week 7: My first musical!

Hi Everyone,

Carson back at you again. This week I expanded myself culturally. I went to my first musical. I took the mother figure in my life to see The Music Man.

                                                                  

I had no idea what it was about, but she’s into stuff like that so I said what the hey! It was at one of those dinner and a show type places. The place was set up with stadium seating and wide walk ways. We were at a table for 4, but the other seats were not taken.

The hostess came for us and we went to eat from the buffet. I was not impressed. There was lots of meats to choose from—ya’ll know where am with that—and not enough alternatives. Thus I settled for a loaded salad with way too tangy honey mustard dressing, dry sour cream baked potato wedges and drown my sorrows in 2 of the Margaritas they had on special for Mother’s Day.

                                                           


AND..
                                             
Raspberry White Chocolate cheese cake. O-O best ever! (okay I chomped it before I took the picture)

The Music Man was about this traveling conman from Gary, Indiana. He had been going from one small town to the next swindling people out of their money with the idea of making their town better but never coming through with what he promised. For the purpose of the story he ends up in a tiny town in Iowa pretending to be a music teacher. His con is to get the people to invest in a band for the kids. He would order instruments and uniforms and teach the kids to play, but of course never do it. The librarian was also the music teacher. The idea was to smooze her so she doesn’t call him out to everyone that he doesn’t know anything about music. Of course that never happens. The conman falls in love, the librarian comes out her shell and everyone lives happily ever after.  

Will I do it again?
Well, the food was nasty, the Margaritas and awesome dessert made up for that. I was surprisingly pleased with the show. I had no clue I'd like live shows! They are doing Chicago at the same theater in September. I will definitely be at that show...but now I know to eat before I go.

Carson

http://www.guyslikeromancetoo.blogspot.com/

week 5: welcome to the Renaissance Age!

I traveled recently to a nearby city to go to a Renaissance Faire with a few friends. It was so much fun! It was set up like a town and everyone dressed up and played the part...

even the kids!

We caught the ail end of a magic show given by Merlin himself! LOL He was a really good magician. I couldn't get any good pictures of him doing anything because hey didn't allow that, so I took a picture of his poster outside. :)

I think I took her picture because she looked weird.

this dude cracked me up!

I don't have a clue what he was about, but I laughed my ass off when I saw him.

I did realize that if I would have lived back in this day and time I may have staved to death or been as skinny as a rail and thus useless in the eyes of these hardy folk.

There was a lot of this in the way of meals --->        

                                     

   

and if you've been following this blog you  already know that I don't part take in any of that! I didn't even bother to ask what it was. It looked like road kill to me so it didn't matter! For the record, if I did eat meat, I don't think I could eat it after seeing like this.  

How did I enjoy my experience?

Well....I liked it! It was fun and different. Kind of a cross between Halloween and a summer barbeque. I would do it again, but I would eat before I got there so I wouldn't have to eat so many desserts to curb my appetite. LOL

Carson

http://www.guyslikeromancetoo.blogspot.com/

week 4: teaching an old dog new tricks!

My best friend and I took a training course or how to fetch and do other great tricks! Not Marc, my other friend, Rico.
I had always wanted me and Rico to visit the local dog park, throw the ball around and all that fun dog suff. I figured he was old enough to hang out with other dogs and run free. Got a brand new ball and everything for us to play with. It didn't quite go as well as I expected.

I guess I expected Rico to just know how to fetch...I mean he is a dog. Cats just know how to use the litter box. You don't really have to teach them, just show them where it is. I thought it was the same way with dogs and fetching.

Yeah, I was wrong about that. He had no problem catching the ball...

 That was the fun part for him. It was bringing it back to me that he didn't down with. So we took a training class at the Pet Co in my neighborhood. The instructor not only a dog whisperer, but he apparently spoke cat and horse fluently, too! There were certificates all over his walls from all kinds of shows and proving he could do everything from raise, breed, show and give first aid to anything but human-kind! He was a modern day Dr. Dolittle!

After the 2 day indoor class and 2 days with the instructor implementing what we learned. I was amazed at how Rico picked up on the tricks Cedric gave me.

Anyway, a little about Rico.

                                                

We hit it off the moment I saw him. He had the cutest little face.

Now at the ripe old age of 2, he is truly a great dog and a good friend.

According to Cedric, his human students were the problem not the canines. Our canines can’t speak verbally so we have to learn to understand their body language and the cues they give us so we’re both happy with the results. Rico and I went home to practice the skills I learned in school.

Today when Rico and I go to the park, he catches and brings the stuff back to me, too!

                                                      
Hmm, it would seem that you CAN teach an dog new tricks! J

Carson

www.guyslikeromancetoo.blogspot.com

week 3: Playing in clay.

Hi everyone!

Carson back at you with another new notch added to my belt. This time I heard about a sculpting class they were holding at the community center for only cost $25. Since that amount was right in my price range I decided what the hey. LOL This was a project class lasting 2 hours. Mrs. Norton, the main teacher and her helpers were very patient as they walked us step by step through the process. It turned out to be easier than I thought, too.

We had to cut our own hunks of clay from a block so we could work with it.

When we had it, we had to mash and pinch it softer so we could work with.

 

Once we had our lumps, we were ready to choose what to make and head to the wheels. There were pictures hanging on the walls near tables. After you chose, Mrs. Norton sent her helpers out to the wheels to give you personal direction. They were the ones guiding us during the creative process.

 

I decided to do a tall coffee mug. It started out great! My cup was forming nicely, but unfortunately I couldn't keep the sides from collapsing. Looking back, I realize now what I was doing wrong, but, of course, hindsight is 20/20.

As I looked around seeing how cool everyone else's cups and bowls were coming out, I squeezed mine into a ball and tried again. Time was going by. With my cup not coming out the way I planned, frustration forced me to change my mind. I flagged down a helper and pointed to the picture I wanted and she helped me make it happen.

At th end of the class, we had to leave the stuff we made with Mrs. Norton. Now that our part forming the clay into bowls, trays, cups or whatever was done, Mrs. Norton would take them be fired so it would be all shiny and we could use it in real life. So, instead of showing you the clay I molded into something I will show you the finished product. My first sculpted creation!

A week later, as I was in line I saw a few of the people that were in my class that day.

This was the cup I was trying for when I started out. The lady at the next table did a great job. She mentioned she had done this thing several times before.

The guy on the other side of me did this bowl. Not a bad job don't think he'll be able to eat out of it, but if he smokes it'll be a cool ashtray. It was his first time also.

Do you see now why I was getting frustrated? Mine was not coming out like either of those. 

Anyway, without further adieu here is what I ended up with :)

 

Sure, I may have got him from a picture on the wall held over from the kids class earlier in the day, but hey, I made something with my own two hands. He was much easier to make than the cup or bowl. I call him Howard the Duck, Jr. I gave him to my niece Nicki and she loved it, too.

What did I think of my experience?

I liked it. It was fun once I decided to make Howard. I think I will do it again now that it's not a totally foreign concept. LOL

See ya next week...

Carson

http://www.guyslikeromancetoo.blogspot.com/  

week-2 ocean delights? NO!

Hi everyone!

It’s Monday again and time for me to share what new thing I have done. This past week my friends and I took a trip to Savannah. Weather was great and because they are close to the shore finding seafood places to eat are easy for me. I guess I’d be considered a semi-vegetarian. I don’t eat land animals at all, no pork, beef, fowl, lamb, goat, none of it. Visiting my uncle’s farm as a kid traumatized this city boy so bad. I saw stuff I had no busy seeing at the tender age of 8. I never ate meat again! But, that’s another story.

Anyway, my friend took me to this Italian restaurant known for its octopus entrée. Now okay, just because I don’t eat land creatures doesn’t mean I eat everything from ocean. But you know what he said, don’t you? Of course you do. He hit me with the ‘how do you know you don’t like it if you haven’t tried it?’

                                             

So, we’re at the restaurant and the server is telling us all the wonderful things about the rich history about the food. Although octopus isn’t served in a lot restaurants all over the US, it is apparently very famous in Italy. They offered a dish in all 3 courses, soup, chopped on a salad and an entrée with a sauce made of parsley, lemon, olive oil and red hot pepper. My friend ordered the soup and I ordered the one with the special sauce.

                                                       

Now when the server slid the bowl in front of him I almost couldn’t take the picture. My mind immediately went back to that scene from Indiana Jones’s Temple of Doom. You know the one I’m talking about? When the kid and the singer were with Indy at the palace and the food they were offered freaked them out because it was all bugs and animal parts? Yeah. I was freaked just like that….but not as much as when my plate came.

                                              



See what I mean! I couldn’t even take the picture you’re looking at. My friend did! How do you eat something that looks like this??? I couldn’t even look at it without wanting to hurl!

Well, since I had too, I put on my big boy pants, closed my eyes and cut a piece off. It was rubbery...and chewy and my stomach was pissed that I swallowed it. It’s only saving grace was the sauce and there wasn't enough of it to trick me into thinking I was eating something else.

It wasn’t the best tasting meal I ever had, let me tell you, but it didn’t kill me. My friend and I did end up switching meals because I just couldn’t do it. The octopus soup, wasn’t too bad. If you can get pass the big glob of tentacles in the center of the bowl to eat the soup you would find lit tolerable. It kind of reminded me of a spicy Manhattan chowder.

What did I think of my experience?

Well…you know, I paused here for a long time looking for some politically correct way to explain it, but I can’t. The bottom line is I was freaked out so much that I can’t tell you what my dish even tasted like. As for the soup I mostly closed my eyes and slid my soup down the sides of the bowl as I ate!

Trying to eat octopus gave me the willies. There is no way I’m eating that again. There’s lots of other stuff for me to eat.

Man, I hope the next 50 weeks are better for me because this journey ain’t starting off the good foot for me. LOL Maybe I'll try bungee jumping next!

Until next week!

Carson

http://www.guyslikeromancetoo.blogspot.com/  

Week 1! woo hoo!

Hi everyone!

You might wonder why we're doing this. Great question. Here's the answer. My friend Shelia's sociology teacher told the class that people were afraid to leave their comfortable zones. 

"Most folk didn't venture out of their 'norm' to experience anything new once their zones were set. They ate the same foods, drank the same drinks wore the same clothes all with little or no change in color, size shape or tastes,"  said Mr. Hertz.

His idea was to encourage them to be open to new things. When she came back and shared that with me I was like, dang. Am I like that, too? After some thought I decided that if I am, I didn't want to be anymore. I would run from stagnation and make a conscious effort to try new things. So to make sure I don't fall off the wagon I invited a few people to get in on the challenge with me and voila! This blog was born!

I will blog each Monday to share the new thing I have tried. To kick off the blog I will share my experience with a new drink I tried in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Even though I'm not Irish *tapping chin in thought. No, no Irish in there* I went to hang out with everyone else that was celebrating.  I went out with one of my buddy's and we had all the drinks they were drinking on St. Patrick's Day. Nothing we never had before really, green beer that turned out to be tinted Bud lite, Jägerbombs, shots of Bailey's, stuff like that, but there was one I heard someone order that I had never heard before. An Irish Car Bomb. 

Have you heard of it?

They used a tall tumbler and filled it halfway with Guinness stout and Jamison Irish Whiskey then they dropped a shot of Bailey's Irish Cream into it. It made this weird kind of beige foam that oozed over the top. As I watched the bartender make the drinks for someone else, I heard my friend say, give us two of those. I'm so glad he didn't pull out his cell phone and take a picture. I know my face was twisted by the way he laughed when I turned to him!

The bartender made the mixture again then slid the two glasses in front of us. Somewhere in the back of my head my warning light flashed so bright my brain should have been cooked from the heat. But...we picked up the glasses and just before the glass reached my lips the bartender said: "Take it like a shot, man. It doesn't taste that good."

I was like, damn...and did my best to gulped down the drink until it was gone.

What did I think about it?

The bartender's warning was a gross understatement and I do not use the term loosely. It was the worse drink I ever had! It is should be called TRAIN WRECK because that's how it made my mouth feel. I wanted to wipe my tongue of with my napkin but I didn't think the torn up pieces of tissue stuck to my tongue would have helped. I don't know if it was the Guinness, the whiskey, the Bailey's or the combination of it all, but it was a nightmare. It was hours later before I got the taste out of my mouth. And believe me, I tried! I had a huge Jack Daniels bacon cheese burger at TGI Fridays, a couple of shots of Ciroc and a Bud after that. :)

So, although I had a great time and I tried a new drink, it was a unique experience that I will NOT be repeating. LOL

until next week!

Carson
http://www.guyslikeromancetoo.blogspot.com/

Try Something New coming soon!

Hey everyone!
I am Carson Douglas, doer of new things and man of action (HA!) here to welcome you to our 52 week challenge. Along with Dana Littlejohn and Tonya Blowe we welcome you to follow us as we take the journey into the unknown.

We all know how easy it is to become complacent in the things we do. We get comfortable. We know what to expect and we like it that's why we keep doing it. There's nothing wrong with sticking to what you know. That’s not a bad thing, but it does leave the door open for us to fall into a rut. When that happens stagnation is not far behind.

Dana, Tonya and I have decided that we‘re going to actively fight that situation. We have come together to say in one voice, “Back up off me rut! I’m walking in the light of finding new and exciting things to do!”

A little about us:

Carson Douglas lives in Atlanta, Ga. He works at a magazine and his dog, Rico is his best non-human friend.  He also loves trying new stuff and considers himself a bit of a daredevil.

Dana Littlejohn lives in Indianapolis, In. She is an author of sensual romance, living in an empty nest with her husband. She also enjoys exotic foods, Salsa dancing and Disney movies.

Tonya Blowe lives in Raleigh, NC. She is a lifestyle photographer who specializes in everything from baby bumps photos to boudoir and will take all family growing shot in between. You choose the the memory and she'll create the moment and lock it in time.

As you can see, we come from 3 different backgrounds and live in 3 different cities so our experiences have the potential to be all over the place with newness!! Come back and see what new stuff we get ourselves into. Maybe you’ll find something new for you to try.

Launch day: April 2, 2012