let's form it.

Don't you love candy?

I do.

There was a new candy at 7-11 next to the Nerds Rope display. This led me to believe that a) it was going to be as delicious as Nerds ropes, and b) that it was made by Wonka, who makes pretty good things usually. Although Wonka bars are sadly lacking in imagination.

So my new thing was eating that bar.

I imagined that, perhaps, this "Wazoo" bar, in "wild berriez" [sic] flavor would be good. It looked like something a unicorn might eat in magic fairy land - It was pink and about the size of a Snickers bar, covered in imitation Nerds. Indeed, this was not a Wonka product. Just an imitation. So it was an imitation of a facsimile of a fictitious chocolatier - and there wasn't even chocolate involved.

Long story short it tasted atrocious - like stale laffy taffy covered in tasteless marshmallow with chewable plastic on top.


I think my face says it all.

last night, I turned into a fly.

Friday's new thing changed often. I wasn't feeling so hot, so the original plan to make a cigar box guitar was thrown completely out the window. That will be a project for another day.

And then the plan was to win a bunch of money at a scratcher, and that didn't happen either. I was going to do the endless setlist (84 songs, 5.5 hours) on Rock Band, but 8 songs in and the guitar ran out of batteries (one more reason why video game guitars are not as cool as real guitars.)

So, at 11pm, Anthony taught me how to break the bottom off of a bottle using only the force of my hand.

Step 1: Find a bottle with a neck.
Step 2: Fill it up with water, leaving about 2 inches of room at the top.
Step 3: Go outside, hold the bottle firmly against your hip (beginner-style)
Step 4: While only allowing the lip of the bottle to protrude, and only a bit, bring your palm down on the top of the bottle and believe that you are going to hit the bottom off the bottle.
Step 5: Clean up mess.



I was successful on my second try, and then not successful again afterwards. And I really hurt my hand.

such a subtle wrist.

Let us time-travel to Thursday.

On Thursday, Max lent me his $150,323,988.23 camera, and I went downtown to take pictures of things. I asked people if they would let me take their picture, and they all said yes. That was surprising and welcoming. I also enjoyed looking like an artist/tourist. Here are a few of my favorites:

He has the killer eye.

I did not ask this scenery's permission.

This new building downtown is terrifying.

So that was Thursday. Friday and Saturday will get updates. I just wanted to get this one out of the way.

I've always listened to my critics.

I have two days worth of new things to update you on.

Two?

Yes, two.

First of all, I got a new chair in my room. It is burnt orange and comfy, and it was given to me by Anthony, who got it for free from the thrift store his grandmother works at. Two days ago, my new thing was to sit down in my new chair, put my feet up, drape myself in my Linus blanket, and read for an hour. I came out of it with the clear head and warm fuzziness that only such an act could bring. Have you tried reading for an hour in a new chair with a Linus blanket? It is divine - add a box of Scotchmallows from See's Candy and I think I would have reached the apex of life.



So that was two days ago.

And yesterday, I tried my hand at making buffalo chicken wings. My mouth just salivated thinking about them - I fried a half pound of chicken legs in that wondrous silver machine and then doused them in buffalo sauce made via the Pioneer Woman Cooks, and I felt happy and alive. I won't feel so alive for much longer if my fried food intake doesn't slow, but I am happy to report that the deliciousness factor of my life has raised an incredible, unknowable amount.



Gilligan's Island update: I think my favorite character is Mr. Howell. And I'm either getting dumber, or the show is getting better - by the eighth episode, they have definitely hit a stride.

Today's new thing? Unknowable. It's only noon!

wind the frog.

Yesterday, my new thing was the creation and consumption of fried apple pies. They looked like wontons in a way... giant wontons. The pastry was flaky and delicious, and the insides were pleasantly warm and cinnamon apple-y. They were a lot of work, and I didn't even do much. I just folded a couple, and poorly at that... if you want your fried apple pies folded masterfully, Max is your man.

I wish I had had slightly melted ice cream to melt them in - oh well. That's a note for next time.

I have no idea what my new thing for today is. I suppose I have done a couple new things (some homework, started a new story) but I don't know. I have three hours to decide on something to do/go through with it/decide that the other couple of things were good enough.

I seem to have a love of nostalgia right now, which is bad for the "new thing everyday" project. I have started watching Gilligan's Island again, because I bought season one for a song at Amoeba. It's really a terrible show, especially first season - I can't believe that it was once considered to be quite the comedy. Was it? I should talk to some oldsters about this. Did people really love Gilligan's Island? There are parts where I am smacking my head because of the stupidity. Oddly enough, though, it's great to have on in the background. I took a nap with their voices in the background, and I had a pleasant, island-y dream.

I'm the man, you're the girl.

Yesterday, my new thing was to go to Jamba Juice in the morning and eat their oatmeal. For 2.95, they give you steal cut, organic oats, topped with blackberries and blueberries, sprinkled with brown sugar. It was absolutely delicious. Then I worked for 8 hours and tried to think about something else I could do instead, because I didn't think Jamba Juice oatmeal was very exciting. It isn't, but it's not uninteresting either - it made my morning a lot better and warmed me through. It was also a perfect companion to reading The Tale of Desperaux, which I finished at lunch yesterday. But I've finished a lot of books at lunch at work. It's a good book. If you have 90 minutes, you should read it, and slowly at that. The last page made me misty-eyed.

Today's new thing: Unknown. Hopefully incredibly exciting.

just somebody that you used to know.

Yesterday, my new thing was to go to a graveyard and catalogue death dates, age at death, the type of decoration on the grave, and if the gravestone marker held some type of description of the person at rest.

Morbid!

It was for class. Doing morbid things for class is a new one too, but I think it's all one package.

And today, my new thing was to talk to absolutely anyone that came within a three foot radius of me. It was an interesting one for a lot of reasons - usually, when I go downtown, I get engrossed in a book or my music or... you know. Anything but the people around me. Actually, not usually... usually, the morning coffee makes me into a gregarious, outgoing soul, so I talk to the first person I see on the bus that smiles at me. If they snub me, it's a book day. If they don't, it's a meet-some-strangers day. I don't do this methodically, I only just realized that this is usually how it goes.

So I worked today at the shoestore, and talked and talked and talked. I tried not to keep the conversation on shoes. I talked about Pixar and Wall-E, the Raven and the books I had recently. I talked about Paris and England and collecting things. People told me all sorts of things as well - a man told me he was going back to university to get another bachelor's - he was fifty. Another guy was annoyed that I was taking the interest off of shoes. I poked fun at our strange store's decorations with some of the younger folk, and I told fake attributes of what the shoes could do for you, as in, "those shoes are 400 dollars because they will whisper to you if you are lonely." Or, "The rubber is quite light - if NASA decides to allow it, they might get activated - it's anti-gravity rubber." I sold the most shoes. I also took a new way back to the bus station because I didn't want to talk to all of the strange people that populate the Santa Cruz streets at night.

On the bus home, I talked to a couple people that told me to come to their CEOs and Corporate Hos (Hoes? Ho's? 'ho's?) party. And I tried to talk to the guy next to me once they got off the bus, but he didn't want to talk at all. He just snubbed me. I stayed on the bus for the UCSC loop just to try more, but I think I really annoyed him. He was listening to Millencolin on his Zune, and if I want to be shallow, I could say it's for the better. Who wants to talk to someone who has a Zune?

But I was actually kind of hurt. I was really nice and he was not.

indian giver.

Yesterday, I went and did stand up comedy at the Fire Den as my new thing for the day - I have done stand-up comedy before, but never at a stand-up comedy open mic, especially not in a bar. I know that seems very specific, but I can tell you that it was a very, very new thing. The crowd was mostly over thirty, so my Harry Potter jokes went right over their head. I thought Harry Potter was universal, but maybe not! It went over well, though. I have been bringing a harmonica with me, and the harmonica has gotten way more laughs than I thought it would. When I do stand up comedy, I'm always curious if my humor will be funny to me, or funny to everyone.

I remembered, earlier this month, Anthony took me to a cookie factory. I'd never been to a cookie factory. I bought a six pack of cookies for a dollar.

I wonder what I will do today?

she's a ten.

Good morrow.

I made a New Year's Resolution this year to do something new every day. It has been going splendidly, but my memory is not what it once was: I have already begun to forget some of the new things that I have done.

So, that means I have to start a new blog.

I have had lots of blogs, starting with a deadjournal under an assumed name - followed by a livejournal that I still write in occasionally - a well-kept then deleted personal/music blog - a travel blog for my quarter abroad - and now this one. I think it can be anything I want.

Yesterday, I watched the inauguration. I had never watched an inauguration before, so that was my new thing for yesterday. It was inspiring, and I liked the bit where the oath-giver messed up. We all made the joke: "He will be the first to go."

Today, I went and saw Revolutionary Road. I had never seen that movie before - so there you go. It is a heart-wrenching movie, terribly sad - hopelessness and emptiness prevails. But it was beautifully shot with beautiful moments and beautiful actors and beautiful piano plinking. It was very good. There were people in the audience who laughed at odd times, and I'm going to just chalk that up to the imbeciles who go see movies and still wonder how "they got them pictures to move."

Tomorrow's new thing: Undecided