Bucket List

[maximzub]

Bumping an old thread. This will make me think very hard, so here we go.

Big things I want to do (most of which are normal to want):
- Graduate a four-year college with all A's and B's.
- Have a steady paying job that I don't hate. I'm currently going down the path of electrical engineering with a slight preference towards computer programming, but if it just happens that I make it big in music, I will also be very happy.
- Program something that is useful for people other than just me.
- Buy my own house, and not be paying off mortgage for years and years.
- Buy my own car. Hopefully they still sell stickshifts by the time I look for a new car. Otherwise, I'll keep my CC as long as I can.
- Write a book. Specifically one of two kinds:
- A memoir. I might want to start that now so that I don't forget stuff along the way. Although, knowing myself, I probably will still remember every single detail of things that happened many years ago.
- A fictionalized version of my early life, inspired by dreams I've had while asleep. I've already started this one, but with other things I want to do, that has sadly fallen by the wayside.
- Record an album all by myself.
- Play shows with a band comprised of my best friends. Hey, one can dream!
- Play a song I wrote about someone in front of the person I wrote it for. Surprisingly, I haven't ever done this. The closest I've gotten to it was playing it on stage, then sending the video of it to that person.
- Learn to cook something decent. I have a great teacher to start with, at least (my mom).
- Be in a steady relationship with a girl I love. Even if it doesn't last, I can at least say it happened. Marriage is optional. Kids are even more optional. Both would be very nice though. If I do have kids, I would prefer a daughter over a son first so I can experience what it's like living with a young girl in the house, seeing as I never had a sister of my own (or a brother either). I even already have first and middle names picked out for her: Elizabeth Addison. You can guess where I got the names from.
- Make up with someone I've been distant from for years that was once a big part of my life, and reach a mutual understanding with each other.

People I'd like to meet (not in order of preference or anything):
- Michael Poulsen and Rob Caggiano from Volbeat.
- Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall, and Scott Phillips from Alter Bridge. (I know I've already met Mark, but I'd like to actually get the chance to have a conversation with him.)
- Lzzy Hale, Joe Hottinger, Josh Smith, and Arejay Hale from Halestorm. (I guess a hug from Lzzy should be the last thing on my bucket list, because I'll probably die from happiness.)
- Ben Burnley from Breaking Benjamin.
- Dustin Bates from Downplay/Starset.
- James Hetfield from Metallica.
- Wolfgang Van Halen.
- At least one of the very active members of TABN. You guys have all been my third support group that I needed (along with my family and the friend circles I've been in in places where I've lived), and it would be great if I could meet any one of you in person. Tenacious, Greg, Crumbso, Zaz, Mara, Kev, Schulzy, Shea, Timo, Dolo...the list goes on and on. Bonus: make it be some sort of TABN-con where we all get together at an agreed location, chat about life, nerd out about AB, and jam some music together for those that are interested.

Places I'd like to go:
- Surprisingly, I can't think of any right now. I've been to a lot of interesting places, and I don't know if there's any more places that I'm just dying to see. I will say that Delicate Arch probably was on my bucket list, and I hiked up to it in 2021.

Bands I want to see live that I haven't seen yet (or that I have but not headlining):
- Volbeat headlining. (It will happen this summer!)
- Halestorm. (I will see them this summer, but headlining will have to wait until later.)
- Tremonti headlining.
- Downplay. (I doubt this one will happen unless we somehow convince Dustin to bring them back.)
- Starset.
- Metallica. (Specifically to see them play For Whom The Bell Tolls and Master Of Puppets, since they didn't play them when I did see them.)
- Boston.

If anybody (Kev) asks why I don't have sports games on here, it's because I'm not all that interested in sports. However, that's not to say they wouldn't have been on my bucket list. I have seen one NBA game and two MLB games, as well as at least ten national handball tournaments (most of which my dad participated in), so I'm content with that. Also, I can say that I played one year of a sport: basketball in 4th grade.

I see that a common list entry is roadtrips. I've been on plenty (and I wrote a song about one), so I'm happy with that as well. Hmm...Actually, I'd like to see what life on the road would be like for a longer time. It's a slim chance that I'll make it out alive, though.

I somewhat expected food to be a common topic, but I don't see that it's the case. I've actually tried many different foods (one of the most notable exotic ones was alligator in 2021), so that's yet another thing that I'm happy with where I am.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I may or may not come back here to add some stuff.

Almost a year later, and I have crossed off some things from here and added new ones.

- Sadly, I got a C+ in one class last semester, so I will never be able to say that I graduated college with all A's and B's. However, I am making it a point to never let my grades go that low again.
- During my internship at my dad's company over the winter break, I programmed an app using MIT App Inventor that used Bluetooth to read and display data from drives that control the slideouts on Newmar RVs. I guess that you could consider that programming something that will be useful to someone other than myself.
- I am almost finished with the first volume of my main novel, and I am working on the second volume. I also have a side novel that I am writing which is a memoir of sorts, and I have also written some short stories. I never knew that I had that much of a creative writing side to myself.
- I have not recorded an album yet, but I have recorded three songs, one of which is out on all streaming services, and the other two of which will be out soon.
- I still have not had the opportunity to perform a song that I wrote for someone in front of the person that I wrote it for, but at least I got to listen to a song that I wrote with the subject of that song by my side.
- I am not giving my daughter a middle name of Addison. The only two female names that I would give my daughter, first or middle, are Elizabeth, after my favorite singer and one of my biggest musical inspirations, and Noelle, after my childhood best friend that is like a little sister to me.
- Rob Caggiano is not in Volbeat anymore, so I have no idea if I will ever meet him.
- While I did not exactly include this on my bucket list, I had a total of five social media exchanges with Lzzy Hale last year, including one texting exchange. That alone was an amazing moment that should have been on my list from the start.
- I will add all of the members of Plush, especially Faith Powell and Ashley Suppa, to my list of celebrity musicians that I want to meet.
- I saw Volbeat headlining last summer, and Halestorm opened for them. I still would love to see Halestorm headlining, and I can see either band over and over again.
- Had I made this update earlier, Plush would have been on my list of bands that I absolutely have to see live, but I saw them in January opening for Disturbed, and I will see them headlining later this month.