mature: (adj) fully developed in body or mind, as a person.
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the blog, just been "out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level." More on that later. Structures final tomorrow, final UG4 review Friday, weekend then Construction final next Wednesday, and no sleep for Amelia.
Have a good one folks, see you in about a week.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
day
day: (n) the interval of light between two successive nights; the time between sunrise and sunset
Hanging on the wall above the dresser in my room is a mirror. Painted in black on the mirror is the phrase, "Welcome to the best day of your life." The mirror was a gift. Summer 2008, my 3rd summer on staff at Camp Henry, my 12th summer there all together. Throughout my childhood and to this day Camp Henry remains one of my favorite places in the entire world. Every summer at camp we celebrate Christmas in July. This is nothing like corporate America Christmas in July, or even Christmas in December. No, this is so much more. Part of the tradition among staff members is to draw "Secret Santa's." About 3 weeks before Christmas Week, names are drawn at the Sunday afternoon staff meeting. Secrets are serious at camp so once you draw your name you must EAT the piece of paper you drew so that no one will find out who you have. Then there's Kerry Drake. Once the names are drawn, he bothers everyone, asking who they have and promising not to tell. Some would say he works harder at figuring out who has who, then working on his own gift. Gifts must be homemade, nothing store bought, and you must not spend more than $20 on supplies, though nobody ever follows that rule. After camp transforms into a Christmas wonderland, the tool shed into Santa's workshop, and staff members into sleepless elves, the time finally comes to give gifts. Once all the campers are snug in their beds with visions of shaving cream fights dancing in the heads, the staff gather in Millar Lodge. The first gift giver stands in the middle of a circle of giddy counselors, reveals their Secret Santa, and gives their gift. Then the person who just received a gift repeats the process. In 2008 I received a picture of the waterfront, fitting because I was the waterfront director that year, and the mirror. The phrase on the mirror came from our boss, Jake. Every staff meeting every morning Jake would conclude by saying, "There is no reason why today couldn't be the best day of your life." Of course, every minute of the day is scheduled out for each one of us, so we all had a pretty good idea of how the day was going to go. When I looked down at my clipboard and saw that I got to drive the Banana Boat, or teach water skiing, I was on board with Jake. But when it was a cold day and I saw that I had to swim out to the green raft and lifeguard in the freezing cold, best day of my life was the furthest thing from my mind. Of course the days always took unexpected turns. A great day of Banana Boating could turn into chaos with a shortage of life jackets or late cabins. And a freezing cold green raft day could turn into fun and laughter playing "let's keep warm games" in the water, or an impromptu trip to the mud pit.
School has been killing me, especially this month, it's finals season. I've been avoiding my "scheduled activities" like I would hope to avoid swimming to the green raft. This week I received news of a death in my neighborhood. He died of brain cancer, his daughter went to school with me and also worked at camp. Probably the worst day of her life. Not the best day of mine either. Today, I have about a million things to do for school. The outlook, not a great day probably no sleep tonight either. But there is no reason why today couldn't be the best day of my life, or the worst. I'll have to live it though, in order to find out.
Hanging on the wall above the dresser in my room is a mirror. Painted in black on the mirror is the phrase, "Welcome to the best day of your life." The mirror was a gift. Summer 2008, my 3rd summer on staff at Camp Henry, my 12th summer there all together. Throughout my childhood and to this day Camp Henry remains one of my favorite places in the entire world. Every summer at camp we celebrate Christmas in July. This is nothing like corporate America Christmas in July, or even Christmas in December. No, this is so much more. Part of the tradition among staff members is to draw "Secret Santa's." About 3 weeks before Christmas Week, names are drawn at the Sunday afternoon staff meeting. Secrets are serious at camp so once you draw your name you must EAT the piece of paper you drew so that no one will find out who you have. Then there's Kerry Drake. Once the names are drawn, he bothers everyone, asking who they have and promising not to tell. Some would say he works harder at figuring out who has who, then working on his own gift. Gifts must be homemade, nothing store bought, and you must not spend more than $20 on supplies, though nobody ever follows that rule. After camp transforms into a Christmas wonderland, the tool shed into Santa's workshop, and staff members into sleepless elves, the time finally comes to give gifts. Once all the campers are snug in their beds with visions of shaving cream fights dancing in the heads, the staff gather in Millar Lodge. The first gift giver stands in the middle of a circle of giddy counselors, reveals their Secret Santa, and gives their gift. Then the person who just received a gift repeats the process. In 2008 I received a picture of the waterfront, fitting because I was the waterfront director that year, and the mirror. The phrase on the mirror came from our boss, Jake. Every staff meeting every morning Jake would conclude by saying, "There is no reason why today couldn't be the best day of your life." Of course, every minute of the day is scheduled out for each one of us, so we all had a pretty good idea of how the day was going to go. When I looked down at my clipboard and saw that I got to drive the Banana Boat, or teach water skiing, I was on board with Jake. But when it was a cold day and I saw that I had to swim out to the green raft and lifeguard in the freezing cold, best day of my life was the furthest thing from my mind. Of course the days always took unexpected turns. A great day of Banana Boating could turn into chaos with a shortage of life jackets or late cabins. And a freezing cold green raft day could turn into fun and laughter playing "let's keep warm games" in the water, or an impromptu trip to the mud pit.
School has been killing me, especially this month, it's finals season. I've been avoiding my "scheduled activities" like I would hope to avoid swimming to the green raft. This week I received news of a death in my neighborhood. He died of brain cancer, his daughter went to school with me and also worked at camp. Probably the worst day of her life. Not the best day of mine either. Today, I have about a million things to do for school. The outlook, not a great day probably no sleep tonight either. But there is no reason why today couldn't be the best day of my life, or the worst. I'll have to live it though, in order to find out.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
pho-tog-ra-phy
photography: (n) the process or art of producing images of objects on sensitized surfaces by the chemical action of light or of other forms of radiant energy, as x-rays, gamma rays, or cosmic rays.
I spent this past weekend at home with my family for Easter. The days leading up to the weekend were extremely stressful. If you've ever been awake for 48 hours straight, or more, you know what I'm talking about. I actually spent more hours awake working on my project for last Friday than I did at home with my family. Regardless, the trip home was worth it. Nothing trumps family. After everyone retires for the night, I often spend time in my old room rummaging through things I left behind. Among them, about a million photographs, NOT including the pictures from my digital camera which I received for my 18th birthday. I got my first camera for my 10th birthday and went picture crazy. Back in December, when I was home for Christmas, I began the process of filtering through the pictures and putting together photo albums.
Ever spend hours looking at one picture? Replaying the events that led up to and followed the split second you hold in your hand? When I look at old pictures that I didn't take, I try to make up my own story. Sitting in my room pondering over my pictures I came up with an idea. What if I create a mini series within my blog? My Life in Pictures: a picture is worth a thousand words. I will narrate a different picture for each post, in a thousand words. Well, maybe I'll drop the word count...
Thoughts?
I spent this past weekend at home with my family for Easter. The days leading up to the weekend were extremely stressful. If you've ever been awake for 48 hours straight, or more, you know what I'm talking about. I actually spent more hours awake working on my project for last Friday than I did at home with my family. Regardless, the trip home was worth it. Nothing trumps family. After everyone retires for the night, I often spend time in my old room rummaging through things I left behind. Among them, about a million photographs, NOT including the pictures from my digital camera which I received for my 18th birthday. I got my first camera for my 10th birthday and went picture crazy. Back in December, when I was home for Christmas, I began the process of filtering through the pictures and putting together photo albums.
Ever spend hours looking at one picture? Replaying the events that led up to and followed the split second you hold in your hand? When I look at old pictures that I didn't take, I try to make up my own story. Sitting in my room pondering over my pictures I came up with an idea. What if I create a mini series within my blog? My Life in Pictures: a picture is worth a thousand words. I will narrate a different picture for each post, in a thousand words. Well, maybe I'll drop the word count...
Thoughts?
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