A Life List?

I’ve been on the hunt for a good, yet pretty camera bag recently. This has, sadly, become a figurative hunt, because I can’t afford to go buy milk right now, let alone drop more than $100 on a camera bag – I guess a little wishful thinking never really hurt anyone… much.

I’m really in love with these gorgeous Ephiphanie bags by Maile Wilson. They’re pretty much exactly what I’d want in a camera bag. Maybe someday, I’ll be able to afford one… and by then, she’ll have created 30 more that I want. Hah.

Anyway, from stumbling across the Epiphanie site, I also stumbled across Maile’s personal blog which had an entry of her “life list,” which I suppose could also be called a “Things To Do Before I Die” list. Somewhere in my head, I have one of those and I thought it’d be kind of cool to jot it down somewhere and (hopefully) be able to come back and tick things off as the years go by. I’ve decided to include things I’ve already done, because quite simply, the list has been in my head for years and I feel it’d be short changing it somehow if I didn’t include the fact that I’ve actually accomplished some of the things that would have been on it either way. Also to note – I’m pretty sure that a large percentage of this list will be things involving travel and photography. That said, here we go:

1. Live in Venice, Italy for a significant amount of time
2. Visit Venice Italy and see the flooding of St. Mark’s Square
3. Photograph Bhutan and its people
4. Photograph the Pyramids and the markets of Egypt
5. Photograph the Neon Graveyard in Las Vegas as of May, 2012! (See the photos at ThatLalaGirl.com!)
6. Own a Canon 5D Mark II
7. Learn to scuba dive
8. Cage dive
9. Cage dive with Great White Sharks
10. Go on a photo expedition to Svalbard
11. See the Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Easter Island
12. Have dinner at Babbo in New York City as of September 5, 2011!
13. Hug Bono
14. See U2 live in an outdoor stadium
15. Photograph the Red Hook Grain Terminal from the inside
16. Photograph the morgue in Building 23 of Pilgrim State Pysch
17. Have a photograph featured in a gallery exhibition as of September 21, 2010!
18. Have my own gallery exhibition
19. Have a photo published in a book
20. Get paid to have a photo(s) published in a book
21. See Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” at Museo del Prado
22. See René Magritte’s “The Treachery of Images” at LACMA as of May, 2012! (See the photos on Flickr!)
23. See Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” at Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie
24. See Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” at Museo Reina Sofia
25. See Raphael’s “School of Athens” at The Vatican
26. Photograph Highgate Cemetery in England
27. Photograph Staglieno Cemetery in Genoa as of September 26, 2010!
28. Visit Cinque Terre as of September 26, 2010!
29. Learn how to make Soup Dumplings (and successfully make them)
30. Get a tattoo
31. Learn to speak Italian fluently
32. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
33. Be 100% financially secure
34. Do a photoshoot with my mom and grandma
35. Read every book I’ve acquired and never read
36. Watch every film I’ve acquired and never watched
37. Get a Dr. Fish pedicure in South Korea
38. Go to Carnival in Venice
39. Go to Carnival in Rio
40. Own a Siberian Husky
41. See the Northern Lights
42. Walk in 4-inch heels without being terrified of killing myself or breaking an ankle
43. Develop my own photos in a darkroom again done in my kitchen sink – totally counts!
44. Visit the Great Wall of China
45. Visit the Taj Mahal
46. Learn to dance
47. Skydive
48. Photograph the Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto
49. Photograph the Itsukushima Shrine in Itsukushima
50. Photograph Saint Basil’s Cathedral in The Red Square
51. Scuba dive in Great Barrier Reef
52. Visit Israel
53. Hold a baby orangutan
54. Ride an elephant
55. Pet a tiger
56. Visit Thailand
57. Take a road trip through the American Southwest
58. Visit South America Done, as of February 2013 (Buenos Aires & Uruguay! – See the photos on Flickr!)
59. Adopt a pet and give it a good life Done, as of March 28, 2016! Follow @alittlepretzel on Instagram!
60. Own a Canon 85mm f1.2L II
61. Own a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Lens
62. Have a photo studio of my own
63. Publish a book of photographs
64. Cruise the Arctic
65. Make my own pasta as of September 28, 2010!
66. Eat paella in Barcelona
67. Photograph the cemeteries of New Orleans
68. Visit my friends in California Half done (visited Ashlyn in LA) as of May, 2012! (See the photos on Flickr!)
69. Own a Zero Image Wooden Pinhole Camera
70. See Eddie Izzard perform live
71. Visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando Done as of December, 2011 (See the photos on Flickr!)
72. Do something that would have made my grandpa really happy
73. Own a Mac desktop As of January 5, 2011!!!
74. Fully understand ActionScript
75. Fully understand PHP
76. See an opera at La Scala
77. Learn to ski
78. Knit a hat
79. Own my own business
80. Visit Santorini
81. Visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC Done as of January 2013! Photos to come!
    
82. Make my own Ice Cream
83. Visit Machu Picchu
84. Stay at a resort where I can literally jump into the ocean from my room
85. Learn to speak Hebrew fluently
86. Photograph my grandmother and her sister My Auntie Ann passed away before I had a chance to do this. 
87. Visit Cuba
88. Set foot on all seven continents (Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America)
89. Be successful/diligent as a blogger (again)
90. Learn how to properly use my Holga and get good results from it and developed the photos myself!
91. Find out the name of the book my grandmother used to read to me when I was little (the one with the girls on the swings in the upper corner of the page!)
92. Go in a deep sea diving vessel and see the ocean floor
93. Have my own vegetable garden
94. Learn to make perfect macarons
95. Visit France (again)
96. Drive a Lamborghini
97. Go on an Alaskan cruise
98. Visit Auschwitz
99. Own my own home
100. Accomplish at least half the things on this list