Ravenwood - 08/30/05 07:45 AM
This is an oldie but goodie. I'm not sure why Countertop dug this out, but it's timeless, so I'm game. Kim du Toit has a list of things every man should do before he dies. Let's check and see how I'm doing:
1. Shoot a gun larger than a .22. [done]
2. Teach a kid to shoot. [don't have any kids]
3. Cook a meal out in the open (and I don't mean a backyard BBQ). [done, I was a Boy Scout]
4. Kill an animal which can kill you. [does a black widow spider count?]
5. Taste a good brandy (no French cognacs need apply) and a fine single malt Scotch. [done]
6. Visit at least eight countries outside your own continent, none of which speak your home language. [need one more: Italy (and the Vatican), Germany, Holland, Austria, France, French Canadia, and Ireland]
7. Read any six Shakespeare plays. [done]
8. Win a solo sporting competition�anything that involves physical exercise. [done]
9. Be part of a winning sports team. [done - used to run track]
10. Make love with a woman in a forbidden place. [done - blush]
11. Have a strange woman invite you home with her; and refuse her, because you're married. [I'm still single, but I've refused a woman because she's married.]
12. Build something tangible�out of wood, steel, brick, whatever. [done]
13. Sit up all night comforting a sick child. [again, don't have any kids]
14. Tell the truth, where a lie would both be undiscoverable, and keep you out of trouble. [done]
15. Watch at least one real virtuoso play a musical instrument�in any kind of music. [done]
16. Perform on stage (music, theater, whatever), to a large (500+) audience. [I've performed, but never to that big of an audience]
17. Play at least one musical instrument competently. [done]
18. Make love to a woman at least ten years older than you are. [over half way there (she was 7 years older)]
19. Tell a government bureaucrat to fuck off. [done - at the DMV]
20. And finally: tell a true story to your grandchildren. [not even close]
2,6,18, and 20 are all I have left.
2: My son will be 6 in 4 years...that's a good a time as any to start.
6: Someday I'll have more time to travel (but I really like the Carribean...I've been to 9 diffent islands, 7 of which did not speak English as a first language)
18: hasn't ahppened and won't...I'm married ande that's that
20: all things in time
Number 2 still applies to anyone, I don't have kids but I have taught one or two hour to shoot, also taught a lot of fellow teens how to shoot too, the joy in their face is so rewarding.
Sadly,I haven't done a lot in that list and have no interest to do so. Visit 8 foreign countries? Outside of viewing archaeological digs there's like 3 I may really want to go to. I'm not a big drinker but I'd go with the drinking. I like Shakespeare but never have the time to read them. I hate sports because of a very bad experience at school and will never consider doing any kind of event. I'm an idiot when it comes to construction, unless you count my cool Lego projects. Um, still pretty much virtious Christian-wise so the making love and the kids thing need not apply. I'm very honest but I'm starting to sleep, I have told the truth were a lie would save me but the last chance I had at that I blew it. I couldn't play any instrument to save my life. Never told a Government Agent to Fuck off but I have told a police officer I was with on a ride along that he was an asshole.
Ad for some reason, I can't spell today. Fine day to have a head cold when I have to test out at the local Sheriff Office. D:
Posted by: Rhett at August 30, 2005 1:33 PMI once tripped, fell and faced into an ice cream cone I was eating while ogling a girl in a bikini walk by. That's got to count for something.
Posted by: mikem at August 30, 2005 5:08 PMIt's a nice list, but it should be more connected to nature. It needs a little Papa Hemingway.
Add
21) hear the cry of a loon in the predawn mist of a lonely lake.
22) See or hear a wolf in the wild.
23) See or hear the chuff of a bear or a lion when there's nothing between you and him but grass or leaves.
24) catch a fish worth a trip to the taxidermist.
25) build a cabin or shelter without power tools and live in it for at least a few days. This is like #12, but manlier.
26) successfully pan for gold. Gather enough to pay for the pan.
27) brew your own beer or whisky. Keep at it until other people agree it tastes good.
28) learn to fish with a split cane rod
29) own at least one classicly beautiful firearm and develop a perfect load for it.
30) Do at least 3 things that absolutely scare you to death. Skydiving solo, cave diving, ballroom dancing, etc.
add a few more manly outdoor things of your own. I'd also add
Learn a new skill, hobby or sport that other people just don't understand, and get really good at it. Sabre fencing, fly tying, chip carving are good examples.
Posted by: Drew at August 30, 2005 11:03 PMI clicked a referral in my log and it took me to the page. I enjoyed reading it again, so I posted it.
Hope Kim comes back though.
I,ll bet this bugs the liberal wussie to peices i mean they would prefer all boys grow up to be peace-nik pansies wear sissy pink and play nice games or join dumb groups like GREENPEACE,PETA,SIERRA CLUB,WORLD WILDLIFE FUND, and gown herb gardens and munch granola bars and nuts and berries
Posted by: screaming eagle at September 1, 2005 3:09 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
