Yes, yes, yes...my bucket list...the list i can't survive without. We all know what bucket list is...but for those who don't know what this is...well this is that list that contains all the things you wish to to do, or places you wish to travel to or even food you always wish/want to eat eat before your living time clicks to zero (die)...well, i have been modifying mine ever since i don't know when 'cause when you grow up you, you outgrow some of the passions. Well so here is my bucket list of which i hope i'll manage to clear before i die...God help me, i haven't even done a quarter of the list....so here we go (the one(s) with tick, are accomplished) lol, that if there's any.

Bucket/Wish List
1. Reach the peak of Mt. Kenya....yes, why would i want to start elsewhere if charity begins at home.
2. Visit Australia. This has been my childhood dream and somehow the only dream that i have managed to keep to date. Most definitely, i'll start with Sidney and it beautiful Opera House then to the beautiful coral reefs. I hope this happens to be around New Year, i heard the town gets really colorful during this period.
3. Travel to Nevis. Why? Because my favorite character in my novel in progress is named after this Caribbean island.
4. Visit Charleston, South Carolina. My book made me fall in love with this town. Since the setting of the book is Charleston and i have never been there physically,  i had to do a lot of research about the town and everything about it just made the baby in me scream YAY!! Definitely this is a MUST!!
5. Visit Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand. This has always been my most desired vacation destination. What more can i say about it? Nada!! Just google it and you'll see the beauty.
6. Watch a movie in a drive-in theater. I know this is so old school and so "The Notebook" movie, but come on, what beats the thrill of watching a movie in a field in your car, with that special someone?
7. Publish a minimum of three books. Okay i know as an author (to-be), i should be talking about thirty books or something, okay that will happen when that time comes but as per now i just want to have my first novel, my poem collection and inspiration stuff in paperback...the rest will come with time.
8. Help someone fulfill a goal. Not for fame or anything but because even i myself i am where where i am because of hands that decided to spare time for me.
9. Go night camping. Okay this totally is insane that i have never been to night camping...day camping, yes i have done that when i was still a scout but i'd so love to spend time just under the stars in nature. I'm planning for one to happen this December, i hope it'll come to happen.
10. Write myself a letter and read it ten years letter. Okay i don't know how i can explain this :D but i find it interesting. I am to write a letter now and never open it until i am thirty-three, i hope the thirty-three year old me, won't be disappointed in the twenty-three year old me.
11. Go sky diving. Totally and seriously who doesn't want to do this? I know i am freakishly afraid of heights but this is the ultimate bonus. At least it will corroborate to me that i can achieve anything.After this certainly i will try bungee jumping.
12. Watch all Marilyn Monroe movies. Well so far, i have managed five.
13. Watch top 100 movies of all time. Yeah this related to the one above and congratualtions to me i have watched like only sixteen. Damn that's bad, well the list is not ever constant and varies a lot but as for me i follow imdb movie list and life'd movie list. http://www.lifed.com/top-100-best-movies-of-all-time and http://www.imdb.com/chart/top
14. Get passionate about a cause. Okay currently i am supporting cancer, breast cancer cause specifically, not that because i lost someone to it but i was researching about it because in my first novel there's a character who is a victim to it and my third novel is a bout a lady succumbing to it. The research did open my eyes to a lot of things and that's why i decided to take it.
15. Take a week long technology hiatus. Yep...a week away from anything that has technology embedded to it. So far i think i have managed two days and that was because i traveled to a very remote place.
16. Throw a huge party and invite all my friends. Okay i have done this except it was not huge.
17. Learn how to play piano perfectly.
18. Record at least three songs, not for fame or anything but just so that one day my child(s) can listen to.
19. Drive a Pontiac Solstice GXP coupe or Jeep Wrangler (whichever edition).
20. Have two dogs, preferably German Shepherds. I basically i am not a fan of pets and since i can't legally own a shark plus it is a bit stressful, I want to have these two.
21. and the final one, set foot on all seven continents. Yes that's right, Africa, Asia, N.America, S.America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. I hope you don't need glasses to figure out why it is the last on the list. If i can accomplish everything up the list, that means i have finally somehow stepped on all the seven continents.

On the picture is the beautiful twin peaks of Mt. Kenya...So so far, i noticed i haven't accomplished any of the things above, maybe, just maybe because the list is an updated one, there are certain things i am sure i have accomplished that i always wanted to do while i was young, like writing a poem that can draw more than five people to tears.
Everybody should have a bucket list. Stop living a mundane life and make one if you don't have one, or better yet just watch the movie Bucket list, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson and you'll definitely understand what i am talking about . §
In case you need help with creating your bucket list,  just google Bucket List and it will bring you the cool sites that have some crazy ideas of what to do before you kick the bucket. Damn i should have added "stop biting my nails" in the list above...but then, i enjoy this lol...
Next...let's wait and see my top five everything list. Cheers.
© g!o.inked

Somebody i did not catch his name once said, when your chances are slim and none, go with slim.

So here i am stuck again on this door that i am always afraid to knock or kick or just open. I mean seriously i know i can do it but basically i don't know what is holding me back. Okay maybe it is feear of failure, but how sure am i that i will be disappointed? i know all these great people that i look up to and adore, made their choice and if they were afraid of opening their doors i probably would be having no one to look up to. I know this ain't the living situation that i want, as a matter of fact i hate normal; it sucks. I want to be great, i want to be that person who when i walk out there on the street people will be whispering behind my back that, "ain't that him?"...yeah that's the sort of life that i want.

So this big question is how do i get there? Since i already know i can be there but how do i get there? What are the doors that i need to knock, kick or just open? Okay first let me see the areas of my strength...i can write music, i can rap music actually better than these people i see on telly, i can write poems that move people, i can write a book and stories...what else? i think i am good at inspiring people, actually the area that i get so much accolades from...mmmph i am not that versatile or maybe there are still some potential talents that i haven't discovered. But from these at least i know my major stronghold-point is writing. So i can be a writer. The big question is what am i doing about it? Um, nothing. Pretty much absurd. Okay i know they say that when you have a talent you don't have to see it pay for you to be happy, as long the world enjoys it...but did that person ever consider what will pay your bills if not your talent....i mean basically, i have to do what i love and that should entail the fact that what i am doing should support me too. I mean at one point or another i have to trade every single thought of mine for a dollar. I have put myself to test and so far people love my writing based on the comments i get like...oh i won't mention names though and i am only going to pick those that i found munificent

I just wanted to say again what a lot of talent you have, you somehow make the sweetest softest emotions come to life in your work without making them sappy or cliche; a skill i think a lot of the people here have yet to, or may never master. Its a thin line but you seem to walk it effortlessly. 

Takes a lot of skill. ~Anon

Your poem Leaking Face has been awarded Evoked a lot of emotion in the Deep Pain writing contest.

 

 Your poem Fading April has been awarded First Place in the Your Greatest Struggle writing contest.

 

Five out of five stars, I enjoy your writing style ~ Anon

 

 Jeez was that heavy. I think I need some therapy just for reading it. I entered the poem "After The Home Coming" about what I went through in 09 after my last Deployment in Iraq in the greatest struggle contest. The same contest this poem's in. Naturally I want to win but against this? I don't know. This is one intense poem man. Talk about broken painful emotion. Wow.. ~ Anon on Fading April Poem

When I first saw the length, I was reluctant to read. But then I started, and I'm...being honest here, I swear I'm on the verge of tears. This story has touched me, and it's funny I read it now, because I was feeling pretty down because I had a fight with one of my friends, and now, I'm actually picking up the phone to apologize. I can't even describe how the words said are so close to my heart, how this means so much to me, because I actually wanted encouragement, and this story is so uplifting, so motivational, and so very sad. Life is indeed short, and we must accumulate as much happiness as we can, and laugh and love like no other. I love the rush of emotions, the heavy flow, and well, this piece takes an honorary position in my 'Favorites' for me...~ Anon on Broken Ticking Clock  

 .....and others that i could not trace.

 

oh and a link to my trophy case  http://www.writerscafe.org/Gio/stats/awards/

So now what? Okay i am working on my first novel that still i can't call it a novel since it is far from over and the storyline keeps on unfolding more and more so i can't really count on it that i'll be some bestseller in a months time...nope. So that means i have to find something to do with the rest of my work because i just can't let them rot as i watch. Maybe i can try and find a space in a magazine company or even take my shot in music industry because sooner or later i'll have to make a choice or choice will make me.

So, today is September 12, 2012...i have three months to 2013. Will i still be sitting here the next time i revisit this post? The other night i was watching the great Steve Harvey talk about his life and how he ended up where he is right now. I can't deny that i envied every single drop of tear that was rolling down from his eyes on how he kept on explaining that you have to keep on living like that is the only option you have left. How God will give you the key to open doors but He will not open the doors for you....i bet this is my time. The difference between achievers and losers is three letters, TRY. Okay take in a deep breath, i know i can do this...i can do this.Mignon McLaughlin in her The Neurotic's Notebook stated that, courage can't see around corners, but goes goes around them anyway. I guess i have to just go around my corner. It's either i embrace the person i am right now and live content with it, or forge the path i want to follow and never look back despite whatever without how(s) and why(s). God help me....

So today marks my dad's birthday and i wanted to take time and thank God and for the prize of dad He gave me and since today is my dad's birthday and i could not afford to buy him a plasma TV or a car i wrote him a poem to show my appreciation and love...not to brag but i think i have the best and i would not mind to brag about that neither, for he managed to play a role that most fathers have failed. It is because of him that i have become a man and a son i am today.





Four-to-Nine Steps
From the primary thought that you needed me
For nine months you ensured my safety in mom
Patiently waited to see your likeness in your arms
And you rejoiced when you heard my first cry at last

You watched me peel like a bud to a flower
Like a farmer you cultivated me with patience and hope
Though weak, you held me strong when drought threatened
Gave me all of the least that you called yours

Every weekend you’d always take me on long walks
Sometimes I wished I could tell you I was tired
But I was just a kid and never understood why
You knew I’d grow away and you wanted to be with your son

I still remember I used to weep while you went away
I was scared of who would protect me
And when you stayed I’d want to be next to you
For it is by you that I felt safe and loved

You taught me how to forge my strength in life
And not to forget my humanity lest I die alone
I never had a mom like all of my friends
But you played the role better than I could ask for

The world finally robbed me off your arms
But you did not fight nor fear of what I may come
You trusted me to handle whatever thrown at me
And for your faith in me I thank you dad

Now I have grown into a man you smile with
When I look in the mirror it is you I see
And in my heart’s place I can feel it’s yours beating
Wherever I end up dad I still treasure you the most

From a distance it may look like now it’s your sun set
But instead brace yourself to watch your son rise
As you turn forty-nine today HAPPY BIRTHDAY
For I smile ‘cause you’re my father, my dad and my home.
 © g!o.inked

Bible taught me that I'm never alone
Jesus taught me cry now laugh later
Athletes taught me sweat it to get it
Marie Curie taught me nothing in life is to be feared
Eminem taught me being different don't equate to being a unable
Marylin Monroe taught me company don't equate to happiness
Shrek taught me beauty isn't everything
Smallville taught me being unique isn't a curse but a gift
My dad taught me never give up hope as long as you are still alive
Joyce Meyer taught me when you go through hell it doesn't mean you are a mistake
My friends taught me don't get wasted where there is a camera
My teachers lied that life is hard yet they taught me things that don't help
Spartacus taught me find your reason for living and be willing to die for it
My neighbors taught me don't trust nobody
Tom and Jerry taught me animals keep the best company than humans
Johny Bravo taught me when you see a cute girl, fuck rejection go for her
Niccolo Machaivelli taught me destroy your ground for you to rise
Bob Marley taught me weed is the only thing that can separate reality from reality
Rihanna taught me people will always talk so just do you
William Sahkespeare taught me speak gibberish and people will think you are smart
Life taught me its a bitch but at least she is the sweetest...

We always run to see who will dare to follow us, build walls to see who dares to break them down and as a way of protecting ourselves but we keep doing this till we forget how strong we are. Sometimes the best u can do is stop running, stop building walls and face your fears...just then we will learn to know our greatest strength...it's all in the leap of faith...~♥ GG