Everyone has their list–for some it is grandiose and takes a lifetime to complete, like a 100,000 piece puzzle or to climb Mt. Everest.  Some people has simple plans like to start a family and attempt to visit every state in the country in an RV.

It already looks smelly...like the open road and Corn Nuts.

I am no different, although I have never vocalized my wants before.  So, here I go: the Bucket list of Red Deliciously (in no particular order):

• Meet and have some Crown and Cokes with Dave Grohl – He is a rock icon and staple.  He can play grunge, punk, metal, alt-rock, ballads, screamo crap and just about every instrument in between.  When I was 11 and the Foo Fighters released Colour and the Shape it changed my life.  For reals.  It left an impression on me and my heart that I still cannot shake.  It was an introduction to dark, mysterious, and sexual aggression…and I liked it!  My first ‘intimate’ dream involved Mr. Grohl, and when I found out he was funny, it was all over for me.  I had (and secretly still do) a crush on him, and I will love just about every project he works on.  I would love to have some beers, or Crown and Cokes with him, and just shoot the shit.  I honestly think we could be very good friends–nothing sexual, but I think we could have a great time hanging out.  And so that is on the list!

My Future BFF

• Play in a Who or Red Hot Chili Peppers Cover Band…even once!  — I play bass, yeah yeah yeah, but I’ve always played songs by the Chili Peppers–how much fun would it be to just once play in a Chili Peppers Cover Band?!  I think it would be an absolute blast, and I’m sure an audience would love it, too.  I don’t really want to play with the Chili Peppers, just like them.  Or maybe The Who.  We would be called The Whom.  And we would rock.  The Who are so great because they just play classic rock, loud, hard and fast and create some very memorable melodies and could really connect with an audience.  Plus, I’d love to watch a guitarist reenact Pete’s classic Windmill move!  On that note…
• Meet Pete Townshend– I don’t necessarily want to jam with him, since he is a rock god and I am a mere mortal, but he is an amazing song writer.  I mean, hell, he wrote almost ALL of The Who catalog, and some hits as a solo artist.  And he is a total rebel, badass who redefined the Rock ‘n Roll bad boy, along with the other members of The Who.  Roger constantly fought, John died of a cocaine enduced heart attack in his 50s (just can’t kick it, huh?), Keith, well, took horse traquilizers and blew up his drum kit and eventually died of a drug overdose trying to kick his alcoholism, and Pete smashes guitars, writes angry music, and still has the pent up energy and aggression of a teenager a 5th of his age.  I would love a picture with him.  Just to say I touched his robe and felt God.

You know what's missing from this picture? Me!

• Play a live gig at South By Southwest– I wouldn’t care if we were in the tiniest venue with the smallest audience and played for 10 minutes–South By Southwest is a big deal in this neck of the woods.  To get a backpack with that ‘SXSW Performer’ Patch would be the ultimate high.  I could go to my grave knowing I played SXSW!  I would LOVE it!  So, I gotta get to work on that.  Step one–find band members…
• Write one article for a big time Music Journalism outlet – I am a writer by nature (duh!), and a musician in my heart, and even just to say I wrote for Rolling Stone, Spin, NME, Mojo, Pitchfork, even the Austin Chronicle, would be the ultimate bragging rights, and overall feeling that I had hit .  An article in ANY of those would be a dream come true.  It would mean that I was an accomplished music journalist.  Even one article.  I would buy multiple copies of that magazine, hand it out as holiday gifts for my friends, frame my own copy of the magazine and the article, and look at it everyday.  It would honestly be a dream come true.
• Have a light conversation, exchange jokes and take a picture with Sir Paul McCartney– Paul is my favorite Beatle.  I must admit, he had my 5 year-old heart when I was first formally introduced to The Beatles by my parents, and he still has it.  I love Wings.  There.  I said it.  But Paul’s presence in The Beatles just creates so much balance for my ears.  He writes hit songs in his sleep, can create a classic love song with a swoop of an instrument of choice, and just seems like a good guy.  I would die at the opportunity to meet him.

Even if he wore this shirt (or especially if), I would still love to pose with Sir Paul

• Write an autobiography of an awkward girl–me.  I had a difficult adolescence to say the least, and it would be awesome to pay it forward by writing my story: it would be about a girl who is raised by loving parents, they never divorce, she is tormented and abandoned in middle school, picks up steam in high school and college by finding herself, never dates, but finds her beauty, her true self, and her love at the right times.  It would have been very helpful when I was a young kid to hear that everything would be okay.  From one awkward teen to another!
• Get good enough at the bass to teach lessons–I have played for 12 years, but I still don’t feel I am good enough to show others how to play.  I would love to teach teenage girls since young girls are STARVING for other women to look up to.  When I played at a 13 year-old, it would have been very helpful to be taught by a smart, beautiful, well put together woman who could show me that you can rock out and still be stable.  If I got enough gigs and established myself, it would be nice to teach at Girls Rock Camp the bass class.  Playing an instrument is very empowering, and I encourage every young girl who wants to play, to pick up that axe! (Or drum stick, or key-tar, or triangle!)
• Travel to all the places I would like to – For the longest time, I wanted to go to Ireland.  Real bad.  I thought I would never go.  I really thought that I would live my entire life wanting to go and only live and die without ever stepping foot in the land that I did media studies on, enjoyed television and radio through the internet, and even gave me a love of a new dance (yes, I am a state Champion Irish Hardshoe dancer!).  When I was 22, I had graduated college and was working at Starbucks.  Because my parents paid for my college, I had enough money after working for a year and a half at that Starbucks to pay for a trip to Ireland and London by myself.  So for two weeks I went all around Ireland and London and had the time of my life!  There are all sorts of places I still would like to visit: Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Swizterland…the list goes on!  But none that tug at my heart like Ireland and London did.  I even went to Yosemite with my Mom this past fall because I wanted to go so bad for the past year.  And it was so worth it!  So when I have the urge to travel, I hope to make it there–whenever and where ever it may be! 
• Pay it forward — All the good stuff in my life, I hope to pay it forward the best way I can.  I want to be nice and compassionate to the best of my ability, help those who helped me, and basically live like a leaf or feather in the wind.  I want to be happy with all the endeavors I am given, and honestly, even if I don’t get one of the things on this list, I sincerely hope that the moments that do fill my life are more significant than these ever could be in reality, at least with more significance than I think my list will give me.  I’m not sure that marriage, kids, houses or any thing like that are goals necessarily, but if they give me a deep and profound happiness and a rich, fullness in my life, then I want them.  I want to be an example for young women who feel lost, and continue mentoring those who need it.

I got a lot of living to do.  But I got a feeling that I can maybe meet all these goals!  It might take a lifetime, but man, if I do accomplish all of them, what a hellva ride!