I've decided to add the development of the skill of lucid dreaming to the bucket list. For those of you who don't know what lucid dreaming is, it's essentially the ability to control what goes on in one's dreams based on coming to the realization that what's going on is a dream. It's something I've always wanted to do, but I've not really look into how it might be accomplished.
I'd like to get to the point where I can lucid dream on a regular basis. Time to go do some research!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Crossed off: Experiences #11: Eat Something I've Killed Myself
On Sunday, my good friend and roommate Brian took me up to his family's cabin outside of Conifer for a little bit of hunting with the goal in mind of crossing off number 11 from my list of experiences: Eating something I've killed myself. Obviously, being that I've not hunted before, we figured it would be best to limit ourselves to small game. I was pulling for a rabbit, personally.
We started off the day hiking behind Brian's cabin in search of things to shoot, I with a (small gauge) shotgun and Brian with a rifle. We walked for a long time before we saw anything (rabbits were nowhere to be found), though we finally happened upon a squirrel in a tree. There wasn't exactly a lot of pride to be had in killing a squirrel, but it fulfilled the requirements, so I figured I'd take what I could get (beyond that, if I had killed a larger animal there might be some legal consequences). Fortunately for the integrity of the meat, I didn't hit the little guy dead-on, and he took forever to fall out of the tree - longer than Brian had seen in a long time. He was still alive when he hit the ground, so I had to put him out of his little squirrel misery.
We headed back to the cabin, where we had to deal with the issue of skinning. Given that I have far less experience with skinning animals than Brian, I figured it would be better to let him do the honors - after all, if I made a mistake in dealing with the innards, I would ruin the meat and we'd have to start over. As Brian slipped our little friend out of his squirrel sweater, I promised I'd do the next one.
We prepped him for the grill with some salt and pepper and tossed him on. After a few minutes on each side, he was ready to eat.
Ultimately, it wasn't that bad. Gamey, certainly, and not particularly tender, but it would do in a pinch.
We set out after lunch on some ATVs to scour more of the property for rabbits and the like, but unfortunately found none. That's alright, though. Rabbit's not specifically on my list.
Special thanks to Brian for lending his resources and expertise and sharing this one with me.
We started off the day hiking behind Brian's cabin in search of things to shoot, I with a (small gauge) shotgun and Brian with a rifle. We walked for a long time before we saw anything (rabbits were nowhere to be found), though we finally happened upon a squirrel in a tree. There wasn't exactly a lot of pride to be had in killing a squirrel, but it fulfilled the requirements, so I figured I'd take what I could get (beyond that, if I had killed a larger animal there might be some legal consequences). Fortunately for the integrity of the meat, I didn't hit the little guy dead-on, and he took forever to fall out of the tree - longer than Brian had seen in a long time. He was still alive when he hit the ground, so I had to put him out of his little squirrel misery.
We headed back to the cabin, where we had to deal with the issue of skinning. Given that I have far less experience with skinning animals than Brian, I figured it would be better to let him do the honors - after all, if I made a mistake in dealing with the innards, I would ruin the meat and we'd have to start over. As Brian slipped our little friend out of his squirrel sweater, I promised I'd do the next one.
We prepped him for the grill with some salt and pepper and tossed him on. After a few minutes on each side, he was ready to eat.
Ultimately, it wasn't that bad. Gamey, certainly, and not particularly tender, but it would do in a pinch.
We set out after lunch on some ATVs to scour more of the property for rabbits and the like, but unfortunately found none. That's alright, though. Rabbit's not specifically on my list.
Special thanks to Brian for lending his resources and expertise and sharing this one with me.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Crossed off: Movies #3: Watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies (Extended Edition) in one sitting
I'll keep this post short, since this is one of the least interesting goals on the list. On Friday, along with my Dad, I successfully watched the entirety of The Lord of The Rings trilogy--extended edition. In total, it amounted to more than 680 minutes of film (Nearly 11 and a half hours). Overall, I think the experience was worth it. The day looked a little something like this:
6:00: Wake up, shower & get ready to face the day
6:26: Eat some breakfast
6:00: Wake up, shower & get ready to face the day
6:26: Eat some breakfast
6:40: Start The Fellowship of the Ring (note the clock!)
8:35: Switch to disc two
10:00: End of The Fellowship of the Ring (short break)
10:20: Start The Two Towers
12:10: Switch to disc two, short lunch break
2:15: End of The Two Towers, Start Return of the King
4:30: Switch to disc 2
6:30: The End
Like I said, not very interesting. Let me conclude with a number of observations:
- We need more drinking songs. If they're good enough for the saviors of Middle Earth, they're good enough for me.
- Are there no black people in Middle Earth? I had to get an hour into the third film before seeing anyone who might have even passed for being black.
- There are so many battle scenes in these movies.
- Special effects have become so convincing that they don't impress me anymore. Which is depressing.
Special thanks to my dad for sitting through these with me. Up next: eating a Habañero. With video.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Sweetbreads (an addition to the list)
Upon researching the ways in which one can prepare brains, I stumbled upon a fact previously unknown: people eat pancreas, and they call it sweetbread. Upon further investigation, I discovered that apparently sweetbread can also refer to throat glands (i.e. the thymus). I therefore feel obligated, knowing now that these are in fact things that people eat, to add them to my list.
Number 16 on the Experiences section of the list - Updated
Eat the following:
Number 16 on the Experiences section of the list - Updated
Eat the following:
- Brains
Heart- Kidneys
LiverTongue- Rocky Mountain Oysters
- A Habañero pepper
- Neck sweetbread
- Belly sweetbread
Also, I'm planning to cross off #3 on the movies section of the list tomorrow with my dad:
Watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies (Extended Edition) in one sitting.
It's gonna be a blast.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Best Picture Winners - progress
Below is a list of all of the Oscar winners for Best Picture, with the ones crossed out that I've already seen. As you can see, I've got a long road ahead of me (particularly with regard to earlier films). Netflix is going to be critical for this one.
Go ahead and chastise me for not having seen your favorite movie.
Also, I'm not sure yet what to do about "Wings." I don't think it's available on DVD.
2002 - “Chicago”
1998 - “Shakespeare in Love”
1997 - “Titanic”
1996 - “The English Patient”
1988 - “Rain Man”
1985 - “Out of Africa”
1983 - “Terms of Endearment”
1982 - “Gandhi”
1980 - “Ordinary People”
1979 - “Kramer vs. Kramer”
1969 - “Midnight Cowboy”
1966 - “A Man for All Seasons”
1965 - “The Sound of Music”
1964 - “My Fair Lady”
1963 - “Tom Jones”
1959 - “Ben-Hur”
1958 - “Gigi”
1956 - “Around the World in 80 Days”
1955 - “Marty”
1953 - “From Here to Eternity”
1952 - “The Greatest Show on Earth”
1951 - “An American in Paris”
1950 - “All about Eve”
1949 - “All the Kings Men”
1948 - “Hamlet”
1947 - “Gentleman's Agreement”
1946 - “The Best Years of Our Lives”
1945 - “The Lost Weekend”
1944 - “Going My Way”
1942 - “Mrs. Miniver”
1941 - “How Green Was My Valley”
1938 - “You Can't Take It with You”
1937 - “The Life of Emile Zola”
1936 - “The Great Ziegfeld”
1932/1933 - “Cavalcade”
1931/1932 - “Grand Hotel”
1930/1931 - “Cimarron”
1929/1930 - “All Quiet on the Western Front”
1928/1929 - “The Broadway Melody”
1927/1928 - “Wings”
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Self Improvement #1: 'Douche' and all of its derivatives
In an attempt to make progress on this list (and, consequently, to have material for this blog) and develop some momentum, I have decided to dive headfirst into item #1 on the self-improvement subcategory: Choose a word or phrase and actively seek never to use it again.
I spent a bit of time mulling over what word or phrase I should select, ultimately coming to the realization that it wasn't particularly important which word I selected. I'm not limited to doing this only once, after all. Thus I decided that the best word for this challenge would be 'douche' - and all of its derivatives: douchebag, douchenozzle, doucher, and (much to my chagrin, having developed a certain fondness for the term as of late) turbo-douche.
From here on out, I will make the most sincere of efforts to ensure that I do not let slip any of the above. The primary advantage of this decision is that I feel that I have become somewhat uncreative in my insults as of late, and now I have forced myself to describe unpleasant people in ultimately more colorful and more accurate ways.
If you hear me use it, feel free to give me a friendly kick in the shins.
I think it's only fair that this restriction apply not only to the spoken word, but the written word as well (Facebook and other electronic correspondence included). Of course, there will have to be exceptions, particularly quotations and fictional dialogue, though even then I feel a certain increased restraint might be pertinent.
Up next: Films and the progress made so far
I spent a bit of time mulling over what word or phrase I should select, ultimately coming to the realization that it wasn't particularly important which word I selected. I'm not limited to doing this only once, after all. Thus I decided that the best word for this challenge would be 'douche' - and all of its derivatives: douchebag, douchenozzle, doucher, and (much to my chagrin, having developed a certain fondness for the term as of late) turbo-douche.
From here on out, I will make the most sincere of efforts to ensure that I do not let slip any of the above. The primary advantage of this decision is that I feel that I have become somewhat uncreative in my insults as of late, and now I have forced myself to describe unpleasant people in ultimately more colorful and more accurate ways.
If you hear me use it, feel free to give me a friendly kick in the shins.
I think it's only fair that this restriction apply not only to the spoken word, but the written word as well (Facebook and other electronic correspondence included). Of course, there will have to be exceptions, particularly quotations and fictional dialogue, though even then I feel a certain increased restraint might be pertinent.
Up next: Films and the progress made so far
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)