a "tsil efil"

Let me say right off the bat that a "tsil efil" is something completely of my own creation, and I'm copyrighting it here and now. In case anyone wants to borrow from me.

What is it, you ask? Well...after my last posting about all the cool/fun/exciting things I want to do in the future, I got to thinking about all the cool/fun/exciting things I've already done in my life. So a "tsil efil" is a mirror image of a life list--it's looking backward. And I've got to tell you, as The Eagles said, "Life's been good to me so far..."

I thought about things I'd seen on TV, which would encompass things like the White Sox winning the World Series, or the events of 9/11, but that just seemed to be cheating. So...my list is made up of only events that I've personally been a witness to. With that said, here are the top 10 moments/events of my life so far (in more or less chronological order):

1. Spending the summer of 1982 as an exchange student in Patras, Greece.
2. Seeing the Matterhorn (1987).
3. Marrying my best friend on September 28, 1991.
4. Seeing Frank Sinatra live in concert (1994).
5. Seeing the White Sox score 5 runs off one hit--July 5, 1995. The Yankees walked 4 batters (scoring one), then John Kruk hit a grand-slam home run.
6. Doing my first (and only, so far!) tandem parachute jump on my 30th birthday (July 4 1996).
7. Working and living for 3 months in Tokyo during 1996.
8. Seeing the 2003 All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field (formerly Comiskey).
9. Being promoted to Director February 1, 2006.
10. Running the Chicago Half Marathon in 2006.

This list will probably change...I'll come back and edit this as needed. Some of this wouldn't matter to anyone other than me...but remember, it's my list...

More later...

My life list

As I've been told by a good friend, a "life list" is a list of all those things you hope to do before you die. Will I achieve them all? Hard to say--but I know for sure that I'll make it further with a written list than I will without one. So, without further ado, here's my list (in no particular order). Someday, I hope to...

• Write a book
• Build a Shaker-style tall clock (something similar to what you see in the link) using only hand tools.
• Visit all 50 states of the US by the time I turn 50
• Visit at least 50 countries by the time I turn 50
• Run a marathon
• Visit all 7 continents
• Retire at or before 60 years old
• Become fluent in French, German, and Japanese
• Learn to play an instrument
• Climb the Great Wall of China (as Chairman Mao said, "Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hao hàn," roughly meaning "You're not a real man if you haven't climbed the Great Wall".)
• Ride a motorcycle
• Run cross-country (not all at once, of course...)

That's it for now. As I check things off or make progress, I'll share updates.

If you're interested in a life list of your own, there are are a couple good web sites I've found that will help you...check out SuperViva.com, or 43things.com for ideas.

More later...

Back to basics

After trying to write a regular blog about my training for the 2006 Chicago Marathon (which, sadly, I didn't run), I got discouraged and deleted the whole thing. But I found I miss the outlet of creative writing that blogging provides, even if no one reads it. So I'm back.

My blog this time isn't just about running--I found that as I got injured, frustrated, or discouraged with running, I did the same with blogging. This time, it's just the mad ramblings of whatever topic hits me--running (of course), music, food and cooking, wine, work, travel, books, photography...in short, a real mixed bag.