Day 175

Today's task for the book was to "Go on strike", but in light of recent events I don't think I can do this one today. This morning, I received the terrible news that one of my very good friends had lost her long battle with a bad illness. Mariah was an amazing person who brightened the life of everyone she knew. She was one of my best friends, and one the the very small group I kept in contact with after high school. I could recall countless times of the weird shenanigans we would all get into and all the great times we would have together. She was also one of my few friends that has actually followed what I've done for The Book and what I've been posting on this blog. We had actually made plans not too long ago that I would get her a copy of The Book for Christmas and we would try doing it together next year. Continuing on The Book today just wouldn't feel right knowing that she wouldn't be able to read it and get a good laugh in.

Mariah was by far one of the strongest people I've ever known. Even in the face of everything that she went through, she had a positive outlook and always found a way to laugh about things. Whenever I would talk to her, I always felt that if she could go through everything that she had to, I could make it through my dumb, trivial little problems. While we're all sad to see her go, especially so young, we can remember that she isn't suffering anymore and her fight is over. We all love you so much Mariah, and I hope that you can finally rest easily.

Day 174: Body Hair Day

"We normally take our body hair for granted, often shaving it off in shame. No more: today, celebrate your ape ancestry by tending to your body hair."

Well, I didn't shave today, so I guess that's as good as I can really do for this one.

Day 173: Come up with your own Book page idea

"Send it in to us c/o literary agent Scott Waxman, 80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1101, New York, NY 10011, USA. If it's any good, we'll use it for free in the next edition. If not, we'll send you a humiliating put-down letter that'll make you feel small. Sharpen those pencils!"

Day TBD: Give The Book to someone as a gift

"At this point, you've probably had plenty of life-changing events take place whilst following our instructions. Why not enrich a friends mundane life with their very own copy of this Book! They'll appreciate the gift and we'll appreciate the sales. CHALLENGE MODE: Give a copy of The Book to a complete stranger."

I've known that I wanted to gift the book away at the end of the year pretty much since I started. While this may or may not get picked to go into a new Book, I'm still going to go for it myself.

Day 172: No Sleep Day

"We only sleep seven to nine hours a night out of social convention. Indeed there is evidence that too much sleep is harmful. Famous French Emperor Napoleon managed with only 4 hours and thus found time to conquer Europe. Tonight, don't got to bed at all and discover what you can achieve in the extra time."

To say that today was a challenging day would be a gross understatement. Those of you who know me, know that I'm more often than not asleep. Rather than simply not going to bed for a night, I decided to stay awake for a full 24 hours. The first few hours weren't too bad, I just got to stay up and watch movies with my friends. But after they had gone to bed, I needed to find ways to amuse myself during the wee hours. I wasted a bunch of time browsing around online, which is kind of what I normally do anyway. Around 4am, I decided to take a leisurely stroll around campus and take in some of the sights that I never really noticed before. This place is actually really nice when you have it all to yourself. I also took some time to enjoy the sunrise this morning, which I haven't done in a LONG time, so that was especially nice. The rest of the day pretty much went like any other day, aside from being exceptionally tired and a little bit dizzy. While it was nice to see how long I can go for, this isn't something I would suggest that anyone do this. It's really nothing special to get excited about. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with the inside of my eyelids that I think I may be running late for.

Day 171

"Stick a message on a fruit."

I had a picture for this, but for some reason my phone decided to delete it. But I had stuck a bright purple sticky note with the words "Eat Me!" written on it to a banana that was sitting in the fruit basket in the dining hall. It wasn't there this morning, so I'm guessing to was eaten.

Day 170

"Today, sell something that you have made."

Today, I drew the following picture for my friend's sister to hang in her son's room for the low low price of $1. I know it's not much, but I didn't have anything really planned out for this.

Day 169: Speak only in clichés

"In this day and age in the final analysis you're got to grab the bull by the horns and give one hundred and ten percent if you want to stay ahead of the game. After all, it's a dog-eat-dog world where the fat cat powers that be will stab you in the back with a crushing blow if you don't come up to scratch and you won't know what hit you so don't get caught napping with your pants down - because then unless you get your act together and cut the mustard, you're well and truly up or a rude awakening, at least according to the doom merchants. Though let's not make a drama out of a crisis; look on the bright side: even if it all goes pear shaped and you're left in the lurch, your heart is in the right place and now so long as you can keep your head above water and the wolf from the door, you'll be able to spend time with your family and get away from it all. Anyway, let's do lunch so I can rub it in. Have a nice day."

I know I normally use clichés pretty often, for obvious reasons, but I didn't notice that I had used them any more than I normally would.