Over the past few days I’ve learned about Life Lists, the effort of baby boomers and others to inject meaning into their lives by writing down a list of things they want to accomplish before they die. Popular items include run a marathon, sky dive, and be kissed in the rain. So far I haven’t seen anyone list the ambition of the Jean-Pierre Melville character in Godard’s “Breathless” — to become immortal and then to die.
There’s nothing new, of course, about writing down life objectives. And thanks to the current fad, we’re learning plenty about certain folks who came up with Life Lists as youngsters and subsequently were able to check most of the boxes. To me this quest sounds dangerously like letting a teenager tell you what to do.
In any case, I’m glad I didn’t go this route; otherwise I might have been rafting down the Amazon when John asked me to join Power Line. Opportunity generally knocks but once, and it’s good to be home when it does.
Nonetheless, I’ve tried to get into the spirit of things by compiling this short list of things I want to do before I die:
Attend a World Series game in Washington, D.C.
See Everton win another FA Cup (television acceptable)
Hear Dan Rather admit he didn’t properly fact check the CBS story on President Bush’s national guard service because it sounded true and, in any case, he wanted Bush to lose the election.
JOHN adds: I’ve already been kissed in the rain and I have no intention of running a marathon or skydiving, so this exercise probably isn’t for me. Still, it would be nice if just once before I shuffle off this mortal coil–is that the right phrase?–I could persuade just one liberal to admit that he or she was wrong about socialism.
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