Saturday, November 24, 2012

One Great Idea

Before all, I want to thank you all for helping me get birthday wishes from 9 of the 23 people on my list. That is 9 more than I ever thought that I could ever get.

Secondly, I'd like to thank the nine people on my list who gave me a shout out. You guys and gals are hilarious, kind, and thoughtful individuals, and I look up to you more now than before. This is for you.

This has been the wildest week in my life, but it has been wild in a good way. One of my friends who blogs religiously told me I needed to “storify” the past week, and that is what I intend to do-- if “storify” means put it in timeline form, that is. I hope you’ve eaten recently because this post is going to be wicked long, and I wouldn’t want you to starve while reading it. P.S. I've added a lot of hyperlinks in the text, and they are all wonderful. If you have the time, click on them and enjoy the extra material. 

Here’s a play-by-play of how I ended up having the most kick ass birthday in the history of birthdays, despite the fact that my mother wouldn't let me have a goat (and, yes, that includes the time I wrote a letter to the dolphin trainer that my mom read about in Reader’s Digest, and he invited me down to Gulfport, MS to feed the dolphins for my sixth birthday) The goat story will be told another day. And there will be video.

Tuesday—Nov. 20
I listened to this week’s episode of Comedy Bang Bang! for the second time, which just so happens to feature Lennon Parham. Sidenote, I had tweeted her and Scott Aukerman the day before about that episode, and Forsythia, Parham's character, dedicated a song  to me.

I’m pretty sure that I have listened to every Earwolf podcast that features her and Jessica St. Clair because they are all hilarious. You should do the same. Anywho, I had a little insomnia, so I started watching YouTube videos and found a 40+ minute video of Parham and St. Clair talking about Best Friends Forever. I thought to myself, “Hey, you know, it’d be really cool if I could be best friends with them.” BAM! The idea for my birthday challenge was incepted into my brain, and I posted it on the blog.

Wednesday—Nov. 21
9:00 am: I woke up to my friends already bombing the comedians with birthday shout-out requests

4:30 pm: I got home from work and saw that I had received tweets from Retta and Julie Klausner


5:08 pm: Chris Gethard called

5:10 pm: I hung up and proceeded to hyperventilate.

5:42 pm: Vacation Jason called

5:42 pm and 45 seconds: Riley broke character and introduced himself and made me want to hug him through the phone. He said he felt so honored to be on the list with so many funny people. I think he sells himself way too short. He’s hilarious. Watch this

8:00 pm: I headed to Tupelo to watch the Truth & Salvage show at Blue Canoe

9:30 pm: I danced my socks off

Thursday—Nov. 22
12:38 am: I got a mouth kiss from Truth & Salvage member Tim Jones
Tim Jones and myself after the show

11:30 am: I went to the assisted living home with my mom to eat lunch with my 98 year old grandmother (She’ll be 99 on Tuesday, y’all!)

12:30-3:30 pm: I took a nap. 

4:00-bedtime pm: I had Thanksgiving dinner with my brother, his wife, my sister and her husband and their herd of children. I played football with the little boys out in the yard for a little while. We all took a field trip up to the newly converted barn-to-cabin at my sister’s family’s farm. My brother-in-law told me we need to work on some Christmas decorations for one of his workers. (He wants to build elves out of rebar and put lights on them and have the lights flash so it will look like the elves are humping. I told him I could probably make it happen and that it could be my project for the rest of the holiday break.)

Friday—Nov. 23
9:30 am: Woke up and went to work where I painted the stripes on plywood candy canes

11:00 am: I left work because it’s my birthday. Shannon O’Neill tweeted.



1:50 pm: I designed a circuit for the humping elves. 

2:30-5:30 pm: I rode around town with my friend Jay, and we visited with high school friends.

5:38 pm: I received tweets from Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham saying that they have made a video for me. I watched it and literally cried from laughing and happiness.


6:42 pm: I drove to my parents’ and showed the video to my mom. She thought it was glorious and thinks the idea of famous people talking to a kid from Northeast Mississippi is awesome.

7:40 pm: I drove up to another friend's dad’s land for my bonfire party that she planned. I caught up with a lot of people I haven’t seen since I left for college. It was very nice talking with everyone and seeing what career paths everyone has followed. I kind of felt like a doop since I’m still in college, but maybe I’ll make the big bucks and cool stuff in biomedical engineering one day, and I can say that all this school is worth something.

11:50 pm: I got back to the parents’ and checked the mail for birthday gifts from my pal Bankard. He sent the poster that's at the bottom of the page. One day we were studying on the balcony of the biomed building, and he asked what I wanted for my golden birthday. I told him that the only appropriate golden birthday gift was a goose that laid golden eggs like the one in Willy Wanka. That’s why I now have a poster of a goose laying a golden egg.

11:55 pm: I checked my email and had this little baby waiting for me.


As evidenced by my tweets, Facebook statuses, and perpetual smile, the past couple of days have been amazing. I am so blessed to have friends who would bomb complete strangers’ social media accounts just to make my birthday wish come true.

I never would have imagined that the comedians who I idolize, and whose work I quote, would ever see this blog, tweet, call, or make a video in my honor.The internet is truly a wonderful invention. Thank you, Al Gore.

Once again, thanks for greatest day ever. I love you all. 

Oh, check out all my birthday gifts, y’all!
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson; a graph paper Moleskin; some really butch work boots; Jason Isbell: Live in Alabama,;Jarritos grapefruit soda; a goose picture
More funny stuff from Twitter:

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Golden Birthday Update

If you're reading this blog for the first time, you should really read Golden Birthday first, so you will know what is going on. If you're a vet, keep reading.

I really appreciate all the work you guys have done so far to make my birthday amazing. Below is the current list of celebs that haven't contacted me. I've also added their Twitter handles for your convenience. (And I've had some people say that they want to follow these 23 amazing individuals. Now you can!)

November 23rd, we're going in. We can do this, y'all.



1) Lennon Parham (Made a badass video)
2) Jessica St. Claire (Tweeted)
3) Shannon O'Neill (Tweeted)
4) Chris Gethard (Called) (Holds the No. 1 spot right now. Super nice guy.)
5) Vacation Jason (Called)
6) Ana Gasteyer (@AnaGasteyer)
7) Thomas Lennon (@thomaslennon)
8) Matt Besser (Tweeted)
9) Matt Walsh (@mrmattwalsh)
10) Andy Richter (@andy_richter)
11) Steve Martin (@stevemartintogo)
12) Scott Auckerman (@scottaukerman)
13) Julie Klausner (Tweeted)
14) Jason Mantzoukas (Emailed)
15) Kay Cannon (@kaykaycannon)
16) Paula Pell (@perlapell)
17) Retta (Tweeted)
18) Chris Pratt (@prattprattpratt)
19) John Lutz (@shutuplutz)
20) Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon)
21) Ellen Degeneres (@theellenshow)
22) Sherri Shepherd (@sherriEshepherd)
23) Aziz Ansari (@azizansari)

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Golden Birthday

This year is my golden birthday (23 on Nov. 23rd), and I've been racking my brain for the past month trying to figure out what I want to do to remember this occasion.

At first, I thought that I would steal Lea's idea and do 23 good things for people because what's bad about that idea? Nothing.

But I'm selfish and lazy, point blank. So, I've scratched that idea for this year, and I decided I'll do that one on my 25th birthday because that's a good, solid number--way cooler than 23, plus it's two more good deeds. Back to juicing the mindgrapes...

After a month of idea generating, I think I've figured it out, but I am going to need your help.

You guys know how I love comedy, right?! Yeah, that was a joke. OF COURSE YOU KNOW THAT!

For my 23rd birthday, I want my favorite 23 comedians to tweet/e-mail/IM/text/call me. This is how it's going to work:
a) You tweet/YouTube shout-out/Facebook/blog/stalk/call these folks and tell them that you want them to wish me a happy birthday.
b) They will all do it
c) I will be happy

Like the plan? Yeah, me too.

Here is the lucky list (in no particular order, other than the order that they pop into my head):
1) Lennon Parham
2) Jessica St. Claire
3) Shannon O'Neill
4) Chris Gethard
5) Vacation Jason (He may be a little bit difficult to reach because he's always on vacation)
6) Ana Gasteyer
7) Thomas Lennon
8) Matt Besser
9) Matt Walsh
10) Andy Richter
11) Steve Martin
12) Scott Auckerman
13) Julie Klausner
14) Jason Mantzoukas
15) Kay Cannon
16) Paula Pell
17) Retta
18) Chris Pratt
19) John Lutz
20) Jimmy Fallon
21) Ellen Degeneres
22) Sherri Shepherd
23) Aziz Ansari

I'd also like to add that it would be KICK ASS if Tina Fey and/or Amy Poehler called me or emailed me or something on my birthday, but they're too busy to be tweetin' and I have no idea how a person might contact them. I'm sure Paula Pell or Kay Cannon would know.

So, spread the word. Send them this blog. I want this birthday to be more than just the bonfire reunion with all of my high school friends. I mean, that's going to be totally awesome and such a Mississippi thing to do, but c'mon! THESE ARE COMEDY GODS AND GODDESSES! AND IT'S MY GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! It only happens once in a lifetime.

Thanks in advance.

Oh, I forgot to add that my email address is mamcleod01@gmail.com and my twitter handle is @mcowpatty89. Celebs, you can find me on Facebook (Madison McLeod, the one from Fulton, MS with the UCB cover photo), And if you want to call me, direct message me on Twitter and I'll give you the digits.

I look forward to reading your birthday wishes.

Why Liz Lemon's Marriage Gives Me Hope

After seven seasons of hopeless love interests, Liz Lemon is finally getting married.

And I couldn't be happier. I mean, I honestly want to throw an engagement party for her at my house. Like, for real.

"But Liz Lemon isn't real, Madison. She's a character on a TV show," you may say. And that's where I stop you and tell you, "No. She's much more than that."

Liz Lemon has taught me so many things in the seven seasons of 30 Rock: how not to buy an apartment; how to wear sexy librarian glasses; eating Mexican cheese puffs will make urine show a false positive on a pregnancy test. See, all these things are so useful! (Until you watch the series, you don't have any earthly idea how kick ass LL is and how hilariously horrible these life lessons truly are.)

So, why do I love Liz Lemon and why is her marriage such a big deal?

It gives me hope.

I've found many parallels between my love life and Liz Lemon's. I have never had the crappy boyfriend that plays Halo under the name "Slut Banger" (Dennis Duffy, Season 1, Ep. 6), even though he is by far my favorite boyfriend that she ever had, but I have had crushes on younger guys (Season 2, Ep. 7), had a thing for a pilot (Season 4, Ep. 22), had a really attractive boyfriend (Season 3, Ep. 10), and have been called a lesbian (Season 1, Ep. 3). All these terrible relationships made Liz Lemon who she is. She is a career woman who has created her dream job and didn't want the troubles of relationships hindering her from achieving her goals. But she's always been a little bit lonely. Deep down she's wanted the troubles of a relationship, but she let herself get in the way of finding Mr. Right. It's not until the finale season that she meets the man of her dreams: a pretty boy who owns his own hot dog cart.

So, Liz's marriage in season 7 gives me hope. It gives me hope that someday, if I decide to give my heart away, some street vendor will be there to take it.



Saturday, November 3, 2012

Golden Birthday Plans

It's almost the holiday season, so that means you'll be seeing a few more posts on Arithmetic Mean. 

More importantly, November 23, 2012 marks my golden birthday, and I have absolutely nothing planned. 

I need your help. Could you give me some ideas?

That is all. 

Also, I've been creating this kickin' playlist on Spotify. You should subscribe.