So it's been two years and 51 days since my last journal entry, and it's been an interesting two years and 51 days.

In that time I have been to Canada for two weeks, Brazil for ten months.
I have lost friends, gained friends, learned a language, been scarred, hugged, hit, kissed.

But not to be dramatic!
At the moment I am trying to find a typewriter, I will maybe be gaining a high-end camera for next to nothing from my cousin, I may be in Seattle in September to watch Wicked. I am presently returning from Canada seeing my dear friends Greg, Aaron and Anya, and having made new friends of Jasmine, Brody, Lara, Jerimiah, Cecil, Sue, Leslie and Michael. It was, not to sound generic, but truly enriching. I saw seals, turtles and minks, waterfalls, perfect and awkward lovers, bloody noses, dozens of meteors on the roof late at night, climbing trees, nature at it's best, rainy days. I swam in cold rainy lakes, rivers and days, smoked weed, drank vodka, kool-aid and river water, jumped off bridges, ate blueberry pancakes and Kraft Dinner, climbed, discussed, argued, existentialized, finally watched Lord of the Rings, Watchmen and the first Indiana Jones. I wore tooks and rainbow hats, some with whales, drank tea, picked beans, tried London Fog, dug up carrots, sorted and sold potatoes, meditated, innertubed, ate freshly caught salmon... and that is just what I can distinctly recall. I am back in contact with ian, greg and alex and out of contact with another ian, macall, sofie...

I also just finished two weeks at SEP, at which I think I did a terrible job. I embarrassingly did not live up to their or my expectations and I do not expect to become a counselor. I am glad I did it, don't get me wrong, I just didn't do it well, and I didn't really deserve to be there if I wasn't giving my all. I am happy for the opportunity and sorry that I wasted it. Not to sound too negative. I saw old friends, Julie, Bekah, Alex, and made new ones in Sera, Jadyn (my entire floor actually), Nicky (more or less...), Chris T., Jeronimo, Lizzie, Anya... to name but a few. I tried new things, befriended people, painted my nails, drank nasty dorm water, survived 107 degree weather on the second floor, ate carson food for two solid weeks, drank bubble tea, met with Chilton and Nathan, went swimming, played Silent Football, befriended Katie, danced at every slow dance, wore my jester costume, finished my community service, lived through what was probably my last year of SEP which was changed dramatically, befriended several adorable Korean girls (Ruby, Lucy and Jenny) and met people like that one fat opera-singing kid on the Robot Factory floor whose name escapes me. (DANIEL.)

and the country fair where it rained A LOT. I saw some amazing things as always, my feet got very very very muddy, I ate amazing food, saw Jason Webley four times, got Ben into Fair with my other pass, worked on the crew, befriended Heidi and Kevin, saw Ethan A., Rob, Michael and Liv... met up with Harris and Ethan and slogged through the mud cheerily as mud-wrestling happened (ben and alex respectively) and drank warm beverages and sat muddily on benches discussing. basically amazing. I showered and sauna'd at the Ritz for six bucks and listened to live music in crowds of naked hippies... I did a shift at Miss Piggy's Lot and talked for 45 minutes with Ben in Portuguese... I sat there until very early with Trey and her bf, discussing Pop Star (solar-powered popcorn) and amazing things like music from Guam (?)..I ventured up with Evan Carmi to the Spoken Word camp on donated land outside of the fair and ate cookies and drank apple juice. I wore my mask and bought socks and feathers. I saw Jenny and Bridget and sat around getting high with Danaan, Joe and Matt (who was tripping balls and was eating all the time).. OH AND CHEAP COCONUT BLISS because of the rain! and Jessie Palmer who let me work on Pre-Post crew, directing traffic at the end of the last day with no sleep for over a day! All those amazing people... I can't even think straight.

and now here I am, having eaten flied lice (hehehe) and fruit and watched a movie. I have eaten pho and been to the beach and picked blackberries into my dad's hat, gone beach glass hunting with my dad, took pictures, stood by the train tracks, and bought jeans and chai black tea.

it has been a good two years and 51 days. and this was only the last month and a half of it.

---m

ps. my stomach muscles hurt from crunches