Gulf

I LOVE Jack Conte.

Anyway, it's my day off. Just hanging 'round camp. Had a weird allergic reaction to something yesterday evening and woke up at four this morning with it again. Don't know what's going on with my body. I didn't do anything differently yesterday. Maybe I'm allergic to constant routine. Alas, went running this morning to clear my head. It worked. Head is so clear I'm bored. What should I do today?

Yum

I'll talk about him down the line...he LOVES legos!

I finally got some Indian food today. I absolutely love Indian buffets and their characteristically crappy interior decorations. I also love random Bollywood television stations and waiters that keep topping off your glass of water whose water level has only dropped a centimeter since the last time it was topped off/you quickly took a sip.

Did I mention that I also love and adore my camper this week? Today's day off from work made me realize that I might have had more fun spending the day with him, even if it meant working!

In other news, I just got my camper information folder for next week and it is for a little boy that I had last summer. You might remember him from this post and this post. The boy in this picture is also coming to camp next week. I wonder if either of them will believe that I am me (due to the drastic change in hairstyle).

Love,

Monica

W-S Burn

Pixie playing her lamp, taken from W-S Burn's myspace

Last weekend, I left camp on my night/day off for a tiny trip to Winston-Salem.  I met up with friends Rachael, Ariella, Nate and Tim (those driving from College Park, MD) at friend Christian's apartment (the boy's all grown up now and writing for a hot newspaper downtown).  After trashing the apartment with our sleeping bags and polluting the stark white walls with ricochets of laughter, a few of us went to travel the nighttime streets.  We were most interested in getting a consultation at the 24/7 fitness center ("Rush") because the consultation desks could be seen from Christian's window.  But before any of that could happen, we discovered a Japanese water/rock garden next-door to the North Carolina School of the Arts. 

While sitting there and egging Nate on to jump 8 steps at once without falling and cracking his skull, we suddenly turned our heads at the sound of crunked voices.  The voices were of a woman and a man in their late twenties [one a fiery, curly redhead and the other a lanky, sexy man (with ponytail) from Maine, respectively].  The redhead woman swooped around the corner and asked if we were in a band ('cause I guess four trespassing youths in revolt seated side-by-side at 3 in the morn constitutes that question).  We said "No" with a little hesitation ('cause Rachael and I once had a band practice in her garage for our 11th grade band named Veritas).  Then I asked, "Are you in a band?"  She sprightly said that she was and requested to sing for us.  I told her to sing her favorite song and that's when the night really began.

For the next 6 long minutes, Pixie (that was her real name) sang an original composition from her band.  It was a mixture of fairy noises and whale sounds.  In other words, her voice was beautiful but a little inhibited by her level of intoxication (especially when she brought the beer bottle to her lips mid-song sentence).  Rachael and I thought the song had ended at least 5 times during the 6 minutes (have you ever clapped before a song was finished?).  Anyway, at the end, we applauded Pixie and she told us that it was better in person; Not only was she the front-woman/singer, but she was also the player of a fabulous lamp instrument pictured above & below: 

taken from here

Pixie proceeded to entertain by talking about the photon belt and the nano virus that the government was going to send through the tap water (with its harmful fluoride contents)*.  She also briefly, and bitterly, ranted about how people shouldn't have to have a baby if they didn't want to.  Therefore, her solution for any individual wanting to destroy a baby inside of them was to sit in a sauna ("nothing can stay alive in that heat").  She left before I could tell her that tap water was used in those ever-so-helpful saunas. 

She also talked a lot about her shoes.  They had so much rubber, she said, that her footsteps could not be heard through the inches of rubber and pleather and manufactured badness.  Pixie warned us not to remove ourselves too far from Mother Nature, suggesting that naked naps in the grass and growing gardens (filled with dark, leafy greens) in order to be self-sufficient were the best stress-relievers from fast-paced quotidian troubles.  The sexy man with the ponytail told me and Rachael that we were very pretty and used the word "homeboy" or "homeboys" to refer to his friend or friends.  It was a night to be remembered.

*She's right, you know.  Fluoride may whiten your teeth or whatever, but I've heard rumors of it worsening your enamel and brittling your teeth instead (which is why I've been off fluoride toothpaste for months).  I'm currently using this stuff.

Christmas in July

I'm alive, I swear.  A bigger update to come soon.  Crosses heart*

Elisabeth, Jean and I went to the Botanical gardens at Duke Univ on our day off.

Week 3 and Week 4

My camper from last week, the sudoku wiz

Finally an update...

Week 3 has passed and week 4 (12-17 yrs. old) is just about to.  Today is my day off and, after having a full night's sleep on night duty (the chillens were well-behaved), here I am. 

I really miss my camper from last week, a lethal combination of cute and cuddly, but my camper this week is quickly becoming the love of my life.  He is a slow-walker, non-verbal and functions cognitively at 2 months.  Therefore, he is a big baby and I love helping him around camp.  He is cutest when drinking from his water bottle and when floating awkwardly in the pool (his swirling motions remind me of a sea lion or otter).  The best thing about him, and also the most confusing thing about him, is that he will stare into my eyes for extended periods of time.  He kind of drops is head down, gets in your face and then locks eyes.  It is cute because I know he wants something from me but I also have no real way of knowing what it is.  

Today he is with a floating counselor, but as is with any day off, I can't help but think about my camper.  To distract me from longing for him, I'm thinking of running some errands of the Target variety*.  I also might find it in myself to drive to Elon and clean my fish tank.  The drive isn't that long and if I do decide to go, I will probably get to see Jenna (who was abroad Spring semester).  It's been a very long time and she'll have lots of London stories to tell.  Jenna would also be able to catch me up on the episodes of True Blood that I have missed (no cable, not even TV, at camp).  

In the afternoon, I will probably meet up with David.  He taped an episode of Chopped, which is our guilty pleasure on food network (among many other guilty pleasures on food network).  It's basically like three short Iron Chef competitions (one for appetizer, main dish and dessert) and involves four competitors instead of just two.

I should probably get going now.  I need to shower and plan my day.  

Love,

Monica

P.S. My week off is next week (starting on Friday) and I will be going home to MD for the first time since March!  Can I just say, I miss seeing (and smelling) cows each and every day.

*My "water-proof" watch filled up with water yesterday evening while in the pool.  It stopped working completely minutes later (though I'm not sure of how many minutes).  I'll need to get a new one as soon as possible because you can't live at camp without knowing what time it is and I need to cover up this horrendous watch-tan.  Speaking of tans, take a look at this ring tan I've developed:

Funny motions

David and a caterpillar (I just had to share it)

I had night duty last night which means today is my day off.  However, all I can think about today is how much I miss my camper!  He is THE CUTEST KID I've ever seen before in my life (and I mean, c'mon, I work at a nursery full of cutie pies during the school year).  Anyway, he could do commercials or model.  He is the epitome of what it means to be eight years old and cuddly cute.

My favorite part about him is that he is a natural comedian.  You see, whenever we go to the pool we like to show each other funny faces and funny "motions" underwater.  I started with "the pizza eater" face (me motioning eating pizza underwater) and he offered back things like "the sleeper" (pretending to sleep on the pool floor) and "the accident" (his mimicry of a boy who had pooped in the pool earlier that day).  And while "the accident" is always a crowd pleaser, nothing can beat these next few that I will explain:

1) The frightened man: He goes underwater and pretends to run away.

2) The angry woman:  Underwater, he screams and motions pulling out his hair.

3) The cement mixer: He swirls around in a circle underwater.

4) The pig in the mud: He swirls around in a circle underwater.

...at which point I told him that it was funny that "the cement mixer" and "the pig in the mud" were the exact same move.  He agreed with me and suggested that we do:

5) The pig in the cementer mixer: He swirls around in a circle underwater, while oinking.

I wish I could post a picture of me and my camper, but I can't...yet.  I need proper permission first and I hope to acquire it (but my blog, with the addition of said picture, will probably cease to exist due to an explosion of cuteness)!

So, for the rest of the day, I need to write my daily notes for yesterday.  I need to shower and get dressed up (because David is coming to take me to dinner or something).  And for the meantime and in between time, Andy and I need to figure out what to do for our day off (he had night duty last night also).  

Love,

Monica