Bilbo's Updated Bucket List ... and the New Anti-Bucket List

You all remember what a bucket list is, right? It's the list of things you want to do before you "kick the bucket." I published my initial five-item bucket list back in August of 2008, and updated it several times, last in August of 2017, by which time it had grown to eight items. Now that a few more years have passed, I've decided to pare my list down to four items:

1. Dance at the weddings of all my grandchildren. This was #1 on all previous lists, and remains the #1 item. 

2. Hold my first (at least) great-grandchild and read to him or her. This was #2 on the previous lists, and holds steady. No change. I love my children and grandchildren, and want to see and enjoy as many of my great-grandchildren as I can.

3. Visit Vienna (Austria), Warsaw (Poland), Prague (Czech Republic), and Budapest (Hungary). My original list had only two cities on it: St Petersburg (Russia) and Vienna. St Petersburg fell off the list when we visited there for two days during our 2016 Baltic cruise (back when we were still getting along with the Russians), and I replaced it with Warsaw, Prague, and Budapest. I'm hoping to get to Vienna, and possibly to one or more of the others, later this year.

4. Publish at least one book. This has been on the list since the beginning, but I'm closer now than ever. Last year I finished the first draft of a novel, which I'm still polishing. My nephew Eddie, who is a high school English teacher, has read it and commented positively. Perhaps I can start shopping it around by the end of the year.

These seem reasonable for a guy my age and in reasonable health, so we'll see how it goes.

But wait, there's more!

I recently saw a meme on Facebook asking people to post their anti-bucket lists ... lists of the things they would never do or, having done once, would never do again. I thought it was an interesting thing to consider, and have decided that my initial anti-bucket list would include the following: 

1. Smoke. It's a nasty, dirty, smelly, and unhealthy habit with no socially redeeming qualities. I never have, never will, and don't enjoy being around those who do.

2. Take "recreational" drugs. Reality is bad enough ... why make it worse?

3. Drink to excess. I love a good glass of wine or a well-made cocktail, and will never give those up. The last time I was well and truly drunk was in 1973, and I'm still embarrassed about it*. I'm never doing that again.

4. Vote Republican. I was a Republican for a long time, until I gave up in disgust during the second George W. Bush administration. The nation needs a principled and responsible conservative party to balance liberal policies which are well-meaning but sometimes unrealistic or unsustainable ... but today's Republican party certainly isn't it. If you liked the fascism of the 1940s, you'll love the "conservatism" of today's extreme GOP.

5. Skydive. I see no point in jumping out of an airplane that isn't on fire.

There are a lot more things I could put on this list, but I think I'll save them for another day. What's on your anti-bucket list? Leave a comment and let's share our nevers.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* As far as I know, the only remaining witness to that sorry event is my old friend Toni, who has the grace to remain silent about it.

Bilbo's Bucket List, Updated

The last time I updated my bucket list (the things I want to do/accomplish before I "kick the bucket") was in January of last year. Because times change, I thought I'd once again take a look at my list and see if it still reflects my goals. Let's see ...

1. Dance at the weddings of all my grandchildren. If Ava (the youngest) gets married at 21, I'll be 81, so that's probably still doable, as long as I keep myself in reasonable shape. I'm working on it.

2. Hold my first (at least) great-grandchild and tell him/her stories. No change. I will absolutely see and enjoy as many of my great grandchildren as I can.

3. Visit Vienna (Austria), Warsaw (Poland), Prague (Czech Republic), and Budapest (Hungary). St Petersburg used to be on the list, but since we visited there for two days during our Baltic cruise last year (you can read about it and see some of the pictures here), I've taken it off the list, and replaced it with Warsaw, Prague, and Budapest. I'm pretty sure I'll get at least to Vienna one of these days, because it's not all that far from Germany, where we intend to spend as much time as we can.

4. Take a really long cruise with Agnes, to Australia or across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean or something. Yep ... still on the list. But I'm adding a nice river cruise, either along the Rhein or the Danube (which would help with #3, going by Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). We still love cruising.

5. Dance a waltz with Edyta Sliwinska or Sharna Burgess. I'd still love to dance that waltz with the glamorous professionals, but I already know a lot of wonderful ladies closer to home that I can waltz with more often: beautiful and talented friends like Joy, Lioudmila, Judy, and Leslie (she of the "swoopy" waltz) among so many others.

6. Get another Masters Degree. This used to be "Get my PhD," but since I was unable to narrow down the field of study I want and the topic I'd want to do my dissertation on, I've decided that getting a second Masters degree, probably in either in Political Science or Linguistics, is more doable. Perhaps with a dissertation that connects linguistics and politics ... I have a lot of ideas about that, given the linguistic oddities of the current president. Hmmm ...

7. Publish at least one book. Still on the list. My mother told me once that she thought I had at least one good book inside me, and who am I to disappoint her? I have a lot of notes and ideas for both fiction and nonfiction books, but I need to get serious about the writing.

8. Publish at least one article in a magazine. Still on the list. As I noted last year, this is probably easier than writing a full book, and so maybe I can use it to get myself into the writing habit for the longer book.

So, that's the latest revision of my bucket list. We'll see how it goes. And as for you, Dear Readers, how often do you update your own bucket lists? What have you added or deleted? Leave a comment.

Have a good day. Don't kick the bucket any time soon - I need you all. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Bilbo's Bucket List, Updated for 2016

The last time I updated my bucket list (the things I want to do/accomplish before I "kick the bucket") was back in August of 2010, so I figured the start of a new year was a good time to take a look at my list and see if it still reflects my goals. Let's take a look ...

1. Dance at the weddings of all my grandchildren. If Ava (the youngest) gets married at 21, I'll be 81, so that's probably still doable.

2. Hold my first (at least) great-grandchild and tell him/her stories. Still doable.

3. Visit Vienna (Austria) and St Petersburg (Russia). I'm pretty sure I'll get to Vienna once I've retired, because it's not all that far from Germany. Not so sure about St Petersburg ... it rather depends on whether or not we're getting along with Mr Putin. Perhaps I'll replace St Petersburg with Helsinki or Stockholm (I've been to Oslo and Copenhagen). I'm also adding Warsaw, Budapest, and Prague to the list.

4. Take a really long cruise with Agnes, to Australia or across the Atlantic to the Baltic or something. Yep ... still on the list. But I think I'd also add a nice river cruise, either the length of the Rhein or the Danube (which would help with #3, going by Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). We love cruising.

5. Dance a waltz with Edyta Sliwinska. I'd still love to dance that waltz, but I think I'll add Sharna Burgess as a possible partner, too. Or why not dance with both of them?

6. Get my PhD. This may not be quite as doable any more, as I haven't been able to narrow down the field of study I want and the topic I'd want to do my dissertation on. Perhaps I'll aim just a bit lower and go for a second Masters degree, either in Political Science or Linguistics. Perhaps with a paper that connects linguistics and politics. Hmmm ...

7. Publish at least one book. My mother told me once that she thought I had at least one good book inside me, and who am I to disappoint her? Once I'm retired and have more time to write, this may be one of my first activities.

8. Publish at least one article in a magazine. This is probably easier than the book, and so maybe I'll try this to get myself into the writing habit for the longer book.

So, that's my slightly-revised bucket list for 2016 and beyond. We'll see how it goes. And as for you, Dear Readers, what sorts of things are on your bucket lists? Leave a comment.

Have a good day. Don't kick the bucket any time soon.

See you tomorrow for Great Moments in Editing.

Bilbo

Bilbo's Updated Bucket List

You may recall the concept of the bucket list - the things you intend to do before you die (or kick the bucket, as the idiomatic expression says). It was the subject of a 2007 movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, and I wrote a post proposing my own bucket list back in 2008, which you can read here in case you missed it.

That was then, and this is now. Last week Zandria posted "Zan's Life List," her somewhat more upbeat and positive version of a bucket list - 42 things she wants to do or experience in life (as she puts it, things that "...revolve around learning something I don’t already know, traveling somewhere I haven’t been, or bettering myself physically.") I met Zandria last year at a blogger's get-together organized by Zipcode, and believe that she will do a great job of attacking that list, being young and energetic (she's already knocked one item off the list). She writes that her list "seems abysmally low (in number)," but in comparing Zandria's list of 42 to my own bucket list of five - count 'em - five, I think she's not only witty and attractive, but a grand master (mistress?) of the ability to slam-dunk lazy geezers in training.

So Zandria has inspired me to take a look at my own bucket list and revise it somewhat. Here was my original list:

1. Dance at the weddings of all my grandchildren.

2. Hold my first (at least!) great-grandchild and tell him (or her) stories.

3. Visit Vienna (Austria, not Virginia) and St Petersburg (Russia, not Florida).

4. Go on a really long cruise with Agnes...around northern Europe and the Mediterranean, or through the South Pacific.

5. Dance a waltz with Edyta Sliwinska.

To those five items, I'm adding a few new ones:

6. Get my PhD. I've wanted to do this for a long time, but have been put off by two things: the daunting investment of time and money required, and the gentle scolding I got from a George Mason University professor with whom I interviewed, who told me I needed to do a much better job of more narrowly defining what I wanted to write my dissertation about before he could endorse my application.

7. Publish at least one book. I have a contest of sorts going on with John ... we each want to write a book, and we both are finding it difficult to get started. I foolishly challenged him to a competition in which the first one of us published would be treated to ice cream by the loser. I work better under pressure. This is similar to Zandria's #41: Be published somewhere other than online. I'm not getting into a bet with her, though, because she's younger and more energetic.

8. Publish at least one article (in a newspaper or magazine). I've had letters to the editor (of newspapers) published, but that's not the same thing.

That's just a meager three new items for my list, for a total of eight - only one of which (#8) ought to be reasonably simple to do. Now to see whether I can actually get any of them done.

Wish me luck. Wish Zandria luck, too.

Have a good day. More thoughts later.

Bilbo

P.S. - Agnes and I are headed off on vacation later this morning. I hope to be able to keep the blog up to date while we're on the road, but if posts come later than usual, or if I miss a day or two, hang in there. I'll be back.

B.