12. To the Opera- Carmen

Hello my Dears.

"People's reactions to opera the first time they see it is very dramatic; they either love it or they hate it. If they love it, they will always love it. If they don't, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul." -Edward Lewis, Pretty Woman.


Basically it's been my dream ever since I was a young girl to go see the Opera, but not just any opera. Carmen. 


Here's the deal. Don Jose falls in love with a beautiful conniving Gypsy. He drops his own girl, neglects his officer duties and follows Carmen. Carmen then falls in love with Escamillo, a toreador. (you know...the bull guys) and Jose kills Carmen in a jealous rage...

It's not a normal love story, but the music haunts me. I'm literally you tubing it right now and playing it as we speak and it's making me type so fast, and you can't know that because you are just reading but believe me.. I'M TYPING LIKE THE WIND...

I don't know why I want to see it so bad, I mean the story isn't my typical deal, but I just want to.

Hey Arnold...remember that show? They did a remake of it. Loved it. it made me giggle, and maybe that was the moment I took notice of it. Pretty Woman? basically an almost remake...or an adaptation if you will..


Don't know...just wanna see it.


and I will..


Stick with me,

K

11. Visit the "Shakespeare and Company" Book Store

Helloooo my little Croissants.

So recently, I've been a BuzzFeed fan.

Go there, it will change your life...or ruin it. 

So much time!

Anyway I saw this buzzfeed and I couldn't help but click on it.

"16 Bookstores You Have to See Before You Die"

Umm, ok you all don't know me that well, but I definitely am a nerd. Basically I love everything about books; the smell, the texture of old pages and new pages. The incredible amount of sadness I get when I finish a book... I just love them

So when I saw this one, #5 ,

I basically had a nerdgasm...lol 

This looks like my heaven!

Legitimate drool.

I mean, it looks crazy!

BOOKS ON BOOKS ON BOOKS! 

hahah i'm so excited. 

I'll definitely get there, and i'll even find that green chair and sit in it. JUST FOR YOU

Stick with me,

K

#10 Go Hangliding or "Delight in the Skies"

Hello All!

So today was just one of those days. You know when you just don't feel like getting out of bed, and when you do, you just don't feel like getting dressed?

But you do it.

because you feel like you have to?


....sorry about that.

I'm good now. Good friends and all that to get you out of the house and out of your own head!

Anyway on these days, i like to peruse the Independent section of Netflix, because sometimes I find these jewels of a movie, and some are just awful.

I found one of each today. A Little Bit of Heaven Trailer  <-- Trailer for you :)
 The good one starred Kate Hudson, a carefree woman who finds out she has colon cancer...or ass cancer as she refers to it. Cue handsome doctor played by Gael Garcia Bernal who just can't help but fall in love.
 Also excellent cameo by Whoopi Goldberg as God. big fan of this movie...cried my little eyes out.

Well anyway, Marley (Kate Hudson) goes Hang gliding. And i thought. wow. Watching the scene is amazing. I've always loved the idea of flight: sky diving, paragliding, any kind. I'm terrified of heights, but the idea of hang gliding for some reason seems less dangerous than those other ones. Don't ask me to explain my logic, it just does....like I could steer it to a nice soft...tree and not die.

Anyway...Hang gliding. I think it would be pretty epic to do that. So I will.



Stick with me,

K

Update. Not a bucket list

Figure I should write something... It's freaking June of 2013

Btw super-moon... Pretty cool


WW is going well! I've lost 30 lbs. struggling in the summer because I don't have a schedule but I'm maintaining



I recently moved so I lost my harmonica I was learning on. It will get here soon,

Other than that. I've just been living. Not just existing.



Stick with me,

K

9. Get Healthy.

Sooo....September..

My apologies. There is no excuse, only that i'm foolish and carefree and sometimes forget that I need to finish stuff!

Hey that  should be an entry. number 10. finish bucket list.

But I digress.

So i've recently joined Weight Watchers. I know right?

I remember looking at the scale and thinking, "Woah! i'll never go past this weight." and then looking at it again and saying the exact same thing...only 50 lbs later.

Now I DO NOT, and WILL NOT ever have a negative image of myself. Sure there are down days when I think I look terrible, and that no one will look past my weight. But then i think, if someone really cares, they won't care what I look like.

But those negative days really bring me down.

So I'm doing something about it.
I've done the weight loss thing- dropped a lot of lbs, lost interest, and gained it back. But I realized. All of those times i've been hanging on to someone who was doing the plan with me. When they got bored after losing the weight, I got bored. And all times I quit the diet, and slowly packed back on the pounds.

SO THIS TIME.
I'm doing it for me. I have heart issues in my family, and I plan on being here for a long time. I would love to look in the mirror and think about how great I look in my new size whatever jeans. And i realize I will never be model thin. I'm ok with double digits.I just want to be healthy! and happy!


and sure.... a little more sexay! :)


So here we are...about two weeks in and 10 lbs lighter.

Stick with me,

K

8. Go to a Broadway Show

I know, I know, I know!
I'm sorry!!
It's just that I haven't had time to write! I am a full time teacher now you know?! It's hard to find some downtime when I don't want to sleep or i have all of my work done.. (Wellll, I still don't have my work done, but it's not a lot tonight)

But I was thinking. I haven't added to my list in a while...over a month! And i mean it's understandable, I don't know all the the things I want to do...they just come to me at random moments, but then sometimes I forget.

Well this was inspired by the movie Newsies, of which i love so so much!

DID YOU KNOW THEY MADE IT A MUSICAL!!?!?! I mean right?!
Awesome!
 

So it's only on Broadway, and I need to see it...like now.
But even If i don't see Newsies on Broadway...i want to see something on that main stage where dreams are made and the place that haunts every actors dreams! To be there, and be where the greats once stood, to watch pure emotion pour from every motion?! Ah.... if only I didn't have stage fright.

Anyway. I want to go to Broadway. It's exactly 10 Hours and 51 minutes from my house...639 miles. And i will travel every one of them to get there.


Stick with me,

K

7. Travel somewhere by Train

Channeling Leann.. I'm gonna buy a one way ticket on a west bound train. See how far I can go..

I've never been on a train. Can you believe it?! Yea me either. A lot of people tell me it's not worth it and it's awful and dirty and disgusting. Well... my middle name is stubborn... :)

I don't know why I want to ride a train... Probably because all the fun things happen! I mean look at Wild Wild West.. Will smith and Kevin Kline had a lot of fun on a train


Ok. So I don't have a solid reason...

Trains look fun and I've been on every other form of cross-state-country form of transportation!

Ooh. Except a trolley or street car. Adding that to the list too!


Stay with me,

K

6. Whistle with two fingers

Ahh so I realize that I won't be updating all the time... But that's ok because I'm young so my bucket list, I would like to believe, comes with time.
And right now I'm watching an unbelievably corny movie that has someone whistling with 2 fingers. You know what I mean? That loud whistle that people could hear for miles? Yea I want to do that!

How cool would that be? And like this movie, maybe it would come in handy. I mean she teaches him to whistle and in the end thats how he finds her again.
So maybe it's romantic notions filling my head but whistling like that would still be really cool

Until then!

Stay with me,
K

5. Yell off of the Brooklyn Bridge

If you haven't seen Newsies. Watch it. You will understand why..

The gist of this Bucket List addition is, Jack and Boots are crossing the bridge with Davey to get the infamous Spot Conlon on their side for the 1899 Newsboys strike. And as they are crossing the bridge, they lean over and yell their hearts out!

Newsies fans all over the world have gone to that Bridge, and doggone it SO WILL I

I will lean over that bridge, let my hair whip around in the wind and yell my heart out.

So help me, I will



Stick with me,
  

     K. ....or. Queen of New York..one day!

4. Go to the Globe Theatre

Romeo Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo! Deny thy father and refuse thy name. If thou wilt not be by sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Yes I'm an English Major and yes I'm a huge shakespeare nerd!

I love everything about his plays and sonnets so much so that I decided to be an English teacher. To impart my knowledge and love of all types of literature, especially Shakespeare, to the young minds.

Teaching Shakespeare to highschool kids? Not as pretty as it sounds.

"is he even speaking English?" "what is he saying?" "when was this a million years ago?"

Ahh love it. A Challenge. One which I will rise to every day when I start teaching my classroom.

But back to the Bucket List. I've always wanted not only to go to England but to see the Globe, Williams most famous theatre. To stand where Shakespeare may have stood (albeit there was a fire and it burnt and was rebuilt... The spirit lives on) would be just amazing. And for an English geek like me? Paradise.


I'm also not opposed to finding the Peter Pan status and seeing that.
Another childhood love.

Stick with me,

K

3. Hit a HomeRun

Haha this one is a kind of... I'm-super-pissed-off- after-my-softball-game-tonight

So i used to be ok at softball...it wasn't my sport and apparently it still isn't.

I play on a coed league on Fridays at this ballpark near my house, with some good friends and my sister and her husband. Well apparently I suck super bad.

This is the second week in a row that i've lost the game for us on the last play or whatever. I play catcher and last week I didn't catch the ball to tag the guy at home...and we had to hold them to beat them..so we lost.

Tonight I was up at bat, bottom of 7th, two runs down, two outs. All night I haven't been hitting well or catching well, and I hated it. So i hit the ball.. goes 5 feet in front of me.I take off and what do I do? I SLOW DOWN INSTEAD OF RUNNING THROUGH FIRST. had I kept running I would have been safe. but nope. i got out.. And I KNOW I should have ran through. I know all those durn rules, but I just didn't! I hate when the catcher throws to first behind me. Gonna beam me in the head and stuff..no way. It's worse when I see the whole team just pissed and aggravated that I can't do shit. They do cheer me on whenever I get up and I love them for that..i just wish i could do better

once again I lost the game. and I feel like crap. I keep bringing the team down and sucking...and it sucks so bad. I want to be awesome but it just isn't happening..

So Bucket List?
 I want to slam the crap out of that ball...like Benny the Jet and just destroy it. Sadly i'm slow so I will settle for a couple things:

1. Hitting it over the fences.
2. Hitting it over the outfielders head (They all move up when a girl hits)
3. And/ or bringing in atleast 3 runners.

One or all of those would suffice as a completion of this Bucket List number.

Essentially I just want to prove myself to my teammates and all of those other teams.

Stick with me,

K

2. Learn the Free Willy Tune on the Harmonica

*Cue inspirational music*

Ah Yes, that classic little diddy of a boy and a whale!  I mean, come on, and look at this

That’s probably the coolest whale in all of history. If you haven’t seen this movie…seriously… get a childhood. Or go on YouTube and watch the whole thing…or just buy it.. Totally worth any price!

So you know when Jesse, the original bad misunderstood kid finds Willy? He plays a tune on the harmonica and poof! Willy comes up for air. So Jesse runs, slips, and FALLS INTO THE TANK OF A KILLER WHALE! While in real life this kid would die, this is a family movie. So a large killer whale instead lifts jesse out of the water, saving his life, and making kids everywhere jealous. A lifetime friendship is born and they save each other time and again.

But back to this tune…  it sets the whole tone of the movie. Jesse plays it when he needs Willy or he is feeling down, and throughout the whole movie there are variations of it culminating in the epic scene shown above.

Have a listen..

Free Willy on Piano.. first 25 seconds

It was so hard to find the clip but the first 25 seconds on the piano are what Jesse plays.

 

And I love it. I don’t know what it is about the song but I’ve loved it ever since I saw this movie.

Because of my love/obsession, I tend to buy a harmonica wherever I go. I also really like the boxes they come in. The older the better.

Well I have at least 5 harmonicas now. I used to have more, but it was ridiculous. I had never learned how to play…

Until now!

I recently bought a harmonica that has numbers on it. Now listen I am not musically inclined at all. So I don’t know major notes or if it’s a C harmonica. (But I mean I do know because it says so on it…but if it didn’t, I wouldn’t, you get what I’m trying to say.)

I keep trying, but I’ve not yet mastered the harmonica playing ability. But I will.

Stick with me,

K