The Buried Life Project

The Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBG5aumXYE

The List:

1. Climb Mount Everest and the world’s summits
2. Skydive solo
3. Visit both poles
4. Bungee jump
5. Travel the world 
6. Wing suit base jump
7. Learn more languages
8. Perform at Carnegie Hall
9. Be the star of a blockbuster movie
10. Do a triathlon
11. Build a house
12. Score a major screenplay
13. Visit space
14. Scuba dive
15. Get accepted into University
16. Get a doctorate degree
17. Learn to cook well
18. Write a book
19. Paint a mural
20. Learn a martial art and achieve a black belt
21. Learn marksmanship
22. Solve a crime
23. Get a job busking
24. Eat a ghost chill pepper
25. Survive in the wideness without supplies
26. Learn to fly a plane
27. Sail across the sea
28. Kiss a stranger
29. Learn more instruments
30. Restore a car
31. Go train hopping
32. Wind surf
33. Backpack across Europe
34. Do a Spartan Sprint
35. Go rally racing
36. Learn to sword fight
37. Learn to surf
38. Visit the White House
39. Explore Hashima Island, Japan
40. Visit Buckingham Palace
41. Go spelunking
42. Go white water kayaking
43. Base jump into the Grand Canyon
44. Tour with a band
45. Win a major award
46. Ride a bull
47. Ski in the Swiss Alps
48. Go cliff diving
49. Get a tattoo
50. Learn to do flips
51. Skinny dip
52. Visit the seven wonders of the world
53. Go on an adventure with no advanced planning
54. Visit a castle
55. Learn to dance
56. Captain a rigged ship
57. Grow a beard
58. Sneak into a restricted area
59. Free climb a mountain
60. Survive on only water a month
61. Jet ski
62. Own a motorcycle
63. Cuddle with a lion or tiger
64. Visit the Vatican
65. Spend a week in solitude
66. Drive a supercar
67. Eat a live bug
68. Stay in an underwater hotel
69. Stay in the home of a stranger
70. Learn to free dive
71. Stand on top of a live volcano
72. Pilot a helicopter
73. Total a car
74. Participate in the running of the bulls in Spain
75. Visit Machu Picchu
76. Get in a fight
77. Take the Polar Bear Plunge
78. Hike the Appalachian Trail
79. Explore a rainforest or jungle
80. Wrestle a crocodile
81. Go hang gliding
82. Kayak over a waterfall
83. Sleep under the stars
84. Disappear for some amount of time
85. Eat bizarre foreign foods
86. Master throwing knives
87. Go hunting
88. Learn calligraphy
89. Learn to ride a horse
90. Do the “No Pants Subway Ride”
91. Run a marathon
92. Go on a missionary journey
93. Inspire someone
94. Be in Times Square on New Years
95. Go on a safari
96. Live fearlessly
97. Change someone’s life for the better
98. Never waste a moment
99. Live completely without regrets
100. Leave behind a legacy

Writer's Note

Let me first say that the idea of creating a list containing everything I want to do before I die is something nearly impossible. If I were to truly write down everything that should belong on this list, the time spent writing it down alone would greatly surpass the amount of time left to accomplish all those things. However, I do have aspirations that go far beyond the realms of things that can be assumed. I decided that this list would not contain the obvious things that every person wants to do necessarily, but rather goals that stretch the boundaries of safety and comfort. I have always leaned to the side of thrill seeking, welcoming the craziness in the nature of my personality. I can only hope that this list showcases the kind of person I am, and moreover who I want to become.

I am under the impression that there are many people who create their bucket list without the intention to finish everything on it, which confuses me. In my opinion, the point of the list is to name things, planning on accomplishing these things within their lifetime. Therefore, I intend to complete this list before I die, which may serve as evidence that I have lived my life to the fullest. The way I see it, nearly anything is attainable with a respective amount of work. I see obstacles and challenges as merely something that can be overcome, and cause me to grow through it. Others may say this is unrealistic, but those who think such may never be free from the barrier of their mind holding them back.

There are a few different kinds of tasks on the list; there are those which I want to do purely for the thrill of the experience such as skydiving, and there are some that are great accomplishments which follow copious amounts of work and effort, coming together to achieve success, like winning an award or doing a triathlon. Lastly, there are things on this list that are there purely because of one motive: I can. These are things that I may not be able to accomplish at this point in time, however at some point in time, I may be. And when I am capable of doing these things, life with spontaneity and excitement seems much more attractive than merely watching the days fly by. I have every intention to live each day to its fullest. Because I can, I choose to seize the day.

Now What? (In the meantime...)

There are a few items on my list which I intend to attain in the near future. On of these is getting accepted into university. I have applied to the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music, and in mid February I will be auditioning on classical guitar. This is something that fills me with excitement and nervousness at the same time; as this is a huge next step in my life, and there is a lot of stress and pressure going into this audition. I don't know what the result will be, to be honest, though I am confident that if I work hard in practice leading up to this event, I am capable of being successful in my audition. However, it will take a lot of work, though the payoff will be bigger in the end.

The other goal I have that will likely be achieved soon is getting a job busking. I plan to call various coffee shops in the area, as well as the Forks, in order to apply to busk in those areas. This is  strange and very interesting job, because the pay is not guaranteed and likely inconstant, as it comes entirely from tips. If people like my performance, they may leave me a tip, which is completely variable in value. On the other hand, this job is nice, as I ill not be tied down by any contracts. I will be able to work when I want to, and never feel that I have specific designated hours that I need to serve. I am excited to get started busking, as it is something I have wanted to do for a while now, though my excessively busy schedule has disallowed this from happening. Soon, though, I will begin.

Social Fiction Project

Hindsight

          “Get down!” Sean hissed at his brother. Gesturing towards the hostile silhouettes entering the door. The young boy dropped almost instantly, hitting the hay covered floor almost soundlessly. 

          “Come out, I know you’re in there!” The man in the blue uniform stomped through the barn aimlessly, aggravated like yellow jacket whose nest had been knocked from its place by a well-aimed marble. The only difference was there was no slingshot, only a strange remote control. And instead of a marble, the weapon in question was a 12-foot tall orange and white robot.

          Earlier that day, the Sean and Tony Bodner had stumbled upon an old, seemingly abandoned barn down the road from their home. As two young boys, the discovery of this mysterious building caused their curiosity to reach past the contentment of seeing the outside. The old shack screamed for their attention and begged for exploration. Naturally, the brothers obliged. 

          “This is so cool!” the ecstatic Tony gawked. “Can we go in?” 

          Sean looked around, unsure, yet his curiosity and thirst for adventure outweighed the timid voice of caution in his head. He gnawed the inside of his cheek, contemplating the situation as his younger brother eagerly awaited his reply. 

          “Alright, lets do it,” he decided, “but we need to be quick and sneaky. Okay?”

          “Yeah!” Tony blurted, and without missing a beat took off towards the rickety door. Sean caught the back of his shirt before he could get to close.

          “Wait!” The older boy ordered. “We can’t just run yelling, or we’ll get caught! Like I said, be sneaky.” With a nod of understanding between the pair, they treaded carefully towards the side door of the barn. Upon grasping the knob, they quickly realized it was locked; sneaking in would not be quite as simple as they had presumed. However, the inquisitiveness of young boys cannot simply be extinguished by a mere locked door.

          “It’s locked,” thought Tony. “Nobody locks doors out here.” A slight look of downcast confusion crossed his face, but quickly disappeared as he came upon a realization. His though was interrupted by his brother’s voice, who had come to the same conclusion.

          “That’s right, nobody locks their doors,” Sean continued, “because nobody has anything they need to hide. But the guy who used to live here… He must’a been rich!”

          “Or maybe he was a spy!” Tony interjected.

          “Or he had a private jet! But either way, there’s something in here that he wanted to keep really safe,” Sean concluded with a twinkle of excitement in his eye, “And we’re gonna go find it!” Abandoning the side door and any sense of caution they previously had, the boys searched the perimeter of the barn, quickly finding an old broken window. The brothers exchanged a look that confirmed that the same thought had just crossed both their minds.

          “Gimme a boost!” Tony started towards the window. Balancing himself on the wall with his hands, he raised a foot for Sean to assist him. After helping his brother through, Sean clambered through the dark hole in the wall and tumbled to the ground. At first, it seemed like a regular old barn. Before long, though, the boys attention had fallen on the looming object in the back corner, which was covered by a thick white tarp and an unhealthy layer of dust. Once again, the duo exchanged glances, this time with a combination of wonder and the slightest hint of nervousness.

          “What is it?” Tony whispered, awestruck.

          “I’m gonna find out.” Sean couldn’t help his inquiring mind, and ambitiously plodded towards the tall figure, tearing back the sheet from the object. What they saw next caused both of the boys to draw back in awe. Standing before them was a giant mechanical creature. Orange and white, it stood on two legs and seemed as if it had just beamed itself straight out of a sci-fi movie.

          “I’m gonna try it,” Sean declared.

          “I don’t know,” his brother said hesitantly. “Maybe we shouldn’t. I don’t wanna get in trouble or anything.”

          “Come on, we came this far, why not try it out? It won’t hurt anybody. Let’s fire this baby up!”

Finally giving into his Sean’s persistence, Tony agree. Discovering a backpack-like remote control, they piloted the mech out of the barn, after opening the main doors with the large arm on the front of the robot. Their mischief did not stop there, though. At first they simply took turns driving the machine around the field. Then the began giving each other rides. Their minds clouded with youthful ecstasy, they had no idea the trouble they were getting into. Before long, they had stopped traffic on the highway, stolen cows, and a wide array of other simple, playful acts.

          Their game was put to a sudden halt when a familiar-looking black and white van arrived on the scene. Without thinking, Sean, who was controlling it panicked and grabbed the van with the mech’s giant arm. A window shattered, and the officer in the front seat disappeared from view. In a panicked stupor, the boys suddenly found themselves back inside the abandoned barn, this time as a refuge. Before long the officers from the van had also reached the boy’s impromptu shelter. The officers began to search, but the barn was just too dark and too messy to discern anything.

          “What now?” Tony whispered under his breath.

          “We can’t just go home… We still have the robot and the police probably talked to mom and dad.” Sean searched his mind for ideas, looking distraught. “We need to go. Watch this.” Still grasping the controls to the robot, he steered it in an uncertain direction and hoped it was the right one. By some stroke of luck, he was correct and the mech suddenly burst through the back wall of the barn. The structure began to collapse due to the age-worn structure. With a cry, the officer fled. In a bold move of improvisation, Sean hit a button on the remote. A panel on the from of the machine swung open, revealing two small seats. Seizing their inevitable destiny without another word, the brothers climbed inside. They didn’t know what they were getting into now, but they had no choice now; the only direction to go was forwards.

          “Where are we going?” inquired Tony.

          “I guess we will find out when we get there,” Sean replied. “But there is no turning back now. We can only move forward. Onwards to the next adventure.”

Sean's Twitter Feed: https://twitter.com/SeanBodner

Image source: http://io9.com/concept-art-writing-prompt-a-boy-and-his-robot-vs-the-1157648617

6 Word Debrief

What did I learn about storytelling?

During this assignment I think that my ability to summarize an idea into a very small amount of words was improved upon. In being descriptive I find that I often use many words in order to make my point very clear and unmistakable. However, in this assignment, I had no choice but to stray from that and carefully pick words that would allow a reader to interpret the message as I desired. However, another thing that is beautiful about storytelling is that to an extent, the message is open to interpretation. Though I might have a very particular idea in my head that spurred the creation of a memoir or story or any other art piece, someone else might take in the finished product and find something that I never explored about it. Also, I found that I used a thesaurus a lot in order to give the message I was envisioning, using specific words to provide a certain flair that another wouldn't.

Where did I show my knowledge about using storytelling skills?

I believe throughout every aspect of the assignment, I was demonstrating storytelling skills. First was coming up with an idea; a message I wanted to portray. Then I would find a way to tell this story; to send this message in six very specific words. After this I would find imagine a scenery that compliments the six word message that I have written, and think of a way to represent the image in my head that was both a plausible option of a photo and would artistically build on the memoir I had written. After editing the photo I had taken to portray the exact emotion I would send, I lastly input the text into the image in a way that both metaphorically represents my message and visually compliments the image I had created. So, in each step of the process, I was linking my cations back to the message I was intending to send, using storytelling in every part of the creation.

What did I learn as a reader, writer, thinker, storyteller?

Aside from what I have said above about increased experience with effectively compressing thoughts and ideas, this also built skills in linking ideas through different mediums of communication. I know the idea I want to send, but transforming that into a comprehensive message that can be seen through interpreting words and images is another thing altogether. So, in essence I suppose one could say that I better understand communication, from the perspective of someone creating or experiencing art. That is, through every part of the creation is a message sent. For example, font size and style, even placement can represent anything from oppression to proclamation, or subtle darkness and enhanced shadows in an image can represent pitiful loneliness or the experience of an incomprehensibly vast space. Every little detail plays a part, and how all these little parts line up defines what the piece invokes in the mind of a viewer.

6 Word Memoir #8: Age

Writer's Note

This memoir was built on the fact that who I am today is entirely because of what has happened in the past. In the image, there are two boys playing guitars together: my brother and I. Separated by ten years, we are still very similar and he looks up to me enormously. In this image, my brother represents myself, ten years in the past. This is to play on the idea that I was subconsciously shaping my future which became the present before I had a conception of action and consequence. In the picture I used various effects in attempt to enhance this effect; I used old photo filters and threshold manipulation as well as hue and saturation manipulation to make the half of the image my brother sits in seem like an old image. I wanted to make it seem as if an old photo of myself and a new one were seamlessly stitched together to represent my past and how it affected where I am now in my life. The text floats around the heads of the subjects of the photo, representing that it is a thought; an idea that everything we do affects the course of the future to some extent. The six words in this photo are but a fragment of a larger idea that came to me in creating this: The past has formed who I am today, and what I do today will mould my future.

6 Word Memoir #7: Love

Writer's Note

In our modern society, I find that love has strayed away from its true meaning. It has become hypersexualized and many people seem to believe that without a relationship, they are unloved. Not only is this far from accurate, but there are several kinds of love. Love is critical in any relationship in which two people care about each other and put the other above themselves. This is not even referring to a romantic relationship, but relationships of friends, family and many others. Beyond this, in romantic relationships, many things have become the focus rather than putting the other before oneself and truly caring about them, with forgiveness and compassion. The book in the picture is Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and it talks specifically about God's love. Coincidentally, I received this book as a gift from someone I love as a brother and a former mentor. Love is so much more and so much more valuable than what is recognized in our modern society. Since the book in the image is about love in its purest form, I felt that it was appropriate for the image, though I had originally wanted a picture of wedding bands. The text resembles the font on the cover of the book, and the text sits present, but not entirely in the spotlight, which is representative of this counter-cultural idea of what love truly is. I used effects in this image that include blurring, darkening, hue and saturation manipulation.

6 Word Memoir #6: Family

Writer's Note

The idea behind this image is that the word family is more than just the set of relatives to which you are born into. Family means people who you love like a brother or sister, who you truly care for and would defend. This particular image shows a few staff members for the camp that I worked at during the summer of 2012, during a chapel session. Our camp staff family was one of those groups; tightly knit and loving in a way of companionship. I felt that this accurately described what I was referring to by this definition of family beyond relatives. The text in this photo is mostly unobtrusive, but complementary with a smooth, scripted font to give a feeling of warmth and comfort. In this photo, I used effects such as hue and saturation manipulation to add to the aura of warmth, vignette, and gaussian blurring.

6 Word Memoir #5: Freedom

Writer's Note

Similar to my 4th memoir, this is a statement of something I want to be in the future: free and full of adventure. I dream of travelling the world, climbing mountains and crossing oceans. This is who I want to be. An image of a ship depicts the idea of freedom, as a ship can sail wherever it the captain desires it to go, and I desire to be free like this. The image of a toy ship represents that this is only a dream at this point, and like a child plays with a toy ship dreaming of sailing freely across the ocean, so too do I dream of adventure without bounds. The text in the image is set to send the message of my dreams and desires, that everything in the image is yet in the theoretical future. At the bottom, the text makes it clear what this dream is. In this image I used effects such as gaussian blur, darkening, vignette, a water ripple effect, threshold adjustment and various others.