In reality there are very few things you actually have to do before you die.
They include: ring your mum more often; recycle; watch The Book of Mormon.
Richard Osman, The Guardian (5 Oct 2013)

Osman says it all in his articles on The 100 top things you honestly don’t need to do before you die.

In his review of various articles and books, Richard Osman found, among many other things you apparently have to do before you die :

50 boutique hotels you must visit, 100 ways to make your garden or your children happy, and 5,000 fonts you can’t PowerPoint without.

His response to all this advice? The 100 top things you honestly don’t need to do before you die.

You must never swim with dolphins. If they ever want to swim with you, I’m sure they’ll let you know. Forget Machu Picchu; the sunset on the west coast of Scotland is as beautiful as any you’ll see in the world, and it’s really nearby. And by all means go kiteboarding above the Andes, but that might be the thing you do literally just before you die. And the Guardian would miss your Soulmates subscription.

What’s left? – Call your mother more often. Recycle. Watch The Book of Mormon.

I went to New York last week to visit the Success Rehab Centre who had invited me a long time ago when they had heard about Pádraig’s accident and our efforts to establish a rehab centre in Ireland. And to visit Prof. Joseph J. Fins, the man who wrote the book everybody interested in severe Acquired Brain Injury should read, Rights Come To Mind.

There was one free afternoon. So we went to Times Square and got very heavily discounted tickets to this musical that apparently has been around Broadway for more than 15 years.

It was the funniest 2 hours I had in a long time, perhaps ever.

The videos on the songs, such as Hello or I Believe, cannot really capture all the hilarious and political incorrectness and irreverence of the musical by the makers of Southpark. But they will give you an idea.

It is hard to believe, but true, that one of the many stops of The Book of Mormons US American Tours was Salt Lake City.

One song, Turn It Off, is my personal favourite.

I got a feelin’ that you could be feelin’A whole lot better than you feel todayYou say you got a problemWell, that’s no problemIt’s super easy not to feel that way.

Turn it off like a light switchJust go, clickIt’s a cool little Mormon trickWe do it all the time.

It answers, in a very funny, satirical way, one the big questions I haven’t found an answer to: how is it that people manage to ignore what they know is wrong – and they could change for the better?

Well, they just turn it off like a light switch, a cool little trick the Mormons must have taught the rest of the world.

The three days we were away from home and from Pádraig were incredibly busy. Full of impressions, emotions, and experiences. Everything worked out. There were no critical emergencies.

The worst thing that happened at home was that our car got a flat tyre when Pádraig was on his way to Vicar Street to see one of his favourite bands, Bell X1. His sister and friends were there to quickly deal with what was a bit of a difficult situation in a most efficient way. They handled the situation better than we would ever have been able to.

The world does not collapse on any of us when we are apart for a few days. We believed. Now we know.