Friday, January 27, 2012

Bucket List Failures

No, I'm not dead. The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated and my bucket list is still alive and kicking, thank you. Unfortunately, there are a few things on the list that I'm not fully in control of. You think you have time, you pass up on opportunities you should sieze because of money or schedules or whatever. Then, you realize years later that was YOUR CHANCE and you let it go by.

That makes me absolutely crazy. I'm a list maker anyway, so having a bucket list really appealed to me. It gave me a chance to really think about and list all the things I want to do before I die. I get immense pleasure from checking off items. Knowing there are items I can never check off makes my completion-driven heart die a little bit. Swim with dolphins? Check! Take a cruise? Check! See R.E.M. in concert... hmm...

It seems that if you're going to include an item like that on your bucket list, you need to account for the fact that said group is aging like you are. And they may not want to tour with their wheelchairs and oxygen tanks. Not that R.E.M. is that old. But apparently they have a bucket list of their own that includes something other than music and they've decided to break up and focus on, instead.

Crap. Crap. Crap. R.E.M. was my first CD when I as ten. When I finally got a CD player six months later, I nearly exploded finally getting to listen to Out of Time. Since then, I've acquired about five other CDs of theirs. But never managed to see the show. When I was in high school - no money. Then I moved and they never came close enough to make it convenient. Would it really have killed me to drive over to Atlanta? But it was a Wednesday night show, I'd miss work, blah, blah. I always had time to see them later. Until I didn't.

You'd think I would've learned from the Simon & Garfunkel tour. They weren't on my bucket list because they swore they'd never tour again, but then, magically - 5 shows. One in Atlanta. Tickets were upward of $300-$500. I passed it up. Stupid. It was Simon & Garfunkel! They hate each other and will probably never ever do it again. There goes that chance.

I can only hope that in a few years, R.E.M. will get nostalgic or need money and will put together some kind of reunion tour like the Eagles or the Stones. Until then, I'll have this glaring failure on my list. Do you have a bucket list? Are there any items on there that you'll probably never be able to do through no fault of your own?
SP

11 comments:

Alicia Hunter Pace (aka Jean Hovey and Stephanie Jones) said...

No bucket list. I make it up as I go. I want to go to New England in the fall and have not been able to make that happen. Now that Precious Angel's football playing days are over and I can get my college games on ESPN wherever I am, maybe it will happen.

linda winstead jones said...

No bucket list for me, either. What I want to do this year might not seem like as much fun next year, so . . . I'm with Jean. Make it up as you go along. :-) -- LJ

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

I've always wanted to see the Eagles in concert...

Playground Monitor said...

I make mine up as I go along too. Last year I got to see James Taylor in concert. That was a big one for me. Like Jean, I'd like to see New England in the fall. I want to go back to San Francisco. I want to take my grandbaby to Disney World and watch her little face light up when she walks through the front entrance. If I thought hard, I could think up some more.

Heidi Rice said...

Hey, at least REM are still alive...

There is a very good reason I don't do bucket lists and this is why. If I'd had a bucket list at 18 seeing Bob Marley perform live would have been on it..

He headlined the Reggae Sunsplash at London's Crystal Palace that year and my sister's dozey mate Martin Coles was supposed to get us tickets... We gave him the money and two days before the concert he came clean and admitted he hadn't managed to get the tickets.. I didn't kill him because I figured, what the heck, Bob'll probably be back next year given that huge ganga bill and all...

And then Bob got cancer of the foot and died at age 36!!

So you see, I have a suspicion that bucket lists are not a good idea - because there's always going to be something you can't do and if you do do it all, what then, do you have to die before you can add more stuff to do..? I could see it getting very complicated.

PM's Mother said...

If I had a bucket list and was able to fulfill it I would feel compelled to die -- and that's not the way I want to go.

robertsonreads said...

No bucket list. I would like to see Chris Young, Kenny Chesney (which I did longgg ago), Jake Owen, and a few others in concert. I might need to work on my Bucket List.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Cheryl C. said...

Yeah, see John Denver in concert. I always wanted to but never got around to it. No chance of it now. I did have the Eagles on my list (couldn't afford them in the seventies) so for $600 a ticket I got on the front row of their concert in Birmingham. Even in their sixties those guys put on a show. Loved it!

Maven Linda said...

No bucket list. Life changes, and I don't need something else that constantly needs editing :-).

Laurie G said...

In 1972 when I was a Senoir in HS, I remember Denver being granted the 1976 Winter Games. Several of my friends decided to try an attend. We would be Senoirs in college by then and thought it would be a lot of fun. We didn't really think of how expensive this whole endeavor would cost. Unfortunately Denver eventually withdrew/cancelled. I think they were held in Austria in 1976??

So on my bucket list would be a trip to one of the Olympics Games.

catslady said...

Oh Simon & Garfunkel came to Pittsburgh - they are my husband and I's favorite. He actually went to the same high school (Forest Hills) in NYC but was a few years back. They actually were the backup band for the Mamas and the Papas (another favorite group). He has seen them 5 times and I have 3 times (I missed one time when we were dating and there was a huge snow storm so he took a friend who lived closer than me - never forgave him for that one lol). Anyway it was not that expensive. Maybe $80 or so a ticket.