As you've probably heard from every college student you've had any interaction with over the last few days, it's finals weeks. Which means, as you've probably heard from all the freshman college students you've had any interaction with over the past few days, our first semester of college is almost vanquished. It' doesn't feel like the semester is over, because I still have a fairly significant amount of work to do, but I'm seeing, if not the end of the tunnel, at least the top of the hill.
But classes are over. The semester is, essentially, over. Last year a wise, bearded mandolin player (seriously though) enlightened me to the
fact that college courses end after one semester. Maybe this is common
knowledge, but if he hadn't told me, I probably wouldn't have found out
until this moment. This shocking realization lead me to one even more alarming. I'm going to miss my classes.
I walked, giddily, out of my exam today. I walked out of an oral exam giddy. Granted, getting out of an exam early is one of life's more exhilarating experiences, but
Those who know me know that I'm not an academic over-achiever. I'm not saying I'm stupid, but there are people who love the very experience of learning and I, until this point, have never been one of them. I have turned in papers five or six words over the minimum, and I will never do optional reading. I don't generally have many positive feelings toward any class after its final exam (Journalism being the exception out of the 28 that I took in high school). Even though my AP Lit teacher was fantastic, and the class did indeed prepare me to college in a beat-into-submission kind of way, I would never take it again. But if you sat me down and told me I had to listen to Borgman rant about Abraham for another four months, I'd be pretty okay with it.
Maybe I got lucky with my class choice this year-- I know, with my earliest class at 11:25, I did with their timing. I had Intro to Creative Writing, which stereotypically had the strangest conglomeration of students, as well as a very personable, very hipster professor. I took the Examined Life, the required philosophy class that I not only didn't hate, but enjoyed so much I'm considering a minor in philosophy. There was Bible as Literature, with it's meager six students and very eccentric, charismatic, yet somewhat...kooky professor. And then we have Old Testament. For that one, it's not the class I will miss as much as the company of the person to the right of me. All my professors were really nice, all the homework was reasonable, and I frequently slept in until 11:00 am. I promise, I'm not being paid by Gordon for this.
So, after thinking about this for a while, I came to another The internet would make an inception joke here. Looking back at the posts from this semester, realization, learning, is the motif, the common thread running through it all. I learned how good Sam is at creating weaponry from paper, I learned the
difference between tuna and chicken salad (and forgot it again), I
learned--to an extent-- how much more Africa affected me than I thought. And heck, I've enjoyed it.
I never imagined considering graduate school, and I know it's ridiculous to consider it at this point, but seven and a half years of school don't sound as bad as they once did. There are so many things to learn! I'm majoring in English, but I'm auditioning for a music minor next year, plus there's drama, philosophy, biblical studies...all incredibly interesting subjects worth pursuing.
Even ignoring all classes this semester, I learned that fishercat calls are horrifying, what swag is, that the library steps are best place on campus to see the sky, all seven verses of "O Come All Ye Faithful," that my facial hair is still patchy, that it's really hard to be spontaneous without a car, and that girls don't appreciate incredibly abrasive Bostonian waiters.
There is still plenty I have yet to learn of course. I still don't know why there are hooks on our door if we can't hook anything on them and the proper response for "what's good?", but hey. That's what the next seven semesters are for. Also the rest of my life.
-Will
"Things that come easy are not usually good. Good things take effort."
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Dry Season
Recently I've realized that I've been affected by my time in Africa much more than I was aware of.
In early October, as I possessed zero water-resistant outer garments, my dad took me to get an umbrella and a raincoat at various Wenham-area retailers. I appreciated the thought and the generosity, but I quite frankly thought it was kind of silly. I never considered why I thought this silly. If I had thought through my logic, however, I would have come to the idea that "it rained really hard this last week, so it must be about dry season now." But because I didn't ever get that far, and tell that to myself, I didn't realize that that is of course not a thing here.
I was fantastic to see so many people in this past week. I saw my bros from Charter, people at church, most of my extended family, a couple of friends from DA, and even my friend in Texas (which if I haven't ranted about to you yet, was a fantastic trip). It was a great time, but it kind of took me off guard, for the same reason as the rain has. In my head, when I said bye to them at the end of the summer, I didn't really expect to see them for another year. I told them, in a-- I promise-- non-manufactured surprised manner, that "I'll see you at Thanksgiving!" But again, if I had thought it through, I would have seen that I didn't believe what I was saying.
You could say it's the effect of two summers and no winters back in America had. Some might call it a rare, psychological phenomenon. But if I were being honest with myself, you know what I'd call it? Culture shock.
-Will
"Look there's a statue!"
In early October, as I possessed zero water-resistant outer garments, my dad took me to get an umbrella and a raincoat at various Wenham-area retailers. I appreciated the thought and the generosity, but I quite frankly thought it was kind of silly. I never considered why I thought this silly. If I had thought through my logic, however, I would have come to the idea that "it rained really hard this last week, so it must be about dry season now." But because I didn't ever get that far, and tell that to myself, I didn't realize that that is of course not a thing here.
I was fantastic to see so many people in this past week. I saw my bros from Charter, people at church, most of my extended family, a couple of friends from DA, and even my friend in Texas (which if I haven't ranted about to you yet, was a fantastic trip). It was a great time, but it kind of took me off guard, for the same reason as the rain has. In my head, when I said bye to them at the end of the summer, I didn't really expect to see them for another year. I told them, in a-- I promise-- non-manufactured surprised manner, that "I'll see you at Thanksgiving!" But again, if I had thought it through, I would have seen that I didn't believe what I was saying.
You could say it's the effect of two summers and no winters back in America had. Some might call it a rare, psychological phenomenon. But if I were being honest with myself, you know what I'd call it? Culture shock.
-Will
"Look there's a statue!"
Monday, October 17, 2011
"Did You Partake in the Miracle of Human Flight, You Noncontributing Zero?!"
I've had a lot of technological topics on my mind these past few months, what with returning to the land of consumerism, buying my first TV and laptop, and the death of and subsequent honor and worship bestowed upon Steve Jobs. But someone showed me this video the other week and I realized that Louie CK had already said, more succinctly and hilariously than I ever could, what I wanted to.
I embed to you "Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy."
-Will
"Like, how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only ten seconds ago."
I embed to you "Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy."
-Will
"Like, how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only ten seconds ago."
Sunday, October 9, 2011
And For my First Job...
I got the most cliched possibility: a dishwasher. However, since most of the stories from the dishroom involve long hours with steamy old food and spraying bits of ambiguous foodstuffs out of the machine with a hose (somehow there is always macaroni cheese in the grates, yet we rarely serve macaroni), I will tell the tale of the deli line.
I've been gradually learning the ins and outs of the various positions at Lane, our beloved cafeteria, and today I ended up placed in the sandwich line. Seems pretty straightforward, right? For a normal person, it would be.
I suddenly remembered that from Kindergarten to 8th grade there wasn't a school day I can remember that I didn't have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Since then, if I'm having something else, I pretty religiously stick to American cheese with some kind of basic meat. I've never had lettuce and tomatoes on them in my life. I am not known for my exotic sandwiching.
I hadn't glanced at the two ambiguously diced and mayo-ed bins of meat, varying slightly in hue, which I now know were tuna and chicken salad. When the second girl in line asked for chicken salad, I came to the terrifying realization that I didn't know which was which. I had to ask her, which was which.
She told me I was "kind of scaring her," and I understood.
One girl, an acquaintance whom I relayed the episode to, said that since I could not distinguish the two she had "lost faith in me as a human being." It got pretty intense. When I said I didn't like mayo she just walked off.
Then a few sandwiches, a bit of nervous sweat, and one get-into-the-groove later, a girl ordered a pita. This is a bread option difficult to stuff in any situation. It would have been okay if she had ordered hummus and a slice of lettuce, but she ordered half a farm! Lettuce, tomato, salami, ham, pickles, onions, the works. There's like a quarter of an inch of space in these things!
I handed her a plate with her sandwich spilling out from the pita like taun-taun guts, and she gave me this look like it was physically possible to fit such an assortment of sandwich items into this quasi-bread. Not my fault.
Some say that everyone should work food service at least once, which I now heartily agree to. I've always liked the sandwich ladies at lunch--they're friendly, and they make a mean ham-and-cheese-- but I have never had more respect for them.
Tan-colored, Gordon-branded uniform hats off to you, workers of Lane.
-Will
"Whoa! There's a shirt with like, the whole Justice League on it."
I've been gradually learning the ins and outs of the various positions at Lane, our beloved cafeteria, and today I ended up placed in the sandwich line. Seems pretty straightforward, right? For a normal person, it would be.
I suddenly remembered that from Kindergarten to 8th grade there wasn't a school day I can remember that I didn't have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Since then, if I'm having something else, I pretty religiously stick to American cheese with some kind of basic meat. I've never had lettuce and tomatoes on them in my life. I am not known for my exotic sandwiching.
I hadn't glanced at the two ambiguously diced and mayo-ed bins of meat, varying slightly in hue, which I now know were tuna and chicken salad. When the second girl in line asked for chicken salad, I came to the terrifying realization that I didn't know which was which. I had to ask her, which was which.
She told me I was "kind of scaring her," and I understood.
One girl, an acquaintance whom I relayed the episode to, said that since I could not distinguish the two she had "lost faith in me as a human being." It got pretty intense. When I said I didn't like mayo she just walked off.
Then a few sandwiches, a bit of nervous sweat, and one get-into-the-groove later, a girl ordered a pita. This is a bread option difficult to stuff in any situation. It would have been okay if she had ordered hummus and a slice of lettuce, but she ordered half a farm! Lettuce, tomato, salami, ham, pickles, onions, the works. There's like a quarter of an inch of space in these things!
I handed her a plate with her sandwich spilling out from the pita like taun-taun guts, and she gave me this look like it was physically possible to fit such an assortment of sandwich items into this quasi-bread. Not my fault.
Some say that everyone should work food service at least once, which I now heartily agree to. I've always liked the sandwich ladies at lunch--they're friendly, and they make a mean ham-and-cheese-- but I have never had more respect for them.
Tan-colored, Gordon-branded uniform hats off to you, workers of Lane.
-Will
"Whoa! There's a shirt with like, the whole Justice League on it."
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Weathered
Walking out of the dining hall tonight was a more energizing experience than I would have possibly guessed. I could smell the ocean as if I were standing on its shore, although I was miles from it. One side of the sky was tinted orange and the other a strange green, yet the whole of it was glowing as if it were holding back day from us. Early-fallen red leaves kicked up high into the air from a strong wind, driven by the pressure before a storm. It's the sort of night that seems almost supernatural, the kind of weather that makes one expect something incredible to happen.
As I've told most of the people who would listen, I'm incredibly excited for the only two things I couldn't re-experience during my summer America trips; fall and winter-- and I forgot, even, how quickly the former can arrive.
Although I don't consider fall in full swing (as excited as I am to wear my tucs, new and old, they are still optional headgear), the weather has been fantastic from the day I arrived. Instead of this time of year being marked by a constant,"stagnant, blistering heat," I've worn a t-shirt and been hot, a heavy coat and been cold, a raincoat and been wet. Mostly though, a jacket is enough, but that is thrilling to me.
Pumpkins mysteriously and festively appeared on our dorm steps last week, and they were my favorite things. It has been three years since I've seen a pumpkin. Three years! What would Linus say?
Cider is now readily available at the coffee house on campus. Football is flowing like wine, even though both my teams decided to play poorly this week. The Office started up again last week. The weather's getting crisp again, for good. I am a seriously happy person right now.
Because it's October here, and that means something.
-Will
"Because I do want to know what Will's up to and he's not granting me that ability."
As I've told most of the people who would listen, I'm incredibly excited for the only two things I couldn't re-experience during my summer America trips; fall and winter-- and I forgot, even, how quickly the former can arrive.
Although I don't consider fall in full swing (as excited as I am to wear my tucs, new and old, they are still optional headgear), the weather has been fantastic from the day I arrived. Instead of this time of year being marked by a constant,"stagnant, blistering heat," I've worn a t-shirt and been hot, a heavy coat and been cold, a raincoat and been wet. Mostly though, a jacket is enough, but that is thrilling to me.
Pumpkins mysteriously and festively appeared on our dorm steps last week, and they were my favorite things. It has been three years since I've seen a pumpkin. Three years! What would Linus say?
Cider is now readily available at the coffee house on campus. Football is flowing like wine, even though both my teams decided to play poorly this week. The Office started up again last week. The weather's getting crisp again, for good. I am a seriously happy person right now.
Because it's October here, and that means something.
-Will
"Because I do want to know what Will's up to and he's not granting me that ability."
Saturday, September 10, 2011
My Brother the Chief
About an hour ago, I was speechless about the sunset at Good Harbor beach.
To imagine that this is a normal sight to people with beach houses was and is beyond my comprehension.
I am now speechless in a very different way, over a very different type of picture.
I cannot even describe what just came over me. It was a sort of mix of nostalgia, utter pride, brotherly love
He's been working on them for a while now, and I've of course been asking for some pictures of the finished product. He and they exceeded my expectations about as far as is legal to exceed them.
And it's not just the poses anyone could think about. There are 35 pictures in the album, showing Master Chief not just posing like a boss, but playing ping-pong,
chess,
and my personal favorite, wearing a sombrero and twirling a mustache that tragically couldn't exist.
Knowing that my little brother is spending his time doing this evokes such pride that my heart cliche-dly swells up. It's like when Anna started playing Pokemon Yellow. I miss my family, I think, a lot more than I'm conscious of. I miss you, Sam. Love you dude.
-Will
"Why shouldn't I look at the sun?"
To imagine that this is a normal sight to people with beach houses was and is beyond my comprehension.
I am now speechless in a very different way, over a very different type of picture.
I cannot even describe what just came over me. It was a sort of mix of nostalgia, utter pride, brotherly loveHe's been working on them for a while now, and I've of course been asking for some pictures of the finished product. He and they exceeded my expectations about as far as is legal to exceed them.
And it's not just the poses anyone could think about. There are 35 pictures in the album, showing Master Chief not just posing like a boss, but playing ping-pong,
chess,
and my personal favorite, wearing a sombrero and twirling a mustache that tragically couldn't exist.
Knowing that my little brother is spending his time doing this evokes such pride that my heart cliche-dly swells up. It's like when Anna started playing Pokemon Yellow. I miss my family, I think, a lot more than I'm conscious of. I miss you, Sam. Love you dude.
-Will
"Why shouldn't I look at the sun?"
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Come On Irene
Tomorrow, as most of you may know, is the day hurricane Irene is hitting Massachusetts. Since our dorm is what some would call a piece of crap, we're actually being evacuated to somewhere...newer. Also where there aren't several, giant trees around. I thought I'd give a regularly updated account of the events over here at Gordon-- like twitter, really, but less completely useless.
So this is either going to be a gripping, Cloverfield-like first person perspective on the worst natural disaster Gordon has ever seen, or a chronicling of 20 dudes who stocked up on junk food, being in a basement, and eating the junk food.
Saturday
5:30-- (T-minus 16.5 hours until lockdown) Target run to pick up some food for tomorrow. Luckily they hadn't raised Easy Mac prices tenfold in anticipation of the storm. Also purchased a scooter. As in, a razor scooter. Apparently those are socially acceptable here, and since there's real pavement here, they work.
7:30-- (T-minus 14.5) Test out scooter on way to dining hall. It is awesome. My seven minute trip from the dorm to the dining hall is now a meager 180 seconds.
8:20-- Packing time. To take, or not to take my entire nerf selection. Better safe than sorry.
9:42-- Still packing. Things are getting somewhat serious, actually-- the RA is planning to bump the evacuation time from tomorrow at 9 am to tonight at midnight.
9:56-- Now avoiding the news. Pictures and "deadly storm" headlines really can do no good for me at this point. It'll probably be fine..but still.
9:57-- I really would have been fine if I went, say, a month or so without packing, but here we are.
Sunday
1:54-- There are eleven laptops set up on the table in the basement of Ferrin Hall, our new spot. Rain's comin' down pretty hard again. Played through a few games of League of Legends after some rousing CatchPhrase, and still goin' strong. Off to retrieve the PizzaRolls in our freezer across the way.
2:21-- Tom drank "Sprite" from a bottle with a red cap originally on it. I don't know what black magic spawned such a substance, but I'm predicting some sort of ailment.
12:19-- Windy, dark, rainy, and League of Legends-y. We're going to start a 5v5 Ferrin v Rider game pretty soon.
12:20-- Quote of the morning so far:
Mike: "Can we turn the lights on so it's not so gloomy?"
Max: "But then it's less like a gamer cave."
So this is either going to be a gripping, Cloverfield-like first person perspective on the worst natural disaster Gordon has ever seen, or a chronicling of 20 dudes who stocked up on junk food, being in a basement, and eating the junk food.
Saturday
5:30-- (T-minus 16.5 hours until lockdown) Target run to pick up some food for tomorrow. Luckily they hadn't raised Easy Mac prices tenfold in anticipation of the storm. Also purchased a scooter. As in, a razor scooter. Apparently those are socially acceptable here, and since there's real pavement here, they work.
7:30-- (T-minus 14.5) Test out scooter on way to dining hall. It is awesome. My seven minute trip from the dorm to the dining hall is now a meager 180 seconds.
8:20-- Packing time. To take, or not to take my entire nerf selection. Better safe than sorry.
9:42-- Still packing. Things are getting somewhat serious, actually-- the RA is planning to bump the evacuation time from tomorrow at 9 am to tonight at midnight.
9:56-- Now avoiding the news. Pictures and "deadly storm" headlines really can do no good for me at this point. It'll probably be fine..but still.
9:57-- I really would have been fine if I went, say, a month or so without packing, but here we are.
Sunday
1:54-- There are eleven laptops set up on the table in the basement of Ferrin Hall, our new spot. Rain's comin' down pretty hard again. Played through a few games of League of Legends after some rousing CatchPhrase, and still goin' strong. Off to retrieve the PizzaRolls in our freezer across the way.
2:21-- Tom drank "Sprite" from a bottle with a red cap originally on it. I don't know what black magic spawned such a substance, but I'm predicting some sort of ailment.
12:19-- Windy, dark, rainy, and League of Legends-y. We're going to start a 5v5 Ferrin v Rider game pretty soon.
12:20-- Quote of the morning so far:
Mike: "Can we turn the lights on so it's not so gloomy?"
Max: "But then it's less like a gamer cave."
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I Love College
I never thought I could possibly be this excited about school. Orientation at Gordon was, how you say, freaking awesome. I tried to organize the intensity and incredible experiences, but I'm really tired and classes start tomorrow so I'm just gonna spitball it a bit. Bear with me.
Academic day was one of the best. That's the one about classes. My schedule is spectacular. I never have any classes until 10:25, my Friday class ends at noon, and I have a three-hour creative writing block ever Monday night. My advisor, an English professor, did voice work for the Tribes and Thief video game series.
Yesterday, I walked outside and was almost overcome by the beauty of the weather. I actually just stood there for something like three minutes, beaming.
The Dean brought a live lobster on stage with him.
There's a band, and the director seems like the nicest guy ever. I got into the men's choir, as well as a band everyone gets into.
Heck, even my textbooks were a joy to purchase; Dad was expecting 400 bucks and it came in at about half that. And they were playing Iron Man on a TV for the line. Not Fireproof, Iron Man.
At DA, I eventually got numb to the reaction that no one knows any references I make or shows I watch. Here, people have quoted teen girl squad, shouted internet memes, and when I called dibs on a Scott Pilgrim poster everyone got jealous because they know what that is.
Although the dorm building I'm living in is not the best, and a hike from the center of campus, the guys in it are fantastic. Half the place plays League of Legends, the RA has a SNES and Atari, and it took about two hours for someone to take out a DS and show us a mighty impressive Pokedex. One senior reminisced about Nerf battles and Brawl tournaments of yesteryear. I've found my people.
That's the real kicker. I told someone I knew running the orientation over facebook that they've been some of my favorite days ever, and that was not hyperbole. I love my class so far. I know that will change eventually, of course; people are still in the "everyone's my best friend stage." But knowing that I've already met a vast number of incredibly interesting, diverse people-- more than I have in years combined-- and still have several hundred options for friends has been exhilarating.
And not to sound like "that guy," but there is a high number of very attractive girls in our class. One wore a transformers shirt yesterday. To sound like that guy-- booyah.
-Will
"God gives you grace, we give you visitation hours."
Academic day was one of the best. That's the one about classes. My schedule is spectacular. I never have any classes until 10:25, my Friday class ends at noon, and I have a three-hour creative writing block ever Monday night. My advisor, an English professor, did voice work for the Tribes and Thief video game series.
Yesterday, I walked outside and was almost overcome by the beauty of the weather. I actually just stood there for something like three minutes, beaming.
The Dean brought a live lobster on stage with him.
There's a band, and the director seems like the nicest guy ever. I got into the men's choir, as well as a band everyone gets into.
Heck, even my textbooks were a joy to purchase; Dad was expecting 400 bucks and it came in at about half that. And they were playing Iron Man on a TV for the line. Not Fireproof, Iron Man.
At DA, I eventually got numb to the reaction that no one knows any references I make or shows I watch. Here, people have quoted teen girl squad, shouted internet memes, and when I called dibs on a Scott Pilgrim poster everyone got jealous because they know what that is.
Although the dorm building I'm living in is not the best, and a hike from the center of campus, the guys in it are fantastic. Half the place plays League of Legends, the RA has a SNES and Atari, and it took about two hours for someone to take out a DS and show us a mighty impressive Pokedex. One senior reminisced about Nerf battles and Brawl tournaments of yesteryear. I've found my people.
That's the real kicker. I told someone I knew running the orientation over facebook that they've been some of my favorite days ever, and that was not hyperbole. I love my class so far. I know that will change eventually, of course; people are still in the "everyone's my best friend stage." But knowing that I've already met a vast number of incredibly interesting, diverse people-- more than I have in years combined-- and still have several hundred options for friends has been exhilarating.
And not to sound like "that guy," but there is a high number of very attractive girls in our class. One wore a transformers shirt yesterday. To sound like that guy-- booyah.
-Will
"God gives you grace, we give you visitation hours."
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Reelin' in the Months
They say first impressions are of the utmost importance, but I would argue that last impressions are even more vital to an opinion.
If I were to sum up my last few months in Africa in a sentence, as I often have done in my head, it would be this: My final encounters soured the vast majority of the few things I enjoyed about Dakar, making me increasingly contented to leave.
I looked forward to this summer. And summer I have.Even though it felt shorter than any I can remember, the highlight reel is a long one.
I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter 7:2 and... Cowboys and Aliens. I met Canadian friends from Africa at the Wrentham Outlets. I watched a minivan run a race course in Maine. I went to Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast in Chicago. I went on a grueling, freezing three-day hike with my brother and dad in New Hampshire. Saw an incredible yo-yoer in Boston. Saw a Red Sox game. Started six books, and finished two. Went to my middle school's graduation. Watched the worst movie of all time, Troll 2. Was immensely surprised by the excellent quality of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Had a burger at a Mexican restaurant for the 4th year in a row with Pastor Mike. Played 36 holes of mini-golf. Played innumerable hours of Halo. Ordered three bacon pizzas at midnight, and tried to pay with Monopoly money. Had only pizza for food on two separate days. Spent an entire day recording two songs with my new band, The Purple Drankers (http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePurpleDrankers?feature=mhee). Drove 3200 miles, or, the distance from our house to the Pacific Ocean, in one road trip of several, which largely explains the amount of State names in this paragraph.
I had a busy summer.
And tomorrow (today) I'm going to college. I have no concept of this. I'm psyched to move in, get my posters up, meet my roommate, etc. but in my head that's months, not hours, away. My gosh I love commas. It's bizarre to think that I'm going to move out of the house in about seven hours. Isn't that what adults do?
Well, I guess I'm going to college now.
See you on the other side.
-Will
"And if I don't see you again; good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight."
If I were to sum up my last few months in Africa in a sentence, as I often have done in my head, it would be this: My final encounters soured the vast majority of the few things I enjoyed about Dakar, making me increasingly contented to leave.
I looked forward to this summer. And summer I have.Even though it felt shorter than any I can remember, the highlight reel is a long one.
I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter 7:2 and... Cowboys and Aliens. I met Canadian friends from Africa at the Wrentham Outlets. I watched a minivan run a race course in Maine. I went to Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast in Chicago. I went on a grueling, freezing three-day hike with my brother and dad in New Hampshire. Saw an incredible yo-yoer in Boston. Saw a Red Sox game. Started six books, and finished two. Went to my middle school's graduation. Watched the worst movie of all time, Troll 2. Was immensely surprised by the excellent quality of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Had a burger at a Mexican restaurant for the 4th year in a row with Pastor Mike. Played 36 holes of mini-golf. Played innumerable hours of Halo. Ordered three bacon pizzas at midnight, and tried to pay with Monopoly money. Had only pizza for food on two separate days. Spent an entire day recording two songs with my new band, The Purple Drankers (http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePurpleDrankers?feature=mhee). Drove 3200 miles, or, the distance from our house to the Pacific Ocean, in one road trip of several, which largely explains the amount of State names in this paragraph.
I had a busy summer.
And tomorrow (today) I'm going to college. I have no concept of this. I'm psyched to move in, get my posters up, meet my roommate, etc. but in my head that's months, not hours, away. My gosh I love commas. It's bizarre to think that I'm going to move out of the house in about seven hours. Isn't that what adults do?
Well, I guess I'm going to college now.
See you on the other side.
-Will
"And if I don't see you again; good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight."
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Frikin' Lazers
I suppose that at this point, some would consider me too old for lazer tag, that as I'm going to college, I should move past novelty shooting games. But that's what they said when I trick or treated at 15, too, and I had a really good haul that year. Also I plan to start a Nerf club at college.
Luckily for me, many of my good friends are with me on this, which is how I found myself at a midnight to 7 a.m. lazer tag session last night in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Fall River is widely known as one of the sketchiest towns in MA; as my friend Jonny suggested, second only to Dorchester. Some of it's city planning was bizarre enough to remind me of Africa. It's the kind of place where, hypothetically, if a group of buddies went and one of them went to Walgreens to pick up a disposable camera unnanounced, the others would be significantly upset with him. They thought I was killed or something.
The lazer tag facility is in an old mill, behind a McDonald's, marked by absolutely zero signage. Neither the parking lot or the building show any indication of housing a lazer tag arena. You can only find out about it if you know the right people. It's kind of a thrill, actually knowing that you've stumbled upon and now have connections with the lazer tag underground. But despite its meager exterior, and to a lesser extent its interior, it's know as the lazer tag place, enough so to make us trek an hour, passing three other options, to get to.
With the group deal, I was pretty thrilled that 35 bucks would get me unlimited lazer tag and arcade games for seven hours, but when I found out that also included pizza, three drinks and Dunkin Donuts donuts, I actually felt bad. At that point it seemed like theft.
It was a pretty fantastic time. It was suggested that the head employee may have been under some influences, as they say, but he seemed like a really nice guy. It's an involved arena, too, with two stories of ample space (although only the n00bs use the first floor), and it kept us going for a good seven hours of early mornin' lazerin'.
Major props to Mack and Dave for overcoming insane heat, transportation for 30 people, and a couple of ditching jerks to throw a wicked awesome party.
And for the record, I'm not being paid for each time I say lazer tag.
-Will
"Why is my thumb shaking?" --Bond, at 5 a.m.
Luckily for me, many of my good friends are with me on this, which is how I found myself at a midnight to 7 a.m. lazer tag session last night in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Fall River is widely known as one of the sketchiest towns in MA; as my friend Jonny suggested, second only to Dorchester. Some of it's city planning was bizarre enough to remind me of Africa. It's the kind of place where, hypothetically, if a group of buddies went and one of them went to Walgreens to pick up a disposable camera unnanounced, the others would be significantly upset with him. They thought I was killed or something.
The lazer tag facility is in an old mill, behind a McDonald's, marked by absolutely zero signage. Neither the parking lot or the building show any indication of housing a lazer tag arena. You can only find out about it if you know the right people. It's kind of a thrill, actually knowing that you've stumbled upon and now have connections with the lazer tag underground. But despite its meager exterior, and to a lesser extent its interior, it's know as the lazer tag place, enough so to make us trek an hour, passing three other options, to get to.
With the group deal, I was pretty thrilled that 35 bucks would get me unlimited lazer tag and arcade games for seven hours, but when I found out that also included pizza, three drinks and Dunkin Donuts donuts, I actually felt bad. At that point it seemed like theft.
It was a pretty fantastic time. It was suggested that the head employee may have been under some influences, as they say, but he seemed like a really nice guy. It's an involved arena, too, with two stories of ample space (although only the n00bs use the first floor), and it kept us going for a good seven hours of early mornin' lazerin'.
Major props to Mack and Dave for overcoming insane heat, transportation for 30 people, and a couple of ditching jerks to throw a wicked awesome party.
And for the record, I'm not being paid for each time I say lazer tag.
-Will
"Why is my thumb shaking?" --Bond, at 5 a.m.
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