I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel a lot and do many things I’ve always wanted to do. Some of my opportunities have been work related (e.g. using the Hubble Space Telescope, and helping to decide who else has gotten to use it). Some have just been because I’ve taken the initiative and gone out and done something I really wanted to do.
This post is titled “Science Fiction Fan” but I will be inclusive here and use the term to encompass everything good and interesting about being a geek and fan of science, fantasy, horror, superheroes, and related topics. This is a list of things I personally would like to do, or have done, to make this side of me happy. I’d love other suggestions in the comments.
1. Attend Worldcon
2. Attend Dragoncon
3. Attend Comic-Con
4. Attend World Fantasy Con
5. Attend Fright Fest
6. Visit (and use) telescopes on the summit of Maunea Kea, Hawaii
7. Visit (and use) the VLA in New Mexico
8. Visit (and use) telescopes in Chile, California, Arizona, etc.
9. Use the Hubble Space Telescope
10. Visit Devil’s Tower (Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind)
11. Visit Stonehenge
12. Visit Loch Ness
13. Visit Bluff Creek, where the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film was made
14. See a UFO or cryptid animal that I can’t identify as something well understood
15. See the northern lights
16. See Dracula’s castle
17. Visit the Shire in New Zealand from the Lord of the Rings movies
18. Visit the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle
19. Publish a science fiction novel
20. Visit The Islands of Adventure theme park at Universal Studios, Orlando
21. See a space launch live (missed my shuttle opportunity)
22. See a comet in the sky with the naked eye
23. Ride on a hovercraft
24. Visit the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum
25. Visit the Catacombs under Paris.
26. Visit the Winchester Mystery House
27. See a meteor so bright it casts shadows
28. Visit the pyramids in Egypt
29. Visit the International Space Station or future equivalent
30. Ride into space
31. Vomit comet parabolic flight for at least the sensation of extended freefall
32. Visit NASA’s Johnson Space Center or Kennedy Space Center
33. Volunteer and help on a professional dinosaur dig
34. Halloween on the QE2
35. Visit Carlsbad Caverns
36. Fly over a volcano
37. Build a robot
38. Shop at Kevin Smith’s Red Bank comic book shop
39. Visit a particle collider facility like CERN or Fermilab
40. See Soundgarden play “Black Hole Sun” and Blue Oyster Cult play “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and “Veteran of the Psychic Wars”
41. Go see for myself what that “Thing” roadside attraction is outside Tucson on I-10
42. See an Avengers vs. X-Men movie
43. See a Batman vs. Superman movie
44. Build a 2001 monolith for my front yard
45. Drive (a version of) the Batmobile
46. Win a best costume prize
47. See a short story or novel of mine made into a movie or TV show
48. Get a science fiction/fantasy/horror tattoo (I have a couple of stars already but want something more interesting)
49. Ride in a deep sea submarine/bathysphere
50. Talk with a non-human intelligence, whether that is alien or machine-based
I’ve done about half of these and will try to do most of the rest before I die.
What’s on your bucket list? There must be a lot of cool things I don’t even know about in the world that I’d love to hear about.
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