La-la-la-ladybug
So, summer is here. I'm home. Actually, I have been home for more than 35 days. My mother and bro picked me up in Savannah and after a 15 hour non-stop car ride... I arrived at my new home on Lincoln Way. It felt unreal. I had a lot of settling in to do. Boxes and bags of odds and ends were everywhere and my new room was empty besides a desk and a bed. Finally though I have made a space for myself complete with a bambo shade and Marilyn galore.
Oh oh ohhh. I feel like so many things have happened since I've been back. The summer started off slowly... I was just getting used to the idea of having no obligations, no homework, no class. I was basically very lazy. Not that I'm much busier now. I have no job yet... but Tops Friendly Markets looks promising;-) ... I desire cash flow. I'm currently painting a sign for Dana's Time Out at the baseball field. It's about 20 feet long and 8 feet tall. So far I've finished a base coat of white paint to cover the scrappy, old, deteriorating black paint beneath it. Should be a fun job, the only downfalls being perhaps a farmer's tan or bee stings, or falling from a ladder.
One of the first cool things I did this summer (that I can recall) is going to Hell House with Laure and Courtney. The day started as a mission to find "beauty" and take mad pix. Laure and I went to the graveyard and took pictures of queer gravestones, monuments, and sarcophagi. Afterwards,we scooped Court and drove down East Lake Road to the abandoned house plopped at the end of a quarter-mile-long driveway surrounded by a corn field. A.K.A-> Hell House. I'd never been inside, only up the driveway before getting spooked and turning around. As we walked close to the house we found an old high heeled shoe covered in ants. Naturally, Court picks it up. Next, closer to the house, we find a flashlight. Loooookss liiike somebody got scared and dropped that as they ran away in a flurry one night. Naturally, Court was the first to enter the house. Upon entering, there is a living room. An over turned retro chair..an old couch..holes in the floor boards.walls peeling. Beyond here is maybe a kitchen? A yellow refrigerator rests on more furniture. Throughout the house, the walls are sometimes gutted, sometimes missing, covered in graffiti from 1986, and the words "666" and "Eat me." One room is knee-deep full of high heels, magazines, clothes, dishes, lamps, and other old objects. Very eerie. In the basement, Courtney wandered off to the far corner only to discover a gutted deer carcass. In most cases this would be our signal to leave... but we just proceeded on to the upstairs. Here we found more holey walls, hay-filled mattresses which had been ripped apart, iron bed frames, and cool second-floor window views. We frolicked through the corn field as we made our way back to the car. Next we stopped at a train overpass where Court and I got out of the car and climbed up on the tracks. We looked down through the cracks at the road and Lauren took our picture. We drove to Geneva On the Lake after this. It was getting dark now. We played bocce and croquet in the bushes. And we relaxed in the Adirondack chairs overlooking the lake. But all the bugs zipping and zapping around us eventually brought us back to the car.
In addition (update July162007, 12:38am):
One of the first nights of summer, Maya John and I walked to Aaron's home on a whim and were treated to a live jam sesh of El Kabong. Maya and I retreated to the kitchen where we did shots and danced heavily around the oversized paint-splattered table. A strange boy entered the house without warning and said, "This is the weirdest house I've ever walked into!" Next, carrying various drums, bongos, and guitars, we loudly walked the streets of Geneva. First going to Wegmans... then to the plaza... then behind the plaza. John was convinced that he knew a secret route to Lomar St. through the woods. We proceeded into the forest, where twigs and prickers scraped into our skin, as we fell down mini-cliffs of land, all the while carrying 500 instruments. Once we reached level ground behind a random house on Jay St., John confessed he didn't know where we had been going. Soo.. off we went to Jason's on Lomar via the road and barefeet, where we tramped through more woods and had a bonfire.
One night, Courtney, Claire, Keaton, Stewie, John and I decided to have a late night grilling party. We went to the state park, parked between the lake and a small grill... and unloaded hamburgers,hots,fish,lemonade,grape soda ;), and s'more supplies. It was pretty dark at this time.. so Court eventually made a candle out of an empty fish tin and sticks. It was a gorgeous night... and the food was tasty. But the buggies eventually got the best of us and chased Keat's jeep cherokee back to town.
Besides dance parties and sleigh rides, I went to Ithaca with Keaton and Caleb. After having a bit of a hassel with Caleb's tardiness and being DENIED GAS after Keaton's clumsy fingers entered the wrong debit PIN number, we were on our way. (After K banged his c.) It was a beautiful day in the Commons. We went to 2 old bookstores, the record store, mad headshops, and Sammy's for pizza. Here, we noticed that the back dining room was ridiculously unique. Orange walls, red and green tiled floors, very dark-almost non-existent lighting, and a giant electronic painting of the golden gate bridge. The bathroom (behind a big black door) had bright green walls, a black ceiling, and the same green and red tiled floor. We left with much merchandise and full tummys. A memorable trip.
A few days before this, Courtney was house-sitting a place on Cayuga Lake. Naturally, she invited friends to accompany her. John, Laure, Keat, and I traveled to the house in Court's car. Forrest met us there. After the completion of random chores, like spraying the weeds, we broke out Mr. Carlo Rossi and blue wine goblets. We also started the grill and cooked some burgers and hotdogs. While Keat and Laure started a band called the Crazy Eights, I went out on the canoe with John and Court. We traveled all the way to the center of the lake to a small island. There were weird grass huts hidden in the reeds, prompting us to turn around. On the way back to shore I grabbed a lily pad. By the time we returned to the house, Keat and Lauren were on the couch with bongos and a guitar performing "100 Views of the Adirondacks." As it got dark, we built a fire and burned Court's old notebooks. We also cooked some s'mores. I went on the canoe again with Keaton and Johnny. It was one of the most surreal moments my eyes have ever witnessed. The sky was pitch black with dark swirls of blue and purple. Tiny white stars were scattered everywhere. When we floated out to the middle of the lake, the water was completely still. It felt like we were gliding over glass. The lake reflected the nightsky like a mirror. We were literally floating through the stars. It seemed as though we were upside down in the sky, completely enveloped in sparkling darkness. When we returned to the dock, I went inside and took a warm shower. We went to sleep on a white air mattress. We woke early in the morning to Regis and Kelly and pecans. Courtney piled us all into her car and headed back to Geneva. Its not very often that you get to spend the night at your own lake house of course.
After many many days at the lake, many evenings of mandolins, nights in the red room talking to the point of terror and goosebumps, days in Maya's bed laughing to the point of sickness due to YouTube and backstreet boys, much movie-going (Transformers, License to Wed, and Evan Almighty), driving in the grandma-esque Taurus, cooking with Courtney, smokin cigahs with my sis, riding the spinny-pukey-carnival ride for the first time, and burning nag champa, this summer has been memorable so far.
As a final note (and sorry about this nearly never-ending entry):
Donna Pinciotti > Jackie Burkhart.
Britney Spears > everyone.
Oh oh ohhh. I feel like so many things have happened since I've been back. The summer started off slowly... I was just getting used to the idea of having no obligations, no homework, no class. I was basically very lazy. Not that I'm much busier now. I have no job yet... but Tops Friendly Markets looks promising;-) ... I desire cash flow. I'm currently painting a sign for Dana's Time Out at the baseball field. It's about 20 feet long and 8 feet tall. So far I've finished a base coat of white paint to cover the scrappy, old, deteriorating black paint beneath it. Should be a fun job, the only downfalls being perhaps a farmer's tan or bee stings, or falling from a ladder.
One of the first cool things I did this summer (that I can recall) is going to Hell House with Laure and Courtney. The day started as a mission to find "beauty" and take mad pix. Laure and I went to the graveyard and took pictures of queer gravestones, monuments, and sarcophagi. Afterwards,we scooped Court and drove down East Lake Road to the abandoned house plopped at the end of a quarter-mile-long driveway surrounded by a corn field. A.K.A-> Hell House. I'd never been inside, only up the driveway before getting spooked and turning around. As we walked close to the house we found an old high heeled shoe covered in ants. Naturally, Court picks it up. Next, closer to the house, we find a flashlight. Loooookss liiike somebody got scared and dropped that as they ran away in a flurry one night. Naturally, Court was the first to enter the house. Upon entering, there is a living room. An over turned retro chair..an old couch..holes in the floor boards.walls peeling. Beyond here is maybe a kitchen? A yellow refrigerator rests on more furniture. Throughout the house, the walls are sometimes gutted, sometimes missing, covered in graffiti from 1986, and the words "666" and "Eat me." One room is knee-deep full of high heels, magazines, clothes, dishes, lamps, and other old objects. Very eerie. In the basement, Courtney wandered off to the far corner only to discover a gutted deer carcass. In most cases this would be our signal to leave... but we just proceeded on to the upstairs. Here we found more holey walls, hay-filled mattresses which had been ripped apart, iron bed frames, and cool second-floor window views. We frolicked through the corn field as we made our way back to the car. Next we stopped at a train overpass where Court and I got out of the car and climbed up on the tracks. We looked down through the cracks at the road and Lauren took our picture. We drove to Geneva On the Lake after this. It was getting dark now. We played bocce and croquet in the bushes. And we relaxed in the Adirondack chairs overlooking the lake. But all the bugs zipping and zapping around us eventually brought us back to the car.
In addition (update July162007, 12:38am):
One of the first nights of summer, Maya John and I walked to Aaron's home on a whim and were treated to a live jam sesh of El Kabong. Maya and I retreated to the kitchen where we did shots and danced heavily around the oversized paint-splattered table. A strange boy entered the house without warning and said, "This is the weirdest house I've ever walked into!" Next, carrying various drums, bongos, and guitars, we loudly walked the streets of Geneva. First going to Wegmans... then to the plaza... then behind the plaza. John was convinced that he knew a secret route to Lomar St. through the woods. We proceeded into the forest, where twigs and prickers scraped into our skin, as we fell down mini-cliffs of land, all the while carrying 500 instruments. Once we reached level ground behind a random house on Jay St., John confessed he didn't know where we had been going. Soo.. off we went to Jason's on Lomar via the road and barefeet, where we tramped through more woods and had a bonfire.
One night, Courtney, Claire, Keaton, Stewie, John and I decided to have a late night grilling party. We went to the state park, parked between the lake and a small grill... and unloaded hamburgers,hots,fish,lemonade,grape soda ;), and s'more supplies. It was pretty dark at this time.. so Court eventually made a candle out of an empty fish tin and sticks. It was a gorgeous night... and the food was tasty. But the buggies eventually got the best of us and chased Keat's jeep cherokee back to town.
Besides dance parties and sleigh rides, I went to Ithaca with Keaton and Caleb. After having a bit of a hassel with Caleb's tardiness and being DENIED GAS after Keaton's clumsy fingers entered the wrong debit PIN number, we were on our way. (After K banged his c.) It was a beautiful day in the Commons. We went to 2 old bookstores, the record store, mad headshops, and Sammy's for pizza. Here, we noticed that the back dining room was ridiculously unique. Orange walls, red and green tiled floors, very dark-almost non-existent lighting, and a giant electronic painting of the golden gate bridge. The bathroom (behind a big black door) had bright green walls, a black ceiling, and the same green and red tiled floor. We left with much merchandise and full tummys. A memorable trip.
A few days before this, Courtney was house-sitting a place on Cayuga Lake. Naturally, she invited friends to accompany her. John, Laure, Keat, and I traveled to the house in Court's car. Forrest met us there. After the completion of random chores, like spraying the weeds, we broke out Mr. Carlo Rossi and blue wine goblets. We also started the grill and cooked some burgers and hotdogs. While Keat and Laure started a band called the Crazy Eights, I went out on the canoe with John and Court. We traveled all the way to the center of the lake to a small island. There were weird grass huts hidden in the reeds, prompting us to turn around. On the way back to shore I grabbed a lily pad. By the time we returned to the house, Keat and Lauren were on the couch with bongos and a guitar performing "100 Views of the Adirondacks." As it got dark, we built a fire and burned Court's old notebooks. We also cooked some s'mores. I went on the canoe again with Keaton and Johnny. It was one of the most surreal moments my eyes have ever witnessed. The sky was pitch black with dark swirls of blue and purple. Tiny white stars were scattered everywhere. When we floated out to the middle of the lake, the water was completely still. It felt like we were gliding over glass. The lake reflected the nightsky like a mirror. We were literally floating through the stars. It seemed as though we were upside down in the sky, completely enveloped in sparkling darkness. When we returned to the dock, I went inside and took a warm shower. We went to sleep on a white air mattress. We woke early in the morning to Regis and Kelly and pecans. Courtney piled us all into her car and headed back to Geneva. Its not very often that you get to spend the night at your own lake house of course.
After many many days at the lake, many evenings of mandolins, nights in the red room talking to the point of terror and goosebumps, days in Maya's bed laughing to the point of sickness due to YouTube and backstreet boys, much movie-going (Transformers, License to Wed, and Evan Almighty), driving in the grandma-esque Taurus, cooking with Courtney, smokin cigahs with my sis, riding the spinny-pukey-carnival ride for the first time, and burning nag champa, this summer has been memorable so far.
As a final note (and sorry about this nearly never-ending entry):
Donna Pinciotti > Jackie Burkhart.
Britney Spears > everyone.