.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Hybrid Thoughts

11/28/2005

Cr@ppy feeling

There are days when people ask me how I'm feeling and I put on that fake smile and say "fine," but what I really want to tell them... oh never mind, here's a photo that will better convey how I feel on some days (madman, you'll understand...).



And to the quote of the day from one of my favourite co-workers:
If it wasn't for us assholes you shitheads wouldn't be around

11/27/2005

Storming door

I'm an alien living in the U.S. I've been an alien for 13 years now. Legal and all, yet not a citizen. One would think that after 13 years in this country I'd get used to all things American, but it isn't as easy as you'd expect. There are some things that still baffle me about Americans. There are some American inventions that confuse me. And then there's the ...storm door. This must be the most idiotic American invention of all.


I did a quick search on Google and couldn't figure out who invented it and what was the purpose originally, but this has got to be an American invention because I don't recall seeing this in any other country I've visited in my life (between 15 and 20).

I cannot for the life of me figure out what is so appealing about a glass door that smacks you in the back as you try and open the wooden door beyond it. I did understand fairly quick where the name came from. "Storm Door" - it means that when it's storming outside with winds, hail, snow and worst of all - rain - this door will be one more extra barrier between you and the shelter you seek. It's a storm door. Once you open it, it storms you from behind. Smacks you in any part of your body that you neglected to insert into the next door fast enough.

Some American a long time ago who enjoyed chasing hurricanes, tornadoes and snow storms figured that in order to get a good glimpse of a storm one has to have a storm door. Heck, it's so much fun watching all the people outside scramble for shelter. It's even funnier to watch them carry their shopping bags from the car (or horse buggy) to their own storm door, only to fumble about trying to figure out how not to put the bags down on the wet ground, while opening two doors, where one is a horizontal guillotine.

This same American hated kids and he came to the conclusion that one way to punish kids from trying to knock on his door is to create an additional barrier that is more than likely going to slam on their little fingers and possibly amputate them. Note that this has to be male, because no female would have thought up of such a torture device.

What baffles me in all this is that supposedly Americans like to keep one of their wooden doors open while the storm door allows full visibility of the front of the house. But that window right next to the front door has the blinds pulled over, because dog forbid any natural light comes in through the window. You know what, if you want to view the street, get rid of the storm door, pull apart the $*#&ing blinds over your window and let the sun shine in!

And if you're going to invite me over to visit you, take that storm door down or place a heavy dog or cat to keep it open when I arrive, because there's nothing I hate more than having to open a storm door and enter a house with a very unwelcoming smack on my back. It damn well hurts! I don't appreciate this American invention. Move it to your own bedroom if you like being smacked on your behind so much.

11/23/2005

Books & Movies

I am not a movies fan. I typically see less than a handful of movies in a good year. I've been through years of not going to see any movies.

But this month I'm breaking a new record and by Saturday I can close this month as the most movied month I've ever had in my life.

Movies in November:

Wallace and Grommit - because it's funny and my husband wanted to see it.
Harry Potter - I don't think I need to explain this in light of my previous posts.
Chicken Little - because my sister-in-law promised her kids we'd take them after Thanksgiving.

Harry Potter fans - you absolutely MUST see the movie. Best of all previous ones. I can't wait to go see it again! [And this time without being interrupted with the security company calling us about the alarm going off in our house. Story to follow].

Books I'm reading now:

The Sex Lives of Cannibals - Something about the title grabbed my attention.

The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - I found this book in the adult fiction shelves (as opposed to children's books), and something about the drawings inside and the title just grabbed me. So far I love it!

I'm a slow reader, so don't expect book reports any time soon.

Beer Mat

A beer mat that can detect when your glass is empty and alerts the bar tender to refill.

Figures that German students would come up with this brilliant idea. It's an exciting time to be a technology research student...

Quoted from the M2M magazine:
Other innovations we'd like to see: a restraining device that keeps dorks off the dance floor, and a smart sensor to alert guys when they're out of their league.


Feels like a Friday, so I feel an obligation to say this: toda la'el hayom yom shishi.

I'm off to visiting family for Thanksgiving. Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

11/22/2005

Break-in News

Friday morning as I was heading out the door to go to work I noticed my purse wasn't where it normally lies. The first thought that came into my mind - maybe I forgot it at the restaurant the night before. A very unlikely scenario because I had never in my life lost my purse/cellphone or anything else more expensive than an umbrella or one glove. I drove off to the restaurant and found out they only open at 4pm, so I drove to work and called the restaurant every half hour.

At 2pm I got the manager on the phone and she said no one turned in any purse and she asked the manager the previous night as well (her husband), and nothing was found.

So I called my husband and he suggested I look in one more unlikely place at home - the island in our kitchen (yes, I already checked the refrigerator in case I placed my purse inside instead of the left over food from the dinner). So I rushed home (half hour drive) thinking I'll get the purse, get back to work, and carry on with life.

Bear in mind, my husband was headed for another one of his Jeep trips for the weekend. So he couldn't help me out much.

I got home, didn't see my purse on the island and decided to check the basement, in the off chance that maybe just maybe my stupid dog dragged it downstairs (not a chance, because he's NEVER dragged anything that isn't his anywhere in the house). I got to the basement and noticed my husband's laptop bag laying on the floor and some disks next to it. I went back upstairs and called him to ask why he needed a laptop for his Jeep trip. He answered, "I don't know what you're talking about! My laptop is downstairs." I ran back downstairs and through a frantic exchange of questions and answers we realised someone broke into our house while we were asleep!

Mid-conversation I noticed the metal ladder underneath our deck that was used in the crime. My purse and my husband's laptop were stolen. I called the police, filed the claim, hosted the crime lab officer for finger printing, cancelled my credit cards, got a new driver's license, took some cash out of the bank, called for replacement of insurance cards, changed passwords, placed a fraud alert through Equifax ,called a friend, had 50 conversations with my husband, had a friend pack up my laptop and papers from work and bring it home, stayed at a friend's house this weekend ('til my husband returned from his Jeep trip).

My husband scheduled for our security company to come by and install more sensors and upgrade our system.

It's been an exciting weekend, what can I say. I'm still recovering.

Dog spent the weekend in the dog house, and I threatened him with replacing him with a rottweiler. This damn dog sleeps all day, he better be awake during the night and wake me up. No, instead this stupid dog barks at anything suspicious when we're awake, but barks at nothing when we're asleep.

I still feel unsafe in my own home and keep sending the dog before me to bark at anyone suspicious in my house. And I'm still fighting both my husband and my mom over another break-in-related issue which I prefer not to mention on my blog. But this has caused me to spend my free time crying and I'm all depressed about it. After doing fairly well during the weekend I'm finally breaking up.

I've never had something like this happen to me. While I'm taking it a lot better than my husband, I'm still quite stressed about it. Just thinking that this happened while we were in the house, or that this could have happened between 5am and 7am, after my husband left for work, and I was in the shower - just scares the hell out of me! And we thought this was the safest neighbourhood. All our neighbours are shocked and amazed that this happened right there in our back yard.

I can give everyone lots of advice on what to do so this never happens. But until it happens to you - you won't do as I say anyway, would you?!

Right now I'm thankful for having the most wonderful friends on earth who were there for me when I was completely alone and needed their help in dealing with this. If it weren't for them, I can't imagine how I would have handled it. So this is my public thank you to three very special friends - you know who you are. You mean the world to me! (even more than that stupid dog I used to love and feel like going out-back to shoot him for betraying me like this).

11/17/2005

I have a HOT car!

No, MYBRID ain't stolen and it ain't stylin' and profiling. It's a Honda Civic Hybrid with the thermostat from hell. Really. I swear to dog! I got three knobs to handle the temperatures in my car, but only two options - one is useful in the summer.

There's no 'other'.

Well, ok, there's a knob and it moves and it definitely affects the temperatures. But I find it difficult to consider "incinerator" as anything comfortable to be holding my hands steady on the wheel. Thankfully, this impacts my driving only in the winter. So I don't complain the entire year (of course I've only had this car a year). But winter is here again, and freezing weather has begun, and I'm stuck with the incinerator.

I complained to the dealership, but of course when they tried it my car-from-burning-flaming-hell decides to behave itself and make me a liar.

Since I love heat, this is not a huge deal. But my husband finds it also very uncomfortable condition to drive in. The other day, as we were driving in a fairly cold evening, he reached for the air-conditioning knobs and asked, "Ok, you want it on "Cool a Fanta" "Warm a Hot Dog" or "Cook a Chicken"?"

Sometimes he really makes me wonder...

Tonight it was on "Cook a Steak." It's a good thing I actually had leftover steak from dinner to justify it. I'm stocking up on food and things to do this weekend. My husband is leaving in the morning (Friday) to drive his Jeep with another thousand of his best friends (read: JeepGeeks).

I think I'll go visit my relatives in the Nursing Home in D.C. Saturday or Sunday. Last I heard he was calling the police because he wanted them to join him on a boat trip to England to arrest the Queen for not enforcing the laws properly.

I need to find him a boat. Or the Queen. Whatever comes first.

11/16/2005

I'm better off angry

So there's this research that proves that an angry reaction is healthier for stressful situations. Now I get it, all this time I've been using the wrong reactions in life. No wonder I'm so sick. How come they don't teach you these things at school? For years I've been raised to believe "angry" is not nice. It's not feminine. It's not friendly. It's not good. Now I have to unlearn everything and get friendly with the angry side in me.

So the dilemma is how do I become an angry person without being judged by society that I'm an effin b*tch? Do I wear a sweatshirt that says, "I'm angry because it's my new health diet"? Or a pin that says, "I'm not angry at you, I'm angry with you." Should I gather my friends and family and introduce to them the new me - "Hi, I'm the new and improved version. And if you have a problem with it, screw you!"

I once visited a psychologist (depression caused by steroids) who asked me why I never express anger verbally towards people who make me angry. I never really processed this tidbit of information. I can get angry. Very angry. I scream and shout when I get angry. Sometimes I get into a rage that causes me temporary paralysis and debilitating spasms along the spine that prevent me from breathing. After going through these raging moments a handful of times in my life I've determined that anger is not worth this pain. There are only five people on earth who've experienced my anger. My parents, my brother, my husband and a friend. I don't mind it if they see me angry. They ought to know me well enough not to judge me by one instance of anger. They should know me well enough to accept me for who I am.

I'm not very proud of myself when I get angry. It's embarrassing. It's shameful. It's wrong. Men use swearing and cursing to express their anger. I learned to curse only recently. In fact, I've started swearing out loud as recent as when I started writing this blog. I still feel very uncomfortable when I do. I'd rather come up with some quick long and witty response than a short curse. Thing is, when I'm angry my brain freezes and nothing gets processed. There's a complete disconnect between thought and verbal expression when I get angry. The little triggers in my brain, make a switch and it goes directly to my stomach, overpassing my mouth.

Don't get me wrong - I can rant and vent like the best of them. But rants and vents require a long processing before it comes out. Anger is an immediate reaction. One I cannot seem to verbalise. One that I wish I knew how to redirect from keeping it in to actually telling it right to someone's face: "You make me angry. Drop it!"

I think tomorrow I'm going to get a chance of practicing healthy living, and get angry. I have an appointment with a surgeon. I've been warned about the surgeon and his assistant. So I'm going to wear my bracelet in pride and show that I GOT GUTS! And dammit, I'm going to get angry. And if anyone dares ask me why I'm so angry, I'll tell them to shut up and deal with it.

Anyone got some advice to the beginner angry person? Should I wear something special? Do I need to unlearn the smile? Any accessories? Am I doing the right thing?

11/13/2005

Lobbying the U.S. Government

Washington D.C. – I love it! There’s something about this city that just grabs me and makes me happy to live so close to it. Something about being in the political center of the world, where decisions can impact people worldwide.
This past week I spent two days lobbying the government to make such a decision. This is my third year of participating in lobbying activities on the Hill.


CAPITOL HILL
© Photo taken by Daniel Hinckley (11/10/05)

It took me three years, to figure out where the Senate buildings and House of Representative buildings are in relation to Capitol Hill. I’m very proud of myself. It’ll probably take me another three years to commit to memory a map of the insides of each building.

I lobby the government as part of a group of 150 people who descend on the Capitol once a year. We are passionate about finding a cure to Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. We take two days vacation from our regular daily work to dedicate to lobbying the government. The first day involves lectures about advances in research and some training on what the new bill is trying to achieve. We’ve been extremely successful last year in getting some of the points from our bill last year signed into the Research Review Act of 2004 (a bill that combined with Christopher Reeve’s Foundation assured that some money will be provided to the NIDDK at the NIH for research of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, as well as some money allocated to the CDC for a survey into the prevelance of inflammatory bowel diseases in the U.S.).

How does the legislative process work? In a nutshell – A representative from the House of Representatives introduces the bill in the House of Representatives. So now there’s a bill out there that at least one person feels very strongly about. This bill is then sent to an appropriate committee that can make changes to the wording and determine if it goes on to voting at the House of Representatives. Once it passes the voting in the House of Representatives it moves on to the Senate for voting. When it reaches the Senate it goes to another committee. Once the bill is passed in the Senate it is sent to another committee that words it with all the revisions and then it is sent back to the House of Representatives and the Senate for final approval. Then it gets a new number, gets printed and is now signed by the Vice President and Speaker of the House before the President signs on it.

Keep in mind that there are 435 representatives. If one of them introduced our bill in congress, it does not in any way assure us that the bill will pass in voting. Lobbying means that citizens that feel passionate about this bill, walk the Hill and meet with legislators in an effort to secure a promise from them to co-sponsor the bill. If we are able to secure at least 218 cosponsors, we are almost assured our bill will pass in a simple voting.

When a Representative or a Senator is convinced enough to co-sponsor they call a certain phone number and request to add their name to the list of co-sponsors. This list is available
live on the internet, so you can follow up on your congressman and ensure that they indeed put their name on the list. If you find that they are still on the fence and have not signed up officially as a cosponsor on your bill, you have the right to call them, email them, write them, and schedule appointments with them, until one of you gets tired of the other. In my personal case, after visiting my congressman, stalking him to a public meeting at a nearby library, giving him a videotape showing sick kids at camp, sending him letters with photos and emailing him – I finally got the letter from him that started with “Thank you for your persistent concern on the issue of Inflammatory Bowel Disease…You will be glad to know I have decided to add my name as a cosponsor…” My reaction, “YES!!! Mission accomplished.”

Thankfully, lobbying as part of a group means that someone else takes care of your schedule of meetings with the congressmen and senators. Ideally, your schedule will include a meeting with your own district’s congressman (because they’d rather hear from their own constituents than from someone who lives in Timbaktu) and with your state’s senators (two of them, for those who are not from the U.S. or too young to know this). Dress code – formal business wear. Ladies in black pants or skirts, men with suit and tie.

So on Thursday morning we received the schedules of our meetings. Six meetings mean, once an hour you have a meeting. Sounds easy enough until you look at the map of Capitol Hill.

The U.S. Capitol lies in the center of two parallel streets – Constitution Avenue and Independence Ave. If you’re meeting with a Senator – you need to be on the side of Constitution Ave. If you’re meeting with a Representative – you need to be not only on the side of Independence Ave but all the way diagonally from the Senate buildings. That’s a 10-15 minute walk from front building door to side-building door (God forbid that there’s a clear entrance to each building… Some entrances are on the side. Hidden and secure). Then there’s a five minute security check. Then there’s a two minute elevator wait. And then there’s a five minute search for the right office number. While this may seem like an easy task, it becomes rather stressful when one congressman talks for 45 minutes and then you have less than 15 minutes to make it across the Capitol and find the right office for your next meeting. Being late to a meeting like this – not an option!!!

Not everyone gets to meet with the Senators and Congressmen, in fact most of us meet with the staff, the aides. These are young bright individuals who have some serious influence on their bosses. They will pretty much update their congressmen word-by-word of what you told them. They have the most outstanding memory. Considering that three of them saw me a year ago, and that they meet people daily, I was absolutely floored when they recognized me and remembered my story! I found that most aides are absolutely wonderful people, very sympathetic and eager to hear your stories and learn more about inflammatory bowel diseases. It’s very rare to come across a block with someone who couldn’t care less about your cause. After all, they care about your vote, they have to show you interest!

So what do the buildings look like? They are large, old, and what can I say – they look like government buildings. The elevators are tiny and old. The hallways are very wide and comfortable. Each office is ranked with two flags – the U.S. flag and that State’s flag. There is no particular order to the offices, other than the room numbers. No alphabetical order. Our Maryland representatives are scattered in three different buildings. The offices are surprisingly small and packed with stuff (books, binders, papers, items). Trying to fit six people into a conference room or meeting room may be difficult at some offices. Each office has a TV open to CSPAN, a station that brings live updates from the Senate floor or from congressional meetings. Sometimes the administrative staff at the front desk would be sitting and watching TV on their computers. It’s their job! On the walls you will find photos, drawings and plaques that would easily hint to you which state you’re in and which congressman you’re about to meet. Some have kids drawings hanging on the walls – part of a national competition, where the winning entries get to be hung at a congressional office for a year.

At the end of the day, when you had made it across the Capitol four times (first meeting with the Senator, then three meetings with House of Rep., then meeting with the senator, then debriefing at the House of Rep.), you have just about enough energy to crawl to a METRO station, get to your car and drive another half hour home. The following day, your overall pain from walking so much the previous day will be a pleasant reminder for your accomplishments.

Final result, two senators will cosponsor our Act, and four promised to sign on. 100% success for my meetings. I was one of the lucky ones.

11/09/2005

Storming the Hill

Tonight and tomorrow I'll be busy storming the Hill. That's Capitol Hill for those of you not from the Washington D.C. Area. I'll engage in some lobbying for a good cause. Stay tuned for a detailed story about lobbying the American government and the legislative process from a regular person's view.

11/08/2005

Trash Talk

My husband and I are pack-rats. Not the type that can be officially diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder that forces us to live between boxes and on top of junk, but fairly close to it. I've recognized my problem a while back and I try really hard to deal with it. I've managed to devise a system where I gather things for seven years, and after seven years - 80% of it goes to the trash. I'm getting close to the point of throwing away all my Computer magazines for Windows 98.

With some insightful look into my mood swings lately I realised that a lot of it seems to be linked to the state of our house. In an effort to avoid too many frequent confrontations with my husband I try not to ask him to clean the house every single weekend. He gets upset with just me mentioning the word "clean," claiming I don't seem to have good timing for asking him to do stuff around the house. I'll be damned if I could figure out when is a good time, because I've tried every single method I could think of to narrow it down to the hour. I make sure that there's no game on TV, that he's not in the middle of a video game, that he's not wiped out from work, and that he has nothing else to do and has declared it up front.

This week I have a couple of friends coming over to stay (more details will follow). With that being the biggest motivator to clean house, I convinced my husband to start with a drive to the municipality dump. But first we had to identify what needs to go. We found a nice space-taker in our laundry room in the shape of a cabinet which was stacked with junk (screws, nails, dog shampoo, plastic bits, paperwork from 1998, etc). As he handed me stuff to throw into the trash bags, he'd say, "trash"..."trash"..."trash." My excitement from getting rid of so much stuff was taking over when I said to him, "I love it when you talk dirty to me! Say it again!!!"

Last night we went out to grab a bite to eat and left as the place was about to close down. My husband took our plastic trays and drinks over to the plastic bags that were being wrapped up by the manager and said something to him. I thought he said something about "my wife..." and figured he was blaming me for not finishing the drink and not wanting to throw it into the plastic bags while it's still full of liquid. When we stepped out of the store I told him he shouldn't have blamed his wife. He looked at me strange and said, "What are you talking about?" So I said I heard him talk to the manager. He started laughing and said, "No, that's not what I said to him. I know what happened, you just heard me say the word 'trash' got turned on and could no longer focus and hear the rest of it."

Yeah, I get turned on by trash talk.

11/06/2005

Big Shoes to Fill

My best friend can't find shoes his size in Israel, so I am his supplier. My family always gets a kick when I pack his shoes in my luggage and it takes the entire space in it. My husband has proposed that we just cut some car tires to make him sandals.

He's a size 15, and his shoes are too big to fill. Literally.

Yes, that is my foot on the left and his shoe on the right. One has to wonder how we became best friends considering our differences. And no, I'm not a midget, as proof I bring to you - wet chocolate labrador for scale.

11/04/2005

The Post About Money

This is short, because this subject is not the easiest to write about while at work.

I love deposits. Thankfully, so does my bank. I just wish it wasn't limited to a bi-monthly occurance. Could be cool if it were daily, but I suspect some people might get jealous. Every so often I wonder how much others are getting. I'm dying to ask, but they tell me it's impolite to ask this in the American society. Sometimes I fantasize about working two jobs and getting an extra source of income, but I'm not sure if my husband would approve.

While money may not buy happiness, the pursuit of money sure does. I enjoy checking out money from different countries. It's so colourful and beautiful with all those intricate foreign designs. I don't always understand the currency, but it's still a pleasure to hold it and try to figure out the exchange rate.

Out of sheer curiosity - how often do you guys balance your checkbooks?

Toda La'el Hayom Yom Shishi!

11/03/2005

To My Muslim Friends

To my Muslim friends around the world,


11/02/2005

Have you?

Thanks to Aftab for the idea...
Here's a list of things passed on from many bloggers. Copy it and put the things you've done in bold and add another thing at the end.

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree

10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watched the sunrise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight (food be much delicious and powerful commodity to waste)
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
31. Asked out a stranger (ok, an acquaintance, but for all intents and purposes, a stranger)
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath/shower
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer

49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends

54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Bench-pressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theatre
80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to know about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Sword fought for the honor of a woman.
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Lied
97. (the real 97) Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
105. Got flowers for no reason
107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas.
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night-stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Moulin Rouge
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone

123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congressperson

133. Packed up and moved to another city to just start over
134. ...more than once?

135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion, or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived

140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of 100mph or faster?
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had sex on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: take, landing, during
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours

164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for his or her actions

175. Gone back to school (ok, yeah if visiting counts...)
176. Parasailed

177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one "important" author whom you missed in school, and read him/ her
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them
183. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch (tried to anyway)
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you.
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196. Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Lost your Best Friend for reasons of death
201: Fallen in love over the internet
202: Sung in a Barbers' Shop Quartet
203: Eaten a live animal
204: Been able to communicate in a language you barely learnt barely three days earlier.

205: Memorized words from all Disney movies like Aladdin, Lionking etc; furthmore, dialogues from Friends, Smallville and Star Trek (main bohat faarigh hoon)
206: Be able to relate to every song that you ever listen.
207. Had someone close to you hurt you so bad, SO bad... that it just stopped hurting after a while and literally gave way to numbness in the true sense of its meaning.
208. Left smoking, only because someone you love said so.
209. Rode a boat

210. Helped an old lady cross the street