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  • faolan01 12:30 pm on April 30, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #2, Sunrise 

    Today my adventure was the result of accident and circumstance rather than planning and intention. Today I got to do something I only manage to do once every few years.

    Today I sat out on the breakers and watched the sun rise over the Atlantic.

    There have been many, many times when I have been out all night and not gotten home until the sun had risen. It was much more common in high school and college, but it still happens from time to time now that I am “grown up”. But of all those times that I was awake when the sun came up, either because I had already woken up or because I was still up, I have only sat and watched the sun rise less than a dozen times. Every single time I have been amazed. If you live on the east coast, or near enough to the east coast to make this a possibility, do yourself a favor and head down to the waterfront some morning to witness the ocean being lit on fire by the rising sun. Watch as green turns to yellow and orange and red and revel in the breaking of a new day.

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    • yearof52adventures 4:28 pm on April 30, 2010 Permalink

      what a lovely adventure to stumble upon. I’m in hot pursuit of a sunset this weekend!

    • lyds 6:59 pm on April 30, 2010 Permalink

      What a beautiful description of another of God’s most colorful artwork.

  • Kimberly Hula 11:38 pm on April 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Found In Translation 

    Let’s say I was offered one wish.  And that the wish had to be temporal, gluttonous.  It had to be something I could otherwise not likely have that could not be preserved.  It could be considered wasteful.

    If this offer ever surfaced I would know my response before the genie could even intone a question: I would go to my Japanese hair salon in Fuchutown Hiroshima for a haircut from Kazuo.

    But to better justify my choice I’d like to set the scene of a small suburban town outside of the city center of Hiroshima, Japan.  The shop is located around the corner from the Hondori Gochomae bus stop and kitty corner to the Mon Cheri bakery.  When the 7-11 convenient shop across the street closed down, for two days to renovate, the hair salon purchased flowers from it’s neighboring flower shop, Kana, to present the 7-11 with an enormous bouquet in congratulations.  They are that kind of shop.

    The most novel aspect of this less trafficked street in sleepytown Fuchutown is the inordinate number of Hair Salons all within 3 blocks of one another.  There was “Birth” directly adjacent to the school I taught at.  “Snob” was located under my apartment complex.  “White Hair Salon Boutique and Dental Clinic” was stationed near the grocery store I shopped at daily and “Strand” shared a parking garage with the Mon Cheri bakery keeping it in direct line of sight of our hair salon that sends renovation flowers and has one element that sets it apart from every other hair salon on the block.

    If Hair has a dog.

    (More …)

     

    • cupcakeemergency 11:10 am on April 29, 2010 Permalink

      I love this one! It is a very, very sweet post.

    • yearof52adventures 12:25 pm on April 29, 2010 Permalink

      Thank you darling! Should you ever find yourself in Fuchutown Japan, visit my boys at If Hair.

  • Kimberly Hula 11:45 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    The Art of Adventure 

    “A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints”

    Wilfred Peterson

     

    • modpix 9:43 pm on June 17, 2010 Permalink

      I love it and am promptly stealing it to post on FB. I needed to read this. I will post soon, promise. I started to get ready to do it and was interrupted by a friend needing a chat. 🙂

  • eatveggiesdrinkwine 11:17 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , career,   

    Adventure 11/52: Entering a short short story contest 

    For the first half of my life, I can remember giving only one answer to the question of what I wanted to be when I grew up: A writer.

    I’m not sure how this came to be, other than the fact that I was painfully shy as a child and writing was the one activity in which I felt inexplicably confident. I was first “published” in the third grade. My poem was a simple stanza on the benefits of being me, and it lacked any hint of irony or sarcasm. (This still fills me with pride, no matter how embarrassing the content.) As a 10-year-old, keeping a journal was second-nature, and like many teenagers, I channelled my angst and confusion into poetry which remains, thankfully, unpublished. At 16, I didn’t hesitate to enter my local newspaper’s Halloween horror story contest and was the youngest, by far, of the three winners. I experienced a minor set-back in my dream career when I watched “All the President’s Men” and realized that my intended college major of journalism didn’t seem to be a good match with my introverted nature. In a panic, I ended up majoring in Public Relations, for which I was equally unsuited, but its curriculum left much time to continue writing, through elective classes and my involvement in student organizations.

    However, this once-pleasurable activity soon became a source of frustration. Accustomed to praise and support for my writing, I was ill-prepared for the critiques I received from professors and peers. One of the most painful experiences of my life was listening to faculty advisors and fellow executive board members of the campus literary magazine bash my blind submissions for its upcoming edition. I had plenty of company in the reject pile, but that was of little comfort after what I’d heard. (More …)

     

    • yearof52adventures 11:24 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink

      This adventure takes an INCREDIBLE amount of strength and will and I applaud you for it. A wide-eyed (see: terrified) writer myself, I am just so very proud of you! This is just the first of many future words! (and if they are at all like your posts, let the words keep coming!)

    • eatveggiesdrinkwine 8:11 pm on April 27, 2010 Permalink

      You are so kind, Kimberly! You are a fantastic writer … your posts amazing. And, really, everyone’s posts are so inspiring and lovely. I adore this community’s adventuresome spirit.

    • blueskiesinva 9:10 pm on April 27, 2010 Permalink

      What a wonderful post – and what fantastic determination! It takes a lot of strength to keep persevering. I admire your spirit, eatveggiesdrinkwine!

    • uncleneil 9:45 pm on February 18, 2011 Permalink

      I also admire your spirit. It shines through all of your adventure stories. It would show regardless, but a very important part of the “shine” comes from your sparkling prose. It’s a real joy to read. Please do keep it flowing because it nourishes all of us lucky enough to share your fine wines.

  • skywatcher 9:02 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , soapmaking   

    Adventure #1/52: The Smell of Lavender 

    I love, love, love the scent of lavender.  I even tried to grow it, but my Black Thumb is so much hardier than any plant.  There was no question about the fragrance I would choose in my initial soap-making attempt.

    The first – and possibly most challenging – step was to find the Martha Stewart Holiday magazine that I bought (okay, I admit it) 3 1/2 years ago.  While looking for the instructions, I came across a recipe for limoncello.  Umm…but I digress.

    The needed supplies were already in a basement cabinet, purchased…well, you can probably figure that out; I’ve wanted to try this for a long time.  The process was really quite simple:  cut the amount of glycerin desired off the block, and then chop it up into tiny pieces.  At first, I was going to melt it in a double boiler, but I had visions of future chocolate truffles tasting faintly of lavender bubbles, so I opted for the microwave.  Not difficult.

    Once the glycerin was liquefied, I added lavender essential oil, color, and oatmeal flakes that I had run through the food processor. (The last ingredient was my own idea.  No dried lavender around, but I thought things needed a little texture.)  I used plastic yogurt cups as my molds and let the soaps harden for a couple of hours.  The result is shown below:

    When it comes to “authentic” soap making, I cheated.  There was no lye, no lard/vegetable shortening, no constant stirring involved.  I have a book with “real” soap recipes on my shelf, and one day I’ll experiment with one of them.  But for now, I have my pretty little pink (pink?!) rounds of lavender soap, and they smell delicious.  I feel calmer already!

     

  • inkstainedangel 12:49 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Adventuring? Why I’d love to <3 

    Well here I am, beginning my journey of 52 adventures with these very words. I’m throwing ideas around in my head of what I can do this year that will challenge me, scare me, and even want to do again. I have a few in mind, but it gets more and more difficult to think of new ones. Then again, these things can’t all be planned out, now can they?

    I am limited to the abilities of a 17 year old girl, both physically and permissible by parents. We’re not the poorest family on the block, but money restraints restrain…allot. So it is time to use my imagination! Creativity runs deep in my blood stream (unlike iron…maybe I’ll make a spinach pie? Yum ^^). My mom was an artist and stage actress, and everyone on my dad’s side has some form of artistic talent. I myself am an artist, and am found often sketching one thing or another.

    I’m already thinking of new ideas as I write this that I haven’t before! I’m really excited to get started this week with my first Adventure. I can’t wait to share with you what happens, and I can’t wait to drag along my crazy friends into my endeavors. We all share a bond of doing wild things. It helps that nearly all of my friends are boys, ready to risk their lives for a new skate trick, or a use an abandoned hospital as a playground for parkouring.

    Like I said before, I am limited to what parents say is “okay”. However, I’ve done quite a few things without their knowledge, which makes things so much more edgier. Do not worry older and probably more responsible people of this blog site- I WILL NOT DO ANYTHING THAT WILL ENDANGER THE LIVES OF ME, MY FRIENDS, ANIMALS, OR PEDESTRIANS. We may be crazy teenagers, but we’re responsible about it. Most of the time I’m the “Mother” of our group. Making sure we do stupid things less stupidly.

    Well, I think I’ve covered quite a bit in this blog post; about myself and how I plan to go about adventuring. So I believe I should write down a few of the things I want to do:

    1. Keep my Garden Alive. (this isn’t just a one week challenge though- this needs to take place throughout the entire gardening season- which can last up until November)

    2. LEARN TO SWIM. (My Boyfriend claims to teach me. So have all of my friends in every Summer since I was 9…we’ll see what happens)

    3. Paint a Masterpiece (or the best I can, and finally use the canvas sitting in my closet) (More …)

     

    • adventurechaser 2:20 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink

      Adventure does not recognize age! Create an adventure, find an adventure – or some times adventure comes to you when you least expect it – watch out! Welcome, welcome, welcome to the adventure train.

    • blueskiesinva 9:06 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink

      Awesome ideas! Better swimming is on my list, too – I want to do a triathlon, but the swimming part has held me back.

    • yearof52adventures 11:38 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink

      I agree with adventurechaser, there is no age in this adventure club. AND those are some pretty fierce and admirable upcoming adventures. I cannot wait to hear more!

    • inkstainedangel 6:02 pm on April 27, 2010 Permalink

      Thank you everyone. ^^ I can not wait to start telling you the outcome of all of these, and new ideas as they come along! ❤

  • skywatcher 9:18 pm on April 22, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Figuring Things Out 

    An intangible “something” had been rolling around inside me for some time.  Last year I took a motorcycle class, just for the heck of it.   Signed up for an ice hockey class.  Ran another road race…

    The “something” got more intense after I attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival in March and saw a film about Roz Savage, the British woman who rowed across the Atlantic Ocean.  I wanted to DO something!

    When I came across this blog the other day, it resonated with me and gave some structure to what I was feeling.  I hope to rediscover my own audacity (while keeping my day job), so here goes the list – incomplete, random, and not entirely committed to:

    1.  Climb a mountain (or part of one).

    2.  Take a bicycle maintenance class.

    3.  Make a collage with pieces of magazine pictures.

    4.  Make my own laundry detergent.

    5.  Go camping.

    6.  Invite some friends over for dinner.

    7.  Work on a Habitat for Humanity house.

    8.  Make blueberry scones using my Cook’s Illustrated recipe.

    9.  Sing karaoke.

    10.  Drink a martini (may need before #9).

    11.  Volunteer at a nursing home.

    12.  Take my daughter driving on the Interstate.

    13.  Tell the special people in my life, “I love you.”

    14.  Make lavender soap.

    15.  Go on a job interview.

    16.  Memorize a beautiful piece of poetry.

    17.  Build a birdhouse.

    18.  Take myself to the movies.

    19.  Have my palm read.

    20.  Get a massage.

    Thanks for the inspiration…and for letting me join you in adventuring!

     

    • yearof52adventures 9:25 pm on April 22, 2010 Permalink

      What an incredible list! The adventure club is really lucky to have you on board. Can’t wait to hear what transpires. And thank YOU for being an inspiration! Happy adventuring!

    • Anonymous 10:14 am on April 23, 2010 Permalink

      Love your list, helped inspire me!

    • adventurechaser 8:46 am on April 24, 2010 Permalink

      Your number 18 is one of my adventures too. I have never been to a movie alone. For some reason feels like a big growth experience for me. I’m a little intimidated.

    • Kelly Smith 6:17 pm on April 24, 2010 Permalink

      oh man I love going to the movies alone. I usually do an early matinee. the first time or 2 was awkward, but every time since then has been nice.

    • blueskiesinva 8:54 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink

      I’ve done lots of matinees…was thinking of upping the ante and trying a Friday or Saturday evening. Would take major mental preparation, and I’m not sure it’s worth it!

    • adventurechaser 8:58 pm on April 25, 2010 Permalink

      Maybe we should try and schedule our movie adventure on the same day/weekend and we can adventure together from afar!

    • faolan01 7:49 am on April 27, 2010 Permalink

      this is a great list! I don’t know if I’ve ever gone to a movie alone, but I like the idea of scheduling solo movies to adventure together from afar. maybe we could get several people to all go to the same movie on the same day in different places for a sort of group solo adventure?

    • eatveggiesdrinkwine 8:14 pm on April 27, 2010 Permalink

      I am completely up for adventuring together from afar! One of my potential adventures is to go to a nice restaurant for a solo dinner … I would feel more courageous if I knew others were joining me in different cities!

    • adventurechaser 10:58 pm on April 27, 2010 Permalink

      I’m totally in for a group adventure from afar. Anyone up for organizing?

    • faolan01 1:21 pm on May 1, 2010 Permalink

      hmm, looks like we have lots of adventurers but very few organizers. is there a particular movie that everyone is interested in seeing?

    • Lily 1:56 am on May 3, 2011 Permalink

      Hey, good to find smoenoe who agrees with me. GMTA.

  • Kimberly Hula 11:20 am on April 22, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: ,   

    Searching for a Starting Block 

    “When it comes to other people, you can always come up with a reasonable explanation, but you can’t fool yourself.  In this sense, writing novels and running full marathons are very much alike.  Basically a writer has a quiet, inner motivation, and doesn’t seek validation in the outwardly visible.” (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, pg. 10.)

    So spoke Murakami.
    I think that’s how I got into the running game – with a more road-ready inner motivation.  Although my foray into the athletic stage isn’t nearly as eloquent as Mr. Murakami’s.  Bascially, I used to work in restaurants.  Scores of restaurants (delis, diners, five stars, bars) that brought employees together in the only way they knew how: the back dock smoking lounge.

    People don’t peg me a smoker, and I can’t say I don’t appreciate their surprise.  When I worked in restaurants I worked long hours.  When one works long hours, one capitalizes on any and all breaks given them.  Which is to say, I smoked some cigarettes.  Daily.  

    But I wasn’t a portrait of long savory puffs in a darkened alley with the strong arm of a tall man in a driving cap around my waist.  No, no.  These were harried puffs amongst angsty bartenders and hostesses that did little to welcome or elevate friendships.  We just past the time in the only way we knew how.  And for us, that was enough.

    But, bad habits have a way of having a way with you.  So, I developed a sore throat and, as luck would have, three back to back shifts.  But, even more opportune, I had a 10 minute (10 minutes!) back dock break between shifts one and two and ran out to enjoy a smoke treat with Ellie.

    I still can’t attribute my dramatics to anything in particular, but just as I was about to light one up and take a drag something happened.  My mind completely rewired and I made a declaration.  A very loud declaration.  I told all the servers in proximity that I was going to change my life and quit smoking.  We were in tuxedos.  Near an oversized dumpster enjoying a brief reprieve and I was hollering about health and happiness.  No one said a word.  I think I was afraid no one would take me seriously so I threw my cigarette pack to the ground and jumped on them.  My jumps weren’t incredibly effective and still, no one had spoken, so I picked them up and lobbed them into the dumpster.  Only Ellie said, “I would have taken those.”

    And then… synapses.  Something fired in my mind.  I convinced myself in the span of Ellie’s sentence that I would have to do something representative of someone with good, clean lungs.  It was then I decided I would have to run a marathon. (More …)

     

    • faolan01 12:04 pm on April 22, 2010 Permalink

      Congrats! It must be so empowering to go from being a smoker to running a half marathon! Good luck with training for the Wine Glass Marathon!

  • faolan01 11:16 pm on April 20, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #1 – Beginning the Adventure 

    A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so it only seems fitting that my year of adventures should begin with a single, simple adventure. So here it is, my first adventure is joining this budding community and making this post declaring my commitment to a year of adventures. Some will be completely new while others will be things I’ve done before and decided that I need to do again. I have a partial list of adventures I want to have this year, but as for the rest…well I’m fairly certain that life will provide me with plenty of opportunities to find more adventures.

    So in no particular order (other than that which I thought of these), here is my list so far…

    2. Take a cooking class

    3. Go to a wine tasting

    4. Go skydiving (More …)

     

    • yearof52adventures 11:19 pm on April 20, 2010 Permalink

      Welcome aboard! I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that we are so happy to have you!
      Happy Adventuring!

    • jeindeer 11:34 am on April 21, 2010 Permalink

      Hey there, and welcome! Those are some really great adventure ideas, and I’m looking forward to hearing about how they play out (especially the motorcycle road trip).

    • faolan01 6:26 pm on April 21, 2010 Permalink

      Thank you, and thank you! Adventures that involve my bike are the ones I’m looking forward to the most as well, and will likely end up being paired with other adventures (road trip to check out an art museum perhaps?). I’m having a great time reading about the adventures others have been posting, and look forward to seeing what everyone does this year.

    • adventurechaser 8:51 am on April 24, 2010 Permalink

      28 – I have done it a couple times and it is fantastic helping others adventure – a couple lead to an adventure of my own – see poetry reading. I love all those ones that involve your motorcycle – as someone with a motorcycle license with no bike I will settle feeling the wind through my hair through reading about your adventures.

    • how much should i weigh 4:24 am on May 1, 2010 Permalink

      wow fun stuff dude.

  • Kimberly Hula 10:02 pm on April 20, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , pottery   

    The hunt for honey 

    If I’ve referred to Chicago as my disappointing lover, New York, as a metaphor, is an even flickler romp.  Give me a flower and I’ll moon over whether I belong in the Big Apple or whether said apple is just not that into me.  Because I want to love New York.  I want to feel at home among the crowded chaos and late night fervor.  I want fourth generation born and raised locals to look on me at any given coordinate, in any borough, in any season and at any time and think to themselves, yeah, she can stay here.  She belongs.

    I suppose I never knew how difficult it was to manufacture a home.

    And because it had been some years since I last visited New York, I was really, really, excited to escape Boston and spend a weekend among friends who call the city home.

    As expected, mistakes were made.

    I rode in with Lauren and Betsy, two women that could be considered binary sign posts on a road trip bell curve.  Lauren wanted to be on time (it was a cool 7 hour ride to Manhattan from Boston) and grew anxious with traffic and misinterpreted GPS signals and hour after passing hour.  Betsy played the placater.  Each traffic jam was justified.  Lauren the driver was built up.  Kimberly the passenger was built up.  Everyone felt special and important and protected in those suspended seven hours.  Lauren told stories of her life.  I told tale.  Betsy shed insight onto Betsy.  With all this sharing and fluid driving I thought, yes.  good.  New York is magical. (More …)

     

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