Last January, I started a hobby and a second project in addition to The Hobby Hoarder called “A Penny a Day.” I wrote about the project initially in this blog post.
The idea was that I would leave a heads up penny somewhere each day, every day, for a year, for someone to find. Then I would post to a blog, photos like these:
About two months in, I fell off the wagon, leaving pennies only sparingly through the rest of the year.
This year, I am ready to get back on the wagon and try again. You might wonder what drives me to leave a penny each day, heads up, in a random location.
It’s simple.
I personally believe that something as simple as a heads-up penny can trigger a shift from negative thoughts to positive ones. I couldn’t prove that to you scientifically–but when was the last time you found a penny and didn’t automatically check to see if it was a heads–or a tails? And what did you do when you discovered it was a tails…or a head? To be honest, I’ve read that many people don’t pick pennies up at all– “too small.” But I want to believe that the kid in us will still get excited over something as simple–and small as a heads-up penny. Besides–Remember when a penny could buy one swedish fish?—Those were the days!
On January 1, I rebooted the project and left a penny in McCarren Park, Brooklyn:
Like the idea? Leave pennies and send photos over to libbysegal12@gmail.com. This is a blog to host your lucky cents as well. I hope you’ll join me in the fun. OH and if you happen to find a heads up penny, hold on to it–you never know how far a penny may take you.
You can follow all the pennies over at: A Penny A Day
If you, like me, are in the northeast, you know very well that we are boiling right now. And if you are out in the desert sands of the midwest, you are just absolutely getting scorched this summer.
Let’s be honest, it’s so hot that you are lathering up your body with sun screen even to sit in the house, because you truly, honestly believe that the sun is on a mission to do nothing but scold your skin.
The easiest way to get through a heat wave may be to sit in front of your brand new air conditioner and breathe with your tongue hanging out like a puppy dog, but it’s certainly not the most productive or more importantly-the most fun way. So I came up with a list of hobbies to help you get through your heat wave woes! These may not be the most extreme hobbies–but they’ll definitely keep you calm, cool, and comfortable while the sun burns a hole into the earth for five straight days.
10 HEAT WAVE HOBBIES WORTH HOARDING
1. Learn a New Instrument. While you pump up the AC, take a shot at tuning up a guitar, taking your heat wave frustrations out on a set of drums, or teaching yourself a folk favorite on simply a pair of spoons!
2. Make a home movie. Sure, you can lounge and watch YouTube clips all day, but why not take some time to get creative and make your own?
3. Card Games. Any. There are hundreds: Black Jack, Texas Hold ‘Em, War, Slap Jack, Egyptian Rat Scree, Rummy. The options are endless. My favorite is Cards Against Humanity. It’s the grown up version of Apples to Apples and it will keep you and your friends laughing all day long.
4. Heads Up! If you happen to have a smart phone, and somehow managed to make it into your 20’s and beyond without purchasing a single board game, download this game. Ellen Degeneres came up with it and features the charade like game on her show weekly. While your acting out verbs, humming along your favorite tunes, and doing your best British accent, you’ll completely forget just how freaking hot it really is.
5. Crochet, Knit, Sew. While you’re ducking out of the heat, get started on your winter wardrobe. Knit a new hat. Crochet a blanket, or sew some patches over the holes in your pants! By the time the heatwave is over, you’ll be set with enough ammunition to survive he ice age.
6. Go Swimming at the pool. If you have the courage to brave the heat, at least be smart about it. Head to the NEAREST pool and cannon ball in. Then don’t get out again until you have to go home.
For kicks and giggles–my favorite pool scene ever–from the flick The Sand Lot
7. Build a fort. Sure, it seems a little childish–but who says we can’t act like children once in a while. Gather all your blankets, your pillows, and your other building utensils and get your indoor igloo going!
8. Edit Photos. Wonder what those photos from your last vacation to the Grand Canyon, New Mexico, or Utah would look like if you added an HDR filter? Added a bit more red? Or intensified the vibrancy?Go ahead and give it a try. By the end of the day you’ll have an entire second scrapbook of memories.
9. Take a Class at the GYM–not just YOUR Gym, but ANY gym. To avoid the risk of drowning in a puddle of your own sweat by running outside, hit a gym and see what classes they have to offer for the day! Look into rebounding, PoundFIT, Pole Dancing, Zumba, Hula Hooping and more!
10. Have a Smoothie or Ice Cream Sundae Party. There’s no reason to tough out the heat alone and starved.Invite your besties over and cool off together with your favorite smoothie and ice cream recipes. Then double hobby it up by throwing in a game of Cards Against Humanity or a few rounds of Heads Up!
And because I remember eating an banana split ice cream sundae every time I watched this as a kid, thought I’d take you back to the good ole days with the theme song of one of the best TV shows ever:
Stay cool at their friends and share your the hobbies you think are worth hoarding during a heat wave!
Who are we kidding? If we thought I’d make it through this year without inventing my own hobby, we’d be off our rockers…
Some people have recommended coin collecting to me as one of my 52 weeks of hobbies–but I’ve decided to do the exact opposite. In addition to the hobby project, I’ve created a new project called A Penny a Day, in which I will be leaving one heads-up penny each day–somewhere–for someone, to find, in hopes that it will bring good luck or at least a superstitious smile. And for each one, I will take a photo to share. So I guess we can call this hobby, “Penny Leaving.”
You may be wondering where I got the idea. So here’s the story:
A couple months ago, at the Grey Dog in Union Square, I dropped a penny. When I looked down, I noticed that it was tails-up. While I’ve never believed a tails up penny to be bad luck-I’ve always gotten a kick out of a heads-up penny, so I picked the penny back up and shoved it in my pocket until it was ready to give someone good luck.
That morning, I brainstormed the penny project–in which I would leave a heads-up penny every day in a different location for someone to find, beginning on
January 1, 2013.
The truth is that I personally believe that something as simple as a heads-up penny can trigger a shift from negative thoughts to positive ones. I couldn’t prove that to you scientifically–but when was the last time you found a penny and didn’t automatically check to see if it was a heads–or a tails? And what did you do when you discovered it was a tails…or a head? To be honest, I’ve read that many people don’t pick pennies up at all– “too small.” But I want to believe that the kid in us will still get excited over something as simple–and small as a heads-up penny. Besides–Remember when a penny could buy one swedish fish?—Those were the days!
Alas, when I woke up on January 1, the penny project didn’t come to mind–and I had almost forgotten it all together–that is until I stepped onto the L Train–and saw a gleaming piece of copper on a lonely bench:
As I examined more closely, I discovered that the gleaming piece of copper was a heads-up penny.
In that moment, I knew that I had to start the Heads-Up Penny Project as I had intended to.
So I picked up my fortune and placed a newer, 2012, penny down on the bench–the first penny of the year.
And then I smiled.
“If a heads-up penny isn’t a good sign to start to 2013, then what is?”
Oh–and that penny I found–I used it to scratch a lottery ticket just a half hour later: I won 10 bucks.
And that my friends–is the power of a penny…and how the Penny a Day hobby came to be.
I’d like to invite you to leave pennies too–and submit them via email to libbysegal12@gmail.com —
Please include: a photo, one sentence about the penny, your name, and your site (optional).
The Hobby Hoarder 