When British teenager Alice Pyne found she had terminal cancer, she made a "bucket list" of things she wanted to do before she died. That was four years ago. One year ago, she started a blog and posted her list, but acknowledged that "some are possible, some will remain a dream."   

She quickly became something of an Internet sensation – the hashtag #alicebucketlist began trending on Twitter, attracting the attention of celebrities from David Cameron, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Johnny Depp, according to the Huffington Post. The hashtag even became the top trending term one morning in June, The Guardian reported.

Through her Internet stardom, Pyne has managed to get 40,000 people to join the Bone Marrow Register, according to ITV News. But Pyne, cognizant of her terminal illness, hopes the trend will continue far into the future. “It’s really good that I’m getting so many people to join the register, but what about when I’m not here?” she wrote in 2011. “I don’t want it all to stop.” Pyne then explained her next mission: to have large card companies such as Hallmark, Camden, and Phoenix become involved in spreading the word as well.

And just recently, a company in Vancouver arranged for Alice to accomplish the last thing on her original list.

Whale watching was probably one of the main things on my bucket list and I've wanted to go for as long as I can remember but I'd kind of accepted that I would never get to do this one. I wanted to see Orca whales in their natural habitat and without me knowing, Mum had been chatting to Nicole at Mackay Whale Watching to set things up. I first chatted to Nicole about a year ago cos she sent me a You Tube video that she'd made of whale watching. At the beginning, it has her dad saying "welcome aboard Alice" and I can't tell you how amazing it was to hear him say that to my face! Yes, it was a bit mad as we couldn't get full insurance but mum and dad had decided that they needed to get me there regardless and as I was on what we call 'a good spell', they just took me!

Congratulations, Alice! Link to story. Link to blog.

Photographer Alena Beljakova has a story to tell, one which Hollywood directors should take note of and viewers are free to get lost in.

It's an extremely well formed vision for a nineteen year old, but I think that's what makes Alena's photos so special.

She's going to keep telling her tales, hopefully for a long time to come. And we may just get to the bottom of why those people wearing the bunny masks look like they're up to no good...

Link  --via Beautiful/Decay

Sue Austin, an artist in the UK, can see the wonders of the ocean without leaving her wheelchair:

To move through oceanic depths, the wheelchair uses a propeller and fins positioned at the back of Austin’s legs that allow her to steer via an acrylic strip attached to her feet. According toSmartPlanet, the design originally proved challenging since most propeller models rely on hand movements, but Austin lacks the strength to maneuver them properly. Instead, the team worked to make her wheelchair more buoyant by modifying the heel plates into fins and tweaking the seat to cope better with underwater pressure.

At the link, you can watch a mesmerizing video of Ms. Austin moving easily through the water.

Link | Artist's Website

The folks at Shutterstock, who kindly supplied stock images for some of our posts here on Neatorama, reimagined the Wizard of Oz characters as hipsters:

What if we put on a pair of magical vintage Wayfarers, ones that gave us “Hipster Vision,” and revisited this timeless classic? Would Dorothy have packed a thermos of coffee in her courier bag before embarking on her journey? Would the Cowardly Lion have proudly sported bed head? Would the Scarecrow have stuffed his straw into skinny jeans?

Using assets from our image collection, Shutterstock in-house designer Jordan Roland illustrated a version of these classic characters with a modern-day spin. And so, we proudly present The Hipsters of Oz.

As Dorothy once said, we're not in Kansas anymore: Link - Thanks Danny!

They were never meant to meet in the wild, but thanks to the magic of the zoo they can now interact with one another and the expression on the elephant's face says just just how happy he is about it.

Link

3d printed home furnishings just got a bit more elegant, thanks to this Bloom Table Lamp by designer Patrick Jouin.

With a little push the floral inspired lamp shade transforms from bud to full bloom, less to more light and cool looking to oh wow!

Link  --via Gizmodo

Photo: Alex Wild

Alex Wild (previously on Neatorama) took this photo of an Apioscelis jumping stick insect in the Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador, that looks straight out of a sci-fi movie.

Four years ago, Matteo Walch and his family went to the Austrian Alps and made some quite unusual friends, a colony of marmots! Since then, Matteo has returned to the same place every year to visit his furry buddies:

The family return to visit the colony in Groslocker in the Austrian Alps for two weeks every year.
Matteo’s father Michaela, said: 'Their friendship has lasted for more than four years now.
'He loves those animals and they are not at all afraid of Matteo because he has a feeling towards them and they understand that.

‘We go there every year now for two weeks - it’s amazing to watch the connection between a boy and his animal friends.’

The Daily Mail has more: Link

The American Kid asks, "Do you sushi what they did there?" I do, I do!

Link -via That's Nerdalicious!

Adam Savage of Mythbusters prizes efficiency. Over his years as a special effects artist, he built and rebuilt his toolboxes until they made every tool he needed immediately accessible:

I wanted to make an impression at my new job, so I spent an entire weekend remaking the bags out of aluminum. My supervisor suggested scissor lifts to keep them even with me when I was seated. He might have been joking, but I added them.

The finished boxes housed everything I needed, but I repeatedly rebuilt the insides until finally no tool had to be moved out of the way to get to another. That’s first-order retrievability.

Link -via Nerdcore

Once upon a time you dropped your money in the slot and pulled for a pack of cigarettes, now these renovated cig machines dole out miniature works of art.

They've been converted by Clark Whittington, of Artists-In-Cellophane out of North Carolina, since 1997, and I hope one makes its way to one of my neighborhood bars!

The "smoke 'em if you got 'em" days may be long gone, but these diner and barroom fixtures live on.

Link  --via Laughing Squid

Margaret Parker of Carlisle, England, found a five-inch-long tortoise in her garden. The miniature tortoise was cute, so she brought it inside and tried to feed it. Parker's daughter brought some lettuce for it, but it still wouldn't eat. So the women called Knoxwood Wildlife Rescue Centre for advice, and a volunteer was sent out. Pauline Adams picked up the tortoise and figured out the problem.

She said: “At first when I arrived I didn’t have my glasses on and I thought it was a baby tortoise. It was sitting there in the shoe box, on a bed of lettuce and tomato.

“Then I put my specs on, and thought: ‘Oops - what’s this?’

“When I picked it up I saw the CE mark and the words Made in China, and I just cracked up.

“I laughed even more when she told me her daughter had been to the Co-op to buy tomato and lettuce for it. She was very apologetic. Judging by the moss on it, it had been in the garden a long time.

Adams and Knoxwood founder George Scott both said Mrs. Parker did the right thing by calling them. Link -via Arbroath

Ain't that just the cutest remote control ever? Meet ApriPoko, a talking and voice-operated robot that doubles as a universal remote for all of your electronics. Best of all, the robot "learns" by watching what you do:

Turn on the TV, and he’ll ask: “What did you just do?” He commits your answer to memory and then mimics you if you ask him to turn on the TV.

Very cool ... in a slightly creepy way (thank goodness it's so cute!). Flavorwire has 11 more examples of adorable personal robots that will one day run your life: Link - Thanks Russ!

These strange yet masterfully crafted sculptures are by Gal Weinstein, an Israeli artist who created the tire fires as a statement concerning pollution.

They are made out of (among other things) wool, wax and a not so eco-friendly medium-styrofoam.

Still, as works of art it's unlikely that they'll end up in a trash dump anytime soon, and the highly sculptable medium allowed Gal to add a lot of detail to these remarkable pieces.

Link  --via Juxtapoz

Who needs s'mores? Chris Rochelle has an even better idea for campfire food!

Cut the tops off about 10 oranges and scoop out the pulp. Fill the oranges three-quarters of the way with chocolate cake batter (cake mix works fine), then put the orange tops back on and wrap each orange in aluminum foil. Place directly onto the smoldering coals of the campfire, avoiding any intense flames, and cook for about 30 minutes, turning once or twice.

Don't eat the peel.

Link -via That's Nerdalicious!