Run Forest!

So despite a raging response from various people, I ran again today. At this point I wonder if it would be worth it for me to continue this trend after I'm home. Granted it'll be two weeks, but maybe worth it? Who knows. I'm not the most motivated person when home. And I've got scrapbooking to do. So world get ready for a movie/dvr/television marathon, Kelsey has to try to record memories.

Calling All Passengers to Gate: GET YO ASS UP!

Remember that time that I set my alarm for 6:15 so that I could take some people to the airport at 7 and then didn't wake up until they called me at 7:05?

Oh I do.

That was today.

And say again, what time were you dressed and out the door in your car after being woken up at 7:05?

Uh, that would be 7:08.

And all I have left to say is BOOM. That and bring on the speech season. If I can be clothed and presentable in 3 minutes, that means I can prep a speech in 1, and be tournament ready in 15 right? Well, here's to hoping that's how that pans out.

Follow up question: Did they make their flight in time?

Yes, and I had my Starbucks, and was back at work in St. Peter before they even got to board. So there.

That Story About Answering Phones

Thus begins the first day of the extension. With some grace, we managed to start a bit later, although I'm still attempting to convince Kris that my natural sleep schedule does not include the words "Meet in the Courtyard by 7:30." What a shame too. I could use the shut eye.

I will say that I am getting back on track with letter writing. Since this past week was one fraught with campers and no sleep, I felt I could not devote the necessary time to letters, so this week I'm responding to all of the things!

Oh, here's that story about the phone call.  My mother so kindly reminded me.

Remember Slam Camp? Well, since I picked everyone up from the airport, I had all of their phone numbers saved in my phone, including Kika's.

Fast forward. Last week (yes, the one before Speech Camp), I got a call from what I thought was Kika. My phone said Kika, and smart phones are really smart. So I answered in a Kika appropriate:

"HEY GURL HEY! Whachu do?"
"Hi, is Kelsey there?"
"Gurl! This is!"
"May I speak to Kelsey?"
"Yeah, spit it poet."
[Silence]

At this point I'm a little confused, because the Kika I know would have not only appreciated this greeting, but would have responded in kind. Too confused to continue, I began again:

"Are you still there?"
"May I speak to Kelsey?"
"Yes, this is she."
"Kelsey, this is Teri from GTS (Gustavus Technology Services)"
[Gulp]

Uh.......  WHAT??!?!! You mean to say that I just greeted GTS in a very non-GTS approved fashion? Woof. My Life. I would like to point out that I confirmed with Justin that my phone did, in fact, say Kika as the caller ID, and that I'm not just delusional.

After I finished my job related call with the now confirmed non-Kika caller, I set down my phone and looked panicked.  When Justin asked what happened, I responded with, "That was not who I assumed it to be..."

Since then I've done some digging and it turns out that the GTS number was saved under Kika's contact info. Strange, I'll admit, considering that I have texted her in the past... So let your lesson be learned, answer your phone only when you're sure. Or just don't answer your phone. Whatever works for you.

Pushing Them Out of the Nest

Woah, slow down crazy, slow down.

Tournament day. Boom. Now that it's over (and we're talking not the tournament that I'm competing at, but the little baby heart and souls that I've coached and worked with all week are throwing their newly found skills around in a room at the mercy of an unfamiliar audience and a scary person with the almighty pen. Terrified yet? It's like being crushed, without being told that you're being crushed.) Good news: My little GOAT pride didn't flinch. They did what they came to do, they laughed in the face of danger, and they want to come back next year. To this? I say I raise you a moderately less successful competitive day for this reaction. They laughed, they cried, and I think they learned something. (And the incredible people they met and the friends they made don't hurt either). So here we go, G! O! A! T! GOAT! Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

As for my now somewhat mushy mental state: I think I've been staring at a computer screen with my mouth gaping open and my eyes crossed for 10 minutes before I realized I should type, or blog, or maybe just go to bed.

Remind me that I should tell you all about that time that I went to a judging certification for MN... Still pondering that one a little bit.

Get Free Poet (Just Kidding, Stay There)

Oh yes, it's a Gustie Poem.
Even though it's Thursday. I give my heart to you anon.
I wish with all my being to wake up
A new born
Speech critiquing super coach
And to let the people see how good they can be.
Sweat out the negatives at the Dive,
And choose instead, sweet dreams
On which ride the gusts of opportunity.
G.O.A.T.

Uh... you get the point... Sort of.

Better Believe I Dig Poetry!

Another.... And another...
Haikus never get old.

Blog views are down, mom
But practice takes lots of work
One on Ones begin.

"I Was Making a Lasagne! (For One)"

Singing duets with Justin Feit must be one of the best ways to pass a work day. Seriously. I think we could go on tour, but it would make Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus break up for jealousy. We sat in the team room for about an hour stuffing name tags for SSI singing our creative loosely covered renditions of Flight of the Concords.  Good use of time? Absolutely. My only regret is that Cadi and Kris missed our version of "The Most Beautiful Girl" by about 35 seconds. So that's a bummer. But we enjoyed it, and art is really for the artist most of the time.

"I'm not crying... it's just the rain on my face"

It rained!  And other than standing around watching it pour for 45 minutes, we just admired the after affects of a good rain storm on both the heat and my hair. As the rain fell, my hair grew... just like the grass except exponential curls. Woe.  But that's ok, because it's closer to 70 than 100.  Winners. Except for the person sitting behind me in a theater... Then that sucks.

Remind me, I have an amusing story about answering phones and what you should learn about that.

The Aftermath of Hours Behind a Computer

Ah, the day of the registration. My least favorite day of the week. Mostly because it involves such things as waiting impatiently for people you've clearly judged by their grammar on their registration form sent in prior to your meeting in person. Then there is the matter of perkiness and general manufactured joviality. See where this is going?

Anyway, Show Choir registration ran smoothly enough. No flips, flops, or other mishaps of somewhat disastrous proportions. And, it gears us up for the even more daunting afternoon of chaos that happens next Saturday.

Which reminds me. Next Friday begins the best week in all the summer: Speech Camp. And that may mean that I will be vague, aloof, and otherwise hard to bring back to the real world. So if you're expecting posts, expect skimpy ones at best. But trust me. The 15-18 hour days are going to be joy enough for this blogger.

A Pattern Has Formed for the Fridays

Ok. I know it's Thursday. And I know you like your Themes on Thursdays. After all, that makes sense, THemes, THursday-I get it. But here's the skinny. I had a hell of an afternoon, so much so that our dastardly plans for a mastermind of a Themed Thursday had been foiled. Thus, here I sit waiting impatiently for our impromptu Themed THfriday where the true meaning of a blog off will be shown to the WORLD!!!!!

I really tried to give you a lot of clues, but I'm sleepy, and this will keep you on the edge of your seats until the morn.

Reunited and It's All So Right

Your world has just collided with something so epic, it can hardly be comprehended by the interwebs. That's right. The infamous Michelle, of Just a Chef's Daughter and I are inhabiting the same house. (who? what? why? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE MY LIFE SUDDENLY MAKES SENSE!) Yes, I know. The world is a better place now that we have joined our magical decoder rings in a triumphant stance over the things that keep us apart. And the things you have to look forward too: Themed Thursday- actual face to face combat. This is the kind of battle they'll be talking about for centuries. Alamo-no-mo, this is what will be remembered.

But for now, I'll give you the nice little summary of my day.
I worked for the first half, getting things tied up and decent before we all left for our varying levels of adventure (me: exponential, Justin: optional, and Kris: Why is this adventure geared for a younger crowd?). Then I had lunch and packed over another episode of Mad Men, and then loaded up my vehicle (good girl Scarlet) and drove my merry way up to Duluth. Lovely? I think yes. Well, except for that part called the Twin Cities and traffic-that part was unlovely.

Upon arrival, Michelle gave me a quick tour and we immediately went out to pizza (artichoke hearts on a pizza? Good ideas) and galavanted around Downtown Duluth. Seeing things like the lift bridge and walking placidly along the shore of Lake Superior. (I'm told it's superior, but to what? I don't get it...) So despite the scorching heat and the dastardly humidity, we managed to make a good night of it-catching up on all of the stories and generally enjoying life.

Life now makes sense.

I'd Give This Post a 8.1

Please welcome your JUDGES!!!!

Dats right. Mariecus, Ava, and I went to our first poetry slam. As judges.

Slam camp is swinging and these kids are already up and batting.  Well, sort of. They did some "Cover Slam" for us tonight. So basically they read someone else's poem with only 10 minutes of prep. Good, sure! Especially for some of them who haven't performed much. There are some who don't have any fear of audiences, but others are a little more cautious and they are bound to be learning all kinds of things here.

Just imagine what kind of environment this is fostering. A place where high schoolers can express themselves in their own words, then in a controlled, supportive place find their voice and get the encouragement and feedback that they crave. This is genius! And I've already bragged about the people working with them.  Holy smashed avocados (Get it?). It's going to be beyond epic. And I totally dig it.

Bet You Want My Job [Sunday Edition]

Let's hear it for the slammers! Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyyiyiyi!!!! That's not what they actually do, but for serious-there be some serious talent on the GAC campus this week. Holla. And I'm really excited to tell you all about the rhyme-spinning wizards that are be-boping around St. P for the week. I mean, let's be real, Strings camp was fun, but this is going to be off the heezy. (Is that how that's spelled? Running with it.)

Let's give you a little run down of all of the professional talent on campus. Here you go:

Sierra DeMulder: Transplant to Minneapolis, and is working word magic like this:

Next up is Cuban Hernandez. Coming all the way up here from farther south than me, and that doesn't mean anything because I'm just farther south than Minnesota. So there. 

And lastly, Adam Henze. I know Adam from some speech things, he tends to lurk around here and there and once in a while we see each other creeping from opposite corners. It's a good time.

So now that I've given you about an hours worth of putzing around on youtube having your mind blown from the sheer power of words, I'm going to go to bed and get some shut eye before a new day of stellar-awesome-word-bashing-fun begins.

ALL the letters!!!!

Oh heavens be. After a 12 work day and coming back to the apartment full of friendly faces, I'm just about ready to hit the hay. So for this post, I would like to give a little update on the letter leader board.

As a side note, there have been some considerable delays in receiving letters on my end. My first week on campus, I received a package from home, and a letter from grandma, but I found out about a week and a half later that good old GAC decided to start forwarding my mail to Missouri instead of just letting me get my mail conveniently on campus. What a waste of stamps. Mom ended up collecting all of my received letters and sending them to me. So, here is the list of those currently leading:

Michelle
Hannah
Joe

All of whom are entered in the competition. And the other things I got in the mail today.

Mom
Grandma
Andrea
Ashley
Lily
Kate S

The letter competition is still open, but now you've got ground to make up. Get to it.

Shout Outs and Drownings

Hey Sonja, I've got a surprise for you.  And no, I'm not going to tell you what it is here, but it's good, Mariecus approves. (I also know you are giving me that look right now-Mariecus did a spot on impression, so don't deny it).

Past that, another shout out to those of you reading this in Russia. I still think this is awesome. There are people in ten different countries that have read this blog, and to those people I say-you rock.

Moving on. I did something dumb today. And I mean besides the time I spent with a table, of what was determined to have 6 college degrees sitting around it, figuring out a Happy Meal Toy. That's a true story. I mean I didn't actually get the keys to my new dorm. I know, what a konk head (props Nick Herink). But it's ok! Mom, don't panic, Mariecus is the greatest. I might go check the SAO desk in the morning, but I'm not too worried.  I'll stick with my buddy (see? the buddy system works in college too! And not just kindergarten visits to the art museum)(yeah, no one wanted to be my buddy then). The other thing you can assume by me not finding the time to get my keys is that I was working so extra diligently hard all day that it didn't even occur to me to do anything other than the task in front of me. That's good right? And besides, the day just flew. Getting back to a familiar place, talking to the familiar people, learning some new ropes, and cutting some others. There was laughter, food, fun, friends, and focus. Lots and lots of focus. And shit got done. Who is going to argue with that?

And I think I'm going to call that a wrap. All moved in, killed the spider that I found in my water bottle (not my friend anymore), got keys to other buildings just not the one I live in, and had some fun. What a winning day.