Things you should try once in your life
Things you should try once in your life: Flying on a trapeze!
Checked it off the list this weekend.
Yep, that’s really me, conquering an abject fear of heights with help from my very dear, adventure-loving friends. Wheeeeee. What’s the wildest thing you’ve done?
Posted in: Fun
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Wildest thing I have done? Oh, bullriding perhaps or hydroplaning off PCH in Sonoma County, CA falling 100 feet.
I once jumped off an 80-foot cliff into a lake while at Kentucky Christian College for a camp while I was in high school.
It led later to more cliff-jumping, bungee jumping and even skydiving once. It’s an addiction.
Glad to see you enjoyed it, Michelle!
Cool. Good for you, Michelle.
Have you tried sky diving?
Riding motorcycle in So Cal traffic.
Getting ready for Circus of the Stars Michelle?
islandman78 said:
That would scare me more than sky diving!
great job MM! good for you.
I tried this as well at a state fair a few years ago.
my favs? 100 foot cliff dive, bunji jumping from bridges & hotair balloons, sky diving,….
I just LOVE this stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
p.s. where’d you go to do this? (if you care to say online)
I went tandem skydiving a few years back. It was awesome, scary but well worth it.
Good for you, Michelle!
I used to ride my motorcycle 70 mph between cars in downtown San Antonio rush-hour traffic. Which wasn’t really wild. It was suicidal.
Cool!!! Did you do a flip into the net at the end???
Jumping 65 feet off an old concrete dam that had a larger reservoir backed up to the lower side of it. I had to launch myself out as far as I could to clear the dam.
If I hadn’t been drinking tequila I probably wouldn’t have done it.
If we’re talking heights (of which I’m fearful of)…it would have to be walking across an ice-covered Grandfather Mountain Swinging Bridge in the middle of an snowstorm.
Michelle, you have more guts than me in this respect.
Wildest thing?…..
Took acid and sat next to the speakers at a Santana concert and didn’t even know I blew an eardrum till the next day…
ok…. it was 30 years ago.
Maybe that should be in the stupidest thing catagory…
Santa Rosa Reef wall dive to 200 feet. The water beneath you gives you a new understanding of the definition of the color BLACK.
Wildest thing?
Getting shot off a crag in Tajikistan.
She flies through the air with the greatest of ease, that wonderful gal on the flying trapeze…
Wildest thing? I suppose it was staring into the crater of an active volcano in Costa Rica. When the wind shifted and blew sulfur in our direction, I and my fellow tourists beat a hasty retreat.
Once…I hate-glanced at Bonnie Erbe.
Darn near lost an eye. In fact, my eyes still sting to this day; but she asked for it, posting stuff on the internet like she does.
It is to invite hate-glancing.
I’m a pilot but was never really interested in jumping out until I saw a base jumping gliding suit video for the first time. That looks like more thrill than going 140 on a motorcycle!
Wildest thing I ever did? – skinny dipping in Buzzards Bay at night … back in 1975 … in late July having just seen the movie Jaws… (yes, alcohol was a factor in case you need to know).
Nothing is darker at night than water; especially when you’re in it!
I have to say that I couldn’t do that unless it was a final option from something that was worse.
I seem to have acquired a fear of falling during my senior years.
Saying “hello” to a Moray eel who then invited me back to her place for lunch. OK, she was a little bitty eel, but she had big teeth!
congrates Michelle, did you try the nest out just for fun?
I was 14, dove off cliffs at a lake had to have been least 50 plus ft…didn’t bother thinking of how high it was back then. Dove twice, second time head was not in line with my body, ooouch, neck hurt like hell for a few days. I found out why jumping off bridges is so dangerous and deadly. About 5 years later I found out I had acrophobia, must not of had it at 14.
If you put it that way, I would do this before (a) voting democrat, (b) being force to meet our current president, and (c) voting democrat.
There you go.
ooops…”the net out just for…”"
ErinF, all good reason to try the trapeze 1st.
Insert “safety net” jokes here.
Wow, good for you, MM~!
Looks like you might’ve been having a good time as well- well, after that long climb up the ladder.
Wildest thing I’ve ever done I think was ride a freight car of a train, clinging to a ladder for about 150 miles. College daze….
Ugly American
I’ve been on that bridge. I have a picture of me standing right in the middle during the summer of 1983.
I want to go sky diving before I turn 40 in the fall of 2010. My husband…disagrees.
Very not bad! Try skydiving now!
I’m walking-yes, walking-the Portland Marathon this October.
Wild? Possibly.
Crazy?-definitely.
Riding bulls and bareback broncs while in high school. The ladies liked it and the beer was always good.
My young friends and I would ride our bicycles behind the mosquito-fogger truck on Wurtsmith A.F.B. in Michigan. We would go home wheezing. It was in the mid ’60s, so they were probably using DDT.
Like Michelle, I have a death fear of heights that I tried to “cure” by going up in a sailplane (glider) – twice. Pulling the cable release on the glider’s dashboard and feeling the pilot pitch the craft onto its wingtip to circle back into the thermal was quite a thrill…as was the part where I looked down over my left should and realized that save for the shoulder harness and plexiglass canopy there was nothing but 8000′ of air between me and the freshly plowed fields below!
Then there was the time we took a helicopter ride over the lava fields on Hawaii and the pilot stood the chopper on its nose directly over a devil’s skylight that exposed the 2000 degree lava coursing below the crust of cooled lava surface. The cabin instantly become almost unbearably hot and I imagined the news story on that evening’s news about the tourists on the chopper that plunged into a lava flow and were incinerated.
You mean outside of work?
Flashing at a costume party.
I was a professional wrestler once…does that count?
cnredd
Political Wrinkles
Here are some pics for above…
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/off-topic/2351-show-us-your-picture-4.html#post23128
cnredd
Rock climbing for a summer…back when I was gullible and “immortal”. Nothing like, once, being pinned to a shear cliff face with nowhere to go and having a companion talk you down to a safer perch. It was always worth it, though, sitting on top of a mountain and seeing the view. Driving 5 laps at Bristol Speedway, 2 years ago, was pretty wild too.
Diving off a railroad bridge into the part a river that wasn’t a sandbar. Crazy, do not do this.
Dining off rocky ledges into the part of a river that wasn’t rocks. Crazy, do not do this.
Dating that girl named Jodie – she didn’t own a trapeeze though…
Michelle, thanks for sharing this! You’re ready to be a regular member of the Flying Graysons, then partner with some crime fighter in a bat costume. I bet red, green and yellow look good on you.
Should I be bummed that I don’t think I’ve done the wildest thing I’ll ever do yet? My son (at about 5 or 6) got me on some carnival rides that I never thought I’d do. Does that count?
I used to do that in the mid ’50s when I’m sure it was DDT. Also played with mercury and asbestos paper.
Amazing I’m still around in my senior years.
72 static line jumps with a bunch of wild eyed airborne infantrymen and a 90 ft. nighttime rappel from a Blackhawk. Nothing makes you feel more alive than purposely doing something that you know could very well result in your demise. Best years of my life.
I liberated Buchenwald, Treblinka and Auschwitz all by myself. Then, that afternoon, just for kicks, I conquered Egypt with both hands tied behind my back and one eye blindfolded.
/end Clinton-Obama mode
Seriously cool. I tried this at Club Med a year ago, after much trepidation. What a blast! The next day I climbed 18 inches up a rock wall and broke my finger
Sailing in the open sea outside of the Long Beach Harbor in turbulent waters.
Wildest thing I have done?
I stood in harms way for 20 years defending the greatest nation on the planet.
Amen brother.
Nice to see you have a life, Michelle.
My first and only attempt at sky diving was a static line jump at 10,000 feet from a little Cesna. Standing on the wing strut with the wind in my face was the worst part of the experience, as I looked down at the ground and contemplated the future. When the chute opened and I was just floating up there alone enjoying the scenery, the sense of peace and relief was awesome!
And there isn’t much to make you feel more dead than knowing Obamacare will criminalize “risky behaviors” and thus make anyone who does them, (with some exceptions**), ineligible for medical treatment – to save money for … the CHILdren!
**- Exceptions will include being an illegal, illegal drug user, any member of the DNC or ACORN, members of any government worker’s union, anyone on ritalin, etc.
I drove a tank equiped with a mineplow through a mine field while being shot at……tanks don’t turn so well with the plow down………..
skydiving at dusk.
Car surfing..and that should probably actually be filed under dumbest thing I have ever done…road rash is not fun.
The DDT didn’t hurt you. The oil that was used as a carrier is why you were wheezing.
Michelle, is there any audio available with those photos?
Funny sailplane story: A student glider pilot on only her first or second solo flight found that she was too low at the “IP”, (decision point for making it safely back to the airport). So she looked around and saw a nice big farm field close by. She circled it a few times to lose some altitude and set up her approach. As she circled she noticed a big white tent at the edge of the field and a lot of people around it. She landed perfectly and came to a stop only about 50 yards away from the tent off to the side.
There were a couple hundred people all looking at her and, as she got out and headed toward them they were all …applauding her!
And they were all dressed up – it was an outdoor WEDDING! Everyone there just assumed that her arrival was a planned surprise.
I’m not a fan of heights either, but I also believe in attacking those fears head on. Parasailing in St. Thomas … awesome!!
I drive my car on the 101 in LA everyday…does that count as wild? if you don’t think so, then you probably never did it…
Michelle, you have a great bunch of commenters here, and, as with most good blogs, I come here as much for the comment threads as for the article.
I noticed that many folks ask questions of you, and was wondering this: why do you post “conversational” thread topics with catalyst questions posed, and then not take part in the conversations? It’s like inviting a bunch of folks into your livingroom while you’re at work. You’re busy, I know. You’re a media figure, true. I would wager that many commenters also have careers that take up a lot of their time, yet they still come and join the commenting.
I could be wrong, I only read a couple of threads a week, but I’ve seldom, if ever, seen you respond to a question to you posed by one of us in the peanut gallery.
Great site, great work, and you’ve achieved that status known by a few, the mention of whose names alone are commonly known to cause fits of apoplexy, spittle-flecked rage, and near-stroke vein-poppage in Liberals’ foreheads. So, your missing conversation with your loyal fans notwithstanding, rock on.
….And I walked out on Lake Michigan once, when the ice was melting, all the way out to the edge. To look down a cliff of ice, a quarter mile out from the beach, and see chunks of ice the size of large houses bobbing up and down in the rough Lake Michigan water, while other chunks the size of apartment complexes are loudly breaking off into the water twenty feet away….that is a crazy thing. I was 14, maybe 15, and utterly stooopid. You DON’T walk out there in late March when the sun is shining and the temps are in the 50’s. I’ll never forget it, and I’ll never do it again.
Riding my motorcycle home at about 4:00pm on Oklahoma City expressways is crazy. I have the roadrash and the aches and pains to prove it.
I hope to see you, Michelle, on the next episode of “Circus of the Stars.”
Cnredd, the picture in your red suit and your opponents head is…..uh…..could you…..uh….explain that one?
I’m told I once ran with scissors at age seven.
Good for you, Michelle.
Wild often goes hand-in-hand with stupid (except when a safety net is involved; that would be smart), and stupidity often grabs the back bumper of youth—which looks an awful lot like a bus—at a stop sign on a snowy night then skeetching in tennis shoes for several blocks. I’ve got too many examples of wild stupidity to list. Most involved driving motorized vehicles, exploring unknown areas, climbing tall objects, jumping on and riding moving objects (as alluded), various intoxicants, and/or loud music.
Now that I’m older and wiser, I just want to jump out of a plane or off a tall bridge someday. That’s all.
Wait, I sometimes want to do that other stuff, too. Well, most of that other stuff. And my frageelay lower-ay vertebrae may disagree with the rest.
But now, it’s all about safety first(!), other than those instances when I’m feeling younger and more stupider again, which occur less frequently by the year. I’m at an age where I actually start to wonder if I should be wearing earplugs when I stand in front of an amplifier.
When I was 5 I stuck a piece of metal into an electrical outlet and blew all the fuses in the house, frying my hand and burning 2 holes thru the floor. It was somewhat wild.
That would be “skeetches,” for the grammatical sticklers out there like myself.
Got married. Wild in bad way though.
Purposely jumping into the ocean for a shark dive, with ~30 sharks, some 8 – 9 feet long, swarming around the boat. (DH earned a severe swat from me when he grabbed one by the tail.)
Rightside and OT – you win! (Thank you, from all of us.)
By a mile.
Well, I feel kinda lame.
Uh, I actually rode rollercoasters at King’s Island a few years ago. I made my best friend go with me on each one and I wouldn’t do any that went upside-down, but it was still a pretty big accomplishment for me.
Oh, and I rode on a motorcycle with my then-boyfriend. I’m not a motorcycle fan, but it made him happy.
Congratulations, Michelle!
As for me, I’m not comfortable sharing the wildest things I’ve done, at least not in public…
I have helmed a small craft through some pretty intense storms, including getting away from a water spout.
Done some cliff diving.
Plenty of mountain climbing, although not real “rock wall” kind of stuff. Still, more than a few occassions where a mis-step meant “sayonara.”
Driven faster than 150MPH.
And, recklessly, I have flown coach to Europe on several occassions…
Well it isn’t exactly “wild” but I have been hot air ballooning twice. For anyone who hasn’t tried it, I highly recommend it. Interesting & fun experience.
Let’s be honest – none of these so-called daring deeds match what millions of Americans did – install a completely unqualified, culturally foreign, machine politician in the White House.
Home Run!!!
Raised 4 teen aged girls all at the same time.
I also bet AJ $5.
Living on the wild side!
I also got over my fear of heights and ladders by joining the fire department.
Cruising NE Oklahoma City in a gorilla suit…
Got my BMW K100RS motorcycle up to 135 on the autobahn once. Other than that, Parasailing during water survival training where you come down into the water, inflate your raft, use your signal mirror, then get picked up by a helo. Fun times.
Errah, votin for McCain in the last election, shoulda stayed home!
Driving 120 in a 1970 T-Bird (454 w/ 4-barrel carb) down a straight country road. Once I slowed down to 70, I was so “velocitized” that it seemed like I could walk faster than the car was going.
Riding a skateboard full tilt down a spiral exit ramp at an office building parking garage (after sneaking in).
Riding tandem on one pair of water skis with my friend. After we splattered, the only thing we could think to ask the guys in the boat was: “Did you get a picture of it?” They did, and my kids love to pull it out to remind me how stupid I was when I was young.
My friends and I were “Jackass” before “Jackass” was “Jackass”. I can’t believe I survived my adolescence.
Okay without using any of the stuff I did in the normal course of events for my previous job with Uncle Sam, it would either have to be skydiving, which I no longer do, or riding shotgun with the person who would become my wife as she laid down a run at the local drag strip in her ‘69 Camaro.
And they called me the crazy one!
Hearing that there were white tipped reef sharks in a cave on the Kona coast, I scuba dived into the cave and met them coming out. They just wanted to get out and be left alone so in hind sight, it probably wasn’t that daring.
I also drove the California Hwy system through San Francisco in an RV towing a trailer with Oregon plates. I think it was the Oregon plates that pissed people off so much but it may have been my audacity.
Drank Everclear without mixing it and near an open flame.
I had 1975 Camaro I figure I put more than a thousand miles on at over 100 mph. On one of my favorite highways was a sign indicating a certain town was 16 miles away. I would go there and back in about 15 minutes.
Went to a hotel with a Texas basketball team.
Winner!
Bullets, sharks, and sunburned British tourists can’t hold a candle to this.
I’ll leave out the stupid crazy things but I did go skydiving. Loved it but it triggered an abject fear of heights that I didn’t have before. The experience of freefalling is terrifying but when that chute opens, you’ve never felt more alive. I’d probably do it again on a dare but…
Skydiving was a great experience. However, I think I was way more scared walking past Maxine Waters’ office door in the House Office Building.
Rented a plane on the Big Island of Hawaii and flew Mr. K around (and outside) the main vent of Kilauea Volcano.
Helicopter pilots had fun on the radio with this ‘wahine’ pilot.
Better stay away from that Everclear!
I rappelled off the Regency Suspension Bridge at night.
Another time, as I went to pick up a horeshoe from the horeshoes court, I heard the breeze from a horseshoe as it zoomed past my head. They weren’t the rubber horseshoes.
After marching in the homecoming parade one year, I hitched a ride back to my car on one of the floats. As we approached my car, I decided to jump off. After getting airborne, I realized that the float was moving faster than I had thought… a LOT faster. Oh, yeah, I was also holding my trumpet at the time.
Yet another time, a bunch of us were playing hide and seek at the rocks by the local lake. I found a perfect hiding spot under a large rock. I contorted myself to get in there without thinking if I would be able to get out. After my neck started cramping, I was grateful to get found. Also grateful that I was able to contort my way back out (and that there had been no nasties hiding in there).
No alcohol was ever involved, just some ADD.
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention in that whole rappelling thing that I have a bit of vertigo.
Drank flaming shots of Southern Comfort in the upper branches of a tree with my best friend.
Important safety tip: Don’t do this wearing a moustache.
This topic has me thinking about things from my own past. And it seems like so many here, there are different degrees of “wild”. Some that border on foolish. Some that were just downright stupid.
From when I was a kid, I don’t know, playing chicken with a city bus on a bicycle. Yea, looking back it qualifies as stupid. And yes, the bus won.
From my days as a Marine? No idea. There’s to much to choose from.
More recently? Running Donner Pass in the dead of winter with less than 2,000 pounds in the box. Driving into a storm so bad visibility went to nothing in the blink of an eye. With wind so bad that while I was grossed out at over 79,000 pounds I was nearly blown off the road. Twenty minutes of sheer terror that felt like twenty hours.
I am curious though, what are kids today going to talk about twenty years from now? When they are so coddled and overprotected, what fun is there? “Oh man, I was sitting on the couch with the play station and this wicked demon came after me…”
On June 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am, twofoot said:
Amen.
Growing up in the 1980s seems like Tom Sawyer stuff compared to today’s kiddos.
Tequila, Ensenada (Hussongs Cantina), a few navy buddies and 1/2 sticks of dynamite (found at the local pharmacia)…..wow…those where the days!
Walking around Johannesburg at night–without a weapon.
Wildest things? Skydiving…glad I did it, but will never do it again. And, my favorite….ZeroG! I would do that again in a heartbeat!
I would never set the cruise control on my Firebird, sit on the top of my seat with my upper body out the T-top, steering with my feet. Nope, never.