My senior year of high school, I took a Creative Writing Class.  It was taught by Mr Fuchs, a guy in his 40s with a bushy, 70s porn mustache.  I always got the impression he didn’t like me. 

 A lot of our assignments were about us imagining our future, something I’ve never been good at.  

Last night I ran across one of his assignments, a bucketlist of 25 goals.  Bear in mind, this list was from when I was 17.  As serendipity would have it, I also ran across a list I made when I was 28.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at both and compare.

1997

1. Achieve Critical Acclaim.

2. Publish a book.

3. Whitewater Rafting

4. Perform in front of a large group of people.

5. Wind Surfing.

6. Be rich for a week.

7. Go down a waterfall.

8. Scotland

9. Australia

10. China

11. Japan

12. Greece

13. Own a Dodge Viper.

14. Meet Helen Hunt.

15. Go skiing.

16. Italy

17. Get a motorcycle and discover America.

18. Surfing.

19. Hang Gliding.

20. Sleep for 2 whole days.

21. Have kids.

22. Meet Ronald Reagan.

23. Blow something up.

24. Survive jumping off a bridge.

25. Make a difference.

Most of these are more or less practical and fairly “on-brand” for me.  A lot of it is just a desire to travel, though I’ve always had a hard-on for Australia.  Of course the last few got stupid. I must have run out of ideas.  Not that meeting Ronald Reagan wouldn’t be cool… just impractical.  The one about achieving critical acclaim is fairly disturbing.   I wanted to meet Helen Hunt because I had a huge celebrity crush on her from Mad About You.

I actually have done some of these. I’ve been white water rafting about 6 times.  I’ve performed on stage for large crowds a couple dozen times.  I learned to ride a motorcycle, but have never left the state.  I never jumped off a waterfall, but I did jump off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean.

I’m actually working on a couple of books now.

2008

1. See Australia.

2. Go on a road trip across America.

3. Ride a horse-  Just because.

4. Learn to play an instrument (extra points if it’s a guitar).

5. Be the coolest guy ever

6. Steal a car.

7. Drive a race car.

8. Ride my motorcycle up a famous highway.

9. Bungee Jump off a bridge.

10. Be thin- just once in my life, I would like to be thin.

11. Surf-  just ’cause.  I mean, Zack Morris is my role model.

12. Ski or Snowboard.

13. Experience true, all consuming love-  the kind where you can’t breathe when she’s around, and you hold your breath when she’s gone.

14. Do the impossible.

15. Save a life

16. Make a movie.

17. Publish a novel

18. Throw a truly raging party.

19. Inspire someone- I want to change the course of someone’s life.

20. Get  Into a Bar Brawl.

21. Seduce someone.

22. Make love to a beautiful woman in another country.

23. Spend two months under a vow of silence.

24. get a tattoo.

25. Raise a family.

26. Find my faith again.

27. Be a model for a painting.

28. Meet all my myspace friends.

29. Go on a wild all-night romp across the city that never sleeps, preferably with a cute girl. (courtesy of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist)

30. Fight against impossible odds.

31. Sing on stage with a live band.

32. Publish my own comic.

33. Own my own live music venue and/or comic book store.

Curiously, a lot of these seem more childish than the one from when I was 17.  I don’t want to go to NYC.  I would never bungee jump.  I barely have any friends left from Myspace.  I don’t care about being cool- that was probably a joke listing though.  Had a guitar, didn’t learn to play it or really care.  Not sure getting in a bar brawl sounds as cool in your mid-40s. I may have given up on the tattoo.  

Some of these are good though. Working on publishing the book now.  Trying to make a documentary later this year.  I wouldn’t mind riding a horse.  I’d like to do the roadtrip across America for my 50th birthday.  Maybe end it with a motorcycle ride down the West Coast.  It would be nice to inspire someone or save their life.  And as for the love thing… Who knows?

So what would be my bucketlist in 2023?

1. Find Love, received as much as given.

2. Become a great photographer, not just a good one.

3. Forgive myself and others.

4. Inspire someone. Maybe even more than one.

5. Face fear.

6. Break the rules without feeling guilty.

7. Own some property.

8. Write something that moves people.

9. Make a film.

10. Go to Cuba.

11. Spend a week on an island.

12. Spend a weekend in bed with someone I love.

13. Take that road trip across the country with close friends.

14. Be a better man.