Life H.O.R.S.E.

Many of you have played HORSE the basketball game: you call a shot, and if you make it your opponent has to make it. If your opponent misses, they get a letter. You're eliminated when you get enough letters to spell out HORSE.

Life HORSE is similar, except with arbitrary challenges. It's a fun game, and pretty entertaining to watch. And when people watch, it leads to bolder challenges. Last Saturday, I went to a party at Mike and Andy's (friends from college) place in SF. At some point in the night, Mike and I decided to play life HORSE. I was sober, he was drunk. Advantage Paul.

My first event was a clap-behind-your-back push up. If you know me, I've probably tried to get you to attempt one of these. I'd say that they are about as difficult as a normal triple clap push up (fairly difficult). The problem is that when you screw up, your hands are behind your back and you eat it pretty hard. Anyway, this should only be attempted over soft surfaces like grass or carpet. Unfortunately, the house didn't have anything nearby so I did one on the hardwood floor. I ended up decking out a bit and hit my chin harder than I had expected.

Immediately afterwards, someone not in the game was feeling strong (drunk) and bold (in front of a lot of people). He made an attempt but his hands never made it back to the ground and he hit chin first pretty darn hard. He ended up having about a 1" long, 2 mm wide cut on his chin. Mike, learning from this experience, kept his head up and landed on his chest.

By now, a bunch of people were watching. Mike's challenge was to get into a back bridge (on hands and feet, but your chest is towards the ceiling) from standing. I have no shot, but I attempt it anyway with a spotter and concede the letter. My next event is "punch yourself in the forehead". Mike does this very well:



And manages to give himself quite a lump on his head. You can already see it at the end of the video. Here he is with the guy who hit his chin:



Anyway, the injuries seemed to be mounting so we stopped before anything else happened. I left the party around 1:30, but later in the night more people felt "strong". One person completed the challenging push up, but someone else attempted it and split his chin on the floor badly enough that he went to the ER for stitches.

Anyway, these are the facts. I'm definitely labeling this post "spending karma". I leave it to you to decide if these events are funny or tragic.

I Fought the Law and, I Won

I have been sucking at blogging. My current life isn't terribly exciting. It consists of working, working for One Acre Fund, and working out to make a good Ultimate Frisbee team. So, here's an old story to make up for it:

About two years ago, I had a minor run in with the law. It was about 10 p.m., and I was driving around near my house. I stopped at a red light, looked both ways, and turned right. Soon, lights filled my rearview mirror, and Officer Livingston pulled me over.

Turns out, that there was a sign that read “No Right Turn On Red” in big letters at the intersection. Did I say “a sign”? I mean two signs. One on the stop light:



and one on the road right before the intersection.



Well played Officer Livingston, well played. I was a bit miffed. Although the intersection is within a mile of my house, I didn’t actually remember that those signs were there. How could I fight this? Well, step one is going to the arraignment and entering a “Not Guilty” plea. Great, now I needed a case. Step two, figure out what I was sited for.

It was 22101(d)

Hm… What the crap is an “official posted sign”?

Chapter 2B of the MUTCD 2003 California Supplement, which states that: “Standard: The NO TURN ON RED (R10-11a, R10-11b) signs are deleted, a symbolic NO TURN ON RED (R10-11) or No Right Turn on Red (CA Code R13A) or No Left Turn on Red (CA Code R13B) signs shall be used instead.”

I found the CA 2004 Uniform Sign code in this huge document .

In court, I presented the evidence and said:

I present the sign specified under code R13A along with several photographs of the intersection in question. I have also included a pictorial depiction of the California 2004 Uniform Sign Chart, which includes the sign R10-11. It should be noticed, although it is a little difficult to see the signs in the night time photographs, that the posted signs do not comply with either Standard. I move that the charges be dropped on the grounds that the posted signs do not meet regulation.


The judge agreed, and sent me a judgment that read “Case dismissed in the interest of Justice.” Since dismissing the case was also in my best interest, by transitivity, I am Justice. This was a pretty successful way to spend Karma.

Cali!

I’ve been back for over a week and it’s nice having some sweet creature comforts. Like seeing my friends, high-speed internet, reliable hot showers, nice roads, and kick ass grocery stores. This time around, I haven’t had as much culture shock as last time. Part of it is probably that towards the end I was really starting to miss home, and part of it is probably that it wasn’t the first time I had left the states for a significant period of time.

Traveling is fun! I highly recommend it. I don’t deny that I’ve been super lucky in that I’ve had the opportunity to travel that most people don’t get, but I keep your eye out and take an opportunity you get one. Or make the opportunity! Experience the world!

Also, making a difference is fun. I highly recommend it. You probably have a lot of skills that could really have a big impact. Unfortunately, a lot of the people who would benefit the most from those skills don’t have the money to pay you. Volunteer somewhere!

Anyway, since returning I’ve been fairly busy. Here are the highlights:

- I got off the plane and started a weekend of three Ultimate tryouts (very tiring).
- I went to work on Monday and found out that: a) Someone had stolen my desk chair. b) my boss was out of town for two weeks. c) my boss had stolen my desk chair and it’s locked in his office until he returns.
- A fun party that my friends threw for me last Friday.