My Bucket List

These aren't in any particular order, but they are the ten things I really want to accomplish in my short time on Earth.

1. Publish a book (or two or three).
2. Learn another language (or two or three) besides Japanese.
3. Participate as a volunteer aboard the Peace Boat.
4. Touch ground on six out of seven continents (I won't be super disappointed if I never get around to Antarctica).
5. Partner with my bestie Deidre and create a YouTube channel filled with amazing shows, like the one below.
6. Create a travel web series (basically I want to be Internet's Anthony Bourdain).
7. Get pro at videography.
8. Get pro at photography.
9. Adopt a child when I am ready.
10. Be happy with where I am, when I am, and who I am (95% of the time).

What I'm Thankful For

I'm thankful for a lot of things, and there's no way I can put them all down into an exhaustive list, but this is a good start.

I'm thankful for:

the strong people in my life--you make me more confident
the people who love me--you make me happier
the people who hurt me--you make me stronger
the people I don't know yet--you'll mold me, too
my body, with all its flaws and imperfections--it lets me see and hear and taste and touch and think and do amazing things

my job
cats
computers
the Internet

cell phones

Harry Potter (and all good books)

music

art

science

language

writing

the privileges society affords me and the chances I have to use them to make the world better for everyone

teachers

doctors

engineers

programmers

farmers

pilots

public service workers

love

laughter

You--Me--Us

good dreams

good food and good drink

random acts of kindness

happily ever afters

I'm a Real Character

I love having profiles for all my characters for quick reference so that, when I'm writing and don't know exactly how they'd respond to a certain situation, I can check back with their background and personality information.

For one of my Fearbusters this month from my Vlogging in the Face of Fear challenge, I wanted to write a profile for myself so that I could have that to refer to if I ever forgot or thought I should hide myself from people.

So, without further ado, here it is!

What a World, What a World

It's the time of year again when, no matter how much baby powder I sprinkle on my skin, no matter how vigorously I fan myself, no matter how many Gatsby wet tissues I go through, no matter how many times a day I shower, I am in the constant state of half-melted ice cream cone.

June was fine. June was actually quite pleasant. I could go outside (or stay inside with my window opened, for that matter) without immediately breaking out into a sweat. It seems like the moment the calendar turned to July, Mother Nature suddenly realized summer had arrived and cranked up the humidity levels to maximum.

Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year. I love not having to dig my car out from two meters of heavy fluffy snow every morning, I love the cold treats, I love the festivals and the fireworks, and I love going to the beach. I just have never quite adjusted to the humidity.