40 Things I Want to Do Before I'm 40

I turn 39 today, and by next year, my 40th year, likely my life will be about half over. This isn't a bad thing; I have very few regrets about how I've spent my one precious existance. But there is still a lot to do. I don't fear dying, just not having lived enough. So here's my list of things I want to accomplish in the next 365 days:

1. Spend an evening in a fancy restaurant with friends.
2. Travel to a country I've never visited, preferably in South America or Africa (the only continents I haven't visited).
3. Go on a long (multi-day) hike.
4. Make a really cool piece of interactive art.
5. Play a movement of one of the Bach solo cello suites reasonably well.
6. Buy a nice watch.
7. Put myself on the bone marrow transplant donor list.
8. See a product launch that my company designed.
9. Eat at Burma Superstar.
10. Do 100 pushups in a single session.
11. Get my second tattoo.
12. Set up a real retirement savings plan.
13. Lose 10 pounds.
14. Read Bleak House.
15. Give blood.
16. Teach Fiona how to ride a two-wheeler bike.
17. Do 200 situps.
18. Spend a day doing service.
19. Visit a national park.
20. Go on a decent vacation with my family.
21. Do 20 pullups.
22. Get an interesting new pair of glasses.
23. Go wine tasting.
24. Build a robot.
25. Hire an employee.
26. Discover an amazing new band.
27. Have a spa day with Rachael.
28. Listen to a live classical music performance.
29. Write for, or at least be mentioned in, a major media publication.
30. Find another series of books Fiona and I can read together, then read them.
31. Buy a piece of art.
32. Make a new friend.
33. Buy a coffee table for my living room.
34. Go to the real Northern California and see the giant redwoods.
35. Buy a new desk chair.
36. Do 30 minutes of exercise every day.
37. Eat at The French Laundry.
38. Give Rachael an unexpected gift.
39. Speak in front of a new audience.
40. Perform a cello/violin duet with Fiona.

Originally posted at Monday, February 16, 2009 | Comments (6) | Trackback (0)