1000 Places to See Before You Die

This is one of my favorite books. 1000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz. Because of its weight, it is what I like to think of as a coffee table book, rather than a travel guide book. As in, if I were to travel somewhere, I would not bring this book on the trip with me. I would leave it on my coffee table.

Whenever I go on an adventure, I enjoy looking in this book to see if there are any points of interest to visit. I jot any interesting points down (in a notebook) or circle the locations in the purse-sized travel guide I plan to bring along. When I return home from my adventures, I add any interesting bits of information I have accumulated to that particular entry and rank it (ex: 5/10, 10/10).

Now, lets be honest. Very few people will every see every place in this book, but it can still be fun to try (if you are one of the few, consider me jealous of you). If you happen to be in the area, it might be worth it to check out the recommended locations in these pages.

Here is where I turn this book into a game:

Whenever a family member goes on a trip, I make them consult this book (or do it for them). When they return home, I also have them review anywhere they have visited (everyone has their own ranking system - stars, some are out of 5 instead of 10 - it doesn't matter as long as it is understandable) and sign and date it. I may never see all of these places, but perhaps my family will over time.

I recommend you pick it up and give it a try. You may find you have already visited some of these spots. Perhaps even in your own home town.

A challenge

My home is overrun with notebooks. I can’t get to sleep unless I have one on the nightstand. If I don’t have one, it is inevitable that I have some random idea pop into my head right before I fall asleep and I am faced with one of two options:

Option 1: Try really hard to remember it, fall asleep, wake up knowing I needed to remember something but am not sure what, spend all day trying to remember, have it pop up again in my memory right before I fall asleep.

Option 2: Write it down somewhere.

The thing is, once I have something written down, I fall into that headspace of, “Its down, its safe. No worries.”

Now, keep in mind I am tired, the lights are off and the idea probably isn’t that great. Sometimes, its GET FABRIC SOFTENER. Others, I'll flip through in the morning and find a page that says things like: rabbit, he farted, push them.

?

In a nutshell (help, I'm in a nutshell), I leave myself a random trail of bread crumbs and hope I can follow them come daylight.

Some days, I’ll read something and think, “What a great idea, sleeping Stephanie solved the problem waking Stephanie couldn’t.” Other times, what I have written is 100% indecipherable (see attached photo). Either way, sleeping Stephanie enjoys it - one morning I woke up with my notebook in one hand, a pen in the other. I gripped them so tight, my arms were stiff the next day.

Anywho, even if doing this makes me seem like a bit of a nutso, it works for me. I'd recommend it for anyone having trouble sleeping, remembering things etc.

Today’s challenge:

I scanned something I wrote down one night and was totally excited about. If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have got up and put it in my computer right away. Instead, I wrote it down and went to sleep. I woke up, grabbed my book and saw what you see attached to this post: a bunch of scribbles.

10 points to whoever can first translate my sleep-scrawl ;)

Its all about the he said she said

There are two things you should know about me.

Thing 1: I have an addiction to office supplies.

Thing 2: I have a limited short-term memory and go crazy if I think of something I might need to remember for later.

Thus, the avalanche of little notebooks I keep in my house, my purse, my car... To write down random stuff.

One of the things I did in one of them is write down a collection of words. Words I like, words I find most descriptive under a specific circumstance, words that describe other words.

In this post are the list of words I collected to be used in place of said. It is a list I both hate and worship (check out tomorrow's post to see why). I've found these words in books, online, by listening to people talk (TV, radio, humans).

My suggestion is not to take this list with a grain of salt, but to use it the way one would use salt.

There are a number of different salts to be used in cooking: sea salt, kosher salt, rock salt, celtic salt etc. They may all add a special something to a dish that plain old table can't quite achieve, but they all serve the same purpose - to make the food taste salty. The amount of salt added to a dish are not exponentially related to its deliciousness, regardless of the quality or variety.

Consider yourself warned ;)

contested cited discussed asked appeased

continued claimed disclosed replied approved

contradicted coaxed disrupted blinked argued

chimed contributed comforted divulged began

articulated cooed commanded echoed sputtered

assented counseled commented elaborated assumed

countered communicated emphasized assured coughed

crabbed cackled cajoled calculated called

caroled cautioned challenged craved cracked

cried criticized croaked cautioned crooned

cross-examined chanted cursed charged chattered

chided chipped in chimed in chirped choked

chortled complained conceded concluded concurred

confessed confided confirmed consented consoled

crowed drawled droned debated decided

declared decreed delivered defended demanded

demurred denied denounced described determined

dictated directed disclaimed enjoined enumerated

equivocated estimated enunciated exhorted exaggerated

exclaimed expiated explained exploded exposed

faltered foretold fumed gagged inquired

insinuated volunteered ventured prompted supplied

thundered hesitated added agreed corrected

whispered hesitated abjured accused acknowledged

added addressed admitted admonished advised

advocated affirmed agreed alleged allowed

alluded announced answered apologized appealed

asserted assured attested averted avouched

avowed blubbered blurted blustered boasted

boomed bragged breathed broke in brought forth

babbled baited bantered bargained barked

bawled began begged believed belittled

bellowed condescended

• I don't know how to put a table in blogger. If anyone knows how, I'd appreciate a heads up - I'll give this list a bit of a tidy (the OCD in me goes crazy that the list isn't alphabetical and perfectly lined up).