$ cat ~/.bucket-list.txt

bucket list

Things I want to learn, build, or do. Some are professional, some are not. The honest version, including the ones I'm bad at and embarrassed about. Click any item with a chevron for the why.

[ ] todo[~] in progress[x] done·27 total · 5 doing · 0 done

$ ls engineering/

[~]
Grow into a Forward Deployed Engineer— backend first, AI as a layer
[~]
Step 1 — Master Node.js backend (Express, Mongo, auth, jobs)
[~]
Step 2 — System design + distributed systems basics
[ ]
Step 3 — LLM / RAG basics (retrieval, chunking, embeddings, grounding)
[ ]
Step 4 — Agents + evaluation harnesses
[ ]
Step 5 — Real infra (Docker, Kubernetes, a cloud account)
[~]
Ship a public side project (this site!)
[~]
Use AI tools well, not just often— Claude Code · Cursor · ChatGPT, daily
[ ]
Contribute to a major open source project
[ ]
Speak at a developer meetup or conference
[ ]
Build a real SaaS — even if just for one customer
[ ]
Pick up Rust, deeply enough to ship something
[ ]
Ship a small game— long-term · exploratory · zero game-dev background today
[ ]
Step 1 — Pick an engine and finish a beginner project end-to-end (Unreal first)
[ ]
Step 2 — Game-dev fundamentals + a jam-scoped first game
[ ]
Step 3 — Polish one mechanic until it feels good
[ ]
Write a long-form essay or e-book on something I know well
[ ]
Mentor more engineers — pay forward what Udacity gave me

$ ls personal/

[ ]
Visit Japan
[ ]
Hike a major Himalayan trek (Triund → Hampta → ?)
[ ]
Pick up a musical instrument
[ ]
Watch through every Studio Ghibli film— progress: ~6 / 24
[ ]
Read 30 books in a single year
[ ]
Get comfortably fluent in a third language
[ ]
Run a half-marathon
[ ]
Cook 25 dishes really well
[ ]
Build something with my hands — woodworking or electronics

This list is alive — I edit it. If I commit to it here, I'm more likely to actually do it.