#7 - Visit the Smithsonian

When I was a kid I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up. I just loved dinosaurs, a lot. My parents would take me to the Natural History Museum in LA and I would just stare at the giant fossils.

I never stopped loving dinosaurs, I just grew up I guess. But, I kept visiting museums. And by its reputation, the Smithsonian in Washington DC is the best of the best.

A couple of months ago I finally had a chance to go there. After doing a lot of research I figured I should set aside half a day to go through all the different buildings and saving the Natural History one last.

Walking out of the subway station and seeing all the buildings was great. It was freezing cold (Not California cold, but REAL cold) but my excitement was more powerful than the feeling of freezing.

We visited the Space Museum, which also had a portion of the American History Museum inside due to renovation, which was interesting but had a ton of teenagers on a field trip acting like little d-bags.

After stopping to take pictures of the Capital, we made a bee-line to the Natural History building (We could have cared less about all the art buildings.).

#1 - Go to Japan pt. 2

So winning the trip to Japan was not all fun and happy stuff. I was told there was a very small window to pick the person going with me, fill out the paperwork, copy my passport, get things notorized etc.

One small problem...

I never needed a passport before.

Ever.

So I started freaking out. After reading pages and pages of getting a passport instructions I thought for sure I was screwed. I didn't have a plane ticket ready for me to get it overnight and I didn't have the time to wait weeks and months for the normal process.

My only recourse was to go to Downtown LA and plead my case at the Passport Office. Of course I had just started a new job (blog on that later!) and could only get a time that would interfere with work!

I was really down and was starting to accept that I wasn't going at all. My new boss, on the other hand, was really cool about it and told me not to worry and do what I need to do.

So I head off to LA at 5 a.m. to be there right when they open. Stand in line in the freezing cold (California freezing cold...) and the whole time I am stressing.

I get it and plead my whole case to the first clerk. Too bad the first clerk only gives out numbers! D'OH! LOL.

I finally see a real person who can help me and of course I get the clerk who looks like they are having a bad day (even though they JUST opened the doors!). I plead my case again and she looks at me like "WTF?" She asks where my plane ticket is or proof of when I am flying out. I explain that I can't get that far unless I get my passport in less than a week. It took a little bit more of explaining, plus I came really prepared with lots of emails and such explaining my situation.

Finally she just looks at me and obviously just wants to get rid of me, "It can be ready on Friday." (It was Wednesday!). I almost jumped for joy! Of course after I had to fork over almost $200 to get it fast the jumping feeling went away.

So I rush back to work and end up only being 2 minutes late for my normal start time.

So with gas money going to LA twice, getting it early etc. It ended up costing me more than $250 to get my passport.

Of course I had problems getting the paperwork notorized, the first two places I tried both said the notory person JUST left (I needed it right then.).

So winning a trip isn't all hugs and puppies in the beginning, but it does get better... a lot better.

#47 - See Weezer in Concert

So, most people know that Weezer is my favorite band. I am really picky when it comes to music and it is a big thing for me to actually have a favorite band.

I have not been to a lot of concerts. I can count on one hand the amount of concerts I have seen. I saw R.E.M. (w/ Gin Blossoms) and then Harry Connick Jr. with a few friends.

Seeing Weezer in concert was one of the first items I crossed off my list. They were playing in Irvine with Sparta and Dashboard Confessional. I went by myself, which turned out to be a good idea.

The concert was fantastic. They played all of my favorite songs and rocked big time. I got my expensive Del Taco soda (think it was like $5!), a Weezer tour shirt and a sticker and sat by myself and enjoyed the Weez.

During "Buddy Holly" I called my sister so she could hear it and she said she thought I was listening to the CD, it was that good.

The best part was them closing with "Surf Wax," which is my favorite Weezer song. Great way to end a night and the start of my list adventure.

#1 - Go to Japan pt. 1

I was inspired by the chapter "Get Lost" from NOW, which encourages you to go somewhere you are not familar with and have an adventure.

I don't remember when I actually first wanted to go to Japan, it might have been my love of "Speed Racer" as a kid, hearing about all the cool video games and gadgets or when I worked at Wal-Mart and thought I might be able to get into the Tokyo Game show.

It was just a really cool, foreign place I thought would be a blast to see.

But, something on my list that would take the most money and be the hardest to accomplish.

Years went by with it at the top of my list, a constant reminder that the first thing might be the last thing to do or never at all.

Well... until fate stepped in.

Around Christmas time I found out that I will be going to Japan! I can't go into details, but can say that I am a very lucky man.

Lucky, but with a lot of work and money to get me there... (hint: need more material for future blogs people...)

Introduction

A couple of years ago while walking through Borders I came upon a book with the host of "The Amazing Race" on the cover, since I like that show I stopped and took a look.

The book "NOW: No Opportunity Wasted" is about creating a list for the life that you want. I just so happen to have been in this weird transitional stage in my life so, of course, I bought the book.

Now this was before that movie "The Bucket List" so the book, my list and everything here has nothing to do with that. I just wanted to make that clear.

The book is broken down into 8 stages for a life list: 1. Face your fear 2. Get Lost 3. Test your limits 4. Take a leap of faith 5. Rediscover your childhood 6. Shed your inhibitions/express yourself 7. Break new ground 8. Aim for the heart.

I quickly made a list of eight items corresponding to the stages, but realized that I wanted much more. I remember many years ago there was this show on NBC called "Boomtown" where one of the main characters kept a huge list of things he wanted to do before he died. So I took a little from NOW and a little from that and started my 50 item list for my life.

I won't list all 50 here at once. I have accomplished a few of them already and those will be upcoming posts. I will also talk about experiences trying to get the others checked off. The items are numbered but not in really any order or significance.