(no subject)
I was up in New York sailing for another weekend. I got dragged into it at the last minute. We rode up with the Georgetown team. they were lame, we goofed around. they dropped us off somewhere in the city so we could get a train to long island to mike's house. so they did, and were running down the street in new york hauling all this sailing shit, so we're dropping life jackets and boots everywhere. it was quite a scene. we got on the train and litterally the doors closed right behind us. we eventually got to mike's house, had some pizza, and called it a night.
we raced the next day. we did allright. the conditions were a bit nuts thought. the current was really strong, so all the teams were all over the place. at one point the current was stronger than the wind, so they postponed the race. good thing too, because mike and i couldn't even make it to the starting line. once the wind picked back up we raced more. I felt bad for alex because she came with us as an alternate and just sat around all day.
we ate dinner with mike's parents, and it was a wonderful home-cooked meal. so good. after that we just hung out all night. we were going to go into the city, but we were just pooped.
we got there early in the morning, all ready to go. except the postponed races like all day, so we just sat around. emily and i played that game where you make a little cirlce with your hand and you hold it below your waist, and when the other person looks at it, you get to hit them. we didn't hit hard though. it was all in good fun. we came up with some pretty clever ways of making the other look. we also played scrabble for a while. once the delays ended like 4 or 5 hours later, we got to racin' and did what we could. alex sailed with martin. once it was done, we left. super-long car ride. but at least it was in the Gtown van and not martin's little shit car.
My final memior project is due, and I have no idea what to write about. I need suggestions. Ahhhh!
I think I wrote a pretty good essay for our monument project.
I was never one for monuments. Thus far my favorite was the San Jacinto monument, commemorating the battle which won Texas independence from Mexico, and it’s really only my favorite because of the slide show you can see before going up to the observation deck. But I was in Washington, D.C.; I couldn’t avoid them. Nor did I want to avoid them for fear I would miss out on the experience.
I knew all the ones you are supposed to see and had gone to see them. I knew that Washington was the great leader of the army that defeated the British. I knew Jefferson wrote the words that established our government. I knew Lincoln freed the slaves and led us through the civil war. I knew FDR got us through the depression and World War II. I knew of the soldiers who gave their lives in Vietnam and World War II.
But I had no idea who the guy was standing right outside. I’d passed him a million times, barely noticing. Who was he? I had heard his name was Artemus Ward. There was a whole week dedicated to this guy, and with posters everywhere telling me to ‘Party with Artie’, I figured I’d learn a bit about him. I typed “Artemus Ward” into Wikipedia.com and up came information about a famous satirist. In a city full of monuments to famous leaders, politicians and war heroes, some writer I’ve never heard of has a statue? Does Nathaniel Hawthorne have a statue?
I had never been out to his statue. I had passed by him in cars and shuttle buses, but I had hardly taken the time to actually see him. I took the trek out to the circle one morning when I accidentally slept in and wouldn’t make it in time for the start of my 9:55 class. I figured I would be late anyway, so I might as well take some time seeing that statue that had been so mysterious. I walked out to the circle. Artie had his back to me when I first approached him. I tried to figure out how to get close. No wonder I had never been close before: so many cars going round and round making it difficult to get to the center of the statue, and I had no crosswalk to the center of the circle. Cars whizzed by and it took a while for the traffic to break long enough for me to cross. No wonder I never walk his way there’s no paths leading to him. I walked around until I could finally see him.
There he was, standing tall in front of me. I should have brought a camera or a pen and paper or something to help me remember this. His pedestal is huge, almost as big as he is. His statue isn’t all that big, he’s just really high up, with that green color that copper tends to turn. He stands there, triangular hat in hand, knee slightly bent. I’m sure he’s thinking something, but I have no idea what. His plaque says he was a Harvard graduate, General in the Continental Army, delegate to the Continental Congress, and a Congressman. I thought this guy was a writer. Oh, now I see: Artemas Ward, not Artemus Ward. That’s probably why he has a statue.
I tried to think of some good metaphors. Maybe Artie was God: the world moves about him so quickly, slightly unaware of his presence, minding their own business when in truth he is the center of their activity. He stands strong, unmoving, in the middle of it all, overseeing it all. He guides their movements, directing them where to go. Wait, scratch that. That’s a lame metaphor.
Artie is the unknown hero. He is the man who makes the difference that people don’t really remember, but that is so pivotal to the outcome. He is the “one man” who that guy who does the voiceover for movie trailers is always talking about. He makes all the difference, but does so not for fame or recognition but solely for his cause. Wait, wait, that doesn’t work either. He does have a statue, he’s just not that famous.
Artie is… he’s just that dude in Ward Circle I didn’t know. He’s just there. He’s in the background. He’s one of those many things in life that we just pass by because of apathy or lack of time or lack of initiative. By now I’ve learned that sometimes it’s just not worth your time to know more. I’m sure he’s really important and interesting, but I never wanted to explore his story. I still don’t. It’d be nice to know about him, but I waste my time with too many things already. There’s somebody out there who’s interested: I’ll leave it up to him/her to find out more. See you around, Artie.
Lots of other finals and things are going to happen next week. I have zero motivation to do any kind of studying. But once it's all done I can go hoooommme. Except I'll probably be bored. I have a feeling this summer is going to be filled with boredom.
we raced the next day. we did allright. the conditions were a bit nuts thought. the current was really strong, so all the teams were all over the place. at one point the current was stronger than the wind, so they postponed the race. good thing too, because mike and i couldn't even make it to the starting line. once the wind picked back up we raced more. I felt bad for alex because she came with us as an alternate and just sat around all day.
we ate dinner with mike's parents, and it was a wonderful home-cooked meal. so good. after that we just hung out all night. we were going to go into the city, but we were just pooped.
we got there early in the morning, all ready to go. except the postponed races like all day, so we just sat around. emily and i played that game where you make a little cirlce with your hand and you hold it below your waist, and when the other person looks at it, you get to hit them. we didn't hit hard though. it was all in good fun. we came up with some pretty clever ways of making the other look. we also played scrabble for a while. once the delays ended like 4 or 5 hours later, we got to racin' and did what we could. alex sailed with martin. once it was done, we left. super-long car ride. but at least it was in the Gtown van and not martin's little shit car.
My final memior project is due, and I have no idea what to write about. I need suggestions. Ahhhh!
I think I wrote a pretty good essay for our monument project.
I was never one for monuments. Thus far my favorite was the San Jacinto monument, commemorating the battle which won Texas independence from Mexico, and it’s really only my favorite because of the slide show you can see before going up to the observation deck. But I was in Washington, D.C.; I couldn’t avoid them. Nor did I want to avoid them for fear I would miss out on the experience.
I knew all the ones you are supposed to see and had gone to see them. I knew that Washington was the great leader of the army that defeated the British. I knew Jefferson wrote the words that established our government. I knew Lincoln freed the slaves and led us through the civil war. I knew FDR got us through the depression and World War II. I knew of the soldiers who gave their lives in Vietnam and World War II.
But I had no idea who the guy was standing right outside. I’d passed him a million times, barely noticing. Who was he? I had heard his name was Artemus Ward. There was a whole week dedicated to this guy, and with posters everywhere telling me to ‘Party with Artie’, I figured I’d learn a bit about him. I typed “Artemus Ward” into Wikipedia.com and up came information about a famous satirist. In a city full of monuments to famous leaders, politicians and war heroes, some writer I’ve never heard of has a statue? Does Nathaniel Hawthorne have a statue?
I had never been out to his statue. I had passed by him in cars and shuttle buses, but I had hardly taken the time to actually see him. I took the trek out to the circle one morning when I accidentally slept in and wouldn’t make it in time for the start of my 9:55 class. I figured I would be late anyway, so I might as well take some time seeing that statue that had been so mysterious. I walked out to the circle. Artie had his back to me when I first approached him. I tried to figure out how to get close. No wonder I had never been close before: so many cars going round and round making it difficult to get to the center of the statue, and I had no crosswalk to the center of the circle. Cars whizzed by and it took a while for the traffic to break long enough for me to cross. No wonder I never walk his way there’s no paths leading to him. I walked around until I could finally see him.
There he was, standing tall in front of me. I should have brought a camera or a pen and paper or something to help me remember this. His pedestal is huge, almost as big as he is. His statue isn’t all that big, he’s just really high up, with that green color that copper tends to turn. He stands there, triangular hat in hand, knee slightly bent. I’m sure he’s thinking something, but I have no idea what. His plaque says he was a Harvard graduate, General in the Continental Army, delegate to the Continental Congress, and a Congressman. I thought this guy was a writer. Oh, now I see: Artemas Ward, not Artemus Ward. That’s probably why he has a statue.
I tried to think of some good metaphors. Maybe Artie was God: the world moves about him so quickly, slightly unaware of his presence, minding their own business when in truth he is the center of their activity. He stands strong, unmoving, in the middle of it all, overseeing it all. He guides their movements, directing them where to go. Wait, scratch that. That’s a lame metaphor.
Artie is the unknown hero. He is the man who makes the difference that people don’t really remember, but that is so pivotal to the outcome. He is the “one man” who that guy who does the voiceover for movie trailers is always talking about. He makes all the difference, but does so not for fame or recognition but solely for his cause. Wait, wait, that doesn’t work either. He does have a statue, he’s just not that famous.
Artie is… he’s just that dude in Ward Circle I didn’t know. He’s just there. He’s in the background. He’s one of those many things in life that we just pass by because of apathy or lack of time or lack of initiative. By now I’ve learned that sometimes it’s just not worth your time to know more. I’m sure he’s really important and interesting, but I never wanted to explore his story. I still don’t. It’d be nice to know about him, but I waste my time with too many things already. There’s somebody out there who’s interested: I’ll leave it up to him/her to find out more. See you around, Artie.
Lots of other finals and things are going to happen next week. I have zero motivation to do any kind of studying. But once it's all done I can go hoooommme. Except I'll probably be bored. I have a feeling this summer is going to be filled with boredom.