- Tried fresh sugar cane. (Jenny mentioned this recently and I immediately knew it would go on my next Never Have I Ever list.)
- Gone skinny dipping.
- Followed a vegetarian or vegan diet for an extended period of time.
- Entered a 50/50 draw. (Alas, this also means I’ve never won.)
- Created a Build-A-Bear.
- Picked citrus fruit off a tree. (The east coast of Canada is not prime citrus-growing territory!)
- Led the national anthem at a sporting event. (I’ve been part of the crowd, singing along.)
- Fed a reindeer. (But many people in Finland certainly have!)
- Read a single chapter of War and Peace.
- Ordered room service at a hotel. (This seems like very low-hanging fruit!)
Your turn.
- What’s your score on my Never Have I Ever list?
- If you’ve tried sugar cane, where was it?
- Is War and Peace worth the notorious slog?
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10. Part 11. Part 12. Part 13. Part 14. Part 15. Part 16.
Discover more from The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
fresh sugar cane is a traditional fruit in china and we used to have it when in season. it{s not the greatest for dental health though. here in brasilia we can find sugar cane juice which is sooo refreshing.
war and peace, I also wonder if I should give it a try after learning Lauras year long project.
oh.. I’ve ordered room service many times and I’ve been vegan for years (not 100% but mostly vegan).
Sugar cane juice! Makes sense, though I didn’t know such a thing existed.
I’ve only done #4 (often – popular fundraiser around here) and #5 ( a gift for someone).
I will never be vegetarian, but 4 of my children are.
I’ve never tried W&P, but anyone I’ve talked to who has read it has really enjoyed it. Maybe over the summer I’ll try it. 365 chapters would be about 4 chapters a day. I have the Picture of Dorian Grey to do first.
To be fair, I didn’t win 50/50, but we did win a soccer draw for Indy’s club. That was a big surprise (and it was part of a fundraiser).
The number of chapters is so well suited to a year-long read!
Isn’t it The Picture?? I think you were right!! Title aside, I really liked that book. It surprised me, actually. It made me think a lot, which I liked.
Oh, I was right? The sad thing is I googled it and portrait came up. I’ll blame AI. However, I did misspell Gray. A British writer used an American spelling!
Portrait of Dorian Grey! Can I blame autocorrect?
I’ve done 2, 6, 9 and 10. I have citrus trees in my garden, the house we moved into when we first got married had a lime tree and since then I’ve planted some citrus trees in every garden.
I wish I lived somewhere where citrus trees would thrive! It would mean a warmer climate 🙂
I’ve done 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10! Room service is SUCH a luxury!
I want to try this luxury out for myself!
This is the best I’ve ever done on one of these posts! The only ones I HAVEN’T done are 4, 5 and 8. How have you not done #7? You’re a singer! Wait- are you talking about just singing along as the National Anthem is played, or actually being the soloist? I definitely have NOT done that!
I did not clarify this well… I meant lead the National anthem as a solo!
I’ve definitely been part of the crowd.
I have never built a Build a Bear myself, but my daughter was VERY into it when she was little and has made many. She used to make them and give them to her cousins when they were born. (She’s the oldest cousin on that side by 7 years, so prime age for it.) My daughter’s chorus sang the national anthem at a pro baseball game once! That was fun, though we aren’t really sports people and we didn’t stay for the entire game. Not counting those, since they were my daughter and not me, I’ve done 3 on your list, #2 (when I was 18), #6 (often), and #10 (my husband used to love to order a hot chocolate and a danish when we would travel – I will say that I don’t love room service, and it’s been decades since I’ve bothered).
Unless by sing the national anthem you mean sing along in the crowd, in which case I’ve done that too.
I meant lead the national anthem. Oops. I didn’t make that very clear, did I.
I would love to try room service though I suspect the types of discount places we stay aren’t likely to have the best room service 🙂
I realized that I did have room service last year on our cruise…they brought coffee and hot water, plus danish or whatever we ordered every morning. Completely forgettable!
Boo for forgettable. I love Engie’s answer: room service on your honeymoon sounds perfect.
I have done the following:
1. fresh sugar cane – in Vietnam
4. 50/50 (haven’t won)
7. sung national anthem at sporting events
8. fed reindeer – at Leavenworth, Washington Reindeer Farm – they have the softest lips!!
10. ordered room service
They have the softest lips! Ha. That made me smile 🙂
Some of the 50/50 prizes are SO big. Can you imagine winning???
I’ve entered a few 50/50s although I’ve never won. I suspect, I would feel obligated to donate my winnings back to the sponsoring organization, so I guess I would really be winning anything.
Not sure if it would count, but in high school I was in the choir and one year we sang the National Anthem before a Pittsburgh Pirates game. So it wasn’t a solo, but I was there singing.
I’ve never been to Build a Bear, but I have one I received as a gift. It’s dressed like an astronaut because I collect astronaut memoirs and other books about space exploration.
I would definitely count that singing adventure.
That sounds like a fun Build a Bear <3
– I have sung the national anthem at a sporting event (in the crowd, not solo).
– I’m pretty sure I read War and Peace in middle school, but, ahem, that was a long time ago so I can’t say for sure or whether it was worth reading. I’m pretty sure that Laura Vanderkam read a chapter a day and finished it in a year, so I know it’s doable but at the same time it’s way down on my list of priorities.
– Hubs and I ordered room service at an all inclusive resort once. It would have been quicker to go down to one of the food stands on the beach.
Yes, I think there’s something like 351 chapters, so you even get to skip a few days 😉
The irony that waiting for room service was slow. I’d like to try it, but maybe only if we somehow end up somewhere swanky at some point. Which isn’t super likely given our penchant for saving money.
Wow! I’m 8/10. I’ve never read a page of W&P or tasted fresh sugar cane. The only time I have ever ordered room service was breakfast the day after I got married. It was delicious!
Awww. Engie. I LOVE THIS! Room service the day after your wedding. I mean, if there is ever a time to indulge in room service, THAT. IS. IT.
The only one I have done from your list is ordered room service from a hotel. My girls have created a Build a Bear though.
Room service sounds like low-hanging fruit. I should be able to make this work!!!!
I’ve gone skinny dipping several times! It’s normal here but I’ve also gone skinny dipping in other places. I fed a reindeer in Norway and ordered room service a couple of times. I’ve never read a chapter of War and Peace but I’m aiming to read the book this year.
I have ordered room service a few times — mostly when I was traveling for work. And I have gone skinny dipping, once.
I have done a few of these! I have gone skinny dipping, picked citrus fruit off a tree (I live in Florida, duh!), and ordered room service at a hotel. Feeding a reindeer would be so fun!
I’ve skinny dipped many times, but now I call it Chunky Dunking. 🤣
I’ve driven past many a’ sugar fields, but don’t recall tasting it right off the cane.
No one wants to hear me sing in public. no one.
Where would I find a reindeer, because I’d love to do that!
I have citrus in my backyard; limes and lemon!