01/31/13 - Day 37 - Sent gift to random friend #1

A facebook friend of mine was sent a gift today.  He will receive this gift because he was one of five people to respond to a chain letter facebook post of mine.  I usually think chain letters are pointless, superstitious garbage but this was like a pay-it-forward-good-deed chain letter so I got pretty pumped about it. 

I think it made the rounds at the beginning of the year and you may have seen this post.  I changed it a little bit, mostly because I thought the original post sounded too girly or like something on pinterest.  Here is what mine read: 

Pay-It-Forward: The first five people to comment on this status will receive from me a gift! Sometime in the next year it will show up at your house! There will be no warning, and it will happen whenever the mood strikes me. The catch? Pay it forward. Be nice to people in the new year. 2013: the year of not being a total dick.

I think the original post told people they had to post the pay-it-forward challenge as their status in order to receive a gift.  I didn't want to make it a conditional gift so I just told people to be nice in the new year. 

The first friend to receive a gift is one that I'm not super close with so this made it especially fun.  I never promised that these gifts would be expensive or large or anything really.  So here are the three gifts my friend received:

1.  The Great Sandwich Detective Paper Doll cut out.

2.  Hall and Oates "Private Eyes" 45 record.

3.  A personally crafted "Funky Soul Fo Yo Ass" Mix CD. 
check it:  Most of the playlist (what Itunes had)

These might sound like white elephant gifts but I think this friend will really enjoy them.  I also enclosed a letter that should make him laugh. 

In other news...there are so many things I wanted to do today and I did nearly none of them.  Here they are in no particular order. 

what i didn't do
-Signup for Fight for Air Climb, Train for Run W/ The Eagles Half Marathon, Sign up for Half Marathon in town, Call Nursing Home and set up gig, clean upstairs, get boot polish, get suit dry cleaned, figure out how to record songs on my computer, look up costs of pa for gigs, figure out some crossfit workouts for workout club, look up self publishing or books and magazines info.

what i did do
-look up procol harum on spotify, get music for radio show, took a shower. 

Money spent so far:  $132.61

01/30/13 - Day 36 - Nice comments (free)

People that aren't songwriters may not be aware of the huge community of singer/songwriters on youtube that are trying to get their music heard.  There are millions of people with guitars and pianos and webcams and original songs that want some type of positive reinforcement from the world.  My anonymous kindness attack today was to put a positive comment on as many videos as I could watch. 

If I'm being honest this wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do.  Some of these songs and singers are just bad.  My goal wasn't to give someone false motivation or a mixed message.  I'm also not trying to offer constructive criticism.   I only want to glean whatever positive input from the song and let the artist know what I liked about their music. 

There was an older black gentleman that sang about Jesus with a techno beat and it seemed like he was making up the words as he went along.  He clearly worked hard to edit and shoot the video and had put some serious time into it.  He also got into a fight about race in the comments section. 

There were a lot of girls singing really sad songs about broken hearts. 

There were a lot of guys singing songs about girls. 

There was one guy with a beard and a weird (but good) voice singing a song about trees out in an apple orchard on a windy day.  That video was a little disconcerting because it felt eerily familiar to me. 

There was an Indian guy that clearly did not speak English as his first language rapping about world peace to an "amateur" beat.  He called it amateur beat, that's why the quotation marks are there.

There was a rock band filming a live performance.  The sound quality was pretty rough but if you listened closely enough you could hear a pretty high energy punk band.  I thought the production of the video might have been a purposeful choice.  It fit the band's punk aesthetic pretty well.

There were quite a few older men singing songs about boats and war and horses and women and cars and warriors and broken hearts. 

I left a positive comment on all of these videos.  Whether I liked them or not.  I found some redeeming value in the video and hopefully the notes that I left will encourage the songwriter to keep writing.  Everyone who wants to write songs should do it.  Even if the songs suck and they are a shitty musician they should keep writing and singing.  They can only get better and it makes them a more creative person.  A more positive person. 

When I first started writing music I wrote a song every day.  I was very aware that my songs really sucked.  I didn't perform them anywhere.  I just considered those songs to be practice for the real thing.  I am not a great songwriter now but I have definitely improved since those early days.

Everybody needs an outlet and I was happy to encourage these people with theirs'.

Money spent so far:  $128.89

01/29/13 - Day 35 - Microvolunteering (free)

Microvolunteering ambush!  Today I laid the groundwork for a few weeks worth of anonymous kindness attacks.  I joined three different organizations. 

Here they are:

Help From Home

Online Volunteering

Volunteer Weekly

Not all three of these require a username and password so I guess I didn't really join all three but I definitely am aware and locked in to their mission.  And that is microvolunteering.

These three organization have projects of all different varieties and I am looking forward to taking them on.  I wasn't able to comlete any this evening because most take much longer than one night to complete and require an application process to be followed. 

More news to come...

Money spent so far:  $128.89

01/28/13 - Day 34 - Joined Redditgifts.com (free)

Obligatory excuse:  Sorry this post is so late.  I am still getting used to being back on a regular schedule. 

Today was a somewhat normal day.  I got up really early and took a drug test for my new job at the APL.  That was weird.  I always feel strange seeing a complete stranger handle my pee.  It came back negative and I let the manager at the APL know.  She was sort of confused because she hadn't received anything from the drug testing facility yet.  I think she was trying to let me know she couldn't just take my word for the test results.  Alright then.  I guess we'll wait on the official results.  Geez.

My anonymous kindness attack might seem a little self serving but hear me out.  Today I joined reddit.  This is easy and free and a pretty cool thing to do.  I felt like it was time for me to actually join.  I have been enjoying reddit for almost an entire year without being a real member.  Reddit is a is a social news website where registered users submit content.  Users can vote things up or down.  It's pretty awesome.  Some of the main interests that reddit users generally have are: cats, dogs, anything cute, science, science fiction, athiesm, memes, politics (very left of center), good deeds, environmental stuff, advice, jokes, stories, music, history, learning new things, astronomy, astronauts, this list could go on forever, etc.  Here is a random picture of something posted on today's front page:

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

 

I think reddit is pretty fun and they do some cool things.  The part that could really easily constitute an attack of kindness is my membership in redditgifts.

 

Necessary Links:

 

Reddit

 

Redditgifts

 

Redditgifts is a part of reddit where you exchange gifts with some random person across the globe or country.  I am participating in the book exchange.  The book exchange is generally partnered with a charity as well.  Last year was donorschoose.org.  I think it's an awesome idea to spread cheer and excitement and books across the country.  Super pumped.

 

In musical news...I rocked out some "Material Girl" as a part of a songwriting/performing challenge.  We were supposed to perform a song written or generally performed by a member of the opposite sex.  I tried to think of the most stereotypically girl song that wouldn't totally suck.  Madonna fucking killed it.  Pretty sweet. 

 

 Money spent so far:  $128.89

01/27/13 - Day 33 - Wrote to Free Pussy Riot (free)

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. 

This is Amnesty International's motto.  Amnesty International is an organization that has been around since 1961.  It fights for human rights and tries to shine a light on injustice.  It seems like a pretty legit organization with a great track record.  There are a number of issues that you can take action on through signing petitions, writing letters, or donating money.  An issue that is located on their front page immediately caught my attention. 

Free Pussy Riot!  Pussy Riot is an all female punk band from Russia that on February 21 of 2012 staged a performance at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior.  It was a protest directed at the church leader's support of Putin.  In March two members of their band were arrested and charged with hooliganism.  Yes, hooliganism is a real crime.  They have been sent to prison for two years basically because the government wanted to make an example of them.  Do not speak out against the government or you will be sent to prison.  Fucking unbelievable. 

Here are two websites:

Take Action to Free Pussy Riot through Amnesty International.

Free Pussy Riot map. 

The Pussy Riot map is cool.  There are a bunch of artists and musicians that have little messages of support posted for the band.  It seems unlikely that Putin would change his opinion because of a letter writing campaign and a map of people that think his fascist actions are total bull shit.  But like the motto says it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

In other news...my band played a weddings expo today.  It was weird.  The weather was crap today (freezing rain) and it kept many people away.  Also we were playing at the very end of the event so people were ready to clear out.  But I did introduce myself and my band to a bunch of propspective clients and wedding vendors that we hadn't previously met.

Have to go to bed early because I have to wake up early and take my drug test for my new job at the APL.  Never been so pumped to pee in a cup.

Money spent so far:  $128.89

01/26/13 - Day 32 - Returned "Borrowed" Items

Throughout the years I have borrowed things from people and I usually return them but sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I keep them so long that I forget who I borrowed them from or I make up some elaborate story about how they really gave the item to me as a gift and I forget that I made the story up and I think the made up story is true.  I'm weird.

I found three items in my house today that I'm pretty sure belong to a friend I haven't seen in a long time.  I thought it was time they had them back.  I mailed them today.

Money spent so far:  $128.89

01/25/13 - Day 31 - Cleaning out the lost and found

Update as promised:

Travel day.  Ugh.  Suck suck suck!  We had to leave Jamaica and come back to the frozen United States.  Our flights were delayed and delayed and delayed and I turned into a real dickhead.  Fortunately my wife was there to laugh at me and tell me to calm down.  It wasn't anybody's fault and getting mad wasn't helping anyone.  I just really don't like airports and didn't like being stuck in them.  I turn into a little baby.  I clearly need a little work on my patience. 

We got back home late in the evening and I prepared a package that I had meant to send about three months ago.  I had been going through the lost and found at my work and trying to be a detective to reunite people with their belongings.  One thing that had sat in the lost and found for a while was a really nice leather binder with some paper inside it.  I looked inside one of the pockets and found a business card.  I called the number and found out it was the person that owned the binder.  They were geniunely thankful and surprised and told me they hadn't been in my town for over a year.  I asked for her address and told her I would send it to her. 

I completely forgot about it and decided now would be a good time to get it sent on it's way. 

Money spent so far:  $123.89

01/24/13 - Day 30 - Souvenirs

Update as promised:

Today was our last full day in Jamaica so we planned a quick trip in the morning to Ochos Rios to go see Dunn's River Falls.  This waterfall is the shit.  It's one of the most popular attractions in Jamaica and we were told by one of the attraction guides that we must see it before we left.  It was super fun.  We pretty much disregarded everything that anyone told us we needed to buy for the falls and just went for it.  The tour guide said we needed water shoes and we did not.  The tour guide said we had to wait for one of the falls climbing guides and we did not.  We went renegade up the waterfall with no water shoes and no tour guide and it was awesome. 

I thought it was weird how the climbing guides demanded everyone hold hands as they go up the waterfall.  It seemed far more dangerous than just going in a straight line.  The falls climbing guides were also taking video and pictures and getting everyone to yell Jamaican phrases the whole time.  It may have been the perfect thing for a family but I was happy we avoided them. 

The resort we were staying in had invited in several vendors to sell their items and had clearly asked them not to push too hard for sales.  It seemed like the vendors were all adept at handmaking the stuff that they sold.  I bought some souvenirs (wooden turtle, Jamaican sweatbands, etc.) for a few different friends from an older gentleman.  I also got my wife a handmade hair clip made from a coconut.  Pretty awesome.

I was blatantly made fun of by the bartender at our resort.  I don't really like drinking while I'm in the sun all day so I kept getting really fruity frozen drinks.  One I really liked was called The Big Bamboo.  It was mostly strawberry and it was a pink frozen drink.  I knew it was girly and didn't give a shit.  The bartender gave me a weird smile after I ordered a second Big Bamboo and then asked me if I knew what The Big Bamboo meant. 

I was ordering the drink named after a huge cock.  Oh well.

Money spent so far:  $114.65

01/23/13 - Day 29 - Helped Elderly up Steps (free)

Update as promised:

My wife planned some excellent trips to different parts of the island for the next couple days.  Today we woke up early and left for Negril.  It was a bus tour and we were able to see much of the island.  The country side is beautiful and green.  Most Jamaicans are not wealthy.  While there are some wealthy and upper middle class sections of the island about 90% of the island is lower class.   They live in small shacks or huts.  Goats and dogs are everywhere.  Garbage is everywhere.  I really liked the goats and dogs and really hated the garbage.  I wanted to clean it up but it is truly a never ending job.  I think it could actually be managed with some quality waste management companies. 

On our trip the first stop was the Seven Mile Beach.  It was pretty awesome.  The tour guides were clearly getting kickbacks from the places they would take people.  I remember hearing "Do not shop at the stores across the street because they will not give you a good deal and they charge tax.  At the shops on this side of the street they will give you a great deal and charge you no tax."  We decided to eat at The Boardwalk cafe even though our final stop on this trip was a restaurant.  The food was pretty awful in comparison to our resort but I still gave a good tip.  I thought this could have been my act of kindness for they day but it still felt a little weak. 

Exiting the restaurant I noticed an elderly woman in a bathing suit trying to join her friends that were already seated.  Nobody was getting up from the table to help her up that stairs so I helped her.  I didn't even think about it at the time until my wife commented that it was a nice thing to do.  The woman spoke German so I didn't get to converse too much with her but she did say thank you. 

The Seven Mile Beach was broken into different sections that were maintained by the resorts.  It was very clear which sections belonged to the resorts and which did not.  The sections that were not maintained were over grown and covered with litter.  Many Jamaicans had taken up temporary residence along these unclaimed sections of beach and were selling things or repairing boats or sleeping. 

We got back on the bus and headed to Rick's Cafe.  The crazy rich white guy on the plane had warned me that Rick's Cafe was a tourist trap.  I guess it was but I didn't mind.  It was awesome.  It was established in 1974 and has been knocked down by hurricanes twice and rebuilt twice.  There are cliff jumpers that dive from nearly 80 feet in the air.  It's freaking sweet.  Seriously check this out: 

 

Money spent so far:  $94.65
 

01/22/13 - Day 28 - Litter Pickup and Advil Run

Update as promised:

I bought this trip to Jamaica as a present to my wife for our five year anniversary.  When we first got married I thought that I would be able to pay for the honeymoon through my military bonus.  The bonus took much longer to disperse than I originally thought so we ended up with a much less tropical honeymoon than we wanted.  It was actually a very fun honeymoon just not what we had originally intended.  So this is the tropical honeymoon we never did take.

While we were there I wanted to do something nice for my wife.  Today I tried to bring her breakfast in bed.  Huge backfire.  I had left early in the morning while she was still asleep.  I guess she woke up soon after I left and was trying to get a bunch of stuff done without me.  My leaving without telling her where I was going or when I would be back was not appreciated.  This was the first time I have done something that turned out to be a big failure. 

We decided that today we would see what Jamaican life is like off the resort.  It turns out it is pretty exciting.  Jamaicans have relaxed (zero) traffic laws and they drive on the left side of the road like the British.  This made crossing the street, walking on the sidewalks, or riding on a tour bus very nerve-wracking.  Also, Jamaicans are not content to let you just walk by their store without going in.  We were staying in Montego Bay the "#1 tourist city in Jamaica."  So it's not surprising that everyone there is trying to get your attention and separate you from your money.  Initially I was far too nice.  The vendors and shop-owners, even the drug dealers and prostitutes saw my smile or even my glance in their general direction as an expression of interest.  I was really just trying to be nice. 

The other thing I noticed immediately was how much trash there is everywhere.  I am not sure why there is so much garbage everywhere in Jamaica.  There are probably a lot of reasons.  I tried to make one litter pick up though there were somethings I couldn't handle without gloves and a trashbag (glass, dirty diapers, etc.)  I picked up trash on our way back to the sidewalk from a nearby beach cove.  I deposited all the trash I had picked up in garbage can at the top of some dilapidated stairs and we continued our walk.  On the way back a drug dealer stopped me and said he saw me picking up trash earlier.  He still tried to sell me some weed but he did seem like he was trying to thank me.

After we got back to the resort we decided we were going to see the "Mr. Rastaman" show that the entertainment staff of our resort puts on.  It was a "gameshow" where the host pulled men up from the audience and made them do ridiculous and embarrassing things.  Of course I was selected to go on stage.  There were six guys subjected to four different challenges. 

1.  Pickup line challenge:  Go over to a girl and deliver your best pickup line.  Mine was "That dress looks really good on you but I think it would look better on my floor."  Awful.
 
2.  Pushup challenge:  Do as many pushups as you can with a woman on your back.  I was disappointed that I didn't win this one.

3.  Sexometer challenge:  Try to propel a basketball up a ramp by thrusting it with your hips as hard as you can.  More about timing than strength.  I failed.

4.  Dance off:  Six white guys dancing.  This was awful.  Everybody, including me, failed.

I didn't even place in the top three.  Pretty embarrassing stuff. 

We went back to our room and my wife was suffering from a pretty awful headache and we realized we didn't have any headache medicine.  I asked around but nobody on the resort seemed to have any.  I decided to leave the resort to try and find some.  It was basically a trip through prostitute alley to find some Advil.  I was propositioned by at least seven women offering everything in explicit detail.  My response was to say "No.  Definitely not.  But do you know where I could get some Tylenol or Aspirin for a headache?"  Most of them were actually pretty nice to me and even pointed me in the right direction.  I have no idea what the circumstances of these women are but I found myself really pitying them.  Everybody does what they have to do to survive but prostitution seems super fucked up to me. 

I ended up running into a drug dealer (Tony) that took me to the one liquor store that was open and they had some Advil.  I paid six bucks for six Advil and I gave the drug dealer who took me there three bucks for helping me.  He wanted more but took my three dollars without much of a fight.  He walked out of the liquor store with me and continued trying to sell me drugs.  When it was clear I wasn't interested he tried to sell me some Jerk chicken from one of his friends making it there on the street.  A true salesman. 

I got back to the room with the Advil and my wife was worried but grateful. 

Money paid so far:  $94.65

01/21/13 - Day 27 - Burger King Haven House

Update as promised:

Today we had to take off super super early.  My wife didn't go to sleep.  I tried to go sleep pretty early and didn't do a very good job.  She woke me up at 3am and it sucked.  I whined like a little bitch.  I got up and we got our stuff in the car.  On our way to Jamaica! 

On the way to the airport we stopped by Burger King.  We haven't eaten any garbage food for a while so the cheesy tots weren't as appetizing as I remember them being.  They were really tasty at first and then super nasty shortly thereafter.  I have no preconceived plan for the next four days so I am looking for truly random acts of random kindness and I discovered mine for today at 3:30am in the morning at Burger King.  It is Haven House.  I didn't donate a lot (two bucks and some change) but I was still impressed with the mission.  Haven House helps out families that travel to the city for medical procedures.  To find our more or donate to the organization check this out:

Haven House

We got to our layover at an airport we'd never been too and my wife kept talking about how she hopes they have Pinkberry.  She couldn't stop talking about it.  I was pretty sure they wouldn't have it though I didn't say so.  We don't have it in our hometown and I really thought it was just a west coast thing.  In fact they did have a Pinkberry and it happened to be right on the way to our gate.  It seemed like a miracle.

I ordered chips and a drink from a nearby snack stand just adjacent to Pinkberry.  The girl at the checkout stand was named Quita.  Pronounced "Koo-wee-tah" and not like somebody who quits things.  She was super nice and I complimented her interesting name. 

My wife tried to eat one of my potato chips without knowing they were salt and vinegar.  She spat it out like a little kid.  Pretty hilarious. 

On the plane ride to Jamaica I met this super rich dude named Geoffrey.  He said he had been to Jamaica a bunch of times and usually stayed in Negril.  He is a retired salesman of scrap metal.  He loves to smoke weed and doesn't really have to work anymore.  He loves to work out.  He knows people who live in Negril and they supply him with weed and rides to and from the airport.  He says the people of Negril are the most laidback people on the whole island.  He usually stays for two weeks at a time.  He has a girlfriend, two daughters, two ex-wives.  He congratulates me on making it past five years in my marraige and says both of his marraiges only lasted five years.  He says he sometimes meets women down in Jamiaca and they hook up and it's not really a big deal.  His girlfriend can't come with him because she has been sick.  He was an interesting and eccentric dude.  I did really enjoy listening to him and he gave me a lot of info about the island I didn't know before. 

Our resort isn't the worst and it isn't the nicest.  The food here is awesome so far.  The people are really nice and they move quite a big slower than people in America.  Everybody needs tips for everything.  Everyone wants to be tipped.  If you are white in Jamaica you are a tourist and tourism is the #1 industry in Jamaica.  I wish I could tip everyone but I don't have enough money.  People are still super nice.  When I don't tip I feel like a real douchebag, but I'll probably get over that by the end of this trip. 

Money spent so far:  $85.65 

01/20/13 - Day 26 - Big Brothers Big Sisters FCC (free)

Festival of Church Choirs today!  It was an event to benefit the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.  It was inspiring. 

I did get paid for my participation so it wasn't exactly an act of complete selflessness on my part.  My buddy is the director of one of the church choirs in a neighboring town and he will sometimes pay me to sing with them when he knows he is going to be low on male voices.  I am glad that he called me for this Festival.  My knowledge of the Big Brother Big Sisters organization I extends as far as the movie Role Models.  It was really cool to get to see the real people involved in the organization and the lives that get affected. 

The organization's mission is "provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever."  Pretty good idea. 

Big Brothers Big Sisters

I started to get very skeptical of the results of someone just spending time with a child facing adversity.  What does it really do?  Does it make a tangible difference?

They actually strive to keep themselves very accountable.  These are the results of a 1995 study of children involved in the program:

more confident in their schoolwork performance

able to get along better with their families

46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs

27% less likely to begin using alcohol

52% less likely to skip school.

I have heard some pretty rough stories about Bigs getting emotionally attached to Littles and being really tore up when something goes wrong.  Not doing something like this because I'm afraid something will go wrong is just chickenshit.  Something is bound to go wrong but a lot more should go right for this kid if they have a positive role model.  I don't know if the organization would want me as a Big Brother.  I'm not super rich and I don't pretend to be a pillar of the community or anything.  I feel I could be a positive influence in a person's life though.

My anonymous kindness attack today was signing up to be a Big Brother.  I had been thinking about doing it since I started doing this project and today was a sign that I needed to commit.  I have a friend that is already a Big Sister and she really likes her Little.  So I have been able to see first hand what the program entails.  I think it will be really good.  I'm excited.

I am going to be gone for the next five days.  Out of the country gone.  My wife and I are going to Jamaica.  It's going to be warm and beautiful and I probably won't be able to update while I'm there.  I'm going to continue my kindness attacks while I'm down there, write them down and update when I get back home. 

Money spent so far:  $83.08

01/19/13 - Day 25 - Donate Clothes to Goodwill (free)

Pretty awesome day today. 

Got a call from Animal Protective League telling me that they would like to offer the job to me.  I am simultaneously happy and sad about receiving that call.  I'm happy because I love animals.  I'm happy because the people who work there are freaking awesome and super nice.  I'm happy because I believe I will feel like I'm actually doing something worthwhile for my job.  I'm sad for almost all the same reasons.  How can something that is such a low paying job be so fulfilling on all those other levels?  Meg (the girl who I job shadowed a couple days ago at APL) told me that the good far outweighs the bad with that job.  I'm excited about it.

Today I donated clothes to the goodwill.  This is a super freaking easy thing for most people.  I, however, am not most people.  I have been holding on very tightly to some super shitty clothes for a long time.  Fortunately, there are times when I am able to disconnect myself from my material possessions.  Today I filled a whole garbage bag with pants and t-shirts that I never wear.  It's tricky business for me right now because I have recently lost about forty pounds and I fear getting rid of my fat-pants too soon might be a mistake.  I really only have a couple pairs of pants that fit me properly right now anyway.  Fuck it.  Goodwill gets all the fat-pants. 

I think Goodwill provides a service that almost seems like a favor.  Categorizing my donating a bag of clothing as a good deed or a kindness attack might be a bit of a stretch.  I have never donated to Goodwill of my own volition.  This is new territory.  I deem it worthy of an Anonymous Kindness Attack. 

If you aren't familiar with Goodwill Industries you are missing out.  They do all kinds of awesome stuff for a community.  First, they give everyone a place to donate the stuff they don't need anymore.  Second, they offer employment to people who might otherwise have trouble finding a job.  Third, charity watch rates Goodwill as an "A."  (These dudes are legit.)  Finally, you can go there and buy cheap vinyl records and cassette tapes, something a nerd like me can't to anywhere else. 

Goodwill  - this is a link to their wikipedia page. 

Stupid nice outside today too.  Cleaned my car and worked.  Randomly bought new bootlaces.  Actually a pretty nice little Saturday...

Money spent so far:  $83.08 

01/18/13 - Day 24 - Change.org (free)

This update is a day late!  Oh no.  This is the first time I have updated a day late and I feel like I really screwed up.  I don't even have a really good excuse.  Suck.  I did my Anonymous Kindness Attack really early in the morning yesterday and I think that might have thrown me off since I usually do them in the afternoon.  

Also, it's going to be harder in the coming week to stay regularly updated because I will be outside of the country.  My wife and I are traveling to Jamaica for a week and I don't know how the internet access will be at the resort where we are staying.  We'll see.  If I can't update from the resort I'm going to be keeping an old school journal and chronicling my acts of kindness.  I'll update them when I come back. 

Today I signed three different petitions at the website change.org.  I didn't really know much about this website but my first impression is that it is a kickstarter style site but instead of trying to collect money for an artistic project it's signatures on petitions for a serious issue.  I don't know how these petitions get sent or if they carry any real power or clout but I hope they do.  Here are the three that I signed:

FDA Approve Tafamidis
This is really heartbreaking and a position in which I hope I never find myself or any of my loved ones.  A man has a disease and knows of a medicine available outside of the United States that will cure him.  He has neither the ability or money to get this medicine shipped in from outside the US.  The FDA needs to approve the medicine so that it maybe covered under insurance and administered in the US.   

TMZ Remove a Murder Video
TMZ is a real piece of shit.  I think everyone already knows that.  However they have reached a new level of shittiness.  They put a video of a young man being shot to death outside of a nightclub on their website and the family of the victim is trying to get them to pull it down.

Chinese Leader Release Liu Xiaobo
This one really pissed me off.  Liu Xiaobo is a writer and peace activist for democratic reform and basic human rights in China.  He is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize but he and his wife have been imprisoned by his own government without due process.  The Chinese government held a trial but didn't allow any outside press to attend.  This petition is authored by Desmond Tutu so hopefully that may hold a little extra influence on the Chinese government. 

You could probably spend all day on this website signing petitions.  I only signed these three but I plan on going back and trying to read more.  I get a little too emotionally invested in the issues.  Some of the things people are going through are not easy to read. 

Money spent so far:  $83.08


 

01/17/13 - Day 23 - Live Positively (free)

Happy Birthday to my Grandma!  I wasn't able to get a hold of her on the phone and I didn't send her a gift or a card or anything.  I'm a shitty grandson.  I did leave her a message and I sent her an email that included the following meme from my dog:

My Grandma is a sucker for Daisy.  Despite her grumpy exterior Daisy is a pretty sweet dog.  So I think my Grandma will like it.

I lived positively today.  This is not my way of saying that I tried to make some conscious decision to think or act more positively today.  I actually participated in the Live Positively program that the Coca-Cola company set up as a way to give to worthy causes.  There are a number of different ways you can participate in their program without actually giving any money. 

Choose You

Choose You is a program that helps women with health education and early detection of cancer.  It also provides motivation and info on quitting smoking, eating right, exercising, and all other good things that help to eliminate cancer causing agents.  If you share a link to their page on your facebook wall then Sprite Zero donates $1 to the Choose You organization.  All you have to do is hit the link above and follow the directions.  Easy, kind, and free! 

Today I had my first job shadow at the Animal Protective League and it was pretty awesome.  The people that work there are all really nice and geniune people and the dogs and cats are of course the greatest.  I didn't get paid for today because it was like a semi interview.  Let the staff there get to know me and size me up.  It also gave me a real glimpse into what the APL does.  It is a lot of cleaning up poop and pee.  But there are some pretty great animals too.  Here are few:

This is Sebastian.  He is little and pathetic and cries like a human baby when he wants attention.

This is Lexi.  She is a year old beautiful pitbull that just wants to play and eat and play and run!

Money spent so far:  $83.08

01/16/13 - Day 22 - Post Pals (almost free)

Today was a weird day.  A lot of things happened that would normally stress me out and make me really angry.  Actually I did get pretty pissed off.  But I worked through it better than before.  I'm not sure if this is because I am trying to be a nicer person or if it's because I have a better attitude in general or if it's because I have changed my diet and exercise routine.  I was able to actually take a step back and look at the amount of pure bull shit that happened today and say "Fuck It.  Not worth my time."  Sometimes that is the best you can do.  It certainly felt good. 

I have determined that I now need a new printer.  A couple days ago it was my monitor and now it's my printer.  Blegh.

My anonymous kindness attack today was a letter sent through Post Pals.  This is a website that allows people to send letters and emails to sick kids.  Here is the web address:

Post Pals

It's an organization in the United Kingdom that is dedicated to helping sick kids.  Here's a part of their mission statement I lifted directly from their website:

"Post Pals is a small charity run solely by volunteers who are dedicated to making seriously ill children and their siblings smile by the sending of cards, letters, little gifts, support and friendship."

You can't argue with that mission statement can you?  Awesome.  I couldn't find an organization like this in the US but I'm going to keep looking.  I'm thinking there must be one out there. 

The child I chose was suffering from Noonan's Syndrome.  I didn't know much about it but the parents give constant updates on the child's development and make it clear how the child is doing.  The child I sent a letter to has a learning disability and has aged 12 years but is closer to a 5 year old in mental and emotional development.  I wasn't sure what to write in the card but the website gives you a lot of ideas and tells you the child's interests.  The child I chose likes dogs and cats and policemen and indians and trucks and horses and cows and farms.  I like all those things too.  So it wasn't that hard.  I put some pictures of my dogs and Batman and Robin and I drew a picture of some trucks.  I hope he likes it.  I think he will. 

In other news...going to do a work-shadow day at the Animal Protective League tomorrow!  Pretty pumped.

Money spent so far:  $83.08

01/15/13 - Day 21 - No Change Wasted (free sort of)

Today I blatantly stole a great idea for a random act of kindness from a guy with a blog.  His name is Kevin and here is his idea.

Kevin's Blog - Day 4

Basically you throw all of your change at the end of the day into a jar (or in my case a coin bank) and then at the end of the year you donate all of your change to a charity.  I haven't decided what charity I would like to donate it to yet.  But I will probably just make a choice at the end of the year.  There are so many worthy organizations.  It could be that an individual or a family is the one in need at that particular time. 

In job news...I had an interview today with four women at the Animal Protective League and it went really well.  I could tell they really liked me and they called me back right away to schedule a work shadow day.  That is going to happen on Thursday.  The job, as I expected, doesn't pay a lot.  But it is full time work with health benefits where I will be working with abandoned animals.  Even if I can't do it forever it will be rewarding work.  All the employees that I met were very nice and personable.  I feel like the attitude of the place is super positive unlike many of the jobs I have had. 

I also called a local nursing home and asked them if they would be interested in having me and a friend perform for their residents sometime in late February.  They said they would love that and sounded geniunely excited.  I am trying to draft a couple of my bandmates (all my bandmates are super good people) to help me out and make it really awesome.  Maybe we can do it a couple times.  We'll see. 

Money spent so far:  $82.63

01/14/13 - Day 20 - APL and Brokedown Car

My freaking monitor on my computer broke!  I am updating from my phone and texting this with my thumbs.  Not a good way to write.  I am going to come back and update this when I get my monitor fixed but to make a long story short...I donated to the Animal Protective League and tried to help a person with a broken car.

I got my monitor fixed so here I am updating a day later again.  Rehashing what happened yesterday is like trying to polish a turd.  But I'm gonna try and polish it as best I can.

On my way to work in the morning a car broke down right in front of me.  I was waiting at a stoplight and I saw this car's hazard lights start blinking.  I remember this exact scenaria happening to me before and getting really irritated.  Today when it happened I was already running a little late to work but I was geniunely excited that I might get to do something randomly nice for someone.  It feels good to not be a dick all the time.

I pulled in front of the brokedown car in the middle of a relatively busy street and got out to ask if they needed help.  The woman driving said she was on her way to work and the car just died.  She looked nervous talking to me.  I think she felt like she was talking to a cop or something.  The gentleman in the passenger seat said he had put some water in the anti-freeze tank and said the car would probably start right back up it just needed a chance to cool down.  I volunteered to give them a ride to her work until they could figure out what to do with the car.  They said that this had happened to them earlier in the week and they just had to wait a little while but that they appreciated the offer.  Right after they said this the car started!  

So I didn't really get a chance to do anything nice.  I was still happy she was able to make it to work.  Hopefully they can get their car serviced soon so it won't keep breaking down.  I don't know if these people really trusted me enough to let me give them a ride to where they needed to go and that made me a little sad but at least I still offered. 

I have talked about trying to get a job at the Animal Protective League so I decided to donate to the organization yesterday.  They are a really great group that does awesome work for abandoned and hurting animals in our community.  They are run completely on donations without any assistance from the government and they do a really great job promoting themselves.  They have an awesome website and newsletter.  Donate if you like what you see:

Animal Protective League

Money spent so far:  $82.63

01/13/13 - Day 19 - Superhero coloring books and tattoos

Today was a good recovery day.  I could have used a day like today yesterday.  Spent time cleaning up the house and doing laundry and trying to stay warm inside.  The outdoors is entirely covered in ice and I really didn't want to leave the house.  I did need to leave the house for a couple things though and I was able to sneak in an unexpected act of kindness. 

I left to go with my brother to get some Subway before he had to leave.  I am not normally a fan of Subway but I did have a coupon and I am poor.  The lady at the counter looked pissed.  She clearly didn't want to be working.  I offered a smile and was as pleasant as I could possibly be.  I think I actually forced her to smile.  I normally wouldn't have given a shit about a woman being pissed to be at work.  But since I've been trying to be a nicer person I now take it as a personal challenge to make a random stranger smile.  It doesn't always work out as well as it did with the Subway lady.  It's also neat to see an ugly person with a frown become an attractive person with a smile. 

During my drunken debacle on Friday I managed to leave my phone at a friend's house.  I had to leave in a hurry on Saturday so I didn't get a chance to pick it up until today.  I thought that I may have overstepped my bounds and been too loud, too grabby, too drunk, too insane on Friday so I wanted to do something nice for her and her family.  While I was running some errands I picked up a Marvel Superheroes coloring book ($1) and Spider Man fake tattoos ($1) for her little boy that is obsessed with super heroes.

When I got to her house she said that she hadn't even known anything was going on and I didn't disturb anyone.  She may have just been being nice and not wanting me to feel like a dick.  I gave her the gifts to give to her son.  She said he is really into coloring right now so he will love them. 

I also was able to deliver some chocolate peanut butter pie and banana cream pie to my wife.  Very important husbandly duty, not really an act of kindness though because I got to eat some of it. 

Money spent so far: $77.63

01/12/13 - Day 18 - Rails to Trails

I am going to update this further tomorrow because I am traveling away from home all day.  Also had to steal a buddy's phone to update.   More details to follow.

So as promised here are the more details to follow. 

I knew that I would have to squeeze today's anonymous kindness in between a very busy day but I had no idea how hard I was actually going to make it on myself.

On Friday night my brother visited.  He lives on the other side of the country and we don't get to see each other very often so I was excited.  I called off work that day so we could hang out longer but he ended up not getting into town until late in the evening.  When he got to my house we exchanged Christmas gifts and he got me a bottle of Jagermeister!  I immediately began drinking it.  This was a big mistake.  I hadn't really eaten anything that night and I drank about 4 shots in 30 minutes.  I got pretty shitfaced.  We crashed my wife's (all female) book club because it seemed like the right thing to do.  I don't really remember anything else that happened that night because I got too drunk.  I was told by my wife that I was very handsy with all the girls and my brother informed me that I puked several times in my friend's yard.  Hopefully I wasn't a complete embarrassment.  My wife didn't seem too disappointed in me so I'm guessing I wasn't a horrible person.  She actually told me I was charming at the beginning of the night.   

I am going to try to not be such an awful drunk.  My brother told me he doesn't think I should ever drink Jagermeister again.  Might be good advice. 

I woke up and still felt drunk and sick.  I had a gig that was about two and a half hours away.  I tried everything to get over my drunken hangover but nothing worked.  It was about 4:30pm before I actually started to feel better.  The place we were playing had this awesome cheesy tortellini soup and I think that officially cured me of my hangover.  By the time we had to start playing I felt pretty freaking great. 

Today I donated $5 to the Rails-To-Trails Convervancy.  They are group dedicated to rebuilding old abandoned railroad lines into bicycle and foot trails.  They are an awesome non profit and one that I have benefited from first hand in my community.  There are many trails that I run in my hometown that are former old railroad tracks.  So I was immediately drawn to this group.  I have written letters to congressmen in the past but I have never donated before.  I thought today was a perfect day to do it.  If you want to check out Rails to Trails projects in your home state or more of what their mission is check out their website:

Rails To Trails

This might seem like a less important donation but it is an organization that I have benefited from first hand.  If a community can beautify itself, eliminate waste, and encourage physical exercise through ripping up an abandoned railroad track and paving a bicycle track then why not? 

Money spent so far: $75.63

01/11/13 - Day 17 - Card and Candy for the Mailman

I have been waiting for my brother to arrive all day.  My brother lives on the other side of the country and today he's supposed to be arriving in my town for a short visit.  I actually called off work so I could hang out with him but he never takes off when he's supposed to, or plans properly, or calls ahead, or is prepared for anything.  He is very similar to me. 

I wanted to do something nice for our mailman today.  He actually had a pretty easy day weather wise, but I feel like the mailman, overall, is an unsung hero.  Especially since the US postal service is being used less and less with the advent of the internet.  I always feel super bad for mailmen and garbage men when it's one of those cold winter rain days.  Also I didn't get our mailman or garbage man anything for Christmas the past few years and I feel like a dick about it. 

I wrote a pretty generic message saying thanks and wishing him a belated "Happy Holidays" but that wasn't enough.  I went out a bought him a bag of pretzel M&Ms and I set them both on the mailbox where he couldn't miss them.  It was actually harder than I thought to find a snack.  (Allergies, diets, picky eaters, etc.)  I figured most people love a bag of M&Ms and I think the pretzel ones are the best.  He took the note and the candy so I think he must have dug them. 

There is another cool opportunity presenting itself job wise.  A receptionist job at a place I work part time will be coming available sometime in the near future.  I'm not sure exactly when.  But it is a full time position with benefits and I am familiar with the company.  I think I am getting some serious karma back from being nice.  The person who currently has that job is someone that didn't have to tell me about the position at all but she did because she likes me and knows I am looking for a job.  She even told her boss, my part time boss, that I was looking for work.  She planted the seed for me without me even doing anything. 

I don't have any idea what this job would pay, it very possibly could be crap, but I wouldn't mind working for crap pay to work at a company I eventually would like to move up in.  It's a creative business involving music where my Bachelor's in Fine Arts might actually mean something!  Hallelujah!

More karma returning to me.  Yesterday I donated blood as my good deed for the day and they were having a prize drawing sponsored by a local restaurant and I won!  Free lunch!  Nice.

Money spent so far:  $70.63 

01/10/13 - Day 16 - Donated blood (free)

I was not a very pleasant person today.  I spent most of the first half of the day trying to find a job.  I secured an interview a few days ago that was scheduled for this morning.  I got all dressed up for the interview to work at a place where everyone wears blue jeans.  I had worked at this company before but I was applying for a higher position.  Unfortunately, they want you to sign a document saying that you are willing to relocate which I am not willing to do.  I did let them know I was interested in a non manager position if it was full time.  We'll see what comes of that.

I also got a call back from the Animal Protective League and scheduled an interview.  Unfortunately that job is minimum wage.  I don't think I can handle that.  Not with the bills I need to pay.  I would love to have that job but I didn't think it would pay so little.  I'm going to go the interview anyway.  If I can get them to match what I'm making now at my part time job it would be worth it to me. 

I get my hopes up a little too much when I apply for these jobs and then when they aren't exactly what I want I get cranky.  This resulted in my foul mood for most of the day.   I still managed to do a good thing though. 

My anonymous attack of kindness today was donating blood.  I figure it's relatively anonymous because the person who will be receiving my blood has no idea it's coming from me.  The ladies at the blood center sure know who I am by now though.  Check this out:

If you can't make it out in the picture, that is my one gallon donor pin.  They actually made me give double the amount today.  The lady that asked me all the screening questions was a British vegetarian.  I found this out because she had an accent (obvious) and because she was testing my iron to see if I was eligible to give a double amount of blood.  I mentioned that I hoped it wasn't low because I was a vegetarian.  She mentioned she was a vegetarian as well and told me that my iron was high.  This showed that I was adequately replacing the protein I had previously received in my diet from meat.  Pretty good stuff.  Giving blood is a weird thing.  It's just controlled bleeding into a bunch of little bags.  It's a good thing to do because people need it but it's still weird.

Applied for a three more jobs today.  Don't really want any of them but desperate times and all that...

Money spent so far:  $69.34

01/09/13 - Day 15 - Wrote my Great Grandmother (almost free)

Today I was trying to discover a new pen pal.  I wanted to write to someone that I thought would really appreciate it.  It was surprisingly hard to come by a legit pen pal website.  With the internet and open communication across the entire world in literal seconds I'm sure has become much less popular.  I discovered pen pals with an inmate also.  This is a whole underground sex fetish.  They try to dress it up as something else but the websites pretty much speak for themselves.

One of the websites I came across suggested that someone in your family would probably be your best first place to look.  I decided to write to my great grandmother.  She is in a retirement community in another state and I don't get to see her that often.  She didn't even make it to Christmas this year and that was in the same state she lives in.  My grandmother (her daughter) informs the family that she is happy there but I still think it would be weird to be the matriarch of whole family and then outlive all the people that created that family with you.  All the sisters and brothers and in laws.  Her husband.  I don't know how old my great grandmother is but my guess is around 90.  Speaking to her is hard because she is has hearing problems.  It makes her seem slow or forgetful but I think she geniunely just doesn't hear most of what people say and then she tries to fill in the blank spots by reading lips.  Unfortunately her eyes are not the greatest either.  Hopefully my letter will be a simple way to communicate and brighten her day. 

I would really like to correspond with her more frequently but I know she does have arthritis and writing might not be the easiest way to communicate either.  We'll see if she writes back.  I would like to know more about my great grandfather because he was a truely colorful character. 

Why do people keep secrets about deceased people?  Maybe it's not on purpose.  Maybe they just don't want to bring it up.  Maybe they think nobody would be interested.  Maybe they think it would dishonor the memory of a lost loved one. 

I think about my deceased friends and family all the time and when I remember a story, good or bad, funny or sad, whatever, I fucking tell that story.  Because maybe somebody needed to hear it.  To see another little snapshot of that person that they didn't get to see because that person is gone now.  I'm going to try to get to know my great grandmother a little better even if only through being a one sided pen pal. 

Money spent so far:  $69.34  (only 45 cents for a stamp)

01/08/13 - Day 14 - Women's Rights (free)

I'm working with the Human Rights Watch website again today.  Here's the link:

Human Rights Watch

They have automatically generated letters that you can send out for a whole range of issues and a few really struck me.  A couple of days ago I sent one to President Obama about land mines and today I sent one to my state congressional representatives regarding women's rights.  Specifically the International Violence Against Women Act.  I'm not going to try to get into the details of the Act or anything but if you are interested in what the website has to offer go to this link:

Take Action To Stop Violence Against Women

I have a strong physical reaction when I hear about violence against women.  My head starts to hurt, I feel nauseous and sweaty.  I don't know why this happens to me but I'm pretty sure it's just because I get angry about it.  The deplorable and inhuman ways that women are treated in some parts of the world makes me feel like there isn't any good left.  Like there are whole sections of the human population that are sociopathic.  To lack the level of empathy required to refrain from sexual violence on a fellow human being has to be sociopathy because it's either that or pure fucking evil.  Either one makes me sick and any action the US government can take to prevent further violence against women should be encouraged.  So that's why I signed and sent the form letter. 

This is such a small act.  It feels pretty weak but it is more than I have done in the past and hopefully enough people will write to affect some real change. 

In other news...

There is another awesome job that has opened up.  A Conservation Associate position within a local Stewardship Alliance.  They are a local nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable agriculture in the community.  For the past year I have been trying to get involved in whatever way possible in the local agriculture community.  I was able to actually work on a sustainable farm this past year and it changed everything about the way I view food.  I am very passionate about this issue but unfortunately I am also woefully under qualified for the position.  I applied anyway and hopefully my enthusiasm can make up for my lack of experience. 

Money spent so far:  $68.89

01/07/13 - Day 13 - Create A Pepper

Create a pepper!  Yeah!  It sounds weird because it is.  It's for a good cause though and I actually created a beautiful pepper.  Chili's (the restaurant) set up a program on their website so everyone can have a little fun decorating a chili pepper and to share their pepper they must donate at least $2 to St. Jude's Childrens' Hospital.  They have a very lofty goal of 50 million dollars in 10 years.  Chili's is actually donating all their profits on September 24th to St. Jude's so even if you don't go out to eat very often that would be a good day to patronize Chili's.  I am a poor do gooder so I only donated $2.  But something is better than nothing right?  Right.  Here's my pepper by the way:

I call it "Butterfly In The Sky."  Like Reading Rainbow?  Get it.  Yeah.  I'm pretty good.

Create your own:  Create A Pepper

There is another super awesome opportunity on the job front.  A chance to work at a local animal shelter just opened up and I would be absolutely pumped to have a job there.  I love animals.  I love this particular shelter and have visited the animals there numerous times.  It is really an awesome force for good in my community.  I doubt the job would pay very much knowing that it is a small nonprofit organization.  The job description did say full time employment so I hope that would include some type of benefits and steady hours.  It would be great to feel able to make a difference at work every day and to do something I actually believe in.  The amount of days I have gone to work and felt like I actually did something worthwhile totals zero.  That shit has gone on long enough.  Even if this isn't the job I end up with I still feel like that is definitely a new goal I want to follow. 

Money spent so far:  $68.89

01/06/13 - Day 12 - Human rights watch and thank you cards (free)

This was a bit of a recovery day.  I had a super intense birthday party last night and some of the intensity from the party carried over to this morning in the form of a hangover.  Any night where an arm wrestling contest leads to a leg wrestling contest is definitely a good one.  I didn't win either of those contests by the way.  I don't have the type of friends that will let you defeat them in a contest of strength just because it's your birthday.  Honestly I wouldn't want it any other way. 

I decided today to send an email to the president.  I sent this email through the website Human Rights Watch.  I am not really a person that has typically been involved in "causes."  So when I first logged on to the website I wasn't expecting to be instantly moved to action.  I was wrong.  There are so many issues where the United States is woefully behind the times.  Even America's own stated objectives from the past get ignored or forgotten.  Then we are in a situation like what has happened with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.  If you want to read more about it the website is here:

US Ban Landmines

You don't have to dig very deep into this issue to see it for what it is.  An uncomplicated lapse of action towards a stated objective.

I don't really know if my email is going to spur the president to action.  I doubt very much that the president reads his emails.  If he did he wouldn't get anything else done.  It sort of seems like a sending a message in a bottle.  But if enough people send out enough messages eventually one of them may be answered.  Doing something is always better than doing nothing. 

There is only one part to this anonymous attack of kindness that I felt a little weird about:  the Human Rights Watch website trying to make me an evangelist for their cause.  "Send an email to your friends about this issue."  It makes sense why they would want to do this.  They have someone that just sent an email to the president and this person should also be willing to tell their friends about it.  I just don't want my friends to automatically delete my emails.  Does this make me an asshole?  Maybe.

Today was also another day for writing thank you notes to everyone that gave me a birthday present.  I know my friends and family are going to think I am making up for lost time or something.  I can honestly say that I have never sent thank you cards to people for my birthday.  I'm not sure if it's even something that is expected.  I had some downtime during commercial breaks watching the Ravens destroy my Colts.  I hope I didn't let my disappointment with the outcome of the game shine through on the cards. 

Money spent so far: $66.89

01/05/13 - Day 11 - Sparked on my birthday (free)

Today is my birthday.  I am now 31 years old.  I plan on getting pretty drunk tonight.  When my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday I said "Jagerbombs, vegetarian chili and cornbread, and friends over to play board games."  So that's what we're going to do tonight.  Pretty awesome.  We asked people not to bring their kids so everyone could get drunk and not leave super early.  I didn't tell people not to give me presents because I always think that's sort of a weird rule.  I honestly don't expect anyone to get me anything but I also don't want anyone to feel like to give me a gift they would have to do so against my wishes.  Hopefully everyone will have fun.  I'm going to try to pace myself and not be drunk in the first five minutes and then ready to pass out after an hour.

I sparked today.  Sparked.com is a website that offers companies, mostly start ups, independents, and nonprofits, a place to get feed back and help.  They bill themselves as social business solutions.  It's a pretty cool website.  I was interested in what they call "micro-volunteering."  Businesses (again mostly charities) post tasks they would like completed.  They encompass a vast range of things but the website narrows it down for you when you build your profile. 

When you first log on to create your profile it asks you to choose "which causes really get your fired up?"  This isn't easy.  I chose animals, poverty, youth, arts, food, and the environment.  Then it asks you "what skills do you have to offer?"  Hmmmm....even harder.  I chose a bunch of things they had listed but my favorite was "brainstorming."  I love brainstorming and when I started looking at all of the tasks people needed help with I was pumped. 

The tasks can be somewhat involved so I just chose to complete one.  I went with someone looking for ideas for a "like drive" for their facebook page.  The organization is called GatherWell and they are trying to help people, through education and different ongoing projects, to live greener lives.  Here is the organization's website:

GatherWell

And their facebook page:  (like them!)

GatherWell on Facebook

After I read what I wrote I was actually pretty impressed with my ability to brainstorm.  Maybe not all of my solutions are going to work but it may generate some even better ideas.  Unfortunately my email couldn't be verified on Sparked.com for some reason.  (I think it's a problem with my email's spam filter or something.)  I just ended up sending it to them over facebook and I got a reply back right away thanking me for my suggestions. 

Good stuff! 

Money spent so far:  $66.89

01/04/13 - Day 10 - Squidoo and found money (free)

Today I squidood.  Or squidooed.  I set up a lens on this site squidoo.com.  It's a pretty cool idea.  Once you have an account you create lenses.  These are little web pages about anything.  It's pretty open to interpretation.  You could write a lens about film critiques, top ten lists, pictures of your kids, personal ramblings, European history, physics, whatever.  I set one up about songwriting.  The reason setting up a lens on this website is a good thing is all royalties earned go to a charity.  You try to make your lens be something that people would want to use.  All the ad revenue generated goes to a charity of your choosing.  (I chose ASPCA.)

Although the website makes it super easy to navigate and set everything up I found the writing of the lens to be pretty tough.  I think I know what it takes to write a song.  Maybe not the best song in the world, but certainly a song that is complete with a beginning, middle, and end.  When I actually started to try and figure out how to put that into words it wasn't so easy. 

What I have so far is listed here:

Wanna write a song?

I don't pretend that it's the best lens ever put on this website but I hope it will generate some "lifetime royalties" for the ASPCA.  If it doesn't do that hopefully it will help an aspiring songwriter get out of writer's block.  As of today it is just a skeleton of a lens.  I'm going to try to expand upon what I know about songwriting and include that in there as I go.  So far so bad.  No visits and no lifetime royalties. 

Awesome random bonus good thing today.  I went to the local dvd rental place tonight.  We had to cancel the satellite tv, so we recently went back to renting dvds like a couple of hobos.  I saw a guy leaving the parking lot as I was entering.  I get out of my car and spot three dollar bills folded up lying right by where the guy was parked.  I'll admit my first thought was "Awesome!  Free movies for me tonight!"  Then I actually got more excited because I could do an extra anonymous kindness attack.  A legitimately anonymous one!  I asked the person working to put the three dollars back on the previous customer's account (it was obvious he was the previous customer because the place was empty except for me.)  Maybe that guy won't even notice that three extra dollars is on his account but I don't care.  It was his and he will get it back so long as he returns the dvds he rented.   

Money spent so far:  $66.89

01/03/13 - Day 9 - Sent Long Lost Friend a Gift

Today was a productive day.  Felt sort of crappy while I was in the middle of it but now towards the end I can say that it was, in fact, quite a productive day.  Woke up with ten minutes to get to work on time and somehow managed to do that.  Left work and picked up a few things.  Got home went for an hour long run. 

I think it was about seven miles or so.  My arms and shoulders started to really hurt while I was running.  Not my legs or my guts.  My arms and shoulders!  We have workout club (weights and strength training) on Wednesday nights so that could explain some of it but still...I need to run more. 

I don't think that finding a long lost friend is that arduous of a task anymore.  With the internet and facebook you can pretty much stay "in touch" with people even if you haven't seen or spoken with them for years.  But of course that's not really staying in touch.  It's more a gossip newsletter.  You can see who got married, divorced, pregnant, moved, fat, bald, old, etc.  I wanted to try to get a little more personal with a friend of mine I haven't seen in nearly five years. 

I actually sang at his wedding and that's the last time I saw him.  I was able to sort of meet his fiance/wife then but not really.  I think I remembered her from high school although she was a year or two younger than me.  My long lost friend is a guy that I was really close with during a super awful time in my life and he really helped me through it.  After I had my head on straight again we didn't hang out as much.  We still talked pretty frequently when I lived closer to him (like in the same state) but once I moved away for college we really lost touch.  We hadn't talked for almost two years when he asked me to sing at his wedding.  I remember saying we needed to stay in touch and now here we are having not spoken five years later. 

I decided in order to rectify the situation I would send him and his wife a gift.  I don't have a lot of money and I know my friend wouldn't want me to spend a lot.  Some people say this but my friend is the type of guy that means it.  So I bought his wife one of those screw-top reusuable washable water bottles.  I know that might seem sort of lame but I don't really know her that well and I figured this way at least I know it's something she can actually use.  It's a pretty decent one.  A name brand from Target.  For my friend I reunited him with a piece of artwork that he had left at my house a long time ago.  He may have never intended for it to even be considered artwork.  It might have just been a doodle.  But I know I held on to it for a long time.  It's probably been hung up in whatever man cave I occupied for the past 13 years.  He's a pretty badass artist and this picture was a little morbid but still pretty cool.  It was a guy that looks like he's being attacked by zombies.  I say "looks like" because the drawing wasn't finished.  It was more of a sketch really.  I sent that and a mix cd of all sorts of awesome songs.  When we were close I would be constantly making him mix tapes or letting him borrow cds and tapes and records.  It might be weird for a 30 year old man to send another 30 year old man a mix cd but I don't really give a fuck.  I think I would love to receive one in the mail so why not send one to my long lost friend?

Money spent so far:  $66.89

01/02/13 - Day 8 - Care Package for Soldier

I think some planning is in order for this project.  Because today I broke the bank, nearly tripling my total money spent in one day.  I have to plan my shit out at least a week in advance so I can budget.  Now is not the time to be spending money I don't have, even if it is on anonymous attacks of kindness.

Before I get to what I spent my money on I have noticed something about myself in that past week.  I have been keenly aware of how nice or not nice I am being to strangers.  I am trying to smile more, be more approachable, and seeking to be more kind in general to the people I see in my every day life.  It seems stupid of me to think that this wouldn't affect my every day actions but I really thought outside of the isolated acts that I had planned that it would not.  It's a good thing I think.  Although I had certainly perfected a sort of grumpy intimidation face.  Hopefully I can adjust that into a more friendly, "kill them with kindness" level of intimidation.  Not sure. 

Today I decided to send a care package to a random soldier serving in Afghanistan.  I did this through AnySoldier.com.  The website was up to date and easy to navigate and they had a lot of awesome letters and pictures from soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines that had received care packages.  They also had letters from the soldiers stating what they would like to receive in a care package.  I settled on one that was for a whole section (11 individuals) of airmen and women.  I sent snacks (peanuts, almonds, beef jerky, dried fruit), reading material (magazines and comic books) and deodorant.  I know this doesn't sound like much but it was still pretty expensive for me.  Also I was trying to cater to both the men and the women and what they would like to get from home.  I put a women's health magazine and some women's deodorant but those were the only things exclusively female.  Of course everyone can enjoy the food.  I also enclosed a little thank you note thanking them for their service. 

I am a former Army Reserve soldier but I have never been deployed.  The most time I ever spent away from home was during my BCT/AIT at Ft. Jackson.  I know it has to be hard to be away for that long.  I hope these care packages can bring them a little comfort or take them away from where they are and transport them back home if even for a few minutes.  I know when I was at BCT anything from home (newspaper clippings, pictures, letters) was a relief.  Just to know that life was going on outside of that little place I had been living for the last 3 months.  I imagine that is only magnified knowing that you are separated from home by an ocean.  Oh and you live in a fucking war zone. 

I am ashamed it has taken me this long to send a care package.  I'm happy I did it, even if I did spend too much money. 

Money spent so far:  $55.43

01/01/13 - Day 7 - Designated Driver and Installing Printers (free)

It's now 2013!  Woohoo!  I had the day off today for the holiday.  Awesome!  I predict this is the first and last time I will have completed my random act of kindness this early in the day.  It was so early it was in the previous night which was new year's eve.  I actually was the designated driver for three different people (my wife and her friend and a buddy of mine.)  So there was no drinking for me for new year's eve last night.  I knew there wouldn't really be any drinking for me anyway because my band had a gig that night and there is rarely ever any drinking for me while I'm singing.  Regardless I did have quite a few chances to drink free booze and I rarely turn that down.  I knew the cops would be out in full force so I decided to not even have one drop.  It sucked at the end of the night when people were still hanging around and buying me Jagerbombs and having to refuse.  Being a designated driver really sucks ass.  You basically get to babysit your drunk friends all night.  Listening to drunk people all night is only fun if you're drunk.  Then you drive them all home and hope they don't puke in your car.

I knew that getting my act of kindness completed so early in the morning of the previous night would leave me open for the whole day (no work) without anything to do.  Something did come up.  My mother-in-law had called me the previous day asking for some help with a printer.  I have become her official computer guy.  I don't know how I earned this distinction (my wife knows as much and probably more than I do about computers) but it was a duty I tried to take seriously. 

She messaged me on facebook just as I was getting home from a run asking me if I had received her voicemail from the previous day.  I knew a facebook message was the signal that shit had gotten serious and she needed that printer working right away.  I went ahead and installed her printer software and loaded ink cartridges and loaned usb cables.  Victory!  Two kindness attacks for the day!

Obligatory Admission:  Neither of these were anonymous.  Bummer.  However, I was taking care of family and friends and ringing in the new year in a good way.  Still counts.

Money spent so far:  $19.87