05.24.03
Hey! I’m updating twice in May! Be impressed, dammit.
It’s been an awesome three weeks since I last updated. I’ve done a ton more hanging out, and my group of friends has completely reinvented itself like I knew it would. I’ve still seen a lot of Thor, but not as much as I have in the past. I’ve been at Peak a TON, and really enjoying it…and I’ve still found time to hang out at school, too.
The dance concert that I teched wasn’t nearly as lame as I thought it would be. I’m a pessimist…what else can I say? But really, the show was awesome. I was super-impressed and didn’t mind being there late every night for three days. I also had fun goofing off with Kenji and John and Sno (!) who showed up the day before the show and ended up working Stage Manager. I really, really missed that boy, and was thrilled to goof off with him again.
After the concert on Friday, Carter and Matt F-J and Adrian and Cecily and Elissa and I went to Friendly’s, then wandered around my neighborhood for a while. We wound up at Graham’s, which was nice, because he’s a very cool guy and I don’t get to see him very often. Turns out I won’t be seeing him for most of the summer, since he’s taking summer classes at Tech all summer. Bummer; I like the guy and am really going to miss seeing him at work. HOWEVER. I’m going to the New next weekend, so I’ll be able to drop in and say hello when I’m up there. And I’m psyched about climbing, too.
The Saturday after the concert was JCC, which I talked Kenji into letting me work. I got a call at noon that day saying he needed help clearing out the cafeteria: they were to have a reception in there that night and Physical Plant hadn’t gotten the word. So Kenji and David and I cleared an entire cafeteria in about an hour…it wasn’t that bad, actually. And when I came into school on Monday and saw that the tables and chairs still hadn’t been put back, I had to laugh. The actual show wasn’t that great…it was a political comedian who was funny, but it was just an act. Still, I made over $40, so I’m not complaining. And again, I got to hang out with Kenji and Sno and David, which was awesome.
That Monday was my AP Bio exam, which I really don’t think was as difficult as we’d all been led to believe. But we’ll find out just how wrong I was when I get my scores in July. I don’t really care…after turning in my Baseball portfolio and my final exam essay yesterday, I’m officially done with classes. It’s a nice feeling to be able to update and not be doing it just to procrastinate.
So last week my Senior Project started. The Monday of my Bio exam, I was in a terrific mood. I was done with high school, I’d gotten a new book, I’d spent a bunch of time on the island relaxing, I’d been to the gym and seen everyone I loved, I’d gotten a new shirt with Chris Sharma on it, and I’d found out that I’d be working with Jeff and Ned and Rob and Stratton for my project. They’re Site Directors for camp, which means they’re getting ready with me, just on a higher managerial level.
Tuesday I started work, and it was awesome to see everyone again. In the last two weeks, I’ve played in the back wall a good deal more than is healthy (there’s a ton of dust in there), I’ve inventoried medkit stuff and boats and helmets and climbing gear, I’ve wrangled kayaks onto and off of the trailer and out of the bouldering cave, I’ve sorted, organized, and packaged 800+ camp tshirts, I’ve driven the camp van, I’ve hit my own car with the camp van, I’ve been down to the island a few times, I’ve driven up and down Midlothian Turnpike, I’ve superglued my fingers together, and a dozen other things that I can’t remember. It’s been fun.
Last weekend was more Passages-ness; staff training. This was finally seeing everyone together again – my friends, and the people that I knew casually, and new people, too – and everyone was so nice and totally psyched to be there. We played at Peak, did low-ropes stuff and a little bit of lecturing from the site directors. That night was Reid’s birthday, so we watched Kung-Pow here when I was done. Unfortunately, I wasn’t done until 9:30ish, so I dozed off and missed the last part of the movie. Still, we had fun, I think. Saturday we were on the island all day, which would have been fine if it hadn’t been about fifty degrees and raining. I need to get myself a rain shell and some gloves. We walked all over the island, were talked to by the site directors, and learned some cool stuff about Belle from Ned, which would have been far more interesting if it hadn’t been so damn cold.
Sunday was supposed to be more the same. We got to the parking lot at noon, preemptively cold, and then they told us we were going to Peak for a bit, and then ice skating. Rock. We did a bit of outside training on Rock and River stuff, then they shipped us all off to Ice Zone on Midlo to skate. I’m not a skater, but it was awesome anyway. Being adventure-camp types, and so adventurous people, we soon got bored with the skating in circles and migrated off into the corners to try slides and hockey stops and spins and jumps and stuff. Every time I looked up, another Passages person was either on the ground or getting yelled at from the staff. It was lots of fun. I came home that night exhausted and bitchy, so I got my ass grounded, but this should come as no surprise.
Saturday night after training (I’m backing up a bit here, I know), was Prom. Now, I’m not really a get-dressed-up kind of person, but I liked my dress and didn’t object too strongly. I left training a few hours early to come home, take a nap, and get ready. Michael got here around 5:45, and Carter was already here, but we were waiting for Matt F-J to get back into town, so we chilled for a bit. We got to dinner just in time to miss the schmoozing that accompanied the entire Senior Class (the Goodwins provided a really yummy catered dinner for the entire class. It was awesome.) We sat at a table with Carter, Matt, Patrick, Sporto, Chris R, SMoore, Katie StG, and Madhu, enjoyed ourselves, then headed to the dance. We’d booked it out of there kind of fast to avoid the aforementioned schmoozing, so we ended up being among the first people there. Which worked out fine, because we didn’t really stay that late, anyway. Michael and I were exhausted from being at work all week, and the band wasn’t that good (in fact, they were lousy. So was the DJ,) and movies on my couch sounded like a great idea by around 11. Before that, though, we’d danced and laughed and done our own selective schmoozing and laughed more and it wasn’t THAT bad, as dances go. In fact, it was probably one of the best I’ve been to…ever. No crises, no scandals, just fun. It was a refreshing change.
We came back here, collapsed onto our respective chairs, Kitz and Reid joined us, and we watched Ghost Ship (which is a lame knock-off of Event Horizon) and Office Space, which isn’t a lame knock-off of anything. Michael had to be up at 6ish the next day to paddle before work, because he’s insane, so he left around two. Everyone else left shortly thereafter, and Carter and I collapsed ‘till ten thirty that morning. An eventful evening, and fun. A good way to end the year.
This past week I’ve been hanging out mainly with Passages people, which suits me fine. Monday I was grounded, but Tuesday was CPR training. We were on the island all day, and I got home in time to take a shower, go to Mo’s to rehearse a song for the Pops Concert, and meet Michael to get a ride to training. After, we went back to Jeff/John/Ned/Amy’s place on Laurel Street (super-close to the island), ate their food, and dragged the futon onto the porch. Jeff took pictures, we talked about all sorts of things, and eventually John got out the banjo and played. John Rugh is one of our camp imports – Jeff is one, and a very cool person named Katie is the third – meaning that they have no roots in Richmond and are just here for camp. He’s a paddler, but he’s also an artist, a musician, and a really cool person. I’d never seen him before Friday, but by Tuesday I was perfectly comfortable with him. He’s friendly and open and thrilled to be doing whatever he’s doing. He’s got the same attitude as pretty much all of us, he fits right in, and he’s an awesome person. If course, they’re all awesome people, which is why I love ‘em all so much.
Anyway, Tuesday was fun, Wednesday was cold and rainy, Thursday was the same. Thursday night was the Pops Concert, which was a blast. It was probably one of the best ones I’ve done (granted, I’ve only done three, but this was one GOOD.) Camerata didn’t do that many songs, but I did Anna Begins again, a voicemail from RENT, and Mo Elizabeth and AF and I did Java Jive, which was lots of fun. The Senior/Faculty softball game was before, and we won 8-2, which was awesome…the ensuing Senior cookout/slide show wasn’t that great, but it was cool to be with everyone one last time before graduation.
Yeah, graduation is in less than two weeks.
Yesterday I managed to sleep in until ten, which was unfortunate, ‘cuz I was supposed to be at work at 9. I called Kevin, who said it was actually okay, because he didn’t have anything for me to do. So I went to the island with Kitz and took pictures (it’s been raining for two weeks, and the river is HUGE. Very cool, too.) Then I went to school to drop off my masturbation essay (which I’ll upload shortly), and went to work. I didn’t do much…picked up some phones and made phone lists, but it was good anyway, ‘cuz Robert and Chris and Chrissy and Jay and all were there, so I did some hanging out as well. I took John with me to get the phones, and I talked him into coming over for dinner (like me, he never turns down free food), and watching a bit of hockey at Sam’s. Hockey was fun, nice to see everyone, blah blah blah. Senators lost 3-2, but the Mighty Ducks are still in the finals, so I’ll have someone to root for. Then John and I headed off to the Paddle house for John (G) and Robert’s goodbye party.
It was a lovely group – all of my favorite people plus some I didn’t know. They grilled, so I had a second dinner. We watched kayak videos, and eventually all of the Passages people wound up in the TV room, looking for something to do. We went to put on Rage All Day, Trip’s paddling video, but somehow instead wound up watching some cheap porno that happened to be lying around. After about three minutes, we got bored and just ignored it, since we were all too lazy to turn it off. Finally we got bored, watched Rage All Day, and I came home so as not to be in trouble. Again.
I’m now off with Carter to get some photo albums for my Senior Project report, which should be enjoyable. I’m not sure what tonight holds, but I don’t care; I don’t have anything else to do, so I can relax and write and work on my site and do all of the stuff I’ve been meaning to do. I’m sure there’s stuff I left out in this entry, but that’s fine too, because I’m sure I’ll be back here writing more in the near future. I’m looking forward to it.