Toss it mean and catch it clean.
Drop that jaw, tilt that head, and let’s get down to business:
• Level 1: Pop Practice. It’s important to start small with popcorn. There are no penalties for misses here, since the corn is light and doesn’t collect much dust if it hits the ground. This is a baby step and it will take time to master, but it’s an important rite of passage before hitting the next levels. (Note: In some circles, this level also covers marshmallows, Cheerios, and Corn Pops.) 5 points.
• Level 2: The Grape Beyond. Yup, next step is big ol’ grapes. Usually someone on the other end of the movie couch is munching on the vine in their own little bowl. If you’re feeling a bit hungry, simply drop your mouth and tap the couch cushion while saying ‘Uhn! Uhnnnnn!’ to get their attention. Soon a cold, hard grape should be flying fast at you. If the toss is good you should catch it perfectly. Other fruits like raspberries and strawberries fit here as well. 10 points.
• Level 3: Dog On A Bone. This extremely advanced move involves catching something larger than your actual mouth. An apple, peeled orange, or corn on a cob are good targets. You need to time the molar chomp perfectly and be prepared for embarrassing T-shirt stains and a black eye. 25 points.
Yes, when you catch food in your mouth you’re suddenly sitting high on top of the snack-eating universe. You’ve just combined equal parts laziness and athletic ability in a daring couch potato feat the likes of which this family room has never seen before. So when you nail it smoothly you know what to do.
Chomp it loud.
Chew it proud.
AWESOME!
Painted toenails on the first day of spring.
Bonus points for odd/fun colors. Like neon green. :-)
Seeing a certain bird, or tree, or flower on a hike, and automatically recognizing it
Seeing a certain bird, or tree, or flower on a hike, and automatically recognizing it.
I love when this happens; I feel like I’m part of something so big; poems like Desiderata, Credenda and songs such as “I love to go a wandering…”, “Boom-diddy-ada…”, and http://youtu.be/Gc_KX42Gmlc
Sorry. I didn’t mean to post the samething twice.
Hi there,
Love the site! My Awesome thing is getting up in the morning and do absolutely nothing for the whole day!! Well maybe drink some coffee and eat some snacks!
Great stuff and keep going!
Sue
Hi there,
This is great and I look at the list at least twice a week!
My awesome thing is the first bike ride in spring. That can be either peddle bike or motor. I have done both and each one has it’s own amazing feeling!!
Keep going and I will get the book!
As always,
Brian
Wouldn’t it be AWESOME if even when the contest ends we could still contribute an idea every week? I don’t know about anybody else, but I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s post and am sad that it is going to end already.
Just for fun let’s keep it going!
So, the contest ends at 5:30, I think. That means we only have an hour and a half left. I don’t know whether that is Awesome or not.
5:00, sorry.
And I totally agree about going on with the Awesome things.
Word! :D
The laugh of a baby. Need I say more? Awesome!!!
A baby in general, I think. Little baby giggles, squeals, laughs. I love it
Finding out your favourite movie is on sale
Coffee lid anti-spill plug thing.
Yeah, I don’t have the foggiest idea of what the official name is … but this is a product that I was completely unaware of until last semester. My friend brought me a coffee and it had a little green plastic plug thing stuck in the sippin’ hole. I was blown away and asked how long, exactly, these had been around. My friend just laughed and said, “Um, forever?” It was news to me, but it was awesome!
Cruise-control in your car.
Being able to set a speed and cruise on down the highway — especially if you’re in for a really long trip — is really awesome.
The people who stick up for you, when you barely know their name
When you’re pleasantly surprised by liking a class you didn’t want to take.
While I won’t dispute that a non-desired class will sometimes turn out exactly as you thought it would, I’ve got to give recognition for those awesome times when you were wrong!
In 8th grade, I wanted to take some kind of home ec class, because that’s what all my friends were taking. It didn’t work out with my schedule and I was stuck in … wood shop. I was devastated. I was mad. I just knew I would hate it. But when I actually went to the class, met the teacher, and learned what we were going to be doing, I decided it might not be so bad. As the semester progressed, I was more and more pleased with the situation: all my friends HATED the home ec class. The teacher was mean, the projects were really lame, and they had to do lots of pointless worksheets. I, on the other hand, was hanging out using power tools and making a shelf, a mirror, and a peg-game.
Another time this happened was in college. To be in the honors college at my school, you had to take a focused, writing-intensive capstone course before the end of your senior year. Unfortunately, they only offered a few, and the “good” ones filled up fast. I was in class during my assigned registration time, so I was stuck with “Combat Memoirs” as the subject to my class. I was not happy. But when I learned what we were going to be doing in the class and started doing some of the readings, I ended up really loving it. We had veterans as guest speakers and we even had to do a project for the Library of Congress where we interviewed a veteran in order to preserve some of the history. It was a great class.
Not letting your negativity get the best of you is … awesome :D
I have had that happen once or twice. AWESOME.
Talking into fans.
Standing in front of or behind a fan, your face just inches away, and talking. Hello, robot! Awesome.
When your friends get as into your birthday as you do.
I’m a birthday fanatic and totally enjoy everyone else’s birthdays almost as much as my own … so when someone gets as excited about my birthday as I do, it’s WAY AWESOME!
My friends went ALL. OUT. for my 21st, staying up into the wee hours of the morning, decorating our room/suite and plastering the entire dorm hallway and building with decorations letting everyone else know it was my birthday. Some of them even wrote happy birthday messages in sidewalk chalk all over campus. I was even treated to a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Now that’s dedication.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v72/166/44/34300743/n34300743_32748297_7438.jpg
Awesome!!
When you end up in a class with a truly caring teacher who wants you to succeed and helps you accomplish your goals. Awesomeness.
For girls, when you find the perfect shade of lipstick.
For guys, when you find the perfect….aftershave? Sorry, I’m not a guy, so I’m not sure if a guy would think that is awesome or not.
I would say when we are enjoying the look at a girl with perfect lips and perfect lipstick on..
Children’s museums.
Going to a children’s museum with a child is great; you get to watch them explore and learn, and that’s fun, right? Yes.
Something that’s even more fun is going to one without a child. Going as a twenty-something just for the sake of your own fun is really awesome.
A few weeks ago, I went to visit a friend in a big city, where there are lots of places like this. We, of course, planned a day full of them, because they’re just too fun to pass up. At one point, we were in a room that gets totally dark … then a light flashes, and your silhouette is cast as a lasting shadow on the glowing greenish wall until the next light flash. We were having all kinds of fun, when this guy about our age wandered into the area. We bonded briefly over the silliness of the situation when my friend asked him, “So are you here with some kids or just for yourself?” He replied that he was helping out his mom, who runs a daycare. We were both looked at each other and laughed, and I said, “Oh that’s cool. We’re kind of just here for us.” He thought it was hilarious. And it was. And it was awesome.
The first time a baby who is learning to talk says your name….and then the rest of the evening when she refers to you with it, because she really really gets it!
Finding out that it really is a small, small world, even in the big bad city.
Randomly meeting a friend’s friend whom you have heard of but never met…but at another friend’s party in a completely different social circle. The moment it somehow all clicks and figures out is pretty awesome!
Something I find awesome is verifying brand label statements. Orange juice made from 15 fresh oranges? Try it out, juice 15 oranges, does it taste the same?
The current test is a chip container claiming to have roughly 100 chips. Beside it is a notepad with a tally. We are at 73, there’s bets on how many there really is.
Being reminded that there is something out there beyond yourself and your surroundings
No matter what your religious affiliation may be, whether you believe it’s the aliens changing the weather or God shining the sun bright over your day. The idea that we are not alone and are given the beauty of nature is awesome. When it’s 30 degrees and raining on Monday and 65 and suny on Tuesday, now that’s AWESOME!
Listening to stories from your childhood is AWESOME. My mom always pulls out the best ones when our family gets together. It seem that there will always be those same stories that will live on as we get older. But why do they always have to be so embarrassing?
Pausing for a few seconds and realising that your hiccups, that you’ve been frustratingly dealing with for the last half an hour, have finally stopped.
Awesome!
The “Never-ending pee” :)
Finally perfecting something you spent a long time practicing!
The excitement when you were little and did something for the first time…jumping off the high dive, snapping your fingers, riding a bike without training wheels :) AWESOME!
When you are just doing something and suddenly it reminds you on one certain situation in your childhood. And you keep on thinking about that situation for the rest of your day – welcome back to your childhood!
SOUND! My mom & I decided to list all of the best sounds in the world which included:
*coffee brewing
*a winning slot machine
*people on a downhill slope of a roller coaster
*rain
*a welcome shower *the rustling of autumn leaves
*light windchimes * a baby’s laugh
*birdsong * a kitten’s purr
*waterfalls *a dog’s “welcome home” bark
*rivers *kids on a swing set
* waves *the revv of a good car
*the heartbeat of your significant other
and a ton more.
AWESOME!!
Great list!
Coffee brewing is also one of the most awesome SMELLS!
Another one would be the consistent clicking of an old typewriter.
Of course it is after the contest is closed that all these awesome things flood my brain. Oh well, I’ll post them anyway.
Snopes.com
James Cagney
Cary Grant
MacGyver
Hmmmm….I’ll think of more later.
Experiencing beginners’ luck.
Winning something in a contest you entered ages ago and forgot about.
Riding roller coasters in the rain.
Yes! Two great things put into one.
Awesome is family time when all your kids have grown up and left the nest! We just got back from a whole week with everyone all together. It was the greatest!
When the price sticker comes off perfectly in one try.
We’ve all experienced the frustration of what could possibly be the worst feeling in the world. You peel the sticker off your new product and somewhere during what should be a simple process, something goes terribly wrong. What was once a complete sticker shreds into two layers. The top comes off in your fingers, leaving that stubborn, rough layer on your product. You now have a few choices…
1- the fingernail scratch
2 – the finger rub
3- water and washcloth method
4 – the great invention created just for moments like these called Goo-Gone
Had you only been able to get the sticker off in one try, you would have avoided the pain and frustration of this process. That is why those rare moments when the sticker comes right off are enormously awesome!
a hat that fits just right, looks good, and receives positive feedback. the perfect hat; cause not everyone has great hair…AWESOME!
Yes! Yes! YES!
Getting something cheap when you didn’t expect to. One time I went to buy a book, and the price sticker says $14.99. When I took it to the register, they scanned the book and it came up as one cent. And you know what? They just let me have it for a penny, no “price check on xxx”, no making me pay full price, they just LET me have it. It was AWESOME.
Wearing your grandmothers jewelry/grandfathers watch
My grandmother passed away 4 years ago this May, and my aunt sent out pieces of her things to all the relatives. I got a small bag with mostly earrings and necklaces that I thought were too ugly to wear, except for the last pair of earrings… I wore them this Easter, and I was proud to say I was wearing her jewelry.
My dad hasn’t given up her engagement ring yet, but I would feel so blessed and honored if he gave it to my boyfriend to propose with. I would love to wear a piece of family history and pass it on to my children!
AWESOME!
Puppy kisses are the BEST!
My animal rescue took in a mother dog with 10 newborn puppies. She started having seizures after giving birth, so she was put on medication and was not allowed to nurse. We gathered an army of 60+ volunteers to bottle feed 10 ravenous puppies every 3 hours!
By the time they were 4-5 weeks old they started eating canned food, and at 6 weeks we split up the litter. 5 stayed at the original home and 5 came to my house! There is nothing better than being chased, tackled, and licked to death by 5 tail-wagging, wriggling pups in the grass on a warm spring day.
4 of my 5 pups are adopted out now, and it’s breaking my heart to see them all go one by one. But I know they’re going to good homes to spread the puppy love!
Puppy kisses = AWESOME!
Mathematics. Seriously. I think math is pretty awesome, people.
Think about it, it doesn’t matter what language you speak, what country you’re in, everywhere, universal principles of math/physics/chemistry are the same.
Then again, I got my degree in math, so if you think that’s pretty weird, you’re free to not listen to me. :-P
Seeing older couples hold hands. It gives me hope.
Praying.
When you remember what you forgot you were going to say!
Feeding a baby.
You fill the spoon with babyfood (applesauce with berries) and give her a taste. She opens her mouth wide…..it’s not cereal, it’s not carrots, it’s GREAT!mmmmm…more! You’ve got to keep up the pace, or she gets anxious! Sauce on the chin, sauce on the nose…no matter! Keep on going ’til it’s all gone!
I also think that when you’re catching up with a friend and you ask them something and they get this huge, genuine smile on their face and you can see how happy whatever it is is making them… that smile is AWESOME!
Being able to do incredible impressions or impersonations that make your friends eyes widen and their mouths drop.
When you are singing along to song with a friend and you both mess up the lyrics at the same spot.
The sound of the perfect hit to a tennis ball.
The first day when it is actually warm out and everyone is wearing flip flops..
Finding neat stuff thrift shopping or garage saleing.
Deadline Extensions.
When something is even more on sale than it was supposed to be, you bring it up to the register and its cheaper.
When more than one thing comes out of the vending machines.
That person that smiles and says “its on the house”
Understanding a foreign language-or using that high school spanish you havent learned in forever.
When you just learn a new word and then it magically appears everywhere afterwards while you’re reading.
The person that helps you pick up all the stuff you just dropped on the ground. And being the helper.
When someone hands you their discount card at the store.
Playing with barbies and GI Joes with little kids and hearing what they are thinking about when they make stuff up.
When someone paints a picture and you can tell what it is :P
Genuine Praise.
Boondoggle.
That feeling after you fill something up with air, basketballs, flat tires, etc.
Getting a kleenex from a public place and realizing its the puffs lotion soft lovey kind.
When you have to go to the bathroom in public and no one is there to hear you.
When you’re playing a board game and someone answers a question in the last second before the time runs out.
Seeing an old couple walking in the park while holding hands. Gives me hope that true love really does exist.
Searching online for a piece of software to perform a required task but then realizing you already have a program installed that does what you need
Finding a crumpled dollar bill, or extra awesome, a $20 bill in the pocket of your winter jacket on the first cold day of winter.