40 by Forty

Want to play a game? Guess how many times I'll have cut myself by the end of this week's challenge! This challenge is courtesy of... Jennifer Wallace, who wants to see me bleed. What did I ever do to you, Jen? The challenge Whittle a thing. Nothing more specific, so I'm aiming for the easiest thing I could think of: a spoon. "Because it would hurt more, you fool!" Obviously, mine is going to be made of wood. Whittle while you work Whittling is the sort of thing that crops up in every other fantasy novel. Inevitably, the hunk-of-beefsteak-and-death-strong-but-silent-type will whittle kids toys that he donates to street urchins to prove he's deep and meaningful. It's always described as a peaceful, absent-minded activity. I would suggest that none of these authors have ever whittled anything... Anyway, to the whittling. Firstly, I spent a good twenty minutes looking for a decent knife to whittle with. For a while, I thought I was going to...

This challenge is courtesy of... Stephanie Santschi, who I can only assume likes people more than I do.  The challenge Ask a stranger what their passion is. I'm interpreting this pretty strictly, so this is going to have to be someone I've never met before. I am going to allow it to be in natural conversation, though, not just wandering up to a random and asking them straight out.  But that would count, too.  The Problem I don't like talking to people I don't know. My dad would have this challenge done in twenty seconds without batting an eyelid, but I take after my mother when it comes to social situations. Generally I retreat into a corner and avoid eye contact while wishing I was back home. This makes discussing passions with strangers rather challenging.  The solution Fortunately, I was in America for a work conference this week. The Americans are a garrulous people and I have a very distinct British accent, which is th...

Previously on 40 by Forty... Four months ago (give or take), I started forty challenges that I'm trying to complete before I turn forty. As it's been a third of a year - and because I've not completed a challenge for this week due to children with chicken pox and my going to the States for work on Saturday - I thought a quick recap on progress was in order. Long-term challenges These are ongoing tasks that I expect to take (or be doing) for the whole year. With a couple of exceptions, they're not really things that I'll "complete" as such. Each one is linked to its respective blog entry. Learn French (me) - Going ok I suppose. I'm keeping up with doing it most days, but it's slow going. I am reminded why I disliked learning French at school. Learn to draw (me) - More fun than French! But also, oddly, harder to keep up. I've fallen out of the habit of doing twenty minutes a day and now tend towards one big drawing a week, which isn...

ACTUAL IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER! Don't gamble with money you can't afford to lose. The house always wins in the end. This challenge is courtesy of... Andy Law. Thanks Andy.  I guess... The challenge Buy 40 scratchcards. Technically, I suppose this challenge didn't specify which scratchcards nor what I should do with them once I'd bought them (make a collage, preserve them in amber for future archaeologists, fashion them into a dress that is both stylish and a comment on our modern obsession with unearned wealth), but slightly boringly I chose to get 40 £1 National Lottery scratchcards and then scratch them off.  Still, I feel this was the spirit of the challenge. The purchase Slightly worryingly, the man at the Morrisons Losing-Money-and-Getting-Cancer counter didn't bat an eyelid when I asked for forty quid's worth of scratchcards.  His only concern was that he didn't have 10 of one of the types I'd asked for, so I ended up with 10 of one sort, ...