It all starts with poster board.
Getting mom to drive to the drug store to load up on the thick flimsy is a great start to a great project. Grab a sheet of white, a sheet of neon pink, and if you’re lucky one of those thick cardboard three-folds. Come on, we both know that cardboard added some scientific integrity to your research — the seventh grade equivalent of getting your work published in The New England Journal of Awesome.
Now, it doesn’t end there. Next you’re grabbing markers, spray paint, baking soda, and Styrofoam. Once you’ve got everything together you’re rushing home and getting down to science, people. The carpeted corner of the unfinished basement becomes your lab and it’s time to spend hours putting on lab coats, staring into microscopes, and pour bubbling green liquids into beakers. Also, taping.
Come on and let’s count down some classics:
6. The solar system. Jabbing those spray-painted Styrofoam balls with a straightened out coat hanger is a truly great feeling. As is painting a splotchy brown Australia on Earth and a big eye on Jupiter. If you want to go the To Scale route, remember to leave Pluto at home.
5. Volcano. There are two types of eruptions. First, there’s the Underwhelming Fizz — where you stare deep into the mouth of the fiery beast only to witness some rock-hard hunks of baking soda floating in a pool of strong-smelling vinegar. It’s disappointing, but you can always try again and hope for a Superblow — where everyone stares with wide-eyes as red ooze bubbles and slides down your carefully painted volcano onto the GI Joe townspeople below.
4. The one the kid’s parents obviously did. Also known as robbing your child of the thrill of scientific discovery in exchange for a B+.
3. Growing something. Whether it was lima beans or patches of fresh grass, it was a a classic move to study Sunlight vs. Shadows, Music vs. No Music, or Watering Plants vs. Pouring Coke On Them.
2. Coke is bad. Speaking of Coke, did you have that kid who left a tooth or some nails sitting in it for a month? The groundbreaking research typically concluded with a harsh indictment of the entire soda industry. And maybe a business card for the kid’s dad who was a dentist.
1. The one that didn’t work. Every science fair had a few of these gems. They were sad and beautiful at the same time. Because that down-faced ten year old standing in front of a dim lightbulb was learning how to deal with lost efforts and how to get back their drive after a fall. Keep that chin up, tiger. You’ll get ’em next time.
Yes, beautiful science fair moments were always a perfect close to months of hallway passion, energetic teachers, and long lonely nights cutting construction paper letters with pinking shears. Letting kids learn, letting kids dream, letting kids try and try and try — well, there’s just so much good that comes of that.
As they bottle insects, jab battery wires into lemons, and rub magnets together, you can see the whirring gears spinning with delight. Yes, all that learning just sponges, soaks in, and sticks there forever as the next generation of curiosity seekers tease their buzzing minds forward and forward and forward…
AWESOME!
Pre-order The Book of Awesome
Photos from: here
When your waiting outside the bathroom impatiently, and then you finally realize……..she is not pregnant!
Awesome !!!!!!
or just more generally, getting the desired result from the test — some people want the opposite news, so it’s awesome for them too! :)
When you’re thinking of something or someone and then seconds later it’s on the TV or mentioned on the radio or there the person is right in front of you! Coincidence? Awesome!
Getting income tax money back! Such a good feeling. Not that money is everything, but it sure is nice to have a few bucks in the bank account. Last week, I was down to $15, with both my mum’s and sister’s birthdays coming up. Then, a few days later, the government deposited the money that I’d worked so hard to make last summer into my account and all of a sudden I was rich again! Awesome!
The smell of fresh air and sunshine on laundry that’s been dried outside on the line!
Also ….
When someone you love does really, really well at something they love! My little sister just did SO well at the B.C. High School Speech and Debate Provincials and qualified for Nationals. I got to watch all of her rounds and was just so, so proud of her. Way to go! What an awesome feeling.
when you wake up and you just know its going to be a good day.
this doesn’t need any explanation, because there is no explanation.
its just AWESOME
All of the music videos by OK Go. Watching them, you can’t help but smile and laugh and feel like giving it a try yourself. I mean, dancing on moving treadmills? Dancing in the backyard? A 4-minute Rube Goldberg machine? Yep, they are truly awesome. If they ever broke up, I’d miss their music videos just as much as I’d miss their music.
spontaneous get-togethers.
Because sometimes those turn out to be the most fun.
when you are playing a board game and land on one of the huge shortcuts… esp. the big ladder that takes you to the top in chutes and ladders!!
Meeting someone in a new town who is from your old town.
Getting a birthday card from your Grandma who you never see because she lives thousands of miles away but every year you gedt that card with the five dollar bill in it. Big money! Awesome!
Coming home from a long day of work and seeing that your favorite movie is on television.
So put your feet up , grab a blanket and let the movie begin!
Licking the beaters.
Mom’s been in the kitchen for hours, whipping up the perfect meal. And then she calls you in and gives you the beaters of a hand-held mixer. You see the remnants of whipped cream and cannot hold back any longer. You wrap your tongue around the spindles and clean off every last bit of the sweet, sweet fluffy heaven that was going to just be washed off.
Even more fun when you’re a young working adult and you need to sneak it in so that your housemates don’t see. They might make fun of you. Or be jealous and grab the beaters out of your hands.
AWESOME!!
Haha, my housemates and I always fight over the beaters. There are 4 of us, so we usually end up with one beater each for 2 people, and the other two share the bowl. =p
You should win. This is the most awesomest thing ever!
Truth or Dare. The Game of unanimous embarrassments.
Everyone loves playing truth or dare. The thrill, the laughter. The dares ranging from kiss the girl to lick the bottom of your shoe. It was thrill. But the amazing thing is that, it really showed people. People weren’t afraid of being embarrassed because it means that once you’re done, you get to send someone else on an embarrassing ride.
Waking up at your final destination.
Happened this morning. Boarded an airplane at 6:15am. Closed my eyes. Four hours later I found myself on the ground…and it felt like it had only been five minutes.
You’re on vacation way out in Fuji or Paris, far away trying to step out a reality and get in a week of vacation. And then you notice someone, but no, it couldn’t be ‘so and so’…or can it? You live only 20 miles away from each other and yet you haven’t seen them in years. You’re in the middle of nowhere. Far, far away from home, and this, of all places is where you run into eachother?
*I love meeting up with old friends or finding people I know in such unpredictable spots. It makes me think that there was a purpose as to why I came across them at that exact moment. It’s life’s little joke that yes, it really is a small, small world.
EXTENSIONS!!!
how great of a feeling is it to get that extension on a college paper, or an assignment for work. Knowing that you have a test to study for and having the professor grant you an extra weekend. Now you can go out and do things at your own pace. EXTENSIONS ARE AWESOME!!!!!
Oh.. at first I thought you meant these…
http://www.easygrooming.com/image/ad_hair_extensions.jpg
I accidently wrote on another one! but, i have two awesome things
1) finally peeing after having held it in for hours and hours
and
2) ear orgasms – cleaning your ears with q-tips :)
Or using your q-tips to clean your….dog…
http://1000awesomethings.com/2008/09/09/943-using-q-tips-the-way-youre-not-supposed-to-use-them/
That feeling of relief as you grab on to the deck umbrella just as the BIG gust of wind was about to take it to the neighbour’s year or toss it down the street.
Finishing a tube of Chapstick
Typically this little black tube of lip-moisture miracle gloss, gets forgotten about in old coat pockets, accidentally dumped in the trash with old receipts at the bottom of your purse, or tossed in the wash with yesterdays jeans- forcing you to buy a new little tube when all hope is gone of finding the old unfinished one. So when you go to twist the bottom of your chapstick in some desperate need of cracked lip relief, and it doesn’t budge- knowing you get to buy a brand new tube for the right reason is AWESOME!
I love book day. The day that I can curl up on the couch all day and just read the book that I am really into. Sometimes you can even read more than one book. It is pretty outside but still kinda cold, so you aren’t missing anything by being inside all day, but it looks so pretty from your couch by the window. Others in the house pass by occasionally, but don’t bother you too much. You can stop a few times for much needed tea or snacks, then curl right back up into the spot you have made in the old couch. bliss
Going to do something and realising someone (or you) has done it for you already.
I’m a very forgetful person so sometimes i realise i have done something already, example sunday night with homework due the next day, i sat down to start the work surreding my night to the books but when i open my excercise book i realised to my surprise it had already been done.
awesome!
I walked out one morning to shovel 4 inches of snow from the driveway and sidewalks, and was amazed when I found someone had already done it!!
finding that perfect something at a garage sale! (hopefully it’s not a beanie baby, but ya know, to each his own)
How about just garage sales in general? Old records, funky chairs, used books, and those really weird, really fantastic odds and ends – one man’s junk is another man’s treasure!
Doing well on something that you were POSITIVE you’d bombed!
(Happened today on a test, and I couldn’t stop smiling.)
Reaching the cross walk right when the little walking man light turns green. It’s great whether you are walking to work/the beach/the store/etc., whether you are running late (extra good then) or just running (who likes to stop and wait for traffic while you’re trying to get a workout in?). No one likes to waste time standing around on the street corners waiting for the long line of traffic, so when you’re approaching the cross walk and see that someone else is already standing there and has pushed the button~CHA-CHING!~you may just be lucky enough to reach the corner right as the light changes and says to you “Yeah, it’s your lucky day. Feel free to keep on walking!”
Yeah! It’s like the “on-foot” version of this:
http://1000awesomethings.com/2009/07/10/725-when-the-lights-turn-green-just-as-youre-approaching-the-intersection/
that one song that always reminds you of summer!
to pee on that stick and see exactly what you were hoping for – whether it be for the good or for the bad…
The moment the shower water hits your freshly burned skin. It’s the most painful sting but yet it’s the greatest feeling. I dont know if its the sting that feels awesome or if its the fact you know your working on a great tan.
buying a new book or reading an old classic/favorite for the nth time
running through the sprinklers
meeting people in a new city that are from your hometown
finally figuring out where you know that guy in the movie from
This is why I keep my laptop next to me open to IMDB most of the time when I’m watching TV/movies!
http://1000awesomethings.com/2009/02/17/828-remembering-what-movie-that-guy-is-from/
Cheater!
Ack! What? I’m just more efficient and technologically savvy! :)
When you are watching a movie and there is actor who everyone realizes is from something else but you can’t quite figure out what movie or tv show it is. After a bunch of “hmmms” and blank stares, you figure it out and blurt out where you all recognize the actor or actress from… just before your friend finds it on Wikipedia.
And you figured it out all by yourself.
AWESOME!
Yessss!! I get so distracted when i can’t figure out where I recognize an actor from. It gets to the point where I almost can’t pay attention to the movie, but I refuse to look it up online!!
So when me or one of my friends figures it out, it’s just plain awesome!
Pretty funny, Catherine! Looks like you and Stanley (directly above) sure think alike at the same time.. One of those funny coincidences where the “awesome” just seems to pervade the universe, all at the same time!
Swimmer’s Snot!
When you finish swimming underwater and breathing out through your nose, you come out of the water and have gooey trails running down your face! Its just awesome because everyone gets it and then you know your nose is clean and clear and perfect!
But, this may not be as awesome for non-swimmers, idk.
or for other swimmers in the water with your snot??!!
When you get to the last page of a really great book…such a feeling of accomplishment.
The part of the hike when you get to sit on a rock, take a breather, and bust out your sandwich and trail mix!
AWESOME!
How about finding out the name of that song that you have stuck in your head? ‘Tis tres satisfying.
Oh, and the first day you can go outside with just a sweatshirt. Winter coat, be gone!
Looking at the stars on a summer night.
Congratulations to the winners last week!!
That brings me to my first awesome thing – winning a contest, particularly one where you have to put in effort. Not only do you usually get some pretty cool prizes, but you get the satisfaction of knowing you did your best, and the judges thought so too.
When you get the bus driver that tells everyone exiting to “have a great day!”
There’s the one bus driver in my city who uses his intercom to give a running commentary to the passengers while he drives. He talks about the weather, points of interest, current events … so friendly! Another awesome bus thing is when people getting off yell thank-you at the driver. Such a good thing to do!
A good practical joke
but the prank itself must be harmless,
something like “oh hey, you droped your pocket”
one that will have them [or you] fall for it and then a few seconds later have the *moment of awarness* a smile and a laugh as they relize that they actually fell for it. And then turn around and play it on the next guy.
Does this count as harmless? ;)
I’m going to go ahead and say that version 3.0 crosses the line in my book!
http://1000awesomethings.com/2008/06/25/997-locking-people-out-of-the-car-and-pretending-to-drive-away/
Lying in bed on a Saturday morning after you wake up but before you get up.
Nothing beats that lazy feeling.
AWESOME!
That feeling is extra great when you have someone to share it with. It is the best time of the day for cuddles!
Realizing that you don’t want to be with the person that broke your heart– Moving on!
Yeah, I know that too.
Absolutely… finally getting over something/someone, and getting on with your life is a big huge awesome!
http://1000awesomethings.com/2010/02/19/565-moving-forward/
One of my favorites memories I have is of my mother driving through the large puddles that used to gather in front of our driveway and in the storm gutters. That huge spray of water off the side of the car, the rush of the quick acceleration, the laughs from amazement and pure freaking fun, man, it was spectacular. Even now, five or so years after she died, I still beg my friends to just go through that big puddle on the way home from school and watch the water fly. Although they really hate to, they do it for me, which makes it even more awesome.
Running out of cereal then filling the rest of your bowl with another kind.
Yes!! Combining cereals is great. You don’t go hungry, and you don’t have to decide between cereals. Apple cinnamon Cheerios with Lucky Charms is a surprisingly good combo. (Though not the healthiest.)
OMG cereal combos! This is like mixing drinks, only fun for the whole family! Just like club soda or orange juice, Cheerios and Rice Krispies are your “universal” mixers. I guess you could include Special K in there, too.
Then choose your poison: are you going old-school with a granola martini? Corn Flake Cosmo? Or maybe spicing things up with Captain Morgan’s Crunch?
Then your sweet cereals are like the Schnapps and Grenadines of the liquor cabinet. Just a splash will do you.
And finally, the garnish. No olives, thank you, but a couple of Honeycombs on top? You betcha.
When you do something stupid and no one sees it.
The smell of used bookstores.
Taking the first bite into a cold, crisp apple and admiring the shape your teeth left in it.
AWESOME!
When you walk up to a door and instead of “pull” you accidently “push” and then the person behind you does the same thing and you don’t feel dumb or alone in your sillyness.