1000 Awesome Things

Chapters is one of my favorite stores (especially since I can order online, finding the books I actually want in a fraction of the time it takes to search the store and find out they don't have it, and they ship it to my house for FREE!). I receive random emails from them and usually skim them over before hitting delete, but the one I received last week Wednesday peaked my curiosity. I didn't have time to read it thoroughly at the moment, so I left it until Friday. It recommended a book called "The Book of Awesome" and contained the blog address 1000awesomethings.com which I proceeded to check out.

Head to the blog for specifics, but basically he started the blog in 2008 (out of some life tragedies), counting down from #1000. As of Friday (he blogs Monday - Friday), he was at #520, so I had a lot of catching up to do. It was a 1000 Awesome Things weekend marathon! I would read until my eyes were bugged-out and the screen was blurry, take a break and then come back for more. I think my favorite part about his writing (other than, at rare moments, he sounds like my brother Lee) is that he writes simply and honestly; real and raw. There's so much truth, even in the disgusting things. Just when you thought that you could be the ONLY person on the planet that does that or thinks like that, it's there in his writing! Really, little snipets of humanity.

Almost peed my pants laughing reading #975 Airplane toilet flushes. Learned something new (and totally exciting) in #988 The Gas Arrow. Thoroughly enjoyed #850 Absolute perfect silence (be sure to scroll down and read the comment made by Joshua V - trust me, it will help!). Started to feel normal with my quirks (#641 Kicking those clumps of frozen slush off the back of your car’s mudflap) and mathematical number obsessions (#773 Watching your odometer click over a major milestone and #577 Looking at the clock and seeing that it's 12:34). Was inspired to continue teaching (in whatever capacity for the future) in #525 That Teacher - it actually brought tears to my eyes! And felt beautiful during #576 Appreciating the beauty of all your body's scars and scratches.

Can't wait to wake up tomorrow and catch my very first reading of 1000 Awesome Things on the day it comes out!

AWESOME!