(no subject)
-That's basically the end of summer. I just finished the "paint the garage" project my dad assigned me upon my return from Houston. It is the second-to-last big thing that happens to me before I leave for school again. The last big thing is for me to go to work tomorrow and dread every minute until 5:45 because the last day of the season is always the slowest. That aside, though, summer has been strangely good. These last four weeks at home have been taxing though. Yes, I enjoyed being home, but my parents do have a tendency to drive me up the walls. I had an enjoyable trip to Maine to visit Andrew Q last week. I'll write about that now...I meant to do it a couple days ago, but I havn't stopped since I got home from Maine.
-I worked on the saturday before last and got out 2 hours early so I could pack some things and take part in a Caruso family BBQ - a festive occasion as always, complete with beer, separation of sexes, lots of food, and copious alcohol. Then, sunday came and I enjoyed the drive through New England even though it was just on the highway. I like how the highways change from place to place, it reminds me that I'm forging new ground in a way. Once I got to Maine, we had some time to relax. It was Andrew's birthday that sunday, so this Quinton-caravan went to a neat dockside place for dinner. It's always interesting to see how other families celebrate special occasions. I have yet to find a family that drinks more than mine does for "special" occasions. I'm sure one of you irish folk out there will gleefully speak up.
-The next day, Andrew and I went hiking in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It was really great to get outside and enjoy the outdoors. I hadn't ever climbed a mountain like we did that day, so it was an exciting trip. My hiking trips consisted mostly of trapses through the woods at Boy Scout camp and some meanderings through the Catskills, which hardly count as mountains (but it is such a beautiful region nonetheless, I recommend it). Anyway, we reached a peak just as I was feeling like I had been hit by a truck. The view made it all go away. I could've stayed there for hours, I'm pretty sure I'll never forget it. Everything was so still and so, big. Yet, clouds raced. It was a strange juxtaposition, those racing clouds and the majestic mountains (majestic is so cliche, but also so appropriate). It was relaxing to feel the cool breeze and know that, for a little while, I truly hadn't a care in the world. I was on top of a mountain. Top THAT!
-We were pretty exhausted upon arriving back in Maine that night. Later, we ran into some of Andrew's friends from high school. I was too tired to be really sociable, so I just blended in as best I could, although I felt the eyes from time to time. It was cool though, it's kinda nice to be an object of curiosity.
-The next day, we basically walked around the coastal town near Andrew's house (Ogunquit) and then saw Dream Theater that night. DT was so amazing. Nothing more needs to be said about them.
-I had planned on spending the next day just tooling around New England getting my fill of solo adventure before meeting up with my dad and my brother in south-central PA for a car show. Of course, I get the message from my dad that morning that they want me home that day so we could all ride in one car. (Long drawn out sigh) A typical Caruso outing would not be complete without someone coming home early from something and last-minute plan changes being made at every possible juncture. This is why I get so frustrated with my Dad, he can never seem to make up his mind on things. He'll wait, and wait, and wait, then all the sudden BAM everyone's got to change everything. Either way, I get home wednesday and we take off for the car show early thursday morning complete with a short stop in Philly so my brother could experience all Philly has to offer, which literally took us about 4 or 5 hours to accomplish. A trip to the art museum followed by cheese steaks at Pat's and Gino's was it, then we were in Carlisle PA before we knew it.
-The car show was boring, as expected, because we had been to the same one last year and really these things don't change much from year to year. It was still fun, but it was hot and we basically ran out of things to see on our first day at the show (friday), so we saw the new Jet Li Movie that night and left early saturday to come home.
-From the next day (sunday) to today, I havn't stopped. I trimmed huge bushes, cleaned out part of the basement, and painted/spackled the walls in the garage for four days. I'm also really tired now, and I havn't packed a thing yet for school. Friday and Saturday are going to be interesting, that's all I have to say. At least we're having another Caruso Family BBQ on saturday...weeeeeeee!!!!!!
-I'm getting in to Swat early on Sunday morning. Lots of people will be in before me, I'm pretty sure. Quite frankly, I'm in no rush to get back and recite my "this is what I did this summer" speech to 500 people and pleasantly ask them for their respective soliloquy of summer sublimity. I won't be offended if you spare me the bloody details :)
-I guess that last paragraph is a pretty accurate representation of how I feel about swarthmore these days. Hopefully being there will change that. I trust it will, things tend to be more exciting when you're there. Being home can cast a dark shadow on anything. That aside, sometimes I wish the school would quit being so impressed with itself. I do think I'm going to have a great senior year, though! I feel less caught-up in swat culture than normal, which i think is good and will result in me having more fun and spending less time complaining about work. I think applying to grad schools and taking the GRE will help dampen the work-shock. That will all be over early though, which is good. It's funny how applying to grad school is so much less of a big deal than applying to college. Has anyone else noticed this?
-I'm bringing my big stereo system from home to school this year. This will replace my clunky computer speakers. It has a very large woofer, which i'm proud to say will probably piss off the people on the second floor to no end. That's cool though, because some ass in Parrish last year would blast his fucking bass at like 2 in the morning almost religiously. I will have more decency than to play loud music late at night, probably due mostly to the fact that i'll be alseep. HA. We'll see if that happens this year.
-I'm also going to get sac funding to hold a disco-dancing party in paces. It's going to be SO SICK! I hope people like it. I sure as hell will. I'm getting a disco ball and a sweet disco mix-set. Dig up your platforms and velvet suits, because it's gonna be sweet!
-I worked on the saturday before last and got out 2 hours early so I could pack some things and take part in a Caruso family BBQ - a festive occasion as always, complete with beer, separation of sexes, lots of food, and copious alcohol. Then, sunday came and I enjoyed the drive through New England even though it was just on the highway. I like how the highways change from place to place, it reminds me that I'm forging new ground in a way. Once I got to Maine, we had some time to relax. It was Andrew's birthday that sunday, so this Quinton-caravan went to a neat dockside place for dinner. It's always interesting to see how other families celebrate special occasions. I have yet to find a family that drinks more than mine does for "special" occasions. I'm sure one of you irish folk out there will gleefully speak up.
-The next day, Andrew and I went hiking in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It was really great to get outside and enjoy the outdoors. I hadn't ever climbed a mountain like we did that day, so it was an exciting trip. My hiking trips consisted mostly of trapses through the woods at Boy Scout camp and some meanderings through the Catskills, which hardly count as mountains (but it is such a beautiful region nonetheless, I recommend it). Anyway, we reached a peak just as I was feeling like I had been hit by a truck. The view made it all go away. I could've stayed there for hours, I'm pretty sure I'll never forget it. Everything was so still and so, big. Yet, clouds raced. It was a strange juxtaposition, those racing clouds and the majestic mountains (majestic is so cliche, but also so appropriate). It was relaxing to feel the cool breeze and know that, for a little while, I truly hadn't a care in the world. I was on top of a mountain. Top THAT!
-We were pretty exhausted upon arriving back in Maine that night. Later, we ran into some of Andrew's friends from high school. I was too tired to be really sociable, so I just blended in as best I could, although I felt the eyes from time to time. It was cool though, it's kinda nice to be an object of curiosity.
-The next day, we basically walked around the coastal town near Andrew's house (Ogunquit) and then saw Dream Theater that night. DT was so amazing. Nothing more needs to be said about them.
-I had planned on spending the next day just tooling around New England getting my fill of solo adventure before meeting up with my dad and my brother in south-central PA for a car show. Of course, I get the message from my dad that morning that they want me home that day so we could all ride in one car. (Long drawn out sigh) A typical Caruso outing would not be complete without someone coming home early from something and last-minute plan changes being made at every possible juncture. This is why I get so frustrated with my Dad, he can never seem to make up his mind on things. He'll wait, and wait, and wait, then all the sudden BAM everyone's got to change everything. Either way, I get home wednesday and we take off for the car show early thursday morning complete with a short stop in Philly so my brother could experience all Philly has to offer, which literally took us about 4 or 5 hours to accomplish. A trip to the art museum followed by cheese steaks at Pat's and Gino's was it, then we were in Carlisle PA before we knew it.
-The car show was boring, as expected, because we had been to the same one last year and really these things don't change much from year to year. It was still fun, but it was hot and we basically ran out of things to see on our first day at the show (friday), so we saw the new Jet Li Movie that night and left early saturday to come home.
-From the next day (sunday) to today, I havn't stopped. I trimmed huge bushes, cleaned out part of the basement, and painted/spackled the walls in the garage for four days. I'm also really tired now, and I havn't packed a thing yet for school. Friday and Saturday are going to be interesting, that's all I have to say. At least we're having another Caruso Family BBQ on saturday...weeeeeeee!!!!!!
-I'm getting in to Swat early on Sunday morning. Lots of people will be in before me, I'm pretty sure. Quite frankly, I'm in no rush to get back and recite my "this is what I did this summer" speech to 500 people and pleasantly ask them for their respective soliloquy of summer sublimity. I won't be offended if you spare me the bloody details :)
-I guess that last paragraph is a pretty accurate representation of how I feel about swarthmore these days. Hopefully being there will change that. I trust it will, things tend to be more exciting when you're there. Being home can cast a dark shadow on anything. That aside, sometimes I wish the school would quit being so impressed with itself. I do think I'm going to have a great senior year, though! I feel less caught-up in swat culture than normal, which i think is good and will result in me having more fun and spending less time complaining about work. I think applying to grad schools and taking the GRE will help dampen the work-shock. That will all be over early though, which is good. It's funny how applying to grad school is so much less of a big deal than applying to college. Has anyone else noticed this?
-I'm bringing my big stereo system from home to school this year. This will replace my clunky computer speakers. It has a very large woofer, which i'm proud to say will probably piss off the people on the second floor to no end. That's cool though, because some ass in Parrish last year would blast his fucking bass at like 2 in the morning almost religiously. I will have more decency than to play loud music late at night, probably due mostly to the fact that i'll be alseep. HA. We'll see if that happens this year.
-I'm also going to get sac funding to hold a disco-dancing party in paces. It's going to be SO SICK! I hope people like it. I sure as hell will. I'm getting a disco ball and a sweet disco mix-set. Dig up your platforms and velvet suits, because it's gonna be sweet!