Day 406: Total Eclipse

     First things first, apologies for not posting sooner. I've done loads of fun new things since I last posted in March, but completely forgot to write about most of them. But I don't feel too bad, because I doubt anyone reads these posts anyways. So you know what? Apology revoked! Yeah that's right, I'm posting sporadically and I'm not even sorry.

     Maybe just a tiny bit sorry.

     A total eclipse is something so strange, so seemingly fictitious, so Old Testament-esque that I didn't fully understand what I was getting myself into until well into our fourth hour of sitting in a collapsable lawn chair along a once deserted stretch of highway in the middle of Wyoming. I realize now why I didn't fully understand what the eclipse was about even after the 7 hour drive. I realize, not due to a lack of interest, or preparation in the days leading up to the eclipse, but because (and this is going to sound very corny) the experience of seeing a total eclipse is one that escapes any sort of description. Words don't do it justice, photos and videos won't either. And that leaves me here, someone who witnessed something so utterly surreal and only my words, pictures, and a video to try and share a piece of what I felt. I know full well that explaining the experience is a futile attempt, but I'm going to try anyways.

Front Row Seat

     The journey started the day before, when my mom and step dad (step dad? When did that happen -oh yeah, earlier in May. Congrats you two!) drove up to the family cabin with a friend of my step dad (man that still sounds weird to say) and his wife. Anyways, we had a great time in the mountains doing outdoorsy things, but that's not what this story is about. It's about the arguably great lengths five consenting adults went to in order to witness the shadow of the moon.
     At 2:45 in the morning my alarm went off (thats the first 2:45. There's a second one, one at a completely acceptable time too. That's not the 2:45 we chose) and by 3:00 we were packed up and on the road. The theory behind this early start, was that the tiny city of Casper Wyoming is too small for the impending flood of eclipse enthusiasts and scientists that would be on their way to clog the highways by the crack of dawn. We still had a considerable drive ahead of us, so we figured that we would rather beat the crowds and wait rather than catch the event while stuck in traffic.
     According to the selfie I took upon arriving at the local Starbucks, it was exactly 6:09 when we made it into town. The town was just starting to wake up, but our crew had been burning at both ends for hours by then. So we get some coffee, we pick up some supplies at the Walmart-
     A quick thing about Walmart: I have never seen so many questionable people all congregate in the same area before. And I mean weird, strange people, and that's even after visiting Trinidad. Half the parking lot had been taken over by some sort of pseudo-tailgating community of busses, trucks, and telescope waiving tourists. The line for the Walmart bathroom was overflowing with barefoot children brushing their teeth and the line was over ten people long. It was terrible.

     Here's where the story really begins. We get our supplies and head back out of town to get "The Perfect Spot" to view the eclipse at. Notice that "The Perfect Spot" is both capitalized and in quotations. There's so much importance placed on the spot we were to view the event because -as I found out- to witness an eclipse at even just 99% totality is like not witnessing it at all. It's true! If you're not within the line of totality, then you might as well have closed your eyes completely during the entire thing.
     By now it's like 7:00, which means we have literally almost 4 more hours until anything remotely cool happens. I'll spare you the details, but it was a a lot of sitting and waiting (and throwing rocks into empty Starbucks cups in a ski-ball style carnival game I made up).

Our Devo cover band album

     The actual event takes about an hour, which is another thing I was clueless of. With the help of solar glasses, we took turns looking into my telescope and gasping at the small chunks of sun that were slowly being devoured by the moon. Without the aid of the telescope however, there seemed to be no difference in the daylight around us. As the event approached, the dirt lot we camped out in had become completely saturated with enthusiasts. In fact, I heard that over that weekend, the population of Wyoming doubled.
     The sun slowly sizzled into a thinning crescent shape. When it was nothing but a bright yellow toenail in the sky the atmosphere started to change rather drastically. The lighting in our campsite was dramatic, I remember looking at the other people's faces and thinking that they looked off. It was like our skin was so pale that it seemed to be fake or synthetic. The air chilled so quickly that I had to layer up with a hoodie and jacket. It honestly felt like a 35 (F.) degree temperature change. The light and temp worked to make the entire scene feel erie. It also helped that the collective group of well over 100 observers fell deafly quiet. Traffic along the highway seised, except for the occasional unfazed trucker.
     I think it's the contrast that makes the experience such a memorable one. Of course the sight was amazing, but it's the blistering heat followed by the sudden chill and the use of both sunglasses and eclipse glasses before it getting too dark for either that I think back to. These changes happened within minutes, which is truly something amazing when you're talking about appreciating nature. As humans, we don't have the context to truly appreciate all the time that went into things like mountains and oceans. They're massive natural monuments that take eons to shift at all. But an eclipse is like watching nature be it infinitely unbelievable self in a frame that we can fathom. It's probably what observing the cosmos would feel like if we only had the patience to watch them churn.
     And as the moment approached, I knew that it was important. I knew that I would never forget what I was about to see. Piece by piece, the rest of the sun was swallowed and finally saw what all the fuss was about.

     And for the record, I totally agree. Words and pictures do not do it justice. So I wont even try.

(STAR)bucks!

Day 380: Learn How To Give A Massage

     I liked this one. It's a practical skill that could really score me brownie points with Stef if I ever say something stupid. I looked up some videos and tutorials, but if I'm being honest, these ladies in the videos seemed to be doing just about what I usually would try to do. I picked up some pretty good pointers though, so it wasn't a waste of time or anything. I learned that I should stay away from the spine a bit more, and that I can use my forearm.
     I tested out my new found skills on Stef and even though I don't feel any more equipped to give massages, when I asked her if my massage skills have improved, she replied with a reassuring "totally." Take a look at the video and let me know if it helps.

P.S. I'm always willing to accept massages for people who are practicing their craft. Hit me up!

Day 376: Hicking The South Table

     Today's challenge is exactly what this project is about! Today, I hung out with my sister Sarah, hiked the South (maybe it was the North one...not sure) Table mountain in Golden, and enjoyed some beverages afterwards at the infamous Coors brewery plant. It was so much fun, and it was basically completely free too.

     The trail was pretty mild, only took about 20 minutes to hike to the top. We were greeted with a beautiful view of Golden's downtown from the top of the plateau. From there, we didn't have much choice but to hop a squat on the edge of the cliff and crack open some victory beers! We chatted about this and that and soaked up the sun for a while, just happy to be there. It was fun, then we took the party to the Coors factory and hung out there as well.
     I do have a friend that claims that today's challenge really isn't much of a stretch for me. His words were "Well, I mean, you've already been on a hike before, so it isn't really that new is it?" And to that I would have to disagree. Sure, I've been on hikes before. But I've never hiked anywhere in Golden, nor have I hiked with my sis. Today was a completely new experience, and one that I certainly wouldn't of had if it weren't for the project. It may not be as notable as some of my more demanding challenges (the ghost pepper is the one that comes to mind), but that doesn't mean that today's experience has any less value. The point of all of this -the project, blog, and challenges- is to help me get off my butt and experience as much as I can. And let me tell you, I did not have to try hard at all to find the motivation to get off my butt this morning when I knew I'd be going on a hike and hanging with Sarah. The reason why I believe that this experience definitely fits in with the others is because I know exactly what I would've done today if I didn't' have the project...I'd be watching YouTube, maybe go skating for a little bit, and probably wouldn't have even eaten lunch cause I'd be too lazy to go to the kitchen. My point is, I don't have to do something that is overly-flamboyant everyday to feel like I'm experiencing my life in a fulfilling way. Today's experience was fun and light-hearted, and I'm okay with that.

Day 371: Symphony

     So I'm still on my high class kick. I want to be cultured and wise beyond my years and all that jazz. So today, while I was catching up on another project of mine (to draw something every day. If you'd like to see more of that project click here) I decided that I needed to concentrate while I drew or I'd get distracted like I always do. I listen to a lot of different types of music while I draw, and I'm no stranger to listening to classical. But one thing that I've never done, was listen to an entire symphony. I looked up a video of an hour long symphony and began drawing. It actually did wonders for keeping me from getting distracted. I was only interrupted a couple of times from a text or two and I ended up getting three illustrations done! Here they are for ya!

     I enjoyed the experience more than I thought I would, but I did pick up on some strange occurrences from it. Like, I thought that it was uber weird when there would be a break between movements (I'm gonna assume that they're called movements, but you know what I'm talking about right? The pieces of music that make up the symphony) nobody would clap or whistle. All they would do is cough and clear their throat. It sounded really gross and totally not high class. Plus, if I was about of the symphony, I was be so bummed out if nobody clapped at my high class playing.
     I did think that it was kinda cool to watch the conductor. That was an example of a guy that really gets into his work. He was totally lost in it. And at the end, when he signaled the musicians to cease playing, and the audience sat waiting. There was this moment, he stood perfectly still, eyes clenched closed, where he shed a single tear from what he had just heard. It pretty powerful actually. Here's the video if you'd like to play your air-clarinet with me.

Day 370: Whistle Like A Man

     Ok, it's been a couple of days since the resurrection of this project. I've had some time to get back into the groove and I was feeling good about myself. I say was because I remembered just how frustrating this project can be today. This project can be fun, or painful, embarrassing, downright maddening, and a mix of all of them depending on the day. Today was one of those days. I've been trying to stick with the free challenges as long as I can, but I also want to explore challenges that I will somehow benefit from somehow. With those two pieces of criteria established, it was only a matter of time before I came up with "learning how to whistle like a man" as an idea. If you're not sure what it means to whistle like a man, then I suggest you watch this handy how-to video. 

     Now that you've been briefed on how a pro whistles like a man, watch my attempts. I admit that they are astoundingly terrible, but hear me out. This little snippet of video was the result of over an hour of awful, slobbery, miserable attempts. I locked myself in the corner of my room and told myself I couldn't leave until I made a sound that resembled a whistle. Hate on it if you want, but that was really freaking hard. Oh, and Ryan learned it in like 2 minutes. What a chode.

Day 368: Frisbee Golf

     Call it Frisbee Golf, or disk golf, or frolf or whatever. Its that spot played by frat boys and dudes that go on that dumb The Chive website...Or so I thought. It's actually way more fun than I thought, even with an assortment of crappy, broken frisbees. Rather than bore you with words, I made a video of the fun outting for you to enjoy. Watch Mouse throw it everywhere but the hole (is it even called a hole? It's more like a cage, or metal dreadlocks on a pole). Hit me up, we'll play sometime!

Introduction Part Two

Hey! Hello there, remember me? ...It's me, Kyle...The kid that did all those strange thangs back in 2011. Look, I know that introductions can be awkward, and I can only assume that a re-introduction can be as well, so I'll keep it short for you. Back in last few days of 2010, I wasn't very happy with how things were in my life. They weren't terrible, but they certainly the way my imagination and pop culture had led me to believe it would be either. I assumed that I'd be living the adventurous life that they advertise through characters on T.V. I expected to sail exotic seas and travel the globe with nothing more than an Indiana Jones style wardrobe and a killer tan promptly after high school.
     Unfortunately, my high expectations were met with the devastating reality of what its actually like to be a 19 year old dish-washing college dropout. Fortunately for me though, I realized that my dreams of sailing with a tan just a few shades darker than a sweet potato would not happen over night. Rather, I knew that if I made it a daily priority to do something new (have a new experience, learn a new skill, try a challenge or whatever), then I would be inching myself closer and closer to the mindset and eventually, the lifestyle of the kind of Kyle I'd like to be. An adventurous, cultured, well traveled son of a gun. And then I'd work on the tan.
     So, for my New Year's Resolution for 2011, I challenged myself to try something new everyday. Annnnd, if you're a fan of the blog I kept the accounts for that year (I imagine you might be, cause this is the very same blog) you may remember some of the things I did. If you're not familiar, of you'd like to see what I look like without a beard, you can take a stroll down memory lane and read about some of the wildness that went on by scrolling down. My favorite memories are probably the Ghost Pepper Challenge, the time I Juggled Fire, or even I claimed Ownership of Jupiter's Moon IO. Good times man, gooooood timessss.
     To wrap things up, I had a great time doing this project. I met tons of people, explored places and things I never dreamed I'd see, and found out some things about myself that I otherwise would have been ignorant to. The project was so fun, that I (with a bit of convincing from a friend) have decided to reinstate my resolution to "try something new everyday." My friend Ryan (the one who did the convincing) is taking part of it as well. We've already done a couple challenges and I be sure to add them to the blog so ya'll can read about em. So yeah, be on the look out for some weirdness!

We're ready