1 Day - 1 Day

In less than 24 hours I'll begin my last day of work. 24 hours. Sometimes that's an eternity. Sometimes it's no time at all.

So, what can happen in one day? A lot. Today's theme is this: 24 hour world records. How much of something can one person do during one complete rotation of the earth?

March 23, 2010

- Shaun Jones squat lifts 1,013,350 lbs and 6 oz over a 24 hour period. He trained for six years. It was his 50th birthday.

November 29, 2004

- Arulanantham Suresh Joachim of Australia (really?) runs 160.24 miles in 24 hours. On a treadmill. This also qualified him as the world record holder for the most boring thing you can do for 24 hours.

August 29, 2009

- Irishman Michael Cotter delivers exactly 5,000 high fives at a festival in Dublin, demolishing the previous record held by American Blake Roberts, who had given 3,131 high fives at a Dunkin' Donuts in Providence, RI. Cotter's Official statement after achieving the feat: "I love giving high fives. I've been doing it for years...It's an entire conversation, without words."

August 1, 2008

Detroit, MI - Eight boys, aged 8-11 set the world record for...bouncing. They bounced in shifts, two at a time for 24 hours straight. In an inflatable castle. According to ten-year-old Mason Brott, it wasn't as difficult as he expected.

So you see, a lot can be done in 24 hours. I'm not going to set a world record in the next 24 hours, but I am going to be unemployed.

2 Days - Did I Ever Tell Ya...

That's how I picture most stories from any senior citizen beginning. It's especially how I picture the telling of stories about back in the day, or in those days, or way back when. America has its fair share of these stories, called Tall Tales. You know about Tall Tales - we learned about them in grade-school.

Did I ever tell ya 'bout the time ole Pecos Bill lassoed a Tornado?

Did I ever tell ya 'bout the time ole Paul Bunyan ate 100 flapjacks in one minute?

Did I ever tell ya 'bout ole John Henry? He could drive a railroad spike in one swinga that hammer-a-his?

We all know the characters. Paul Bunyan. Pecos Bill. Johnny Appleseed. John Henry. But as I looked into American Folklore heroes today, I found some characters that I either had never heard of or had forgotten about. Here are a few of the lesser-known American legends.

Did I ever tell ya...

...'bout ole Joe Magarac?

The original man of steel, Joe Magarac was a steelworker from Pittsburgh who was made of steel. He rose from an old Ore Mine to help the steelworkers in times of need. Of course, like any good American, Magarac was a hard-worker, a man's man. He worked 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Legend has it that Joe melted himself in a crucible in order to build a new steel mill. That's sacrifice.

...'bout ole John Henry?

I know, I know. We all know who John Henry is. But I have to give some props to the man - he was from Missouri! You know the story, but here's something I found interesting: Wikipedia has John Henry listed at 6 foot, 200 pounds. I don't know about you, but I always thought he was a giant! Still, the guy was strong as an ox and carried a 20 pound hammer. He died of cardiac arrest after racing a steam-powered hammer. Wow.

...'bout ole Febold Feboldson?

The Swedes seem to have a big presence in the Great Plains. Their hero is Febold Feboldson. Febold, a Nebraska boy, is known as the "drought-buster". A drought is a farmer's worst nightmare. A good harvest means that you need plenty of rain. One year in particular, there was a serious drought. So dry that ink dried and blew away in the wind before it could get to the paper. So dry that falling snow created dust-storms. So dry that ole Febold's log cabin dried out and shrunk to the size of a dog-house. And that's when he got to work. Febold built huge fires near the lakes in the area, so huge that the water evaporated, turned into clouds, and viola - rain!

...'bout ole Tony Beaver?

Tony Beaver was Paul Bunyan's cousin. Who knew?

3 Days - Walk On

I'm going on a pilgrimage. In less than three weeks, a few of my friends and I will be walking through the fields of Northern Spain on our way to Santiago de Compostela. I've had it in mind to take this trip for a long while, and I can't think of a better time to do it and better people to do it with.

Our particular journey is the Camino de Santiago. Tradition has it that the cathedral in Santiago hosts the bones of St. James (Santiago) the Apostle, and millions of pilgrims over hundreds of years have traveled the road.

I've spent quite some time reading about the Camino and about pilgrimages in general, and there are so many amazing things to write about. Today, though, something in particular struck me about the pilgrims that have walked this road.

The End of the Road

For many of the nomads, Santiago was not the end of the road. Many pilgrims would arrive at Santiago and then walk an additional 90km to Cape Finisterre, the westernmost part of Spain. In those times, the road to Santiago was the road to the "End of the World", known to us today as the Atlantic Ocean. In those times, the Atlantic Ocean was, quite literally, the end of the world. Remember the story that we all learned when we were kids about Christopher Columbus? Columbus's journey was a big deal because he was going into the unknown. He was crazy. He was going to sail off of the edge of the world and never be heard from again.* To the pilgrims, the Atlantic Ocean represented death, the unknown, and when you walked through Santiago and on to the ocean, you came face to face with death.

And then you turned your back on it and walked away.

Going Back...

Except for rare occasions, the ancient pilgrim finished the trail, did an about face, and walked the entire thing all over again. You're only halfway there. A months-long journey just got months-longer.

There is no "end of the road" when you go to Santiago. The pilgrimage is a metaphor for life. You keep moving. You have significant moments and insignificant moments. You stub your toe. Your legs get tired. You get rained on. You feel the breeze. You see the most beautiful flowers. You get hungry.

You walk.

You keep walking.

You follow.

Today, most pilgrims that finish the trail head to the nearest bus-stop, airport, or train station and catch a ride home. That's what we are doing. You may not walk back, but you still go back. To something new. And you are new, too.

*This theory is actually false. Most Europeans and even ancient Greeks held the belief that the world was spherical. The issue in Columbus's day was not the shape of the earth, but the size of the earth. But the ocean, the end of the world, was still representative of death.

4 Days - My Life in Song Titles With Parentheses and Run-On Sentences

Today's theme (thanks to one of my top g-chat-at-work buddies, Molly) is "My Life in Song Titles with Parentheses and Run-on Sentences". I'll assign a song title to each event or season of my life. This track-list is in somewhat chronological order up through high school.

• It's a Boy! (or, The Child Who Came Out of the Womb Sweating)
• "Slow Down, Please!" (or, Mom's Famous Last Words Before Rushing the Kids into the House While an Undercover Police Officer Gets a Shotgun Out of His Trunk and Breaks Down the Neighbors' Door)
• Swing-set For Sale! (or, The Story of Two Child-Entrepreneurs Who Sold Their Swing-set In Order to Buy a Nintendo Entertainment System)
• Becoming Left-Handed (or, the First Day of Kindergarten With a Broken Elbow From Climbing Up the Door Frame Like Spider-Man and Being Pushed From Behind By Someone Who Shall Remain Unnamed)
• What Should We Watch? (or, Memorizing Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Dumb and Dumber)
• Hampsey's Funeral
• Wearing T-Shirts While Swimming May Not Look Cool, But When You're Sunburned This Bad, It's Necessary (or, The Family's First Trip to Florida)
• The Butt Cut and An Unhealthy Obsession With All Things Star Wars (The Middle School Years, Part I)
• Because Stone Cold Said So! (Professional Wrestling Pay-Per-View Events, or, The Middle School Years, Part II)
• A T-Shirt Again? (or, The Second Family Trip to Florida)
• Cut From the Golf Team (or, The Last Time I Ever Played Organized Sports)
• Are You Still Awake? (or, Meeting Jesus at a Sleep-over)
• Brian's Couch, Matt's Couch (or, Weekends and Summers in the Basement)
• Me and Steve (or, Tuesday, Tacos, and TV: The Best Day of The Week)
• Hit and Run (or, The Summer of the Water Balloon Slingshot)
• Finally Free! (or, The Child Who Came Out of the Womb Sweating Sweats Through His Graduation Gown)

5 Days - The Art of Correspondence

This morning before work, my roommate Matt informed me that he needed to write a letter. Matt's brother is currently studying abroad in South Africa, and they email frequently to keep up with one another. But today Matt has to write a letter. His brother's girlfriend is sending a care package and asked Matt if he would like to include a letter for his brother.

And that's when we got to talking. What should he write? He can't write about the last few weeks of his life, because that's all in the emails. What do you write in a letter that someone may not read for days? How do you develop a thought on paper when lives are organized for immediate response and rapid-fire, short-sentence conversation? How do you write a letter, and what do you say? And why do you write a letter?

We all love receiving mail. There's something special about it. Anticipation. Excitement. Delayed gratification. Emails and texts are a dime a dozen, and they lack the emotional response that a good hand-written letter does. Yet, very few people I know write letters. With 5 Days left, I went exploring. Ironically enough, most of today's thoughts are the result of emails, google-chat, and conversations. I'm using the internet to learn about not using the internet.

No Backspace

My friend Katie said this about letter-writing: there is no backspace. And it's true. Writing a letter forces you to think ahead. It forces you to develop thoughts in a more complete way before putting them on paper. The reader knows this, too. Receiving something that is hand-written is special. You know that thought and care was put into the process. Someone thought about you, got out a pen and paper, took time to write to you, folded it and put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it, wrote your name and address on it, and put it in the mail. It may not seem like much, but it is.

The Letter Experience

Receiving and reading a letter is an experience. It involves more of the senses. You can feel the weight of the parcel, you feel and hear the tearing of the envelope in order to reveal its contents. The paper has texture, and the handwriting has character. You can hold it, fold it up and put it away, and open it up again. You can even smell it. Maybe it was written in a coffee shop. Maybe it has a hint of cigarette smoke. Maybe, like in the old days, there was a mist of cologne or perfume sprayed on the paper. All of these things enhance the reading experience and make the letter more than something you just read. You experience a letter.

Recovering the Art of Correspondence

My parents were adamant about sending hand-written thank-you notes when I was growing up, and I still do. I've written hundreds of them. It takes time. It takes thought. It takes finesse. But it's been a while since I took the time to sit down and write a letter.

When I was in the first grade I wrote a letter to a soldier in Iraq. I even included a picture of tanks and airplanes and Bald Eagles. Weeks went by, and then I received an envelope that had a whole bunch of strange stamps and writing on it. Inside was a letter from my new pen-pal and an Iraqi five dollar bill. As a seven year old kid, I loved it. I opened my letter and looked at it over and over again. I brought it to show and tell. And I still have it.

6 Days - NFL Draft Day

Today is Earth Day. It is also NFL Draft Day.

In celebration of both holidays, I'm wearing my official Kansas City Chiefs polo. I had never worn a Chiefs Polo until last summer, and let me tell you, I love it. It's different from wearing a t-shirt or a jersey. I feel very official, like when I put on this polo I know things about football that I otherwise do not. And the people who see me wearing my Chiefs polo know that, too. "That guy has a Chiefs polo. He's a serious fan." I like to think that if I tucked my polo into pair of pleated khakis and put on a pair of white sneakers, I could easily make my way into a coaches' meeting or even onto the field.

I found the polo in a pile of old clothes that someone was giving away. One man's trash...

There is actually a term for this in the NFL Draft. The very last player chosen in each draft is labeled "Mr. Irrelevant". The idea is that the last player chosen in the draft is kind of a novelty. He will make no impact as a professional football player. He's almost unwanted.

Last year the Chiefs had the final selection in the NFL Draft. "With the 256th pick in the NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select...Ryan Succop, kicker, University of South Carolina."

Mr. Irrelevant is celebrated with a trophy and an entire week-long event in Newport Beach California. It's a charity event, and it's also a way of celebrating a guy that probably won't make it much longer as a football player. (Side note: In 1967, Jimmy Walker was Mr. Irrelevant. Just weeks later, he was the number one overall pick in the NBA.)

But every now and then one of those last picks in the draft makes an impact.

As it turned out, Ryan Succop was one of those rookies. Succop became KC's starting kicker, and by the time the season was over, he had kicked a lot of field goals. In fact, he kicked more field goals than any rookie in Chiefs history. He also tied the NFL record for field goal percentage for a rookie. The Chiefs won only 4 games in 2009, but Succop had a huge hand in those wins. In week 6, he accumulated all of KC's offensive points by himself, and in week 11 he kicked the game winning field goal in overtime. Succop was Kansas City's rookie of the year.

Mr. Irrelevant was very relevant.

What does all this mean? First, It means that sometimes the draft is a crapshoot. Yes, there are reasons that the players that are taken at the beginning of the draft are taken at the beginning of the draft. People believe that they will be exceptional football players at the pro level, and to some degree they have proven that. But sometimes people, and things, just fly under the radar. They were good all along, and no one noticed.

And sometimes you just get surprised. All of a sudden, someone who is relatively unknown steps into the spotlight. Many of the characters we find lovable in movies, books, and TV shows have at least a hint of this to their stories.

Junk. Late draft picks. Ryan Succop. Mr. Irrelevant. My Chiefs polo.

7 Days - DaVinci Day

In 2006, I spent over five months living in Milan, Italy. Milan is the home of the Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church which houses Leonardo DaVinci's The Last Supper. The Last Supper, along with along with Michelangelo's Creation of Adam and Leo's own Mona Lisa, might be the most famous painting in the world.

Like I said, I spent five months living in the same city that housed one of history's greatest masterpieces. In fact, I went to school about two blocks away from the church, just a short walk.

I never went to see it. I had tons of excuses: I'm saving money for travel. I'm not really "into" art. I've already seen the Mona Lisa. I'll do it later; after all, it's just down the street. Eventually, when my brother and a friend came to town and we did try to see it, the church was booked solid through the summer.

But don't write me off as shallow just yet. I did read The DaVinci Code while I was over there. And I did tour the Vatican. Two out of three ain't bad, right?

Today, though, I pay Leonardo his due. Wikipedia, here I come. Again.

Wikipedia has a huge article on DaVinci. There are even tons of "sub-pages" specifically about his personal life, his scientific studies, and his art-work. This guy's a big deal. I dive right in. Basically, Leonardo was famous for being the go-to-guy for just about everything. He is, literally, the definition of "Renaissance man".

By about 3pm, I'm thinking that maybe I bit off more than I could chew with this one. Don't get me wrong - this guy is super-interesting. But there is just too much info here. It's absolutely fascinating and absolutely overwhelming. I think I'll give you some fun facts and call it a day.

1. Leonardo compiled volumes of scientific observations that included studies of animals, astrology, geometry, human anatomy, and prototypes for things like flying machines, submarines, tanks, missiles, underwater breathing devices, and large bridges - this is the 1400's, folks! Bill Gates bought one of these books for over 30 million dollars. It is the most expensive book in the world.
2. The books, as well as most anything DaVinci wrote, were written in mirror image. Right to left and backwards. There are many theories on this, but the most practical view is that he learned to write backwards because he was left-handed and didn't want to smudge the ink.
3. Despite designing war-machines, DaVinci hated war. He thought it was madness. And he was a vegetarian. Has anyone ever been an Italian and a vegetarian?
4. In addition to being uber-smart and uber-artistic, Leo was an amazing socialite. He was good looking, could carry a conversation about anything, was humble, and was always generous. He was also super-strong. According to a contemporary of his, Vasari, DaVinci "with his right hand could bend the ring of an iron door knocker or a horseshoe as if they were lead." Again, he was left-handed.
5. For any of the lady-readers who might be swooning over this ultimate-man, hold that thought. Many believe Leonardo was a homosexual, or at least celibate. He had no children.
6. There is a Ninja Turtle named after him.

Vasari, again says:

"In the normal course of events many men and women are born with various remarkable qualities and talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind....Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty who displayed infinite grace in everything he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied were solved with ease. He possessed great strength and dexterity; he was a man of regal spirit and tremendous breadth of mind..."

Here's to you, Leonardo!