A new movie called "The Bucket List" opens today that I think is an interesting foundation for a fun story. The premise of the film is that we all have a list of things we want to do before we "kick the bucket." I can imagine standing outside the theater where the movie is playing and asking moviegoers what they would include on their bucket lists.
I asked some media friends about their bucket lists:
Byron Pitts, CBS News national correspondent: Take my grandchildren to their first pro wrestling match just as my grandmother did for me, visit an old slave dungeon in western Africa where my ancestors began their journey, play a pickup game of football or badminton with my wife, children and grandchildren at our vacation home on Martha's Vineyard, play a round of golf with my kids and grandkids, travel the world with my wife, teach my grandchildren my favorite Scriptures, be a life-changing role model for a kid like the men who mentored me, create a scholarship fund at my high school named after my mother for students of single parents, share a loving moment and memory with my own father, see my children achieve their full potential, tell a story that saves a soul.
Mike Wendland, Detroit Free Press tech reporter: Learn Spanish, learn to play guitar, learn to fly fish, and write the series of novels set in biblical times I keep telling myself I'll do "someday."
Peter King, CBS Radio correspondent: Cover humans landing on the moon and Mars and see LIVE high-def TV pictures from BOTH places! Ride the Concorde and space shuttle (OK, so the Concorde is gone and the shuttle will be retired in three years -- how about fly supersonic and fly in space?). See the Mets beat the Yankees in a World Series -- in person. Would LOVE for my alma mater, Ithaca College, to invite me back to speak to student journalists. Cross-country trip in an RV or by train, to see all the places you CAN'T see from the air.
Marci Burdick, senior vice president of broadcasting for Schurz Communications Inc.: Boring but true, I would spend every second with my husband, kids and grandkids, mom, siblings and other relatives. And if some of them were with me, I'd head to every national park I haven't seen.
Jill Geisler, Poynter leadership and management group leader: Visit countries, learn languages, write books, hug children, pet animals, love more and fear less -– and help more managers become real leaders. And after all that, sing backup with all the surviving Temptations and Four Tops.
Carol Minn, reporter, Bay News 9 in St. Petersburg, Fla.: Live as a blind and/or deaf person for a day, compete in a full Ironman (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run), visit the North and South poles and North Korea and sing the national anthem at the World Series.
Howard Price, news assignment editor/contingency planner, WABC-TV in New York: I'd take more risks. Build the tidy little radio empire I dreamed of owning as a kid, learn to fly, buy a boat. But the most important thing I'd want to do before breathing my last breath would be to have the chance to tell all who meant the most to me in life how very much I loved them.
Susan Crowell, editor, Farm and Dairy in Salem, Ohio: Take voice lessons, hike the Appalachian Trail, get in the college classroom to teach, get back in the college classroom to learn, buy a cabin on a lake in the boonies, become a licensed volleyball official, figure out how to do more with a very small but very talented staff, become a whiz at multimedia and related new technology, attend at least one Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism, magically become a female Jack Hart.
Mark Katches, assistant managing editor for projects and investigations, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Finish the novel. Finish the screenplay. Finish the "Sopranos" script. Wait, already blew that. Win the lottery. Once would be fine. Have HGTV remodel our house and make sure the roof never, ever leaks again. Witness my 7-month-old (who this very second is drooling on my sweater) win the Heisman or Cy Young. Either will do. Watch newspapers come roaring back. If none of this happens, and odds are none of it will, make the most of whatever comes my way.
Butch Ward, Poynter Institute: Walk on my grandfather's family farm in County Galway, Ireland, and wonder how they ever grew anything amidst all those rocks. Watch my wife, Donna, hold a grandchild. (And ask her if I can, too, if only for a few minutes.) Sit in an expensive orchestra seat and lead the standing ovation for my daughter, Caitlin, when she performs in her first big musical. Ask my son, Coley, to autograph his first prize-winning piece of writing. Create a piece of work –- I'm open to any number of forms -- that actually helps someone live a more productive and meaning-filled life. Attend a victory parade on Broad Street after the Phillies win the World Series. (Ok, no one should expect to live that long.)
Most of all, I want to be one of the people about whom others say, "See how they love each other."
Jewish On Christmas
Judaism101 is a Web site that teaches about the Jewish faith. I was interested in one part of the site that explains what Jews and people of other faiths do on Christmas Day:
It's tough to find something to do on Christmas, because just about everything is closed. Here are a few of the more popular December 25 activities for Jews.
- Go out for Chinese food
- Many Jews go out for Chinese food on Christmas. The Chinese do not celebrate Christmas any more than we do, so most Chinese restaurants are open on Christmas. In Philadelphia and New York, there are several kosher-certified Chinese restaurants to choose from, so that even the most observant Jew can eat Chinese on Christmas. This popular option was somewhat limited on Dec. 25, 2001, because Christmas fell on the Fast of Tevet! Fortunately, this will not happen again until 2020!
- Go to the Matzah Ball
- In some cities, Jewish singles organizations sponsor "Matzah Balls," Jewish singles dances, on Christmas Eve or Christmas night.
- Go to a movie
- Many movie theaters are open on Christmas Day, particularly in the afternoon (after 4 p.m.). In fact, in 1998, a friend and I went to see "The Prince of Egypt" in a local theater on the afternoon of Christmas Day.
- Get together with family
- It's often tough to get the whole family together for dinner, especially when the children are grown up or not living in the immediate area. Christmas is a time when everybody is sure to have the day off. Some families do this with a vague sense of guilt at celebrating Christmas, and often repeatedly remind each other that "we're not celebrating Christmas, it's just a convenient time to have a family get-together."
- Go to work
- Jewish people often volunteer to work on Christmas, especially if they work in 24/7 community service jobs like hospitals, newspapers or police departments. This allows their Christian co-workers to get the day off, and gives the Jewish worker an extra day off at some other time of the year, when everything isn't closed. Even if your business isn't 24/7, you can often talk your boss into letting you work Christmas in order to get another day off some other time.
Some of my readers have told me about the following Christmas activities of Jews in their communities:
What to Do with That Tree
According to the Web site Earth 911,
the National Christmas Tree Association claims:
In a national survey, 93 percent of consumers who used a real Christmas tree recycled theirs in some type of community program.
A previous survey by the trade group put the recycling rate at 69 percent, but a spokesman said that rose when the survey was changed to include more ways to recycle trees.
The Christmas Tree Association says trees are recycled for five main uses:
- Chipping (chippings are used for various things from mulch to hiking trails)
- Beachfront erosion prevention
- Lake and river shoreline stabilization
- Fish habitat
-
River delta sedimentation management
How many people recycle Christmas trees in your area?
What to Do with That Wrapping Paper
See the reader comments
on this story for a zillion creative ways to reuse wrapping paper.
What to Do with All Those Christmas Cards
Click here for ton of ideas.
What to Do with That Old Cell PhoneLots of people will get new cell phones for Christmas. You may be able to sell that old one.
CellforCash is one way to go.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
interesting? sad? generic? that so many items in the lists...
