Progress!

Is a single leaf progress? Yes!

Is a tiny leaf progress? Yes!




I don't think this will grow any further, but at least this should be good enough. After all, I was never good at 'gardening' and even this is considerable progress!

PS: I supposed something like this would have been more better:

Third time lucky?

I used the little wooden box I got from the money does not grow on trees kit and used it to plant a few lentils. They should grow up within the next 2-3 days. It's high time I got this right and completed this Thing!

What shall I do next?

It's been a quiet month, but I am now ready as ever to complete more Things. In fact I am thinking of trying planting a seed (#24) for the third time and the far more fun Thing (#51) of spending £47.6 on something I like. I will keep you posted of any developments!

Thing #61: Join a club

For Thing #80 I had to start a secret society.. and of course join it! It would have been though contumelious to put this forward claiming this Thing done.

So, for Thing #80 I will put forward myself joining a book club. The only thing is that I have never attended the club's meetings (well I found myself once a table away from their meeting - does that count?) ! In my defence, I did buy two of the proposed books for discussion but never got around to reading them. After all, I have not even read my Wired collection yet!

Thing #10: Have an embarassing moment

Based on true events: A friend of mine (we will call her M. K. to maintain her anonymity) managed to complete three Things in one go, when it was revealed that she was to be blamed for the funny smells in the classroom and not the poor student sharing the desk with her. In doing so, she had an embarrassing moment, she completed the fart and burp Thing and also blamed someone else for it. A truly remarkable achievement!

If you have any great stories to share, then please do drop me a line or leave a comment!

Thing #7: Prepare yourself for fame

It's too late to 'prepare' myself for fame (although I could have claimed I was born ready - what a cliché!). I am too old for that. The question is now whether I became famous or not, which as always got me thinking: How do you measure fame? It turns out, I am not the only person who thought about it and there is even some research on this. For example, Schulman and Boissier came up with this (notice this was published in the Annals of Improbable Research Online a site worth-checking).

Actually rewinding my thought recording tape, the very first thing that came to mind was not whether I was famous or not (we all now the answer to this - after all you are reading my blog!), but how do you deal with not becoming famous when you grow up. It is very harsh to wake up one day and realise that your dreams have not materialised. Yours dreams were filed under 'I don't-know-what-happened' and will probably stay there. You are not going to be someone 'special'. You will not even claim your 15 minutes of fame on TV... you get the picture.

Well, not everyone needs to be famous. What matters more is to be important for those around you, those who care about you. That's something you don't appreciate when you are 10 years old and fame seems like a priority. If you are 10 and reading this keep on dreaming, but remember one day you will wake up and you will not be 10 anymore. You've been warned!

Thing #79: Build an Igloo

You find yourself stuck on a mountain in the middle of winter. Soon it will be dark. It's time you put your survival skills to work. You decide to build and igloo. You could follow the easy instructions shown in the video below (instructions are always easy until you apply them) but this seems like hard work. What if there was another way?





And indeed there is! The only catch when you want to build an igloo is that you need to have... snow. And today it did snow, for 30 minutes. I knew it was not going to be enough. It was not going to be hard enough to pack in blocks either. So, I decided to innovate and build an igloo mini-prototype.

The idea is simple, albeit it can take some time for it to work and if you are in a hurry this is not Place a strong enough tent-like shape in preferred position and... wait. Do something else for a few hours and when you come back you have your igloo ready. Simple!





In our case the transparent walls provide 360 degree views making this igloo not just a revolution in prefabricated igloos, but also a special place to protect you and your loved ones when stuck in the mountains.

Thing #15: Fart and Burp

Check out this image at PostSecret.com.






PS: and in case you are wondering no it wasn't me who posted this. Still as completing this Thing by finding something so relevant is far more difficult than actually farting and burping, I think I deserve to claim this Thing!

Thing #42: April Fool Someone

Happy... April Fool's Day! (You know who you are!)

Thing #42 completed - no no for real!

100th Post

"In 2008, 24 global cities will participate in Earth Hour at 8pm on March 29. Earth Hour is the highlight of a major campaign to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby."

To celebrate the 100th post of this fine blog I invite you to join Earth Hour or just switch off the lights for one hour completing Thing #26 for your own 101 Things.

For more information visit: http://www.earthhour.org/

PS: This is the 101th post!

Happy Birthday to me!

Boring: I will never be that, but I admit.. I am getting older. In fact, on Tuesday I will be.. 25! It's a nice round number; 1/4 of a century. Sounds impressive eh?

I thought you would have liked to wish me Happy Birthday with many healthy blogging years to come. So, I am posting this, in order for you to leave a message (please make me feel better for getting on the wrong side of 25)! You know what you have to do!

PS: If you are a member of the secret society don't forget to organise a surprise party for me. I promise to look surprised. Thank you.

Thing #94: See your name in print

I have seen my name in print many times (and yes I am modest for those who don't know me!). I have published a number of articles and book chapters, wrote a thesis many pages long, even saw articles about me in local newspapers. Getting something though in a national paper was a first and by achieving it I can happily claim Thing #94 done and put to bed. Next step will be to get in Wired (if the editor reads this please leave a comment and I will get back to you - Thank you).

Time capsule revisited

It just occurred to me that my Wired collection is a time capsule in its own right. OK, it's not 25 years old, but still it provides a window to the past (...12 months - I am still struggling to keep up with the last issues). Anyway, I am now in February 2007 so some progress has been achieved.

I thought to share a few of my favourite stories of the past few issues:

Do I Know You?Some people can see your eyes, your nose, your mouth – and still not recognize your face. Now these prosopagnosia sufferers may help scientists unlock the mysteries of the brain. By Joshua Davis

The Perfect Man Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days. He does 200 miles just for fun. 12 secrets to his success. By Joshua Davis

The Secret World of Lonelygirl15 How a 19-year-old actress and a team of struggling Web filmmakers took on TV. A Wired exclusive. By Joshua Davis

Edifice, Complex Billowing glass, rippling titanium, swooping stainless steel. Onsite with the engineers who turn the most ambitious architectural plans into reality. By Karrie Jacobs

Raging Boll Uwe Boll, the worst movie director ever, challenged his Web critics to a boxing match. Four idiots actually met him in the ring. By Chris Baker

Thing #26: Help save the planet

Every little helps! So I am going to recycle a sealed lead-acid battery.



Lead-acid batteries, invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Planté, are the oldest type of rechargeable battery. Despite having the second lowest energy-to-weight ratio (next to the nickel-iron battery) and a correspondingly low energy-to-volume ratio, their ability to supply high surge currents means that the cells maintain a relatively large power-to-weight ratio. These features, along with their low cost, makes them attractive for use in cars, as they can provide the high current required by automobile starter motors. They are also used in vehicles such as forklifts, in which the low energy-to-weight ratio may in fact be considered a benefit since the battery can be used as a counterweight. Large arrays of lead-acid cells are used as standby power sources for telecommunications facilities, generating stations, and computer data centers. They are also used to power the electric motors in diesel-electric (conventional) submarines.

And they are used in my portable hand held vacuum cleaner. So, by sending for recycling this battery (increases recycling hassle/convenience rate) I claim this Thing as done!