~Bucket List

~Originally posted 14 Jan 2017~

I guess at some point I should probably write out the bucket list with my additions and possible subtractions. I will adjust this as needed (hopefully), giving you a little at a time… Just to keep you on your toes. For now, I’ll give you the list of items that I did prior to getting the book.

#3- Visit Las Vegas

#4- Plant a tree

#5- Learn to play an instrument

#6- Learn a new language

#9- Ride in a limo

#11- Write a song

#14- Ride in a helicopter

#15- Meet a celebrity

#16- Ride a train

#18- Get a tattoo

#20- Run a marathon and finish

#21- Go to a concert of a favorite band

Back in 2005 I went to my very first concert which was the “Live 8 Concert” in Philly. We bought train passes which we didn’t need, no one ever came by to check, the overcrowded train was a party in itself. I met a girl at the train station, we hit it off and she gave me her number as we got off of the train. I remember some guy coming up to me at the station and asking me if I wanted to be a model. To this day I’m still not sure if he was a real agent or not, sounded pretty legit at the time but I was/am too insecure and reserved for something like that. The outdoor concert was PACKED! I’m like 90% sure that we passed by a couple or two having sex in the lawn. But they were handing out condoms like they were going out of style so I’m sure that those couples were being safe. My buddies and I spent half of the concert trying to get to the stage and the other half walking back. I we walked the city a little and then hopped back on the train where I ran into the girl from earlier. She was a sniff of a shot away from being blackout drunk by now and had completely forgot who I was. I never called her. Maybe when I go to check this one off of the list I’ll run into her again.

#24- Play a round of golf

#33- Attend a drive in movie

#42- Be in a play

#44- Skateboard

#45- Learn CPR

#53- Sing at a karaoke club

#57- Earn a medal or trophy in a competition

#59- Do a road trip across the USA

#61- Try a martial art

#80- Get into a VIP room/lounge

#90- Go to a rodeo

#103- Try to find a four leaf clover

One random day when I was younger, say 4th grade, my friend Miles and I decided to go hunting for a four-leaf clover. I really have no idea what prompted this. I remember that we made the mistake of doing it in front of his apartment building where there were LOADS of kids laughing at and making fun of us. By “loads of kids” I mean a little more than 10, but when you are young and there are 10 plus kids pointing at and mocking you it seems a little bit more significant. We pretended to find one and all of the sudden the spectators turned into hunters as well. Miles and I lost interest and went about our business somewhere else. I’m not really sure when I will revisit this and check it off of my list, maybe on a picnic… I should probably add picnic to the list.

#108- Attend a toga party

#124- Dance on a bar

#132- Go camping

#135- Dance on a conga line

#137- Give blood

#148- Inner tube down a lazy river

#157- Have a summer romance

#163- Visit a castle

#180- Learn to juggle

#186- Learn to ice skate

#197- Climb a tree

#206- Solve  Rubik’s cube

I learned how to solve one when I was in Afghanistan. II tried to teach myself something on each one of my deployments. My first deployment I learned how to juggle, at some point I plan to move from three objects to four, hopefully soon (look for “BL180”). On the second one, I tried to learn how to play guitar, I failed miserably. Luckily “learn to play an instrument” is in the book (be on the look out for post “BL5”). On this deployment it was the cube. If I remember correctly we got it in a care package. I sat down with it one day, trying to figure it out when my roommate Doc Hagman (Ted) took over. Ted, the corpsman assigned to my section, previously learned how to do it and decided to teach a group of us during out down time. It took a while, but eventually I got it. I practice solving it every once in a while when I get bored. Recently my sister got me a 12 sided Rubik’s megaminx which is what post “BL206” will be about.

#209- Play charades at a party

#214- Start a collection of something

#215- Go on a zip-line

#217- Ride a mechanical bull

#218- Learn survival skills

#221- Jump on a Pogo stick

#227- Teach a class in any subject

#230- Sit in the very front seat of a roller coaster

#237- Live in another country

#243- Pet a stingray

#247- Join a club

Now, I have recently convinced myself that anything that happened prior to buying the book does not count. Hence the “when I complete this task” comments. As I said earlier, I will update this (I’m thinking 4 items each month) and post it somewhere around the same time as one of my weekly-ish blogs.

The Megaminx that my sister gave me.