I miss you all, but am really loving Colby. I thought you would like to know 10 of the things that I've learned this weeek that I've been here. Classes have yet to start but I have learned many many things...so exciting.
1. The "e" on my keyboard sticks a little, so when I hit the e key once, I get at least two or three e's on my screen. It's very annoying. So, in revolt, I'm not deleeting the extra e's that appear on the screen. Apologies, but you will just have to deal.
2. Let the Colby Tech team set up your computer. As much as I love to do things myself, this would have been a good idea. I ended up breaking my keyboard, mostly because I am stupid. I had to pay for a new one, the sticky e one. Very annoying.
3. Beer smells. BAD. Anyone who says that they like that smell is probably drunk, or at least badly disillusioned.
4. Barf, or boot, as it is called here, does not smell good either. It is the product of believing that beer smells and tastes good. It is not fun.
5. ChemFree is a greeat place because it doesn't smell like either of these things, boot or beer. It's wonderful. And my roomates don't smell like boot or beer, they are fairly normal people.
6. This really stinks--there is a fifty dollar fine on campus for climbing trees!! How awful is that? I can't play on the trees here, and theree's this sweet tree by the library, and it's really fun to climb. My HR (RA, whatever) told me I couldn't do it anymore. Grrr. I think this is the drunk people's fault.
7. Lectures smell, but in a different way than beer does. Boring... boring...boring. They all pretty much go the same way. "This is the first day of the rest of your life. Don't screw it up. Colby has a reputation for drinking, but I want you to know that not everyone is like that. There are many people that don't. So...blah, blah, blah ::insert appropriate filler here:: blah, blah. In conclusion, ::insert office, department, professor, or administrator here:: we would like to welcome the class of 2004 for Colby and wish them a great four years at our prestegious insitution." Just so you know, I have been to six of these.
8. People don't understand camp. I talked about it on my orientation trip down the Kennebec River, and eventually they just told me to shut up. They've never been to camp...poor them.
9. Mules are sterile. As in no baby mules. Speaking of which, our mascot is a white mule. Not a gray one, a white one. Yes. I'm not kidding.
10. I actually miss my mother...(I'm not under oath or anything...).
I think perhaps, before I begin, you need some background. The Waterville Society is rather small. Stan is sort of the everything man. He solos, he teaches S.S, he plays the piano. We have a regular soloist, but she hasn't been around for about the last month or so, so Stan has been substituting. He's quite talented. Anyway, here is the discussion that went on this morning.
Stan. So next week, I need to play the organ upstairs. The regular organist is going to be away for the next two weeks.
Me. The organ? You do that too?? Wow.
Stan. It's not that big a deal. I should be fine.
**Stan's humble too...**
Me. We're still going to have Sunday School, right?
Stan. Yes, but it'll be short again, like it's been while I've been soloing.
Me. Ok. But we'll still have it.
Stan. Yep. Don't worry. You're not twenty yet.
Me. So, is the regular soloist coming back next week?
Stan. Not exactly.
**I would like to stop this presentation briefly to explain to you that I still hadn't caught on to what was going on here. I imagine that you all have, and if you haven't, give me two more lines, and you'll still catch on quicker than I did this morning.**
Me. So are you going to sing and play the organ at the same time?
Stan. (Laughs) No, no, of course not.
Me. Well, I hope you find someone to sing. Otherwise you won't be able to have a solo.
**Ok. So by now, you'd think I'd have SOME clue as to what was happening. Nope. I hope you have all caught on at this point. If you haven't, don't worry. I didn't either.**
Stan. We sort of have someone in mind.
Me. Well that's good. It's good not to have to worry about that sort of thing. Good for you and advanced planning.
**Ok. So, we're feeling the climax here. And if you're still confused...well, so was I.**
Stan. Actually, we wanted to know if you would do it.
Me. ME??? SOLO???
Stan. Yes, nothing too hard.....blah blah blah.
**I was sort of wigging out, so I kinda missed whatever he said here. Oh well.**
So yeah, I'm soloing for the next two weeks. Just hymns and stuff, nothin incredible. But still me, solo? Weird.
So if you can think of a pertinant hymn for this week's lesson, please tell mee what you think i should sing.
Ok. So I hope I amused you all. Have a great week.
Much love,
Prager :>
I have a story for you. This is probably one of the best yet. It's a real winner on the Prager-intellegence scale. :)
Ok, so I went to a concert last night here at Colby. I went to see Dispatch, one of the coolest bands on the planet. They rock. So I was really excited to see them, aand so I bought a ticket and dragged all my friends with me, including my very conservative roommate. Jared Eggers actually went with us too, if any of you know him. He is a very important part of this story.
So we're at the concert, SOBER (this is very important), having fun, listening to the band play, it was very cool. Jared turns to me and says, "I want to go crowd surfing." I laughed at his joke and replied, "Ok, I'll pick you up, just let me know when." About a half-an-hour or so later, he taps my sholder and says, "Ok, you ready?" I had really thought he was kidding. But I guess not. He gave me his wallet, and I put my hands down so he could step up. My other two friends helped lift him up. I would like you to note that I did this in the proper "ropes course" form:
1. I lifed with my legs and not my back.
2. He took all the sharp objects out of his pocket.
3. We had two spotters (technically we should have had three)
4. I used a proper Interquest lifting method.
5. I turned my head so that he wouldn't kick me in the face.
So, Jared got passed around part of the room, and landed ON HIS FEET (again, proper ropes course form) and walked back to see us.
Well, I watched him, and it looked like fun. I mean, that's where all the clean air is, and I really wasn't doing to well down there, and so I figure, "why not? I've done Magic Carpet and the trust fall, what's the difference?" I give Jared my wallet and my sharp objects. I would now like to make a list of all the flawed logic that I had during that period. There are several things but not quite ten.
1. The instructor is NEVER supposed to go up in the air.
2. You're supposed to have at least three spotters for each person in the air. Besides Jared who was lifting, I had ONE.
3. Jared lifted with his back...minor detail.
4. Once you get up in the air, you're supposed to stay stiff I really wanted to see what was going on below me. I didn't stay tight enough.
5. You're also supposed to keep your hands locked over your chest. I did not do this. I had my hands flailing in the air. It's a wonder that I didn't smack someone.
6. No matter how scared you are, you're NEVER supposed to bend in half. I had a kid do that on the trust fall, and I ended up breaking her fall with my heead. Anyway, as soon as I realized that there was no one holding most of my upper body, I bent in half. No good.
7. If you do bend in half, your spotters are supposed to just deal with it. They absolutly cannot drop you. This is where we examine point #8...most important.
8. Spotters (people other than Jared and my roommate)are great, we love them. Howeever, it is important to note that usually, they are SOBER! Sober spotters catch you about 99% of the time. Drunken spotters catch you about 3% of the time. Jared was simply lucky.
The upshot of this whole story is that I got dropped on my head. I'm fine, dont worry. It was very very funny.
I suggest you try this, that is, if you can find a sober group of people at a loud concert. It was quite the experience, however, I don't think we'll be adding this to the ropes course ground activity section.
Take care everyone, have a great week. Quote sheets will be appearing closer to Christmas time, probably about 2 weeks.
Love,
Prager :>
Elsewhere?