GAHHHHH

Okay. I'm not even going explain my inexcusable hiatus. I'm just going to write my about my tasks (probably not going to be as long as detailed as I would like, just to save time and your attention span). I'm just going to start where I left off. Here goes nothing.

Day 30: Ignore Today
I took "ignore today" as meaning, "Ignore the book, ignore the tasks, ignore anything to do with your mission with this book." So technically I shouldn't even have a post for this day. Oh well.

Day 31: Nauru Awareness Day
Apparently there is a very tiny island off the coast of Australia called Nauru and it is possible that it will be completely submerged by 2100 because of global warming. Sad, right? Well, that day we were supposed to write a postcard to the president of Nauru letting them know they haven't completely been forgot about. Here is my postcard (I decided to write a haiku):

Dear Mr. Ludwig, (that's the president's first name. doesn't sound very nauruian to me)

Your island is small
I hope your people don't drown
Buy a lot of rafts

Sincerely,
Betty C.

I thought he would appreciate my advice.

Day 32: Control Your Dreams
Well, I pretty much screwed this task up. We were supposed to think about hedgehogs, airplanes, and midgets throughout the day to see if we would dream about them that night, because supposedly you can control your dreams that way. I had read this task a couple days ahead, and for some reason I thought it had said think about those things right before you go to sleep, not throughout the day. I think I thought that because supposedly whenever you study something right before you go to sleep, you remember it better or something. But anyways...I was about to go to bed that night, and I got the book out and read the task, and I was like...well, wonderful. Totally messed that up. But I decided to do it my own way.

I kind of have little crush on this guy. Vince will be his name. So, I was like...maybe, if I think about him really hard before I fall asleep, I will dream about him (and NO, not in that way for anyone who reads this with their mind in the gutter). I couldn't really just sit there and think about him, so I decided to write a story about him. So, I wrote a story about him, and no I won't type it on here, sorry, and then I went to sleep.

Did I even remember my dreams the next morning? No. I could have dreamed about Vince being a midget riding a hedgehog shaped airplane, but we will never know...

Day 33: Paranormal
This day we were supposed to be on the "lookout" for paranormal activity. This is kind of ironic because I have a secret obsession with the supernatural/paranormal. Well, I was more obsessed a couple years ago, but it's still an interest of mine. I really wanted to do this task well and determine if my house was haunted or something, but I couldn't really because I was at work all day. Some random weird things did happen throughout the day however, I did suspect some paranormal activity was involved. Here's what happened:

1) My alarm clock didn't go off. This is likely paranormal activity because ghosts/poltergeists love to play around with electronics. I however, also like to turn off my alarm in my sleep for some reason, so...this one could go either way.
2) At work, when I would set up the tables, I would come back a few minutes later and silverware would be missing. Again, ghosts love to tease those of us in the flesh world, and this includes moving items and/or hiding them. Although my coworkers like to do the same thing.
3) The lights in the kitchen at work flickered a little once. Ghosts love to play with electricity.

That's all I can remember unfortunately. I know there was more. This sounds terrible, but...a retirement home is kind of a breeding ground for death. There must be spirits lurking around all over the place there.

Once I got home, I got out one of my many ghost books, this one happened to be "The Ghost Hunter's Manual" and I tried to determine if my house contained any spirits, but you needed a compass and a tape recorder and all this stuff...so I didn't do it. I kinda didn't want to know anyways.

Day 34: Write to a Dictator
This day we were supposed to write to a dictator asking to stop torture in their country. I chose Sudan because of the genocide that has been taking place there for several years now.

Mr. Omar al-Bashir, (Sudanese president)

There is no beating around the bush on the subject of genocide. This incomprehensible issue has been taking place right before your eyes in your own country for several years now. Your people are dying, families are being torn apart, mothers and children raped and tortured to death. Your job as president of a country is to lead your people and protect them, this should be your number one top priority. Why will you not allow the UN to step in and help? Do you want to see the country that has given you your title be wiped off the map? Are you just waiting for your citizens to extinguish? You say that letting UN troops come in will be detrimental to your country because they will "colonize" everything. No offense Mr. al-Bashir, but maybe a little colonization would be good for a country experiencing genocide. I think any organization would.

Please consider your people and consider your country. If a hand is extended, take it. We want to help, and you should want help for Sudan.

Sincerely,
Betty C.

Yeah, I know that is kind of the most cliche piece of crap ever written. Maybe al-Bashir doesn't speak English though so it won't even matter.

Day 35: Give Tasks
This day our task was to give tasks. There are a bunch of these little coupon thingies in the book that you're supposed to cut out and give to your friends. Most of them are kind of stupid, and also for people who are older and in serious relationships. For example: "Spy on my spouse for me" and "Help me make a baby." And to be honest...I didn't do this task at all. I feel terrible, but I meant to scan the page and cut out the coupons the night before but I never had the time...and I just didn't get around to it. This will be another one of those things to put on my ever-growing to-do list...

Day 36: Say Nothing
Today we were supposed to say nothing. All day. This obviously isn't practical, especially at school. Teachers and everyone would be so mad at you and just annoyed...I seriously considered pretending like I came down with laryngitis over night and couldn't talk at all, but I think that would kind of defeat the purpose of the task...not to mention, I would have to keep it up the following days because it would be kind of fishy if one day I couldn't even speak and the next I was magically cured. So...I just ignored the task at school and planned to do it once I got home.

Once I got home, I forgot about the task...as usual. It wasn't until I sat down to do my homework at 4:30 that I remembered. I decided that for the rest of the night I wouldn't talk. Then I remembered that I had to order my dinner from Steak-Out, and I couldn't exactly do that without talking. So I broke the rule again. After I got off the phone, I decided that THEN I would start the task for real. I was doing my homework, and I think that I actually talk out loud to myself a lot more than I think because I felt like I was holding back or something. It was so weird. Then, my mom came and knocked on my door and I didn't say anything so she just came in and she asked me a question and I just stared at her and she was like, "Betty, what are you doing?" and so I just answered her. Just like that, I gave in. I gave up after that.

I liked the description in the book though, it was talking about how the world is filled with so much superfluous (SAT word!) chatter, and how it would be hard to imagine what the world would be like if you could only talk about stuff that actually mattered...like, Lindsay Lohan's latest rehab rendezvous, and Paris Hilton's new dog.

That was a joke, if you didn't get it. :D

P.S. All the ghost stuff...I was being really sarcastic when I said that, just in case you didn't get that either. I mean, I really am interested in the paranormal, but I'm not like...a creepy fanatic. Just wanted to clear that up.