That's so Wonderful!

AUGH! I am back in my favorite place on the planet, CAMP GREENTOP! So, yeah, that's the reason for the CURRENT break in updates! I am going to try to be a little bit better (oh my god, how many times have I said that?) but, well, friends, here's the rub: internet sucks at camp. I can use it pretty easily on my phone, but it is a bitch to try to type an entire entry on my phone. It is doable, but I just don't know if I want to blog that bad(ly?).

Camp is INCREDIBLE! I already feel a billion times better now that I am here. We have been so busy for the last week...the time has just flown by! Between getting everything set up and cleaned, pickups, saying goodbye to staff from last year who can't come back for the summer, and Family Adventure Weekend it has been total chaos. (By the by, we managed to do all of that from Monday of last week and the last family just left from Family Adventure Weekend a little while ago TODAY, just to give you an idea of how efficient we have been at camp.) And yeah, I completely love every second of it!

So, I'll keep this one short since there is stuff to clean, emails to be sent, and bonding to occur, but I am pretty pumped to have the opportunity to do this again, and I am excited that you guys get to come with me!

I had a bad day.

I am such an unbelievable, colossal fuck up. I cannot even believe I exist.

Sad but True.

me:  I am emailing a pic to myself

so I can fwd it to you

I feel like I am excessive with the pics of the animals

sadie:  hahaha naw

me:  which email addy?

sadie:  (removed)

me:  enjoy

sadie:  k

me:  is your heart melted?

sadie:  haha hold on

awwwwwww

me:  I KNOW

hahah

sadie:  adorbs

me:  hahah

sadie:  let me email you my little baby

me:  okay!

sadie:  god, kashmir

you realize normal girls email pictures back & forth of babies, right?

Hilarious responses to awkward statements:

 me: I really want to make out

 allisonnicolehill:  with a person!?

RACCOOOOON!!!!

Literally SECONDS after I published that last entry, Zeb came running into my room screaming for me to get the camera because there was a raccoon in the yard. This kid KNOWS ME!

These pics aren't awesome because it's pretty dark out, thunderstorming, and I am not stupid enough to waltz across the yard toward a wild animal. But still...OMGRACCOON!!!!

I am way too into my cats.

Here are some pictures of Lucy, Jude, and Minerva being awesome.















As an added bonus, I thought I'd throw in this blurry picture of a black snake that was hanging out in my yard. It is blurry because Minerva and I saw it simultaneously and right as I was snapping the shot she took off running toward it so I had to grab her. Silly, Minerva Q!



This is a rose my mom had me take 17 pictures of. My life.

hummingbird

I was sitting at the bar in the kitchen the other morning, staring out the window, when I saw this male ruby throated hummingbird flitting around the feeders my mom had just put out. I dashed to my room, grabbed my digital camera, and started snapping shots through the window. I zoomed in about halfway, turned the flash off, and hoped for the best. These two shots were the best of the group and, natch, are the only ones I uploaded. I think they are a little dark (I am really sad that you can see his ruby chest), but I'm not sure how to fix that. His wings are just a little blurry in the second shot, and I bet if I had put the camera on the sport shot, you know for those ACTION PACKED PHOTOZ, they'd have been clearer. We live and we learn, don't we?





I am always open to tips and suggestions, so if any of you photo takers have any things I could do to make my pictures better, please let me know! I know "learn the features of your camera" is at the top of your list.

"The Street is Full of Water" Rekevin

I love music so much. It is like therapy. I need it like I need air. My friend Devin introduced me to this Russian band called Rekevin. Their songs are all in English, as far as I can tell, but I think I'd be down even if they weren't because this girl's voice is INCREDIBLE. It is so soothing, almost numbing. When I listen I just want to crawl into a cloud and rest.

This is a fan video, but you can get a real feel for their music from this song.



If you're interested, you can check them out on the myspace, http://www.myspace.com/rekevinmusic, or you can go straight to amazon.com and download both albums here, which I def suggest.

Anyway, what are you guys listened to these days? I am about to head off to camp so if you've got something good to share, let me know!

Thinking: the "learn to aim, please" edition.

All I am saying is that you need aim a little better when you pee. I was not impressed to sit on a toilet covered in pee and I bet you will not be impressed when I forcibly remove your genitalia. JUST SAYING.

Thinking: The Hunter Edition

Minerva Q. Halloweencat, why did you bring this dead mouse, complete with mouse trap still attached, to us? Do not even try to take credit for this kill.

The one where my heart broke.

I know it's been a bit, but I've had a really rough week. One of the greatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing, Kenny Black, died on 4/23. I guess I tried to ignore it at first, but once it really sank it I did not take it very well. I thought about crawling in a hole, but decided that would be unreasonable. So, I just didn't blog for a few days. I like to punish my FAITHFUL READERS. Or something.

And I can be angry, and I can cry, and I can be overcome with soul-crushing sadness, but no matter what I do it's not going to change anything. He is gone. That finality....the fact that nothing I do can fix this...sometimes when I think about this I feel an emptiness so deep in my stomach that I think I might actually fall apart. Like I just might start crumbling away in chunks and flakes.

Nobody I've ever KNOWN, like really known, as ever died before. It's stunning to think that someone so young and full of life can be completely gone in just an instant. When you realize you're not invincible and that you're not going to live forever it puts things in perspective. If I can learn anything from Kenny's death it's that life needs to be lived. And so I am gonna try. I am gonna try to be a better sister, daughter, aunt, friend. I am going to try to be a better person all around. A better feminist, a better student, and a better teacher. I am going to put one foot in front of the other and take every step I can until it's my turn to die.

Once I can stop crying.