The Cobra Struck

Tim: "Nonberg Do you know what we are going to do tonight?"
Nonberg: "I think so."
Tim: "Yeah we are going to binge drink and have a dance party."
Nonberg: "Awesome"
Tim: "Oh yeah, Nonberg I bought some Cobra"

The above conversation took place shortly before the last event of the MIAC championships stood behind the blocks. There was something in the air that night, something exciting. Sure the swimmers were swimming out of their minds and times were dropping like delinquents from first period math, but I am talking about the electricity for those alumni in the stands. As we watched the final leg of the relay come in, we knew we were in for a treat.
The men's team alumni squad plus ccg quickly met at the Radison to say our hellos to the coaches and family of team members. Shortly after, we departed for campus. Once on campus we met at Hill House and this is where our story really begins.
As the four men sat around the room, we wanted to do something while we waited for the bus to get back. Tim instantly went for the Wii, but to our dismay, it was not to be found. After no such luck finding the Wii, we plugged the ipod into our very familiar sound system and began to consume what would be the end for all of us.
For those that did not check the link above, "The Cobra" or 7o proof Coffee flavored Brandy seems to be an economic staple of the Maine economy. Tim often referred to the elixir as "liquid crack". By the team had gotten to Hill House the cobra's venom was already about 3/4 empty.
Per usual the men's team had the 40's feeling circle and proceeded to reminisce about the favorite parts of the season. At this point (speaking for myself) I was already on the train to Buzzville and believe me, it wasn't making any stops any time soon. After the feelings session the real fun began.
To go into great detail about what happened during that faithful evening would seem redundant. However I do feel its important to mention some of the highlights:
1. Failed Duct Taping of Nonberg
2. Freshman Fun (I am not proud of this particular highlight but it must be noted
3. Singing Yadda Yadda Yadda with the Ocho, plus Annie
4. Making Klontz call Kale a babe and him not doing it
5. Peeing outside with Klontz
6. Giving the cobra to many freshman
7. Elliot and Jared running in a certain juniors clothing through the complex.
8. Certain Precious Moments Between Couples
9. The morning after brunch
10. A certain someone barfing after breakfast.

There are many more memories, just most of them fuzzy and lost in the either of drunken debauchery.

Wave

A Cosmic Week...

Last week, the cosmos spoke to me.

It started actually longer than a week ago, with finding out about a certain member of the ocho's secret hidden relationship with a certain current senior at Carleton. News spread through the digital network due to my drunk ass and my phone, but we still desire to know more, my friend.

So that was cool. But besides the fact that I thought much of on its own, I didn't think much of it from a connected perspective... that is until the universe started to talk to me.

Last Tuesday, I was looking up the list of staff working at Good Ol Pendalouan this year (Fyi - I'm going back as the Asst. Program Director / Teen Director, so not as a counselor, but as a more supervisory/leadership role). I noticed a freshman from Macalester had been hired. I thought, "Whoa! Minnesota! Crazy." Its not that unheard of though, because Brenner had worked there and a few years ago there was a Gusty (but he wasn't a douche... i know weird). But then I looked at the name. It looked VERY familiar... I thought maybe she had a sibling at Carleton. I typed in the name in stalkernet and viola! IT'S DARA'S SISTER! I didn't know how to react. I texted Toto right away.

(708): DUDE SMALL WORLD: DARA'S SISTER IS GOING TO WORK AT MY CAMP THIS SUMMER!?

I realized that working under me was going to be the sister of a girl who wasn't exactly on my good side when I last saw her. Would I harbor feelings of resent? Would it affect my work? I know i'd have to tell this girl that I knew her sister, but how?

Toto texted me back, amuzed.

(612): hahahaha

BUT THEN he texted me again saying

(612): also, one of my friends, unprompted, started singing "you've lost that loving feeling" today

BAM! Right then and there, I knew something was up. Cosimic shit was abrewing. What was the universe trying to tell me? Was it building up to this weekend? Why was it sending me Ocho references up the wazoo? Little did I know, more was to come.

That night, there was a stupid free food thingy in the great hall sponsored by the Res Life and some of us went to get some free food. Turns out it was waffles and turns out Irene, our wonderful and amazing stadium RA from fall term, was making them. As she made them, she brought up that time where she had leftover breakfast stuff from a Cross Country Breakfast, and the ocho invaded her room, hungover as shit and in our pjs, and ate breakfast with her.

THEN, the next day, I was walking up the back stairs of Willis to 4th Willis to see Prof. Kim Smith because I bombed her midterm for Constitutional Law. On the way up I passed the door to the clocktower. Needless to say, I tried to open it, as I do with most doors that I walk by that I've never been in. but right there at 9am on Wednesday morning... it was open. I quickly went to talk to Kim, thinking about the clocktower the ENTIRE time. Afterwards, I snuck inside the door trying not to have the door make a loud noise. Let me say guys, its intense. There is a small stairway, a ton of electronics for KRLX and the bells, and then a lot of space... I had to get to class, but I definitely wish I had the ol Ocho Jolly Roger from the crow's nest.

Then there was the Conference Meet, which was powerful and amazing as always. We got to reunite with some of you and for those precious moments. Ted, Brooke and I appreciated texting with you during diving. We knew you'd have the answer to our specific questions.

Then there was 40ozs. Oh man. Too. Much. Fun. To the alums who made it down, everyone was talking the next day about how great it was to party with you that night. The men's team circle jerk, the Cobra, Seamus's dream, the cake, yada yada yada (that was epic), the creepy hispanic kid with no shoes or friends, Nonberg's freshman fun, and the late night hilarity, as well as the stadium-110ish morning recollection session/debrief the next morning was great too. GOOD FUCKIN TIMES.

And to put the cherry on top of the cosmic time, I loaded up on bacon the next morning because Toto told me to. And then I slept all day, and was fucked on Monday. Worth it? Yes.

Crazy. Cosmic. Week.

Employment & 40s

It turns out that I am now gainfully employed, complete with full benefits, a 401k, and a salary. Most of you know about this recent positive development in my life, but I've yet to really explain to anyone what exactly I actually do. I wrote this post at the end of my first week, but was hesitant to post for reasons explained to all of you in person.

So, let me tell you a bit about my new employer before I start. The company I'm working for is a privately owned advertising agency with its offices in Minneapolis (Advertising, you say? In Minneapolis? Go to New York!). The private ownership is a positive thing - we aren't accountable to some giant multinational holding company, so we have less bureaucracy, more creativity, and a much more comfortable work environment. One of the things that the agency prides itself on is community - everybody in the office gets to know everyone else, there's all sorts of parties, sports teams, happy hours, etc. They make it a really fun place to work. We're also on the rise.

So what exactly do I do? Well let me start by explaining what media does. In a nutshell, media takes the creative produced by, well, "the creatives" and figures out what exactly we should do with it based on the target audience demographics suggested by the account strategists. Media figures out what types of media to buy, where to buy it, how much to buy, etc so that we can place ads for our clients. It's sort of like creating the battle plan, where the creative material serves as your soldiers and the strategy info is your intelligence. At a non-traditional agency like mine, this requires a lot of creativity and brainstorming. Nothing is off limits. I was in a few brainstorms this week and it's really a pretty cool process. We also hear plenty of pitches from sales reps from different media companies.
From a hierarchical standpoint, I am at the bottom. There's a lot of more "administrative" stuff that I have to learn to do, along with just the general art/science of the whole discipline before I can even begin to think about moving up. This stuff includes media plan flow charts, media buy authorizations, learning the billing software, etc. It's a lot of "support", but that's how you learn. I'm enjoying it.

So, that's pretty much my job.

In other news, some of us experienced an epic weekend. Watching you guys swim at conference was pretty sweet - I enjoyed all the races, seeing everyone, etc. 40s last night was ridiculous. I still have a headache despite taking a two hour nap earlier. All I can say is that the cobra struck and I still feel the venom. I need the antidote. I'll let someone else give a more comprehensive post on the weekend's festivities.