sugar, darlin', muffin, baby, i think this world is going crazy...
Hello loves!
Still kicking it in the States, still having fun and missing you all to bits and pieces. Though there's no substitute for face-to-face conversation over Spill mochas or Moho beer, I'm really enjoying the LJ connection that I have with everyone via the interweb. I was talking to Dan the other day on one of the camp's outdoor pay-phones; children were screaming and trucks were running and the P.A. system was announcing and the phone connection was sucking and the gong was, um gong-ing... Anyway, the point is, this distance thing seems to tax the Canadian relationships and test Kerri's patience; it is frustrating, but I'll take the sporadic bouts of "real-world" contact wherever I can get 'em - be it by infrequently consulted LJ posts, or shitty phone calls. I miss everyone and can't wait to see you all and have REAL conversations with you lot again. The time is passing quickly, and in the meantime I'm enjoying myself and trying not to think of the prospect of never seeing my co-workers again. These people are far too much fun to leave behind, I want to pack everyone up and bring them home with me... though at the same time, I shudder at the idea; it feels that these two worlds are not meant to overlap or inter-twine. There is a definite fragmentation, but this is complicated to explain, maybe I'll get into it later...
I do believe I somehow failed to mention to you all this amazing circumstance the other day where the people around me SPONTANEOUSLY BURST INTO SONG AND DANCE!
The scene is the dining hall: the staff meeting before last - that is, the Friday before last. The theater director/guy who took us skydiving named Bryan stood up and made some announcement. Upon conclusion of said announcement, Bryan paused and said thoughtfully, "wait, there was something else..."
He looked up at us.
Smiled.
Then launched into an impromptu rendition of "Afternoon Delight".
-"Skyyyyyy Rockets in flight! OOOOOHHHHHH, Afternoon Delight!!"-
He got about a third of the way through the first verse (actions and all), when the costume coordinator named Sam stood up and said "I have something to add to that announcement!", and then he joined in! This happened a few more times until there were five performing arts counselors harmonizing the song "Afternoon Delight". The other 200 staff members stood up in unison for the rocket sound effect. That is, we all stood up together, when the verse called for it, and made the rocket sound effect ("PPPPSSSSHHHHHUUUU") and the accompanying gesture. We got all the way through the song, it was brilliant.
This place is magical, I never want to NOT live somewhere where the potential for spontaneous song and dance routines does not exist.
-"Sky Rockets in Flight, PPPPSSSSHHHHHUUUUU, Afternoon Delight!"-
So I went to Maine on my day off this week. I had about a day and a half off and I spent 11 hours of it driving back and forth to bloody Maine. We went through about 4 states in the 5 and a half hour drive there! 4 states! What is with the geography in this country?!; in Canada you can drive and drive and drive and never really GET anywhere... while here, I freakin' blinked and I missed New Hamshire! I went with about 10 other counselors. We stayed at my friend Allie's lake house, it was beautiful! And it was like actual camping, with outhouses and bugs and bonfires and everything! We drank and swam and barbecued and were merry. George Bush Jr. apparently has a house on Allie's lake as well; we drove around and searched for it in vain, so we echoed nasty words through the air and wrote him hate mail in the sand instead.
The drive there and back was one of the most enjoyable parts, there was car karaoke and the like, it was just a fun escape.
I finished my first shop project here at Buck's Rock. I know, seriously, it only took me a whole month eh? I made a tiny little guitar pendant in the Metals shop and gave it to my friend Leigh for his birthday. I'm a bloody menace in the shops... my clumsiness absolutely betrays any of my attempts at creative outflow. The shop head Allie (the Maine trip one) left me alone for seriously 1 MINUTE and I managed to slice my thumb open on a piece of sheet metal. oops. Allie bandaged me and asked if I'd had my shots and commented that I was worse then the damn campers, I had to concur with the latter.
I will attempt to make other pretty things, and I will also try my darndest not to give them away, and I will bring these pretty things home and you all will swoon and coo over them... maybe.
Today I told a lazy, mouthy camper to "turn down the suck, turn up the get-the-hell-to-shops!" and the kid offered to go to the P.A.S.S. shop and get that phrase printed on a T-shirt; I love these kids. I can't wait to show you all the massive summer yearbook with all the pictures from the performances and such. I wanted to keep you all up with awesome-ness of each kid's show, but there are so many every week that it's hard to find enough adjectives to aptly describe them all. I will bring you this massive yearbook, and you will all swoon and coo over it while I attempt to encapsulate the awesome-ness and creativity of these kids into mere mortal words.
Have I mentioned yet how jealous I am that I'm not hitting the Pitchfork Music Festival? I am so goddamn jealous that I'm missing out on the Pitchfork music festival! I was telling my man Dan, I gave consideration to screwing off and heading to Chicago for a day or two of the show. However, aside from the ridiculous cost
and my inability to get the time off work, I know that the part of the journey that I will mourn the most is the aspect that I definitely cannot be a part of, and that is the ROAD TRIP! No doubt, you guys will have so many adventures traveling and sleeping in the car! I humbly request that many pictures be taken! I would also like a trinket from Chicago if possible. I told Dan, a memento from Spoon or The Futureheads or The Walkmen or Art Brut or just about any of the bitchin' bands that you lot will bear witness to will do nicely. I could also be equally ecstatic over just a postcard. I'm very low maintenance, I would just like to know that I was missed and briefly thought of! I hope you guys have fun, I'll be thinking of you while I take temperatures and fax parents.
"Short Updates" seems to be an elusive art that I cannot master... I just can't seem to help myself, thank you all for sticking out these very long posts! In addition to my natural long-windedness - my English profs called it "a propensity for flowery, poetic diction" - my access to the computer has substantially increased and allowed for more LJ post-writing. The new nurses we received recently are just so chill, they let me check e-mails and write posts without wagging fingers... one of them actually encourages me to blast the funky indie music!
On slow days, I get paid to listen to the Bloc Party and write in my LJ... I don't deserve this place.
Cheers,
-k.s. xxxooo
Still kicking it in the States, still having fun and missing you all to bits and pieces. Though there's no substitute for face-to-face conversation over Spill mochas or Moho beer, I'm really enjoying the LJ connection that I have with everyone via the interweb. I was talking to Dan the other day on one of the camp's outdoor pay-phones; children were screaming and trucks were running and the P.A. system was announcing and the phone connection was sucking and the gong was, um gong-ing... Anyway, the point is, this distance thing seems to tax the Canadian relationships and test Kerri's patience; it is frustrating, but I'll take the sporadic bouts of "real-world" contact wherever I can get 'em - be it by infrequently consulted LJ posts, or shitty phone calls. I miss everyone and can't wait to see you all and have REAL conversations with you lot again. The time is passing quickly, and in the meantime I'm enjoying myself and trying not to think of the prospect of never seeing my co-workers again. These people are far too much fun to leave behind, I want to pack everyone up and bring them home with me... though at the same time, I shudder at the idea; it feels that these two worlds are not meant to overlap or inter-twine. There is a definite fragmentation, but this is complicated to explain, maybe I'll get into it later...
I do believe I somehow failed to mention to you all this amazing circumstance the other day where the people around me SPONTANEOUSLY BURST INTO SONG AND DANCE!
The scene is the dining hall: the staff meeting before last - that is, the Friday before last. The theater director/guy who took us skydiving named Bryan stood up and made some announcement. Upon conclusion of said announcement, Bryan paused and said thoughtfully, "wait, there was something else..."
He looked up at us.
Smiled.
Then launched into an impromptu rendition of "Afternoon Delight".
-"Skyyyyyy Rockets in flight! OOOOOHHHHHH, Afternoon Delight!!"-
He got about a third of the way through the first verse (actions and all), when the costume coordinator named Sam stood up and said "I have something to add to that announcement!", and then he joined in! This happened a few more times until there were five performing arts counselors harmonizing the song "Afternoon Delight". The other 200 staff members stood up in unison for the rocket sound effect. That is, we all stood up together, when the verse called for it, and made the rocket sound effect ("PPPPSSSSHHHHHUUUU") and the accompanying gesture. We got all the way through the song, it was brilliant.
This place is magical, I never want to NOT live somewhere where the potential for spontaneous song and dance routines does not exist.
-"Sky Rockets in Flight, PPPPSSSSHHHHHUUUUU, Afternoon Delight!"-
So I went to Maine on my day off this week. I had about a day and a half off and I spent 11 hours of it driving back and forth to bloody Maine. We went through about 4 states in the 5 and a half hour drive there! 4 states! What is with the geography in this country?!; in Canada you can drive and drive and drive and never really GET anywhere... while here, I freakin' blinked and I missed New Hamshire! I went with about 10 other counselors. We stayed at my friend Allie's lake house, it was beautiful! And it was like actual camping, with outhouses and bugs and bonfires and everything! We drank and swam and barbecued and were merry. George Bush Jr. apparently has a house on Allie's lake as well; we drove around and searched for it in vain, so we echoed nasty words through the air and wrote him hate mail in the sand instead.
The drive there and back was one of the most enjoyable parts, there was car karaoke and the like, it was just a fun escape.
I finished my first shop project here at Buck's Rock. I know, seriously, it only took me a whole month eh? I made a tiny little guitar pendant in the Metals shop and gave it to my friend Leigh for his birthday. I'm a bloody menace in the shops... my clumsiness absolutely betrays any of my attempts at creative outflow. The shop head Allie (the Maine trip one) left me alone for seriously 1 MINUTE and I managed to slice my thumb open on a piece of sheet metal. oops. Allie bandaged me and asked if I'd had my shots and commented that I was worse then the damn campers, I had to concur with the latter.
I will attempt to make other pretty things, and I will also try my darndest not to give them away, and I will bring these pretty things home and you all will swoon and coo over them... maybe.
Today I told a lazy, mouthy camper to "turn down the suck, turn up the get-the-hell-to-shops!" and the kid offered to go to the P.A.S.S. shop and get that phrase printed on a T-shirt; I love these kids. I can't wait to show you all the massive summer yearbook with all the pictures from the performances and such. I wanted to keep you all up with awesome-ness of each kid's show, but there are so many every week that it's hard to find enough adjectives to aptly describe them all. I will bring you this massive yearbook, and you will all swoon and coo over it while I attempt to encapsulate the awesome-ness and creativity of these kids into mere mortal words.
Have I mentioned yet how jealous I am that I'm not hitting the Pitchfork Music Festival? I am so goddamn jealous that I'm missing out on the Pitchfork music festival! I was telling my man Dan, I gave consideration to screwing off and heading to Chicago for a day or two of the show. However, aside from the ridiculous cost
and my inability to get the time off work, I know that the part of the journey that I will mourn the most is the aspect that I definitely cannot be a part of, and that is the ROAD TRIP! No doubt, you guys will have so many adventures traveling and sleeping in the car! I humbly request that many pictures be taken! I would also like a trinket from Chicago if possible. I told Dan, a memento from Spoon or The Futureheads or The Walkmen or Art Brut or just about any of the bitchin' bands that you lot will bear witness to will do nicely. I could also be equally ecstatic over just a postcard. I'm very low maintenance, I would just like to know that I was missed and briefly thought of! I hope you guys have fun, I'll be thinking of you while I take temperatures and fax parents.
"Short Updates" seems to be an elusive art that I cannot master... I just can't seem to help myself, thank you all for sticking out these very long posts! In addition to my natural long-windedness - my English profs called it "a propensity for flowery, poetic diction" - my access to the computer has substantially increased and allowed for more LJ post-writing. The new nurses we received recently are just so chill, they let me check e-mails and write posts without wagging fingers... one of them actually encourages me to blast the funky indie music!
On slow days, I get paid to listen to the Bloc Party and write in my LJ... I don't deserve this place.
Cheers,
-k.s. xxxooo