Before I'm 31

I go to check out the blog and it's at exactly 1900 views?! 100 away from my goal of 2000 in the first 2 months! It has to be fate; time to write an entry!

Oh, and as you can see below, I've decided to experiment with adding a picture to each entry.

When I added the video the other day it seems to add some variation to the blog, and I thought it added a nice touch.

So I'm adding a little picture that in some way has to do with each goal, at least for the next week to see how I like it. Please let me know with any feedback.

Today it is a picture of the car I drive. At least the same model and color of the car I drive (mine may have a large dent under the front left light...).

Learn to drive a stick shift

This is a bit sad considering I drive a sports car that people constantly tell me I "should've gotten in stick", but instead I bought an automatic.

I don't know if I'll ever buy a stick shift car considering it just seems like a ton of work, and I enjoy relaxing while I drive (when I'm not changing the music, talking on my cell phone, texting, and reading a book while driving- of course). But in most other countries they only have stick shift cars for rent (from my limited experience and via word of mouth) so this seems like a skill I need to acquire in the near future.

Renting a car and driving through the remote countryside of some beautiful destination (Ireland, New Zealand, etc...) sounds like something I would love to do. So learning a stick shift seems like a very practical goal for my future.

I know some of my friends from high school might be contending that I did learn the basics of a stick shift while messing around in a parking lot. And yes, these allegations are true. However, I want to learn to drive a stick shift to the point where I am comfortable driving anywhere (highways, back-roads, you get the idea...) rather than only around a parking lot at 10 mph.

I hope you have a great day and don't spend it in the library, like I am.

3 days away from April- can we get to 2,000 page views?!?

I would love to have an average of 1,000 page views per month. Not that page views are at all a reason why I made this blog, but it's always nice to know that my goals aren't falling on deaf ears. Always nice to know that people are actually reading.

Climb a lighthouse

Just cause. They look pretty cool and I like being on the water, so I'd probably like the view from a lighthouse.

Lots of work tonight, so short entry. Hope the next 2 hours of your life somehow change it forever!

Meditate in a Buddhist temple

I'm not a very religious person, but spirituality is a whole different realm.

While I could obviously go off on an extremely long winded tangent here, I have far too much work to do today.

I'm old now, so when I go out on Saturday night (following my team's extremely disappointing loss to UCONN) I tend not to recover as quickly. Thus I didn't start my immense amount of school work till 3 p.m. and that is why at 5:40 I haven't gotten nearly as far as I'd hoped.

Not to mention I haven't returned any of the emails I planned to or even applied to a job all weekend.

I could really use some relaxation time, and that is what made me think how nice it would be to meditate.

And where better to relax and clear my mind then in a Buddhist temple?

Guess my desire to have a moment to think clearly is having an impact on my bucket-list, no surprises there!

That is what I love about making this list, some days I feel like jumping from mattress to mattress in a store, and the next I feel like meditating; but regardless of how I feel that day I make a goal that I plan to do before I'm 31. And I will never look back and exclude a goal because I was in a "weird" mood that day, that's what makes this list fun for me. While I was in the mood to create a goal, someday I'll be in the mood to accomplish that goal.

And hopefully I can accomplish this goal in the near future, because relaxing sounds like a dream come true right now.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Go mattress hopping

Admit it, you always wanted to do it.

Simply go to a mattress store and hop from bed to bed.

Why not?

So I get thrown out out a mattress store; life goes on.

And it's time to give in to my childhood desires, and hoping from mattress to mattress is absolutely one of them.

While it's obviously important to mature and the years go on, I don't think I'm quite ready to "grow up" just yet.

So putting up goals like this helps ensure my inner-child is always a part of who I am.

Scared to say that more goals like this may arise in the near future.

Oh, and don't worry, I'll defiantly post a video of me accomplishing this goal.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you watch some college basketball today because there are some great games to come.

I read a lot of other blogs. I've read even more, usually for inspiration, since I started this one.

But this blog (click here) isn't for inspiration, it's just hilarious.

However, I do think it does help keep your life in perspective. It'll make you realize how pathetic your complaints really are since there are obviously people suffering immensely all over the world, while we suffer "first world problems". Defiantly worth a read, so check it out.

Now onto today's goal.

Walk an overnight marathon

I'm not a runner, so marathon's don't really appeal to me. And I've heard the whole argument about "proving to yourself you can do it" and all that about why people run marathons. But I prove to myself that I can do things everyday, running 26.2 miles just doesn't sound fun to me.

But walking 26.2 miles through the darkness of night? Now that sounds like an adventure!

Hopefully I do this for a cause and can help raise money for a worthy charity while accomplishing this goal.

Defiantly keep you posted on when I find an overnight marathon, and what charity it supports.

Thanks for reading, one more goal to go to get all caught up!

Sell tickets for higher than face value

Basically buy tickets then go to an event on gameday and sell the tickets. Scalp tickets, but be on the selling side rather than the buying side.

Suggested by a good friend of mine the other day and sounded fun.

Little out of the box goal to keep you on your toes while I catch up on my goals this Saturday morning.

Thanks for reading

Notice all the new junk on the sidebars of the blog?!? Check them out!

<----- All that stuff!!!
<----- Some of my favorite posts, let me know if you think I missed any!

I also added a "search" bar if you are looking for a specific word, or wanted to see if I had made a certain goal already.

There is also a new subscription by email service, because I wasn't a huge fan of the old one.

Added a pageview counter, so you are reminded you aren't the only person looking at this blog!

And finally I fixed the "compiled list" tab up at the top (above these entries), so now there is no more space between the start of the page and the list.

If you haven't checked out the tabs at the top I would really appreciate it! The "Why I Am Doing This" tab gives a quick description of what inspired me to create this blog, and the "Compiled List" is a great place to go for a concise list of every goal I've come up with so far. Also check out the "Blog Archive" on the left side of the page (scroll down a bit) to view any of my past entries, organized by date.

Now to today's goal!

Send a message in a bottle

No clear inspiration for this goal, just in the mood for a simple one.

Sometimes it's nice to remind ourselves that some of the simplest tasks can be the most rewarding.

Hope this act fits that description.

Thanks for reading and please let me know whether or not you like the new additions to the site

Click here to see the song I have become completely obsessed with

It's a great song done by an amazing street performer.

This almost inspired me to make today's goal to be "perform on a street for money", but I've actually done that before. Feel free to ask me about it sometime if you're interested, funny story. And we actually made about 10 dollars, it was fun!

Today's goal stays on my theme of political activity, as well as actions rather than words.

Protest something

I don't agree with every protest I see on TV. Far from it actually, but I do believe some are just, and most protests can really have an impact on our world. Power in numbers is a truly fascinating concept.

I know when the cause comes along that I am passionate enough about that I will know, and that is when I will join a protest. Hopefully it'll lead to some change in our world, but I don't want to get ahead of myself!

Thanks for reading, and I'll catch up with today's goal later.

http://www.ted.com/talks/david_brooks_the_social_animal.html

Interesting link of a long but fascinating discussion by David Brooks, a writer for the NY Times on (among other things) the shallowness of our population. The first ten minutes are worth watching, after that he lost my interest until about a minute was left in the video. But if you have 10 free minutes I highly recommend it.  I'm not going to say you should watch this instead of Jersey Shore, but I would defiantly recommend skipping the last 10 minutes of "The Real Housewives of (insert a city I never want to live in thanks to this show).

Inspired by this video, and with my re-fueled passion for helping those who are striving for an education, today's goal came easily.

Volunteer as a tutor

Committing to being a teacher is something that may eventually lay in my future. Whether it is helping with the education of our youth in poor or less fortunate areas of our country, or traveling abroad and teaching English to students driven to compete in our globalized economy, I may be a teacher (in the formal, professional sense of the word). But for now I want to ensure that I help with furthering education, even if I do pursue another career path.

I have taken so much from the education system throughout my 22 years. I have been fortunate enough to be taught by some amazing and truly inspirational teachers, and I hope to pass this passion for education on to the next generation of students.

I have no idea when or where this will be, but I'm extremely confident when the right time comes I'll be ready to embark on the arduous task of educating our youth.

I can only dream to inspire a student to the degree that (a certain select few) teachers have inspired me.

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

It is a quote I live my life by, and one that drives this goal.

If I want there to be a higher quality educational system in the world, why not start by ensuring the smartest person I know is part of that process.

That person is me.

Son, brother, student, writer, friend, research assistant, intern, travel buddy, boyfriend, grandson, nephew, idealist, political ambiguoust... whatever title you associate with me, I hope to add tutor to that list.

Hopefully "inspiration" follows soon after.

Thanks for reading and have a better day than the only "ok" weather in Tucson.

See the Northern Lights

Don't know too much about the Northern Lights except the pictures are amazing and it seems like something I would love to see.

Nature producing beautiful colors in the sky? Count me in!

I've lost touch with my passion for nature. After seeing the Grand Canyon again and hiking the past few weekends I've realized I need to incorporate nature into my goals more often. So here's my start.

Thanks for reading, and I strongly encourage clicking the link on the Northern Lights because the pictures do not look real. Truly amazing stuff.

Take a cooking class

I'm starving right now.

I'd love to know how to cook different foods and impress people, including myself, with my ability to cook.

So what's the best way to learn new stuff? Take a class.

I've taken 100s of classes over the course of my life. I'm an expert of sitting there for 50 mins and learn something I can then regurgitate on a test in the coming weeks or months.

But taking a class on something you really care about is different. Those classes have come infrequently over throughout my academic career, but those are the classes I can proudly say I value.

I hope a class on cooking I can add to the latter list.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed reading this entry as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Drive Highway 1

I like to do some research on these goals before I add them to my list. Maybe college has finally paid off, but I like to do a bit of background reading before committing myself to an activity before I turn 31. So since I skim these pages before adding them to my list, I figure at least a handful of people must wonder what I'm talking about when I add something like "highway 1" to my list, so I've begun to link descriptions. They'll probably just be Wikipedia pages, like the page attached above; so from now on if you don't know what I'm talking about when I write a goal just click the goal and it'll take you to a description page.

Just part of the ongoing evolution of this blog. Hope it helps a few readers.

Now to the goal.

I've driven on a lot of highways on my cross country journeys, and sometimes been on Highway 1 in California, but I've never driven the entirety of it. I'm sure some of my California readers may have accomplished this, so if you have I would love to hear some feedback on it.

But I've always wanted to drive this road, so finally putting it in writing makes a whole lot of sense.

Defiantly hoping to combine this goal with my goal to ride a motorcycle on a long trip. Think this road may be the perfect location. So keep you posted if I can accomplish this in the near future.

Grow a plant I'm proud of

Something that blooms. Something that people look at and are impressed by. Not a cactus that sits by my windowsill and never needs watering, or a flower that I bought already bloomed at the store.

I want to buy a seed, plant it, and put time and effort into growing a plant I can proudly display to visitors.

Having a "green thumb" would defiantly be a useful skill, so I plan to start perfecting mine by growing my first plant.

Thanks for reading. I hope this is the day you hoped it would be!

Explore a lava tube

Don't know what it is? Click the words "lava tube" above and it'll take you to the Wikipedia page.

Volcanoes fascinate me, but only from afar.

Up close they absolutely terrify me.

Dying in a freak volcano eruption is not exactly how I envision myself going, so being around active volcanoes is not going on this to-do list anytime soon.

But being in a tunnel lava used to flow through back when the volcano erupted defiantly sounds like a riveting experience. The pictures of these "tubes" look amazing, and they only exist in a few places in the world. So I be extremely proud to have visited (at least) one.

Halfway caught up already! More to come!

Ride a segway

Do I always have to have a reason?

No.

These things are awesome looking, and riding one looks like a ton of fun.

That's reason enough!

Deal with it. I'm a week behind, time to write some shorter entries.

Thanks for reading!

Do a wine tasting

I like wine. And I like tasting different kinds.

Also people who do these also seem cultured. Which is something I would love to be.

Doesn't it sound so classy?

"What are you up to on Saturday?"

"Oh nothing really. Just headed up north for a wine tasting."

Wow, I felt classy just writing that. Truly amazing.

So fusing my desire to be cultured, combined with my passion for wine, this seems like an ideal goal.

May have to be a Saturday soon!

Go to a Duke vs. UNC basketball game

In case you didn't know, I grew up a Duke fan.

Not a great explanation for why, just started liking Duke ever since they made it to the Championship Game vs. UCONN. Growing up in CT everyone was cheering for UCONN, so I decided to be a bit rebellious and cheer on Duke.

Duke lost the game, but cheering them on stuck with me.

Because of the weather (and ONLY the weather) I chose to go to school in Arizona, but still have a special place in my heart for the Blue Devils.

And watching the NCAA tournament non-stop for the past 2 1/2 days has made me realize how much I really do love college basketball.

So this goal is a must do in the near future.

Trying to catch up as quickly as I can! Thanks for reading.

40 goals already! It's amazing, time flies! Can't wait to come up with 320 or so more! Now, onto goal #40...

Visit an abandoned ghost town

The idea of people abandoning a place they call home is amazing to me. I'm sure it was devastating for people to have to leave their homes, but I think it would be pretty amazing to see how these towns were preserved today.

And by ghost town I'm not talking about the Hollywood redone ghost tows like Old Tucson; I'm talking about towns out in the middle of nowhere that were completely abandoned for one reason or another.

I read about a town in Pennsylvania that had to be abandoned because coal mining was causing gases to rise out of the ground that were harmful to people if they chose to live within the borders of the town. So everyone had to move out, leaving the streets of the town completely deserted. That is the kind of ghost town I want to seek and find!

Thanks for reading and have an amazing Friday!

Go to a drive in movie theater

Because I've never been and they look cool!

Just very retro in my opinion and I was raised in a family that loves retro stuff, so this should be no exception.

I also haven't been to a movie in theaters in forever, so think I may knock this goal off the list in the near future.

Thanks for reading and catching up with the last entry in the next few minutes!

Spring break has finally started! If you're on break I hope you have an amazing one and if you've gone on break already I'd love to catch up and hear how it was. If you don't have spring break, sorry, that'll be me in the near future, so I absolutely can sympathize.

Inspire someone to create their own bucket list.

I realize how much I love making this blog, setting goals for myself and accomplishing those goals.

So naturally I would love to share this same feeling with others.

Now someone step up and start your own list so I can mark this goal off mine!

Another distraction from my studying? Don't mind if I do!

This is a concept that a friend of mine did a few years back while on a hike in the upstate New York and I have wanted to do ever since.

Make a geocache

I'm sure most people don't know what a geocache is. I didn't either until I saw him do it and did a little researched. The site is linked here (click me!)

 Basically geocaching a big game of lost and found, or hide and go seek. People use GPS devices to document their exact location, then bury (or hide) something in nature, in hopes that someone else will decide to embark on the challenge to find their hidden object. They are usually placed along hike trails so when people would normally just go out to enjoy a nice day in the outdoors they now have an added challenge or excursion, to find a geocache.

I obviously have no idea what I'm going to put in mine, or where I'm going to put it. But it seems like a fun concept and I can't wait to do some more research on it!

Speaking of research, back to Minority Rights in American Politics, the midterm I have tomorrow night...

Thanks for reading and I hope your night is more enjoyable than mine!

BREAKING NEWS: Ok, so sorry to disappoint but I didn't complete another goal. BUT, I did finally figure out how to solve one of the biggest problems with this blog. Annoyed that you have to check 100 times a day to see if I sent an update or not? Well problem solved!

Ok, this is craziness. Not exactly something I plan on doing anytime in the near future, but I thought it was a funny article someone shared with me earlier, check it out.


My goal today comes from another distraction come Monday mornings in the library.


Send a postcard into Postsecret. <--- link to the site is the name...


This is an amazing site where people anonymously send in postcards confessing secrets they, for one reason or another, want to get off their chest. 


The site has a much more eloquent way of sharing their message, but I think it is an amazing concept and seems to be extremely therapeutic for people. After years of reading other people's posts I figure I should eventually contribute. 


If nothing more, at least to give someone a reason to be distracted in the library on a Monday morning. 


Another post coming in the next 20 mins...

This one is an easy decision for me.

After sitting in the library for the past 3 hours and realizing how little I really get done in the library compared to the extraordinary amount of time I spend here the sad reality is that the internet is too much of a distraction for me to avoid. Therefore, there is only one logical conclusion to this conundrum:

Stay off Facebook for a month.

Twitter? Don't be ridiculous, I still need the news, but Facebook is something I need some time away from.

98% of my time spent on Facebook is a complete waste of time. It is spent reading people's pointless status updates about their monotonous days, or weeding through pictures of my friends with people I don't know in hopes of finding out what they're up to these days.

But honestly, these goals could easily be accomplished through a simple phone call, text or email. So rather than wasting far too much time each and every day it is time to give Facebook a break.

But not right now of course... Just some time before I'm 31.

Thanks for reading. I'll be catching up on the rest of the posts by the end of the day.

BREAKING NEWS: FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE SHORT HISTORY OF THIS BLOG I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED ONE OF MY GOALS!

Did I cheat? Some experts have said yes, but I think most would agree that it's my list, so I make the rules. And I don't think I cheated...

But yes, it is true that I created a goal of "taking a standby flight" the other day after learning about Airtran's standby program where students (anyone ages 18-22) can fly to a smorgasbord of different cities, all for less than $100 one-way. It's a pretty amazing deal, and I decided to act upon it yesterday by taking a standby flight from phoenix to milwaukee to surprise my girlfriend for her birthday/ our one year anniversary.

The whole standby thing was really easy and I got a great deal on a flight that would've cost well over 2x as much, so accomplishing this goal defiantly paid off! I even got a window seat!

Oh, and my girlfriend was really surprised thanks to her amazing friends who not only picked me up from the airport but also convinced her that it wasn't weird that my phone was shut off for 4 hours, it had probably just died. My plan for the surprise wasn't flawless, but I'm glad it worked out!

Ok, onto my next goal.

Go to a Yankees vs. Red Sox Game

My favorite sport growing up was baseball and my favorite team was the Yankees. So after watching 89, 000 of these Yanks vs. Sox games I think it is about time I go to one.

Maybe I'll be bold enough to show up in my "Mantle" jersey in Fenway.

Any of my friends or family from Boston willing to sit next to me?

Thanks for reading and have the best day ever!

Climb a mountain over 10,000 ft

Just to clarify, I mean where the peak is at over 10,000 ft elevation.

This has been a goal of mine for while, so about time I put it down in writing. The most frustrating part of this goal is how close I've gotten. I've climbed two mountains with a peak less than 500 ft away from 10,000, and I've also climbed a mountain with a peak over 10,000 ft BUT we had to turn back because of bad weather.

So close, yet never accomplished. So now I'm adding this goal to the blog to make sure I accomplish it.

One of these days I'll head north to Colorado and climb one of those monsters. And when I do then you, my readers, will be the first to know!

Catching up on my goals! One more left to do!

Did you know if you rub garlic on the bottom of your foot you can taste it in your mouth hours later?

This is an unconfirmed rumor at this time, but it is also the most awesome thing I have heard all day. So I absolutely have to try it.

Rub garlic on the bottom of my foot and test if I can taste it hours later.

Sorry for the random, and pretty pointless goal, but a friend told me she heard this garlic shenanigans was true and I told her I needed to try it for myself. So if I plan on trying something I might as well add it to my list!

Thanks for reading.

Happy March! You know what March means? I've successfully done this blog for the entire month of February! I know, all of my critics out there are saying, "But February is the shortest month". Yeah, I hear you, but I'm still glad to get one month under my belt; it's a start!

Carve my name into a tree

This goal doesn't really have an obvious reason.

I could go off on a tangent about being remembered, about having a life that means something after we're all gone. To leave your legacy, blah blah blah...

But to be honest, I have a lot of work and am heading to bed early.

So for tonight I'm sad to say this is all you get.

Have a great night and a pleasant tomorrow!