Day 168: Watch The Best Movie Ever

     Well, thats what IMDB says. According to their website, The Shawshank Redemption is the highest rated movie with a score of 9.2. My film teacher (hate that guy) had nothing but great things to say about the film and I felt like I was missing out on a theatrical gem when I said that I had never seen it. I also thought that I needed to even the scores since I did that "Worst movie ever" challenge (day 12: http://aimforeclouds.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-12-pocket-ninjas.html)
      I had tried to watch it once, it was in a motel in Montrose Colorado, but it just so happens that I was sick as a dog at the time. I tried to keep my eyes on the TV as I hurled into a trash can. Despite my best efforts, all I remember about the experience was a lot of puking and a little Morgan Freeman. I passed out on the motel bed and since then, have yet to actually watch the film with a healthy immune system and a sober state of mind.
     So I watched it, cause it's the best film and all. There were a couple of scenes that I could loosely remember but for the most part, it felt like I was watching it for the first time. I actually really enjoyed it, like a lot. I thought that the entire movie was done really well. Everything from the camera angles to the acting was nothing short of awesome.  I don't know if its the best movie I've ever seen, but it was very very good. I highly recommend watching it (when your not puking), I think you'll enjoy it.

"Get busy livin', or get busy dying"

Day 167: Donut Peaches

     When I saw the sign in the grocery store that advertised donut peaches two for a dollar, I pondered the idea of such a treat. A snack that was one part pastry and one part peach, brilliant. I entertained both the thought of a donut that was the shape of a peach, and also a peach with a missing hole in the middle. But to my surprise, it turns out that donut peaches are just peaches that look kind of deformed and squished. They do have the basic donut form but their middle is still in tact and hole-free. I was a little disappointed but looked up the specs on the fruit on my phone as my brother and I took turns palming each and every fruit. A website I found ranted about how the donut peaches are far superior then its spherical counterpart. The site told me that these donut peaches taste better because they are sweeter and have an "almond overtone". They are also lower in acid and the pit is easier to remove then original peaches. The site went on to list around 10 reasons why we should seek out the donut shaped ones, but some of the reasons didn't seem to hold their own weight (like how pretty the pink blossoms are). I bought one for me and one for my brother and we both enjoyed eating them like pretentious food critics. I didn't really pick up on the "almond overtones" but I did take note of all the fuzz that covered that bad boy. I felt like I was bitting into a hamster with all that fur, but the overall taste was really sweet and tasty. It was a cheap and delicious snack, and they look totally freaky.

Here's the donut peach loving site that I checked out:http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2006-10-01/Top-10-Reasons-to-Try-a-Donut-Peach.aspx

Day 166: Plantain

     I saw this big guy when I was buying a new toothbrush (cause I lost mine during the road trip). It looks just like a banana, only twice the size. I was looking up some facts about these giant brothers of the banana and I was told that I could eat the plantains raw if I wanted to, but its recommended to use it in your cooking to get a better taste. I quickly found out why they usually don't eat these things raw, they aren't very good. They are a lot less sweet then the banana and it had a sort of raw potato-ish flavor to it which wasn't good at all. I couldn't make it through the entire plantain (I'm telling ya, this thing was huge) but I ate enough to learn that they aren't on my favorites list.

Day 165: Utah

     I had never been to Utah, so it was the logical choice to head there after we had seen enough of that Grand Canyon. Thats the beauty of this trip, nothing about it was planned. We were literally eating at the Wendy's by the Grand Canyon when one of us asked where we were going next and I suggested Utah. Thats when Mouse called his cousin who happens to both live in Utah and skates. He got the word that his cousin (Fin) would be down to skate with us and show us some of his local spots and parks. So it was decided, I took the first shift as we drove north to Utah. It was about an 8 hour drive to where Fin lives. It was a town called Provo, and its about an hour South of Salt Lake City. We arrived at around 6:00 in the morning and had a hearty breakfast at a Denny's. From there we met up with Fin and he took us to a couple parks to warm up and most importantly wake up. the parks were fun for a while but it was obvious that they weren't designed by people that skate. then we went to a grocery store a bought this soda that called "Apple Beer". It was totally delicious and I wish I had bought a whole bunch to take home. Then we skated this spot that I have seen in a couple of skate videos. Sean Malto (a pro skateboarder) did a backside overcrook shuv out on the rail, and that was cool to see a famous spot, even if it is just a parking lot to those of you that don't skate. Provo was a lot like Colorado. The climate was similar and there was a giant mountain view. I liked it there and I wouldn't mind visiting there again sometime.

Sean Malto is rad

Da7 164: The Grand Canyon

     Yeah, I've been to the grand canyon before... when I was 2. I don't remember anything from that trip (I had to call and ask my dad to make sure I had even gone there) so I think it's safe to say that going to the grand canyon when I'm 20 counts as a new experience. It was an amazing sight and it was completely worth all of the driving and all the money it took to get there. But instead of me rambling about it, I'm just going to post the pictures.

Day 163: Drug Sniffing Dog

     We were passing through the border of Cali on our way back to Arizona when we were stopped by the guards at that border. They took one look at us and told us to park off to the side of the road. A guard with a German Sheppard approached the car. She told us to leave our cell phones on the dashboard and to exit the vehicle slowly. She directed us to a weathered red bench where we sat while she let the dog sniff out our car. I guess the dog was looking for anything from drugs to explosives, but luckily all it found was a massive amount of body oder and the wrappings of various fast foods. The guard came over to us and told us to empty our pockets one person at a time. He stood up and pulled out a gag gift we had gotten him at a truck stop a while back. It was a "extender condom". The package depicted a condom that was completely covered in bumps and thats about when we all erupted out in laughter. We managed to contain ourselves, or at least settle down to a slight giggle. The guard looked pretty embarrassed and told us that she had seen enough. She sent us back to our car, and we laughed into the night. It's a good thing that she stopped the search after David, cause he wasn't the only one that bought one of those gag condoms. I purchased one that was called "glow-boy". It was a glow in the dark one that I'm happy was kept out of the sight of the guard.

Day 162: Visit The Garlic Capitol Of the World

     Gilroy California is nicknamed the Garlic Capitol of the world, and it just so happens that we made a visit there. We didn't intentionally visit it, we just needed gas and a pee break. But that bathroom stop turned into a skate break, then a pizza time-out, and then finally a restful sleep in a Motel. As we explored the town and searched for pizza, we were bombarded by garlic related billboards. This town was really into their garlic. They had mascots and farms designated for the cause. Most everything was closed by the time I decided that I wanted my challenge to have something to do with this garlic loving land. It was too late for me to try some of their famous garlic ice cream (yeah, they really have it) so I decided to simply count the fact that I visited the garlic capitol of the world. Next time I'll for sure try that garlic ice cream, but until then heres a wiki page about this great city. It's sure to get your taste buds frothing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilroy,_California

I told you it was real

Day 161: Mohawk

      I've never been a fan of the Mohawk, but I found my self getting a haircut in the bathroom of a motel 8 in California and I had yet to complete my new thing. I was just going to buzz my hair cause the heat was getting unbearable, but Mouse suggested that I sport the Mohawk. I agreed and handed him the clippers. He did a good job cutting my hair, but I long standing disgust towards that particular hair style was telling me to chop it off right then. But I gave it the benefit of the doubt and drove to Walmart to pick up some gel to get full feel of the Mohawk. I felt like an idiot walking around Walmart with a makeshift Mohawk, but then I realized that It was Walmart that I was at and my desire to look presentable vanished instantly. Back at the motel, I styled my hair as much as possible and wore the look long enough to take a picture. Then I grabbed the clippers and went to town on the remaining hair. Moral of the story, I didn't and do not like Mohawks. Lesson learned and reinforced.

I look stupid

Day 160: Coconut Water

     Not to be confused with the coconut milk challenge http://aimforeclouds.blogspot.com/2011/03/day-72-coconut-milk-cheap-thrills-at.html. I picked up a bottle of this at a grocery store when we were driving through the night on our way to San Francisco. The packaging made it look like it was super healthy and it was only 2 bucks so I went with it. It had a very mild taste and an even milder coconut aftertaste. I thought that it was pretty alright, too much of a neutral flavor for me to keep buying, but oh well. Some of the health benefits of this stuff are:

1. Its low in carbs
2. Its 99% fat free
3. It low in sugar

     I preferred the taste of the coconut milk, but I felt like I wasn't punishing my stomach with this drink. I had been eating nothing but fast food and gas station treats since the beginning of this trip and so I felt like the tummy deserved a little break.

Heres a link to a site that is gaga about coconut water:http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/article-320.html

Day 159: Animal Fries

     There's no In and Out burgers here in Colorado so we made it a priority to stop at at least one once we got to Cali. In and Out is a super greasy burger joint with a very modest menu. They have a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a double cheeseburger (aka the double double), fries, fountain drinks, and shakes that come in either chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. We ate a whole bunch of In and Out last time I was in Cali and I always stuck with the double double, some fries, and a shake (sometimes strawberry, sometimes chocolate). It was only until a couple months ago that I leaned that In and Out has a secret menu where you can order a heap-load of foods that are kept on the down low. It was obvious what my challenge was going to be, I had to experience something off the secret menu. After a little research, I decided to go with the animal fries. the IN and Out  Wikipedia page informed me that animal fries were fries that have melted cheese and grilled onions garnished on top of some sauce. I think that the sauce was thousand island dressing but who knows. All I know is that the fries were delicious and that goes for the double double and the shake (strawberry this time) also. I wasn't feeling 100% later that day, but it was totally worth it.

Day 158: Use A Pay Phone

     Pay phones creep me out. The're just so nasty. If it's not completely tagged up with graffiti, then it's probably glazed over with some sticky residue. They gross me out, and thats why I knew I'd have to marinate my hands and face in sanitizer after today's challenge. I had never used one before (for obvious reasons) and I decided to change that. It turns out that that last sentence is easier said than done. I checked at literally every single gas station/food eatery/mall that we stopped at during our stay in Arizona for a functioning pay phone. I was 0 for 6 with the working phones and my hands and ear were in desperate need for a soap soak. Some of the phones had a piece of metal that blocked the coin slot and some simply didn't have a dial tone coming out of the receiver. It was depressing, and most of all it was totally unsanitary, but I kept at it. We drove through the rest of Arizona and ended up in Cali before I found a working pay phone that I could waste my four quarters on. It was a lonely phone next to a deli in San Diego. I was so excited when I heard the subtle dial tone that I forgot about its greasy handle and the gum wad that was touching part of the number 8 (just for a second). I pumped in my quarters and dialed the number (I called my mom cause I didn't even know if she was aware that I was on a road trip, I felt like I should check in) and waited for her answer. I heard the buzz of the phone for a couple of seconds and then it went straight to her voicemail. I was bummed for the following reasons, listed from poopiest to least:

1. I was totally grossed out from all 7 of the phones
2. I just got jipped out of a dollar
3. My mom didn't answer

     I ended up just calling my mom with my fully functioning and more sanitary cell phone to get the satisfaction. Stupid pay phones

Day 157: Impromtu Road Trip

San Fran

     So I just got back home from my road trip and it was rad to say the least. We traveled 4,372 miles through 5 states over 9 days. We had a full roster, David, Kevin, Mouse and I all crammed into a two door Honda Civic hatchback with not much more than our skateboards and a couple of clean pairs of undies. We hit some big name towns such as; Los Angelos, San Fransisco, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and San Diego. But we also made time to visit some lesser known towns; Trinidad, Gilroy, Provo, and Buckeye are a few.

 It was a great trip, and I think that the lack of planning may be to blame for it's success. When I say that we didn't plan out this trip, I totally mean it. All I knew was that I needed some money, my skateboard, and some clothes. We literally waited till the four of us were in the Honda to even ask which direction we should go. We didn't have any plans or reservations, no expectations or deadlines, thats the way to do a road trip.

San Diego

Shred sleds 

We decided on going South to New Mexico and skating there for a while. Then when we got bored, we would simply choose a new state to go to. We went from Colorado to New Mexico to Arizona to California to Arizona again to Utah to Colorado again. We slept in the car for 7 out of the 9 days. One night we got a hotel room and the other we slept at Mouse's grandpa's house in Buckeye Arizona.

Venice Beach 

It was a trip where showers where almost non existent and gas station food replaced our entire nutrition intake. A completely improvised, candy induced, skateboarding inspired, fart joke filled journey for me and my friends.

Sleepin on the road

Day 156: Horoscope

     It's about midnight right now and I am leaving in about an hour to begin my 10 day road trip across the the Southwest. A week and a half long excursion through the deserts of Arizona and beaches of Cali with three great friends (Mouse, David and Kevin). I definitely plan to continue completing the project as scheduled, but I don't know if I will be able to post the daily entries as they happen. I thought that I'd at least update the blog to here before I left so that I wouldn't be even further behind after the trip. But before I go, I'd like to leave you with one more challenge.
     I wanted to do a cool challenge for today, I really did, but work and packing got in the way of that. So instead of getting some good material for the cause, I decided to find out what my horoscope was and to get in touch with my inner soul. I actually had to look up what my sign was cause I definitely don't buy this horoscope crap. Turns out that I'm a Pisces, which is a fish. I don't think that I really identify with the fish thing cause I totally hate fish, but I kept going. It turns out that my ruling planet was Jupiter and that my lucky gem was the moon stone, which I found funny because, as it turns out, I own one of the moons of Jupiter (Day 91: http://aimforeclouds.blogspot.com/2011/04/day-91-i-own-moon.html). The site went on to say some more uber vague garbage like how I'm easygoing and artistic. I feel like the people that believe the horoscope to be true refuse to contemplate the high possibility that the majority that don't share their sign may also have easygoing and artistic traits. The little blurb about pisces was so generalized that virtually anyone could relate to in at some level. Its just that they place this super iffy info in such a strict context (your birthday) that many people make the slight coincidences fit, even when they don't. I suggest that you go to one of these sites and read one of the descriptions, but don't look at which one you pick. You''ll probably find out that they all fit your personality at least a little bit.

http://www.horoscope.com/

Day 155: Supernatural Registration Authority

     Yeah, it's a real thing. The supernatural registration authority has a website (http://monsterlicenses.com/index.php) where you are supposed to register your supernatural entity. Whether your a witch or shaman the SRA will register and "prove" your paranormal existence with a copy of your registration document. I was sold. I created an account and filled out my info. I was a little disappointed that there were predetermined categories for you to identify yourself with. If you didn't fit into one of these 10 or so categories, then you didn't qualify to register. The categories were pretty typical ones; mermaid, warlock etc. I was hoping that there was an option for "other" where I could insert my most fitting identity. I totally would have put down golf ball if they did have that option. Its from this one time a while ago when my grandma asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I replied "A golf ball!", and everyone laughed and remarked at the absurdity of it. Since then it's been retold at every thanksgiving and Christmas and its been sort of an inside joke. It would have been rad to finally be able to fulfill my dream of being a golf ball, my family would be so proud! So I was sad (for like 30 seconds) when I found out that I couldn't type in "golf ball" when I was registering so I went with the next best thing, a warlock. I just went with that cause it's really similar to my last name anyways. Garlock and warlock, it's like it was meant to be. So yeah, you guys can now refer to me as Kyle Warlock from now on.

Day 154: Using a Baler

     I'm just gonna warn you right now that today's challenge is pretty lame. Think of it like several lame new things that hopefully add up to at least a mediocre blog entry. So first my mini new thing today was stocking merchandise. I was assigned to unload a pallet of boxed merch and place it on the shelfs. I finished the project and had all the product out for guests to buy and I broke down all of the boxes for easier despoil. After that, I was learning how to use this machine called the bailer at work. Its like a giant green cardboard compactor. It became my job to fill it with the boxes that I had just broke down. It was fairly strait forward but I was still paranoid that I would break it somehow. I then got off work and went over to Gerke's house. There I partook in a hacky sack circle with him and his friends of space cases. I've always gotten the hippie vibe when I look at Gerke and his hacking skills only solidified it. I tried to play hacky sack back in 8th grade, but I've never had such an in depth tutorial from someone. I was shown some different types of kicks and some terminology. I even found out that some hardcore hacky sackers use special shoe lacing techniques to help their performance. So three lame new things later, the entry is done and I hope it's not too lame.

Day 153: Fan Mail

     Before today, I used to proudly be able to say that I had never sent fan mail to anyone. I've never understood the concept of geeking out over people who most likely don't know (or more importantly care) about you. Its things like gossip magazines hat push the idea that celebrities and sports athletes are somehow better then the average human. I remember that whole ordeal when Brittany Spear's chewed gum was sold on Ebay for $14,000. Thats so crazy that anybody would go that far out of their way and into their wallet to feel like they are apart of a "celebrity". So instead of writing to some actor or ball player, I chose to write to someone who I feel is a little more down to Earth than the Celebs and and the gossip churners. I chose Rodney Mullen. Rodney is a professional skateboarder who has somehow been able to literally invent almost everything possible in the skateboarding world while staying out of the spotlight at the same time. His ungodly amount of raw talent on the board and his humble presence are what makes him a life-time inspiration for me. My letter to him really wasn't even about him or how great he is. Basically, the entire letter was me explaining why I was writing to him. I explained the project and some of the challenges I have done, I even threw in a business card from Day 81's challenge (http://aimforeclouds.blogspot.com/2011/03/day-81-business-cards.html) so he could check out this blog if he ever felt the need to. So, as far as fan mail goes, I think that I kept it pretty straight forward, which is what I was going for.

Meet Juliea Roberts Guy. He has 82 tattoos of of her. I feel like
he's pretty familiar with the whole fan mail routine.

Day 152: First day

     So today was my first day at Target. I worked a 2-10:30 PM shift and was on cashier duty. The training process seemed to be almost non-existent for the most part because Mike (My female supervisor with a boy's name) was super busy. She handed me a trainee packet and stood me in front of a pretend cash register that was designed for training people like me. She laid her hand on the packet and said "Look through this then come see me.", then she ran off to take care of Target related things I suppose. So I paged though the booklet and practiced scanning barcodes on the scanner. I had to keep refusing customers that thought my register was open, probably because I looked like a natural at zapping the barcodes. After the pretend time fun at the semi functioning register, it was time for me to tag along another team member and see what they do. That team member was a Masha, a Russian girl with an accent that was sometimes too thick to understand. She was nice and tried to answer any questions I had (while sounding like Ivana Humpalot from Austin Powers). I was eventually moved to my very own register where Masha looked over my work for a while before she thought I could handle it on my own. I spent the next 6 hours or so checking guests and learning the ropes. It was a great first day and the people that work with me seem pretty cool. Hopefully things stay like this.

Day 151: Orientation

     Probably the most boring thing I have ever done in my entire life. I had orientation for my new job at Target today. I'm excited about the job and everything, but man, that orientation was torturous. I sat in a windowless, florescent lit room for four and a half hours filling out fine print forms and watching sexual harrasment videos from the 90's. The chairs quickly grew uncomfortable and my fellow newly hired co-workers seemed to be feeling the strain as well. There were about ten of us total. We were all exchanging yawns and eye rolls while the videos played on. It wasn't the best time, but at least it's out of the way and at least I got paid for it. I start my first day of training tomorrow.

I was the first one there

Day 150: Learn How To Fold A Flag

     It's Memorial Day today so I thought that I'd do something patriotic. I decided that I was gonna learn the proper way to fold an American flag. The hardest part of this challenge was finding a flag to fold, because it turns out that I'm not that patriotic to begin with. After some hunting around, I found a flag (it was about 3 inches tall by 4 inches long) and I looked up a couple videos on the subject. I found out that its really easy to do, all you have to do is to fold it in half twice and then fold it in triangles till it looks like one of those paper footballs. And your not supposed to let it touch the ground because our forefathers were superstitious. I followed the steps and ended up with an inch long triangle. The end product didn't look that great cause the flag was so small, but it totally counts cause I learned the proper way and that makes me a better American...Or something like that.

Before

After

Day 149: Enter A Fishing Contest

     We spent the night in the cabin in the mountains. The next morning we all got ready for the big fishing contest. I had never been to one (hence the reason its my new thing for the day) so my grandma explained. She says that its an annual event where everyone in the area meets up at a certain lake. Then the kids sign up and compete to try to catch the biggest fish. They had a judge on had that would run around the lake and measure each fish with a plank of wood. There is a prize fish that is placed in the lake before hand. If you catch the 21 inch prize fish, then you get the grand prize. Unfortunately nobody caught the prize fish so I never found out what the grand prize was. I wasn't able to compete because the contest was for little kids, but I had a good time watching my brother get his lines crossed with a neighboring competitor. We lured pieces of hot dog to the end of the hook to try to use as bait but the fish weren't biting. Nobody in our group caught a single fish during the contest, but we made up for that afterwards at the cabin, where Sean, Caleb and Colten all caught a fish.

Day 148: Bow and arrows, cinnamon rolls, and wood choppin

     It was a fun filled weekend up in the mountains for me and my family.We stayed the night at my grandparents cabin and did mountain man things. Today's challenge comes to you in 3 parts.

     Part 1- World famous cinnamon roll
     On the way up to the mountains, I convinced my mom to buy me a Johnson's Corner cinnamon roll. Johnson's Corner is this little gift shop/restaurant combo deal that has "World famous" cinnamon rolls. I remember watching the news once and the reporter was covering a story about how amazing these pastries were. So I had to try them, and that was part 1 of my challenge for the day. I tried the hyped up cinnamon roll. We stopped at the highway oasis and ordered a couple of their signature desserts. We were given cinnamon rolls that were comparable to my head. They were enormous in size, but they tasted like any other roll that had come my way.

Part 2- Wood chopping

Grandpa chipped the axe

     This one was not very fun at all but my grandpa insisted that I would love it. He heard about my project and has been all gunghoe about finding things for me to try while I was up in the cabin. He came up with wood chopping, which is totally self explanatory. It was boring, but somebody had to get the firewood. So I chopped away, and split a bunch of logs into manageable pieces. I'm getting bored just typing about this ordeal.

Got the firewood

 Part 3- Bow and arrow
     So heres the fun one. My grandpa busted out the bow and arrows and we set up a target about 50 or 60 feet away from where we were standing. He briefed me about how to pull and aim the contraption and then gave it to me try out. I fumbled with it for a while and shot a couple arrows without much luck. I kept at it and eventually got the hang of it. I ended up hitting the target twice (no bullseye) which really pumped up my spirits. It was a fun time and we finished the night off right with some smores by the fire.