January 31, 2013 - Attempt to break a world record

Today is the last day of my month long project to do something that I've never done each day. For thirty days, I've come up with something new to try.  I've started learning a new language (albeit a fictional one), and I watched a terrible movie (Tyler Perry, you hack).  I cooked a full course meal, and I learned a song on the piano...kind of.

I've experienced many things this month, and I wanted to end this project on a high note.  And as a friend that has been following the blog suggested, the highest note would be to try to break a world record.

The record that I set my sights on involved eating Ferreror Rocher chocolates.  The record, according to Guiness, is nine Ferrero Rochers in one minute.  I went to the grocery store across the street from campus today and bought a package of the little fancy chocolates.  I set up shop at the conference table at the office, and went to work...

 

 

I was sick the rest of the day, as I am pretty sure that I ingested my caloric intake for an entire week.  But I'm happy that I tried to do it, and I'm pleased at how close I came to actually breaking it.  It makes me think that maybe there are more world records out there that are not insurmountable.  Maybe the impossible can be accomplished (I'm talking about the eating records now...you can count me out of the ones that require moving quickly).

The idea that the impossible can be accomplished is not limited to world records.  It can be, and should be, applied to the entirety of our lives.   This month has shown me that the only thing that will ever hold me back from experiencing everything in life is, ultimately, myself (however, winning the lottery could certainly help experience a bit more of it).

This month has been a rewarding challenge.  It has been enlightening to find a variety of new things to try every day, and I have had a lot of fun doing it. I went to a city council meeting, and met people that I might not have had the chance to meet otherwise. I saw mummies on display, and I learned a card illusion.  I challenged a grandmaster to a game of chess (he still hasn't accepted my gambit), and I read a classic tragedy.  I've seen things and done things that I would have passed over if I hadn't been paying attention.

At times, it can feel like we're wandering through our lives with our blinders on.  We get so focused and so lost in our routines that it can be easy to forget the magic and excitement and wonder that is life.  This is a cycle that we need to stop, as life is much spicier with some variety to it. We all need to take a second and look around at the life that is happening all around us.  We need to appreciate it more, and we need to make every single moment that we are given count.

As Ferris Bueller wisely said, "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." That's the biggest thing that I will take away from this month.  There are so many opportunities out there to enjoy.  So many connections to be made that will enrich our lives.  So many moments that will change us for years to come.  We just have to pay attention for when those opportunities present themselves.

There is so much life out there that is waiting to be lived.  It's time to start living it.

January 30th, 2013 - Consult with a psychic

Today is the penultimate day of my month long project to do something different and new everyday. And it almost turned into a bust.

I started out by having a "secret word" for the day.  I was a big fan of Pee-Wee's Playhouse growing up.  This stemmed from my love (which continues to this day) for Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.  I wanted a special bike like Pee-Wee, and I wanted to live in a house where the chairs talked and friends said "Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho."  I wanted...to have a secret word of the day.

This morning, I selected the word "Presidential."  It is the name of our largest scholarship competition that we are getting ready to host, and I figured that it would be a very prevalent word.  Unfortunately, the meeting that we had regarding this competition was attended by many of the vice-presidents at my university.  I figured that it would be detrimental to my work status if every time they said the secret word, I responded with my arms flailing and ringing bells.  So I had to give that one up pretty quickly.

Then, inspired by a recent Geico commercial, I tried to put a Slinky on an escalator.  I went over to the University Center on campus and put one of my Christmas stocking stuffers to the test.  I put the Slinky on the up escalator, thinking that it would hop down to the next step, which would be coming up to meet it, thus remaining locked in place.

Apparently, Geico commercials are fake.  The Slinky/Escalator test was a complete and total failure.

As I'm so close to finishing this project, I didn't want to mess it up.  I had to find something that I had never done before.  Finally, at the end of my rope, I realized that I had to go to outside help. And that meant calling a psychic.

I've seen advertisements for psychic hotlines since I was very little, but I've always been skeptical of people who advertise their second sight.  I remember the fake Jamaican accents being lampooned on sketch comedy shows, and the lame commercials promising the answers to life's biggest riddles.  I've seen the horoscopes, but I've felt that following the teachings of Calvin and Hobbes was a better use of the Sunday paper.  And fortune cookies, to me, are only complete after adding the phrase "in bed" to the end of them.

With that being said, I decided to put aside my skepticism and dial a psychic.  I picked the first number that I found online that was "reputable."  The website, California Psychics, said that they provided answers on "your love, career, and destiny" questions.  As I feel like I'm doing alright on the "love" front, and as long as my destiny turns out to be "the one who shall bring balance to the Force," I don't have any further questions about that.  But will I end up running the university?  Will I become a famous novelist?  Am I bound for early retirement?  That's the kind of thing that I would like to know more about.

I was put in touch with Chastity, who didn't sound Jamaican at all.  In fact, she kinda sounded like a mom, which was disappointing.  I was hoping for a Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil kind of experience, with a voodoo priestess channeling the spirits.  What I got was decidedly more suburban.

Chastity (I hate using virtues as names...just awful) said that great success laid ahead of me.  She said that I was due for a financial windfall, and that if I worked hard at my latest project, it would all pay off.  Basically "just keep doing what you're doing."  She tried to use fillers to keep the call going, but I hung up after I was charged too much.

I would have gotten a lot more out of it if she had sent me to the basement of the Alamo to find my bike...I told you I was a fan of Pee-Wee.

Going in to this, I knew that it was going to be a load of crap.  Hanging up, I was left with a similar feeling.  I believe that there are mystical forces in the universe, and I'm willing to bet that there are those of us out there that have a real gift.  I just don't think you'd find them online.

Ultimately, I'm glad that she didn't say anything of value or that I could really take to heart.  Because I have a lot to look forward to in these upcoming years.  Life is full of endless possibilities that are right around the corner.  I'd hate to ruin the surprise.

January 29th, 2013 - Become a busker

Buskers (street performers) are right up my alley (pun intended).  Watching them perform is socially acceptable people watching, which, as stated in previous posts, is one of my favorite things to do.  Sometimes you get a genuinely amazing performer, like those found on the streets of New Orleans.  Sometimes, you will get someone that truly sucks, and you'd pay for them just to shut up. And sometimes, you get someone who will sing a song that will help to create a long lasting memory.

I will always remember standing on the Red Line track at Harvard, waiting for the T to arrive.  It was my freshman year of college, and I was visiting some friends that went to school in Boston. A busker was performing, his music echoing against the tunnel's walls.   He was good, but not great.  The kind of background noise that you push aside when you go into a big city.

Then he began to play "Wonderwall," by Oasis. 

It's a song that reminds me of sixth grade bus trips and Walkmans.  It reminds me of a time when playing on the playground had suddenly lost it's appeal, and when acting cool in front of girls had come into fashion (just because it was in fashion doesn't mean that I participated in said acting cool...or that I do even today).  It reminds me of a childhood spent in the 1990s, and not the neon soaked 80's that college parties have glamorized. 

Apparently, the song had the same resonance for everyone else standing on the platform that day.  Because all at once, everyone started singing along with the busker.  Hundreds of people all singing along spontaneously, without rehearsal or planning.  It was a pre-flash mob flash mob.  And when the T came up to the station, everyone shut up and got on the train and no one said anything else about it.

Music can connect us to these kind of random and powerful memories, and I think this is why buskers provide something so much more than background noise.  They provide us with theme music as we are walking through our busy lives.  They provide us a way to connect to one another.

To honor that tradition, I decided to be a busker tonight.  I looked up some basic songs to learn on the harmonica.  I got dressed up like a hipster doofus.  And I performed at Center City Park in Greensboro.

"All My Lovin'," "Bad Moon Rising," and "Twelve Bar Basic" were all on the docket to perform, and they went alright.  Which means that I had to tell Elizabeth what they were and then she gave me the sympathy, "Ahhh, got it."

The one that I got down the best (and I use that word in only a technical sense), was "The Flintstones' Theme."

I don't forsee anyone telling the story of the time they were walking through the park and heard a horrible version of "The Flintstones' Theme."  But I did see a few people smile as I played.  And if they go home tonight, and they start humming a familiar tune, they'll know who to blame.

January 28th, 2013 - Walk backwards all day

I decided to look back today.  Literally.

My new thing for the day was a simple one.  I spent all day walking backwards.  I walked in and out of the bathroom backwards.  I walked out of my house backwards, opening the door behind me and closing it in front of me as I left.  I got into and out of my car backwards (not to worry, I didn't drive backwards). I walked across the street and into my office backwards.  I went up stairs backwards, and I entered rooms backwards.  I went grocery shopping while walking backwards, pulling the cart along with me.

What surprised me the most about doing this was how difficult and tiring it actually was. Because I'm so used to walking a certain way (you know, the normal way), changing my stride threw me for a loop. Constantly feeling like I was going to bump into something was not new, however, as my clumsiness made me accustomed to that feeling years ago.

I got a lot of funny looks as I walked backwards in public.  Cars honked, and more than a few people gave me a cartoon double-take.  A few people asked what I was doing or if I needed any help.  After awhile, I settled on "I lost a bet" as a legitimate excuse.  I had a feeling that "I'm writing a blog about doing something new every day" wasn't going to fly with the gas station attendant.

To my amazement, the vast number of people I encountered today didn't do or say anything.  The family that I met with after their tour didn't say anything, even though I backed into the room to meet them and then backed them out of the room when I was finished.  The clerk at the grocery store didn't say anything, even though I looked like I was playing bumper carts with the next person in line.  And some of my office mates didn't say anything either.  I guess they're just used to me by now.

Maybe I'm just very observant, but I feel like I would have noticed if someone was doing something this strange.  In fact, I know that I would.  Picking out the odd and bizarre things in my daily life is something that I do all of the time.  I come by it honestly, as one of my mother's favorite past times is people watching.  What can I say, I learned from the best.  I just hope that I made for good people watching for someone out there as they drove by me.

It's important to look behind us to see where we've been, and walking backwards all day gave me a new perspective of the way I move through my daily life.  It made me more aware of my surroundings, and in doing so, it made me think about the directions I use to get from point a to point be.  I hope to continue to be more aware...going forward.

January 27th, 2013 - Prepare a zombie escape kit

I'm a fan of zombies and zombie related media. I like the old school (Night of the Living Dead), and I like the new school (28 Days Later).  I respect the cult classics (Return of the Living Dead), and I dig the blockbusters (Zombieland). I like both the comic book version and the TV version of The Walking Dead.  I enjoy the flicks that make you laugh out loud, and the ones that make you cringe and scream.  It is a genre that will not get old for me.

 

Because of my fandom for zombies, I've always imagined what would actually happen if a zombie apocalypse took place.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this regard.  I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of people that have seen a zombie movie or TV show, or read a zombie comic book, have had a similar thought.  If the hoopla surrounding the Mayan calendar was any indication, then many people not only have this thought, but see it as something that is likely to happen soon.

 

This afternoon, I decided to take my flights of fancy one step further and prepare a zombie escape kit.  I plan on leaving it in the back of my car, so if the zombie hoards do start to roam the country in search of brains, I am good to go.

 

 

My zombie escape kit includes:

A tent
A sleeping bag
A tool kit
A baseball bat (for smashing zombies in the head, thus rendering them incapacitated)
A hammer and nails (for nailing boards to windows and making shelters more secure...also, for fans of Tyrese on The Walking Dead, the hammer can be used for smashing zombies in the head, thus rendering them incapacitated)
A bottle opener
Two cans of beans
A flashlight
A mallet
Three drinking cups
Containers of: hydrocortisone, triple antibotic ointment, and hydrogen peroxide
Toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss
Soap
Kleenex
Clear Eyes eyedrops
Aspirin
Airborne Cold Medicine
Antacid tablets (as I'm sure that the food that will be available after the zombies take over will give me indigestion)
A lighter
A Swiss Army knife
Two board games: Tic-Tac-Toe...and that brain puzzle you usually find at Cracker Barrel gift shops
The Worst Case Scenario Handbook
The Zombie Survival Handbook
Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens (the last book that I want to read before I die...if it's good enough for Desmond on LOST, it's good enough for me)

Sure, there is no reason for me to take this seriously.  Zombies are a fictional creation, and are not a real and viable threat to society.

Or are they?

Man Kills Housemate in Second Cannibal-Like Attack, Cops Say

ABC NEWS

A 21-year-old man accused of killing a housemate told police in Harford County, Md., that he ate the victim’s heart and part of his brain after killing him.

Alexander Kinyua first became a suspect when his brother found what he thought were human remains in the basement of the family’s Joppatowne home. When the brother confronted Kinyua, he told him they were animal remains, according to ABC 2 News in Baltimore. The brother told the father about the grisly find, but when the father searched the basement the remains were gone.

Kinyua has been charged with first-degree murder and was ordered held on no bail, according to the Associated Press.

Kinyua’s roommate, Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, 37, was reported missing Friday. Harford County Sherriff Jesse Bane said a head and hands were recovered on the main floor of the home. Harford County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Monica Worrell said deputies also found more body parts at a nearby dumpster.

Detectives have not yet positively identified the body. Police say they have a strong suspicion it’s the missing man, according to ABC 2 News.

Investigators say Agyei-Kodie left the house for a run but never returned.

This is the second cannibal-like attack this week, which has been dubbed “zombie apocalypse.” Earlier this week police discovered a man devouring the face of a homeless man on a Miami highway. Rudy Eugene was shot dead by police after he refused to stop tearing the flesh off the face of Ronald Poppo, who is in critical condition after police say 75 percent of his face was devoured.

January 26th, 2013 - Talk in cliches all day

Yesterday, I grabbed the bull by its horns and attempted a quest: talk in cliches all day.

It was no walk in the park, as I quickly realized that to get the ball rolling, I wouldn't be able to speak ONLY in cliches.  To do that would drive Elizabeth up the wall, and would put me between a rock and a hard place to get anything done.  So, to stay ahead of the game, I tried to use a cliche at least once in a conversation, often times more.  Once the cat was out of the bag, people got into it, making this the most participatory of all the new things that I've tried for this blog.

Elizabeth's Jimmy has been on it's last legs for awhile now.  Not wanting to throw good money after bad, we decided to check out a couple of places.  The first dealership was as sleazy as they come, and it definitely did not cut the mustard.  The salesman actually said "What do I have to do to get you into one of these cars today?" which was as cliche as they come. And he didn't even know that was the day's new thing!

We didn't want to listen to the doom merchants, so we kept our chins up and tried to look on the bright side.  We took a hop, skip, and a jump across the street to CarMax to get the low down on what they had to offer. It's a dog eat dog world out there, and we weren't expecting much.   To say that place was the bee's knees is an understatement.  Cathy, our sales consultant, had a heart of gold and in a pinch, she did the trick.  In a jiffy, we walked away with a new car for Elizabeth, and that's nothing to shake a stick at.

To celebrate this windfall, we went to some local watering holes last night.  Some friends from college that now live in North Carolina came out with us, and it was the best thing since sliced bread to see them.  Unfortunately, neither Elizabeth nor myself knows what hit us last night.  Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Speaking in cliches all day made me really think about what I was saying, so there was a silver lining to sounding like an idiot.  If you stop to smell the roses, you begin to see how many of these little idioms you use on a daily basis wihtout realizing it.  Talk about getting caught napping with your pants down! It was fun to work a new cliche in that I hadn't used yet, and I'm sure I only scratched the surface of what I could have said.  You win some, you lose some.

See you in two shakes of a lambs tail!

January 25th, 2013 - Start learning Klingon

I've tried to learn a language other than English many times.  I took three years of Spanish in high school, and another dos anos of it in college.  My professor, Marta Hernandez Salvan, inspired many a pleasant sueno, but did not help me to retain much about verb conjugation.  I can remember the random vocabulary word here and there, enough to win a game of Spanish Bananagrams a time or two.  But drop me in the middle of Mexico, and I would revert to American Spanish.  That is to say that I would just speak English, only louder and with more pointing.

I took a semester of German in college, but because my professor was French and I could barely understand her when she spoke English, it was a rocky road.  I've tried ASL, but I can only remember "bullshit," which, though it's a useful sign, won't get me many places.  I've even tried to listen to a "Learn Norwegian While You Drive" CD.  I got about 5 minutes in before I realized they had a word for every word that we had, so I just gave up.

This afternoon, I decided to give it another go.  But I didn't want to attempt Spanish again, and I didn't want to do something normal.  In the spirit of the blog, I wanted to do something that I hadn't done before.

And that was to start learning Klingon.

For those that aren't fans of the franchise, Klingon is a fictional language from Star Trek.  Introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), the language has since been translated and reproduced into a variety of mediums.  There are Klingon versions of Shakespeare, a full Klingon opera, and a version of Boggle.  There's even a Klingon Language Institute, which promotes Klingon language and culture throughout the current United Federation of Planets.  As this contains only Earth at this point, they have room for expansion.

I ordered The Klingon Dictionary by Marc Okrand a while back, but I never set out to reading it.  This afternoon, I did just that.

I set out to first do something basic, like learn how to sign my name:

Then, I wanted to tell Elizabeth something:

"jIH bang SoH"  (That means, "I love you")

I also wanted to learn something very Klingon.

"batlh Daqawlu'tah" (That means "You will be remembered with honor.")

I plan on starting to use my new found linguistic skills in every day life.  I still have a long way to go in order to become fluent, and practice makes perfect.  But maybe one day I'll be able to challenge the gang on The Big Bang Theory to a game of Klingon Boggle after all.

"tlhIngan Hol Dajatlh'a'?"

January 24th, 2013 - Soup to Nuts!

I love to cook.  I started in college, and I was not a connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination.  My recipes consisted of various types of Ramen and canned soups, crock pots, and a lot of casserole dishes.  Hell, there were points where I ate chip sandwiches, which meant chips and BBQ sauce on a bun (it was college, and my money went to expenses other than food).

But I've gotten better, and I like to try cooking new things.  Last night, I decided to treat myself and Elizabeth to a "Soup to Nuts" dinner.  This refers to a full course meal, when many courses are delivered in sequence over a longer period of time than a normal dinner.  The first class passengers on the Titanic were served a 10 course meal, and to celebrate his 60th birthday, a man in Kentucky had a 60 course meal over the span of 8 1/2 hours.  I decided that was a bit extreme, so I stuck to serving six courses instead.

For inspiration, I used recipes out of a cookbook that my mom gave me when I moved to North Carolina.  Most of these recipes called for heavy cream and frying things into submission, so I had to modify them quite a bit so they could be in the same ballpark as "healthy."  I started prepping when I got home around 6pm, and our final course ended around 10pm,

First Course - Appetizer
Smoked Oyster Dip

Second Course - Soup
Tomato soup with basil

Third Course - Salad
Asparagus salad with romaine, tarragon and kale

Intermission
Sherbet to cleanse the palate

Fourth Course - Poultry
Chicken Parmesan with succotash

Fifth Course - Dessert
Strawberries with cream and brown sugar

Sixth Course - Nuts
Almonds and hazelnut coffee

You might notice that I didn't actually start with the "soup" course, and so I didn't technically have a "Soup to Nuts" dinner.  Many planning sites that I found said that this was the way to serve it, and this was the order of the courses that should be followed.  So there.

It was really interesting eating a meal like this, as I've never been one to divide out my food.  I like to take a bit of turkey with stuffing and cranberries and mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving.  I like to search for the "perfect bite."

Eating this way, however, made me appreciate each individual dish on it's own.  I didn't feel overly stuffed, which was surprising, because I was sure that I'd be bursting by the end.  Spreading it out helped me digest at an easier pace, and it made for an overall enjoyable experience.  And by having a variety of dishes, we each could have something we liked (I preferred the Smoked Oyster Dip, while Elizabeth liked the main course).

It's not something I'd do every night (I don't think our little kitchen could take it).  But it's definitely something that I'd like to try again, and maybe with even more courses.

Just not 60.  That's ridiculous.

January 23rd, 2013 - Solve a Rubik's Cube

The Rubik's Cube is one of the most iconic toys in history.  Created in the early 1970's by Hungarian sculptor and professor Erno Rubik, it has since gone on to garner worldwide acclaim and has been dubbed the world's best selling toy.  But for those that have not gotten that memo, the puzzle consists of six different colored sides. The object is to twist them around until all sides are one respective color.

World organizations have been developed to track and record "speedcubers," who are individuals that try to solve the puzzle in as fast a time as possible. The record holder solved the cube in less than six seconds!

There are numerous algorithms that describe solutions to the puzzle, as well as sites that will show you step by step how to twist and turn your cube to solve it.  There's even a program that will allow you to fill in what you have so far and figure out how to solve it from there.  I've used this type of program to solve a Rubik's Cube before.  But I've never done it by myself, on my own, without any help.

Today, I set out to do just that.  I mixed up my Rubik's Cube (it's a holiday version that I got this year as a stocking stuffer)...

 

 

And I set to work.

 

I toiled.

 

I pondered.

 

I tried to out think the puzzle.

 

I twisted.

 

I turned.

 

I rotated.

 

I spent the better afternoon on it.  And this was the result...

 

 

 

Oh well.  some challenges can be conquered in a day.  And some will take much longer than that.  My attempt at solving a Rubik's Cube is not over by any stretch of the imagination, and I am committed to one day knock this one off the bucket list.

 

Now, how the hell am I supposed to put this thing back together?





January 22nd, 2013 - Go ice skating in North Carolina

I have to admit that sometimes, I can be kind of a snob.  I turn my nose up at movies that I think will be terrible, and I belittle books that I think will be poorly written trash.  I've started making an effort to change this attitude about certain things, and this blog is a reflection of that.  I can't let my preconceived ideas about something completely sway my opinion of it (although, in the case of Tyler Perry, my opinion was spot on).

I'm from Maine, and if you saw the weather reports from there this morning, you know that it is a very cold place in the winter.  Which means that I grew up with an abundence of snow and ample opportunities to go ice skating. I learned to skate on a little duck pond at the Hyde School, a private boarding school in my hometown of Bath.

The duck pond, pre-Arctic temperatures

There was a soccer field that they would flood in the winter, and growing up, skating on Goddard's Pond was a favorite activity.  And when I was in high school and in college, I did participate in some ice racing on the lakes when they froze over.  Not as a driver, but as the screaming backseat passenger certain that the ice was going to cave at any second.

I say all this because everytime I drove by the Piedmont Winterfest in downtown Greensboro, I scoffed at the little rinky dink rink that they had set up outside in the park.  They've been setting this up every winter for years down here, and since I've lived here, I've never gone to it.  I thought to myself that it couldn't be fun and that it would be a waste of time.

In the spirit of the blog (and at Elizabeth's insistence), I got over these feelings and went ice skating last night.  I hadn't been skating in years, so I was a little rusty at first.  Ok...a lot rusty.  I wobbled and weebled, and I did end up falling down a time or two.  Ice isn't as forgiving as I remember...

The rink was small, and the ice wasn't in the best condition.  However...it was still a lot of fun.  Skating around with the gal, and watching her twirl around under the lights, was a pretty wonderful thing to do.  It didn't cost all that much, and for an hour I was reminded of all the times I'd gone skating as a kid.  A time when bills didn't matter, and a time when the most pressing issue was whether or not you could stay outside a little bit longer before you had to do your homework.

If I turn my nose up at these kind of experiences, I'm going to miss out on a great deal of things.  And I don't want to look back on my life and think about all the chances for fun I had that I passed up.  So instead, I'll just keep skating down here in North Carolina.

Because holy shit, it was -25 in Maine today.  How are y'all still living up there?!?!

January 21st, 2013 - Test out wedding cakes

Today's adventure ties in with the biggest adventure of my life.  I'm getting married next year,  and that means that plans are already underway for the wedding.  And hey, wow, who knew that there was so much that had to be planned?  It's like it's a big deal or something...

All kidding aside, I've dived right in with helping to plan our big day.  While many of our decisions ultimately default to what she wants (because, honestly, it's not that I don't care about our table settings...it's just that I don't care about our table settings), I want to do my part.  Because if I'm not there to advocate for a guy in a Chewbacca outfit performing the ceremony, no one will.

We have divided out what we need to take care of for the wedding, and we're trying check things off at a nice, leisurely pace.  Today, we got to cross off picking a cake.

Elizabeth and I found a baker that bakes out of her home in Kernersville.  I set up the meeting, and we went to her house today for lunch.  Her name is Natalia, and she is a very sweet and funny lady that started baking cakes for a living two years ago.  She let us pick out several different flavors, and she made cupcakes for us to test out.  We brought them home and after dinner, we had a cupcake feast.

Merlin really wanted to help us test the cupcakes

 

The almond, chocolate, strawberry, and lemon-blueberry were good, but nothing to write home about (but apparently they did warrant a mention here in this blog). Our favorites were red velvet, coconut-pinapple, and carrot, so it looks like we are going to go with those.  Find a cake...check! 

 

This is my first wedding, and I plan on it being the only one as well. So this whole experience will be a bunch of firsts, which means that many little adventures are around the corner.  What's great is that I found someone that wants to be there with me for all of them.  Life is an adventure, every minute of it, and it's best when you have someone to share the adventure with.

 

It's even better with cupcakes.

January 20th, 2013 - MUMMIES!

Today's adventure was the creepiest so far.  The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato is a traveling exhibit featuring the remains of many inhabitants of the city of Guanajuato.  Because of the high heat and dry air, the crypts that the bodies were placed in acted like ovens, killing the bacteria that normally breaks down and decomposes bodies.  This resulted in incredibly well preserved corpses, or naturally occuring (accidental) mummies.

These mummies were first discovered when the families of many of those kept in the crypts failed to pay a tax to keep them there.  The bodies were disinterred, and a museum was set up using the the mummies as attractions.  The city of Guanajuato quickly became a major tourist destination after this discovery, and the museum branched out to include a traveling tour throughout the world.

The touring exhibit has made Greensboro it's home for several months now.  Today was the last day of the exhibit, so Elizabeth and I went to the Natural Science Center of Greensboro to check it out.  She had never been to the NSC, so today's "do a new thing" counts double!

It was really amazing to see bodies this well preserved after centuries (most of the bodies are from before 1850).  New research techniques using X-Ray and DNA analysis has lead to some fascinating discoveries about who these people were and what their possible causes of death might have been.  The age ranges of the mummies varies from the old (60+) to the very young (less than a year old in some cases).

The baby mummies were, to me, the most disturbing and upsetting out of all the mummies in the exhibit.  A video near this section said that a common practice of the day was to take photographs of a baby if it died in infancy.  These deceased children were thought to be pure and without sin, and were dubbed "angelitos" because their families believed they were destined for a direct passage to heaven.  The only thing that I see them having a direct passage to is my nightmares tonight.  I am expecting that they will figure promently in them.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if all of the mummies showed up in my nightmares, and that's the biggest thing that I came away with after viewing the exhibit.  The Accidental Mummies exhibit reaffirmed for me that I never, ever want to be burried.  I don't want to end up with a nest of spiders in my chest (which was the case for one of the mummies that we saw today).  I don't want to end up baking in a crypt.  I don't want to end up in a museum, and I especially don't want to end up in nightmares.

So it's a viking funeral for me then.  Just me, a boat, and a flaming arrow to set it all ablaze on the high seas.  No chance to become an accidental mummy there!

January 19th, 2013 - Challenge a grandmaster to a game of chess

I love the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer.  It made me want to play chess the minute that I saw it for the first time.  The problem is that I lacked both the skill of a grandmaster...and a chess board.  Maybe if I hired Ben Kingsley I wouldn't have this problem...

I've rectified the situation for this blog.  I went out today and purchased a board, and decided to challenge someone.  And who better to challenge than a chess Grandmaster.

The rank of "Grandmaster" is awarded by FIDE, which is the world chess organization.  Once this rank is bestowed, it is carried for life.  As of 2012, there were 1380 grandmasters still living in the world.  At random, I chose Gata Kamsky, a Soviet born American chess player.  He is currently the Rapid Chess Champion.  Which means that I am in for quite the gambit.

The chess board is set up as a grid, with the bottom edge assigned letters from a to h, and the side edge numbered from 1 to 8.  I set up the board, and made my first move, pawn to g4 (notated simply as g4), otherwise known as Grob's Attack.  It's an unconventional move, apparently, so maybe that will throw old Kamsky off.

To alert Kamsky of my challenge, I added him as a friend on Facebook, and sent him this simple message: "g4."  If he answers, I plan on playing him via Facebook correspondence.  Check back to see how quickly I lose!

January 18th, 2013 - Go to temple

I was raised Catholic.   Papa Bear's family was Lutheran (that's the largely Norwegian side), and we would attend service with them when we went to visit them in Wilmington.  My big southern Irish family had passed down Catholicism to Mama Bear, Mary. The Catholics won out, so that meant that the Farabee's attended Catholic mass on Sundays at St. Mary's (the fact that my mom was a saint was not lost on me).

We went to church through both my first communion and my brother's, going on into middle school in New Orleans.  Fun Fact: Louisiana is one of the few states in the country that does not have counties.  Instead, they have Parishes, a hold over to the strict Catholic governments of both France and Spain that occupied the area at various times.  To say that they are a God fearing folk would be an understatement to rival all understatements.

As a family, we stopped going to church while we were in New Orleans, and we didn't pick it back up when we moved back to Maine.  We stopped praying at meal times when I went off to college, instead electing to say "Cheers" before dinner.  This is not to say that my family is no longer religious.  I know that as my mom and dad have gotten older (I mean better, y'all, you're not older, you're better), faith in God and in a peaceful rest for their loved ones after they have passed on is extremely important to them.

My views on religion are forever changing.  I have most recently called myself an "atheist," as I feel that the mysticism present in the world is explainable by science.  The stuff we still don't understand is simply beyond the grasp of our scientific knowledge at this time.  We will eventually get there.  I also believe that organized religion, while it has helped many, has also been the direct cause of the oppression of billions.  It has held society back in many instances (we are still talking about contraception and gay rights, for...God's...sake, and it's the 21st century...aren't we supposed to be on the moon by now?), and the scientific discoveries it prevents from taking hold pose a real threat to this planet.

Ok, stepping off that soapbox now.  Because even describing myself as an "atheist" limits myself just as much as I believe religion can often limit a person's viewpoint.  Saying I'm an atheist means that I am absolutely, 100% certain that there isn't a God.  And you know what? I'm not that sure.  I'm pretty sure, but I'm not 100%.  No one is, and when we can all admit that to ourselves, we will be all the better for it.

Because uncertainty is a great thing.  It leads to deep thought and introspection.  It inspires us to learn new things and seek out new ways of seeing the world.  It allows us to not be tied down to rigid ideals, and instead forge our own understanding of this thing called life and our place here on Spaceship Earth.  There is something truly magical about the lives we live, and the quest to better understand this magic should know no bounds.

Expanding my horizons is just what this blog is all about.  So along with my fiance (read shiksa), I went to Temple Emanuel in Greensboro last night.  Our friend, Joel, is a member of the congregation, and he showed us the ropes.  When to stand, when to sing, and when to butcher the Hebrew language.  And wow did I butcher it.

I had never been to temple before, and it was quite the experience.  I went on a special night, as it was the MLK Weekend service.  The fantastic choir of North Carolina A&T University were invited to perform, and they showed why they had been invited to perform at the White House, not once but twice.  Dr. King's messages of peace, unity, and brotherhood were sprinkled throughout the traditional Jewish service.

My knowledge of the Jewish faith is limited.  They don't believe that Jesus was the Son of God, and that the New Testament is a sequel that just didn't need to be made.  But beyond that, I didn't know much else.  So my experience last night at Temple Emanuel was very enlightening.

Instead of a Catholic service, which in my memory was based mostly on guilt and repentance and damnation unless you confessed, the service last night was about doing good things.  Not because there was a Hell that you were trying to avoid, but doing them just to do them.  That being righteous and seeking justice for all was more important than seeking forgiveness for nameless sins.  I felt like I was at an orientation meeting for the Justice League, instead of a religous service.

It was also a ceremony about life.  Even the prayers for lost loved ones were not prayers for the dead.  One of the rabbis was quick to point this out.  "This is not a prayer about death," he said, "instead, it is a prayer about the joy that our loved ones brought us.  It's a prayer about life."  That was really refreshing and moving.  I so moved that I was compelled to raise my hand and call for a prayer for health for my Grandma, Ruth Farabee, who has been in and out of the hospital for awhile now.  And I truly felt the whole of the community in the temple behind me as I did.

I'm not going to convert to Judaism any time soon (even though Joel pointed out that I looked more Jewish than he does).  But I will come away with a better appreciation for not only their faith, but for faith in general.  Going to temple last night showed me that I am not finished in my own personal journey to find what I believe.  It's just nice to know that there are people out there to help me find my way.

Me and my shiksa

January 17th, 2013 - Learn more about the US Presidential election of 1912

In 1912, the country was in turmoil.  The fat cats on Wall Street had a stranglehold on the wealth of the country, and many progressive individuals felt that the rich had to put in a higher stake to take care of the poor.  Tempers were flaring with our neighboring country of Mexico, and military forces were massing in the Middle East.

Any of this sound familiar?

Tonight, me and my fiance went up to the Greensboro Historical Museum to attend a talk on the Presidential election of 1912.  I've seen these types of events listed on community calendars and bulletin boards before, but I've never gone to one.  I've also never dropped by the Greensboro Historical Museum, which is a shame because it's not even a 5 minute walk from my new house.  So, two birds with one stone!

Because of the recent election, I was particularly interested in this topic.  The parallels between the political and social landscape of that time and our own were very striking, and the presenter, Matthew Young, did a great job of illustrating how these issues impacted the voters' view of the various candidates.  And what crop of candidates it was...

The incumbent was William Howard Taft.  A rotund man with an apparently great sense of humor, he once telegraphed a friend that he had just completed a 25 mile horse ride and felt great.  His friend responded "How's the horse?" (I chuckled out loud at that one).  He had been Secretary of War for the former president, Theodore Roosevelt, but this experience did not seem to serve him well.  He did not carry through with many of the policies and ideals of his predecessor, and was supported by the corrupt party bosses that Roosevelt had actively tried to take down.

Taft's opponent for the Republican nomination was none other than Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt himself, who returned from an African safari after his first two terms, saw that the country was worse than when he left, and decided to run again.  I was most impressed by what Young had to say about Roosevelt.  The man did not shy away from life, and I can only hope to accomplish 1/4 of what he was able to in his life time.  Most of it sounded like a Hemingway story, with a lot of political life thrown in.  Did you know that he is the only person to receive both the Congressional Medal of Honor, our highest military award, and the Nobel Peace Prize?

Their opponent was the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson.  A former President of Princeton with a Ph.D in History (Wilson is the only president in history with a doctoral degree), Wilson was a one term governor from New Jersey before he entered the race for President.

This election had significane to Greensboro itself because it was the first time that all three major candidates for President came to the Gate City.  The Greensboro Historical Museum currently has an exhibit showcasing Greensboro's role in Presidential campaign history, including pictures of the 1912 candidates.

Wilson ended up winning the election because Roosevelt and Taft split the Republican vote.  What I found to be most interesting of the whole talk were the differences between the 1912 election and our most recent  election.  Wilson, the Democratic candidate, won the South handily.  If anyone saw election night coverage this year, the South was decidedly against the Democratic candidate.  Theodore Roosevelt, first a Republican candidate, was for environmental conservation.  He wanted strict regulations on food and medicine, and was a champion for anti-trust legislation.  He seemed very unlinke the Tea-Party/Far right conservatives that flood the airwaves of talk radio today.

Going to this lecture tonight was great because it was a topic that I knew nothing about.  I knew that Wilson was the President during WWI, but I didn't know how he got there.  It was sad that Elizabeth and I were two out of the seven total people there, and that included the presenter and the guy at the front desk of the museum.  But it was an intersting way to spend an hour, and I feel like I have a lot of trivia to drop the next time I'm at a party.  And isn't that why we learn?  So we can show off what we learn to our friends.

January 16th, 2013 - Go to the High Point Museum

 

I moved to High Point, NC a week or so after I graduted from the University of Maine at Farmington.  I knew nothing about the place, other than it was home to the university that I was going to work for and that it was in the middle of the state.

 

After living and working there for six years now, I know a little more.  I know that it was originally named because it was the highest point on the North Carolina railroad that made it's way through Guilford County.  I know that it's the Home Furnishings Capital of the World, and that it is North Carolina's "International City" because of the large furniture and textile markets that it showcases every year.  I know that American Idol winner Fantasia was born and raised here.  And that's about it.

 

On my drives around High Point, I often passed by the museum honoring the history of High Point, but I never went inside.  So, in the spirit of this blog, I decided that today I would go check it out.

 

Upon arriving, I was greeted to a very nice volunteer at the front desk, as well as the director of the museum itself.  Like the city itself, the High Point Museum has seen better days.  It is currently owned by the city, which means that it has limited hours and a limited staff.  The collection, however, is still owned and cared for by the High Point Historical Society.  And my what a collection it is...

 

The first exhibit went WAY back to the earliest inhabitants of the area, the Native Americans...

 

 

 

And then they showcased some of the early settlers of the "Back Country."

 

 

 

 

It seems to me that they glossed over a lot between the time of the Native Americans and the time of the white settlers...

 

 

 

 

In all seriousness, there were some really cool parts in the museum.  Since High Point was his hometown, there was a great exhibit on John Coltrane.

 

 

 

 

 

The was also some amazing furntiure.  You know the coolest thing about these two rooms?



 

They're minatures.

 

The minature gallery was my favorite exhibit in the whole museum.  The craftmanship and the patience that must have gone into these works is truly impressive.  The artistry and the skill showcased in these little pieces provides evidence why High Point thrived for so long as a design and furniture power house.

Those days are fading fast, however, as more and more companies are closing up shop.  The actually manufacturing of the furniture rarely happens here anymore.  Instead, it's all been outsourced to other countries that will do the work faster and for less pay.  The Furniture Market, once an enormous draw for the city, is not the same as it once was.  As I was leaving, one last exhibit, simply titled "Uncertain Future," was pretty powerful.  What happens to a city that cannot adapt and change?

I think it's important for cities like High Point, cities that can be found all across America, to look to their past.  This country was founded by people who worked hard to make something of their lives.  They built this nation, road by road, house by house, and chair by chair.  They built railroads and business and settlements, and these settlements became the cities and communities that we live in today.  They had gumption, they had hutzpah.  They had the inspiration to start something new. And it's about time that we started doing the same.

Places like the High Point Museum can remind us of where we've been, sure, but they can also point us in a direction of where we can go.  Like those that came before us, it's up to us to choose that direction.  Hopefully, it's a good one.

January 15th, 2013 - Go to a city council meeting

Tonight, I attended a Greensboro City Council meeting.  They take place every first and third Tuesday of each month at 5:30pm, and because of my commute home from work, I was a little late and missed the opening.  I also missed the chance to sit in the council chamber itself.  But that didn't matter, because the real show was outside.



This is just a small sample of the people that came to pack the lobby outside of the chamber.  We watched the meeting on a small TV there, and everyone was completely immersed in the proceedings.  It was really something to see.  In fact, it was pretty damn inspiring to see that many people interested in how they were governed.

The meeting was fascinating.  The first subject that I heard about was a discussion of the Citizen's Police Academy, which is a souped up Neighborhood Watch program that has apparently done many great things for this community's safety.  Then two high school girls came up to talk about their charity work called "For Pete's Sake," which raises research money for ASL (otherwise known as Lou Gerig's disease).  Their dad, Pete, suffers from the disease, and it was very moving to see their hardwork laid out before the city council members.

 

The last issue that I stayed for was what brought the crowd.  Duke Energy, which has the sole franchise rights for power in the city of Greensboro, caused quite a ruckus in December.  They slashed and butchered trees in neighborhoods all throughout the city, often without the property owner's consent.  Workers were poorly trained (if that), and their shoddy efforts left trees ugly and deformed, or in piles along the road ways.

To say that it was a heated environment in the lobby is an understatement.  People rolled their eyes when the task force representative came to the podium.  Their eye rolls were even more prevalent when the Duke Energy representative took his turn.  One group was shushed violently (or as violently as one could be shushed), because they were talking and the TV couldn't be heard.

Then the citizens took the stage.  There were empassioned speakers that made logical, valid arguments as to why a company like Duke should not be above the will of the city and it's citizens.  There were heartfelt pleas for action after trees that have been around for decades were chopped down because it was easy to do, not because it was right to do.  There was even a Lorax reference or two.

I made a friend standing out in the lobby.  Her name is Anna, and she's an older woman that has lived in Greensboro since she was 12.  She works with the Women's League of Voters, and she even invited me to come to their next meeting (I made sure that men were allowed before I agreed to come).  And while she said that not every meeting got that firery, it was still important to come.

And I have to agree.  We place so much stock nowadays in who we vote for in the Presidential elections, dividing our nation into red states and blue states, conservatives and liberals, those that watch Fox News and those that watch...well, the real news.  But really, the decisions made at the state and local level of government have more of an impact on our daily lives.  And the process of how these decisions get made go largely unnoticed.

It's time that I start noticing them. My generation is going to start running this joint soon, if we haven't started already.  I want to be a part of that.   I want my voice to count.  In order to do that, I have to be more informed.  So I plan on going back again soon.  As Thomas Jefferson may or may not have said, "An informed citizenry is the bulwark of a democracy."  Here's to being the bulwark.

January 14th, 2013 - Say "Hello" to everyone I see

HELLO!

In the film Waking Life, the main character bumps into a woman while he's walking through a dreamscape (the whole movie is a dreamscape, so that doesn't narrow it down, but I digress). He mumbles a "Sorry," and moves on, to which the woman replies that she wants to do that again, and that she doesn't want to be an ant. "I mean," she says, "it's like we go through life with our antennas bouncing off one another continuously on 'ant auto-pilot' with nothing really human required of us."

I never want to get to that point, and I feel like I'm doing a good job of it so far.  I consider myself to be a pretty friendly guy.  I smile a lot, and I laugh a lot, and I hope that I make most of the people around me happier because they know me.  I start everyday at work by going around to everyone's office to say "hi."  Nothing special or formal, just "Hi," "What's up?" "How's it going?" and other simple greetings.

With all that being said, today, I set out to be a little friendlier.

Because the "what's up?" nod is a personal as a text message, which means that it is not personal at all.  And what's with the questions "What's up?" or "How's it going?" anyway?  They are questions that we ask people that we come into contact with countless times.  But do we ever want to hear an answer other than "Not much" or "Pretty good"?  If someone actually answers with something more than those short, clipped responses to our short, clipped questions, isn't it a little odd?

So my goal for today was simple.  It was to go beyond this informal type of greeting that I mindlessly take part in each and every day.  Instead, I said "Hello (insert name here)" to everyone that I saw.  Now, let me clarify.  I wasn't yelling at people on the street (although I did wave and smile at everyone that passed me while driving to and from work...and because of the way I drive, that was a whole lotta people).  I also didn't shout across the library this afternoon to say "Hello," because, come on, it's a library, have some decorum.

What I did was start every interaction I had today with "Hello (insert name here)."  If I didn't know their name, I read it off their nametag (Dan at CVS).  If they didn't have a nametag, I introduced myself (Roger at the gas station).  It took a little effort, as I kept wanting to revert back to the greetings that I habitually use.  But I did my best, and for the vast majority of my day, it worked.  I felt happier doing it, and I even met a few new people (Rita, the clerk at the grocery store, was by far the nicest).  It beat asking "What's up?" and not really waiting for a response, and it beat the dumb nod that barely acknowledges a person's existence.

It was something simple to do today, but I had never taken the time to think about the various interactions I have throughout the day.  We bump into so many people, and we might as well take the time to say "Hello" when we do.

So, in the words of Bizzaro Superman, "HELLO!"



 

January 13th, 2013 - Learn how to tie a bowline

My dad is a boat nut.  He has worked for a shipyard for more than twenty-five years, starting off his career drafting plans for submarines and working his way to designing destroyers all in a computer.  His latest project is a combat ship that I had the pleasure of touring before it set sail.  The word “impressive” doesn’t quite do it justice.

Because of his chosen career, my dad has a love for all things nautical.  He loves Wooden Boat magazine, and he even competed in a competition in which he built a boat from a pile of wood and sailed it in less than a weekend.  It didn't sink, which to me now is a remarkable accomplishment.  When it happened I was in 8th grade and I was bored to tears.

Papa Bear tried his best to get me excited about what it was that he did with his days.  When I went into high school, we even started building our own boat together, a wooden kayak wrapped in water-proofed canvas.  It was never finished, and it’s one of my biggest regrets that it sat there uncompleted.  I wish I had found the time in my busy teenage schedule to build that boat with my dad and to take it out on the water.

Sadly, my DeLorean has been on the fritz, and I haven’t been able to go back and tell my younger self to cut the shit just yet.  But not to worry, we have our top men working on it now...top men.

So as a small gesture of remorse, I’d like to do something nautical today in honor of my dad.  Since I live in a small apartment in the middle of downtown Greensboro, there were not many opportunities to build and launch a ship of my own.  I could, however, learn how to tie a maritime knot.  And there is no better maritime knot than the bowline.

The bowline is known as the “King of knots” because of its importance and wide use (it's the knot that Quint is teaching Chief Brody when the shark shows up).  It's often used for small craft sailing, and has also been used as a rescue knot.  It's also easy to tie and untie.  I'm counting on the easy to tie part, because my knowledge of knots does not go much further beyond tying my shoes.

There's an easy way to learn how to tie a bowline.  First, you make a rabbit hole:

Then, the rabbit comes out of it's hole:

The rabbit goes around the tree:

And then goes back into it's hole, where it ends up looking something like this:

I'm in no way ready for a master class in seamanship.  It's going to take a few more knots until I can calculate my speed in knots (that's a boat joke...ha).  But I'm excited to learn more, and I can only hope to one day put these new skills to use.  We never finished that boat, Dad.  When do you want to start?

January 12th, 2013 - Go to a new park

A quick search of the Parks and Recreation department for the city of Greensboro, NC yields the following results.  There are more than 100 parks, neighborhood parks, watershed parks, regional parks, community parks, mini-parks, natural areas, and special facilities located within the city limits.  Leslie Knope would have a field day here (and she'd have plenty locations to host one).

There's a great little neighborhood park down the street from my house called Sterberger Park.  It's a nice place to throw Merlin's Chuck-It around, and in the summer it's a going to be a great place to have a picnic.  Norman Rockwell, eat your heart out.  But I wanted to go beyond the place I normally go to today.  I wanted to find some of the other parks that were right in my neck of the woods.

Merlin and I went exploring today, and we found several new parks to check out.  Our favorite was Kings Forest Park. It was maybe 3 miles from our house, and it had many new smells for Merlin to enjoy.

And judging by his grin around his toy, I think he thought the new place was alright.

I am willing to bet that there are places just in like this in every city and town in America.  Places that we drive by on our way to work or the grocery store or the bar.   Places that should be enjoyed and should shared with the ones that we love.  I intend to find more of these places in my new city, and I hope that Merlin will tag along too.  Because it's a great way to start your morning, with your trusty companion by your side with plenty of room to run.