Day 278: Surprise Roadtrip

This is what the scenery looked like the whole time

     I know that I had the random road trip challenge already, but that was nothing compared to this. I was chit chatting with my sister over Facebook when she told me that I should come out and visit her in Kansas this weekend. She told me that it was Hyllningsfest (I'm still not sure what it is either) and that it would be a cool experience. At first I dismissed the invitation because it was such short notice and I'd have to basically leave a couple hours earlier if I wanted to arrive at her little town in Kansas at a desirable time. But then I started thinking about what I had going on this weekend and realized that a couple days out of Thornton wasn't a bad idea. So I called up Mom and invited her on the trip, and to my surprise, she accepted with almost no hesitation. Then I called my sister back and announced that she should be expecting us at her house by about 1 o'clock in the morning. From there I broke the news to my brother via text and packed my bag before work. Once I got off the three of us met up (a couple hours later than expected) and began our journey across the dusty planes of Colorado and Kansas. After a few gas station stops and a repulsive dinner at Arby's, we finally made it to Sarah's modest town at 3 o'clock that morning. It was by far the most spontaneous trip to date but it was good to see my sister again.

The town's biggest attraction

Day 277: Start A Petition

     I've already done the 'sign a petition' challenge, so I felt like it was time for me to step it up and start my own petition. I brainstormed with my father about what cause my petition was going to focus on, when he gave me a great idea. He told me to start a "petition to end petitions". I took his advice and have started my very own anti-petition, petition. So if your sick and tired of being asked to sign your signature to help some cause or to start a movement, this is the petition for you. If we're successful, this will be the last time you'll be asked to sign a list for a cause. If for some reason your actually interested in this bad idea, come find me and sign this puppy. For those of you that aren't graced with my presence but would like to support this cause, I'm working on an online petition signing form. Stay tuned!

Day 276: Gatorade and Onion Battery

     My brother told me about a fact that he had heard at school today. He told me that you can charge your iPod with nothing more than an onion that has been submerged in Gatorade for about half an hour. Apparently the electrolytes in the Gatorade will get soaked up in the onion and that is what will power the iPod once you connect it to the onion with the usb cord. I would like to make it very clear that from the start, I didn't think this was going to work. And surprise surprise, it didn't work, just like I predicted. I did everything that the YouTube video instructed, and all I got out of the experiment was a usb cord that had chucks of soggy onion stuck in it. It was a waste of time and onion, but at least now I know not to do it again.

Day 275: Start A Charity

     Yup, I'm getting into the good karma business. I've decided to enlist the help of a friend (Dom) to help out with the logistics of the operation. He dabbles with that whole spectrum of politics and he's even worked on a charity before, so he seems qualified. As it turns out, there's a lot that goes into starting a charity. I've devoted a few hours to the project already and I still don't really know what I'm doing. I've got things like the Mission statement, articles of incorporation and the bylaws written down, but I don't know where to go from here. Thankfully, that's why I have Dom. He's informed me of some of the tax forms that I'm going to have to get my hands on before much of anything takes shape. So until then, I guess I'll focus on getting the word out.

     My charity, the Medeyum Future Fund will serve as a resource to help underprivileged people take part in new experiences. It has been established to make once in a lifetime opportunities more accessible to everyone. If successful, this organization will be used to fulfill life goals that can range in size and severity. Basically, it will (hopefully) be an account of money that will be used to make an individuals life goal (anything from skydiving and traveling, to continuing education and small business loans) a reality. The recipients will apply for financial aid from the charity by proposing their goal via email to medeyum@yahoo.com. They will state their wish and why they believe they deserve the organizations help. From there it is up to the organization's committee to decide if the applicant qualifies for aid. To donate or learn more about the organization, please write an email to medeyum@yahoo.com.

Day 274: Study Feng Shui

     I was feeling like I wanted to rearrange my room, but I wasn't sure how to do it. So I consulted multiple feng shui websites and videos that gave pointers on how to decorate a room the zen way. Most of what they were saying sounded like bull plop, but that didn't stop me. I wanted to improve my chi (whatever the hell that is) and it seemed like feng shui was the answer. Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that my room is feng shui proof. It's just not meant to have positive vibes and all that jazz. My research told me that you always want the bed to be diagonal from the door, but you don't want the window of the room to be adjacent from the door. The problem is that my room is small, and my bunk bed/desk combo thing is so big that no matter where I place it, its going to conflict with the ancient Asian rules of home decor. My window is diagonal from the door  and there's no advice as to where I should place my mini fridge. So I guess I'm stuck with this floor plan and bad chi.

Check out some Feng Shui tips

Day 273:Fill Up With Premium Gasoline

     Not much to say about this challenge, other than I suckered myself into paying more money for the same amount of gas. See, I spent the entire day cleaning. I was cleaning my room, and the new jazz room (complete with a record player that I bought off craigslist) and I finished off the night by changing the oil and cleaning my car. I was feeling generous and decided that I would treat Little Debbie (my car) right, by filling her up with premium gas. Honestly, the only thing I know about premium is that it's more expensive. I don't know if it's worth it by any means, but that didn't matter, Miss Debbie deserved it. So Sean and I drove down to the gas station where I proceeded to spend too much money on gas, then we bought a couple bags of sour gummy worms to punctuate a very successful day.

Day 272: Decaf Coffee

     I never understood why anyone would ever drink decaf until I started drinking coffee. It seemed backwards to me. Cause people drink coffee to get energized and all twitchy, at least, that why I do. But after a few solid weeks of coffee drinking, I found myself craving it. The problem was, I was craving coffee at like 8:00 at night. Thus the idea for a decaf drink was born. I drove down to the ol Caribou Coffee joint and picked up one decaf cup to sip on while at the skatepark. It was a little strange drinking the coffee at first. I was about an hour away from bed but I was sipping some java. Other than that, it was all pretty normal. I drank my coffee and skated the night away, and kept the twitching to a minimum.

Day 271: President

     We had a discussion in my business class today about politics and why anybody would ever actually want to be the president. I myself, would never want to have that thankless job, and that's when I decided that I was going to run for president. My reasoning may seem like a heap of flawed logic but I assure you, it's not as dumb as it sounds. See, I want to run for president, but I don't want to be president. Plus I'm not legally allowed to be president even If I did win. I'm too young and there's probably a thousand other qualifications that I'm missing. But as far as I know (it's important that I stress the fact that I don't know much when it comes to politics), I'm allowed to run as a candidate. I've even started my own campaign. It's gonna be something like this; Kyle Garlock, He's totally unqualified, but at least he's honest about it. As far as my presidential intentions go, I think that we are in what some would call a "shit situation". The economy is in the pooper, jobs are scarce, the public is pissed, the environment is deteriorating, and everyone is getting fat. Who in their right mind would ever want this job? So spread the word, Kyle is running for president. So vote for me...but not enough for me to win, that would be terrible.

Day 270: Flan

    I made a giant serving of flan before I knew whether or not I liked it, or even before I knew what the hell it was. I took it out of the fridge once it was done chilling and began to poke and prod it with a fork. It had the consistency of jello, which wasn't a good sign cause I hate jello. I forced down a couple forkfuls and ultimately regretted it. I wouldn't say it's the taste of it as much as its the texture of the flan that disgusted me. Each bite was like munching on a squid that was coated with WD-40. It was all slimy and whatnot, so I decided to take the incentive and toss that crap away.

Day 269: Write A Dear Abby

     For those of you that don't know what or who Dear Abby is, it's an editorial column started by Pauline Phillips. She received questions written from her fans and she would publish her answers and opinions for her readers to see. Today, her daughter, Jeanne Phillips keeps her mother's tradition alive by answering e-mails from all over the world. I sent in a message that delt with a problem that is near and dear to my heart, my loathing of small talk. I seriously hate it, and a seriously asked her for help. I asked for advice on how to engage in conversation without using a line as demeaning as "How bout that weather?". I'm still waiting for her response to my troubling problem, so until then, I'll simply greet people with what I like to call "big talk". I'll start off chit chat with something like "Do you believe in aliens?" or "What are your thoughts on parallel universes?". That'll surely get me better acquainted with the public.

Day 178: Sugarcane Juice

     Picked up a can of sugarcane juice from a store at the flea market today. It seemed harmless enough. It seemed like it would just taste super sweet, like a soda or something. So yeah, I got it, and I tried it, and it did taste super sweet. It tasted a little too sweet actually. It wasn't bad or anything, it was just overpoweringly sweet and that's something that I'm not used too. Like when I drink tea (which is quite often), I always go for the unsweetened kind. I just think that it tastes way better. The drink reminded me of sweet potatoes a little bit also, which is not something I like to taste (Day 82: http://aimforeclouds.blogspot.com/2011/03/day-82-sweet-potato-chips.html). Sugarcane juice wasn't that great...but it wasn't that bad either.

Day 177: Drink Goat Milk

The can said "Easy to digest", what a load of crap.

     Nasty. This stuff was ooooh soooo nasty. I picked up a can of this stuff to make goat milk cereal but I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I had a goat cheese pizza once when I was in Mexico, and I remember that it was terrible and I should of thought of that when I bought the goat milk, but I didn't. I poured the milk into a bowl of raisin bran and took a heaping bite. This is another one of those indescribably bad tastes that I have discovered during this project. The aftertaste was the worst part. I was determined to finish the bowl but after 4 or 5 bites, it was obvious that I valued my health too much to carry on any longer. I threw in the towel and tried to wash the taste down as much as possible with some chocolate milk I had. I think that its safe to say that goat milk sucks and I should have known that from the goat cheese incident. I really need to start learning my lessons.

Day 176: Get An Eye Exam

   
















   
 


     I always assumed that those eye tests that your elementary school conducted counted as an eye exam. And I always assumed that my vision was crystal clear. Today I learned that both of those previous notions were false. I went to get an eye exam done today, you know, like an actual one. The kind where a doctor places some giant machinery on your face and you have to distinguish between which lenses is clearer. The doctor did a couple of other tests, including this one where I stare into some contraption and then it shoots a gust of air into my eye. I think the doc just does it to watch me spaz out. After the testing was done, she told me that I was nearsighted and that I would be getting some glasses to help me see long distances. I got to pick out my frames and they should be ready in about a week.

Day 175: Persimmon

     I wasn't too into it but it wasn't too bad either. Persimmon is a fruit that looks a lot like a tomato but tastes a bit more bitter than its counterpart. I bought one and offered some to a couple of friends of mine, but nobody would go near it. I, being the brave and willing soul that I am, dove head first into the persimmon to find out that it's not very good. I'm starting to notice that most of these exotic fruits and veggies usually aren't that great. It was a lot like a tomato, just...different. I don't know how to explain it. If your curious then you should pick one up and try it, that is unless your too chicken. We all know my friends are.

Day 174: Become A Salesman

"Would you care to take 5% off today's purchase and everything else you buy with us with a Target Redcard?"
 "Are you using your Target Redcard to pay for today's purchase?"
"Are you aware of the benefits of our Target Redcard?"

     I probably ask these questions about a gazillion times a day to the guests that come into my work (Target). See, I'm a cashier and one of my responsibilities is to pressure guests into signing up for a Target debit or credit card. As a cashier, I am expected to get about 2-3 Redcards a week. If you go a week without getting a Redcard then I've been told that your in whats called, the Red-zone (clever eh?). This girl was telling me about the red-zone and how its not good and all. What she told me got me a little nervous cause I've been working there for a little over a month now, and I haven't gotten a single Redcard. I've tried and I've asked, but nobody wants one of these things...well, except for this one lady. I was checking out the last of the guests before we closed the store. There was probably 3 minutes left when a middle aged woman who was purchasing a good deal of merchandise came to my lane. I can't remember what her total was, but it was high enough for me to ask if she wanted to save 5% with a Redcard.  She said "Yes" and I said "Really?" I didn't really know what to do, I had never had someone say "yes" to such a question before. I did what I saw other cashiers do when a guest actually said "yes". I grabbed the pamphlet and followed the long boring instructions, plugged in her info and successfully signed her up for a Redcard. We were only there for like 10 minutes after the store closed and my supervisor was pretty siked cause that last Redcard had met our minimum requirement for the day. It was a good feeling, It was like I had finally proved myself at work. So I guess I'm out of the red-zone for this week, but next week is approaching fast.

Day 172: Cherry Stem Knot

     I think that this is one of those talents where you either can do it easily with no problems, or you can never get close even in a million years. I'm talking of course about, tying a knot in a cherry stem with your tongue. Sean and I picked up a couple of cherry stems to knot after the skatepark. I didn't think that the challenge would be all that hard, just time consuming. So yeah, we got the stems and we silently chewed and tongued the stems on the drive home. I was working on the bunny ears of my knot when Sean spat out his knotted stem. He looked almost as surprised as I was at his accomplishment. I knew I had to step up my game, so I began moving my jaw and tongue faster, but that didn't do anything but make my jaw sore. We got home and Sean went for his video games and I went into my room where I could practice in private. I seriously think I spent the better part of an hour in there chewing my soggy stem in complete silence (pathetic right?). I finally came to the conclusion that I could not and would not ever be able to tie a knot in cherry stem with my tongue. It's not the biggest insult in the world, but the fact that I wasted an hour trying to do it is.

Day 171: Play The Powerball Lottery

     I had done the "buy a Powerball ticket" thing way back when I was still doing the "be a vegetarian" thing but my luck was elsewhere cause I didn't win so I couldn't retire early. But then someone told me that you could actually pick your own numbers and enter. I was excited cause it just so happens that the number 25 (along with a few others) have been good to me in the past. So I got the little pamphlet and I filled out out my ticket, making sure to use only the best and luckiest numbers I could think of. Then I simply turned my ticket in to the man with the pierced face at the gas station and waited. I waited till the day after the drawing to look up if I was now insanely rich, but it seems as if there was a slight miscalculation with my lucky numbers. As it turns out, none of them were picked. It kind of sucks but on the bright side, I did just as well in the lottery when I picked my own numbers as when I just went with the numbers that the machine gave me. Oh well, I guess I'll get rich some other way.

Day 170: Deep Fried Pork Skins

     I've always assumed that deep fried pork skins were terrible. You know, those chip bags you see in the questionable isle of most gas stations that are filled with super porous stomach lining. All I gotta say is that they look totally nasty and I have never had the urge to try them, but I guess that's why I started this project. I want to force myself to find out if what I had always assumed was disgusting was really all that bad. Who knows, maybe this convince store snack will be a new favorite. Sadly, that's not how it turned out for me. I bought a bag with my friend David (Who absolutely loves them) and tore it open in excitement, eager to set sail on my deep fried pork skin cuisine cruise. I grabbed one and bit into the crunchy chip. It was absolutely terrible, like seriously one of the grossest things I've tried for this project. I managed to get 3 or four pork skin curls down before I threw in the towel and handed the bag to David, who then proceeded to devour the chips two at a time. I don't know if my longstanding assumption of the snack being completely disgusting had anything to do with me not liking them, or if I'm just pretty good at picking out shitty tasting snacks. I guess the world will never know.

Day 169: Read The Newspaper

     Yep, I picked up a Saturday edition of the Denver Post in hopes of culturing my young mind and educating myself on the most important of matters. From the latest conflict overseas, to the score of the last Rockies game, this paper would surely be a key asset to navigating my way through pop culture. The closest I have ever gotten to reading a newspaper was when I would thumb towards the back to read the comics (Mutts was the best).
   

I glanced through headlines and editorials searching for a piece of interesting world news, or really any trivial knowledge that would suffice as small talk material. I found a couple of headlines that looked to be promising; "Phil Campbells Help Town of Same Name" was one that caught my eye. Its a story of Town in Alabama called Phil Campbell and how a tornado tore through it and destroyed some things and killed some people. Word got out about this tornado hitting the town with a peculiar name and a whole bunch of people from around the world, who happen to share the same name as the city (Phil Campbell) decided to come together and help rebuild the town. So you have this totally wrecked town being cleaned up by a group of uber-caring Phil Campells, which I thought was pretty hilarious. I kept on reading and found some interesting articles, but none as far-fetched as that one. Now all I have to do is find an unsuspecting person to tell my interesting tidbit of info too so I can seem so cool and cultured...not.

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"