Decisions, decisions...

All right, after some discussion and deliberation, I've come up with decent range of contenders to pop my challenge cherry. I'm listing my own personal pros/cons for each, and there's a poll on the bottom of the page where you can cast your vote. Let's get interactive! Here they are:



Juggling
This one's heavily skill oriented, dexterous, and maybe a little bit daring. A test of hand-eye coordination, with plenty of room for creativity. The beautiful thing about this is that I can really juggle anything around the house: apples, knives, cats. It's pretty flexible and straightforward, I can't see it being all that mentally or physically draining, making it easier to practice. Now, depending on how bold I get, it could also be a little bit dangerous, but I probably won't be swinging chainsaws around, so don't get your hopes too high! It's also a pretty narrow focus. It's great for hand-eye coordination for sure, but I don't see it being the type of training that will lend itself well to other ventures.

Photography
The most creative and artistic of the bunch. What I really like about this one is that it's a fairly universal skill that most people use on a regular basis, and I would be no different. That being the case, I think photography is something that will really benefit this monthly project I'm doing, making things that much more polished. It's also something that people can easily relate to, well... usually. My roommate (who offered the suggestion) has even been so kind as to lend me his fancy-pants camera, so the con of it being prohibitively expensive isn't a worry. The thing about photography though, is that it's obviously very subjective, and hard to base a 'challenge' around. It's also kind of lacking the pazazz and intrigue that some of the others have going for them.

Fighting
By far the most physically (and probably mentally) demanding, and has the most definitive for's and against's. I do have a little bit of kickboxing experience, so I have some idea of what to expect, but I've fallen off the fitness train lately, so really the first two weeks are just going to be a struggle to get into fighting shape. That's actually a huge plus for me though, because I've been looking for an excuse to get my ass movin'. It's also a very complex world, and finding a specific martial art, or what have you, would be a first priority. One things for sure, this one would be a lot of work, but challenge is what it's all about. Oh yeah, and getting punched in the face sucks. So basically, I like the physicality aspect, but I dislike the getting punched in the face/higher potential for injury aspect.

Eating Hot Stuff
Well, I just kind of threw it in here for kicks. It's a dumb idea, courtesy of Ross. It's also an interesting experiment with the human mind/mouth, but I wonder if there's any adverse side effects... anyways pretty simple. It's actually easy enough that I could focus more heavily on things like presentation, and could easily provide some Grade A quality entertainment. It would also be punishing and not really benefiting me in any way whatsoever, except bragging rights. I do love bragging rights. Maybe I could win a free t-shirt...

And heeeere's the poll: