Bucket List

Life is too short!
[First Written: October 2008; Last Update: March 2015]

Adventures Completed Out Of 150
The list below is my bucket list. Inspired by Celestine Chua’s public list I decided to post my own for all the world to see. It is all the things I want to do, feel, experience, see, and achieve before I die. I hope the transparency will not only inspire and motivate me, but also let you get a picture of who I am.

My bucket list currently has 150 items. I hope to keep updating this list as I complete items and discover new ones. In time, also hope to add pictures and links. And like Celestine, I urge you to not just read my list, but create your own and share it.
Yellow equals completed 

1. Swim with dolphins in the wild With a National Geographic Conservation Team, Hawaii, Feb. 2008


2. Write a novel Co-written novel, “Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn”, October 2014


3. Snorkel with wild turtles Hawaii, Feb. 2008


4. Receive an award United States Department of Labor Secretary’s Exceptional Achievement Award, May 2012 for the Add Us In Initiative National Diversity Forum


5. Be a mentor/inspiration to someone


6. Get dive certified All but open water dive, Mar. 2012


7. Hang glide/parasail


8. Be able to show my wife my country (Bahrain)


9. Compete against an Olympian Fenced in a North American Cup against Leslie Marx, 1997 and then in 2002 I fenced against several members of the Chinese Olympic Fencing team.


10. Climb Mayan ruins Costa Maya, Mexico Nov. 2010


11. Ride in a submarine Hawaii, Sept. 2008


12. Squee over something like when I was 6 years old


13. Zip Line over a forest canopy Roatan, Honduras Nov. 2010


14. Visit the greatest museums such as the Smithsonian(s), the Louvre, the Met (and more).


15. Visit Pompeii One of my favorite adventures ever, Aug. 2012


16. Write a comic You Are Not Alone (Anti-Bullying Anthology) from GrayHaven Comics, 2013


17. Start an organization Lead On Network, July 26, 2013


18. Compete in the United States Fencing National Championships


19. Participate in the First of something Sponsored and attended the first ever GeekGirlCon convention, Oct. 2011


20. Cry in a movie theatre


21. Train for the Olympics Was invited to and trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO, Summer, 2003 for cycling


22. Attend the Olympics


23. Be an extra in a movie/tv show


24. Love someone to distraction. I surely do.


25. Be interviewed as an expert (tv/radio) ABC Television on Segways, 2005 and NPR on the Obama Disability Platform, 2010


26. Testify before Congress In writing for the American Psychological Association in support of the ADA Amendments Act, 2008


27. Write a law Missouri State Legislature, 1998


28. Meet the President   At the Commemoration of the Signing of the Matthew Sheppard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, Oct. 2009


29. Visit the White House  Several times but most memorably in 2011 when my guide dog, Veni drank from the West Wing toilet


30. Be a model


31. Make a difference. I try to. Every day.


32. Learn to play guitar Aug. 2011 Renee bought me an electric guitar. Dec. 2011 Patrick and Rebecca Cokley bought me an acoustic guitar


33. Jam with strangers


34. Skydive Renee says, “No.”


35. Walk in a volcano


36. Give a commencement address


37. Learn a martial art


38. See Moorish Spain


39. Times Square for New Years


40. See a Vegas show with actual Vegas showgirls Las Vegas, Nevada 2009


41. Visit Hollywood (the sign and handprints, backstage studio tour, “ the whole shebang)


42. Walk through the catacombs under Paris


43. Sing in public I try to do this at least once a week.


44. Go up inside the Washington Monument


45. Dive for pearls


46. Visit Disneyland/Disney World


47. Learn to ballroom dance Private lessons with Renee, Oct. 2010


48. Learn to do bullwhip tricks Travis gave me my first whip in 2004, a cow whip from Rhett’s Whips in Florida. I’ve bought more and kept learning ever since


49. Run a radio show Day in Washington Podcast began in 2007


50. Experience the Serengeti migration


51. Whale Watching/Touch Whales


52. Sell art that I painted Through VSA arts in 2002 (The painting sold for $80)


53. Sit on a Board of Directors The American Association of People with Disabilities (2007-2011)


54. See Carmen   Saw it at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC, 2008


55. Write a fan letter Not yet, but I did kind of fangirl all over Gail Simone (writer of Birds of Prey) the first time I met her. And the second. And the third!


56. Make a YouTube video Yes and it was awful and awful fun too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB5NAhGyD4g  Rapunzel: The Outtakes, 2007


57. Have something I wrote filmed Science Fiction Film Short, “Touch of Love,” Jan. 31, 2015


58. Visit the pyramids in Egypt


59. Enter the Taj Mahal


60. Find a job I’m passionate about


61. Learn a new language


62. Find a meaningful way to volunteer/serve   Joined the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Jan. 2010


63. Try out a new profession


64. Achieve my “ideal” weight


65. Start my own business


66. Climb Kilimanjaro


67. Surprise someone


68. Have a surprise birthday party My wife surprised me with a secret birthday party hidden in a New Year’s Eve party, Dec. 31, 2015


69. Trek through the Amazon rainforest (but with lots of bugspray, bugs scare me)


70. Visit Australia or New Zealand


71. See Cher, Madonna, and Dolly Parton in concert  Cher, 2004; Madonna, 2012. Dolly…you’re next.


72. Enter a photography contest


73. Be mindful of my goals every day


74. Go on a romantic getaway   Berkley Springs, WV, Nov. 2012


75. Make a short film/documentary  Writer-Producer for “Touch of Love” and Writer for “Mother Nature” and “The Invalid Corps and the Battle of Fort Stevens” (in process), 2015  


76. Play tug-of-war with a plane


77. Walk the Great Wall of China   June, 2002


78. See the Forbidden City   June, 2002


79. Visit the Empire State Building


80. Walk up the Statue of Liberty


81. Think more about God


82. Swim with sharks


83. Burro ride down the Grand Canyon


84. Lobby for something I believe in    I always have.


85. Helicopter over a live volcano


86. Whitewater raft


87. Be happy


88. Be in a television show audience (Conan, you’re my first choice. Wendy Williams, you’re next!)


89. Â Complete a 5k Walk/Run First Annual Mind Your Health 5k, Oct. 6, 2012


90. Grow something myself, that when it blooms, then I can eat it


91. Have no regrets


92. See the Terracotta Warriors


93. Attend the Oscars


94. Ride a gondola in Venice   Visited Venice in Aug. 2012 but thought the gondolas were too cheesy. I did ride the vaporettos though!


95. Run for office


96. Appreciate the people in my life


97. Give a presentation to 100+ people Legislative Seminar of the American Council of the Blind, Feb. 25, 2007


98. Give a presentation to 500+ people The Stoop Turns 10: Stories about the Awkward Adventures of Adolescence, Feb. 10, 2016


99. Be the keynote speaker at an event


100. Wear a cowboy hat to work Declared myself a “white hat,” purchased one during a visit to Oklahoma and wore in to the office July, 2012


101. Participate in an open mic night or karaoke night


102. Be invited to speak overseas


103. Visit the NY Stock Exchange on Wall Street


104. Achieve 10,000 views on my blog


105. Own my dream home


106. Enjoy good friends   To all of you…I love you


107. Be on a best seller list


108. Win a contest


109. Sail on a 19th century sailing ship


110. Bury a time capsule with key memoirs in a secret location and open it in 1/3/5 years


111. Attend a masked ball Steampunk wedding reception in New Orleans for loved ones, friends and family, Nov. 2010.


112. Sing A cappella Sang with the Heart of Missouri Chorus, 2003. They’re awesome and now #3 in the WORLD!!


113. Write a professional journal article


114. Participate in a flashmob


115. See Petra


116. Leave a legacy


117. Support someone else’s dream


118. Design a project that will change someone’s life for the better


119. Eat food from a world famous chef Jose Andres, I am so glad you are in Washington, D.C. Keep on experimenting.


120. Explore a castle


121. Write a song


122. Have a website Way back as an undergrad in 1996, I started a little one. Day in Washington in 2007 and DayAlMohamed.com in 2009.


123. Have my own cosplay costume


124. Taste a 50 year old liquor


125. Indulge in the moment


126. Receive a fan letter


127. Go to Dinner Theater


128. Dog sled


129. Walk through a cave


130. Police ride along


131. Sleep in an ice palace


132. Watch the sunrise and sunset on the same day


133. Write a love note with lipstick on the bathroom mirror


134. Blow glass


135. Go to a drive-in movie


136. Pose with a figure at a wax museum


137. See a play ON Broadway


138. See a Cirque du Soleil show


139. Get a makeover/a professional makeup lesson


140. Make a gingerbread house Made an Oriole’s Stadium & House with Nikki for NIH’s Gingerbread House Competition. Go Orioles! Dec. 2015


141. Have a White Christmas


142. Stay at a dude ranch


143. Be grateful


144. Visit a ghost town


145. Attend the Kentucky Derby


146. See Ankor Wat


147. Snorkel the underwater museum in Cancun, Mexico


148. Go on adventures. Every chance I get


149. Study a language to gain conversational fluency.


150. Save the world Because that’s my job.