A little over five years ago, way back in March 2012, I
kicked off a project that I called my “Bucket List Project.” The idea for the
project was simple: I made out a “bucket list” of things I’ve always wanted to
do and planned to do one item a week and write about it on my blog. Usually, I
would post 500-word updates about the project on my blog each Monday. This
year, especially during the past several months, I’ve gotten behind, but during
the past week, I got the chance to play catch-up. This post should get me
up-to-date and back on track for this coming Monday.
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 330: Read “Vicksburg,1863” by Winston
Groom: As many of you know, I’m a big Civil War buff. Earlier this year, my son
and I visited the National Battlefield at Vicksburg, Miss. One of the best
books about the Civil War events at Vicksburg is the 2009 book “Vicksburg, 1863”
by Alabama author Winston Groom. I began reading this book on March 30 and
finished reading it on June 4. I thought it was great and highly recommend it
to anyone who wants to learn more about Vicksburg during the Civil War.
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 331: Watch “Andersonville” (1996):
Again, I’m a huge Civil War buff, and it’s somewhat irked me for a long time
that I’d never watched one of the best-known Civil War movies ever produced,
the 1996 movie, “Andersonville.” The original movie was first shown as a TV
mini-series on TNT in March 1996, but you can now watch the entire thing in one
sitting thanks to the DVD version available through NetFlix. I watched it from
start to finish on June 17 and thought it was great. I also highly recommend
this movie to anyone with an interest in the Civil War.
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 332: Watch “3:10 to Yuma” (1957): One
of my favorite Western movies is 2007’s “3:10 to Yuma,” which is based on an
awesome 1953 short-story by Elmore Leonard called “Three-Ten to Yuma.” At some
point, I read that there was a 1957 version of the movie out there and I wanted
to be sure to watch it too, so I added that movie to my bucket list several
years ago. The 1957 version starred Glenn Ford and Van Heflin, and it was definitely
worth watching. I officially watched it from start to finish on June 21.
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 333: Read “The Giver” by Lois Lowry:
One of my favorite Web sites is the “Art of Manliness,” and several years ago
that Web site published an outstanding “best of” book list called “50 Best
Books for Boys and Young Men,” which ranked “The Giver” by Lois Lowry at No.
15. This book was published in 1993 and won the prestigious Newberry Medal in
1994. I added this book to my bucket list several years ago and finally started
reading it on June 26. I finished it the next day.
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 334: Visit Charleston, South Carolina:
Charleston is one of the most historic cities in the American South, and I’d
always wanted to see it for myself. During a recent family vacation, my family
and I spent the day in downtown Charleston on June 28. Charleston reminded me
of several other old Southern cities that I’d been to over the years, including
Savannah, Ga., New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. While there, we visited the
Charleston City Market, which has been around since 1804, and ate a delicious lunch
at the Charleston Crab House.
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| Downtown Charleston, South Carolina. |
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 335: Visit Fort Sumter: Again, I am a
huge Civil War buff and there are few Civil War sites more famous than Fort
Sumter, where the first shots of the war were fired. While in Charleston on
June 28, we took the ferry ride out to Fort Sumter and explored the old fort
for about an hour before we had to return. For me, out of the hundreds of
bucket list items I’ve already scratched off my list, this one was a personal
biggie. I’ve always wanted to see Fort Sumter for myself and it did not
disappoint.
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| Fort Sumter, South Carolina. |
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 336: Watch “Alice in Wonderland”
(1951): Three years ago, I read Lewis Carroll’s 1865 book “Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland.” Most people nowadays are familiar with this book thanks to the
famous 1951 animated Disney version of the tale. When I got to thinking about
it, I couldn’t honestly say that I’d seen the 1951 movie version from start to
finish, which is why I added it to my bucket list. This movie is generally
considered to be one off the greatest of Disney’s animated classics, and I
watched it from start to finish on June 30.
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 337: Listened to The Clash’s “London
Calling”: In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine published a “best of” list called “The
500 Greatest Albums of All Time” and ranked “London Calling” by The Clash No. 8.
This album was released on Dec. 14, 1979 (when I was just three years old), and
I have to admit that I am not that familiar with The Clash’s body of work. On
July 2, I listened to the entire “London Calling” album several times
throughout the day, and enjoyed being exposed to music that I couldn’t remember
ever hearing before.
BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 338: Watch “The Nightmare Before
Christmas”: This interesting stop-motion animated film was released in October
1993 and is based on a story by Enterprise, Alabama native Michael McDowell,
who collaborated with famous Hollywood director Tim Burton on the project. This
movie is a little over one hour long, and I watched it from start to finish on
July 2. I get a big kick out of Halloween-themed movies, and this one certainly
fits the bill, even though it also includes a heavy dose of Christmas. If you’ve
never seen it, I highly recommend it. It’s rated PG.
According to my records, I am now up-to-date on my bucket
list project and plan to get back on track this week with another 500-word
update on Monday. I don’t know which bucket list item I’m going to scratch off
this week, but my goal is to get it done before I go to bed on Sunday night.
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