Bucket List

A bucket

A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you "kick the bucket," basically a set of life goals. By writing them down and storing them somewhere with permanence, it lends more importance to following through with completing them. Ideally, once you have spent the time to construct a proper list, you restructure your life around completing these goals. This means regularly examining the list and the current state of your life, and asking if what you're doing right now is helping you accomplish any of these goals. It's a pretty weighty thing, so everything I put on here is something I've thought about and decided is worthwhile.

I considered doing this traditionally with my Moleskine and a black pen, but in the online age it might as well go on the web for greater visibility. However, the intended permanence remains; once something goes on the list, it doesn't come off until it's completed.

Also potentially worth checking out is my main page, which does a better job detailing the more professional and academic sides of me. This page is mostly for my own sake, though if you find any of these things interesting, company on these adventures is always welcome.

These are not ranked in any order. I'll strike through the entries that I finish, as well as leave comments.


  1. Travel around Asia for at least a month, seeing at the very least China, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand.
  2. Catch a fish, clean it, and eat it.
  3. Go backpacking in one of the great national parks, namely Yosemite or Yellowstone.
  4. Attend and obtain a degree from graduate school.
  5. Spend a month living like a monk at a Buddhist temple (perhaps McLeod Ganj).
  6. Be a confident, poised public speaker.
  7. Get a black belt in a martial art.
  8. Get a patch into the Linux kernel.
  9. Find a job that lets me accomplish the rest of these things, in terms of time off and compensation.
  10. Go stargazing in the middle of the desert, where it's truly dark.
  11. Publish a peer-reviewed paper.
  12. Experience full lucid dreaming.