The Bucket List Blog

IN PROGRESS: Start a YouTube channel (3/5)

This was extremely easy and I think I’ve probably watched more this year, but still a great feeling! I did also include movies I have previously seen, but saw this year for a second/third/hundredth time and indicated those. Here’s the list of what I watched:

31. Read the Harry Potter series

I’ve been a huge Harry Potter fan before JK Rowling had even thought of the concept. But, there was just one problem. I had only seen the films.

I never owned the series and honestly (and tragically) I just never had access to the books. But I’ve finally acquired all the bookish greatness and it was such a great experience. Rowling really had such an incredible story to tell, and I’m really glad I got to be part of it.

There are a lot of things that aren’t in the films. It was almost like discovering the story all over again.

30. Go to a Fish Spa

I was given a voucher to go to Le Fish Spa and well... I don’t really know what to say. It was so weird, but exponentially cool at the same time. My feet have never been softer in their lives.

To roughly explain the sensation, it feels like tiny little vibrations all over your feet. I mean, I was sinking my nails into my brother’s arm, trying not to laugh because it was so ticklish.

Although this is also dependent on the species of fish because my brother’s girlfriend describe hers as a soft stabbing sensation. Haha. Glad I didn’t get the murderous fish.

Anyway. Would I recommend? Hells yeah. It’s too weird to deny yourself the experience.

IN PROGRESS: Start a YouTube Channel (2/5)

IN PROGRESS: Start a YouTube Channel

It has to be on the bucket list--we live in a modern world after all. I had a little trouble defining when this would be complete so I gave myself a minimum of 5 videos that I have to upload and we’ll see how it goes from there.

Here’s the first one.

29. Get another piercing

So, I woke up this morning without the intention to get this done, but hey, life is surprising. The latest addition is the top-most piercing.

Anyone who tells you it doesn’t hurt is a lying whale without any virtues, BUT that being said, it only feels like satan piercing your ear with his foot for, like, 3 seconds and then you have a badass piercing from there on out.

28. Attend Pride

It's been on my bucket list for a while. I had to see what the fuss was about, and it's great.

The march was really cool. It makes you feel like you're really part of something. Rollerskater girls everywhere and people giving you strange looks. But I enjoyed it so much.

And then the MARDI GRAS OH MY GOD. Massive party that you've never seen. And it's not just LGBT-friendly--it's every body, it's every race. It was like being in some surreal alternate universe. It felt like this is how the world should be.

27. Get a tattoo that I designed

I think once you've got the admin out of the way of getting your first tattoo, you become ready to take on bigger challenges in the tattoo world. For me, I wanted to design my own tattoo--the height of something being personal.

I chose to draw a minimalist cartoon version of Frankenstein's monster because I have been in love with Frankenstein and Mary Shelley since I picked up the book. I identified strongly with some of the characters, but mostly I was just utterly blown away by Shelley's writing.

I had never read anything like it.

26. Try Baskin Robbins

I didn't try it as ice-cream per say, but we did make really delicious milkshakes out of them. This is one of those tentative accomplishments because unless I've ingested a scoop the size of my head, have I really had Baskin Robbins?

We don't have it here in South Africa, so I'll probably have to wait until my next international trip... or better yet, Baskin Robbins can come to South Africa!

25. Visit the World's Tallest Building

Currently, the structure that holds this title is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. Pretty fancy, if I have to say so. I had the opportunity to visit the building on a holiday to visit family.

At 828m, you can see for 95km from level 124, which is where I took these pictures from, and Dubai is quite an impressive sight from above.

I'll admit that Dubai, as the city, was never on my bucket list, but after seeing this incredible feat of a city, I'd definitely recommend it. It's a city of money. It's a city of bigger-than-yours.

24. Dye my hair a "strange" colour

So, I've been wanting to dye my hair this colour ever since Romona Flowers. I didn't go for a whole head thing, but I did some weird ombre thing where instead of the bottom of my hair I dyed the middle.

And I'm SO glad I did it.

I put good in brackets because these days a phone camera is a good camera (depending on the phone). I think what I really meant when I write "good" camera, is something that takes a picture that's so big it fills your entire external drive.

Joking.

Anyway, I got the great Nikon D3100 for my birthday, which isn't the latest from Nikon, but definitely made me happy! The only thing with the D3100 is the awks position of the mic when taking video, but otherwise its lovely to work with. And I'm learning a great deal too.

I currently only have a 18-55 mm lens--which is a basic one. Makes sense, seeing that I'm still learning, but I'm already saving up for accessories and other lenses.

Let me know if any of you have any advice on filming, taking pictures, caring for and buying extras for this camera.

x

22. Become vegetarian

Here's a picture of me having a riveting conversation with a bunch of kale. They can be so funny sometimes.

With a lot of scary things going doing in the meat industry and just for a general health boost, I decided that becoming vegetarian should definitely be on my bucket list. Although this was something I decided on impulse (as most things I do), I wanted to wait a bit before I posted about it.

So far I haven't eaten meat in almost two months--and the surprising thing is that I don't even miss it! The worst part about being vegetarian is that you finally understand that "coming out as vegetarian/vegan" is really not an over-exaggeration. I've been called an idiot, I've been mocked and I've been interrogated because I decided to change my diet. You would think something like that really wouldn't bother people. But hey.

On the brighter side, I really do feel much better and more conscious about what I put in my body. It really opens up a world of alternatives.

21. Go to a Halloween Party

Pretty self-explanatory. Halloween parties are the royalty of parties. It's that one night where there is no such thing as too much decoration. And even if you're not really  into dressing up, you get to fan-girl over everyone's costumes.

20. Meet Someone Famous

It's notoriously hard to meet someone famous in South Africa. Unless they're shooting a movie in a very exclusive area, celebrities tend to be very scarce here. Obviously.

I was watching Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb with my roommate lazily and in them middle of the movie, she gets a text that Neville Longbottom, yes, Matthew Lewis, is just chilling at a local bar. We had a fleeting moment of "But the mooooovvviiiee......." but we dashed out to find said wizard.

The extent of our conversation was:

"Hey, can we take a picture with you?" "Uhhhh, yeah sure ok."

Of course, as luck would have it, Neville cast a spell on my camera prolonging the exposure and therefore obscuring the picture to conceal his identity.