oh, lawd...no cut
1) i expected this summer to go by much more slowly, seeing as i wouldn't be traveling as much as usual, just working and chilling. NOT. it went by doubly-fast, and i will miss this last high school summer. damn. working full-time had me feeling sort-of disconnected from most of you folks (and others), but i do love my job and (most) of the people i work with. having things turn out differently isn't always necessarily bad.
for instance, this summer i got to:
go to Europe
see a male stripper
go to 3 different Irish pubs, in 2 different countries
receive 5w33t-a55 paychecks
start an (almost)no-strings-attached, v.satisfactory "agreement"
work on developing melanoma
attend another Amnesty leadership summit and meet amazing, smart, well-informed people (within 2 days, we had had un-workshop-facilitated discussions on new Amnesty policy, pros/cons of green consumerism, how to identify with your racial/ethnic heritage, etc. ain't no people like Amnesty people.)
develop a close personal relationship with Publix
read great books, albeit not necessarily the ones assigned
+
see the end of an era with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
kayak in the ocean and talk to the dolphins
visit a college i could forseeably attend and be happy doing so
hear myself described as a "wonderful actress" by someone who knows
experience some closure
realize i will be okay leaving behind this place and these people.
overall: success.
2) on a completely different note, yesterday i had the most hellish bike ride of my life. i'm training for a triathlon next month (yes: i am woman, hear me roar), so i wanted to try riding an actual road-bike. this was supposed to be a good thing, because it would be so much lighter than my regular-old fat-tire bike, and therefore faster and easier to handle. NOT. the seat dug into my bones in ways that can't be healthy; the pedals were made to be used with special clip-in shoes, which left me in my Nikes with a pretty insecure footing; the placement of the seat made me pitch forward to ride in a very Lance Armstrong but very uncomfortable way. SO....i got stuck in that weird little gutter-space between the road and the grass, freaked out, and completely ate it. luckily, my wrist and other bones are still intact, but i am experiencing serious road rash on my elbow and hip. painful, but...okay, it looks badass.
not done yet:
after my spectacular wipe-out, we get caught in a freaking hurricane, and literally soaked through. picture, if you will, me hunched over on this evil little bike, bleeding from the elbow and side, gritting my teeth and looking as though i had decided to take a dip in my clothes. yeah.
i'm gonna eat that triathlon for breakfast.
congratulations if you made it all the way through.
for instance, this summer i got to:
go to Europe
see a male stripper
go to 3 different Irish pubs, in 2 different countries
receive 5w33t-a55 paychecks
start an (almost)no-strings-attached, v.satisfactory "agreement"
work on developing melanoma
attend another Amnesty leadership summit and meet amazing, smart, well-informed people (within 2 days, we had had un-workshop-facilitated discussions on new Amnesty policy, pros/cons of green consumerism, how to identify with your racial/ethnic heritage, etc. ain't no people like Amnesty people.)
develop a close personal relationship with Publix
read great books, albeit not necessarily the ones assigned
+
see the end of an era with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
kayak in the ocean and talk to the dolphins
visit a college i could forseeably attend and be happy doing so
hear myself described as a "wonderful actress" by someone who knows
experience some closure
realize i will be okay leaving behind this place and these people.
overall: success.
2) on a completely different note, yesterday i had the most hellish bike ride of my life. i'm training for a triathlon next month (yes: i am woman, hear me roar), so i wanted to try riding an actual road-bike. this was supposed to be a good thing, because it would be so much lighter than my regular-old fat-tire bike, and therefore faster and easier to handle. NOT. the seat dug into my bones in ways that can't be healthy; the pedals were made to be used with special clip-in shoes, which left me in my Nikes with a pretty insecure footing; the placement of the seat made me pitch forward to ride in a very Lance Armstrong but very uncomfortable way. SO....i got stuck in that weird little gutter-space between the road and the grass, freaked out, and completely ate it. luckily, my wrist and other bones are still intact, but i am experiencing serious road rash on my elbow and hip. painful, but...okay, it looks badass.
not done yet:
after my spectacular wipe-out, we get caught in a freaking hurricane, and literally soaked through. picture, if you will, me hunched over on this evil little bike, bleeding from the elbow and side, gritting my teeth and looking as though i had decided to take a dip in my clothes. yeah.
i'm gonna eat that triathlon for breakfast.
congratulations if you made it all the way through.