30th New Thing in 30 Days

New Thing List Recap:

1. Eat dim sum for dinner.
2. Try a 5 hour energy shot.
3. Successfully defeated credit card fraud.
4. Eat a deep-fried White Castle.
5. Visited the Stevenson bridge.
6. Watched Gamer.
7. Baked cupcakes blindfolded.
8. Counted how many licks it took to get to the center of a tootsie pop
9. Sent a telegram.
10. Bought a Logitech ultra thin illuminated keyboard.
11. Got an autograph from a TV star.
12. Made caramel apples.
13. Cleaned a cow pen.
14. Read the Watchmen.
15. Visited the Lafayette hillside memorial.
16. Became a fan of Glee.
17. Took a shower with all my clothes on.
18. Took a Jung typology test.
19. Watched District 9.
20. Read Cosmopolitan from cover to cover.
21. Tested out a Snuggie.
22. Ate baby food.
23. Shaved a balloon.
24. Made a time lapse video.
25. Gambled in Las Vegas.
26. Drank booze in Las Vegas.
27. Got on an exclusive guest list in Las Vegas.
28. Baked challah from scratch.
29. Ate a 4x4 animal style.

And finally, the 30th new thing in 30 days is...

New Thing #30: Send in a PostSecret
For those of you who are unaware, PostSecret is a blog project where people mail in their secrets on creative postcards, and the creator posts them online for all to see. It is completely anonymous and it allows people to express themselves or confess their sins/vices/dirty little secrets without the shame and persecution of public knowledge. It's kind of like Group Hug, where senders and readers can fulfill their exhibitionist and voyeuristic needs. It gets updated every Sunday night, so here's to hoping that mine will show up sometime soon. Chances are slim, but there's always hope.

And with that, my 30 New Things in 30 Days project comes to an end. It was quiet enjoyable and definitely worthwhile and I'm glad I did it. Many thanks to those of you who wouldn't let me slack off or drop the ball, I don't think I would have lasted 30 days without your support. I'm thinking of taking October off, and start November with a new project. I have some ideas floating around, but if you've got one you think I should do, please don't hesitate to let me know. Cheers!

Home Stretch

New Thing #28: Bake Challah from scratch
In case you've never had it before, challah (C is silent!) is a traditional Jewish bread that is typically braided. Now I've never made bread from scratch before, let alone one that requires braiding before baking, so this was definitely something new. The recipe was simple enough - yeast, sugar, water, flour, egg, and oil. The kneading was fun, as was punching down the dough after it had risen for a bit. Everything was going well until I hit the 5 yard line. I dunno what happened, but I fumbled the ball, and that fumble cost me the golden brown crust I was looking for. In the end, the crust was slightly burnt, but the insides were nice and tasty.

New Thing #29: Eat a 4x4 animal style

In hindsight, it probably wasn't a great idea. Come to think of it, it was a terrible idea. What's worse is that I was actually going to attempt a 5x5, but someone was watching out for me because the In N' Out in San Ramon only goes as high as a 4x4. And to those of you who've been living under a rock, a 4x4 consists of 4 patties and 4 slices of cheese. Animal style throws on grilled onions and their 'special sauce.' Never have I consumed something that delicately walked the line between deliciousness and grotesqueness. Damn good going in, not so good coming out. That burger truly lived up to the 'in-and-out' name. Everybody should start investing in the company, because a place that sells food that also acts as a laxative has nowhere to go but up.

Viva Las Vegas!

New Thing #25: Gamble in Las Vegas
It's a crying shame that this was my first time to Lost Wages since I've turned 21 and could finally have some legal fun. To think that all this time I've been sitting around saving my money idly when I could have been at the casino tables, bending over. This past weekend I definitely made up for lost time. There's something about the sounds of the slot machines and the clinking of chips that just makes you want to get in there and go all in, hoping for no whammies. The motto of the weekend was "You have to spend money to make money." For some, the winnings came easy, for me, not so much. I am a gambling newb, and though I managed to hold my own in blackjack at the Bellagio, in the end, the House always wins.

Gambling perk: Solicitations and promises of a free cab ride and a free entry, from strip club promoters named Romeo. If you want his number, I've got it...seriously.

New Thing #26: Drink booze in Las Vegas
What's better than the pain of knowing you've lost your entire paycheck in 20 minutes? Not realizing you've lost your entire paycheck because you're intoxicated. And we're talking smashed. If you're ever in Vegas, hit up a Fat Tuesday's and get the 190 Octane. It's a frozen slushy with 190 proof Everclear. An extra shot of Everclear on top of it is only $1 more. Oh.My.God. Schwastyfaced to the max. I didn't even finish the drink - which was probably a good thing because those that did ended up having a reversal of fortune. By far the cheapest way to get you really really really effed up. Highly recommended.
Drinking perk: Free drinks at the tables, slots, and any place where you're already losing money.

New Thing #27: Be on an exclusive guest list in Las Vegas
Thanks to some awesome Redbull hookups, we got on the guest list for Tabu, Studio 54, and Wet Republic. Normally covers for these places range from $20-50, but we got in for free. It was definitely an experience and I've come to realize the utter truth that Las Vegas is full of beautiful people. And average Joe Schmoe's like me can easily find themselves out of place. That's how I felt at Wet Republic, the exclusive pool area at MGM grand. It's advertised as the "nightclub experience" during the day, and with scantily clad lingerie models in tiny bikini's and tanned muscle men with 20-pack abs. But damn, talk about eye candy. Just a few pics, but I'm sure you can extrapolate from them how the weekend went.

Guest list perk: Partying like a rock star without having to pay the ridiculous cover charges.

Six Little New Things Jumping on a Bed...

New Thing #19: District 9

What is there to say about it? It was a great movie. When it first started, it had the feel of a documentary, since it would cut back and forth between short interview snippets, but as it progressed, it felt more and more like a regular movie. It had that perfect blend of realism and fiction, so much so that you'd find yourself believing that aliens really did land over Johannesburg. Even though the aliens look nothing like their derogatorily referred name 'prawns', I found myself craving seafood after the movie. I don't want to give away any spoilers for those who have yet to see it, so stop reading this blog and go watch it. I'll wait. Go. NOW.

New Thing #20: Read Cosmopolitan from cover to cover

Who says a man can't get in touch of his feminine side? In my defense, the cover girl for this month's Cosmo was Transformers hottie, Megan Fox. So I can blame this whole thing on being interested in all the pretty pictures of Ms. Fox. And it's not like there's too much reading; the magazine is chalk full of advertisements for perfumes and colognes, which delightfully made my fingers smell nice as I thumbed through. Surprisingly, it was a lot more sexual than one would normally think. Stories about sex, confessions about sex, hell, even 12 new sex moves to let the naughty bad girl out to play. Giggity giggity. However, it's also full of crap. Craptastic crap. An article that feigns wisdom by telling you four truths that his eyes reveal is simply four pictures of men's eyes with captions like "I'm bummed", "I love you", "I'm pulling on over on you", and "I want you". They're close ups of eyes, and for all you know they could be saying "What should I eat tonight?", "I'm tired", "I just farted", and "How you doing?" Then there's the article titled "Why he calls you a nag when you're not." NEWS FLASH: If he calls you a nag, it's because you're being a nag. Knock. It. Off. There's also an article that says "guys like it when you use your thong as a hair tie." I'm going to set the record straight, and I'm only going to say it once, so pay attention. There are only two places a guy wants to see your thong. 1) On your ass, and 2) On his bedroom floor.

New Thing #21: Test out a Snuggie

By now you've seen the picture of me reading Cosmo, and you're probably wondering what that blue blanket looks so familiar. Well you've guessed it, that's me testing out my brand new Snuggie. The blanket with sleeves really is a piece of work. It's true to its one size fits all logo. The sleeves are huge and there were plenty of times where I felt like a Jawa drowning in a sea of blue faux-fleece. And while the box claims to be super soft fleece, it really isn't. I'm pretty sure real fleece doesn't make you feel like a Tesla coil when trying to take it off. The amount of static electricity jumping between me and the Snuggie was enough to power light bulbs. No joke. It does its job, whatever a blanket with sleeves job would be. And for $15 bucks, you get what you pay for. Snuggie pub crawl anyone?

New Thing #22: Eat baby food
Well if you're wondering if I'm too old for this, the label clearly states "8 months & up"...it just doesn't make clear how far "up" really covers. My meal of choice: organic vegetable chicken dinner. Pureed chicken, potatoes, peas, and carrots. It doesn't really smell like anything, and I can taste the starchiness of the potatoes, but overall, the whole concoction is bland and a bit perplexing. When you gained the ability to eat solid foods, you associate certain tastes with a certain texture, and when you don't get the texture that you're expecting, it just doesn't taste or feel right. Remember Crystal Pepsi? Or green ketchup? That shit just isn't right. Pepsi needs to be brown, and ketchup needs to be red. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Getting back to the baby food, there were subtle hints at individual flavors but it all was masked by the weird homogeneous goo. I'm know my instant rejection to it was all mental, but I don't care. Two small spoonfuls of that crap and I instantly had a new found appreciation for the ability to eat solid foods. And I now know why baby poo is the way it is. Babies just leech out the nutrients they needs and pass the "food" through their system. No need to waste energy compacting and solidifying the waste. Baby food comes out the same color and texture as the way it came it. Now that's efficiency.

New Thing #23: Shave a balloon

Ever since I watched the show Wild & Crazy Kids on Nickelodeon, I've always wanted to shave a balloon. It looked like so much fun; the kids racing to shave a balloon cleanly without popping it. But I never got the chance when I was little. So naturally, when I decided to start this small project, shaving a balloon made the list of new things to do. The materials were easy enough to gather: a latex balloon, shaving cream, and a razor. Okay, so this new thing has a small caveat. I couldn't find a straight edge razor, and from what I hear, they're pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. So I had to stick with what I had on hand, a titanium Schick Quattro. I added a face onto the balloon for realism, and lathered it up. Let me tell you this, putting shaving cream onto a balloon is not as easy as one would think. First off, trying to spread the shaving cream is hard when you're trying to make an even coat because the cream acts like glue and the balloon goes everywhere your hand does. Secondly, the shaving cream made the balloon unbalanced and it continually tried to roll to one side or another and effectively made a gloppy mess of my bathroom counter. But after a fierce battle, the balloon, who I named Wilson, was ready. The shaving went off without a hitch. The nick protection of the Schick Quattro made sure I didn't cut Wilson's tight skin, and the four titanium blades cut through the cream like a hot knife through butter. By the time I was done, Wilson looked like he had just gotten a full Brazilian on his face. It was a beautiful sight. And then I popped him.

New thing #24: Make a time lapse video

I'm sure you've all seen a time lapse video before, most likely while you were browsing through random YouTube clips when you should have been working. There's something fascinating about watching things at high speeds, and since I just recently discovered that I had a time lapse function on my digital camera, I put two and two together. I wasn't srue what to make a video of, and then it hit me, why not show the world what I go through every single day. So sit back and relax, here's a 30 second clip of my commute home.

Three's a Crowd

Time to play catch up! September is almost over! Eeek!

New Thing #16: Become a fan of Glee

Oh yes, I'm now officially a Gleek! It's a modern take on musicals and without the childish feel of any of the High School Musicals that had swept the tweens so long ago. The cast is young and unknown which I doubt will last much longer. It seems everywhere I turn people are coming down with glee fever and I'm sure enrollment in actual high school glee clubs have skyrocketed (aren't they called choir nowadays?). The three episodes that have been aired so far have been full of every adolescent cliche that you could possibly imagine. Nerdy kids vs. the popular crowd, handsome arrogant jock learns the value of inner beauty and the power of believing in oneself to ultimately reform and stand up for all nerds. Hmm...sounds kinda like the end of Revenge of the Nerds except it's not a busty blond cheerleader who bridges the gap between nerdom and jockville. Let us not forget Mercedes, the token black girl with her "aww hell to the nah" or Kurt, with his flamboyant I'm-so-gay-it's-practically-stamped-on-my-forehead bravado that the creators have so elegantly kept subtle. We've even got some crazies in there (mainly Emma - who will always, in my mind, be Hiro's lost love, Charlie). But I love all the characters (even the completely random new ones like Mr. Fauxhawk), especially the uber crazy cheerleading coach who with complete seriousness delivers the line "This is what we call a total disaster ladies, I'm going to ask you to smell your armpits. That's the smell of failure, and it's stinking up my office." Genius.

New Thing #17: Take a shower with all my clothes on

I needed something new and random. And well, this is what you get. It was strange to say the least. To be honest, it kinda sucked. I washed my hair with my clothes on but afterwards it was just too much. Besides, using body wash over the clothes would pretty much be the dumbest thing ever. That coming from a guy who just took a shower with his clothes on. Word.

New Thing #18: Take a Jung typology test
According to an online Jung typology test, I have a ENFJ personality type, whatever the hell that means. Apparently I have a lot in common with former President Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Clara Burton (founder of the American Red Cross), and Ronald Reagan - since they're all ENFJ's as well. Broken down, I'm 33% extraverted, 25% intuitive, 12% feeling, and 11% judging. What the hell? That's only 81%! Where/what is the remaining 19%? It's funny that I'm an ENFJ, I always considered my personality to be a BAMF.

Caramel Cows Watch Lafayette

New Thing #12: Making Caramel Apples

Long time eater, first time maker. That's right, this weekend I took an adventure into making homemade caramel apples. After indulging in the decadent gourmet candy apples from the state fair, I decided that it might be fun to give it my own shot. The plan was simple enough - start with the basic caramel apple, and if that was successful, then move on to bigger and better things. I debated on making caramel from scratch - as in melting sugar and using a candy thermometer and all that mumbo jumbo, but instead I opted for a simpler solution: melting caramel candies. Is it cheating? Possibly. Have you made caramel apples from scratch? No? Then shaddap you face! It was a learning experience for me, a decadently sweet learning experience.


New Thing #13: Cleaning a Cow Pen

Before y'all start with the Davis cow jokes let's get the record straight. My experience with cows comes 2 years after graduating from UCD. And while we're at it, no, you can't physically tip a cow over. But I digress. This weekend I got down and dirty at an animal science teaching facility where researchers are studying the effects of sprinklers on dairy cow's feeding behavior. It makes sense - if you weighed a thousand pounds and had to endure the skin-melting heat of a Davis summer, you'd probably enjoy your food more when it was accompanied by a cool shower. And man do those cows eat! They say that if you give a mouse a cookie, it'll ask for milk. I found out that if you give a cow some feed, it shits. A LOT. Massive amounts of liquefied crap. Once you hear the distinctive plopping sounds, you know you're in for a real treat. To make matters worse, they don't bother to stop eating while they evacuate their bowels. Chew, chew, plop, plop, chew, plop, plop, and so on and so forth. I felt like I was witnessing one of those conveyor belts, where food goes in the mouth and instantly pops out the other end as waste. Lovely huh? Oh there's also the pee as well, which sounds like someone pouring a gallon of water onto a concrete floor. You know how if you see someone yawn, it's contagious and you end up yawning yourself? Listening to the sound of urine hitting the ground is kind of like that too. But the best part of the whole experience? Getting sneezed on by a cow. Yup, it was pretty much the whole Jurassic Park stick-your-hand-out-to-pet-the-pretty-animal-and-get-a-handful-of-snot-instead deal. Eat your heart out Mike Rowe.


New Thing #14: Reading Watchmen

Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "save us!"...and I'll look down and whisper "no".

When a comic book starts out like that, it pretty much sets the tone for the entire book, and you best believe that it's going to be good. I haven't seen the movie, so the comic has gone unspoiled thus far. I was surprised at the amount of background material and depth that the story goes into, and I found myself seeing the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel. Watchmen is definitely the latter. It's not images enhancing the text, but the text that enhances the images. And there are images that stand on their own with no need of textual enhancements. I'm only 3 chapters in, but I can already see why it's on Time magazine's 100 best novels list.


New Thing #15: Visiting the Lafayette Hillside Memorial
I pass by this memorial twice a day going to and from work, yet this was the first time I've ever stopped to look at it. A hillside littered with white crosses, Stars of David, and Islamic crescents. It really is quite a sight when you start to realize what they're actually symbolizing. 5,166 (and counting) American soldiers that have paid the ultimate price in the name of their country and its sons and daughters. I don't think many people really take the time to appreciate the memorial - most likely due to it's close proximity to the bustling Lafayette BART station. But if you're ever in the area, you should check it out for yourself. No words of mine will ever do it justice. There's a dedicated blog about the memorial for those interested.

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World.

New Thing #11: Get an Autograph From a TV Star

No, it isn't from Hiro Nakamura. Nor is it from Claire Bennet, or even HRG (although that would be pretty bad ass). The autograph is actually from every one's favorite lovable cop, Matt Parkman aka Greg Grunberg. Truth be told, I didn't actually get to meet him. My friend was at the Giants game in SF which Grunny just happened to be attending, and apparently he was in front of them at Muni or Bart or something like that. And since my friend knows that I'm a fan of Heroes (or at least used to be...I stopped watching halfway through Season 3 - but don't tell him that!), she asked him for an autograph for me. And he signed the only thing she had, a one dollar bill. Now, I know Heroes is a fictional work, and Greg Grunberg isn't a real cop, but if you're playing a cop on TV, you should at least have some background knowledge of the law (all great actors do their research). As such, Mr. Grunberg should have known that by signing his name on the dollar bill that he was in violation of Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code:

Under this provision, currency defacement is generally defined as follows: Whoever mutilates, cuts, disfigures, perforates, unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, Federal Reserve Bank, or Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

I'm pretty sure a personalized autograph makes this particular bill unfit to be reissued. And he even signed over George Washington's face! He's lucky we're not under control of the British crown, because defacing the face of royalty is uber illegal. I find myself now in an interesting position, with an interesting proposition. This is directed at you, Greg Grunberg. Deliver a kick ass season 4 of Heroes that meets or exceeds the standard set by season 1 or I will have no choice but to report your defacing ass to the United States Secret Service. Do it for Molly. Do it for Daphne. Do it for us!

"Jeremy- You Rock!! Greg Grunberg"

Old School vs. New School

New Thing #9: Sending a Telegram

The internet has killed so many things, including old fashion communication -(STOP)- It's pretty hard nowadays to even find a company that still does telegrams -(STOP)- So hard in fact, that I had to find a company that was located in Australia to do it -(STOP)- Okay so truthfully, it's not 100% old school - you type up what you want on the telegram on this website and they show you a preview of what it looks like -(STOP)- They'll also email you a jpg of the actual telegram -(STOP)- And it only cost me $4.70 USD -(STOP)- And if you haven't guessed it by now, every time you type in a "period" it inserts the stop message -(STOP)- But I love the fact that it's real old fashioned snail mail...and it's going to take 10+ days to get to the States -(STOP)- Doh -(STOP)-


New Thing #10: Logitech Ultra Thin Illuminated Keyboard
Okay first and foremost, I'm a huge Logitech fanboy. HUGE. All of my computer peripherals are from Logitech. So of course when I saw that this particular keyboard was on sale, I had to jump on it. And I have to say, I'm in love. It's a mind boggling 9.3mm thick but types with a crisp clean feel of a top of the line laptop keyboard. And they keys are backlit which makes typing in the dark a breeze. Did I need a new keybaord? Hell no! I have a perfectly good G15 that's now sitting in my closet. Impulse buys ftw! [Insert slight brain fart here] Hmm...while I love typing on my new keyboard, I'm not particularly happy with this post. It's not as fluid or funny or creative as I'd hoped. I feel like it's missing some oomph, some mojo, you know, some sort of essence...bah whatever, I love my new toy :D

Blind Eyes & Numb Tongues

Time to play catchup so I don't fall too far behind in the blogging. So without further ado...

New Thing #7: Blindfolded baking
I'm not entirely sure where this one came from, but it was something new and that's my goal. And trust me, it's definitely not easy. I'm not even talking about the obvious hazards of trying to work the stove to make a ganache or navigating the cavernous inferno that is a conventional oven, oh no, I'm talking about the stupid little things like trying to pour batter into cupcake liners. It was definitely a strange feeling trying to do normal things like pour or crack eggs or mix, without having the ability to see what you're doing. I'm pretty sure I made a fool of myself, but I'm glad I had B. there to watch over me and keep my movements in check. If I had attempted this solo, I'm pretty sure I would have mutilated myself, burned the house down, and more likely than not, end up with lumpy cupcake batter. And that my friends is unacceptable. All in all, the cupcakes were full of win, but I think I'll keep my baking experience with eyes wide open from now on.


New Thing #8: How Many Licks Does it Take to get to the Center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?

We've all seen the commercials and we all know that Mr. Turtle was a wuss and Mr. Owl was a smartass. So naturally, it was time to figure this out for myself. And as it turns out, Tootsie Roll Pops have a new flavor out...Banana. Let me preface this by saying that I have a particular dislike for artificial banana flavoring. Real bananas have a distinct flavor that isn't overpoweringly sweet, fake bananas taste like poo rolled in Splenda. But alas, I'm sure you know where this post is going. The guidelines were simple: one lick consisted of a full length of my tongue, no sucking would be involved, and the challenge would be over when the candy shell was gone and the chocolaty center remained. Everything was going well until I reached the 520 lick mark, when I started to notice a rather large air bubble that had been trapped by the tootsie roll center. My licking had broken through to said air bubble and it came to my attention that I was left with a tootsie roll shell instead of solid chocolate center. Ripoff! This greatly reduced my ability to lick off the candy shell while preserving the chocolaty center. My licks were melting the candy and tootsie at an even rate. Crap. As it turned out, the 1:1 candy to tootsie ratio never changed in my favor, and I ended up licking that sucker (pun ftw!) to death. Seven hundred and thirteen mutha effin licks. And what did I come out with? A raw tongue and a sore jaw. Blogging...it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

White Castle, Graffiti, and Gamers, Oh My!

Time for a weekend update!

New Thing #4: Deep-Fried White Castle

In keeping with the grand American tradition of taking something completely gross and unhealthy, throwing it in batter and deep frying it, and turning it into something amazing, I went to the California State Fair in search of something deliciously grotesque. And you better believe that I found it. Nestled away in a brightly lit, LED-clad Charlie's Chicken stand, I found my artery-clogging jewel. Take one White Castle cheeseburger dipped in batter, fried up and served with a basket of french fries and you've got one amazing crunchy piece of shit. YUM.

New thing #5: Visiting the Stevenson Bridge

They say life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. And I seriously doubt the Stevenson Bridge expected to end up the way it did. For those of you who don't know, the Stevenson Bridge is up near Davis, CA and spans the nearby Putah Creek. What makes it stand out from any other bridge is that is it covered in graffiti. It's a concrete blank canvas for those who just want to express their love, hate, and overall inspiring messages. It's a rather unique find that simultaneously shows the expressionistic nature of art and vandalism.


New Thing #6: Gamer

Okay before you get your panties all knotted up, keep in mind that coming up with 30 new things to do is not easy. Sometimes during your weekend you just want to relax and not spend the energy thinking up something that you haven't done yet. New movies are a great answer to such occasions because they're simple and they fulfill the requirements: something I've never seen/done/drank/ate etc. Anyways getting back to the movie, it was pretty much what I expected. Lots of guns, violence and explosions with little gaming Easter eggs hidden away like 'teabagging.' The whole visual experience was at times overwhelming, and I find myself trying to define just exactly what perspective I was in. Kable (aka Gerard Butler) is experiencing the MMO in first person. Simon, who controls Kable, experiences the game in third person. 1 x 3 = 3. Easy enough. This is where it gets tricky...am I, the viewer, observing Simon in a second-person perspective (as usually done in narratives) or a third-person perspective (since I'm watching Simon in the third person who's controlling Kable in the third person)? Does this mean by watching Gamer, I've actually experienced a 6th person perspective? Or even a ninth person perspective? That's some mind boggling quantum shit right there. For the universe's sake, I better just stick to first person shooters and keep the fragging limited to one perspective.

Oh No You Didn't!

New Thing #3: Successfully Defeated Credit Card Fraud

I guess fraud was bound to happen eventually. I use my credit card for everything, and rarely ever have any cash on me. Credit cards are easy, fast, and they have perks like cash-back rewards. You don't get any money back when you pay in cash. And most of the time I don't really fine comb my statements, so this was just sheer luck that I noticed a charge from Netflix this month. The fact that I don't have a Netflix account kinda sorta raised a red flag in my mind. Granted, the charge was less than $6, but that's MY $6 that those greedy bastards are trying to take. So I emailed Chase and they protected what's in my wallet. Here's how it went down:

September 3, 2009

Dear [Lumzo]:

We are writing in response to your most recent inquiry
regarding your account listed below:

Account Number: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

08/23/2009 Nfi*Www.Netflix.Com/Cc $5.39

We have investigated your dispute for the [wtf is this?] charge mentioned
above.

We have resolved this dispute [by tracking down the thieves, tarring, feathering, and then castrating them] and issued a credit to your account for the amount of the charge [free shipping!]. You will see this on your next monthly statement [with attached pics of the castrated thieves tarred and feathered for your enjoyment].

Thank you for the opportunity to assist in this matter.

Sincerely,
[Badass Mofos from Chase]

That's pretty much the gist of how it went down [with a few minor tweaks]. So that's my new thing for the day. Netflix? More like NetSUCKS. I'm taking my $6 to Blockbuster, bitches!

Energy Schmenergy

New thing #2: 5 Hour Energy shot!

As an aficionado of energy drinks, I felt an obligation to try this so called "wonder shot" that packs the same amount of punch as a bigger energy drink, without the sugar and inevitable crash. Well here's my verdict in a nutshell. Taste's like shit and kinda works. I don't really know how to describe the taste...like a flat, week-old Kool-aid? I guess I'm too used to the carbonated drinks because this shot tasted bad. I had to force myself to swallow all 2 ounces...now I know how some women feel (oh snap!). The only plus side was that I didn't feel a strong niacin flush like I do with other energy drinks (especially on an empty stomach - for faster energy boosting), and that I did have sustained energy for a few hours - but definitely not five. Try it if you want to, but I'll stick with my Redbulls and Monsters.

30 New Things in 30 Days

My last attempt at a motivating project failed miserably (see Project 24). This time I've decided to start things slow, so I'm going to limit myself to only a month, instead of a whole year. So for the month of September, I've decided to try 30 new things in 30 days. These new things can include anything from new activities, food, drink etc.
Let's do this!

New thing #1: Ate dim sum for dinner. At a very weird Chinese restaurant that simultaneously served as a bar that has happy hour and plays the Macarena. But a very cool sign that I should undergo this new project was the fortune that I got in my fortune cookie.

Here's to 29 more new things!