Goal #128) Fight the Forces of Evil in Metropolis

I’m a geek.

I grew up with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, spending many Saturday mornings watching cartoons, and playing with action figures on the floor. And while MOTU was my cartoon of choice, other heroes made their way into my childhood. I remember one of my first comic books being Superman. The cartoons, action figures, and comic books left an impact. Today I still have collections of Masters of the Universe statues.

In 1972, DC Comics declared Metropolis, Illinois the “Hometown of Superman.” They built a large Superman statue, and they hold an annual Superman Celebration. Even President Obama has made the journey to Metropolis to stand next to the Man of Steel. I can’t recall how I learned about the city, but as soon as I did, I knew I had to go. But what would I do in Metropolis? What would Superman do? Fight the forces of Evil, of course!

On our way home from a failed attempt at witnessing a Space Shuttle launch, I consulted the map and found that we’d only be a few miles away. We had to stop! We left from Savannah, Georgia in the early afternoon and drove for about 10 hours to Paducah, Kentucky where we called it a night. The next morning, we hit the road early and dropped in on Metropolis to find it entirely deserted.

In the middle of downtown, we found the statue of Superman defending the city. We parked the car and I joined him. We stood together, watching over the town, protecting the citizens from the forces of Evil.

Mission Accomplished.

Goal #129) Have a Fortune Teller Predict My Future

It seems that Fate, aka my TI-84 Plus calculator, “thought” my next goal should be to have a fortune-teller predict my future.  In my mind, I imagined a decrepit old gypsy woman hunched over a crystal ball, shrouded in mystery like the fog swirling around the dark alley outside.  Of course, it would be raining…no one goes to see a psychic on a warm summer day, right?

And when Fate decided I’d be seeing a fortune-teller, I searched for the most mysterious sounding place I could find; Eye of Horus.  When I called, they answered the phone with, “We were expecting you.”  Actually, they didn’t.  But it would’ve been funny.  I asked if the psychic was in.  They weren’t.  What?  Shouldn’t they have known I was going to be there?  “Our Tarot reader is here today.  Would you like to see him?”

“Sure!  Do I have to schedule an appointment or will you just know when I’ll be there.”  They didn’t seem to get the joke, or they’d heard it so many times before it’s become old.

“We can get you in at 5:30.” 

“Great!” I said and hung-up the phone.  I had no idea what to expect.

Much to my disappointment, there wasn’t any fog and the shop wasn’t very mysterious.  It smelled of incense and patchouli.  The woman behind the desk said, “You must be Steven.  Welcome.  We were expecting you.”  Okay, I told her I was there for an appointment before she said that.  Clearly, I was waiting for something “strange” to happen.

She introduced me to Chuck, a soft-spoken man in his 50s.  He led us to a small room at the back of the store and asked what the occasion was for our visit today.  I hadn’t really given much consideration to what I wanted him to tell me about so I defaulted to the major issue that’s been on my mind lately: what the hell should I do with my life after graduation?

A lot of people don’t have any idea of what they want to do after graduation.  But that’s not my problem.  Instead, I can’t narrow down my options enough to find focus.  Do I join the Peace Corps?  Do I become more involved with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society?  Or do I start the business that I’ve got rolling around in my mind?   Should I take a less “interesting” path and search for a career in my field of education?

So that’s what we’d try to figure out.

Chuck had me shuffle the Tarot cards and fan them out across the table.  I picked thirteen cards.  The first five would represent a traditional path, one where I finished my education and went straight into a career.  The cards for this option weren’t looking good and by the time we’d discussed all five of them, I was convinced this wasn’t the right path for me.

The next five represented my other option.  By taking this path, I’d be following my heart and would be happy even if I might not make a lot of money.  That seemed right on given that money isn’t the motivating factor in giving up a career for more meaningful work.

The last three cards represented an option outside either of the previous two.  Basically, if I decided to take this path, it would be for the money and not for the love of what I was doing.

I don’t believe in psychic powers but what I’d just seen was impressive.  I hadn’t told him anything about who I was or what I wanted to do with my life but he told my story like he was reading a book from my mind.  Maybe my body language gave him cues as to where to go.  Who knows.  Either way, it was a fun experience.

Goal #10) Learn How to Surf

Today I learned how to surf.

Okay.  I learned how, I didn’t say I was very good at it!  Actually, I’m lucky to even be able to stand up and ride a wave.  I was falling off the board more than I was on it, though I was able to catch a couple of waves and even rode one all the way into shore.  Gnarly dude!

We spent a couple of minutes on land learning how to stand before getting right into it.  There’s no better way to learn than to just do it and figure things out as you go.  My first attempt lasted no more than a couple of seconds before I was off my board and into the water but now I had it figured out and my next attempt was the best of our entire lesson, when I rode all the way into shore.

The most difficult part of surfing isn’t surfing at all, it is the swim out into the water to catch the wave.  Besides the waves crashing against your face almost knocking you off your board, your arms get tired fast.  After a few times out I was ready to lay down and rest for a while.  If you want to get into shape, grab a surf board and hit the beach!

In all, the lesson took more than an hour and we could keep the boards longer if we wanted but Erin and I were both exhausted so we called it a day and have decided that we might rent boards in a few days and try out our newly learned skills.

If you find yourself in Kaua’i wanting to learn how to surf, go with the Margo Oberb Surf School on the south shore at Kiahuna Beach.  Our teacher, Jeremy, was as good as they get and he was enthusiastic about teaching and coaching us.  You’d be hard-pressed to find another instructor more willing to teach than Jeremy.  Mahalo Brah!

Click here to check out photos of my surfing lesson!!!

Goal #54) Visit Eldon, Iowa

Finally!

Visiting Eldon, Iowa has been a goal of mine for the past few years and despite having been in the area more than a dozen times, I never made the journey.  There was always some sort of reason not to go, the most convenient of which was always that it was “too far out of the way.”  That changed today when Erin and I took her niece on the three hour drive and played dress up at the house that inspired the famous painting by Grant Wood, American Gothic.

Was it worth the drive?  As silly as it might sound to drive three hours through the cornfields of Iowa to put on costumes and strike the same parodied pose as thousands of others, yes, it was worth the drive!  The one person staff seemed genuinely happy to see us and even helped us into our outfits.  She  followed us outside and took our photo, a photo which she has obviously taken hundreds, if not thousands, of times before.

We spent the rest of our time fooling around outside of what is quite possibly the most famous house in America (except, of course, the White House).  After taking some goofy pictures of us pretending to attack each other with the pitchfork (a real pitchfork, I might add), we visited the little museum and gift shop.  We dropped $5 into the donation container along with a Hundred Goals business card before leaving.

If you would like to see pictures from our visit, click here.

Goal #6) Sponsor a Child

We’ve all seen the commercials asking you to become the sponsor of a starving child.  Our hearts are heavy for these children as we see them barely clinging to life.  We wish there was something we could do to change their situation and more times than I’d like to admit, I’ve turned my head, diverted my eyes or changed the channel.  After a few moments, the guilt subsides and my life goes on as usual.

So do their lives.  The commercials end but the suffering goes on.  Children all over the world are still hungry, still dying of preventable diseases, still drinking dirty water.  My few moments of guilt do nothing to improve their situation.

I have always thought about sponsoring a child but I never felt like the time was right.  I didn’t feel like I had enough money.  My recent trip to Isla Roatan in Honduras opened my eyes to the struggle people face on a daily basis.  A sixty second commercial does not have the same impact on a person as being there.  I realized that no matter how “broke” I convince myself that I am, my life is so fortunate and I should give to those less fortunate than myself.

Today, instead of feeling guilty about doing nothing, my girlfriend and I sponsored a child in Honduras.  I accomplished a goal but more importantly, I am helping in a small way to change someone else’s life for the better.  I am helping give them an opportunity in life.  Helping someone else is far more rewarding than scratching another goal off of my list.

I urge you to consider sponsoring a child of your own.  It will be one of the most rewarding choices of your life.