Make the perfect margarita. Then drink one, two, three or more.
Oh yes, lots of tests must be done. Second, third and fourth opinions will be necessary, so invite over your crew. Perfect for a hot, lazy Sunday afternoon, or after one of those long day’s at work, the type where a broken down copy machine leaves you mumbling curses and thinking about jumping through the window and ending it all as you make your way to the opposite side of the office to the other copier, which will no doubt be involved in a 1,000 sheet multi-sort and staple job.
There are many recipe variations for the perfect margarita, so diligent research and taste-testing is required: study your drinking guides and cook books, surf the web, ask the bartender at your favorite bar for advice, and most of all, consult your friends for details on their special, one-of-a-kind concoctions. Some notes: You don’t want to use tequila that costs over $50 a bottle in something you’ll be adding all kinds of sweet flavorings, but using Jose Cuervo is a sure fire way to keep your margaritas sub par. Just be sure to use 100 percent agave tequila. Second, forget the frozen limeade or store bought margarita mix — you definitely want to use fresh lime and lemon juice. Lastly, margaritas are best when they’re really strong but not too sweet, as are so many things that really matter in terms of the good things in life.
The Original 52 Projects
Set up an art gallery in your apartment/house.
What is it with that picture of the woman with her legs hoisted up on her dresser, sexily staring into the mirror while putting on lipstick, and the man slyly sitting back on that chair, gazing longingly? Or how about the scene of the couple wrapped up in each other’s arms and passionately kissing on a crowded street? Sure, great photos, but it seems like everyone has them hanging on their walls (especially in dorm rooms).
It’s time to take down the mass-produced posters. And yes, that includes your Matisse and Picasso poster prints.
Seek out original art, and buy it. There is original art available at whatever price level you can afford. Or, go buy some paint, brushes and some stretched canvas, and make your own paintings. Have a party and invite your guests to create a collaborative painting on a really big canvas. Frame some of your many photographs, or go out and take new photos with the intention of framing them. Build an installation in the corner of your living room. Make a sculpture out of broken coffee cups, empty wine bottles, or the scrap wood piled up behind the garage.
Put the art all over the house, of course, but designate one room, or one corner of a room, as the gallery. You don’t have to put up little cards with the name of the piece and the artist’s name, but you can definitely throw an opening party.
The Original 52 Projects
Write down the lyrics to your favorite songs.
Sometimes, you know all the words by heart. Other times you don’t know more than a few lines, especially if any of your favorite songs are by Tom Waits. Then there are songs where you know most of the lines, pretty much all of them, except for a few mystery phrases that you just can’t quite decipher, even after thousands of late night performances in your underwear in front of the mirror. A little research may be required, bit it’s worth it: You’ll definitely get a kick out of actually writing out the complete lyrics of a favorite song and seeing the words laid bare on paper. It’s surprising to see how they can either read like beautiful, layered, masterful poetry. Or, on the other side of the spectrum, the poetry of a ninth grader.
It really is the music that makes lyrics work. “Jump” by Van Halen sounds like a cool rock song. Aztec Camera’s version of “Jump” sounds like an anthem, mood and memory and all the rest of it flowing through your mind as you sing, “Oh can’t you see what I meeeeeeean.”
So make sure to play not just the music — but the right music — in your head as you write down the lyrics.
The web makes it easy to find the lyrics of most songs. Just go to any search engine and type “the name of the musician/band” + lyrics + “name of the song,” and dozens of websites will pop up with the lyrics ready for you to write up. Or, you can just pop in the music and write down the lyrics as the song plays.
——————-
With some songs, I must admit, it’s not quite that easy. Two of my favorite songs are sung in languages I do not know. One of the songs is from a tape given to me years back by an ex-girlfriend of some musicians she met while living in another country. It was recorded in a living room. It’s an original piece with some of the most beautiful, haunting melodious singing I have ever heard. The other song is from a movie soundtrack, just a gorgeous song that rattles and shakes even the guarded fibers of practiced poker faced emotions. Part of me is afraid to get the lyrics translated — I don’t want the actual words to alter what these songs mean to me. But there’s also a good chance that these songs will have even more impact once the lyrics are revealed to me. Being a word man, it’s a chance worth taking.
The Original 52 Projects
Help your friends get lucky.
Have a dinner party on the next Friday the 13th. Invite all of your good friends. At the end of the meal, no matter what kind of cuisine you’ve served, bring out a tray of fortune cookies.
Make sure to organize the tray so that you know who gets which fortune cookie. The reason for this is because earlier in the day, you carefully pulled out whatever fortunes were in the cookies, and replaced them with fortunes specific for each of your friends. You know them well enough to craft just the perfect individualized fortunes: “Monica, you will lose your writer’s block and will write the perfect ending to your novel-in-progress,” or “John, you will pass the bar exam, no problem,” or “Alex, your trip to Europe is going to be full of adventure and will include not just sex, but sexual options,” or “Sam, those boots you just bought are going to quadruple your already potent knockout status.”
The Original 52 Projects
Take a picture of your significant other while he/she’s sleeping.
Then, ask her what her earliest dream memory is, or what recurring dream she has had throughout her life, or the kind of dream that she doesn’t want to wake up from, and craft a poem out of it.
Once you’ve got the photo and the poem written, frame the photo and the poem, or make a little booklet out of them. Put your creation under her pillow, so she finds it right as she’s going to bed.
The Original 52 Projects
