Blues Clues Could Write the Soundtrack to My Life

Just after midnight here in the quiet town south of Kansas City, and there's nothing new to report. I had a lovely dinner with Jessica for the first time in all too long, but it caught me up on all of the news that escaped my grasp. Well done Jess you super stalker you. I am back home, so if you a) want to catch up sometime in the next week or so-text me. Or b) if you plan on writing me a letter sometime when it's supposed to get here before I leave again-text me an I'll give you my non-school other home address. And I will mention that there is a large box of unloved envelopes sitting next to me that are just begging to be sent across the country, so figure it out. With any luck, there will be enough of you that don't go to school with me to keep me writing letters all year. You know who you are- don't let me down. And yes, Michelle, cross country does not exclude you- I'll make it plural just because: cross countries. Better?

Ok, I think I'm going to call it a night.

Modernist

Things likely to be heard after camp:

Douchebaggery is an unforgivable sin.
I need to go grocery shopping.
Why is everything I own covered in cat hair?
Do I have to pick these people up from the airport? I no longer care if they walk.
Internalize that!
Got to get that POI done.
And you will faintly hear the scratching of letter writing.

And the winner for most random and unplanned nonsensical post goes to.....

Yeah, I'll just take my award and leave through the back door.

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.

Real Words Don't Have the Proper Emphasis: WHWPOWEIHLKJFHD!!

This is going to be a post about how obsessed I am with Mad Men (Mariecus can attest to this-I've watched 9 episodes in 2 days), and HOW INCREDIBLY PUMPED I AM ABOUT VISITING MICHELLE TOMORROW.

Letter leader board update:
Michelle zooms a head with her second letter. That leaves the following:

Michelle: 2
Joe: 1
Ben: 1
Spaulding: 1
Hannah: 1

But this is anyone's game folks. So get to it! If I'm feeling nice, I'll write the freshman one later this week.

But more importantly: TOMORROW WHEN I GET TO SEE MICHELLE!  I need to pack before then, I did laundry for this occasion... That's a real friendship right there. Michelle informed me that even despite the floodings, Duluth is not a nudist colony... how peculiar. But if that's the trend, I guess that's it.

And that sums up my excitement-except not at all. This is beyond epic, and I'm psyched.

We Are Slamily

Today-we slammed.

And tomorrow-we slam.

And then I drive all the people to the airport and sleep in a different dorm.

And then I wake up long before God does and do that again.

This is my weekend, and haters gonna hate.

But seriously, this slam camp has been incredible to watch. It's remarkable how invested each poet is in not only their own work, but in the work of every single other person there. I honestly believe that the instructors are learning just as much as the kids are and I can't wait to see what in the world these people are coming up with. Here in a year, you'll be hearing about them-rocking worlds and spitting words in the air. Incredible to witness, and incredible to be involved. I'm honored and humbled by the amount of talent and passion that has collected here at GAC for a few short days. Keep it up "Slamily," you will do great things.

In other news, I would like to welcome Spaulding and Ben to the letter leader boards. No one has taken a clear lead yet, so get those pens to cranking.

Preparation for an Adventure

So there's a whole apartment full of people here, and I'm catching up on letters, and I'm covered in cat hair. That's living the dream. Right there. I hope you caught that. Living the brilliant, beautiful, dreamymcdreamerson dream.

Come at me.

And the real trick tomorrow will be the beginning of an adventure. And by beginning, I mean that we'll also be ending part of this adventure. So Justin (teammate and coworker) are going to drive to the Twin Cities for 2 reasons: 1) to have a Barnes and Noble attempt. That includes meeting some freshmen and looking for lit. And 2) Pick up the hopefully less awkward kids for the Slam Poetry camp. That's probably going to be stellar. And with any luck we won't get lost, we'll make it there on time, and we'll have a blast. Doable? Yes. Probable? Maybe less so. Impossible: Certainly not.

Task on.

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.

I Spy- But with Strangers

I know, I know. All of you are so excited for Themed Thursday tomorrow (and there's a good reason for it. Michelle and I have something splendid up our conjoined sleeves). But I will attempt to add a little bit of flavor to today's post just to even out your excitement for the week. I don't want you to get too psyched out on hump day.

I want an owl. (I swear this is going somewhere.)

So part of my duties as an assistant to the Summer Academic Programs Director is to check the mail. Makes sense. (PS, SAPD should be read in a "mustache" voice. This basically just sounds really hoyty-toyty. Use your imagination).  Naturally, Justin and I check our own personal mail boxes at the same time as retrieving the program mail. But I do say "check" and not "retrieve" because that's all we get to do is check. There's no point to bringing back what isn't there. [insert sad face here]. I have received multiple confirmations that the letters I sent the past few weeks have been accepted into the homes and hands of those to whom they were addressed-and that I should be getting replies. Oh I long for those splendid days of smeared pen over paper. Ah, those are indeed my favorites. Plus it should give me something to do in the evenings. I have yet to stumble on a suitable hat pattern that doesn't make me want to commit genocide.  Let's face it, I knit so I don't kill people-those kinds of aggravating patterns are counter-productive.

This is where the owls come in. I want an owl for two reasons. 1) To deliver my mail, that way I don't have to check it and be depressed all the time and I can just be really excited that my owl delivered my mail. 2) There's a sweet owl sweater pattern I found, but I want to knit a hat so it's just distracting. Boo. I mean Whoo....

Whooo brings me to the question Justin and I asked each other at lunch, "Who are these people?" The caf was simply flooded with all kinds of pimple ridden, braced out, and printed backpack wearing middle schoolers. Woof. (Not to be confused with Whoo, they are different animal sounds). And it turns out that Mormons flock where ever I am.

True Story. I live about 40 minutes from the exact location where Jesus is going to make his reappearance on Earth. Independence, MO. Look it up. So naturally, I assumed they just came up to MN to visit me! So far this theory appears to be less true, but I do have my hopes. My bigger concern is not what they believe (a Mormon just believes), but rather that there are so many middle schoolers. Ugh, those were some hard years amiright? There are approximately zero things that are good about middle school. I was lucky enough to have at least one phenomenal teacher, but quite honestly, that's the only thing I've got-and not every other kid can say that. There are hormones everywhere, and zits, and boys trying to be tough, and girls refusing to be civil (much less human), and more generally confused conniving adolescents who thrive on making each other miserable.

And all I have to say is God bless the teachers (and sometimes parents) who opt to put up with them.

I hoped that I had come up with a hoot for a last sentence to tie in the owl theme.

OH WAIT.

Survived Another Iowan Drive

As summer has arrived, there are some things that are bound to happen, and I thought I would write them here to hold myself accountable, and so you can know about this.

1) I am going to attempt to blog every day this summer. You'd better hope that I come up with something extravagant to do this summer amidst all of the regular things that I occasionally do.

2) Those of you who where part of the Letter Leader Board last summer, it's your lucky day! The LLB is happening again, and I can't wait!  So facebook me your address and I'll send you the first letter, but it's up to you to continue the trend. I promise to write back, but so do you.  Sound like a plan? Good, I'm glad you are all on board. So message or text me your addresses and I'll get to penning some witty letters.

3) This summer will be so much fun. Mariecus and Ava, it's gonna be a blast.

4) Amanda S is determined to find the hidden treasures of this blog. Good luck.

5) Best things about summer so far: Cats, hammock, books, skype, and the fact that I can sleep for days.

Magnificent. I shall keep the the most updated about my adventures.

More Rothko? Ok.

"The ideal teacher in charge of the creative art activity must possess a twofold equipment. First, in common with every teacher he has the insight and training to evaluate the character, background and potentialities of the child; his very presence and manner create an atmosphere of ease and confidence; and he shares the general idea of social adjustment of the educational process of which this activity is a part.  Secondly, and this is really the important qualification in this study, he must possess the sensibility of an artist. Art must be to him a language of lucid speech inducing the understanding and exaltation which art properly inspires. It is the artist teacher who has fulfilled that role with the most frequent success. Because art is his own best mode of expression, and because of his intimate relationship with it and its methods, both in his own expression and that of other artists both past and present, he is likely to have developed that sensibility to a higher degree than others whose only contact with art is from the point of view of the observer." --Mark Rothko

Incase you needed more Rothko, BAM. Wish granted. 

Now I would like you to do a little exercise with me, think about your favorite teachers. The professors in college, the teachers you had in high school, the coaches, the leaders, the ones that inspired you, the ones that made the difference in your life. 

I've thought of mine. I hope you did.

And if you so desire, you should write them a little note. Facebook them. Email them. Tell them if you have them in class the next day. They are phenomenal, and you should tell them. 

Like a boss. 

I'm going camping, and I'm bringing C-Rad

Things that make me happy: Receiving letters from my mother (with socks... Dobby much?) and MARIECUS.  It literally made my afternoon.  Not only was it soggy with sassiness, it was practically angelic prose. And I can't wait to respond.  It's already begun.

Part 2: Skyping with Sonja and Vanessa.  Separately, but wonderful all the same. It's like my life as it would be if I wasn't in Rome.

Part 3: Eating delicious Gnocchi made by Erica.  That means that I didn't have to cook. Yay!

Now for the real news of the day, and I've been thinking about this post for a large chunk of time. Honest.

I'm going to tell you a little story about Charles, and subsequently, my assumptions about all degree seeking students here.

Charles is in my Gaga class.  (That's Ancient Greek Art and Archaeology for those of you not paying attention) Charles is a fairly tall man with a full beard and often wears a beret when not in class. He is the kind of individual who will physically move a chair to the front and center of the room just so he can sit there. This also means that he is often the only one in the front row of a classroom. But far be it from me to criticize his enthusiasm for learning. As I was sitting down I peered over his shoulder and noticed that the header of his paper was written backwards. We're talking mirror image (including the formation of letters) with the title of the class. I figure, hey, he's been here for a while and got bored. Fine, whatever. We've all been that bored kid in church or homeroom. I get it.

This is where things get freaky.

Part way through class, I noticed that he was left handed. Ok, cool. I know some sweet left-handed people.  But I don't know anyone who... TAKES NOTES BACKWARDS! What!!?!?!?!?!  That's the most absurd thing I've ever seen in my life. Legitimately writes backwards. Think Leonardo da Vinci in English.  Except I don't think this Charles character is a genius... that I know of.

Speaking of good old Leo. In my Italian High Renaissance class (see what no nick name does? It makes you read all of that plus my asides. How not fun is that?) Professor Smyth (not a joke) talked about how Leonardo would follow the strange looking people all day just so he could sketch them when he got home. Awesome? Yes. Would he follow Charles? Probably. Is Charles an Alien? Very likely. (I feel like this entire thing could be filled out a la scantron.  A) Yes. B)Very Likely. C)Sometimes. D) Not Likely. E) No.)

But seriously, who takes pages (PAGES) of notes writing backwards!?!?!  Who? Only aliens do that. It's the only plausible explanation for this strange occurrence.  Like crop circles.  People? No way. Aliens? Almost certainly. This brings me to my degree seeking student bit. In this particular class, there are 3 (including Charles) current degree seeking students (this means that unlike the study abroad kids who are there for a semester/year, these people are there all 4 years.) And I think there are two freshmen who are degree seekers as well. I'm not really counting them because they are almost as clueless about JCU/Rome as the study abroad kids (side note on these two, one of them is literally named Chloe R. I'm never sure how to take this because we often sit next to each other. So my Chloe R, pay attention).  And if you throw Charles into that group of three, you have: A girl I can't understand who gave a presentation I couldn't understand with pen on her face, a girl who is supposed to be in multiple classes of mine and shows up late to all of them, if at all, and a degree seeking alien who takes notes backwards. By this point I just keep playing the "I'm going camping" game.  During one specific bus ride to somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Cadi took a turn and listed (and correct me if I'm wrong): light up shoes, radio towers, Natalie, that car, and her cat.  What can you bring camping? Anything that Cadi thought might have been an alien.  Well I'm going camping, and I'm bringing Charles.