A hearty WordPress-fueled welcome to friend, newly minted Sacramentoan, and fellow member of Haddonfield Memorial High School’s Class of 2004, Rob Glenn! Today Rob offers his experience in tackling the so-called “Bucket List” – a collection of adventures to tackle before one, well, kicks the bucket. Macabre! Consider this the first in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to collecting the geographically unique adventures of friends, lovers, and (mostly) fellow Americans.
Lifting Fog: Bringing People Together.
Almost everyone can relate to posts about the latest TV shows and movies, but my exposure to both was unusually limited this summer. This summer was a busy one. It involved me trying to figure out what I wanted to do after college, and more importantly, trying to complete the Summer 2008 Bucket List that a couple of my friends and I created in hopes of keeping a summer in Providence, RI exciting. This bucket list was the solution to what seemed like an impending boring summer. That is not to say that Providence doesn’t have a lot to offer; it can actually be very fun. There are plenty of things to do as long as you’re willing to make the effort.
But my problem is usually a lack of effort. So when the idea of the bucket list came about, I figured it would force me to stop sitting around and start doing interesting things. Now don’t get me wrong – the original bucket list didn’t contain anything that special. Several items included attending a Pawsox game, checking out the downtown bar scene, and of course, watching the movie that inspired us, The Bucket List. It wasn’t even crucial that we crossed off all the items by the end of the summer- all we required of each other was an effort. I’m sorry if this philosophy doesn’t agree with those of the characters in the movie, I still haven’t seen it.
To be honest, the list started out as a joke, but after a few weekends of talking about the items, our attitudes were noticeably different. We were no longer content settling for just an average night. Before setting out, we would agree to at least making an effort to accomplish a certain task. For example: check out a bar that *gasp* isn’t a college bar, or walk to go grab a slice of pizza from a place we’d never been.
The results were a mixed bag. Some of the bars we checked out were great and some were festering with characters straight out of My New Haircut. And just for your information, I will never go to Fellini Pizzeria again (not that it’s bad- it’s just a little too expensive and I’m low on bread). The point is, we discovered a lot of things that we didn’t like, but at least we tried. We never regretted exploring something new that turned out to be lame. We were doing it for the story, every time.
And let’s not forget the success that we had. Had it not been for the bucket list begging for completion, it’s quite possible we may never have won the coveted Spat’s Trivia Night, earned a spot on the water ‘ruit table at the townie-infested Liquid Lounge, made the sweaty 5-hour drive to the Hamptons to view the rich in their natural habitat, or simply developed a thirst for new experiences in general.
Success is relative, of course. Maybe you found this somewhat inspiring, but to those of you who have no problems getting up off the couch or computer chair, I’m preaching to the choir. If you want to show me up and add skydiving or adopting a Cambodian child to yours, go ahead. Just be sure your bucket list mentality doesn’t get out of hand and lead you to do something stupid like drunkenly ring church bells at 2 in the morning…
What’s on your bucket list?
Tags: Cinematic Inspiration, Greetings From..., Just Do It, Providence, Rob Glenn
Lifting Fog 
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