backStory

7 Days and 7 Luxurious Nights...of Rice

   So this is it...nothing but rice and water for 168 hours.

   How does something like this get started? The word "accident-ally" comes to mind. Long story short: Alex sends me an IM with the words "Rice Week 2005," and I said yes. Why did we do it? Because it was there.

    Why rice? Because Alex thinks it'll prepare him for his para-gliding adventures across Europe, during which he plans to live almost solely on these tiny, white pellets. I think that's great and all, but let's keep in mind throughout all of this that Alex was initially planning to cook his rice WITHOUT water. No, seriously.

Alex: I think I'm going to set some extra rules for myself, like not boiling it.
Eric: What do you mean not boiling it? How else can you cook rice?
Alex: Come on Eric, surely you've had fried rice before?
Eric: Yeah Alex, but they fry it AFTER they boil it.
Alex: Oh. Really?

    In truth, I've been wanting to do another week-long eating challenge for a couple years, a sequel to the Peach Week of 2002. There were murmurs of Bread Week in mid-2003, but nothing came of it. I think Alex also brought up the possibility of Battenburg Cake Week 2005...for those Americans who don't know, it's a rich, sugary cake.   ---------->
Thankfully, Battenburg isn't widely
available in America. That would have been
a LONG, cavity-prone week.

       And finally, the charity...aside from being a slightly deranged challenge, Peach Week 2002 raised over $500 for Student Partnership Worldwide, a Cambridge NGO that funds HIV/AIDS and health education in Africa and Asia.

       Rice Week 2005 will be dedicated to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum (www.aahom.org), a place where people of all ages (especially kids) can learn about science, math, and technology. Soon a DONATE NOW button will appear atop the main page, which will allow you to make donations into a PayPal account I've set up exclusively for Rice Week. PayPal is uber-safe, so go ahead and give what you can....$1, $3, $10, or more. It's all going to a great cause, so any amount is super. If we raise $250, it will allow me to buy a commemorative brick(!), which will etch the Rice Week legacy in stone and provide funds for a stellar cause.