The Epic Adventure!

wearing: pinstripe jeans, pink tommy shirt, blue fleece sweater
eating: winterfresh gum
listening to: The Tea Party's cover of 'The Messenger'

Well, I worked lastnight without any major problems, save for the fact that my new boss is psychotic... but there's nothing that can be done about that, is there?

In some ways, I'm glad to be back at school. I missed my friends who weren't out there with me... I asked The Maestro to write me a letter. He did, and it's the most impersonal letter I have ever received, aside from the ones I get from the Liberals. It was like reading a daily log... I mean, that's great, but I don't care so much what you did in your day as how your day was. ...Silly boy!
Today I gave blood! (Three cheers for free food!!!) The Maestro escorted me there, but left due to some engagement with technology and a school event. No worries though, because soon The Sneek & Company arrived, and I didn't have to go it alone. :-)

But let's backtrack a little...

My canoe trip was amazing!! Sure, I got dehydrated, bit by a snake, and rained on two nights in a row, but that didn't stop The Walruses from having a jolly good time! I went swimming twice, once on the first evening and then again on the second - and let me tell you, that water was so damn cold that if I stayed in any longer, Betty and Veronica would've jumped ship and swam back to shore on their own. There were a lot of bugs on the first night. And the second. On the second night, my group, The Walruses, camped with The Funky Chickens. On this day I was slacking off on my water-drinkage, because quite frankly, it tasted d i s g u s t i n g. And it was always warm, so even with five pounds of juice crystals it was still unpleasant. There was a beautiful sunset that night, and we got to see the stars for the last time on our trip. Day three was probably my greatest personal moment - the 250 meter portage with the silver canoe. I have never managed to get one of those bigass-motherf***ers more than 50 meters - but oh, baby! I put every ounce of will I had into getting that thing to the other side... the pain was incredible. First off, let's state the obvious - I don't have alot of extra padding, if you know what I mean. So just having that canoe on my neck and shoulders was extremely uncomfortable. Next, I couldn't keep it balanced. The paddles were placed so that someone bigger than me could portage the canoe, so they kept slipping down my shoulders onto my arms, which altered my balance and made my posture absolutely horrible. The rest was just endurance. Christiner and The Sasquench encouraged me the whole way, which helped me more than they could know. By the time I hit 175 meters I was crying out of sheer pain, and I could only think about things that kept me going - chicken wings, The Maestro, how good it would feel to get that f***ing canoe off my head...
And I made it!! :-) I was so damn proud of myself, it almost seemed too good to be true. I was feeling the adrenaline too, I was shaking and hyperventalating, and it was really weird. So... that was my shining moment.
By the time we reached Wreck Island for lunch that day, it was sweltering hot and I was already a little dehydrated. After I ate, I decided a little walk was in order! - Bad idea. I got caught in between the fast walkers and the slow walkers, and before I knew it, I was completely alone. At one point I remember somehow I came up behind the slow walkers - ie. Ben, Cody and Arnold. They were climbing rocks along a cove, and Ben said to me: "Will you carry Arnold's shoes?"
And I was like "Why?"
"So Arnold dosn't have to."

...I just looked at him like 'I don't THINK so.' And continued on my merry way. I staggered along the shoreline for at least another half-hour. I kept thinking that my class would be just around the next bend, but they were never there, and soon it became really distressing. At one point, all I wanted to do was lay down on a rock and let the canoes come find me, but because of my pride I kept going. It wasn't long after that point, thank goodness, that I got back to the camp. Mr. Lewis could tell I was dehydrated from 100 meters away, just by how I was carrying myself. Oops. ...I guess lake water isn't that bad after all!
When we reached our camp after another strenuous two hours of paddling, all I did was crash in the tent for an hour, roll around, and drink juice. This camp was our home for two nights, and my tent had a nice private, secluded spot on a bed of moss behind the others. The woods further back provided exceptional peeing areas, and overall, the accommodations were very nice. :-) When it rained, Sunny and I dashed into Andrew's tent for shelter. We played a crazy game with a die, where everyone has a scrap piece of paper, and when someone rolls a six, they pick up the pen in the middle and start feverishly writing numbers from 1 to 100. The next person to roll a six would then grab the pen and start their own numbers, and this would go on until someone reached 100. It may sound a little 'blah', but it was maaaad crazy! Sunny went all psychobitch on our asses! LOL! It was so much fun... oh, and this creepy guy kept asking sexual questions... damn I'm glad I didn't share a tent with him!! After the rain that night the girls went back to Sunny's tent on the moss. I love how at random points everyone just broke into song! I sang 'don't wanna miss a thing' and 'big spender' to Megs as she went to the bathroom. LOL! Good times... Christiner thinks I have 'a good voice'... which I find funny, but it was a complement none the less.
On day four Christiner was sick, and we did our solos. Mr. Staunton left me on an island, where I was to take care of myself and write about being alone for two hours. Actually, Sunny was in plain eyesight, but nobody has to know that...
here's some of what I wrote (in response to the question 'you are all alone in the wilderness. How do you feel? Are you okay with this?) :

I don't like that word - "alone". In our culture, 'alone' too often refers to emptiness, sadness, isolation, loneliness... But being alone, like I am right now, can also be an empowering thing. Here I can think, and genuinely feel, without outside influence. I can get to know the person I really am, without my style, my music, my favorite TV shows, and even my friends. It is when I accept this person that I can truly relax and find peace.

Oh, intellectual me.

That night I got so hyper. It must have been the heat, I tell you! But Andrew, Sunny and I took it upon ourselves to start mooning nature, and then all of a sudden 'nature' turned into 'a camera', and Sunny leaned towards modesty... and oh my goodness... there's a kodak moment if there ever was one...

And on that note, I'll have to be going!

Cheerio!