On The Second Day Of Thirty Day Challenges

Hi Everybody! It's day two of my thirty day challenges challenge. Before I get into it, however, I was just wondering if anybody in the Bathurst area would be interested in participating in a Flash Mob. For those of you who are unaware of this concept, a flash mob is basically a group of people who, at some public area, just start doing something that would be considered a little...um...nonsequitor in action. Examples of this are the group of people who all just stopped moving at once in the US, or literally anything that they've done on ImprovEverywhere. Anyway, I think that it would be pretty nifty to do something like that here in Bathurst (or maybe in Pitt St Mall in Sydney, if I feel like travelling there...) The only real issue is that I don't think that I have any good ideas, so I'm looking for concepts and stuff that we can organise, as well as participants. Anyway, without further ado, here are my challenges for day two.

Song Challenge #2: My Least Favourite Song

Much like trying to decide which song is my favourite, attempting to decide which song I hate the most at this point in time is quite difficult - there are just so many contenders. The main issue is that there is a lot of currently popular "music" which I would simply...well...I refuse to classify it as such. Okay, so yes, admittedly what is happening in the background of the song is music, but what's happening in the foreground isn't singing. It's often flat speech, or monotonous warbling that has been crafted to appear like singing using some kind of computer. I'm sorry to anybody who has to rely on autotune to get by, but really - you wouldn't throw some cherries and dark chocolate into a packet cake mix and tell me that it was a decent attempt at black forest cake now, would you?

Besides the abomination that is autotune, a great deal of music (and not just from today, admittedly, but from time and time ago as well) just lacks any kind of lyrical substance or depth. Songs about how drunk one is going to get, and how many (and I quote) "bitches" one is going to score with in a single night, are not particularly appealing to me. Songs about getting drunk because one has just been dumped are okay, as long as they contain depth. Songs about what day of the week it is, however, are simply abhorrent. Now here I may be referring to Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting by Elton John (which I was never a fan of) or Manic Monday by The Bangles. I'm more likely, however, talking about what I have decided (over the course of writing this piece) is my least favourite song currently: Friday by Rebecca Black.

What makes the above video even worse, however, is learning that Rebecca did not actually write the song in question. No, instead the song was written by Clarence Jay and Patrice Wilson - two people who, it would seem, have the combined lyrical genious of a dying guppy. The pair also produced the video which Black's mother forked out $2,000 for. Still, I suppose we should be thanking the quartet responsible for this travesty, after all, how else would I know that, if today is Friday, yesterday must have been Thursday, tomorrow will be Saturday, and Sunday comes afterward. I was also unaware that 13 year old were allowed to drive, and that it's apparently okay for them to party all night. Great parenting.

Book Challenge #2: My Least Favourite Book

I'm not entirely sure how to answer this one, actually, however given that I just ranted for three paragraphs about how crap certain musical styles or songs are, I feel that I don't really have the time to fumfer about on this one. Of all the books I've read, I find it difficult to pick a least favourite - I mean, there are books that I don't feel that I want to read again, certainly, but then if I don't like a book, I generally won't continue to read it. 

Actually, you know what, I've sat here, and I've thought about it (I know, it's a hard thing to convey in a continuous stream of text) and I believe I know which book would have to be my least favourite. Jane Eyre. I know that it's supposed to be a piece of absolutely classic literature. I know that it's meant to be ahead of its time. I know that, if one were to break it down into its thematic elements, one could draw parallels between it and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I know all of these things. Still - I hate Jane Eyre.

.Gif Challenge #2: A Gif Of Someone That Is Happy

The language (both the obscenity and the poor spelling) in the .gif below aside, it is indeed a .gif image of happy people. Happy people, apparently, really enjoy eating salad. Well, okay, perhaps salad really makes people happy. Either way there appears to be some correlation between eating a salad and finding joy in life. I, personally, don't see it. Sure, I enjoy eating certain vegetables (I love capsicum, and eggplant - oh gods do I love eggplant...) but there's something so entirely primal about tearing into a massive steak that just kicks my brain's pleasure centre into gear, and sets me on the path to extreme joy. I challenge you to eat a well cooked steak (not necessarily a well done steak, mind you) and be upset. Still, here is a .gif of some really bloody happy women enjoying their salads.

About Me Challenge #2: The Meaning Behind My Blog Name

There isn't really much behind the name of my blog, except a failed attempt at bettering myself. A while ago (some time last year) I noticed that a lot of people were creating those lists of things to do before they died - bucket lists or whatever. I, in my obsessive wisdom, thought that a simple list of 100 things to do before I died was not enough. No. Instead, I had to create a list of 100 lists of 100 things to do before I died. I had to read 100 fiction books, 100 non-fiction books, I had to see 100 films, listen to 100 songs, see 100 famous pieces of art. There were so many things I wanted to do (one hundred hundred things, in fact...) and yet...and yet there was so little time. Were I to achieve just one thing a day, I would not be done before I was about 43. That's just one thing a day. And it was not going that quickly. There were things I wouldn't be able to do for years anyway, and other things that I just...don't think I was going to be able to do...So instead my blog transformed into a way for me to kind of...talk about things...and I hope that it's entertaining because that's the whole point.

Photo Challenge #2: A Photo Of Myself A Year Ago

It was harder for me to find a photo of myself from this time period than I thought. A year ago I was living in Sydney, I didn't know many people, and there wasn't really anybody to take my photo. Thus, this is as close as I can get to giving you a picture of myself from then...It's pretty close...I think...

The World Shall Burn With My Fury (XMan On The Left, Me On The Right)

Facial Expression Challenge #2: My Happy Face

There are two ways that I could have gone when it comes to photographing my "happy face". I chose what I hope is the least disgusting/disturbing of the two (given that the other involves me orgasming on camera, I'm pretty sure you're glad I went with joy right now...)

Aw Man - I Do Not Look At All Comfortable Smiling Like That...