if you're not a penguin...shut it - Floating My OWN Boat v.2

If you could teleport to any time period (past or future), when would it be, and why?

This question and the "what historical figure or person, past or present would you want to have lunch with" question always leave me at a loss. I have no desire to know why someone did something - I find that the reason you had at the time becomes something else when you actually look at it later - or what they thought about anything. People do things and sometimes there's no reason and even if there were, why would I care? I admire people, sure, but I don't think they could tell me anything I don't have to learn myself anyways. This may sound hopelessly narcissistic but all I care about is me. And there isn't anyone out there who could answer any question I would ask - because they'd all be about me.

For the time period thing, the first reaction is to think in terms of "people-time", at least for me. So, Elizabethan times - when they never bathed and carried pomade to cover up everyone's smell? ack, no thanks. Medieval times, when they killed everyone all the time for no bloody reason (hey, I read "Timeline")? Nah. I'd never go near the witch-hunting era - I'd be toast for sure. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" made neanderthals sound kind of romantic but that'd be a NO. I can't even say I'd go back to a time when I didn't know Matt was leaving because I didn't appreciate / understand what I had (because I did) or I could have done it better (because I couldn't have). I wouldn't even want to go into the future. I'm perfectly, insanely, wonderfully happy with right here and right now.

If really pushed, I would return to a hundred different "Earth-thens". A time when the rainforest was whole. A time when the California redwoods weren't a tourist attraction. A time when there weren't 847 extinctions. There's a few animals I'd like to meet and a few places I'd like to experience. But no people.

What's one thing you haven't done that you absolutely must do before you die?

I can never just give a straight answer, can I? For this one, I'm going to give you the list of 20 things that I wrote last year for Matt. The one's in this color are the ones I'm aiming to accomplish in the next two years.

Walk the moors and then have a pint in a small pub in Ireland.

Buy a motorbike.

Succeed in actually making the astral projection thing work.

Build a cabin in the woods, wake up every morning to birdsong and be able to see the stars at night, every night.

Kayak the caves in Nelson, NZ (as well as go to Whispering Falls and Mt. Arthur)

Climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Figure out what I'm good at and love to do and then do it for myself so I never have to work for anyone again. Ever.

Sleep in a hammock and visit the rainforest in Ecuador.
Swim with dolphins in the wild.

~~Quit smoking. For good.~~
Stand with my feet in the headwaters of the Amazon.

Climb a mountain in Tibet. But not a big honking one. I'd actually like to enjoy it.

Meet a lion.
To visit a monastery or a church to hear the monks chant. (Italian, Tibetan, I don't care).

Meet Jen,also.

Have a Stella in London with Pob, a cider with Sal, a port with Vanessa and a pint in Glasgow with PornyBoy.

Go to Java to circumambulate Borbodur .

Be kissed underneath a waterfall. Preferably a warm one.

Become fluent in another language (not French).

Spend time with a crocodile.