- Smoked a cigarette.
- Gone scuba diving.
- Ordered anything at Starbucks (I have used their free bathrooms and I once bought a bag of Starbucks coffee at the grocery store, but I’m not counting that).
- Eaten haggis.
- Read the Iliad or the Odyssey
- Slept under the stars without a tent.
- Learned to juggle.
- Thrown a “message in a bottle” into the ocean. (I’ve never discovered a message in a bottle either.)
- Learned to play chess.
- Consumed an entire cup of black coffee.
Your turn.
- Have you ever had an entire cup of black coffee?
- Discovered a message in a bottle?
- Ordered something from Starbucks?
- Learned to play chess?
Header photo by Anton Ponomarenko on Unsplash
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Suzanne
Oooh this is a good one! I’m with you on scuba diving, haggis, and everything from 6-10. I order Starbucks far too frequently. I smoked a handful of cigarettes in college (never smoked anything else though). I encourage you to read The Odyssey! Funny thing about juggling: my mom can juggle and she taught me how many years ago, but I could never do it, so I feel safe in saying I have never learned.
Elisabeth
That’s so random your mom can juggle. Did she teach herself? My husband can juggle. I can’t say I’ve ever really wanted to be able to juggle, but it is definitely not in my current skillset and likely never will earn a place in my “must learn” list…but it is a fun party trick 🙂
mbmom11
I’m with you on everything except #3 (not for myself but I’ve ordered drinks for my kids), #5 ( read the Illiad in English and a lot of the Odyssey in Latin and in English) , ansmd #9 ( I play chess poorly). I will never smoke, as I have had relatives die of lung/throat cancer. And no way am I going under water with an oxygen tank. I’ll just watch pretty videos online of coral and sea creatures. However, If I were tired enough, I could sleep under the stars.
Elisabeth
Wow, you know Latin! That’s impressive.
My grandfather died young from lung cancer and was a heavy smoker; there are a host of reasons I will never smoke, but that tops the list.
Ally Bean
Have you ever had an entire cup of black coffee? On my second mug of black coffee this morning as I read this
Discovered a message in a bottle? No, but I have a penny inside a small little bottle that was hand blown around the penny
Ordered something from Starbucks? They used to have delicious lemon cake which was better than their coffee. I haven’t been in one in probably 6-7 years so don’t know if the cake is still around but I suspect I still wouldn’t much like their coffee.
Learned to play chess? Yes, my father taught me to play it when I was around 6 y.o.
Elisabeth
I’m dying to see a picture of that penny – what an interesting object and I’ve never heard of such a thing.
That’s so fun that you learned chess at such a young age. My father knows how to play chess, too, but never taught me. He loathes games, so I don’t know when or why he learned to play but it’s not surprising he didn’t teach me. He was a fantastic father and good at many things, but getting engaged in board games of any variety is not part of his parenting repertoire.
Lisa’s Yarns
I’ve done so few on this list that it’s easier for me to say what I’ve done versus what I haven’t done! I’ve only done three and 10! I’m halfway through doing number nine, but haven’t quite learned. All the piece moves with confidence. I would like to learn how to play chess though, is that something that Phil and Paul both know how to do and enjoy. Paul was doing chess club for a while, but kind of lost interest and was so squirrelly at the chess club meetings that we decided to take a break.
Elisabeth
Indy used to do chess club, but only stuck with it for one year and now never plays (partly because I don’t play). I have to admit, I am such a crank about games. As a kid I loved them, but now I can think about a million things I’d rather do. Once I start playing it’s usually fun, but it’s never my default.
Maureen
Well I must be one of the few that have tried haggis. We were in Scotland, so I had to. Not for me that’s for sure! But give me a good sticky toffee pudding and I’ll be happy.
And I used to smoke in my teen years many moons ago. But when I bent down to pick something up and lost my breath, I was done. And that’s when cigarettes where 75 cents a pack! I wouldn’t be able to afford them now!
I have only had black coffee on days when I have to fast for a medical test and it’s not for me. I must have cream and sugar. And I’m not too fond of Starbucks, but have been known to have their egg nog lattes during the holiday season when they had them. They no longer have them, so I haven’t been to a Starbucks in a while. It is too far for me to even go there!
And never have I jumped out of an airplane, or scuba dived. I have also never have gone deep sea fishing or sent or received a message in a bottle. But I love to play chess!
Elisabeth
I’ve only had sticky toffee pudding once and it was as incredible as everyone says it is!
75 cents a pack. I can’t even imagine what cigarette’s cost these days. I wonder if the cost alone is sometimes a strong enough impetus for people to stop?
Nicole MacPherson
I mean, I just had my third cup of black coffee and it’s 4:36 am. So, yes? And I’ve had Starbucks many times. I have also smoked many cigarettes! In my wayward youth, of course, I haven’t smoked since about 1993. I did learn to play chess and I’ve read both the Odyssey and the Iliad, having taken a classical studies course in first year university. I also had a bite of haggis once, when I ate meat, and it’s not like it turned me vegetarian or anything, but it did make me consider it. I never actually got the hang of juggling but I did learn it in elementary school. My grade six teacher moonlit as a clown, I am not kidding. THIS IS NOT A JOKE! We’d occasionally see him at events, on stilts or whatnot.
SHU
yes, this rate of black coffee consumption sounds more like me!
Elisabeth
Okay, so you’ve basically just done EVERYTHING, Nicole. Why does that not surprise me.
I texted you a picture earlier but I did it – I drank my very first cup (and then a second one) of black coffee. It was fine. A lot less bitter and horrible than I expected. And you had haggis??? Wowzers, didn’t see that one coming.
I think I grew up in an era when smoking wasn’t nearly as cool. I was born after cigarettes were all the rage and, thankfully, before vaping caught traction.
Jenny
Nope, never drank a cup of black coffee! I’m not sure I’ve ever finished an entire cup of any kind of coffee, for that matter. Ironically, I do go to Starbucks all the time (mostly for tea.) I did smoke a cigarette once, which caused me to throw up- so I was never tempted to smoke again.
I used to be able to juggle, and I can play a poor game of chess. Never read the Iliad or Oddyssey though!
Elisabeth
I think that is the best response to a cigarette; hate it enough to be sick and then never, ever be tempted again. I can’t say I’ve ever been tempted (I hate, hate, hate the smell).
I can’t play any game of chess, so you’d beat me!
J
Fun list! I have had a cup of black coffee when I had a migraine and was told it helped more than coffee with cream and sugar. True? Not true? Don’t know, it was my first migraine. Haven’t done it since, too strong for me.
I read (and really enjoyed) The Odyssey. I have read parts of the Illiad, mostly in Latin class, but can’t remember if I’ve ever read the whole thing in English. I know the moves of chess, but zero strategy. Smoking…well, my mom smoked when I was a kid, so I inhaled a lot of second hand smoke. And when Ted and I first started dating we would sometimes smoke when out at a bar (but never anywhere else) and I will confess to really liking it. But it never became a real habit, and when he woke up one day wanting a cigarette he quit, and I certainly wasn’t going to smoke if he wasn’t smoking. My mom and my brother learned to juggle, but I wasn’t interested. I love snorkeling, so I imagine that scuba diving must be spectacular, but it’s a pretty expensive hobby to pick up I think. I would do it if I could learn quickly though, and not spend TOO much money. Haggis? No interest.
Elisabeth
What an interesting trajectory with smoking! I think one of the things that turned me off the most WAS second-hand smoke. My mom was a nurse and working in a nursing home in an era where they have SMOKING ROOMS. To get to anywhere in the nursing home you literally had to walk through the smoking room. It seems absolute bonkers now, but I used to go visit people at the nursing home and would walk through that smoking room that was just a haze of smoke. And oh I hated it!
Diane
I haven’t had a whole cup of black coffee (or any coffee, really), but I have ordered from Starbucks. They used to have a chocolate banana smoothie that I really liked, and we periodically get hot chocolate or milk steamers for the kids. Though these days there are so many other coffee options where we are that we rarely order from Starbucks.
I’ve had haggis – there used to be a Scottish pub nearby that served it.
I’ve read the first few chapters of the Odyssey, but couldn’t keep up. Though I’ve seen an amazing play based on it….
I know how to play chess, but it stresses me out, so I don’t make good choices when I play.
Learning to juggle is on my list of dreams and goals. I have a friend who was in the juggling club in university and I designed lights for one of their shows. She has tried to teach me, but I just don’t get it. But I’m going to keep trying!
Elisabeth
Chocolate banana sounds delicious.
I hope you fulfil your juggling goal soon. It feels like something you could definitely cross off your list in 2025!
Central Calif. Artist Jana
Drinking a cup of black coffee as I comment here on this fun post. . . being able to drink it black is good practice for some possible emergency in the future when all the extras are unavailable. (I believe Kinsey Milhomme says something like this in that fabulous series of alphabet mysteries by Sue Grafton.)
I got certified to scuba dive in college. It was a way to face the fear of all that unknown space beneath me when in the ocean. This was in the last century; ain’t happening again.
I’ve slept outside without a tent many times. Tents provide a false sense of safety, but are pretty fabulous if it is raining or the mosquitos are bad.
Yep, I’ve ordered things at Starbucks. Usually feel slightly sinful about it—extreme indulgence on many levels.
The other six items—I’m with you completely.
Elisabeth
I had to chuckle that the last time you scuba dived was in the last century. Haha!
Wow – I’m curious why you were out roughing it so often. Any time it is tenting weather where I live, the mosquitos are almost certainly horrific. I do have some friends that slept in hammocks overnight. They said it wasn’t actually very comfortable for sleep. I think I’ll stick with inside on a real mattress for the foreseeable future.
Central Calif. Artist Jana
Elisabeth, no worries, I wasn’t homeless—I used to backpack. Tents just weighed too much. I also chose to sleep outside sometimes at my parents’ house when I was home from college. Just peculiar, I guess.
Elisabeth
I love it! My father grew up hiking and making lean-tos out of branches. Not QUITE the same as sleeping with nothing overtop, but he has such fond memories of being completely immersed in his environment.
Ernie
I’m just realizing that your recent posts were not showing up in my blog feed. What even? I remember early in the week thinking, Hmm, I don’t remember Elisabeth saying she was taking a break. I’m off to get caught up.
I am a no on all of those (coffee, Starbuck purchases, message in a bottle, and chess.
I tried a bite of haggis when Curly danced in world championships in Scotland when she was 9. My dad was with us. He ordered it. But, I haven’t gone scuba diving, or smoked a cigarette, or read the Iliad or the Odyssey.
Elisabeth
Something weird has been going on with my blog in Feedly. SIGH. Every time it starts working well, for some reason it stops working. So it’s not you…it’s me. And I have no idea what to do about it.
I’m surprised how many people have tried haggis!
Michelle G.
So fun, Elisabeth!
Have you ever had an entire cup of black coffee? Yes, many times, although I prefer it with sugar and milk.
Discovered a message in a bottle? No, and I’ve never written one either. The idea of it is fascinating though!
Ordered something from Starbucks? Yes, whenever I’m at the airport. It’s a nice treat when traveling, and I get a vanilla latte, which is basically a dessert!
Learned to play chess? No. It looks way too complicated for me.
I tried and failed at juggling, I’ve never eaten Haggis, I’ve never smoked, or gone scuba diving.
Elisabeth
I think that’s such a fun tradition to have a special order you only get while travelling! Love that idea.
I agree that chess looks complicated. And, I guess, to really learn the strategy and play it well…it is! I’ll stick with UNO and Sorry!
SHU
I do not know how to play chess, but my mind is blown re: the coffee thing! I think I’ve drank a cup of black coffee daily for the last ~30 years or so (started in 10th grade, oops). And Starbucks! If I was forced to list out every transaction I’ve made in my live, a not-insignificant proportion would probably be at Starbucks!!
Elisabeth
SHU! I had a cup of black coffee today. For the first time. I mean…it felt like the one thing I could knock off this particular Never Have I Ever list. It…wasn’t too bad.
We don’t have any Starbucks in my little town, so I’d have to drive elsewhere to get it and…it always sounds so expensive? But I feel like this is another easily attainable Never Have I Ever!
Lindsay
I love this post! I have NEVER had an entire cup of black coffee (I just started drinking coffee 5 years ago and only have had it as the Mr. first made it for me); I have NEVER discovered a message in a bottle – but I desperately want to!; I have ordered something from Starbucks, but it makes me judge myself every time. I have never learned to play chess – I have aphantasia and can’t picture what moves would look like so I am useless at chess and checkers haha.
Elisabeth
I’ve never heard of aphantasia!
Can you believe it – I actually had two cups of black coffee today. I wasn’t planning to, I just decided on a whim to try it so I have officially now done one of my never evers!! It wasn’t nearly as bitter as I expected.
Gigi
I have ordered from Starbucks – it’s rare and when I do it’s a decadent treat (non-fat caramel Frappuccino no whip cream). And I do have black coffee every morning (no calories!). Other than that, I think I’m with you on the rest.
Elisabeth
I had my first-ever black coffee this morning and it wasn’t half bad.
That Starbucks order does sound delicious!
Birchie
Let’s see…I have attempted to smoke a few times but it’s not accurate to say that I’ve ever finished a cigarette. I don’t go to Starbucks very often and I don’t know the proper words to use for sizes, so I just say small and large. I get bonus points for this question because the last time I went was yesterday with Jenny. Technically I learned to play chess but when I learned that it was “a minute to learn and a lifetime to master” I lost interest. I only drink black coffee if I don’t have half and half or milk, and it’s a rough experience.
Elisabeth
That’s so fun you got to go to Starbucks with Jenny! I know she loves their tea (and festive cups).
Allison McCaskill
1. Smoked a cigarette less than six times, I don’t even remember why – I don’t think I was trying to look cool, just trying to find out what the fuss was about. I can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke now, so don’t know what the hell I was thinking.
2. Went snorkelling in Mexico. Didn’t like it, felt sick after. I think scuba diving would be an instant panic attack for me.
3. Have gotten Starbucks a few times, usually on a date with my daughter. Then she started boycotting them because of their anti-union stuff, so I don’t anymore.
4. Have eaten haggis. It’s not horrible, but I didn’t like it. Our friends have a Robbie Burns party every January. I don’t eat the haggis every year.
5. Read The Iliad and the Odyssey. My daughter got to take a lit course with a professor I had thirty years ago and am still close with. They did the Odyssey. It was cool.
6. I once slept on the balcony in my residence under the stars – it was Easter weekend and there were only a few of us there and it was an uncharacteristically warm April.
7. Can’t juggle. Can barely handle one ball, never mind three.
8. No messages in bottles. My daughter did once get a text from someone mistaking her for their dentist and asking when they could pick up their teeth. She texted back and begged them to clarify, but they never replied.
9. No chess. It seems so sophisticated and elegant, but I don’t have the head for it.
10. I don’t drink coffee, but when we lived in Toronto I used to visit this Trinidadian man who owned a little Caribbean chicken shop, and once he had family there and he told his mother in law I was a good customer and to give me a free coffee. When my husband got up to go to work at seven the next morning I was still awake.
Elisabeth
I hate, hate, hate the smell of cigarette smoke (and stale cigarette smoke is even worse).
All these people that have eaten haggis. I’m shocked!!
That text about the dentist and teeth – I read it a few minutes ago and I am STILL LAUGHING. Eve must have done a double take with that one…
Doesn’t chess seem like such a classy game? Sigh. I’m not classy and I don’t know how to play, so I guess the shoe sits.
I have to be careful not to have any caffeine after noon (better yet, stop by 10 am) or it will impact my sleep. These people that can drink a full-caf coffee right before bed blow my mind!
Stephany
Let’s see… the only thing I’ve done on this list is order from Starbucks! I think my dad at one point tried to teach me chess, but I was hopeless. It’s something I’d be interested in learning, though! I’ve never tried black coffee, blech. I need my coffee SWEET.
Joy
I did not know! Starbucks used to be so ubiquitous in my life before moving to Canada but I have had only a handful of drinks there in the last 16 years. You’re honestly not missing much, especially since we have so many amazing local coffee shops around here! Starbucks cannot compare, although I would 100% order a frappuccino in the summer again (if you need something to give you a good jolt on a hot day a caramel frappuccino is like a milkshake with a double shot of espresso!). I have learned to play chess but no longer remember the steps and am not that motivated to learn. I have had a cup of black coffee but I do not enjoy it. I can stomach it if it’s super fresh and hot but typically I need some sort of creaminess or I’d rather just skip it.
I have never been enrolled in public school as I was homeschooled K-12. I took some college classes post high school, and I actually visited several schools in European/UK countries with various friends but never regularly attended American/Canadian schools. It’s fun to send my kids off to school and they just *learn things* without my involvement. Novel.
I’ve never interviewed for a job. This is accentuated by the fact that I’ve been a stay-at-home-mom for many years but all my jobs and side-gigs were arranged in non-traditional ways. I worked for my parents’ business after high school, for my sister-in-law before having kids and for friends/by word of mouth in the part-time roles I’ve had since my children were born. My resume is in sore need of an update!
Now that I’m writing all these things down it’s highlighting how unusual my life has been!
Elisabeth
I LOVE not having to be responsible for teaching my kids academics. Sometimes that feels lazy of me, but I also know it 100% isn’t part of the skill set God has gifted me. I really appreciated how someone spoke into my life a year or two ago and talked about how travelling with the kids, teaching them to cook/clean, all sorts of adventures and the general life experiences we do with them is also part of their education. I needed that boost/reminder. I know – having been homeschooled for years myself – that having my kids home would really impact how much energy I would have to be a mom. No regrets about public schooling (though I still wish their preschool had extended into school; I think I would have sold a kidney to make that happen).
Well there are now TWO Starbucks locally, so we’ll have to plan on a frappuccino this summer?
I have never traditionally interviewed for a job either! It’s all been “who I knew” which has been nice, but there is also a segment of adult life experience I’ve never had…I’m okay with that. Job interviews sound scary. You have poured so much into raising kiddos and that is MORE than a full-time job. I also foresee a lot of creativity in your future and I can’t wait to see how that manifests as your mothering role takes on a new dimension as the kids get older and more independent.