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The Year of Art and Things I've Never Done Before

Welcome to Jan's Birthday Blog. This blog exists to keep me planning and taking action, share this year with those who are interested, and also to invite you to do things you have always wanted to do but never have. What are you /I putting off till it is the "right time"? What is it, that if you and I look back at our lives years from now we will regret not having done?

Please share what you dream of doing or have taken action on and gotten done. Tell me what you are up to. Make suggestions that I can add to my list! Use some of my ideas. Join me or invite me to do something with you.

I invite you to consider that all any of us has is right now.... there is no "later". This blog is a reminder of that for me.

(I am not promoting anything that is reckless, illegal, or negative! I am out to create life-enhancing experiences. Please plan accordingly.)

Things I've Never Done

  • Take a train somewhere DONE! - To NYC for Lauren's Advanced Course. 2014 Thanks for the invite honey.
  • Create a blog - DONE!
  • Audition for pro musical theater - DONE! TWICE
  • Get a hot stone massage- DONE for the 1st time but NOT the last! See link for PCCHH
  • Raise money for a cause -DONE! Want to do more. Donated a quilt that auctioned for over $300 For Hair Peace Charities - see link. Vagina Monologues raised money for women & girls in Pittsburgh and around the world!
  • Go to a Chiropractor -DONE! Thanks Dr. Kukich UPDATE: began regular chiropractic treatment 2 days after I bought that house. Hmmm- any relationship to those two events?
  • Go to a spa with Lauren - DONE! We have the pretty feet to prove it.
  • Work for a floral design company - See link to Mocha Rose. I'M HIRED!
  • Take my daughters to New York - DONE! 3rd weekend in May.
  • Yoga -DONE with first session. One session does not a practice make but I am on my way. YOGA update November 2011 - started going to Yoga On Freemont. My first week I went 4 times. I love it. I feel more open and my body is smiling! 2011 update : Yoga on Fremont, 2 times a week average. Good stuff!
  • Go to an "Iron Chef" restaurant. DONE! Bar Americain in NYC - Chef Bobby Flay.
  • Buy or build my dream house - I bought a 1925 Tudor Revival. It needs work before I move in. That work is creating another list of things I have never done before.
  • Tear down a wall - DONE! See photos of bathroom demolition.
  • Operate a steam shovel or some such machine. SOoooo DONE! Thank you Mike Isbir, Mark Miller and crew. See photos below.
  • Hop in the car for a trip with no idea where I am going FINALLY DONE! ORB to 51 S to 88S, eventually to Maryland and back
  • Dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean _ SOOO DONE!! Thank You Wendy!
  • Throw a pot - (on a wheel, not at a wall) DONE! Pittsburgh Center for the Arts 4 week crash course with my pottin buddy, Lauren.
  • *************************************
  • Detonate something
  • See Lindsay Benner live
  • Be an 'agent' for an Improv Everywhere mission
  • Learn to make glass beads
  • Teach my dog to make friends and play well with others - see Animal Friends link
  • Learn to weld - turns out I know two people that can weld
  • Hire a talent agent
  • Drive a classic Thunderbird - preferably Starmist Blue
  • Paint a mural
  • Fly a plane
  • Learn to sail
  • Drive a race car - Have I told you about Women-Drivers.com?
  • Be on TV
  • Write a book
  • Go surfing
  • Sky diving
  • Travel to Spain, Greece, Morocco, South America, The Grand Canyon, Alaska, Hawaii, pretty much anywhere in the US...
  • Eat vegetarian for a week
  • Get a tattoo
  • *************************************
  • BLOG BONUS - Stuff I didn't know I wanted to do:
  • Work as a standardized patient educator. Had no idea that's what I wanted to do. DONE
  • Do home staging to get a house sold - twice yet. Thanks for asking, Justin and Tom
  • Ride a lap at the Vintage Grand Prix in Schenley Park - DONE!
  • Go to the James Taylor / Carol King concert at the last event at the Civic Arena DONE! It was the BEST! Thank you Diane
  • Buy a share in a Community Supported Agriculture farm. DONE! Kretchsmann's to be exact. Thanks Edie and Mad.
  • Visit St. Anthony's Chapel in Troy Hill. DONE! Thank you Paula!
  • Make a web site - DONE - will be unveiled soon
  • Gravity Hill - DONE!
  • Eat a raisinette dipped in hot sauce - Done! I was double dog dared. I had to.

About Me

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
I was born on June 27th, 1960. Quick math will tell you I turned 50 in 2010. That milestone has inspired what I am up to this year. Now that the birthday has passed, what do I count down next?

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

aimless wandering

UPDATE: JUNE 2012 - Mission accomplished.  Something changed and it became appealing to my kids to do this.  Lauren and I got in the car one Thursday morning and drove.  While we didn't know where we were going, our goal was to get out of town; get to someplace we didn't recognize.  That took us to Trax Farm in Finleyville (I'd been, Lauren had not) Charleroi (sorry, but I think once was enough) Monongehela, and Uniontown - nice places, Coopers Rock in West Virginia, and finally, Frostville, Maryland then back home.  It was fun and we had a really good time.  Part of the fun was just spending a lot of time with each other. The pictures: The gazebo in the middle of town in Monongehela and the drive through Coopers Rock Park.




  On my blog list is, "Take a trip somewhere with no idea where I am going". I tried that a few weeks ago with my girls. They didn't seem too keen on having no known destination. I found myself looking up and planning some possible places to go. We also had to plan the date ahead of time considering all of our schedules. That turned out to be what I would call a "fail" on that item so I am not going to check that one off yet. We did have a great day out though. We went to Ligonier. Did a little bit of store hopping. Had some really fine gelato. I gave Lauren the choice of "art museum or Fort Ligonier". She chose the Fort and we had a really good tour through the place. On the way home we stopped at Monster Mini Golf. Ever do that? It is indoor mini golf with, well, monsters. They don't play golf. They just decorate the place along with black lights, fun music and well-planned graffiti. It was fun. Since that day I have found myself driving along and taking self-imposed detours on unfamiliar roads and finding my way home eventually. I find I like doing that. Then I had a look at my life and wondered how my life as whole is, or is not, a trip with a planned vs. unplanned destination. I'm still pondering that one.
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