Long Time No Blog

So I’m finally back from spending another in the woods. A great time to be sure, but it was more exhausting then it ever had been before. My position was the Teen Director, so I developed and implemented the three Teen Programs we have at camp, and then when not leading those programs, I oversaw the counseling staff and helped the other support staff members run the camp. I don’t know about whether I’ll return or in what capacity. The executive director hinted that as the camp buys more property and expands that he may want me part of that process. But who knows. All I know is that I feel like I’ve been working at 90mph since spring break and so I am excited to just chillax for a month before school revs up again.

I had originally thought that this month was going to be full of absolutely nothing, but things have of course come up. I had toyed with the idea of heading out East to see Elliot, Annie and my sister, but too much is going on. For one thing, my dad is trying to move, which means my room at his place needs to be packed up to look presentable for prospective buyers. That blows. This coming weekend is also when all my OP friends head back to their respective colleges, so we all getting reckless this week. Typical college drankin stuff. Also, Alfreddy and I are gonna meet up and chill too.

I also joined a last minute trip to West Virginia to go white water rafting. This group of friends of mine said that one of their crew dropped out and asked if I wanted to go. The drive, food, gas and the rafting will all only cost like $180, so I said what the hell – once in a lifetime opportunity. So I’ll be doing that Aug 24th – 26th. Toto, I don’t know if it’s the same place as you went. I then have a family reunion on my Dad’s side of the family during Labor Day weekend.

I head up to my house to move in and chill before classes start on the 1st as well.
Have I talked about my house? I feel like not really. Well here are the details:
I am living with Pete, Eric B, Louise and Erin H. A house full of swimmers and divers. It’s a nice house, but the seniors who left it after their lease ended in June left it in shambles. The Cormier Family to the rescue! Last week, Pete, Grace and their mom went up to the house and scrubbed the carpets, cleaned the bathrooms thoroughly and brought some nice furniture up. I think its going to look great. We’re pumped because we have a nice side yard, an awesome garage and this bitchin front room. BBQs, parties and good times are bound to be aplenty. Obviously guests are welcome, so stop on by for a weekend or whenever.

I’m starting to think about Jobs after school. I’m also toying with the idea of graduating early and pulling a Karin Brown and just doing whatever the hell I want during spring term. It would sav my parents and myself a big chunk of change and maybe they’d be willing to still pay my rent. If I did that I think I would spend my time traveling and visiting friends, while also spending the big weekends (progressive, oleball, spring concert, rotblatt) at Carleton. When I was in Northfield, I’d study for the GRE since eventually I’ll head to grad school for teaching.

BUT SPRING TERM IS A LONG WAY AWAY!
Gonna just enjoy what I have left of the summertime chi.

MOLSON OUT.

I've been moved to write.

It's been a while since I last wrote. I wish I could say that I've been extremely busy and unable to find the minutes to do a quick blog post, but in reality that's just not true. I'd be lying to you... and I wouldn't lie to my friends.

Anyway, what's moved me to write this post is the latest story involving Chad Ochocinco, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver. Beloved Chad was fined $20,000 by the NFL for jokingly flashing a one dollar bill at a referee when a play that involved Chad himself was being reviewed. Clearly, the idea of the stunt was to pretend to bribe the official. Also, rather clearly, he was kidding.

I recognize the sanctity of sports, and their rules, and all that. I also realize that gambling, betting, bribing, etc should not be tolerated by the NFL or any other professional sports league because of the obvious implications. But let's be honest here, the guy was very clearly joking. The league hates him - he's been fined for plenty of other things before. But he's just a dude that wants to have fun, and all of his previous stunts (and there have been many) are all in an attempt to lighten things up a little bit. I mean really, the man officially changed his last name to "Ochocinco".

In other news, I'm finally up in Minneapolis in my new digs. Through a stroke of luck I got a fully furnished one bedroom apartment in the southern part of Uptown for pretty cheap. I'd put up pics but I can't find the cable for my camera. So anyway, I'm living by myself and trying to find a job. The job search hasn't been the most fruitful but I've been keeping myself entertained. I usually run by Lake Calhoun each afternoon and every time I do I realize that despite being funemployed I really do enjoy this city because that lake is gorgeous.

Beyond running, I've been playing a lot of Bouncing Balls on Facebook, going to a local coffee shop, etc. I've chilled with Liz and Caitlin and Anna some - Liz and her housemates had a party last night from which I now sit here recovering (don't dangle your prepositions). We spent the whole night playing Cornhole/Bags in the basement - pretty good fun.

Since I lack a job, I'm headed home from Nov. 25 until Jan. 5 (yes, I doing winter break and I no longer go to Carleton). This is an attempt to preserve both finances and sanity. While I've been decently entertained and not too bored, sitting in my apartment in December without a job and no real prospects (since nobody hires in December) is not my idea of fun. If any of you east coasters want to find a cheap way to chill during this period, I'd be up for it.

That's all folks.

Mr. Cancun

You may or may not know, but I am currently in Cancun, Mexico. My mom like a month before today decided she “wanted a vacation god damnit” and my sister convinced her that Mexico was better than the south western United States. A few shady internet deals later, my mom had booked an all-inclusive vacation at the Club Solaris Royal in Cancun.

Let me take a time out and explain that this vacation is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. My family vacations when I was younger were long road trips to Yellowstone national park or a trip to see grandma and grandpa in Minneapolis or maybe even going up with family friends to their timeshare in Michigan. Never anything that really cost much money. My dad was (and is) famous for his… which word is more insulting; stingy or thrifty? But he’s not on this trip and my mom decided she needed “a real vacation.” Not that this vacation is costing much for her. $75 a person per a day. And that included all meals, drinks (we’ll get to this in a bit), some free tours, and all the facilities a Cancun resort would have. Oh but she does have to go to a 2 hour time share presentation.

And let me say… i only got here Monday morning, but its been kinda nice so far. And by kinda, I mean definitely. The food is good and abundant, the waves are humongous (and I was riding them in a way that both put the older buff bros on the beach to shame and in a way that would make A. Clark proud), and sun is out and the water is SO BLUE – like I’m talking picture perfect unreal blue. OP was fun last week, but I need the escape from everyone and everything.

But back to my shock. Because like I said, this is unreal and new to me. I don’t exactly feel comfortable here. And its taking away from the relaxation that this trip is supposed to be about. First off, I can’t even truly tell we are in Mexico. In the airport, most of the billboards had big English sentences and phrases. And everyone talks in English. My sister is getting so mad because she is trying to talk to them in Spanish (she’s fluent) and they just talk to her back in English. I feel like I hear more Spanish in the 110 when Tim and Alfredo are telling Nonberg that he eats dick (“come polla” for those who were wondering). Secondly, while the beach isn’t like MTv’s spring break, the rest of the hotel area is. I’m talking a Mr. Cancun contest, a swim up bar (which is AWESOME) and young sexy co-eds playing beach volleyball and drinking heavily and flexing their muscles or showing a lot of skin. So few of these people are college students though. Most of them are like 26-30 year olds. I heard one guy say he had been here for a week already and he had another two weeks until he headed back to the states… SOMEONE needs to grow up a bit… But maybe I’m just jealous that they are here with their friends and I’m here with the lady who birthed me and the girl who locked me in a closet when I cut her Barbie’s hair when we were younger. OH! But on the other hand, there are also a lot of young children too. And its really weird to see like kids playing volleyball in the pool so close to young adults who are downing margaritas and XXs.

Now to the alcohol: Its free and its always available. That being said, I have not gotten to slurring words level in my mother’s presence… yet. I still got 4 more days to go. So we'll see what happens.

God I could go on and on. For example, there are like free shows every night. And when I say show, I mean like Vegas shows. It’s trashy, cheesy and so touristy. I’ll have to post pictures, if possible. But a few images to help you understand and to sum it up: mariachis, a horny MC, a twelve year old girl (“the superstar of Mexico”) singing, refills of rum and coke, a tap dance solo that could only remind me of Butters from South Park, and a guy in an Aztec costume dancing in a not so Aztec manner…

Bottom line, this vacation has been a mix between honestly feeling uncomfortable with people who embrace and love the tourist/American in Cancun lifestyle and truly enjoying the 80 degree weather and lovely ocean and beach. In no way am I complaining. It’s just a new experience for me and I’m trying to relax and enjoy the ride.

I’ll keep the blogosphere updated with at least one more post. But to all of you in cooler climates, I’ll try to send some hot air your way. There’s a lot of it around this resort.

Album Review: Dr. Dog - Fate

I'm going to begin this post wondering why I am even beginning this post (does that make sense?), since I'd rather that nobody else knew about the indie music I am enjoying and about which I am planning to write.  Furthermore, I will respectfully request of all you loyal readers that you do not tell anyone about the indie music I am writing about, since I'd prefer to continue to listen to it, and if everybody knows about it it becomes uncool, I will be forced to delete it from my iTunes, and therefore will no longer be able to enjoy it (but I wouldn't enjoy it anyway, at that point, because it would be uncool).  

iTunes tells me that the genre of Dr. Dog's album entitled "Fate" is "indie".  I try not to pay too much attention to the genre of a specific group - I prefer to listen to music that I truly like.  However, as we all know, I'm a pretty indie guy so I think that the simple fact I am now listening to this "indie" album helps with the personal image that I am trying to project to the world.  I'll probably end up playing this album on my radio show, wearing my Waldo glasses everywhere, and feeling elite about this music (and other stuff that nobody else knows about).

I know that Dr. Dog came to Carleton during a previous spring concert, and to be quite honest, I don't really remember much of it at all.  In fact, when my friend mentioned Dr. Dog to me, I thought he was talking about a rap group.  Nobody knew about Dr. Dog, and maybe that was better for the few people who did know about Dr. Dog, because they were probably infinitely cooler when they were even more indie and nobody knew about them.

But, let me tell you, their album "Fate" is currently just about the only thing I'm listening to.  It's a really enjoyable album, and I would recommend it to anyone that has any interest in any type of music at all (but only if you can truly appreciate it, and if you won't tell anyone else so it stays cool).

The album starts with a delightfully mellow song "The Breeze", where Dr. Dog ponders the movement of time, asking the listener if we think we're moving too fast, or if we're stuck in time.  Then, Dr. Dog encourages us to make a snow angel and freeze.  Maybe that's the solution to controlling time.  Snow angels.  Finally, Dr. Dog gets quite deep and recognizes that, in the end, it's the breeze.  And the breeze, ahh, it will blow us all away.  This song ponders a lot; time, renewal, weather patterns, and eventually (I believe) death and the afterlife.  I see "the breeze" as a clear metaphor of somehow moving on.

In the second track on "Fate", called "Hang On", Dr. Dog grapples with some identity issues that he himself is feeling.  This is a common indie theme, but he examines it from a new perspective.  He tells us he is not a stranger, and that we both get it wrong.  It is unclear whether "we" refers to the listener and the Dr., or another unknown subject.  But after this, Dr. Dog explains that he needs his heart mended, but in doing so, he belittles his own profession by explaining that he "don't need no doctor to tear [him] all apart" but rather just needs "you, to mend his heart".  Again, who "you" is is rather unclear: listener? unknown subject?  It's up for interpretation.  Lastly, Dr. Dog once again weaves the subject of varying weather patterns into this track, mentioning how our unknown subject (or the listener, "you"?) thought that a hurricane was just the "rustling of the wind".  Maybe we need a now-discredited Dr. to examine "your" nervous system?  Are "you" feeling numb, and unable to differentiate between varying degrees of wind speed?

Perhaps the best song on the album is the third track, entitled (quite nostalgically), "The Old Days".  This song is catchy, has a lot of repetition, longs for the old days, and does not mention any weather patterns in the lyrics.  I find all of this rather refreshing, like a breeze or the rustling of the wind (but not a hurricane).  The Dr. gets rather prophetic in this song, telling us that "down down down, the moon's going to fall down, thump thump thump, the house is going to fall down", and therefore we must go "back back back, back to the old days".  Finally, as we go back to the old days, we must "wrap up the money, and save it for a sunny day day day".  We are strongly encouraged to both save money with an eye toward the future, but at the same time go back back back to the old days.  Once again, the theme of the speed of time, and even time-travel, is explored in this epic tune (and it's only the third track!).  There are 8 more!

As the album continues, Dr. Dog wrestles with a variety of themes, conquering them all in his own unique, doctorly way.  The sixth track, "The Ark" is evidence of a valiant attempt by Dr. Dog to tackle weather patterns (again!), war, love, religion, and human existence as a whole.  All of these themes are discussed with the back of a rather chill guitar riff that helps the listener to understand these heavy, heavy themes.  After explaining his how he built an ark and rain didn't come, how he built a gun but was unsure about war, how he tried to give more to his love but made her poor, he finally asks the question "what does it mean to be here?".  I can't answer that, but he repeatedly tries, telling us "well, I know, because I can and I will".  However inspiring this lyric is, it still doesn't really tell us what it means to "be here".  But maybe that implied uncertainty is the essence of what he's getting at.

The second-to-last track, "The Beach" discusses weather patterns (again!), alcoholism, fate, marijuana, and memories.  This is some heavy-hitting shit; the ominous and dark guitar that plays in the background as the Dr. examines these themes makes them seem ever more serious.  It works quite well.  With each successive verse, the Dr. explains a situation, such as running aground in a beach during a rainstorm as rain pours through the roof of a boat (how terrible), and then explains how "fate has a funny way of coming around".  It's all deep, as previously recognized, but the Dr. does a good job of linking the themes and creating a bold and profound, yet easily enjoyed, track.

Overall, the album exemplifies the versatility of both Dr. Dog, but also the indie genre as a whole.  I would highly recommend this album to anybody (but don't tell anybody else!).

Alright, I'm off to take photos of my feet and strum my guitar before I hop on my fixed-gear to go buy a new (old?) sweater at the vintage clothing store.