Bucket List

I love lists. In a typical day, I'll make a dozen different lists that fit whatever I'm thinking and doing for that day. My mom says I do this because I have an analytical mind. I tell her that she's analyzing me by saying that - but I mean...I'd agree with her.

The thing about lists, in general, is this: each item on a list is inherently begging, SCREAMING to be checked off. My freshman year English teacher, Mrs. Shank (the best English teacher I've ever had), told our class that when you make a list, you should make the tasks achievable because checking off a task is an emotional boost. This "bucket list" flies in the face of that advice, to a degree, but my reasoning is as follows: every item on this list is set up to be a kind of "life achievement award," not something flippant like a to-do list for a Saturday. With each task I (hopefully) eliminate from this list, the feeling is that it is a significant milestone being passed. How apt is that description to my list? Eh, some of these goals are altogether too lofty. But I'm not making a bucket list that I want to complete - I hope to have plenty to work on throughout my life.

One last clarification, I wrote this list in spurts, as things popped into my head. I'm basically publishing this to display my inner dialogue - plus, I have way too many notes saved on my iphone, let's be honest. So this list is very "stream of consciousness," and is only edited to clarify my own personal short-hand.

So without further ado, here is my "list of things to do before you kick the bucket" (thank you Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson):

- Run with the bulls in Pamplona Spain
- Live in manhattan
- Do stand-up comedy
- Get a pilots license
- Go to Coachella/SXSW/ACL

- Be a general manager of an MLB team
- Travel to every continent (as an adult)
- Learn an Asian language
- Learn Italian
- Run a marathon
- Run a half-marathon
- Run a 10k
- Run a 5k
- Bungee jump
- Witness the Northern Lights
- Write a book
- Take dance lessons of some sort (to proficiency)
- Watch The Wire
- Watch The Sopranos
- Watch Lost
- Visit Boston
- Go to all 30 MLB stadiums
- Go to the Super Bowl
- Go to the BCS national championship game
- Go to all 4 tennis opens
- Go to The Masters
- Learn how to bake something good from someone else's homemade recipe
- Go to Hawaii
- Go to Old Trafford and see Man U play
- Read all the way through the Bible
- Read a book in its native language
- Release an album of original songs
- Successfully complete the gallon challenge
- Eat the Big Texan dinner in Amarillo
- Climb mount Kilimanjaro
- Go white water rafting
- Break a Guinness world record
- Learn to drive a motorcycle
- Machu Picchu
- See the cherry blossom festival in Washington DC
- Go on a date with Rachel mcadams
- Mardi Gras in New Orleans
- Solve a Rubiks cube
- Get a degree from Stanford
- Get a degree from Harvard

- Read all of Shakespeare

- Read all of Sherlock Holmes

- Watch all of the James Bond movies

- Watch all of the Oscar Best Picture Award winners