Day 30: Try An Energy Drink

     Oh the fad of energy drinks. Those addictive little aluminum cans filled with ingredients that I cant pronounce. Their cleche brand names, logos and (worst of all) douche-tastic adrenaline craving market. They're corny, and smell like microwaved poop (probably). I've have proudly strayed away from the energizing beverage and the twitching and crashing side effects, for as long as they have been around. I've resisted the urge to indulge in the crazed drink mainly because it resembles radioactive battery acid. The fact that each can would run for $2.50 didn't help their cause as well. So I have yet to taste the forbidden (energy) fruit (drank), well, until today. I went out and picked up the least intimidating drink I could find, a Bing. I went with Bing cause I'm a bit put off by these IN-YOU-MOTHA-LICKIN-FACE drinks, the ones that are a small step down from a soda/crack hybrid. Who needs that kind of a kick? If you think that you really need 12 constant hours devoted to getting totally pumped for your office meeting (as depicted in the last energy drink advert), you might want to consider a career change. A full day of your heart trying to escape through your mouth while sweating out the urine of Chuck Norris doesn't sound like my cup of tea (Er, um. Redbull I mean). Bing, it looked fairly harmless with its lack of overly-bold font and modest use of flames and skulls (none).

      I would describe the taste as if you sent an electric current through your brand name soda. It wasn't bad, and there was basically no bite in the after taste. Just enough to let you know "Hey! get energized, get motivated". It was pretty tasty actually, I finished almost the whole can by the time I reached the skatepark. I skated around for a while and couldn't really tell either way whether the drink worked or not (my heart was still encased in its cage). It was only a couple minutes after downing the last drops that I felt like moving, a lot. I was all over the park, jumping off shit and cutting little kids on scooters off. It was pretty awesome. I did some basic things, only faster and without any conscious thought of it. And I did some new things that I'm pretty excited about. I was skating fast and eating shit. It was so much fun. Not to take anything away from the idea that the drink made the skate sesh, but I skate kind of like that anyways. I like to skate fast and spontaneously, I just think that the drink may have given me more sugar to keep skating fast and spontaneously. I might have been twitching out the whole time but its not like I was going to notice it with my music blaring and me constantly cruising around. Now, if I had foolishly tried the Bing or some other form of liquid adrenaline 10 minutes before my History of Jazz class, we might of had some problems. I would be shooting paper footballs, making fart noises or drawing random nonsense on my notes (or anything else that I already do but way louder and more obnoxious). Point of the story: Energy drinks are not for everyone or every occasion. Defiantly not for a class as boring as The History of Jazz.

Day 29: Cook Chicken and Baked Potatoes

     I'm not going to say that I made dinner tonight. I was supposed to, but it wasn't me that made the meal. I did help out a little though. I checked on the chicken and flipped them when necessary (roughly five minutes after they started to burn). I cut open the meat to judge if it was cooked enough to feed to my family (which I'm still not too certain about). Yeah, I admit that it was a lame goal, but things have been pretty hectic lately. I'd argue that testing if the chicken is edible should count as a decent goal, cause thats some useful know-how.

Day 28: Requesting a song

     I tried to request a couple of songs on a couple of radio stations yesterday. It turns out that song requests are not as practical as I previously thought. I kept getting that constant beep-beep-beep noise that indicated that the line was busy. So, I tried again, and again. Then I tried a different radio station, and the same thing happened. I ended up simply emailing them my request (long Cool Woman by the Hollis) and politely asking them to pick up their phones next time. And that was that.

Day 27: Cigar

     Sooooooooo,  I tried a cigar tonight. I had the whole thing planned out; I was going to go to this fancy cigar shop that my friend told me about and get some first had info on the activity. I was going to pick out a prestigious looking stogie. I would cut the end with professional clippers and I would look totally sophisticated while I puffed. Thats all what I was supposed to do, but none of that happened. I didn't get the chance to even browse inside the cigar store because we pulled into the parking lot 8 minutes after closing time. That kind of sucked, but  that little hiccup wasn't about to ruin the evenings agenda. I was planning on smoking a cigar and dammit, thats what I was gonna do. Mouse and I drove to a Walgreen's to settle with their private label brand of cigar. We both picked up a Blenders Gold for $3.90 and proceeded to research the art of cigar smoking via Google as opposed to the friendly/knowledgeable salesman at the closed cigar store. We got the jist of it and lit up at the skatepark. It was colder than a witches tit so we decided to do what the cool kids do; cruise through town while enjoying a Blenders Gold. I was getting the hang of it. I read not to inhale but to simply suck in and enjoy the flavor. I also read that you should puff about once a minute to really enjoy it. I was focusing more on how the cool factor of how I held the stogie. Mouse's cigar wasn't burning quite as evenly but he was hangin in there. We drove around town till it became all too apparent that my town sucks. Thats when we headed down to Boulder to say "hey" to a couple friends. We arrived at their house and indulged in the laughs and good times. The cigar wasn't that bad, and I can see myself partaking in one when something calls for a celebration.

I am sooooo cool lame.

Day 26: Donate To Charity

     What can I say? That whole ordeal at the blood donation center yesterday put me in the giving spirit. I felt good donating blood (well I actually felt a needle stabbing my arm, which didn't really feel that good at all) and I felt good about it afterwards. In fact, I still feel good about it (and sore). But I didn't want this charitable goal to go down in vain. I didn't want it to be that one-time-feel-good-fluke. So I decided to spare what I could financially, and donate anonymously to the Habitat for Humanity charity. I guess that it defeats the anonymous factor if I blog my accomplishment, but thats not the point dammit! I gave what little money I could part with (10 dollars, being broke isn't as fun as its cracked up to be) to an organization that hopefully will do some good in the world. I don't think that 10 bucks will get um far "but its better than a sharp stick in the eye". It feels good to do good.

Day 25: Donate Blood

     I donated blood (blooooooooood) today! I did something good, felt good about doing it and (my favorite part), I got as much apple juice and trail mix that I could possible stomach for doing it. I started to make a list of possible to-do-goals last night and out of the 60 or so ideas that I brainstormed, I choose to go with the blood donating. I talked my mom into accompanying me through the extravaganza, which she was more than willing to do. So we got their and filled in an info sheet or two, answered a couple personal health questions, waited in the "Waiting Room" (which was more of a corner than a room) and then I was called into a small room with a plaque that read "Interview Room" (which really was a room). The lady pricked my finger and filled a narrow tube with bloody redness. The prick was barely noticeable and the tube resembled the small container that holds the lead found in a mechanical pencil. She placed the tube in what looked like a large Jello mold, closed the lid and pushed a button which made the machine spin the shit out of the tube and produced a mild revving noise. Then she did some more basic looking tests (take my temperature, pulse and weight). The Jello blood machine had finished its routine and she took out the tube and said that the plasma/blood looked good (it looked the same either way to me) and that I could go have a seat in the designated pump-your-blood chair.

      My mom was already out of her "interview" and sitting in the chair to the right of me. She had some blood colored tube pumping out of the inside of her left elbow as she gently squeezed what looked like a heart shaped stress reliever. Within minutes I was in the same situation, the foamy heart toy in hand, the connecting tubes, and an apple juice bottle at my side. I was instructed to softly squeeze the heart every couple minutes and to just ask if I needed another juice. the designated poker (I don't think he was a doctor but a nice guy either way, so I'll just refer to him as the poker) cleaned of my future puncture wound and assured me that this is totally safe and  I wouldn't die or anything. I wasn't scared but maybe I gave him that vibe, or maybe he just gives the same speech to all his puncturees. He kept going on about how I can stop if I don't feel comfortable (which is hard to do in those chairs) and that there is no obligation. He asked me if I wanted to look away when it came for him to stab me, I said that I would enjoy watching. So, I tried to change the subject by asking him what determines your blood type. He gave me some answer that was convincing but never actually answered my question and then busted out the needle. He described it as a pinching feeling, and in hindsight, so would I. The blood was being pumped smoothly as I gently gripped the little sponge heart. I asked some more questions and drank some more juice and donated some more blood. This went on for a good ten minutes. Once a pint was reached, the poker clamped the newly red tubes and asked which color bandage I would like. Green, of coarse. He thanked me and I thanked him and I went to eat some trail mix and drink some more apple juice. I sat down with my mom who was drinking water and sporting a sweet purple bandage bracelet. It was a great experience that made me proud of the project. We did something good and learned a little about blood. Now I'm a little light headed and might go take a nap. Goodnight.

Good ol' Mama

Day 24: Make Huevos Rancheros

     Made a Mexican dish with Mouse last night. Don't be fooled by the fancy sounding name (I was), huevos rancheros was a simple meal even by my cooking standards. All you do is get some eggs, beans cheese and green chili and cook them. Then you place all that crap onto a tortilla and eat it. Its basically just a breakfast burrito. But it was delicious non the less.