Year of writing 50 On persistence

This is the first time in my life I've continued to do something for 50 days ever.  I suppose I have breathed and eaten 50 days straight, but nothing that I have done consciously.  That makes this pretty special.  I once went 49 days doing the 100 day burpee challenge, where you do those military style pushups starting from day one with one, and adding one each consecutive day.  I was feeling pretty good about myself until day 50, when I forgot, then subsequently said to no one in particular "why the hell was I doing military style pushups every day?"  and stopped.  I almost stopped this exercise as well, on those nights I DJ, and get home at 230 AM, knowing that I have to be up at 645 with the kids... but I still kept on.  There were even times I wasn't near a computer.  If these were pushups and I wasn't near my arms, there's no way I would have continued.  But this time I grabbed a pencil and a paper and jotted shit down.  Hell, I even put the blog app on my phone just in case.  That's how serious I am about this.  Dammit.   So in celebration of my 50th day writing, here are my top 50 things that come to my head right this instant, as being awesome.  (in no particular order, because my mind has no particular order)

1)  In honor of President's Day, this video, from a long time ago, that made me laugh more than anything else ever has. 

2)  Little kids that love zombies

3)  Coq au Vin - I made a sauce that I'd like to drink glasses of, then swim in after I become ill from drinking, then drown in when I get cramps.

4)  Tegan Linne Hannah

5)  Comfortable couches that don't have one cushion that sinks all the way to the springs.

6)  Stupid cooking competition shows. For some reason if it is a show about cooking, and people are judged, I will watch it.  It could be animals cooking.  It could be people microwaving popcorn.  I don't care.

7)  Tom Waits' new album.


8)  Singers who sound like they drank a fifth of nails, followed by sandpaper chasers, then smoked five thousand cigarettes before going on stage or recording.

9)  Building block circuses and zoos.  Then liberating the animals as giant do-gooders.

10)  Whale sharks.

11)  Parliament


12)  The new Zelda game.  You CONTROL LINK'S SWORD WITH THE WiiMOTE!  YOU ARE LINK!  I AM A NERD!

13)  Re-watching movies you loved in high school and realizing how ridiculous you were:  Meet the Feebles?  Really?

14)  Watching a 3 year old concentrate.

15)  Edamame.  (pronounced Edamamé, as clarified by the concentrating 3 year old, apparently this is a french food).

16)  The "Just for Kids" tab on Netflix.  Isla still has no idea what a commercial is.

17)  The big fat bulldog at the dog park who doesn't start shit with anybody.  Just lies there like he owns the place.

18)  Barbecue. 

19)  Jeremy Lin, and all the controversy.

20)  8th graders, all their issues, drama, hormonal imbalances, tears, anger, joy and pain intact.

21)  Ukeleles.  There are 7 or 8 of them floating around my school, you can hear one of the kids who has picked it up recently quietly strumming away in almost every class.

22)  Good children's books. Thank you Richard Scarry, thank you Neil Gaiman.

23)  Shoes.  Yes, I have a problem, it is a topic for another post. 

24)  Bon Iver - I still get chills whenever I hear his falsetto. 

25)  Baby drool missing your head by centimeters as you hold your baby up airplane style.

26)  Baby puke flying OVER your shoulder and landing on the ground, then before you can get a rag - Charlie Bucket & Sophie take care of business.  Disgustingly effective, those dogs.

27)  Chicken Piccata.

28)  Anticipation.

29)  Waking up with 2 kids in the bed, smiling at each other.

30)  Snarky people.

31)  Persistence

32)  Finding a new form of poetry that makes sense.  Finding a new form of sense.

33)  Records.  Real, Vinyl records. With scratches and irregularities.

34)  Coffee.  I have been limited to one half a cup a day, and it is a sacred half a cup.  It is beyond sacred.

35)  Montell Jordan.

36)  any other music from 1990- 1996.

37)  Laughing so hard with my daughter trying to play the "down by the banks" hand clapping game that we simultaneously spit into eachothers faces, doubling the laughter again.

38)  Candy that other people hate - candy peanuts, candy corn, Necco wafers, black licorice.  I learned early how to not have to share.

39)  Babies that have hairlines reminiscent of a 50 year old balding man.

40)  Point Reyes Blue Cheese.

41)  Owning real art.

42)  Making real art.

43)  Facing the possibility of moving back home, and not completely hating the idea.

44)  Bloodlines.

45)  William Fucking Wallace.

46)  William Fucking Blake.

47)  Fresh fruit, when you thought there was none left.

48)  Growing up with the woman you will one day marry and have children with.

49)  People who act the exact opposite of how they look.

50)  Finishing something you said you would finish.