Author: Writer guy

Revised Bucket List

Writer guy

The business of working through a bucket list has a big edge over most long term projects. Although the task seems daunting at the onset, it’s an open-ended process that allows almost limitless opportunities to get closer to what one wants through revision and reflection. That’s liberating in so many ways, and very different when someone else drives the agenda. It also naturally leads to more revisions–these in turn lead to further changes–the net effect of which can push the final delivery date out indefinitely.

I suppose I might have left well enough alone with the original draft. Certainly the list was as long as these sort of lists go and capture across section of activities and destinations.

But from experience, lists work best when I force myself to revisit them periodically. Letting just a few vines rot by neglect can taint the whole harvest. So after thinking about what I set out to do with the bucket list in the first place, and reading the items over one by one, some additions came to mind.

Additionally, also I wanted to track points where they had been some motion on my end. In these case, the item remains intact, but includes any relevant updates.

5) Write 5 novels < << In the middle of number two. 12) Ride in a hot air balloon. <<< Received vouchers covering a balloon ride for two as a birthday gift. In the next year, I just need to pick a day to make this happen. Looks like Fall 2008. 20) Become proficient at Krav Maga <<< Tonight is my first class. Proficiency takes about three to five years of study. Since I'm going to Vegas for Spring Break in a few weeks, there's an opportunity at number 23 and 26 at once, with some slight modifications. 23) Spend 1 night alone in the Mojave desert. <<< Swapping this for a 6 hour ATV tour through the heart of the Mojave. I'll see more than at night and have some fun carving up the sand dunes. 26) Put a $100 bet on outside box black at Ceaser’s Palace. <<< I'll make the exact same bet in three weeks, only at the Luxor, which houses a newer and glitzier casino. Number 27 and 28 are new. 27) Sketch a vineyard in Tuscany as part of a winery tour.

28) Stand center stage at the Theatre of Dionysos.

A bit late

Writer guy

They play for keeps in Wisconsin. A woman jailed for not returning library books knows the struggle.

Irony: in checking my shelves this weekend, I discovered one book 21 years overdue, and another title 13 years late. Both are actually quite good reads, entertaining and informative. I’ve read them each several times. Still, that does not excuse my procrastination. I’m thinking about mailing them back with a short note and a check for replacement costs. That would one way to handle it. Maybe the right way.

But for now, there’s two states I’ll continue avoiding for fear of prosecution.

The hook

Writer guy

With great sadness, I note the passing of a brilliant ad exec, Paul Tilley. Lately, my focus has shifted to the value and importance of marketing, and his work certainly caught my attention. Paul Tilley led the creative team behind two successful ad campaigns: “Dude, you’re getting a Dell” and “I’m loving it!” The later one got me eating at McDonald’s now and again, though the glittering sheen was not enough to compensate for the cardboard and lard borne indigestion.

Still, he had some unique ideas and a flair for the hook.

May you go to a better place, Mr. Tilley.