1/3 Baked Idea Put Back in the Oven

Is it weird to think highly of one of your own ideas? Conceited? I'm not sure but what I do know is that in my previous post I proposed an idea that touched a nerve in my own psyche. The idea was one of my 1/3 baked ideas; essentially to get everyone I went to high school with to allow me to add them as a friend on my new Facebook page. It came to me in a flash and I wrote my thoughts as I was thinking them. Now that I have had a little more time to digest the idea it has me sparked and thinking in a way that I don't remember in recent existence.

I have expanded the goal slightly. Not only would I like to see if I can get everyone from my graduating class as friends on Facebook but I would also like to find out a little bit about each and every person. Things such as did you get married? What age were you when you got married? How many kids do you have? What are their ages? What do you do for a living? Where do you live? Where did you go to college (if you went to college)? Ultimately I would like to get a broad view snapshot of where we have come as a collective group in the 11+ years since high school.

First thought that came to mind: can I do this? Is the goal actually realistic. I would say that it probably is not. There are some that simply would never set up a page on Facebook (or whatever the new medium becomes some time in the future while I am still endeavoring). It is possible that perhaps one or more of my classmates might no longer be alive, though I very sincerely hope that isn't the case.

Second thought that came to mind: what will be gained from this? I am by no means the smartest guy in the world, but what I've learned in my 28 years and counting is that life is too short to do nothing for no reason. Therefore just about everything I do must provide me with something constructive, be it knowledge, personal growth, entertainment. I feel that I will gain some knowledge from this should I prove successful. Learning a little bit about each person will be a unique way to connect to fellow human beings in a way that most don't and wouldn't. I find I will likely learn as much about myself as I would learn from anyone else I will interact with.

I then started to just think about what got me thinking about all of this in the first place. In your life you really have four opportunities to make lasting friendships. The first is school up through high school. For the most part, you grow up going to school with a group of people, sharing common experiences like teachers, cafeteria food, cultural flash points. The second opportunity is in college. College can really define who you become depending on who you spend it with. You hear about lifelong friends from college all the time, even more so than from high school. The coming of age which takes place during college is truly unmatched anywhere else in society. The third opportunity is in your career. You will work with many people for great lengths of time and have great chances to really get to know your coworkers and develop lasting bonds with them. The fourth opportunity is in the context of pursuing an interest or hobby, and I will include church in this. Having such a dominating common interest is a superb catalyst for connecting with people and pursuing relationships with those who share this interest.

I do not attend church or actively pursue a hobby which would let me interact with others who share the same interest. I have worked at a company where I have switched locations several times and never got more than a year or two with any one person. I attended a commuter school where everyone drove to school, attended class, then drove away to study, work or party with his or her own preexisting clique. My only real chance to make lasting friendships ended 11 years ago when we all drove down the hill after graduation. I am saddened to look back and see that I haven't had any connection with anyone I graduated with in 10 years aside from running into someone while at work or when out and about.

Don't get me wrong; what I will do is not an attempt to make friends. I will not pretend to be close friends with everyone I graduated high school with. Many I didn't know at all, other than hearing their names or seeing in the hall occasionally. What I will be is open to any and all possibilities that may arise from this endeavor. If that means I reconnect with past friends in a meaningful way I am open to that. If that means I connect with people I haven't ever really known that would be fantastic. Perhaps people have a very bad recollection of me and who I was and they want nothing to do with me. I would accept that too. I am going into this with a completely blank canvas and will allow the image to develop on its own, with no preconceived notion of what the final product will be.

Ultimately, as I stated above, life is very, very short. We never know how much time we have left or what waits for us when we wake up the next day. What we do know is that every minute gives us the power to make decisions to improve things or let them continue on their current paths. I'm not out to change the world. I'm just out to change my world; to embark on a journey that could take me to the tallest heights or to the lowest depths. I just want to try something new because of how it will make me feel to do it. I would wish that at the very least, everyone I interact with can understand this point of view and will be open to helping me accomplish this undertaking.

Thanks for reading, and big balls!

1/3 Baked Ideas

As you'll see on my links one of my favorite media personalities is ESPN Sports Guy Bill Simmons. On his podcasts he has on a gentleman by the name of Kevin Wildes who is famous for his "half-baked ideas". With all due to respect to Mr. Wildes I am listing a few ideas which are a little short of half-baked. I'll call them 1/3 baked ideas.

First 1/3 baked idea: a new concept in restaurants. We all enjoy a fresh, hot, homemade meal. Shoving forkful after forkful of delicious, steaming food into our mouths is the epitome of a good time for about 95.78% of us. But even better, I would say, is reheating the leftovers the next day. Whether it is pasta with red sauce, pizza, meatloaf or turkey, the food only gets better with a night's refrigeration. Why not extend this comfort food to eating out? I propose that there be a restaurant entirely devoted to serving leftovers. Food is prepared thoroughly one day, refrigerated overnight, and then reheated upon a customer's order. The food is delicious, comforting, the wait times for meals is minimal and naturally would cost a bit less than a freshly made meal. Tell me you wouldn't take a huge plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes leftovers over a large sized combo meal for fast food. I know you would.

Second 1/3 baked idea: getting every single person I graduated high school with as a friend of Facebook. The idea is to reach out to a few people that I knew well in high school and connect with them. Hopefully each one is connected with someone I didn't know and can get them added, then that person is connected to others and so on. I can also search for others on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. Hopefully they will enjoy the appeal of the project and will agree to go along with it. This could be difficult because some will not be on these sites and I will have to try to get others to get them online. I could even have to switch everyone over to a different type of site later on if this takes a while. I could always chronicle this to put together something at the end. The possibilities are endless.

Third 1/3 baked idea (that sounded weird to say it): I will begin to attempt to lose some weight, tone up and get healthier. I will also chronicle the journey in great detail. List what I eat, document my workout regimen and also generally describe my emotions and preparation for what I am doing. I believe this would work best as a real time chronicle. I don't think I have what it takes to create a website but perhaps a blog dedicated to this purpose alone which would be updated daily. I've got to believe that while reading it every day would prove tiresome, to check in from time to time to see how I am doing would be interesting. I also believe that regardless of what the outcome would be, it would be fascinating to see the final result and look back to see what the reasons behind the success or failure would be. This would also make a good compilation after the fact.

These are my three current 1/3 baked ideas. I would definitely pursue all of these at some point in my life, if not right now. After reading this please give me your feedback on what you think of these ideas and the odds that any of them would be interesting and would work on any type of commercial level. Ask your friends to read this too. I'd be interested to hear a variety of opinions on the subject.

Hai Majide

I'm back. I know the world wasn't exactly waiting in anticipation but here I am. What a few weeks it has been. There were two reasons I was away. The first is that the past two weekends have been Father's Day and my 4 year anniversary. Needless to say not much writing was getting done during those weekends. We had good times and I enjoyed them very much. We have all taken to ABC Wednesday nights watching Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show. I have been looking for a line to sign off all of my blog posts with and I have found them. It will be one or the other. You'll see what I mean below.

The second reason I was away was due to my increased attention to sports. I love sports; so much so that when one of my favorite teams is close to winning a championship it consumes me. I read every article, watch every game, live and die by every play. Being a fan of the teams I am has been very rewarding this decade. The Lakers have made six trips to the NBA finals, winning four times, the latest being perhaps the most satisfying. My Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball team made it to the College World Series this year, as they have 6 times this decade, winning the NCAA championship in 2004. The Ducks have made two trips to the Stanley Cup finals this decade and were able to lift Lord Stanley's Cup in 2007. The Anaheim Angels won their first world series in 2002 and have been consistent playoff contenders since. USC football has won two championships this decade and played in the BCS championship game in 2006. Even in some lower tier sports such as Major League Soccer my team, the LA Galaxy have won the MLS Cup twice, in 2002 and 2005, as well as making it to the final game in 2001. UCLA basketball has not won a title this decade but made it to 3 straight Final Four appearances from 2006-2008.

These are all teams I have followed since I was 12 or 13 years old (1993-1994 for those of you scoring at home) with the exception of the LA Galaxy who only started play in 1996. To have all of these teams having so much success this decade it makes it very easy for me to enjoy the sports even more. I never have to worry about a disappointing loss or end to the season because I know that another one of my teams will be playing at a high level and competing for a championship very soon. I would argue that the Southern California area has seen one of the greatest runs in championships by a broad range of teams in history. I have been privileged to be a part of that and can only hope that further success ensues. I am back to writing until another one of my teams is tantalizingly close to a championship. I have to go now. The United States men's national team is gearing up for their Confederation's Cup final in South Africa.

Thanks for reading and big balls.