Thursday, December 31, 2009

Legend... but no dairy...

Firstly a massive thank you to everybody who has given me suggestions. There's some very interesting challenges that I look forward to trying further down the line but please keep sending me on different challenges because more variety means more interesting, albeit stupid, things for me to do! To leave a challenge or comment- just click the 'comments' button below and leave a message (you'll be surprised at the number of times I've been asked that!) 


Currently I'm learning how to make this site more interesting and interactive. Right now I've embedded a new sexy 'calendar' of future events with potential challenge dates. Obviously nothing can be strictly set in stone at the moment, and part of this whole escapade is 'not' to bind myself to a strict regiment. So expect date changes etc etc blah blah.


I'm also trying to incorporate a sexy 'list' of challenges given, accepted and completed so that you can view what has been suggested by other people... I'll let you know when I figure out how it works.



I decided to start myself off with a interesting challenge: being a vegan for a week or better phrased as becoming a follower of "veganism." The vegan society define this as: "a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."


This long winded definition can be summarized to say the following...


1.) No food that is, or came from, an animal.
2.) No clothing that involved causing harm to an animal.
3.) No products tested on animals.


My first sexy challenge will be to do the following starting on Jan 4th and running till Jan 8th


* Obey points 1-3 above.
* Cook a vegan dinner for somebody else at least one night in the week.


Basically I haven't exactly decided the format of this whole fiasco, realistically it's not possible for me to blog daily so I'll probably just blog upon completion, or epic fail, of the challenge. 


How hard do I think this challenge will be? Well, Homer tackles a similar issue head-on with Lisa...


LISA: “I’m going to become a vegetarian”
HOMER: “Does that mean you’re not going to eat any pork?” 
LISE: “Yes” 
HOMER: “Bacon?” 
LISA: “Yes Dad"
HOMER: "Ham?”
LISA: “Dad all those meats come from the same animal”
HOMER: “Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!”"
                             - Season 7 - Lisa the vegetarian



The Simpsons - 705 Lisa the Vegetarian





Friday, December 4, 2009

Bring it on...

Greetings and welcome to my blog... here's the back-story for the crap that's going down in 2010...


So about three weeks ago I started thinking about what I was going to do with myself next year and I realized that I couldn't actually list the things I'd done this year... sure I'm halfway through my teaching diploma... and sure I went to Canada for a few months... and wasn't there some event in March? or April? or May? 


El facto is- I don't remember much of anything (I also hereby announce that I DO NOT KNOW your birthday- facebook does- thank it, not me). I figure that although all the events of last year were probably fantabulous awesome- the fact remains that while I undertook various projects, I still lived my life in the typical, slightly repetitive, method which I've formulated for myself over the last 22 years. 


So- in essence- this blog is designed to change that- for better or for worse.


My aim goal objective (73 word score) is to undertake a new challenge EVERY week for the entire year. Reasoning behind this is that it should break any 'pattern' I've formed for myself over the past years. YOU (as the sexy reader) are asked to 'Bring it on...'


Why such a provocative statement? Why the hell not... 


So- as example challenges: "Be vegetarian for a week," or "Go for a run every morning for a week," or "Learn a foreign language for a week," or "Play the lotto everyday for a week," or "No tea/coffee/alcohol for a week." Etc etc...


Pretty simple eh? So I want suggestions from YOU and I'll try accomplish that goal over the year 2010 at some point. I'll then blog about the challenge and rate its difficulty and whether or not it is worth doing/actually possible.


The suggestions you put forward can be as mundane or mental as you want. All I want is a suggestion box to work from. The pro for you is that you get to watch me suffer (in some make, shape or form) for a year. 


Some ground rules though... (sigh)


1.) Challenge begins at midnight Sunday night and finishes at midnight on Friday. (That's 120 hours) The reasoning for this is that, like work, I get two days off for myself to either recover from the challenge or to prepare for the next one.
2.) Challenges which can get me fired or arrested are not allowed.
3.) Challenges which are pure dangerous/stupid are not allowed. (e.g. hit self with hammer everyday for a week)
4.) Challenges cannot be too expensive (MAX €50 a week). I WILL do one or two expensive challenges during the year- but they'll be pre-planned and well funded by then.... hopefully.
5.) Challenges must be 'measurable.' Challenges which wouldn't count would be "Drink half the amount of tea you usually drink" or "Scare yourself silly." Whereas "Drink no tea" and "Watch a scary movie every night" are both eligible.


Anyway- there's probably more rules to follow but I'll cross that bridge when it sets fire...


WHAT I WANT FROM YOU....


Posts/Comments saying the following...


"Steve... you're awesome (optional- but highly recommended)... I challenge you to [insert challenge here]. My reasoning for this challenge is [insert reason here]. Hugs, kisses and all that, [your name here]"


Any questions?


Bring it on...


2010 - The year of the tiger.





P.S. First 'blog' ever... so assume speelling errors, grammatical mistakes! and poor judgement. Which leads me to...