The list! The list!

I found it in one of the database development books I borrowed from the library eons ago and kept renewing online. If memory serves, while I was unemployed I was reading one of these books, got bored and started the list. Haven't touched the books since but they are due tomorrow so this morning I grabbed them to put in my backpack... and there it was.

It's inspired by this list, but instead of doing a true "bucket list," I decided to do a list of things I want to do before I retire (and if all goes according to plan, I must do one thing per year before retirement, assuming that my retirement happens at age 65 - conservatively or optimistically speaking, depending on your perspective).

So here we go. In no particular order, subject to change at my discretion (as long as anything that's deleted is replaced by something equally or more awesome), and subject to my being able to complete more than one thing per year (which will require adding something else to the list), I bring you my goals for the next 32 years...

1. Learn to surf. March 2010
2. Watch a major surfing competition firsthand. Mavericks would be fun. But I won't be too specific here. (Note: I made this list in the midst of watching several surfing movies.)
3. Go to Antarctica. February/March 2010
4. Rent Pacific Northwest beach front property for a month or longer. Housesitting on Orcas Island counts. February 2016
5. Kayak for a week in Alaska.
6. Visit Krakow. October 2013
7. Buy a house.
8. Swim with great white sharks.
9. Get my scuba diving certification. (Maybe before swimming with great white sharks.)  July 2014
10. Venture into another element and sky dive. August 2009
11. Attend South By Southwest.
12. Drive a stick shift. Er... drive a stick shift well.  August 2013... well enough.
13. Read War & Peace.
14. Sell handmade cards for real, actual money. December 2008
15. Go to a Broadway show in NYC.
16. Visit Macallan World. (Kinda like Disneyworld. But, not at all like Disneyworld.) As of June 2010 Macallan World is closed. Sadness. This item hereby replaced with "Travel around the world for a consecutive year or more." April 2014
17. Learn to fly a plane.
18. Beat my brother at Monopoly. Or any game other than Trivial Pursuit, 90's version, for that matter. January 2011
19. Learn woodworking.
20. Go on an African safari.
21. Learn conversational Spanish.
22. Take an acting or improv class. Spring 2009
23. Read The Fountainhead. November 2008
24. Go back to Ireland.
25. See the pyramids. Not the lame one in Rome, which I've seen... I mean the real pyramids.
26. Hike to the top of Longs Peak.
27. Go to New Zealand. February 2012
28. Hang glide.
29. Drink vodka in Kamchatka.
30. Learn how to swing dance.
31. Get published. In anything, anywhere, by anyone. November 2011
32. Fly a kite. (Really. It looks fun. Never done it successfully.) January 2010

All this is in between saving the world on a daily basis, of course. Which should bring me to age 65, at which point I will make a new list. Since I'm already 6 months late I should probably start reading one of those books and planning 2009. I think 2010 is covered.

So, what's on your "before I retire" list?