Day 283: Vote In An Election

     Remember way back when, when I registered to vote? Yeah me neither. But this ballot came in the mail today addressed to me so I figured I'd give it a shot. Its for the city so its nothing too important. I did just as the candidates wanted and only voted for the people who I've heard before. (sadly, I didn't see my name on the ballot, I need to keep spreading the word on my entrance into the political rat race) I have no idea if the hopefuls I voted for are quality, but that's not the important part. For the most part, I'm just siked that I don't have to vote again for at least another year or so.

Day 282:Practice Acupressure

     While surfing through the great all-knowing-ness of Google, I stumbled upon acupuncture's distant cousin. Both of these ancient therapies do wonders for body, but acupressure does it without those nasty needles. It uses a mixture of massage therapy and pressure points to cure you from every thing from headaches to insomnia. Because I didn't have a headache (which was both good and bad in this case), I decided to put their restlessness cure to the test. A few helpful YouTube videos instructed me how to go about making myself sleepy. They talked about gently rubbing small circles into the area at the top of my wrist (that lied directly below the pink finger) with my free thumb. There were a couple of other maneuvers they went over, and if they were done right, the production of Melatonin would increase and make me sleepy in no time. And waddya know? I think it worked. Call it the placebo effect, but I remember feeling significantly sleepier a short while after the whole ordeal.

Day 281: Try Energy Crystals

     Every time I think I've tried every energy enhancing scam out there, I find a new one. If anyone remembers, I ordered these energy crystals way back when for my 'buy something from an infomercial' challenge from day 236. According to my terrible math, it took 45 days for these bad boys to reach me. It was so long in fact that I had forgotten about the whole ordeal all together. But I'm not here to complain about the speed at which the As Seen on TV guy ship their crap, I'm here to complain about how crappy their crap is. My crystals finally arrived and I was totally disappointed to find out that they were not crystals at all. I realize that I would have known that these weren't the kind of crystals I had in mind if I actually read the description on the website, but that doesn't change the fact that I was bummed out. This was just a couple packets of dissolvable mix that your combine with water to make an energy drink. I was thinking that I was buying a giant crystal that granted me energy by rubbing it on my forehead and stuff, guess that was my fault. So I mixed the powder and drank the foggy looking drink and obtained literally no extra energy. I didn't feel anymore awake or responsive than I did before. Buying these stupid things were definitely a huge waste of time and a small waste of money. Damn.

Day 280: Drive Through A State

   

So we were about fed up with the town of Lindsborg. My mom, brother and I had been there for most of the weekend and it was quickly decided that it was time to get out of there. Early that Sunday morning we packed up the car and I had the uncommon urge to drive. I don't know if it was cause I was fed up with Lindsborg or if I just simply felt like driving, but I ended up driving the entire time. All 453 miles and all 7 hours and 13 minutes (approximate). Personally, I'm proud of that, cause I usually hate driving. On road trips I dread when it's my turn to drive. This particular drive was very uneventful, but it's not like I had to fight to stay conscious or anything. I've never driven that much in a day...and I don't really plan to do it again. 

Day 279: Visit Hyllningsfest

Concerned looks left and right

     To Wikipedia, Hyllningsfest is: a biennial celebration held in Lindsborg, Kansas, in October of odd-numbered years since 1941, to celebrate the town's Swedish heritage. The festival includes arts and crafts, Swedish dancing, Swedish foods including Lutfisk, entertainment by local artists and musicians, a parade and a Swedish smorgasbord. To me however, Hyllningsfest was the town's mayor doubling his car as a float as he drove and waved at the public during the parade. It was a foreign festival of candy throwing kids, and really bad tap dancers. It was a group of old people ridding wooden horses and an overly righteous quartet singing for a town with one stop light. But most of all, it was a great escape from Thornton Colorado. I may not be totally certain what it was that I experienced, but it think it was worth my time.

Old people and their steeds 

Clowns n' the Military 

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 268: Practice Mindfulness

All of Google's meditation pictures were
too corny, so I used this cute pic of
a penguin. Enjoy.

     This is one of those weirdo meditation experiences I tried. By definition, mindfulness is the trait of staying aware of (paying close attention to) your responsibilities. It's got a lot to do with the whole "right brain" lifestyle. It's basically and exercise that helps you to "live in the now". Try to become more aware of your surroundings and the perception of your world. It deals with sensations like smell and touch. I tried it and thought that it was pretty cool actually. Many of the videos encouraged me to observe sensations that I was already experiencing so I could really enjoy them. It was weird, but I think I liked it.

Day 267: Make A Paper Jetpack

     If I had known about this when I was younger, I'd probably would have burnt down the house by now.

     The video may be a bit on the cheesy side, but the guy does a good job of explaining how to make the rocket thing. So I did as he said and I built one, and I nearly lit my entire desk ablaze because I get a little trigger happy with lighters. Fortunately I came out unscathed. I live to do something idiotic another day!

Day 266: Tin Can Radio

     Here's another project that didn't work out at all. We've all seen those tin can radios. Those soup cans that are connected by fishing wire that transmit messages to fellow soup can enthusiasts. The primitive walkie talkie took approximately 40 seconds to construct, but took well over a half hour for me to realize that it wasn't going to work. Sean and I took turns calling each other via can from opposite sides of the living room, but it was too hard to tell whether or not our messages were traveling through the line or not. So I positioned myself outside on the driveway and talked through the line that led inside the open door of the house and to Sean who was still in the living room. The background noise was blocked by the house, which was good, but my neighbors who were out playing basketball gave me a few puzzled looks, which was embarrassing. Still, I tried to communicate with the makeshift telephone but it just wasn't happening. Finally, I gave up and went back to using my normal cell phone.

Day 265: CD And Toothpaste

     This is the last time I take advice from a friend of a friend of a friend. I was told that the application of toothpaste would fix any scratch, dent and mark on a CD. So I followed the instructions from some YouTube and carefully coated my copy of an old skateboard DVD that had gotten scuffed up over the years. Things got messy quick as I rubbed the paste in. After I rinsed the disk and let it air dry, I found that there was still a cloudy film of paste covering the CD. So I rinsed it again and dried it with a towel. Once it dried for the second time, I popped it into the player only to discover that it worked just as badly as it did before. In fact, I think the stupid toothpaste and towel drying inflicted more damage than anything. Stupid!

Day 264:Fresh Ground Coffee

     I was wondering through the isles of the grocery store like I always seem to do whenever I cant think of a challenge to try when I came to a stop at the coffee grounds isle. I stood in front of a wall of  coffee ground flavors. There was everything from pumpkin spice to french vanilla to some sort of chocolate flavor. It was pretty awesome, and a tad bit overwhelming as I struggled to choose just one flavor to go with. In the end, I went with the french vanilla beans. I filled my little bean bag with the flavored beans then dumped them into the store's coffee grinder just like how it was depicted in the illustration. The machine spat the grounds back into the bag and I was pleasantly surprised when I dove in for a whiff. The aroma was enticing especially compared to the smell of that crap coffee I've been drinking lately. I was pleasently surprised again at home once I sipped the fresh brew. That was some good coffee, too bad it was also some expensive coffee.

Day 263: Pest Control

Through BEE-ing Nice

     Without going into too much detail, I'd like to talk about our little pest problem. See, we've got a beehive inside one of the walls of our house. The bees have been getting inside and started dying all over the damn place. So my dad and I came up with a contraption that seemed pretty awesome. First, we taped saran wrap over the lights in the kitchen cause that was their main entry point. Then we fastened our homemade bee catcher to the hole in the house were the bees were living. We duct taped an old planter bucket to cover the entire hole. The bucket had a long, clear tube that connected it to the 2 liter bottle that contained a mixture of sugar water and bee attractant. My dad told me that bees cant fly once the're covered in the sugar water, which means that they are totally hopeless if they fall into our trap. I sustained a bee sting right on the top of the head while I tried to install the bucket trap (nicknamed the "through bee-ing nice" bucket) but puff levels were high that day so I survived. The two of use were ecstatic about our project. We showed everyone that came over the inner workings of it and watched them as they admired it in awe. The only problem was, it didn't work very well.Only a handful of bees actually made it to the bottle to die. We were a little disappointed till we discovered that many of the bees were trying to flee through the holes in the kitchen lights. Luckily, the saran wrap blocked them and with the lights on, they all died a brutal and horrifying death. =)

Day 262: Dry Ice Bombs

Good luck finding any piece of this puppy

     I'm still surprised that the lady at King Soopers actually allowed Mouse and I to buy all that dry ice in the first place. Boys with dry ice is bad news in every instance. We knew it was dumb and dangerous, but that wasn't about to stop us. So we gathered the materials and set up our launch pad in the middle of a deserted parking lot. We crushed up chunks of the dry ice and threw them into the water bottle. Then I poured the water in after the ice and Mouse capped it with the lid. Both of us rushed away and waited for a bang. But when the bottle refused to blow, we became skeptic about the whole thing. We tried again with a new bottle and a heap-load more dry ice and water. I kept at a distance of about 10 feet, a distance I thought was safe. The plastic seal was crackling under the pressure but it was still holding together. I took a step closer out of curiosity. Right then, the pressure had become to great for the bottle to contain. That's when I learned just how dangerous and stupid this challenge was. A single cacophonous shot rang from where the bottle once stood like a shotgun. The blast echoed through the vacant lot and winded me. There was no trace of a plastic bottle, only the back spray of water on the asphalt. Mouse and I caught each other's eye and ran for the car. It was an overload of adrenaline as we sped away from the scene. I can't promise that I won't try this challenge again, but I can safely say that I wont be standing so close to the explosives next time. I enjoy my ears too much for that.

Day 261: Dictionary

     With all this schoolwork and all these blog posts I've been doing lately, you'd think that I be a seasoned veteran with words by now. Unfortunately, that's not the case. My vocabulary isn't up to par. That's why I've decided to take on the daunting task of actually reading the dictionary. That's right. I went to the thrift store and bought the fattest dictionary I could find just for this challenge. So far, what I do is read it as if it really was a book. If I come to a word that I don't know, I highlight the word so I can later write it in a notebook that I will study from. Honestly, I don't know if I have the will to make it though the entire book, but I just plan on taking it word by word and see how far I get. If all goes well, I'll finally know what the hell pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism is.