Monday, April 28, 2014

Day Zero Project #4: Play volleyball.

Somehow I've made it through my adult life without playing a single game of volleyball. I've probably played just about every other sport possible, along with a whole bunch of other games that are fringe sports at best, but never volleyball.

And why is that? Probably because I vaguely remember being really bad at it in high school. That, and it's usually played on the beach, and I'm not a big fan of the beach. It's hot and sandy and if I was going to be playing this game it's even MORE hot and MORE sandy.

But this weekend was SportsFest (check it out if you live in the Tampa Bay area. It's a blast) and since I was going to be playing a bunch of games on the beach anyway, I figured that it'd be a good time to check this off the ole Day Zero list.

Thankfully, there was no one there to take pictures of this fiasco because I'm just as bad as I remember being as a kid. But I like to leave you with pictures, so it was a lot like this:

Except in my version there was absolutely no talent at all coming from my part of the court.

The good news is that I can check this off and spend the rest of my life avoiding the game.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Day Zero Project #28: Attend an NBA Game.

I'm not what you would call a fan of basketball. My interest in the sport is generally contained to filling out a March Madness bracket with absolutely no idea of who's actually good. And the NBA? Forget it.

But, like a whole bunch of other things that I didn't have any urge to do, "Attend an NBA game" came up on my Day Zero Project list. And if I have to go to a game I want to do it cheaply. Thankfully the Orlando Magic are not very good and I was able to find two tickets to Friday's game versus the Washington Wizards for $30 total.

And what did we get for that $30? Probably the worst seats in the entire building.

But that's okay. We could kinda see the players down there. The Jumbotron filled in the blanks, plus we had some of the best sheets for the pre-game laser show!

I must say that the Amway Center in Orlando (and the surrounding area) is a pretty fun place to pre-/post-game. Basketball, itself, is not a horrible game to watch live. I wouldn't start watching it on TV, but there are far worse ways to spend an evening.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Day Zero Project #39: Make donuts or churros at home.

Sometimes while you are doing a list of other people's goals you end up doing things that you would never have any interest in doing; making donuts, for example. I don't even like donuts. Does anyone? They are the inferior little brother to the regal bagel. They need to cover themselves with frosting or sprinkles or fill themselves with pudding just to even stand a chance versus the doughy goodness that is a bagel.

But the list said to make donuts, so donuts I will make. And make them badly, as it turns out.

First, unless you are going to get fancy with the thing, I suggest buying a donut pan. It basically takes all the hard work out of it, which I'm always a fan of.

Then you pick a weekend where you are distracted because your wife had surgery, find a recipe, and get to work. If you do it like I did, you will mix everything up, throw it in your donut pan, bake them for a bit and end up with something that looks like this.


Donut without holes! So that means they are just cake, right? Oh well, nothing that some creative knife work can't fix. Where a hole should have been, I will just cut a new one. But first I'll check the microwave to melt some butter for the frosting...

And I'll be greeted with some already melted butter.

"Why is that in there," I'll ask myself.

"Oh, F@#$. That was supposed to go INTO the donuts."

And while I was at it, I forgot the salt, too. Who needs all the ingredients? Not me.

Anyway, you cover those with whatever you want. In my case, a cinnamon/sugar mixture, because why not? I have butter-less, salt-less donuts, I definitely need a bunch of sugar.

So they end up looking like this:


They actually look good, so why not serve one of those puppies up...

That picture almost looks like a real breakfast, right? A little slice of Dunkin' Donuts right there in my very own kitchen. But how did it taste without the butter and salt?

Gross.

I'm going back to bagels.