I’ve started creating a list of things I think I’d be willing to try that I’m typically in opposition to. Things that fall under the “doing it for the experience” chapter of life that I think everyone keeps track of, even if it is just a mental note in the imaginary book of our life. I’m not sure this chapter is ever included in biographies, but I think if they did include it, it would definitely add to any books overall readability.
I don’t consider this the same as that list people make as a “to do” list before moving on, powering down, challenging Death, passing into nothingness, or getting your wings, depending on which mythos caters to your needs best in the dying department. Apparently this list always has a connection with buckets, or something.
The basic concept of those types of lists seems to have an arch nemesis quality about them. They are commonly filled with the extremes of life, or as American marketing felt was the necessary approach X-TREMEs of life. These are often things that might put you closer to death than you were at before you started the list. Things like bungee jumping off a bridge… with no bungee cord. You know, things like that.
The list I am talking is a lot of the time about the impulse of the moment, and after saying that I can see how making this list is a bit counter productive in regards to the impulse factor. The thing is, the list is not always for future tense experiences. Instead of it being filled with things you will do, it’s also for the things you have done. So the list is not always full of positive experiences. Some of the experiences were just, well, for experience.
Going to my first and only professional bouncy ball sporting event, which oddly when put like that covers far more sporting “things” than I initially thought… basket ball, my first and only professional basketball game. It was years ago and the tickets were my tip for ordering a pizza. It was the damnedist thing. It was a snow packed afternoon and I didn’t want to cook so I ordered a pizza and when it finally arrived the first thing the delivery man asked me was if I had any plans for next Thursday night.
This caught me a bit off guard. I told him I thought he was cute and was sure he was a lovely person, but he really wasn’t my type. His eyes opened uncomfortably wide while he replayed the whole conversation back in his mind. It reminded me of a baby’s face when it is being tossed in the air. During that freefall phase, there is always that “why the hell are you doing this to me” look of horror. 
It isn’t until they are caught they start smiling and giggling again… or crying. I’ve seen plenty as well. The delivery boy did not cry, instead he caught himself. When he realized what he had said he smiled, and explained that I had won two tickets to a Jazz game, who is only professional sports team that Utah has, I think.
My first impulse was to sell them. Then I started thinking. Perhaps going to a live game would give me some additional perspective to help me better understand the personal mystery that is sports. I asked a friend to go with who was actually a fan of the team and the sport, thinking it might help. It didn’t… well it did in the sense that he could tell me what color of team jersey I should be cheering for based on our proximity to the surrounding fans and who they were cheering for. As for sport appreciation, I still don’t get it, but I went damn it. I did it for the experience.
Sky diving in bowling shoes was another one of these things to add to my experience list. I dug that one though. I went with my two little sisters. It was Steph’s 18th birthday present to herself. It was good, good day. Trying wine for the first time during my first trip to Italy was another experience for the list that just sort of stuck, which should help explain my affinity for Italian wines. It was in the town of Manarola, in Cinque Terre. Sigh, I love that place. Spending a summer in San Francisco turned out to be one of those “seemed like a good idea at the time” experiences, which landed on the “did it for the experience” list with one of those “disastrous experience” asterisks placed right at the beginning, in bold.
Who knows maybe some day I’ll post about each one of these little experiences, but it would probably be a result of a “did it for the experience” for blogging while inebriated.
Things that I’ve recently thought of that I’d probably throw on the list are:
- Sampling a pint of Guinness in a pub in England or Ireland. Having never tried beer in any country, and really having no desire to try any, sampling some Guinness in a pub setting has doable element to it. Sample being the clarifying word in that. Sorry, but I’m afraid I cannot commit to anything more than a sampling at this point.
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Go to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field and eat a ball park frank. I really don’t care about seeing them play, but I’d like to put the eating a frank at Wrigley Field on my list, and I don’t eat hot dogs. I’ve haven’t since I learned with they were made of some 20+ years ago. - Drinking a correctly made cup of tea is something that made my list of required experiences ever since two days ago when I came across that section in The Salmon of Doubt, and just might just happen this weekend.
- Sitting in a tub of jell-o might belong on my list. Sure it sounds wrong on multiple levels, but if it goes bad I imagine the worst that would happen is that it could result in an international campaign of “shit you should never do”. Ohhh…
- Create an international campaign for “shit you should never do”.
- And… spend more than 15 minutes creating my things to get to for my “did it for the experience” list.
The nice thing about these lists, they are always a work in progress. Although, don’t confuse this with an excuse or justification list. If your actions result in emotionally or physically hurting another person and you try to claim you did if for the experience… no! Piercing your naughty bits is something one might do for the experience. Hurting someone for the experience defines you as a douche and places you right below that ring of nasty growth that forms in the toilet if you stop cleaning it for s few weeks on the list of brainless life forms.
How about you? What is something you’d put on your “for the experience” list?
Image Sources:
Google Images, key words: to do list, Utah Jazz, Manarola Cinque Terre, and Wrigley Field.
Good heavens man, you have not fancied a bottle of stout yet? I do not encourage heavy drinking, especially with Guinness* but you have to, at least, try it and I do not mean sample it my fine FB friend whom I have not met-but might like to one day considering the ample amount of common interest-where was I? Oh, yes. Buy a pack of six-or a single one from the grocery, which is weird to see a guy standing in the self-checkout line with a single beer. It kind of reminds me of someone who has recently completed a leg in the AA race to sobering ideals, who sneaked out while no one was looking for a quick drinky binky-where was I? Right. Try a stout, but make sure you have chilled it to a nice smooth perfection. Like belly sliding across a frozen pond for the first time.
*My mother, god love her, bought me a pair of house pants, jogging pants, PJ’s, whatever word fancies you the most for Christmas one year. She thought she had scored a real compliment to her brilliant son, when she came across these little buggers at someplace-probably a Walmart-and knew she would earn herself a nice little smile. So I open my gift and eye the pants-I even try them on because I did like them as she had hoped-and thanked her for the logo pants of one of my favorite brews. The problem, however, was that she did not intend on buying me a pair of Guinness pants, she thought they said “Genius” on them. Everyone had a good laugh about it, but it just goes to show you that sometimes, no matter where your heart is, you can still pull off a nice gift at Christmas.
I had a friend tell me Guinness is one of those few beers that you could eat with a fork. I’m pretty sure he meant that as a compliment though. Great Genius pants story though. 🙂 Well done to your mom.
I’m sure, if I happen not to make it over to the UK in the next year or so I might give the drink a sip, but right now. I like the current pace I have when in regards to its consumption. But I’m sure we’ll all hear about it once I take the plunger and give it a go.
I remember that Jazz game. I also remember you boo’d anytime any player from either team touched the ball. You really wanted them both to lose 🙂 I think I enjoyed your reactions to the whole thing much more than the game itself.
It was that Carl Malone guy… I only have three words I can say about that man based on what I observed in the only basketball game I have ever seen… whiney little bitch. It was like watching a 13 year old get emotional because their parents didn’t buy them the right jeans for their birthday. The only difference, there was no cake at the game. 🙁
Richard,
(You can file this reply under the category, “Long-winded, asinine, and overly-self-important”, “Stupid”, or maybe just “How to abuse the concept of parenthesis.” )
“Bucket-lists” can often take many different forms. I have three different lists going, “Restaurants my wife and I want to visit”, “101 thing you should eat before you die” (a list that’s now at 116 items), “and places I would like to walk to” (a goal which may help to burn off the calories from the other two). Even when goals cannot be achieved, having the goals themselves helps to define you as a person.
I have had the opportunity to go to several different professional sporting events:
I have been to a couple of NBA games (even went to a Harlem Globetrotters game!),
several NFL games (have worked as security and just enjoyed from the stands),
Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, and Little League Baseball (let me tell you as the skill level goes down, the pride level goes up and so does the level of fun of the players)
Professional Golf
NASCAR racing
Even though I have gone to all of these things, and I consider myself a sports fan, I am also well rounded enough to enjoy a evening at the theater, a good foreign film, a museum, or even a quiet day in the library. The most important thing you can do is not treat these items as your “arch-nemesis”, instead think of these items as ways to broaden your horizons and increase your knowledge of the world. Ignorance is my arch-nemesis. I guess I hope that someday when I die I will be known as a “renaissance man”, but I have a lot of work to do before I get there.
I notice several of your items revolve around food. As a amateur chef (and professional glutton) let me give you the following advice
Guinness. Treat Guinness like a fine wine. In fact “good” beer should always be treated this way. Certain beers have certain flavors, and different beers pair well with certain foods. Beer comes in many flavors and textures. The most popular here in the states is the lager, with Budweiser being the most popular. Think of Guinness this way: Guinness is to Budweiser as cream of potato soup is to the water you boil potatoes in, strained, and chilled. You also WILL NOT LIKE GUINNESS unless you have tried some other beers. Don’t embarrass yourself in an Irish pub by wasting a perfectly pulled pint as your first experience with beer. You like wine so start with some of the micro-brewed lagers, but have a couple of glasses of wine first. Compare the two, the nose, the body, the flavor. I think you’ll develop an appreciate beer. The problem here in the states comes down to Budweiser. It is a mass-marketed, inferior quality product that due to it’s success ends up defining an entire product. It’s as if Cinzano defined all Italian wine.
Switching over to food, eating a hot dog at Wrigley field sounds like an interesting experience, but let me share my opinion there as well (you knew I would). Do not define Chicago hot dogs by Wrigley Field. When you have a hot dog there, realize that you are there, enjoying a sporting event with 50,000 of your closest friends. This is one of the last great communal exercises you can have in the world. This is one of the reasons I love to go to NASCAR races. When I am in the stands, enjoying my watery Budweiser and overprice mystery meat hot dog, I am surrounded by 100,000 people. We are all there to have fun, root for our drivers, and enjoy the day. So go to Wrigley Field; you will have the time of your life. Just don’t define Chicago hot dogs by Wrigley Field.
Now, since you are in Chicago to catch a Cubbies game, why don’t you head over to a place like Fluky’s and get the real thing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago-style_hot_dog). Chicago’s home grown food scene is incredible, from Chicago hot dogs, to Italian beef sandwiches, and finally to Chicago Deep-dish Pizza*, you can’t go wrong with food in Chicago. But you can do better than Wrigley field as a place to order it.
(* a quick side note: I am a New York Pizza fan, my wife is from Chicago – it’s one of the few things we actually fight over)
I will skip the tea comments as I do not care for tea, except for Chinese black tea.
Jell-o. See, maybe it’s my upbringing. I won’t waste food. I don’t play with my food. I can’t stand to see food wasted. A tub full of Jell-o is just a waste. Now, change that to an aquarium (PRISTINELY CLEANED), make the jell-o with grain alcohol. Add fruit, gummy fish, and lettuce and you have the Zeta Zombie – but that’s another story for another time.
(I think I’ve rambled on enough now…)
Thanks for your input Denis,
I like the idea restaurants to visit list. And if I happen to make a trip Chicago I’ll do my best to check out Fluky’s. I appreciate how passionate you are about food.
For me, I want to do these things for the experience. The food is only a small part of the overall experience. I want to eat a dog in Wrigley Field, I don’t if it’s Chicago style or not, or if there are 50,000 fans or 2. I won’t care about the game. Hell, I probably won’t even stay to watch the game. I don’t care to have that experience. I’ve been to a baseball game, in San Francisco. I don’t remember the team’s name. It was, well, I didn’t get it. I’m glad the people I was with were having a good time, but I really would have rather been somewhere else doing almost anything else. That’s just me though, and if you are one of those sorts that can enjoy Mamet play one night and the next day spend it with a 100,000 fans watching cars race, well done. Really, I am impressed. I just can’t do it myself.
I appreciate the suggestions on trying beer. Beer is another one of those items that I’m just not interested in. That might change, and if it does I’ll make certain I follow the pointers you have me, it’s very sound and make a lot of sense. For now though, I’m just not interested in the stuff… although that does remind me of my beer journal… which not that I’m reminded of it means that I’m sure I’ll be sharing it with everyone some time soon.
Trying a Guinness would be a result of me happening to be in the UK for some other reason then as part of that adventure, I’d go ahead and taste my first beer in a pub in the UK and it would be Guinness.
Thank again for sharing Denis. I loved your suggestions for what I should file your comments under, they got me laughing.
Eat turducken.
I had to look this one up, as it was a new word for me and depending on which letters you put emphasis when saying it, it can sound a touch scary. To those of you that may have never heard of this either turducken is:
A dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The word turducken is a portmanteau of turkey, duck, and chicken or hen. The thoracic cavity of the chicken/game hen and the rest of the gaps are stuffed, sometimes with a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird. The result is a fairly solid layered poultry dish, suitable for cooking by braising, roasting, grilling, or barbecuing.
You had me at “turkey, duck, and chicken or hen”. Thanks for the suggestion Carly. I think I’m just going to have to throw that on my list of things to experience.
Well… I really like this “doing it for the experience” list idea. But unfortunatelly I always fall in the “shit you should never do” at the end! Actualy, I’ve decided to have two sessions/week with a shrink because of the consequences of my “impulsive” personality…
I also don’t understand sports. I guess americans use to love basketball. Here there’s a disease called SOCCER. I just can’t understand why the heck people here love so much to see 10 (or 11, or whatever) guys running and kicking a ball! It’s useless and pointless for me.
(I laughed to cry about the pizza guy)!!! I’ve been stocked by girls already… It sucks. They just can’t understand I’m not gay. 😮
I think there’s a lot of things I wanna do that I’m never gonna do. I think my dreams will never come true… =(
I already did sky diving. I was 10 years old. But not in bowling shoes!!! Hahahaha!!! My dad is a professional “sky diver(?)” from the army. So when I decided to try, he thought “why not?” and I did it. Mom went crazy. =D
I’ve never traveled abroad. This is one of my greatest dreams… I wish I could do my Masters or Doctorate in another country, but with a stable relationship here… Probably I’m never gonna give up him to follow my dream. =( So I’ll be a fat lady with cats, married, full of children housewife. =\
I also really dream about having beer in an Irish pub! =D
I have no idea what CUBS means. Or a ball park frank. I’ll have to google it. But I LOVE hot dogs. But I like to cook them a little bit different from the american ones… =D If you’re interested, this is another cooking story for me to send you by e-mail.
I never drink tea.
And I don’t know if I understand the part about “Sitting in a tub of jell-o”…!!! You know, as a portuguese speaker from Brasil, I tend to read things the way they really mean (not caring for some expressions) and it really didn’t sound good… huahuahuahua!!!!
So… It’s better not to do this list for me… Cuz I’m gonna create hope on things I probably will never do. =( I’m tired of dreaming to much and never acomplishing those dreams. If you know what I mean.
Oh My God! Take Guinness right off your bucket list – you really don’t wanna try it!