#181-190

#181. Eat a grasshopper. I went out to Oyamel for some Mexican cuisine and got something a little off the wall. I had heard about this little gem from Elliott in the Morning, and I couldn't resist knocking off another project on my list!! I was a little nervous to try it, probably apparent by my nonstop snickering. I scooped up the little cricket filled taco and took a big ol' bite! It was a little salty, a little tangy, and surprisingly...very good!! "Chapulines are a specialty of Mexico's Oaxaca region, where the dried grasshoppers, which are high in protein and low in fat, are eaten as finger food." I scarfed it all down and would definitely try it again!

#182. Buy a DVD Burner. I'm all about the pirating of media. DAMN THE MAN!!

#183. Give wife a diamond necklace. Alright, so I'm a mere Jarhead in God's own Marine Corps, so I'm not exactly rolling in the dough. Its cute, small, and look...there is plenty of room to upgrade in the years to come where even that old hag from the Titanic movie will be jealous of the rocks she be flossin'

#184. Go to an MMA event. I went to EFC 11 (Extreme Fighting Challenge) back in 2005. It was held at the Promowest Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. I was the cornerman for my friend Dan Wallon. He had some pretty good striking background but was new to the grappling scene. He busted up his opponent pretty well, but was caught in a Triangle Choke in the 2nd round. I also got to see Phil Baroni mop the mat with some chump.

To the right of Phil is Mark Coleman. National champion at Ohio State for wrestling and a UFC and Pride Champion. I used to babysit his kids back in the day.

#185. Run completely around an island. I ran around Theodore Roosevelt Island for company PT forever ago. We had jogged along Rock Creek Park on pavement and it was pretty smooth going while we were all running in formation along with cadence. However, that all changed once we got to the island, where its all dirt paths that are speckled with dangerous roots jutting out made for some tricky hazards. It was amusing to see hardened Marines stumbling over themselves as we ran around.

#186. Buy an HDTV. Now, this list has been in the works now for 6 years. Good lord. Thats a long time. Anyways, an HDTV was a pretty big deal back in the day. So, anyways, we went out and bought a 46" Bravia and I'm in love with it. I even enjoy Rock of Love....while in costume.

#187. Help catch a criminal. I was on a ride along with one of Fairfax's finest police officers, Brendan Hooke. We were on a routine call for a shoplifter at a T.J. Maxx. It was another officer's area of responsibility, so we were just there so he could show me the paperwork side and a typical arrest. As we are sitting in the squad car, a man sprints out of the store, followed by an employee yelling, "Thats him! Thats him!" Brendan jumps out the car to follow him and I say to myself, "I'm not allowed to get out of the car....fuck this." I jump out of the vehicle and take off sprinting towards the fleeing criminal. After about 150-200 yards of dashing through a crowded parking lot, dodging shopping carts and parking cars, we turn the corner around a grocery store and another police cruiser tears infront of the running man. All while I'm running, Brendan is yelling at me, "Don't touch him!" The guy puts his hands in the air and in seconds, Brendan is cuffing him. A job well done.

#188. Have a newspaper article written about me. If you really feel like reading it, just click the picture.

#189. Buy a video camera. So when I get famous, a scandalous sex tape can surface!! One Night in Brandon?....no, wait. That sounds REALLY wrong...I guess that one only works with Paris.

#190. Break a bone. Jessica claims I've broken my toes a bunch of times by grappling, but I say they only get jammed...they probably broke. However, breaking my finger has a great story to go with it. Mindigo, Dan, and I had just munched down on some delicious fungal shrooms and I was subsequently losing my mind. We saw this heap of trash as we drove...yea, we drove on shrooms...I was dumb. We drove through a small walking trail that prohibited cars on it to further investigate. After we got out and laughed and fell, I decided that crawling into the window of the car, made much more sense than getting in through the door. As my hands were on the door frames, its difficult to explain, Dan slammed his back seat door shut on my pinky finger. He had to open it to get it out and I immediately clutched it to my chest in pain. We all had this horrible picture in our heads, as tripped out as we were, of blood spewing everywhere and a dangling finger swinging in the breeze. Luckily, it wasn't that bad and I spent the rest of the night with my hand in a cup of ice, while I was still losing my mind and yelling at people on High St. in the heart of OSU's campus. Good times. The following are pictures close to 4 years after the event.

Good hand:

Bad hand: