OaB #43: Do Something Charitable.

I was reading the net edition of Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, and there was this add for the Red Cross; a campaign called "Save the Mothers". It has this thing where you paint a spot on the world to show your support. So I decided to paint that little spot for 50SEK, and now I can cross another thing off my list in the process!

Well, since there's been this guy from the Philippines visiting my blog, and since I find that really awesome, I decided that I should paint a spot on the Philippines! That didn't work however, because the Philippines weren't on the map, so I had to put it as close as possible. And, uhm, I think I put it on China or something...

I got some kind of personal link as well, but I'm not sure what it does. Maybe it takes you to my spot instantly, or something. I also got this really ugly web button thingie, but I had to remove it because it was REALLY ugly and annoying. You can still see it under the to-do list.

http://www.raddamammorna.se/?11725

I now think I deserve some kind of comment from this mysterious Filipino person, don't you?

BYD #16: Get into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Okey, so this one might be my own interpretation of the task, but I think it's a valid one! Here's what it says in the book, as an example how to break a record: "Get lost in a crowd. The largest gathering of Santas stands at 3,618 people in Taipei, Taiwan". So that should mean you're allowed to complete a team performance, right?

The day before yesterday, on Saturday the 5th of May, ICA (Wikipedia: a Swedish corporate group in the retail business) celebrated 90 years in business by giving out cake, coffee, saft (I was told the translation is -ade) and cookies... And by holding a World Record attempt at blowing most balloons in an hour for a large group. And we were told that should it become a new world record, it will end up in the Guinness Book of World Records 2008! In most ICA stores all over Sweden, people could sign up to participate. Me and my friend Caroline, who also owns a copy of Before You Die, figured "Hey! We should join so that we can complete this item!"

So we did. And today they announced it's a new record! In the store we were in, ICA Mariehem in Umeå, there were a total of 1,414 balloons blown up. And in ICA stores all over Sweden, a total of 531,061 balloons were blown up! Yeah! But please, if you work in a Walmart or something, DON'T organize a balloon blowing event. At leat not until this record has been published in the book! :P

BYD #98: Go on a Demonstration.

Today's the First of May (May Day; Labour Day), so figured I should take the chance to join the annual demonstration of the socialist parties. I'm not really politically active, but I do agree with most things they demonstrated against, so what the heck, right?

So at 12.45 me and Sofia took our bikes and cycled down the the center of Umeå and joined all the others. I was told about 700 people joined the demonstration. The most fun part was the march with the traffic jam we caused and all the songs we sang and the catchphrases we shouted. When the march ended, and some guy started holding a speech, me and Sofia got bored and went back home.

I'm a little bit disappointed at the fact that neither me nor Sofia had any badges or placards though... We didn't really fit in to the crowd. Here's some pictures of us at the demonstration...

OaB #31: Host a Party.

Yesterday I completed another item. Me and my flat mates Sofia and Valentina had a party, celebrating our birthdays (which was weird, since mine and Sofia's birthdays are in July); Sofia's upcomming examination; us moving out... Basicly, we just celebrated everything we could, since it's like the last party we'll have, as both me and Sofia are moving back to our respective home towns.

It was a great mix of people, around 20, both friends of mine and of theirs. I knew or had at least met everyone before. We even had an alsatian puppy come visit us for a while!

We served some food for the guests as well. Now our fridge is FILLED with left overs!

The book has a check list of host duties. I can check a few of them, but not all.

Did you...
[X] ...welcome the guests at the door?
[X] ...check invites?
[_] ...take coats & bags?
[X] ...offer guests food & drink?
[X] ...organize games & entertainment?
[X] ...organize music?
[_] ...monitor soundlevels?

I could add some pictures, but only if someone asks me to in a comment. :)

Edit 1/5 2007: Dale, you rock; you're the best! Here's a link to some photos.

OaB #71: Do Something Nice without Being Asked.

I realized after doing this nice thing, that I had actually done a nice thing. So I checked through the book, figuring there must be some kind of item that is about being nice... I found number 71 - Do Something Nice without Being Asked. I can finally cross off another item in my book! (It's about time, eh?)

So on to the story. I was on my way home from school, and I was very happy after having gotten a VG grade on my English essay. So I walked home, and I saw a ticket lying on the ground. I took a few steps, but turned back, curious as I am, and picked the ticket up only to find out it's a ticket for a concert today! When I got home, I showed it to my flat mate, who pointed out it was not one, but two tickets. "We should go!", she said, but I was not sure I could handle the guilty conscience. So I asked my sister, who said I should try return them.

Of course I had to do the right thing (I'm such a nice guy!), so I called Norrlandsoperan, where the concert was going to take place, and they gave me the number to a person named Helena, who was the one who had bought the tickets.

I called Helena, who had no idea she had lost her tickets, but she was happy that I called her to give them back. We decided to meet at the center of Mariehem, where I live, So I could return them. I did so, and got a really nice flower as thanks. My flat mate said my nice doings will give me good karma... So now I have my very own Karma Flower!

OaB #60: Learn to Live without Something You Love for a Week.

Today I completed number 60 by being without Coca-Cola (or any other carbonated drink for that matter) for a week. (I even bought a bottle of Bailey's so that I wouldn't need to drink any drinks with soda in them).

I've been drinking water instead. It was hard at first (not used to drinking water), but now after a while works pretty well. So I'm going to try stay away from Coke for as long as I can. There was one thing in the list of suggestions that I don't think I'd ever be able to complete; Stay away from the Internet for a week. Not only because I'm completely addicted, but also from a practical point of view. I wouldn't be able to do any school work. And even though that doesn't happen very often, when it does I need my computer and the Net!

The list of suggestion were giving up TV, my mobile, computer games, fast food, the Internet and other. So I chose other; Coca-Cola.

Now I'm going to drink another glass of water.

OaB #77: Make Your Own Greeting Cards.

I completed number 77 today, by creating my own greeting card for Mirre's Birthday! It's a mix of computer printed material and stuff drawn with crayons! The picture uploader doesn't seem to work today, so I'll upload the pictures tomorrow instead!

OaB #33: Learn to Bake a Cake.

I completed number 33 today by baking a cake! It's a chocolate cake with truffle on it.

Recipe to Chocolate Cake with Truffle Topping:

Cake:
150g Butter
3dl Sugar
1dl Cacao
3tsp. Vanilla Sugar
3dl Flour
2 Eggs

Truffle:
1,5dl Cream
2tbs. Butter
200g Dark Chocolate

Melt the butter and mix butter and everything else. Add one egg at a time. Bake for 20 minutes in 175 degrees (celcius). Heat cream and butter in a pot, add chocolate and let it melt. Let it cold, then add on the cake. Let everything cold in the fridge.

OaB #3: Make an Origami Crane.

UPDATE 20/5 2007 - A lot of you visitors seem to come to my blog through search engines looking for tips on what to do with origami. Since I feel kinda sad for you (I'm so Swedish), I'm thinking I might just as well provide you with some useful origami links. How nice am I? :) Here are some links with instructions on how to make different things with origami:

Origami Frog
Origami Swan
Origami Dog
Origami Dragon

And now, to the original post:


Finally! I figured I should try to finnish one of the more simple entries, so chose number 3 - make an origami crane. I thought I'd do it in like five minutes, but it actually took me about 1 hour and 30 minutes! And the how-to guide in the book was not easy to follow, so I had to google how to make it. I actually used like 4 different guides, because where three really didn't explain anything, one explained somewhat better. So I had to use different guides for different steps.

This step actually took me a while to understand. The guide said "Fold the square to look like this", but I couldn't for the world figure out how to do that! One of the other guides helped me with this though.

This one was also a pain to accomplish. To fold it like this you had to fold it out somehow, but in the guide it just said "Fold the whole edge from the tip upwards.... ....so it looks like this." Again, another guide helped me...

Here is the finished result! It looks like a rather old crane... but hey, it's still beautiful (Yeah, right)! But I completed it, so now I'll get to stick another star in my book!! Yay!

OaB #36: Start Your Own Blog.

Yey! My first completed item! Uhm, maybe I should explain exactly what it is I'm doing.

I bought two books this Monday (March 5th); 101 Things To Do Before You Die and 101 Things To Do Before You're Old and Boring where you're supposed to do these funny little things and then put a star on the page once you've completed the item. I thought I'd start with item number 36 from the book "...Old and Boring"; Start your own blog. This way I can blog about all the things I do! How smart isn't that?

So now everyone can read about my future item completions, like "Be present when your country wins the World Cup" (Yeah, I'll have to move to Brazil and become a Brazilian citizen for that to ever happen... I doubt Sweden will win anytime soon), "Catch a fish with your bare hands", and "Have a sleep over". I'll try to provide pictures and proof of every item I've completed (for when it is possible).

Stick around! :)