that. But amidst the crushing disappointment, an important life lesson emerged: chase after your goals, for you never know when they’ll be taken away.

Which brings me to “The List”. As some of you may remember, a while back I wrote a list of fifty-something things to do in 2008. As you likely assumed, and rightfully so, I didn’t complete that list. But here’s the thing about that list: that was a silly-ass list. What was I thinking, planning to do 52 very random things over the course of a year? That would certainly be possible, were it not for a few things:

  1. I’m not on a reality show where people pay me to go around doing dumb stuff.
  2. Occasionally I have to devote my time to things like running errands, visiting friends and loved ones, and living my life.

And the biggest hindrance of all:

  1. Some (read: many) of the things on the list were very very very bad ideas, or merely things I really had no desire to do. I suppose that’s an inherent risk when I ask my friends to contribute, and they send me suggestions like “get electrocuted” and “become pen pals with a prison inmate”. Thanks, guys.

So with all that in mind, I decided to make a new and improved list. This list, which will continue to grow as I see fit, is a collection of things I want to do in my life. There is but one requirement: the task must complete the sentence “Man, I always wanted to ___”. So, here’s the new list.

The New List

Wear a bear suit (or mascot costume)

Go to a club that’s broadcasting live on the radio

Skydive

Learn the piano part to “Just a Friend” and/or “Layla”

Participate in a Soul Train dance line (that I had no part in starting)

Eat a McRib

Roll a quarter through my fingers

Go on a stage during a concert and play somebody else’s drum set

Punch Malcolm-Jamal Warner in the throat

Get something comped at a casino

DJ a party

Successfully ride a halfpipe (snowboard or skateboard)


Note: One of these things was a joke. Also, next thing I write won’t be a list. I promise.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ummm...I'm going to guess "eat a McRib" is the joke one. Right?

-Grant

Chris Rosenthall said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
meredith said...

They actually still offer the McRib in Fayetteville near my grandpa's house...true story.

Chris Rosenthall said...

Oh no, I’m dead serious about that McRib. Those things are so damn fascinating. Something keeps bringing them back, and then promptly getting rid of them once again. But what? The McRib must be something truly special since it vanishes and reappears entirely of it’s own volition like some majestic comet. I tried looking it up (on wikipedia, granted, which is like saying “I asked that homeless guy at the metro”), and found a link to mcrib.com, which shut my computer down. I’m not joking. Anyway, some more detective work revealed that the McRib is somewhat back, and can be traced via this website that monitors sightings like Bigfoot. Anybody up for a road trip?

meredith said...

Hey, you get into that bear suit yet? :P