1. Learn to play the freakin' guitar already.
2. Taste black truffles.
3. Meet Oprah and thank her.
4. Go white water rafting again. Maybe a girlfriend getaway.
5. Visit New York City for two weeks.
6. Build a self-sustaining healthy house on a plot of land large enough to have a big, gorgeous dog that never poops close to home, some sheep, a big garden, and fruit trees but close enough to other people that if someone came to murder us, there would be people to hear the gunshots. Yes, I think of these things. Often.
7. Publish a work of mostly fiction. Change the names and details of people I know such that they really have no idea I'm writing about them, the fools.
8. Go to art school.
9. Own a log cabin on a lake where you're allowed to shoot people if they seadoo. Because that's two sports in one: Cottaging and Target Practice. Equally stress relieving, I'd imagine.
10. Compost with worms.
11. Finish knitting Montana's baby blanket.
12. Travel Europe and Russia with Jude.
13. Throw a neighborhood carnival block party, raising money for a family in need or other worthy cause.
14. Somehow make international adoption easier. Get airlines to give free airfare to people who are picking up their international adoptive children.
15. Learn pottery.
16. Maybe do a mini-marathon. Note the hesitation.
17. Get nearly all my body hair lasered off. Celebrate with a naked stroll in a park. (Yes, that's a joke but I shouldn't have to say so.)
18. Learn to really sing.
19. Go scuba diving somewhere really colourful and take photos. And live to develop them.
20. Go horseback riding again.
21. Make pesto from scratch.
22. Make a stuffed salmon encased in pastry that's cut to look like a salmon.
23. Learn to really, properly swim.
24. Have an all-girlfriend canoeing-camping trip with someone who can play guitar. Woman with the longest leg hair the next day doesn't have to paddle back.
25. Memorize all the best Scrabble words and tactics.
26. Send my boy on a mission abroad and have him come home a man, in one piece.
27. Lead some kind of teen counseling sessions-- maybe for sexually abused girls?
28. Develop all my online photos with journaling comments before Facebook experiences a server failure or some equally horrific turn of events.
29. Live in Venice, Italy for a few months.
30. Grow peonies.
31. Learn to can my own fruits and veggies and then actually do it.
32. Visit Vancouver.
33. Visit the Salt Lake Temple.
34. Roll down grassy green hills in Ireland. Leave before I fall in love with some rogueish Irishman with THAT ACCENT! See how thoughtful I am, Jude?
35. Catch some fireflies again. Then let them go.
36. Catch some frogs. Then let them go.
37. Get my braces off. Celebrate by rubbing bread and carrots and salmon all over my teeth and then making out with Jude.
38. Get into really fantastic shape. Feel strong and healthy.
39. Become buddies with Julia Roberts and Jennifer Garner. We would totally mesh.
40. Replace my husband's suits and successfully condition him to iron his clothes and enjoy piecing together stylish outfits.
41. Write a song and sing it/play it for Jude.
42. Be in the chorus of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
43. Finish reading War and Peace by Tolstoy.
44. Read The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.
45. Have a house of mine appear in Canadian House & Home Magazine.
46. See a ghost or an angel. Anyone from another realm will do.
47. See Prairie Home Companion live.
48. See Jack Johnson play from the front row someplace intimate.
49. See Cathy achieve her dreams, however that happens.
50. Be so rich that I can give away money and help all the time to people who both need it and deserve it. Teach a man to fish and all that.
51. Buy a much nicer camera.
52. See Les Miserables live.
53. Learn Photoshop.
54. Get this house finished.
55. Enjoy grass and tree ownership again.
56. Visit the Great Wall of China and leave my name on it somewhere.
57. Become fluent in French.
58. Learn basic Italian.
59. Become fluent in sign language.
60. Become a pretty good chess player.
61. Memorize more jokes.
62. Remember history studied and study more.
63. Become more charitable in my heart.
64. Have an Etsy store.
65. Visit London, bump into Jude Law and have him quickly fall in love with me then turn him away because I'm married and Mormon enough to care that I'm married, which will only make him love me all the more, of course.
66. Design my own house blueprints.
67. Teach Daisy to read and watch her silently devour books.
68. Be in a musical/play with Daisy.
69. Take a hot air balloon ride only for a mile and only about 100 feet in the air because that's just crazy to risk your life like that.
70. Never visit Disneyland or Disneyworld. Ha!
71. Make healthy cookies I actually love. For my grandkids.
72. Learn how to break dance. Or at least do that move where you support your body just on your hands tucked under your belly? That move.
73. Hold a hand stand for at least five seconds.
74. Do a back flip. With a belt on. Tied to the ceiling.
75. Hear James Taylor play live.
76. Become friends with Rosie O'Donnell.
77. Be able to roll in a kayak.
78. Adopt some older children when my kids are older or be a foster parent.
79. Have some of my poetry published. Under a different name.
80. Have a butler's pantry right off my kitchen and have it extremely organized at all times.
81. Raise my children to be nonjudgmental, kind, good, humble, open-minded but critical thinkers. And happy.
82. See Jude write his book. Have it published.
83. Swim in an Italian grotto.
84. Host a dinner under a large canopy-like tree, with candle lanterns.
85. Be able to do one pull-up.
86. Meet Thomas S. Monson.
87. See my sister happy and well-off in B.C.
88. Meet my all of my virtual friends.
89. Teach my girls hand clapping games.
90. Sleep in a hammock in Hawaii with mellow island beat music playing and with the waves splashing in the background.
91. Go seashell hunting near the Bay of Fundy.
92. Take a cottage vacation alone where I can read, and paint, and write and sleep for 13 hours straight.
93. Be mortgage and debt-free.
94. Get Lasik eye surgery.
95. Hire a housecleaner and have her over twice a week FOREVER.
96. Since my house will be so clean: Have fresh flowers year-round.
97. Learn to juggle.
98. Join Toastmasters.
99. Learn to cook Indian.
What you need are more buttons. And little paragraphs detailing the nuances of your children and their likes/dislikes. Add those to the sidebar so I can read them EVERY time I visit your blog. I also love to visit blogs that include embedded music from an artist only heard on the Disney Channel.
Posted by: Brett Nordquist | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 03:10 PM
...And if that all fails, go for alliteration.
I'm a professional copywriter, so NOT having a slogan would be, like, career suicide or something.
Posted by: Marketing Mommy | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 03:15 PM
This is awesome! :-)
Posted by: Emma | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 03:17 PM
At least it didn't start with "Because". I should add that to the list.
Your slogan made me laugh.
Posted by: Natasha | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 03:19 PM
I hereby claim "Life...At a time..." as my slogan. If, you know, I ever bother to revive my blog...
Posted by: Kimberly | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 03:28 PM
LOL! I still wouldn't be capable of writing one... but that's probably why I don't have a blog.
Posted by: JulesD | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 09:45 PM
I love how you write and make fun of all of us, of yourself and yet nobody in particular. At the same time. Your writing is great. You say it just right.
I DO get so tired of the vodka/sex/sippy cup crap blogs. I don't think there is much more on those subjects to be said that hasn't been already.
Posted by: gina | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 10:39 PM
Sooo a lady I know just renamed her blog. It's "Tantrums and " with the tagline "Surviving my family one shot at a time".
Yeah, seeing as I had just read this post a few hours before, I admit that I snickered.
Posted by: Tatiana | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 10:50 PM
Err, "Tantrums and [Alcohol Name]"... fail at using pointy brackets that're HTML code.
Posted by: Tatiana | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 10:51 PM
Thanks, Gina. That was really nice of you to say.
:-)
Posted by: Natasha | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 11:06 PM
LOL. That is hilarious. I've never seen her blog but look at how right I am!!! It's fun to be right about stuff like this. I just realised recently that I'm good at picking up patterns. *grin* See, this is why so many businesses fail, too. Because they look at what other businesses are doing, see that they're successful, and then figure it will help them be successful too. Except in the mommy blogger world, they want to be cool.
Mark my words: I WILL NEVER, EVER HAVE A TAGLINE. EVER.
Posted by: Natasha | Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 11:38 PM
I am thinking of starting a new blog when I move to Spain. I would love some tips and really enjoyed this post.
Posted by: Lou | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 04:23 AM
And if that doesn't work to drive traffic try writing a post along these lines...
"I can't believe you are shaming those of us who do not have "Because" in our taglines. I am calling on all women without "Because" in their taglines to stand up and seize their power aginst oppressors like you."
And then go on Twitter, direct people to your post and ask all oppressed women to rally around those who do not have "Because" in their tag-lines.
Soon it will get super ugly and you'll be famous.
Posted by: Don Mills Diva | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 07:46 AM
LOL!! That is SO how it works. "This is important!! If we don't blah blah blah, then how can we control our narrative!" Ahem. Just kidding. Some narratives are powerful.
Posted by: Natasha | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 07:52 AM
This post absolutely killed me. Too funny. I think I've been "guilty" of following at least 4 of these tagline rules in the past!
Posted by: Meagan Francis | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 03:38 PM
Hee hee.
Posted by: Natasha | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 03:39 PM
#natashahatesbecause
Posted by: Busy Mom | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 03:44 PM
I actually had a conversation at BlogHer with someone who was trying to convince me that I needed a tagline. And to think I've gone 5 1/2 years without one...
Posted by: Average Jane | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 03:45 PM
I've never had a slogan or line! Now I want one. This was so funny cause
it's true.
Steph
Posted by: Adventures In Babywearing | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 03:46 PM
*Snort* Totally nailed it, with the exception of forgetting "Create a user name with the word "mom" in it, i.e. 'so-and-so's-mom'."
You know, in case we missed the cutesy kid stuff all over the blog. ;)
Posted by: Suburban Oblivion | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 03:48 PM
I'd happily speak on the topic at BlogHer.
Posted by: Natasha | Friday, July 31, 2009 at 04:41 PM
1. The Straight Dope: Fighting Ignorance since 1973 (It’s taking longer than we thought).
2. Maxim Philippines: The best thing that ever happened to men … after women!
3. The Consumerist: Shoppers bite back.
4. Random Acts of Reality: Trying to kill as few people as possible…
5. Joshuaink: Same old shit, different day.
6. The Superficial: Because you’re ugly.
7. Smashing Magazine: We smash you with information that will make your life easier. Really.
8. The Best Page in the Universe: This page is about me and why everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, you are wrong.
9. Scaryduck: Not scary. Not a duck.
10. The Art of Rhysisms: Chronologically inept since 2060.
11. Needcoffee.com: We are the Internet equivalent of a triple espresso with whipped cream. Mmmm…whipped cream.
12. Ample Sanity: Life is short. Make fun of it.
13. Rathergood.com: The Lair of the Crab of Ineffable Wisdom – a load of stuff by Joel Veitch that will probably crush your will to live.
14. The Breakfast Blog: In search of the best eggs in town.
15. Dooce: Not even remotely funny.
16. Pink is the new blog: Everybody’s business is my business.
17. Shoemoney: Skills to pay the bills.
18. Oh No They Didnt’t!: The celebrities are disposable, the content is priceless.
19. YouTube: Broadcast Yourself.
20. Waiter Rant: Do you want Pommes Frite with that?
21. Newshounds: We watch FOX so you don’t have to.
22. Sabrina Faire: All the fun of a saucy wench, none of the overpriced beer.
23. Defective Yeti: A maze of twisty passages, all alike.
24. All About George: All about George Kelly… you know, if you go in for that sort of thing.
25. Go Fug Yourself: Fugly is the new pretty.
26. kottke.org: Home of fine hypertext products.
27. Slashdot: News for nerds. Stuff that matters.
28. Gawker: Daily Manhattan media news and gossip. Reporting live from the center of the universe.
29. Get Rich Slowly: Personal finance that makes cents.
30. hi5: Who’s in?
31. Fotolog: Share your world with the world.
32. Jezebel: Celebrity, Sex, Fashion for Women, Without Aribrushing.
33. Autoblog: We obssessibely cover the auto industry.
34. Boing Boing: A directory of wonderful things.
35. Perez Hilton: Celebrity Juice. Not from concentrate.
36. DumbLittleMan: So what do we do here? Well, it’s simple. 15 to 20 times per week we provide tips that will save you money, increase your productivity, or simply keep you sane.
37. Lifehacker: Don’t live to geek, geek to live!
38. Gizmodo: The gadget guide. So much in love with shiny new toys, it’s unnatural.
39. John Cow Dot Com: Make Moooney Online with John Cow Dot Com
40. WebWorkerDaily: Rebooting the workforce.
41. The Simple Dollar: Financial talk for the rest of us.
42. TrafficBunnies: Making your hits multiply like rabbits.
43. Mighty Girl: Famous among dozens.
44. The Sneeze: Half zine. Half blog. Half not good with fractions.
45. Buzz Marketing: Because everyone is entitled to my opinion.
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/the-best-website-taglines-around-the-internet/
No tagline for me.
Posted by: gina | Monday, December 14, 2009 at 11:34 PM
This was fantastic! And I'm glad I stumbled onto this AFTER I removed my own "at a time" off of my banner. Whew! Of course, now I'm paranoid that I'm violating other cool factors, so if you'll excuse me, I have to go and get all self-conscious over at my blog. Still, this was hilarious.
Posted by: Margaret | Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 12:26 AM