Things to do before I die

I’ve watched The Bucket List a couple of times by now. The movie’s about two old guys who have precious time left to live and make the-list-of-things-to-do before they finally kick the bucket, which for them was soon enough.

I, on the other hand, inspired by a brilliant movie and this one blog here – have taken it upon myself (and my poor blog) to compile a list of things that I want to do before I die. Even if I never really do these things, what the heck – its just a list, right? So here goes nothing.

1. Go skydiving. Ok, so this is on the list in the actual movie. You know whats not there in the actual movie? ME. Back to skydiving, there’s one small problem though. You see, I’m afraid of heights. Cant look down a five-storey building without feeling all dizzy. So that means, I’ll either have to sky dive with my eyes closed or I’ll probably be dead before I reach the ground. I must be crazy to put this on #1. Maybe it should go in the list of things to do that-make-you die instead.

2. Get a tattoo. Yes, this is in the movie too. And no, I’m not copying the original list word to word. I’m a big fan of Ami James in the Miami Ink series on Discovery Travel & Living. So, #2, with a little rewrite, will be – get an tattoo at Miami Ink at South Beach, Florida. Woo hoo!

3. Learn how to ride a bike. Yeah, poor me used to drive a three-wheeled cycle when I was a kid and was petrified of a bicycle while growing up. Still am. Hmm… I think I’ll have to look up google to see if they’ve got a word for fear of bicycle riding and add that to my resume.

4. Visit Disneyland. Ok, thats a little pathetic for a soon to be 30 year old, I know. But I cant help it. I used to be a big Disney Time fan when I was younger. My favourite character was Daisy Duck although I used to despise Winnie Mouse. I would like to meet them, yes… but I cant forget this incident five years ago – when I was strolling down Brigade Road and a huge, white suited astronaut came straight at me to shake my hand – thats when I ran screaming away for my life.

Of recent times, I visited a local cafe last Christmas and was greeted by a stick-thin Santa Claus with an enormous pot-belly. Surprisingly I ended up shaking his hand. Yay! I’m no longer afraid of imaginary characters!

I’m also poor at sticking to one topic, apparently.

5. Learn a foreign language. Preferably Spanish. I did try to learn this on my own earlier. Then, I lost my Learn Spanish book. Someone borrowed it “to see” and I promptly forgot the borrower’s name. I guess being able to say lo siento, solo hablas english (thats – I’m sorry, I speak only English) doesnt really qualify as being able to speak in Spanish. Whats more, I think it defeats the purpose.

6. Travel to Europe. “Around the world” would have sounded like such a cliche. Plus, I want to especially visit Austria for two reasons – Sound of Music and Mozart. And yeah, visit Spain and converse with the locals in their language. Why else would I have learnt spanish?

7. Win a lottery. I’m just kidding. If one could do that, this point would be on everyone’s to-do-list henceforth. What I’m actually doing is compensating the extra-long #4 by keeping this point short.

8. Learn to swim. I once nearly drowned in a kid’s pool. That too, while trying to teach one kid how to not be afraid of the water and swim instead. Ever since then, I’ve always been under this impression that if I do want a watery grave in the future, all I have to do is learn how to swim.

9. Write a book. I’ve met people who’ve told me that they’ll write a book, someday. And I used to think – so will I. That was 10 years ago. That person who said this to me is probably dead or too old to gather his wits to actually write by now. And since I havent read any book by his name, I assume that he’s not written it after all. I’d hate for it to be that way with me. So, even if no one reads my book or it doesnt get printed or I dont get famous and earn loads of cash, I’d like to leave a book behind when I finally kick the bucket. How awesome would that be!