twoplustwoequalsblog

[transcribed from my notebook]

The only question is: What is it drawing? I think if the last year is any indication it would be drawing Emerson paddling a canoe around Lake Titicaca trying to avoid giant protists so he can slay a fire breathing dragon.

But that’s only a review of school the last year. Events are what define time so let’s go back and look at some major events in 2004. I don’t remember anything being so great until February break. We went skiing with the DiStefanos and the Rays at Mt. Teney. The hotel we stayed at was awesome, and we had so much fun we’re going to do it all again this February Break! The indoor/outdoor pool (now all indoor) was the coolest part, as we were freezing our hair.

Also in Feb break: the 4H Winter Teen Weekend. This is where I first met. I remember playing Swedish Shuffleboard. I remember getting to see Kasey from Maine (she’s moving to SW to attend UCONN!). I remember playing cards with Amy and Katie. I remember Amy falling through the pond and soaking her pants. So many of my fond memories are from 4H.

I must have started my online trig course in late Feb or early March. That took me all the way through summer, working hours a day at Cape Cod to get done. I still remember enough of it to help people with trig this year, surprisingly.

[Here I write about a trip to Disney that I actually I took in Sept. 2003 but thought I took in April]

In April we went to Washington DC. I got my PDA about a month earlier, but I forgot the charger (half of it, anyway) so I was afraid to use it and kill the battery in case I should need it. I got to see all the monuments and the capitol building. I got to ride the Subway. I got to ride a plane down with Schneider, who was $100k richer at the time. I got my permit and started driver’s education in May.

In April was the 30 Hour Famine that did with the Episcopalian Church on Sand Hill. Our youth group and their youth group raised more than $1500 for starving children in 3rd world countries. I stood on a chair and asked for donations at our church’s Easter party, and of course everyone donated money for the thin kid who wasn’t eating to raise money for a good cause. There was also much hilarity that ensued from having a bunch of teenagers together when they were in starvation induced hyperness.

Also in May was the AP Chem exam. UNO was put on hold (for me, anyway) to cram about solubility rules. It paid off; I got a 5 on the exam and did awesome on the SAT II Chem test also.

My Great Uncle Walt passed away last year. He had always been a really funny guy with a really good spirit. We spent several days over the summer over there clearing everything out and cleaning up the house to be sold. It was a lot of work, but enjoyable. It was fun to see all the old things he had built up in his basement. I kind of feel bad I didn’t get to know him better, but he was always there for a joke and a smile.

Also in May, Colby and I decided to take two days off of school to work on our Memorial Day video. Those two days may have been related to the school totally overreacting to a bunch of teenagers acting like teenagers, but it’s not like we were smoking by the buses every day.

Cory and I did pretty well in tennis and were 3rd doubles for a while. Overall, the team did so-so, but Cory and I were like 5-2, delivering wins in many matches the team lost 3-4.

The Relay for Life was in early May. The Youth Group sold over $400 in glow sticks to raise money for ACS. My NS friend Chris was there, and also on his team was Emily. We discovered we had 4H in common and became friends. A bunch of people slept in our tent that weren’t on our team, forcing some of us to sleep outside. An awesome 24 hours, walking at night with Katy and Britt.

Late May was counselor training. Amy, Katie, and Mike were finally going to be counselors! I spent a good amount of time talking with Mary, the new camp director. Things were a lot more relaxed with her than with Diane, but she still had a lot of energy. Amy counselored 3 weeks + minicamp, and Mike didn’t get any weeks at all.

Colby, Aaron, DeMao, Dave Rounce, and my video on the Korean War went over great with Hermes, even if most of the Sophomore Class couldn’t appreciate it. It was about twice as long as it should have been, but Colby and I felt vindicated. The worst part was when I closed the laptop and we had to get Kevin Rose to please report to it.

I swore to make this summer awesome. Overall, I’d call it partway there. Katy’s party and then my pool party started things off well, but I didn’t really do a lot of day to day social stuff. I did tennis at the Swim Club, but I only went to the pool about ten times. Their website was up and kicking and I got a lot of experience with PHP applications in the process.

We went to Cape Cod twice, and I took lots of photos. I had lots of trig and world work to do, but it gave me something to read on the beach. I found those cool crystal things at the flea market, but no Magic cards. I’d stopped playing around June, and never really got back into it. I had even won a JSS:Q, and had the JSS been somewhere more interesting than Oklahoma City, I’d’ve gone.

Then my week at 4H rolled around. The best week I had all summer hands down. I met a bunch of new kids and had a total blast. Amy and Katie got even for the entertainment mail by making me propose to Rachel. I am so excited for camp this year and am going to choose an earlier week so I can hopefully get called back (can we say third year counselor? I can.).

After camp, there was that night of Red Robin and the movies. The Village was horrible, but getting to the movies in Mike’s car while explaining to mall security that everything was OK was where the real adventure was. Trish driving me home was possibly the fastest I’ve ever traveled in a car and the scariest adventure ever (Hartford by accident after midnight) blasting Dashboard Confessional all the way.

But all goods things draw to a close, as my and Monica’s and Paul’s parties marked. The massive AP World Vocab and book report were done. School has just been dominating my time since then. Cape Cod for Labor Day was a nice break, but I was still doing homework there. Sept 22 I got my driver’s license! Driving is OK, but at least it gets me places.

Emily and I drove to Marlborough for the Hebron Harvest Fair and found Katie’s house despite her bad directions. We were at the fair for like an hour, but it’s always fun to see friends.

Then was the fall teen weekend. Kasey was down from Maine, and told us stories about how her basketball team sleeps over the other team’s houses because Maine is a wasteland. I won the pumpkin-man contest and then me and Sarah Mik spent like two hours separating pumpkin seeds. Me and Amy lost in Crimps to Lisa over and over, I could not believe.

The trip to New York was a lot of fun, even if just because of how much Hamza ate and the lady on the train and the suit of armor Jeff didn’t buy. Riding the subway is fun too, I like to watch other people and see what they do.

Rumors was extremely funny and Nicolas Nickleby was extremely bad. Stead is batting .500, but Grease is a win-win kind of play.

I’ve changed a lot in the last year. I’d like to think that I’m a lot smarter and more mature and wiser and all that. I think that what I’ve really gained is a lot of insight into the way things work and people operate. It’s good in a way, as it helps me guess what people are going to do, but things are a lot more fun you’re naive and everyone is there to help you. We’ll see what I think in a year when I look back at this.

So, thanks for the good year guys, let’s make next year even better.