Number 26 — Bunjy Jump

Adrenaline pumping through your veins, cold sweat dripping from your body, mind frozen with pure biss, and then you're snapped back up away from the raging river before plunging downwards again. Bunjy Jumping is perhaps the most exciting thing you can do in carefully protected world. The closest to death you can be while remaining perfectly safe. I bunjeed 80 meters from the Mokai Bridge over the Rangitikei river located in Taihape, NZ one day in early spring. It was perhaps one of the magnificent things I had ever done. The pure rush is what it's all about. We got to Gravity Canyon around midday signed up for our bunjees (I went with a group of three) and got suited up for the occasion. Well, if you could call it suiting up. We we each got harness strapped around our ankles and were told to walk out to the center of the bridge for further instruction. Luck, me got to go first! I walked went seemed like an eternity over a grated bridge so you could see the pounding water beneath you. I then met up with my Bunjy Master who tied the secured the cord to my ankle straps, 'You're lucky this is a brand new cord we just made yesterday, you're the first jumper on it!' Yeah, lucky me. I stepped out on to the three foot long ledge that took me away from the bridge. The cord was so heavy I swore it was just going to pull me right off, but hey, I guess thats the point in the long run.

'Could you step out just a bit further?' My instructer coaxed me.

'Yeah, sure...' As I slowly inched forward.

'Oh just go out a bit more.'

Fuck.

Finally the fateful moment came I heard in the background 'Three...' Fuck. 'Two...' Fuck. 'One...' Fuck. Bunjy! FUCK! and I leaped off the edge.

Now once you're soaring through the air all the fear has completely left your body, nothing but pure bliss from this point on. Incredible experience, one that I would reccomend to anyone.

Accomplished: August 30, 2008

Number 75 — Get a Tattoo and/or Piercing

"I want to get my nipples pierced, I saw this girl in playboy with one done and I liked it."

That's how it all started. My ex looking over some discarded playboy where a Japanese girl showed off her pierced left nipple in a side ad.

After a bit of googling, a few youtube videos, and some bmezine experience reports I decided I wanted to get mine done too. Now first issue first, we were both 15 at the time so we couldn't exactly go get it pierced profesionally. Next step, the internet!

A fairly experienced eBay user by now I was opened up to a whole new world of possibilities. Did you know there are such things as self nipple piercing kits? Well there are. $9.99 plus shipping bought me two needles, two captive ball rings, forceps, sterilization wipes, and gloves. Pretty good, huh? One week later kits in hand and we were ready to set up shop.

Now I'm not going to say we were just bouncing around ready to do this. Personally, I was scared shitless. We sat in the living room for a good 20 minutes holding ice packs to our nipples praying to god it wouldn't hurt as bad as it looked. From there a good 30 minutes was spent flipping out about how the hell to do this. Actually by the time I had actually marked the dots where I was hoping to pierce her all the numbness had completely worn off.

I then pierced hers, got the jewlery through, admired how incredibly crooked they were and relaxed for a while. Another sad attempt at trying to numb my nipples off it was my turn.

I layed down marked the entrance and exit points and sat straight up as I heard my mother come through the front door. We freaked out stashed all the stuff and quietly waited for her to come down the hallway and check in on us. She did, we said our hellos and she went back to the living room to watch some tv.

'Do you still want to do this?' she asked me.

'Yeah, why not?' is what I said, Fuck no is what I meant.

I got up blasted some Dead by My Chemical Romance and got ready for it. Now she wasn't quite as coordinated as me, no way could she hold those forceps and try to pierce me at the same time. So being the gentleman as I am a clamped down and waited for the needle.

'FUUUUUCCCCKKK!!!'

Holy shit did that hurt like a mother fucker, the tearing of the flesh, the sickening pain of the jewelery following through. It didn't help that i pinched my nipple all the harder with the forceps while I anticipated the pain to come. Haha we spent another good 15 minutes just trying to get the ball in the CBR. Once it was all done the though, I knew it was worth it. I loved my new nipple piercing.

The aftermath. The next three days even my shirt brushing my piercing to hard sent me into a torrent of pain. It sucked. I wore a fucking sports bra to bed and I still couldn't lay on my chest. It was worth it though and I knew it. Great story, great fun, and a memory I'll never forget.

Accomplished: April 15th, 2008

Number 27 — See an Erupting Volcano

Really not all that exciting as it sounds. I was on a trip with my ASOF group to the big island during this trip we did a hike to the erupting volcano Kilauea. It sucked. First off we had about twenty people in the group and 10 flashlights, by the time it got dark only 6 were still working. We hiked along a paved trail for a good two miles before reaching the point where the lava destruction began. From then on it was a perilous three mile further journey over an unpredictable rocky landscape. There were hills and sink holes, little light so footing was all guess work and after a good couple hours of it we finaly got to the lava and I had forgotten to bring a stick to poke it with! The lava was cool to watch however, bloody hot though! We chilled around for around an hour trying to take pictures but none seemed to come out very well, chucked rocks to make the bubbles explode and then returned back home. It took four hours to get back, four hours to walk three miles! I still have the scars running along my legs from a few to many missteps. Good story, not so good time.

Accomplished: March 7, 2007

Number 47 — Milk a Cow

Four of my mother's brothers and sisters live on farms so virtually every time I've gone to visit my cousins in order to speed up chore time so we could play I would help out and go milk cows. Now I'm not claiming i was anywhere near as skilled as they were but I did enjoy the rhythmic feel of milking them or the zzzt of the milk pounding against the tin buckets.

Accomplished: 1999

Number 32 — See the Aurora Borealis

This one, not a toughy. I've lived in Alaska for a combined 10 years at this point and although not a frequent sighting, it's there. My first time however being on a road trip while moving from Washington state to Alaska through Canada. One night in the depths of the Yukon while roasting marsh mallows over an open fire we heard the distinct 'singing' of the Northern Lights. I looked up around me to see the most stunning display I've seen to date full of shades of green and blue with streaks of red, simply amazing.

Accomplished: August 2006

The list begins

About two months ago I got a $20 Border's gift voucher and decided yesterday was the day to finally use it. After about a good hour of searching I'd picked out a good 15 books from The World According to Y all the way to Stuff White People Like. Then I found it, 101 Things to Do Before You Die. Not some boring hardback version of your Grandparents retirement fantasy, but something real. Experiences that people really should live, go out there and fully embrace the world. So I am pledging to attempt to the best of my abilities the 101 tasks presented before me.

For more information visit the 101 Things To Do Before You Die website here.

Hell, I already have 6 done, how hard could it be?