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  • Unknown's avatar

    jeindeer 10:53 am on March 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , books, code, codex seraphinianus, library   

    #8: Find the Codex Seraphinianus 

    My favorite book in the world is an encyclopedia of things which don’t exist.  The Codex Seriphinianus creates the trappings of a reference text in stunning detail—charts, graphs, categories, chapters, page numbers—but describes strange, bewildering and beautiful phenomenon not native to our world.  It is written in a curvilinear script with no known translation; the language may or not be meaningful, but researchers recently cracked its base-21 numbering system.

    A picture of the Codex in my lap on the library floor

    I first encountered the Codex during a college visit to an art library.  We were told to browse and report on random selections.  I received the Codex, and in some ways I’ve never put it down again, but I haven’t held a copy in years.  For my eighth adventure, I found it in the Boston Public Library.

    (More …)

     
    • Judith's avatar

      Judith 2:38 am on March 9, 2010 Permalink

      Wow. yearof52adventures.com deserves an oscar.

    • Lee Anne's avatar

      Lee Anne 11:25 am on April 19, 2010 Permalink

      I must read (or rather, ponder) this book! Amazon only has copies at $400, neither of the public library systems I have access to have it, but I have access to academic libraries. . .heehee.
      Thanks for sharing about this. I’m intrigued.

  • Unknown's avatar

    kimkin85 11:02 am on March 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , racquetball   

    Week 9 – Racquetball 

    I never thought of racquetball as inherently dangerous, and I never intended it to be my adventure for the week. But as things turned out, it was certainly the most exciting part of my week. I haven’t been exercising since my oral surgery because I was told not to. It was easy to tell why, since even after I stepped down off the heavy pain meds and could walk without feeling dizzy the surgery site would throb at the slightest increase in my heart rate. But a friend wanted to learn how to play, so another friend and I agreed to show him how. I figured that as long as I didn’t push myself too hard I would be alright–after all, my mouth was feeling much better and I was able to take the stairs again without my mouth hurting, which is a definite step in the right direction! So four of us headed to the court Wednesday night to play. I took a conservative approach to the game and didn’t run around as much as I usually would and thought I was doing a pretty good job of protecting myself from myself when I was quite suddenly reminded of the true dangers of the game. As I turned to watch my friend return my serve, the ball was coming at my face too quickly for me to even duck. Miraculously, it hit me in the safest place possible–the middle of my forehead. Considering I had glasses perched on my nose and stitches in my mouth, pretty much any other point of impact would have spelled disaster, so my first response was to laugh with relief, which unfortunately for my friends probably looked like crying since the impact had made my eyes water. They offered to let me quit, but I’m too stubborn for that. We played another 15 minutes, until Christina, the one who had hit me, had to go to a meeting. I fully intend to play again next week in spite of this tendency of mine to be a magnet for sports balls of all kinds (the last serious incident was a volleyball in the back of the head back in high school gym class). I won’t let a little thing like fear of bodily harm keep me from having fun, though I’ll probably want to work on honing my reflexes so I can continue to protect my mouth while the surgical site heals.

    Oh, and sorry about the improper numbering on my last post. I think I’ve got it straightened out now, and we should be good to go for the rest of the year!

     
    • Affinity's avatar

      Affinity 9:12 pm on May 2, 2011 Permalink

      Thanks for sharing. Alayws good to find a real expert.

  • Unknown's avatar

    Berton 2:19 am on March 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Week 9 – Adventure Fail 

    Well, this week I did have a pretty exciting evening out with some friends.  We went to this AWESOME restaurant called Chino Latino for a friend’s birthday.  About 20 people or so there, and the main course was a roasted pig.  As in, they roasted the ENTIRE pig.  I tried some pig cheek, skin, lots of weird parts.  It was very delicious.

    But that isn’t what I consider my adventure for the week to be.  Nope, my adventure this week was all about failing.

    For the past nearly three years, I have been a teacher without a license.  I have taught English as a second language in Japan for a year, and for close to two years I have been a preschool teacher for 3 and 4 year olds.  But my desire has been to go back to school (or alternate license program) and get my teaching license in elementary education.  This year, I applied to a variety of graduate programs, Teach for America, and St. Paul Teaching Fellows, all with the desire being to further my career in one of my dream jobs.  And it just so happened that this week, I would hear back from every program I applied to.

    I didn’t get accepted into a single one.

    School always came easy to me.  Theater was something I excelled at and that drove me.  I love playing board games, video games, etc.  And I am damn good at those things too.  So failure is a hard thing for me to swallow.  Not really at sports (since I suck at them in general, I accept losing in that regard).  Maybe it is because I have two older brothers who always won when I was younger.  Maybe it is my stubborn nature.  But success has usually a part of my life.  I am not trying to talk myself up or anything.  There are many areas of life where I suck (again, look at sports).  But in the aspects of life where I tried to achieve success, I usually did.  So to have a multitude of programs all tell me that I am not good enough at the moment to move forward with this dream of mine, that fucking kills.

    But after talking about these events with my fiance, and thinking about it, I can’t change their minds.  At least, not at this moment.  All I can do is keep moving forward.  One step at a time.  Maybe take a few more classes in college to bulk up my educational experience.  Volunteer at an elementary school, or try to get into substitute teaching.  Maybe next year, apply to twice as many programs.  All I know is that I can’t give up on my dream.  I need to keep reaching.  One day, I WILL be an elementary school teacher.  And the moment I walk into my classroom for the first time, that feeling of euphoria for me will make all of this hardship worth it.

    Now, just cause I have a positive outlook doesn’t mean I am ok with their decisions, haha.  I am pretty pissed off at the world right now.  But that is what friends (and beer) are for.  And Spider-man…and my fiance Becky.  And a few more things…like snow boarding, heavy metal music, the Nintendo Wii…man, there are lots of things at my fingertips that can cheer me up.  I think I will go do some of those things.

     
    • Kimberly Hula's avatar

      yearof52adventures 3:15 am on March 5, 2010 Permalink

      I don’t want to call this an adventure in failing. Instead, let’s think of it as a foray into new possibilities. I don’t always subscribe to the adage that things happen for a reason, but knowing you I know good-great-best things are forthcoming. And I’d like to celebrate that.

  • Unknown's avatar

    Kimberly Hula 7:50 am on March 2, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    See what our friends at Surprise Industries are saying about The Year of 52 Adventures!
    http://www.surpriseindustries.com/kindred-spirits.html

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    kimkin85 11:50 pm on February 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Adventures 5-7 

    I seem to be a bit behind in my posting, but once you read what my adventures were, I think you’ll understand.

    For week 6, a traveled with fellow adventurer Adrienne to Boston’s Museum of Science to take in the Harry Potter Exhibition, a fangirl’s dream come true.  Since it would take hours and a novel to explain the true awesomeness of the experience, I’ll direct you to my personal blog for all the details.

    Adventure 7 was something that’s been in the works for many months now.  I am in the midst of a series of oral surgeries to rebuild and reinforce the bone and soft tissue around my teeth.  It’s been a painful process, but it will be worth it to not loose my teeth before I’m 30!  Again, I’m going to direct you to my personal blog to find out more, so I don’t have to write it twice.  Check it out and follow the links if you want to follow the whole process!

    For week 8, I undertook the adventure of cutting my own hair. Well, a portion of it. To save the bother of finding an affordable stylist, a trimmed my own bangs and managed to not look completely undone in the end. I think it’s a pretty good accomplishment for someone who spent most of the last week on prescription pain medications!

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    Berton 12:51 am on February 26, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , ,   

    Week 6, 7, 8 

    I have been failing at posting on these adventures lately.  But I have been doing them.  I just have become lazy, to be honest.  So here is a short post about the past three weeks, and I am making the dedicated statement that I will now post once a week (the week I do the adventure).

    Week 6 was sort of a revisit of Week 1 – The Jucy Lucy.  There is a dispute that the place I went to, Matt’s Bar, didn’t invent this lovely burger.  Some people claim that the 5-8 Club (a restaurant about three miles away) made the original.  Well, I don’t know who made it first, but I thought I should check out which one tastes better.  So Tom and I went to the 5-8 Club and got out our taste buds.  And, hands down, Matt’s Bar’s Jucy Lucy was better.  Above and beyond better.  Not to say that the 5-8 Club makes a bad burger, far from it.  But it didn’t have a unique flavor.  And to be honest, the meat and cheese was kind of dry, not befitting it’s name.  Now I could have just gone on a bad night, but still, with the knowledge that I have, I will always recommend Matt’s Bar over the 5-8 Club.

    Week 7 took me to pond skating.  I have been ice skating before, but always in a rink.  I found out not to long ago that there is a great link of three small ponds that have ice skating on them.  So a crew of friends (my fiance Becky included) took off to see if pond skating is much different than an ice rink.  And it is.  Without a Zamboni, and the natural cracks and bumps of the ice, it was a more raw, unique kind of skating.  And since we had a crew of friends, it was a great time.  Made me feel more Minnesotan, especially with our state representing the Winter Olympics so epically.

    And Week 8 took me to a place where I have been interested in but intimidated by also.  But two good friends of mine gave me the confidence and encouragement to go.  I went to a gun range.  I have been pheasant hunting before (once last year) and I admit it was kind of a rush.  So the opportunity to fire a hand gun also interested me.  But I am not a hard core believer in the whole “right to bear arms” second amendment thing.  Conceal and carry kind of scares me.  I think the availability of hand guns causes more problems than makes people feel safe.  But at the same time, firing it in a controlled, safe environment was a hell of a lot of fun.  At first my aim was hit or miss (bad pun, I know) but after an hour or so of shooting rounds, my aim and confidence grew by miles.  I know I will never buy a handgun.  But I will probably go back to a gun range and shoot there.

     
    • renea's avatar

      renea 11:00 am on February 26, 2010 Permalink

      Super Cool Idea. I’d love to try this.

  • Unknown's avatar

    Kimberly Hula 10:45 pm on February 23, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Salem v. Brazil 

    I tire of all the vixen-villians in romance-suspense-thrillers that explain their unorthodox behavior with the adage, “Love makes you do crazy things”. It’s not that I think it trite or that I take issue with the storyline. Rather the sentiment is wrong. Love does not make you do crazy things. Love makes you do mechanical things. Love makes you buy flowers and exchange mixed tapes and read poetry. There is a very scripted formula. Instead, I might be more apt to empathize with these vixi-villians if they changed one word to make the adage a well adapted mantra. It’s loneliness that makes us do crazy things. When lonely there is no greater time and better opportunity for crazy, and because there is no script for loneliness, I found great adventure potential in it. So for my fifth week, it all started in Salem and ended in Brazil.

    (More …)

     
    • renea's avatar

      renea 10:48 am on February 24, 2010 Permalink

      Wow! I could read your blogs all day!
      You are indeed a writer yes?

    • ConstanceKW's avatar

      2010adventurequest 11:12 am on February 24, 2010 Permalink

      What an empowering and insightful experience. Thank you for sharing!

    • cupcakeemergency's avatar

      cupcakeemergency 11:37 am on February 24, 2010 Permalink

      LOVE IT!

    • wip78's avatar

      wip78 1:55 pm on February 24, 2010 Permalink

      I’m sure it could have been easier to have not said a thing and drank a bottle (or two) of wine that night, but you stood up for yourself. Good for you! He SOOOOOO doesn’t deserve a mixed tape from you;)

    • Kimberly Hula's avatar

      yearof52adventures 2:35 pm on February 24, 2010 Permalink

      Thanks everyone! It’s good to stand up to goons!

    • eatveggiesdrinkwine's avatar

      eatveggiesdrinkwine 8:19 pm on February 24, 2010 Permalink

      Bravo! I am working on being more assertive, and this is a fantastic (and beautifully written) lesson.

    • Kimberly Hula's avatar

      yearof52adventures 12:03 pm on February 26, 2010 Permalink

      Addendum to this story: Mr. Josh contacted me today to ask….. for his books back. I think I’ll leave them in a rain puddle, on the interstate.

    • skywatcher's avatar

      blueskiesinva 7:38 pm on April 22, 2010 Permalink

      Nearly two months out, but I’m reading older posts…I left a guy’s books propped against his garage door, along with a CD containing only “S*** Song” by Kate Nash. It felt good.

  • Unknown's avatar

    wip78 1:48 pm on February 23, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , shoes   

    7/52: Shoes…..Shoes….. 

    Since my first adventure, I have been working out consistently.  Last week, my shins started to hurt and I realized that my 6 year-old Addidas could no longer cut it.  Saturday,  I had a cool experience in purchasing my new kicks at Fleet Feet.  They sat me down and asked me what type of excercise I usually do and what I was looking for.  They handed over a pair of shoes and had me jump on the treadmill.  As I ran, they filmed my ever so graceful strides in order to see how my feet rolled as they landed.  We then viewed the footage of myself running on a flat screen tv above our heads to discuss what we saw.   He had some technical terms for me about how my heel rolls one way and how my foot shifts and rolls the other way towards the toes.  He then checked my arch and came back with several pairs from different brands to see which one was the better fit.  I ran on the treadmill with each pair; eliminating a few as I went along. I ended up with the, as he put it, the “Cadillac” of the running shoes (which is code for pretty DARN expensive).  But, I have never had a better fitting tennis/gym/running shoe.  It feels like I am walking on clouds.  I am in Fleet Feet Heaven:)

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    eatveggiesdrinkwine 11:47 pm on February 22, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , handmade napkins   

    6/52: Sewing swanky cloth napkins for every day meals 

    I’ll admit it: I’m a hypocritical kind of tree-hugger/tree-killer who uses 20 times her weight in paper towels and napkins each year. It’s embarrassing. But how can I be expected to stop when IKEA makes such cute printed napkins?

    In a moment of intense shame, I googled how to make my own cloth napkins and came upon this fantastic tutorial: http://www.purlbee.com/mollys-handmade-napkins/. Then I found some really cheap fabric and ridiculously expensive ribbon to make my own, just in time for a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner. Sadly, that’s the last time I’ve really needed a napkin … too much eating on the run or standing up in the kitchen … but I look forward to many future meals with my fancy, eco-friendly napkins. There IS a dinner party in my year of adventuring, after all.

     
    • wip78's avatar

      wip78 1:48 pm on February 25, 2010 Permalink

      Swanky, indeed! I would like to place an order of 6,please. Thanks;)

  • Unknown's avatar

    eatveggiesdrinkwine 11:26 pm on February 22, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , duct tape   

    5/52: Being duct-taped to a window for an educational purpose 

    I’m an academic advisor, so I’m used to students asking questions of me. Many of their questions are the same, and many of my answers are the same. Two Fridays ago, however, I experienced a significant break in the monotony … I was asked by two first-year students I advise to consider being duct-taped to a window for educational hijinks (that is, Engineering Week festivities). And my answer was quite unexpected too. After a quick glance at the 52 Adventures logo that’s next to my computer screen, I said yes.

    So, on the following Monday, I arrived at Zimmer Hall, ready for my taping. Along with 18 other people, I was taped to a window, quite strategically. I was one of three people who actually stayed taped to the window for any amount of time, and I managed to hang in for a few minutes before not-so-gracefully falling face-first into my kind teammates’ arms. Because extra points are given when any foolish faculty or staff member can be talked into an activity, my team won enough for a first place finish. Hoo-ray!

     
    • Kimberly Hula's avatar

      yearof52adventures 11:16 am on February 23, 2010 Permalink

      post post post the picture. I LOVE this adventure in adhesive!

    • wip78's avatar

      wip78 1:22 pm on February 23, 2010 Permalink

      post it!

    • wip78's avatar

      wip78 2:08 pm on February 24, 2010 Permalink

      Great picture!

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