At Frisbee practice today, we split up into 4 teams that we are going to keep until next Tuesday. The idea is that we play games against each other so the captains can see us in a team setting. They want to see how we react with our teammates from the sideline as well as in play along with how well we can bond as a team. Our team was called Catholic Justice which was cool with me and also apparently the other 2 Jewish guys on my team. We went 2-0 tonight and I'd like to think that I caught a lot of points, but my left hand was fucked (too short of a nail on my index finger and a popped blister on my pinkie) so I didn't catch much. It was funny because we were white and the other team that went 2-0 was also white; that's what I call oppression for the darks. I played well and had two catches in the end zone that I had to drag my feet to stay in which made me "seem" like an awesome ultimate player. On Thursday we stay with the same teams, so watch out for Catholic Justice. You'll also probably see us next Tuesday at the championship game.
In the beginning of practice after we had already chosen teams, I overheard Ashlin ask Taylor what team he should be on. Ashlin had just gotten to practice, so I said join team 4 very enthusiastically. Ashlin is basically my idol/mentor/hero when it comes to ultimate Frisbee. Hopefully he reads this. Well he was totally into me (because I'm into him) and he was like, "Yo Taylor let me be on team 4 because Ben and I have to start working together".Taylor was like, "Ok I buy it". That means at least two things: 1) Ashlin and Taylor thinks that Ashlin and I will be working together this year and 2) I have a good shot at the A team because Ashlin is on the A team.
I've been thinking about it, and I think I want to cook Ashlin a nice dinner and use my Tea Candles. Go Catholic Justice!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
I'm Going To Sleep Well Tonight
Today was probably my busiest day I've have since Junior year which was the last time period in my life where I actually took real classes. I woke up early to go to Liam's Crew practice at 5:30. I just wanted to see what it was like, and don't worry because I'm still in love in Ultimate Frisbee. Rowing on the lake was fun as the sun rose into the sky. The only bad part was getting the boat in and out of the water. After that we came back to take showers and then we had Chemistry at 9. When that got out, Liam and I both got breakfast and we were planning to eat with Alex (a girl Liam thinks is rad), but than Brooke Isreal sat down with us... Oh man, oh man totally ruined it. After that, I had a Calculus class at 11 which was awesome. I know everything already in the class, but I still feel like I'm learning. Then I came back to the room to study up my Statistics some more, but then had to leave for a 1:10-4:00 Chem Lab which was pretty boring. All we did was go over safety instructions and how to use equipment. We got let out early, but I was beggining to see that Mondays would be hard days for me. I had a 4:10 Statistics class which rocked. I think there is a phenominon that says, "The closer to sit to the front of the lecture hall, the better your notes turn out". Well I sat in the front row. After Stat, I had a 5:10-6 Food Science/Nutrition Career Discovery group slash freshmen seminar. It was something I was looking forward to all day long, but I was a little dissapointed in how cool the people in the class were. There are only two boys out of 20 or so kids. The teacher who is a grad student seems like someone I could get on their goodside and I ended up being a leader in a group thing we did. Looks like I'm going to pass that class compared to not pass. When all my classes were done, I rode home but ended up having my bike pedal fall off my bike which leaves me with a tiny rotating stick to keep my left foot on. After dinner at the DC, I went to the gym and ended up running 4 different miles in 1 mile increments. It was intense and I ended up going really fast. I raced Bianca for my forth miles where I had to run the second story track, and she could run on a treadmill. I ended up finishing my mile when she was only .75% done with her miles. Lol I lapped her. And that was my day. From 5:30am to midnight.
Moral of the story: You'll be happy with your life as long as you give yourself a purpose.
Moral of the story: You'll be happy with your life as long as you give yourself a purpose.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Keeping A Log
Liam and I are going to keep a log of our weights. Cool idea huh. We also checked our blood pressure today at Rite Aid along with Kevin Hero who is a brother at AEpi. Liam and I had normal systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and both our pulse rates were mid-50s. When Kevin checked his arm, his systolic and diastolic were both hypertension as I recall, and his pulse rate was in the 80's. That is the difference between college athletes and frat brothers: significant ends of the spectrum for blood pressure.
Anyway, the log won't be every day, but I do want to record it.
Ben - 177 pounds
Liam - 173 pounds
Because both of us love eating food at the DC (Dinning Commons), we both have the same goal to reach 195 pounds before the end of the school year. It will be fun, and don't worry, all the food will be turned into muscle....wink*
Anyway, the log won't be every day, but I do want to record it.
Ben - 177 pounds
Liam - 173 pounds
Because both of us love eating food at the DC (Dinning Commons), we both have the same goal to reach 195 pounds before the end of the school year. It will be fun, and don't worry, all the food will be turned into muscle....wink*
Friday, September 26, 2008
Party... Nah, Not Tonight
It's the Friday night after the first week of school. There are parties going on, but I don't really feel like going out tonight. So why am I sitting half naked in my dorm room right now? Isn't that the question. I feel fine, and I have friends at parties right now so I would feel comfortable over there. For some reason though, I feel right now as if I don't deserve to have fun at parties. I've been ingrained to think "work, then play" and I haven't really gotten any work done. Nothing school wise has been accomplished and there are still clean clothes bunched up under my bed just waiting to be put in my drawers. I want to prove to myself that I can be a responsible student before I go haywire at frat houses each weekend. I want to show myself how I can discipline myself about my time.
Tomorrow I plan on waking up early to go running in the ARC or around the arboretum. Then cracking open my Calculus book and doing some problems. After that I'll probably start feeling more set into the student life that I want to live. If I went to AEpi tonight or Pike, I would feel like I didn't deserve having the fun I could presumably have. I guess I'm just weird like that.
College is something that I want to make important. I want my classes to be a top priority, and I am promising myself tonight to never aim for a grade C in a class.
Tomorrow I plan on waking up early to go running in the ARC or around the arboretum. Then cracking open my Calculus book and doing some problems. After that I'll probably start feeling more set into the student life that I want to live. If I went to AEpi tonight or Pike, I would feel like I didn't deserve having the fun I could presumably have. I guess I'm just weird like that.
College is something that I want to make important. I want my classes to be a top priority, and I am promising myself tonight to never aim for a grade C in a class.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
First Day of School
So far my schedule looks like this:
6:00 - Wake up and try to beat Liam to the good shower in our bathroom. He is also waking up at six for his early 7:30 class
7:00 - Ride bikes with Julie 2.3 miles to see a dentist about my chipped tooth
9:00 - First class of the year... Statistics. Maybe I'll like it. Hope I don't have to meet many people with a gaping hole in my mouth
12:10 - Freshmen Seminar that is 2 credits instead of 1 credits. Wanna know what it's about? Too bad, I don't even know really. Sisweb doesn't even say who my teacher is, it just says "The Staff"
2:30 - Swimming with Liam and Julie (fun in the sun)
Julie has been really nice to me about my tooth. I appreciate it and I know that she'll be reading this sometime tomorrow. It's incredible that she would wake up at 6 to help me go see a dentist. I can't wait to start looking normal again because I hate it when people stare without asking what happened. That's gotta be the worst.
6:00 - Wake up and try to beat Liam to the good shower in our bathroom. He is also waking up at six for his early 7:30 class
7:00 - Ride bikes with Julie 2.3 miles to see a dentist about my chipped tooth
9:00 - First class of the year... Statistics. Maybe I'll like it. Hope I don't have to meet many people with a gaping hole in my mouth
12:10 - Freshmen Seminar that is 2 credits instead of 1 credits. Wanna know what it's about? Too bad, I don't even know really. Sisweb doesn't even say who my teacher is, it just says "The Staff"
2:30 - Swimming with Liam and Julie (fun in the sun)
Julie has been really nice to me about my tooth. I appreciate it and I know that she'll be reading this sometime tomorrow. It's incredible that she would wake up at 6 to help me go see a dentist. I can't wait to start looking normal again because I hate it when people stare without asking what happened. That's gotta be the worst.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Last Day of Summer
Welcome week was fun and definitely made me appreciate coming to Davis. I've gone to three frat parties three nights in a row. Got shitface drunk. Danced. Played Ukulele for my Frisbee team. On that note, I hope I'm really making a good impression on those ultimate guys. I'm also getting on good terms with my dorm mates and Alder Hall floor 4. I'd say that I've spent around 30 hours with Julie in the past two days and it's always been fun. One thing that I do hope she never realizes is that I'm super wierd in a way that makes her not like me. Otherwise if she never realizes I can be retarded most of the time, I think I made a new best friend. (Also I'm not so mad that she knocked out my front tooth with her head). (Don't worry, it was just a filling, not the actual real tooth).
Anyway, the one thing that I've been avoiding this entire week is actually putting away my clothes and cleaning my desk. It's just so hard, you know? Seriously though, I'm going to go clean my side of the dorm. Liam's side is practically spotless...
Julie's roommate Remy gave me a book to read. It's called Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I'm gonna read it and then talk about it with Remy. I want to make a good impression for some reason. Maybe it's because I had a chipped tooth when I first met her. I look like a hillbilly or someone who would vote for McCain.
Anyway, the one thing that I've been avoiding this entire week is actually putting away my clothes and cleaning my desk. It's just so hard, you know? Seriously though, I'm going to go clean my side of the dorm. Liam's side is practically spotless...
Julie's roommate Remy gave me a book to read. It's called Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I'm gonna read it and then talk about it with Remy. I want to make a good impression for some reason. Maybe it's because I had a chipped tooth when I first met her. I look like a hillbilly or someone who would vote for McCain.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Ok So I Stole A Bike
When we drove up to Davis, a bike wasn't going to fit into the car. I thought that not having a bike wouldn't be that big of a deal and then the next time my dad or mom came to visit, they could bring a bike. This was fine because I think my dad is coming up October 4th (two weeks from now). Well oh well, cause I found myself a bike.
I was walking back from the dinning hall around noon. Liam had left to check something at the bookstore, and I was almost inside my building when I saw it. This bike was at the end of the bike rake with a lock around its frame, but wasn't locked to the bike rack. It sorta looked locked I guess, but it wasn't fooling me :) I took it out, rolled the wheels to make sure nothing was flat, then I just took off. Lol but I had nowhere to go. I went to the bookstore to find Liam who could help me lock it up, but I had no way of getting inside without getting my bike stolen from me. After not finding Liam, I figured I could go to some discreet bike structure behind our Thompson hall while only taking 2 minutes to run upstairs to get my phone to call someone for a lock. On the way back though, I saw Taylor Lahey throwing a frisbee with another freshmen named Paul. I rode over to say hi and evidentually ended up throwing with them for half an hour. Taylor said he had a lock at his house which we could pick up around one. SWEET. I get a new bike and get to see Taylor's house. AWESOME. lol but really he has a cool house, and I finnally met Tommy McCormmack who is the other captain of the Davis team. Then I rode my bike back home and ran upstairs to get to a important roommate/RA meeting that I ended up being 2 minutes late for.
I was walking back from the dinning hall around noon. Liam had left to check something at the bookstore, and I was almost inside my building when I saw it. This bike was at the end of the bike rake with a lock around its frame, but wasn't locked to the bike rack. It sorta looked locked I guess, but it wasn't fooling me :) I took it out, rolled the wheels to make sure nothing was flat, then I just took off. Lol but I had nowhere to go. I went to the bookstore to find Liam who could help me lock it up, but I had no way of getting inside without getting my bike stolen from me. After not finding Liam, I figured I could go to some discreet bike structure behind our Thompson hall while only taking 2 minutes to run upstairs to get my phone to call someone for a lock. On the way back though, I saw Taylor Lahey throwing a frisbee with another freshmen named Paul. I rode over to say hi and evidentually ended up throwing with them for half an hour. Taylor said he had a lock at his house which we could pick up around one. SWEET. I get a new bike and get to see Taylor's house. AWESOME. lol but really he has a cool house, and I finnally met Tommy McCormmack who is the other captain of the Davis team. Then I rode my bike back home and ran upstairs to get to a important roommate/RA meeting that I ended up being 2 minutes late for.
First Night In Davis
Life is great. I moved in on Sunday the 21st of September. There are so many people that if I'm interested in meeting them, I'll just go up and shake hands with them. It's incredibly easy to meet people now becasue everyone is in the same position of being in a new foreign place. There are people who say that they are "not ready" for college, or that they are worried about "not meeting anybody". Yea that doesn't happen. Walking up to girls is also getting really easy too. Like I'll find myself walking up to a girl, and then something pops in my head to talk about. Talking to girls is a skill that you have to train. I'm not gonna say I'm a pro or anything like that, but I definitely think I'm getting better really quickly.
Last night Dan called me saying they were going to a frat party at a house called PIKE. This phone call happened probably 5 minutes after Jake called me saying they were gonna go to AEpi with Victory and Olivia. Both cool people, but I wanted to hang out with Dan, and if that PIKE party wasn't working, I would head over to AEpi. We (Liam and I) meet up with Dan and John in front the ARC with Andrew Jilwon too. We apparently wait for this one friend of Andrew's who knows where the house is. During this small amount of time, around 20 more people show up. This is freaking rediculous because I know that Frat houses usually don't like letting in huge bunches of crowds, especially since we are all freshmen. Walking over to there, we get around 10 more people following us, and the first thought in my head is: I gotta get to the front of the line, so when they start cutting off people I'm already inside. This got me in, but for some reason everyone else came in with us. It was like the party was desperate. We quickly got some redbulls, but the line for the one keg was really crowded.
Dan, John, Liam, and I were hanging out ouside waiting for the keg to get less crowded. Something we noticed at this PIKE house (besides everyone smoking pot) was that there was like a 10-1 ratio of guys to girls. It's not like I had plans to hook up with a girl, but it definitly throws a groove of a party off if there are way too many guys. This was around 10 oclock, and we decided to leave and look for the AEpi house. It's a Jewish Fraternity and was the same one that Ami, Ryan, Tash, and I had met Jake at two days earlier in berkeley. We found it on C street so it wasn't that far away. We walk in and it's a very chill environment. There were 3 tables for beer pong, which I didn't get to play, but the line for the keg wasn't long at all because people had already started drinking. Very fun house and I met alot of brothers of the Frat, and I met alot of girls who were fun to talk to. I hope to become really good friends with Julie and Olivia who live on the 4th floor Alder hall. I did meet up with a friend of mine from orientation, Nellie. We decided to try and play some baseball but it didn't exactly work out. No problem though. Definitly a fun night. I'm also really excited to be with Liam for this year because he and I are turning into the awesome guys to talk to. Like, we are good partners and shit I think when it comes to living and junk like that. Someone told us today that it seemed like we had been friends from high school or something.
Last night Dan called me saying they were going to a frat party at a house called PIKE. This phone call happened probably 5 minutes after Jake called me saying they were gonna go to AEpi with Victory and Olivia. Both cool people, but I wanted to hang out with Dan, and if that PIKE party wasn't working, I would head over to AEpi. We (Liam and I) meet up with Dan and John in front the ARC with Andrew Jilwon too. We apparently wait for this one friend of Andrew's who knows where the house is. During this small amount of time, around 20 more people show up. This is freaking rediculous because I know that Frat houses usually don't like letting in huge bunches of crowds, especially since we are all freshmen. Walking over to there, we get around 10 more people following us, and the first thought in my head is: I gotta get to the front of the line, so when they start cutting off people I'm already inside. This got me in, but for some reason everyone else came in with us. It was like the party was desperate. We quickly got some redbulls, but the line for the one keg was really crowded.
Dan, John, Liam, and I were hanging out ouside waiting for the keg to get less crowded. Something we noticed at this PIKE house (besides everyone smoking pot) was that there was like a 10-1 ratio of guys to girls. It's not like I had plans to hook up with a girl, but it definitly throws a groove of a party off if there are way too many guys. This was around 10 oclock, and we decided to leave and look for the AEpi house. It's a Jewish Fraternity and was the same one that Ami, Ryan, Tash, and I had met Jake at two days earlier in berkeley. We found it on C street so it wasn't that far away. We walk in and it's a very chill environment. There were 3 tables for beer pong, which I didn't get to play, but the line for the keg wasn't long at all because people had already started drinking. Very fun house and I met alot of brothers of the Frat, and I met alot of girls who were fun to talk to. I hope to become really good friends with Julie and Olivia who live on the 4th floor Alder hall. I did meet up with a friend of mine from orientation, Nellie. We decided to try and play some baseball but it didn't exactly work out. No problem though. Definitly a fun night. I'm also really excited to be with Liam for this year because he and I are turning into the awesome guys to talk to. Like, we are good partners and shit I think when it comes to living and junk like that. Someone told us today that it seemed like we had been friends from high school or something.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Why I Was Not At The Senior Banquet
I recently wrote a note on Facebook detailing what happened the one night, on the Foothill Band Cruise, when I didn't show up to the Senior Banquet. I guess a lot of people read it and thought it was interesting. Kurt even told me that people at school were talking about it. If you were on the band cruise last year (May 2008), you might not understand it but apparently I write well or something.... Here is the note I made. :)
I don't want people thinking that I'm hung up over this. It wasn't that big of a deal, or at least I never thought so. Weirdly though I will still get people asking me, "Why did you do it".
For those who don't know, during the Band Cruise to Canada last year I did not attend the Senior Banquet for my own reasons, and apparently some people thought that I had fallen over the side of the boat into the ocean. That then caused a 15 minute search party that if was not successful in finding me would legally cause the cruise ship to actually turn around and look for me in the water. Luckily I was "located" around minute ten. This created a huge hullabaloo with the entire staff of our band, which in turn led me to have everyone and their grandmother think I was scum who couldn't be trusted. It was ridiculous and I was forced to stay with my chaperon Mrs. Naylor for the rest of the cruise (2 days worth I think). Mr. Moorfield tried to single me out and make an example of me whenever he could, and laughed at my face when I asked kindly if I could be relieved of having to fallow around a chaperon since even Mrs. Naylor agreed that I was a good kid who did not need someone looming over my head.
Anyways, I never really told my story of what actually happened. I would usually brush people off when they asked me why I never stayed at "my senior banquet". According to most people apparently, opportunities to be acknowledged for being in band for 4 years and sit in front of everyone for a fancy fancy dinner, is a really really big deal. I, however, did not give a shit whatsoever. In having those feelings, I would tell people that I just didn't care about the dinner so I didn't show up. That's not the 100% true story. Of course it's part of the true story, but I would guesstimate about 35% of the story.
I plan to just write what happened so I am no longer known infamously as some screw up from band. Then you bandies who were there who read this won't assume anything about me anymore. It would probably be even cooler if someone printed this out and then posted it in front of the band room at Foothill. I'm staying up late on this night (gotta wake up in 5 hours to help set up a Ultimate Frisbee tournament at Stanford)) not only because I want people to know that what I did wasn't as crazy as some people must think, but also because my sister Emily last year in middle school was confronted by a sibling of a band student on the trip who said, "Your brother is an idiot". That pisses me off, and I don't want people thinking that Emily is a trouble maker like me, when she isn't. It wouldn't be fair for people to have those preconceptions of her when she is just a freshmen in pit.
Here is the story as much as I remember it. I don't think what happened should have been as big of a deal as it was made into. I also don't regret what I did at all. It was completely worth it, and I would even do it again even if it meant having to go through the hell of dealing with all the retarded chaperons again.
Forty-Five minutes or so before the Senior Banquet was supposed to happen, Max Mensigner and I were hanging out. We had promised each other before the trip happened that once we were on the ship, we just HAD to run the entire perimeter of the ship. I'm pretty sure it was the one thing that I had true excitement and anticipation for. Well we did it. And it fucking rocked. I'm telling you right now that I metaphorically phelt (sp) like I was on top of the world. Max and I ran with our hands in the air slobbering like we were zombies will be something I will always remember because I felt like nothing could hurt me or get in my way. I was laughing hysterically along with Max over our sillyness. Hopefully he will never loose his sillyness because it makes him shine like gold. After finishing our run at the back of the boat while sweating, we realized neither of us had watches and that it was probably time to go back to our rooms and change into our suits for the senior banquet. Thinking back on it, I realize that going from being a complete carefree child to a conforming-suit wearing-banquet attending adult was probably just an accident waiting to happen.
When I got to the room, I believe that my roommate Kirk Naylor had already changed and gone down to the room on the boat where we were supposed to be at. I still had no clue what time it was and when I was actually supposed to be down stairs. Whatever, it took me probably 2 minutes to put on my suit since it was the third time I was to wear it in the past two days. After I dress fancy, I look at myself in the mirror wearing a suit, and let me tell you, I look damn smashing. After trying on my pink FHS ultimate hat to see if that looked good enough to go downstairs in didn't work out, I rushed downstairs to the banquet room. (Sidenote: the pink hat did looking amazing with a black suit, I just didn't think I had the balls to pull it off). Luckily I was there with time to spare. Everyone was mingling while wearing fancy dresses or clean suits. No one had really taken seats so I realized I had alot of time before it actually started. As I looked around I realized this was not the place I wanted to be. People where taking pictures of each other all dressed up or talking about something that seemed insignificant, that I really didn't give a shit about because I had just felt on top of the world 10 minutes earlier. I'm sure that I would of had fun talking with my friends like Dan, Kirk, Greg, Max, Tony, or Jose, but I just didn't feeling like talking. Usually when I don't want to be somewhere and I don't feel like talking to anyone there, I know one friend who usually will feel the same about the environment. So I met up with Kurt Pretzel and asked him if he wanted to go outside. We went right out the first door leading outside and then sat directly on the lounge chairs next to the door.
It was pretty sweet. We were both dressed in long sleeves and pants (from the suits) so the wind didn't bother us, and watching the waves was something we just hadn't done yet on the trip for one reason or another. So we sat there admiring the silence and serenity that would have been hard to find inside. After awhile we went back inside and I went to the front toward the senior table where most of my other friends were. People were settling down and obviously most of the seniors were having a good time playing around with each other and excited for the speeches that they were about to give or receive. Now, I've been to three other senior banquets in my years of band, and I have never ever wanted to give or receive a speech. It was partially a fear of fear of speaking into a microphone combined with the fear of standing up doing nothing in front of 200 people, while someone else talked. For the most part, I ended up not caring about it, so obviously I thought the entire banquet would be something I just wouldn't care about. No biggy. Anyways, another thing that I didn't care for was wearing a senior flower. I didn't wear it at the last field show. I've never liked the idea of being praised for being a senior. It just never seemed like an accomplishment to me. Anyone could do it, you just wait your turn... zero specialness. I also disagree with the idea of singling some out in band. I just feel like the ideal of uniformity was ingrained so much into my head from 4 years of marching, that something like recognizing one student over another for being in band longer was hypocritical. I ended up giving my flower to Marci Gross during the last field show because I thought she looked nice in it.
Back to my story, Mrs. Whitbread came up to me and told me that I had to see Mr. Moorfield for him to pin another senior flower to my lapel (suit chest thing). The last thing I wanted was to have one of my top ten despised men pin one of my top ten despised symbols on my body. So I politely said to Mrs. Whitbread, "No thanks I don't want one". I'm pretty sure I was polite about it, because then she politely told me that I needed to have one. I hold nothing against Mrs. Whitbread, I think she's a legit woman and a very laid back chaperon, and I respect her for simply following her orders to get all the seniors to wear their flowers. No hard feelings, I just didn't want to wear a fucking flower. So I walked away when she turned to get Moorf. I met up with Tony Maciel and asked if he wanted to go outside for a bit and watch the waves. I was addicted to the peaceful atmosphere. I needed it. So we went outside and sat on the very fine lounge chairs and of course, only talked about "choice" things. After awhile we decided to go back inside. AHHHH they had started the senior banquet without us. No big deal, we walked in from the back while everyone was paying attention to the seniors giving senior awards. Tony sat at the ho-bag table I think with Jose and Spencer, and since I didn't want to sit at that table, I sat at a back table with Trumpet Frank and his girlfriend.
Here was went through my head: Sitting in the back of the room while everyone was laughing and having a good time listening to the Dan, Kirk, and Greg speaking in the microphone and being on the televisions. I didn't want to walk all the way though everyone to sit at the front table where the seniors were supposed to be because then everyone would stop and look at me. Someone would probably say something stupid on the microphone. Moorf would probably laugh at me and say some stupid joke that would piss the fuck out of me. Everyone would know I was late. Also I wouldn't be wearing a senior flower like everyone else at the senior table in the front. I would do all of that with a stone face because I'm not going to have an outburst in front of 200 people plus parents all dressed up. Luckily for me, I didn't give a shit about the banquet, so I got up and walked out the back door when nobody noticed. I did wave goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Baker on the way out, even though neither of them recall that happening.
Well what did I do. I figured I would go to my room to take a nap and listen to music. I figured I had alot of time on my hands, but I wasn't sure how long. I assumed they were going to eat dinner there and then come back to the room. That way Kirk would get me and everything would be fine and dandy. Funny part about that trip is that I never knew what was gonna happen after everything we did. I never had an itinerary, and even if I did, I didn't have a watch to know what time it was.
I laid on my bed in my suit while listening to my ipod. It was uncomfortable being in a suit on the bed, so I changed into (and I remember clearly because it's still the most comfortable thing I own) double socks, athletic tights, stafford boxer briefs, jeans, 2005 fiesta bowl white t-shirt, and Vans sweatshirt. Now that was waaaay too comfortable.
Something that most people know is that I had ended a 18 month long relationship with my girlfriend Katie Yost just 4 or 5 days before, and while I was laying on the bed, I began thinking about my life. I never felt any remorse for the breakup, I was just thinking about the choices I made in my life. This was the part of my life that I felt like I needed to spread my wings and explore things that would lead me to discover what kind of person I was. I mean, I was going to graduate high school, and I wanted to experience everything. Katie on the other hand was very anchored to the ground and very rarely approved of my choices or desires of which direction I wanted my life to be in before I went to college. One of them was my decision to go to a Ultimate Frisbee Tournament at UC Santa Cruz instead of going to the senior prom. Things like that would infuriate Katie, and it just sucks because after 18 months, Katie would think I was retarded for things that I liked and didn't like. It's actually really surprising that she didn't break up with me first. Cool girl and all, she just wasn't what I could have my last couple of months before college. I also got the impression that she would tell all her family and friends the things that I did in a way that would make them agree with her, so whenever I was around her family and friends, I was immediately the "bad guy" to be looked down upon. So as I laid in bed listening to my ipod and thinking about how inevitably easy it was to make a person sound evil, I started to cry. I wasn't balling, just tears here and there. I had gone from a unanimously popular/easy going/hip/chill guy (freshmen, sophomore, junior years) to someone to sneer at all because I wanted to live my life a certain nonconformist way. Then I began thinking about my Frisbee friends. I enjoyed playing Frisbee so much. I enjoy the people. I think the ethics of the game are perfect, where fouls are called by players, and there is such as thing as a spirit foul. Everyone is friendly at tournament. A good game is based on how even the score is and points are scored back and forth, not on how much you can crush the other team. And I decided that these are the people I want to surround myself with the next four years of college and later on in life. I was sick and tired of band where 90% of the chaperons were D-Bags and the teachers laughed at your face. Then I began thinking about Ami and how much I wished she could have been with me at the moment. Now this was before Ami and I were in a relationship, but I just remember thinking that this girl was everything I wanted to have in my life. She was the amazing women who believed in music, Frisbee, and life. She was a girl who could make me feel smart and funny, and we basically had the same exact wit when it came to life. So I wished that she was there with me. Thats about the time I stopped crying.
Then I had the best idea! I would go up to the top floor of the boat, which was open air, and lay on a lounge chair while soaking up some sun, listening to my ipod, and basking in peaceful serenity that was greatly needed. It was a perfect idea. There were twenty or so-odd lounge chairs that were all open, and I took one and faced it towards the ocean and sat down. It was perfect weather and my body had the perfect temperature. The sun slanted down upon the ocean in a way that I could see a distinct line where reflections from the sun stopped and pure blue ocean began. I listened to Coldplay, Cat Powe (check out the song "Sea of Love")r, Regina Spektor, and Death cab for Cutie (Album: Transatlanticism) . The slow rocking of the cruise ship made me slowly drift asleep. Breathing the fresh ocean air with not a single worry in the world made me feel on top again. It was definitely a special day.
I fell asleep feeling unaware of any other trials that were about to be partaken upon me. When I did wake up though, my lounge chair was the only one not put away yet on the top deck. I guess they take them down at night. Obviously someone had to work around me to do their job. It was very nice of the crew to not wake me up. Not sure exactly how long I was asleep for, but it was probably only 15 minutes or so.
I figure it's time to take a piss and then walk down to find a band mate walking around the ship and ask him where I was supposed to be. For some reason I went to the main lobby and up to the front desk. After standing there at least 20 seconds looking for a friend of mine, a small bald Indian man came up to me and asked if I was Ben Hubbard from room C414 (I find it odd that I remember the room number, but its understandable because it freaked me out so much). I said yes and then stood there while he ran off to find someone. He came back with the main cruise guy who was in charge of the Foothill band. Now I was in alot of shock and didn't really know what was going on, and didn't know why everyone was out of breath. The main cruise guy made me walk with him and he told me that the Foothill Band people reported a missing person to the front desk. Apparently that's a big fucking deal on a boat when only 4 days ago there was a CIA investigation on another cruise in the Caribbean about someone who fell overboard. So standard procedure when a missing person is to give an allotted 15 minutes to find that person, and if that doesn't work, then turn the ship around and start looking in the water. Foothill wasn't aware that was going to happen, and I'm sure they must have flipped when they heard what they had to do. They should not have been that worried though because I guess the Princess Cruise Ship would have billed me instead of Foothill for turning the ship around.
After all Foothill staff had learned that I was found, they all drifted back toward the dinning area to watch Mr. Moorfield yell at me. I don't remember this happening, but my mom told me that someone told her that Moorf was like, "Ben are you ok?" which I replied yes to, in which he replied, "Ok now I'm going to kill you". Lol I guess it's funny and I didn't really know what was going on so I wasn't freaking out at all. Inside my head, I was just following the people who told me to follow them. Mrs. Moorfield did sit down with me and try and tell me how to act when I walked into the dinning area. She said that I scared the fucking bejesuzss out of alot of people (ok didn't ask for that so fuck em'). She also said that I should not smile for the rest of the night because it would piss off people (those who know me well know that I reflexively smile when I think situations are ridiculous).
One large thing I remember is when she looked at me and said, "You know, he's never home". This was going to get emotional, "You know, he pours his heart out to you guys, he loves you guys". There was Mrs. Moorfield talking to me one on one about how she allowed her husband to stay out late and go away on weekends even during retirement because she believed that he was truly helping us. I believed her and I slightly was able to view into a side of Mr. Moorfield that make me a true contributor to society. Either way I don't like how to laughs at people to their face.
Mrs. Moorfield also told me that she hates Senior Banquets. She said someone always gets hurt, and it just isn't worth it. She said that she understands if that was my reason for not wanting to be there. It wasn't the reason, but I was definitely getting some sympathy from a high up source.
Everyone kept saying that they thought my leaving was because I had broken up with Katie, I guess they couldn't fathom me not caring about such a nice banquet. I got a few chaperons that said I practically spat on their hard work putting that banquet together. Fuck em' because I never asked for the banquet anyways
My punishment was to be with my chaperon Mrs. Naylor the rest of the cruise. It's wierd because Kirk Naylor is a cool ass mofo, but his mom is the lamest lady of the land. She would literally do hall checks where she wanted to walk up and down the halls to check and make sure no kids were horsing around in the halls. Did she seriously fucking think that kids would be screwing around in the small halls... of a fucking cruise ship. It was ridiculous what she felt she had to do as a chaperon. I did end up convincing her to do things I wanted to do though like sitting near my friend during concerts or going to the comedy lounge during that one night. But I swear to god that she thought her duty as my chaperon was to be with me for every second, which was stupid because she wasn't with her husband or daughter whom were also on the cruise for a large part of the time she was with me. She was waaaay too shy to tell the Foothill Band Staff that I probably could use a longer lease, so she just stuck with what she thought were her duties. I ended up getting really pissy at her the last day of the cruise, and hardly making eye contact with her when we did things. Whatever.
The most hypocritical part of my punishment was when Brad Sorria went missing. The day or so after I had been "missing", Brad decided not to show up to either breakfast or a morning concert. They checked his room and he wasn't there. All the chaperons (including me) huddled together to decide what to do. Even though I was there, Mrs. Rossman said, "Ok we can't tell the ship that we have a missing person because then they only give us 15 minutes before they turn the ship around". Whoa Whoa Whoa! Hold Up! All of a sudden a person like BRAD goes missing, and they are going to make it less of a deal than when I went missing! Image if Brad had actually fallen over the edge of the ship. I knew this probably wasn't the case becasue I had seen Brad make friends with some older people who weren't in the band. I figured he was in a room or somewhere with the older people getting drunk or smoking weed, but I didn't say anything because I knew he wasn't in any harm. But it was all of a sudden the chaperons jobs to split up, not tell the ship staff, and look for Brad. God forbid he actually did fall over the edge, but no matter the case, I still had to search with Mrs. Naylor and Mrs. Masri (Jean-Luc's mom) for about 45 minutes in the most random locations. I kid you not, there was a time when we were walking down a room hall and Mrs. Naylor stopped to look into a laundry room, and then went further to open the cabinets in HOPES THAT BRAD THAT HIDING IN THERE. Are you fucking serious???? They seriously thought Brad would be hiding in a cubbard away from band chaperons. We looked everywhere for some reason, but never found him. He did turn up somewhere, and I think he was just in another persons room.
So I think the reason what I did was made into such a big deal was because they were given a time limit from the Ship. They didn't know that was the standard procedure of the ship, and if they never told the ship, I would have been done at dinner like nothing happened. They obviously didn't tell the entire staff because I was wide out in the open laying on the lounge chair on the top deck. Somebody had to even work around me to set away the lounge chairs. I also assume that they searched for me in hallways instead of places a person would be (i.e. top deck). Also, those of my friends who went up to me and told me that they knew I was probably on the top deck listening to my Ipod, you can blame Mrs. Moorfield for not letting you search for me. She said to me that she told the staff not to let the kids look for me because she didn't want everyone being hectic.
This was made into too much of a big deal. One that I never asked for. I didn't like the Senior Banquet so I left it. No reasons like girlfriend problems or emotional issues, just pure apathy for the ceremony itself. It's a good thing high school is over because that place was starting to get on my nerves.
In conclusion, I don't think that watching the waves on any other time would have meant as much to me. There was something in the fact that I was my decision to stop and smell the roses. Something in the fact that I was happy and more than satisfied with the choices I was making for myself. This is the part of your life where you need to spread your wings and fly. It's never to late to try to surround yourself with the atmosphere, environment, and people you want to be surrounded with. Even choices to not surround yourself in certain situations have value. Taking charge of your life and not being a pushover is extremely important. Become an active participant in your life, and keep fighting the good fight.
I don't want people thinking that I'm hung up over this. It wasn't that big of a deal, or at least I never thought so. Weirdly though I will still get people asking me, "Why did you do it".
For those who don't know, during the Band Cruise to Canada last year I did not attend the Senior Banquet for my own reasons, and apparently some people thought that I had fallen over the side of the boat into the ocean. That then caused a 15 minute search party that if was not successful in finding me would legally cause the cruise ship to actually turn around and look for me in the water. Luckily I was "located" around minute ten. This created a huge hullabaloo with the entire staff of our band, which in turn led me to have everyone and their grandmother think I was scum who couldn't be trusted. It was ridiculous and I was forced to stay with my chaperon Mrs. Naylor for the rest of the cruise (2 days worth I think). Mr. Moorfield tried to single me out and make an example of me whenever he could, and laughed at my face when I asked kindly if I could be relieved of having to fallow around a chaperon since even Mrs. Naylor agreed that I was a good kid who did not need someone looming over my head.
Anyways, I never really told my story of what actually happened. I would usually brush people off when they asked me why I never stayed at "my senior banquet". According to most people apparently, opportunities to be acknowledged for being in band for 4 years and sit in front of everyone for a fancy fancy dinner, is a really really big deal. I, however, did not give a shit whatsoever. In having those feelings, I would tell people that I just didn't care about the dinner so I didn't show up. That's not the 100% true story. Of course it's part of the true story, but I would guesstimate about 35% of the story.
I plan to just write what happened so I am no longer known infamously as some screw up from band. Then you bandies who were there who read this won't assume anything about me anymore. It would probably be even cooler if someone printed this out and then posted it in front of the band room at Foothill. I'm staying up late on this night (gotta wake up in 5 hours to help set up a Ultimate Frisbee tournament at Stanford)) not only because I want people to know that what I did wasn't as crazy as some people must think, but also because my sister Emily last year in middle school was confronted by a sibling of a band student on the trip who said, "Your brother is an idiot". That pisses me off, and I don't want people thinking that Emily is a trouble maker like me, when she isn't. It wouldn't be fair for people to have those preconceptions of her when she is just a freshmen in pit.
Here is the story as much as I remember it. I don't think what happened should have been as big of a deal as it was made into. I also don't regret what I did at all. It was completely worth it, and I would even do it again even if it meant having to go through the hell of dealing with all the retarded chaperons again.
Forty-Five minutes or so before the Senior Banquet was supposed to happen, Max Mensigner and I were hanging out. We had promised each other before the trip happened that once we were on the ship, we just HAD to run the entire perimeter of the ship. I'm pretty sure it was the one thing that I had true excitement and anticipation for. Well we did it. And it fucking rocked. I'm telling you right now that I metaphorically phelt (sp) like I was on top of the world. Max and I ran with our hands in the air slobbering like we were zombies will be something I will always remember because I felt like nothing could hurt me or get in my way. I was laughing hysterically along with Max over our sillyness. Hopefully he will never loose his sillyness because it makes him shine like gold. After finishing our run at the back of the boat while sweating, we realized neither of us had watches and that it was probably time to go back to our rooms and change into our suits for the senior banquet. Thinking back on it, I realize that going from being a complete carefree child to a conforming-suit wearing-banquet attending adult was probably just an accident waiting to happen.
When I got to the room, I believe that my roommate Kirk Naylor had already changed and gone down to the room on the boat where we were supposed to be at. I still had no clue what time it was and when I was actually supposed to be down stairs. Whatever, it took me probably 2 minutes to put on my suit since it was the third time I was to wear it in the past two days. After I dress fancy, I look at myself in the mirror wearing a suit, and let me tell you, I look damn smashing. After trying on my pink FHS ultimate hat to see if that looked good enough to go downstairs in didn't work out, I rushed downstairs to the banquet room. (Sidenote: the pink hat did looking amazing with a black suit, I just didn't think I had the balls to pull it off). Luckily I was there with time to spare. Everyone was mingling while wearing fancy dresses or clean suits. No one had really taken seats so I realized I had alot of time before it actually started. As I looked around I realized this was not the place I wanted to be. People where taking pictures of each other all dressed up or talking about something that seemed insignificant, that I really didn't give a shit about because I had just felt on top of the world 10 minutes earlier. I'm sure that I would of had fun talking with my friends like Dan, Kirk, Greg, Max, Tony, or Jose, but I just didn't feeling like talking. Usually when I don't want to be somewhere and I don't feel like talking to anyone there, I know one friend who usually will feel the same about the environment. So I met up with Kurt Pretzel and asked him if he wanted to go outside. We went right out the first door leading outside and then sat directly on the lounge chairs next to the door.
It was pretty sweet. We were both dressed in long sleeves and pants (from the suits) so the wind didn't bother us, and watching the waves was something we just hadn't done yet on the trip for one reason or another. So we sat there admiring the silence and serenity that would have been hard to find inside. After awhile we went back inside and I went to the front toward the senior table where most of my other friends were. People were settling down and obviously most of the seniors were having a good time playing around with each other and excited for the speeches that they were about to give or receive. Now, I've been to three other senior banquets in my years of band, and I have never ever wanted to give or receive a speech. It was partially a fear of fear of speaking into a microphone combined with the fear of standing up doing nothing in front of 200 people, while someone else talked. For the most part, I ended up not caring about it, so obviously I thought the entire banquet would be something I just wouldn't care about. No biggy. Anyways, another thing that I didn't care for was wearing a senior flower. I didn't wear it at the last field show. I've never liked the idea of being praised for being a senior. It just never seemed like an accomplishment to me. Anyone could do it, you just wait your turn... zero specialness. I also disagree with the idea of singling some out in band. I just feel like the ideal of uniformity was ingrained so much into my head from 4 years of marching, that something like recognizing one student over another for being in band longer was hypocritical. I ended up giving my flower to Marci Gross during the last field show because I thought she looked nice in it.
Back to my story, Mrs. Whitbread came up to me and told me that I had to see Mr. Moorfield for him to pin another senior flower to my lapel (suit chest thing). The last thing I wanted was to have one of my top ten despised men pin one of my top ten despised symbols on my body. So I politely said to Mrs. Whitbread, "No thanks I don't want one". I'm pretty sure I was polite about it, because then she politely told me that I needed to have one. I hold nothing against Mrs. Whitbread, I think she's a legit woman and a very laid back chaperon, and I respect her for simply following her orders to get all the seniors to wear their flowers. No hard feelings, I just didn't want to wear a fucking flower. So I walked away when she turned to get Moorf. I met up with Tony Maciel and asked if he wanted to go outside for a bit and watch the waves. I was addicted to the peaceful atmosphere. I needed it. So we went outside and sat on the very fine lounge chairs and of course, only talked about "choice" things. After awhile we decided to go back inside. AHHHH they had started the senior banquet without us. No big deal, we walked in from the back while everyone was paying attention to the seniors giving senior awards. Tony sat at the ho-bag table I think with Jose and Spencer, and since I didn't want to sit at that table, I sat at a back table with Trumpet Frank and his girlfriend.
Here was went through my head: Sitting in the back of the room while everyone was laughing and having a good time listening to the Dan, Kirk, and Greg speaking in the microphone and being on the televisions. I didn't want to walk all the way though everyone to sit at the front table where the seniors were supposed to be because then everyone would stop and look at me. Someone would probably say something stupid on the microphone. Moorf would probably laugh at me and say some stupid joke that would piss the fuck out of me. Everyone would know I was late. Also I wouldn't be wearing a senior flower like everyone else at the senior table in the front. I would do all of that with a stone face because I'm not going to have an outburst in front of 200 people plus parents all dressed up. Luckily for me, I didn't give a shit about the banquet, so I got up and walked out the back door when nobody noticed. I did wave goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Baker on the way out, even though neither of them recall that happening.
Well what did I do. I figured I would go to my room to take a nap and listen to music. I figured I had alot of time on my hands, but I wasn't sure how long. I assumed they were going to eat dinner there and then come back to the room. That way Kirk would get me and everything would be fine and dandy. Funny part about that trip is that I never knew what was gonna happen after everything we did. I never had an itinerary, and even if I did, I didn't have a watch to know what time it was.
I laid on my bed in my suit while listening to my ipod. It was uncomfortable being in a suit on the bed, so I changed into (and I remember clearly because it's still the most comfortable thing I own) double socks, athletic tights, stafford boxer briefs, jeans, 2005 fiesta bowl white t-shirt, and Vans sweatshirt. Now that was waaaay too comfortable.
Something that most people know is that I had ended a 18 month long relationship with my girlfriend Katie Yost just 4 or 5 days before, and while I was laying on the bed, I began thinking about my life. I never felt any remorse for the breakup, I was just thinking about the choices I made in my life. This was the part of my life that I felt like I needed to spread my wings and explore things that would lead me to discover what kind of person I was. I mean, I was going to graduate high school, and I wanted to experience everything. Katie on the other hand was very anchored to the ground and very rarely approved of my choices or desires of which direction I wanted my life to be in before I went to college. One of them was my decision to go to a Ultimate Frisbee Tournament at UC Santa Cruz instead of going to the senior prom. Things like that would infuriate Katie, and it just sucks because after 18 months, Katie would think I was retarded for things that I liked and didn't like. It's actually really surprising that she didn't break up with me first. Cool girl and all, she just wasn't what I could have my last couple of months before college. I also got the impression that she would tell all her family and friends the things that I did in a way that would make them agree with her, so whenever I was around her family and friends, I was immediately the "bad guy" to be looked down upon. So as I laid in bed listening to my ipod and thinking about how inevitably easy it was to make a person sound evil, I started to cry. I wasn't balling, just tears here and there. I had gone from a unanimously popular/easy going/hip/chill guy (freshmen, sophomore, junior years) to someone to sneer at all because I wanted to live my life a certain nonconformist way. Then I began thinking about my Frisbee friends. I enjoyed playing Frisbee so much. I enjoy the people. I think the ethics of the game are perfect, where fouls are called by players, and there is such as thing as a spirit foul. Everyone is friendly at tournament. A good game is based on how even the score is and points are scored back and forth, not on how much you can crush the other team. And I decided that these are the people I want to surround myself with the next four years of college and later on in life. I was sick and tired of band where 90% of the chaperons were D-Bags and the teachers laughed at your face. Then I began thinking about Ami and how much I wished she could have been with me at the moment. Now this was before Ami and I were in a relationship, but I just remember thinking that this girl was everything I wanted to have in my life. She was the amazing women who believed in music, Frisbee, and life. She was a girl who could make me feel smart and funny, and we basically had the same exact wit when it came to life. So I wished that she was there with me. Thats about the time I stopped crying.
Then I had the best idea! I would go up to the top floor of the boat, which was open air, and lay on a lounge chair while soaking up some sun, listening to my ipod, and basking in peaceful serenity that was greatly needed. It was a perfect idea. There were twenty or so-odd lounge chairs that were all open, and I took one and faced it towards the ocean and sat down. It was perfect weather and my body had the perfect temperature. The sun slanted down upon the ocean in a way that I could see a distinct line where reflections from the sun stopped and pure blue ocean began. I listened to Coldplay, Cat Powe (check out the song "Sea of Love")r, Regina Spektor, and Death cab for Cutie (Album: Transatlanticism) . The slow rocking of the cruise ship made me slowly drift asleep. Breathing the fresh ocean air with not a single worry in the world made me feel on top again. It was definitely a special day.
I fell asleep feeling unaware of any other trials that were about to be partaken upon me. When I did wake up though, my lounge chair was the only one not put away yet on the top deck. I guess they take them down at night. Obviously someone had to work around me to do their job. It was very nice of the crew to not wake me up. Not sure exactly how long I was asleep for, but it was probably only 15 minutes or so.
I figure it's time to take a piss and then walk down to find a band mate walking around the ship and ask him where I was supposed to be. For some reason I went to the main lobby and up to the front desk. After standing there at least 20 seconds looking for a friend of mine, a small bald Indian man came up to me and asked if I was Ben Hubbard from room C414 (I find it odd that I remember the room number, but its understandable because it freaked me out so much). I said yes and then stood there while he ran off to find someone. He came back with the main cruise guy who was in charge of the Foothill band. Now I was in alot of shock and didn't really know what was going on, and didn't know why everyone was out of breath. The main cruise guy made me walk with him and he told me that the Foothill Band people reported a missing person to the front desk. Apparently that's a big fucking deal on a boat when only 4 days ago there was a CIA investigation on another cruise in the Caribbean about someone who fell overboard. So standard procedure when a missing person is to give an allotted 15 minutes to find that person, and if that doesn't work, then turn the ship around and start looking in the water. Foothill wasn't aware that was going to happen, and I'm sure they must have flipped when they heard what they had to do. They should not have been that worried though because I guess the Princess Cruise Ship would have billed me instead of Foothill for turning the ship around.
After all Foothill staff had learned that I was found, they all drifted back toward the dinning area to watch Mr. Moorfield yell at me. I don't remember this happening, but my mom told me that someone told her that Moorf was like, "Ben are you ok?" which I replied yes to, in which he replied, "Ok now I'm going to kill you". Lol I guess it's funny and I didn't really know what was going on so I wasn't freaking out at all. Inside my head, I was just following the people who told me to follow them. Mrs. Moorfield did sit down with me and try and tell me how to act when I walked into the dinning area. She said that I scared the fucking bejesuzss out of alot of people (ok didn't ask for that so fuck em'). She also said that I should not smile for the rest of the night because it would piss off people (those who know me well know that I reflexively smile when I think situations are ridiculous).
One large thing I remember is when she looked at me and said, "You know, he's never home". This was going to get emotional, "You know, he pours his heart out to you guys, he loves you guys". There was Mrs. Moorfield talking to me one on one about how she allowed her husband to stay out late and go away on weekends even during retirement because she believed that he was truly helping us. I believed her and I slightly was able to view into a side of Mr. Moorfield that make me a true contributor to society. Either way I don't like how to laughs at people to their face.
Mrs. Moorfield also told me that she hates Senior Banquets. She said someone always gets hurt, and it just isn't worth it. She said that she understands if that was my reason for not wanting to be there. It wasn't the reason, but I was definitely getting some sympathy from a high up source.
Everyone kept saying that they thought my leaving was because I had broken up with Katie, I guess they couldn't fathom me not caring about such a nice banquet. I got a few chaperons that said I practically spat on their hard work putting that banquet together. Fuck em' because I never asked for the banquet anyways
My punishment was to be with my chaperon Mrs. Naylor the rest of the cruise. It's wierd because Kirk Naylor is a cool ass mofo, but his mom is the lamest lady of the land. She would literally do hall checks where she wanted to walk up and down the halls to check and make sure no kids were horsing around in the halls. Did she seriously fucking think that kids would be screwing around in the small halls... of a fucking cruise ship. It was ridiculous what she felt she had to do as a chaperon. I did end up convincing her to do things I wanted to do though like sitting near my friend during concerts or going to the comedy lounge during that one night. But I swear to god that she thought her duty as my chaperon was to be with me for every second, which was stupid because she wasn't with her husband or daughter whom were also on the cruise for a large part of the time she was with me. She was waaaay too shy to tell the Foothill Band Staff that I probably could use a longer lease, so she just stuck with what she thought were her duties. I ended up getting really pissy at her the last day of the cruise, and hardly making eye contact with her when we did things. Whatever.
The most hypocritical part of my punishment was when Brad Sorria went missing. The day or so after I had been "missing", Brad decided not to show up to either breakfast or a morning concert. They checked his room and he wasn't there. All the chaperons (including me) huddled together to decide what to do. Even though I was there, Mrs. Rossman said, "Ok we can't tell the ship that we have a missing person because then they only give us 15 minutes before they turn the ship around". Whoa Whoa Whoa! Hold Up! All of a sudden a person like BRAD goes missing, and they are going to make it less of a deal than when I went missing! Image if Brad had actually fallen over the edge of the ship. I knew this probably wasn't the case becasue I had seen Brad make friends with some older people who weren't in the band. I figured he was in a room or somewhere with the older people getting drunk or smoking weed, but I didn't say anything because I knew he wasn't in any harm. But it was all of a sudden the chaperons jobs to split up, not tell the ship staff, and look for Brad. God forbid he actually did fall over the edge, but no matter the case, I still had to search with Mrs. Naylor and Mrs. Masri (Jean-Luc's mom) for about 45 minutes in the most random locations. I kid you not, there was a time when we were walking down a room hall and Mrs. Naylor stopped to look into a laundry room, and then went further to open the cabinets in HOPES THAT BRAD THAT HIDING IN THERE. Are you fucking serious???? They seriously thought Brad would be hiding in a cubbard away from band chaperons. We looked everywhere for some reason, but never found him. He did turn up somewhere, and I think he was just in another persons room.
So I think the reason what I did was made into such a big deal was because they were given a time limit from the Ship. They didn't know that was the standard procedure of the ship, and if they never told the ship, I would have been done at dinner like nothing happened. They obviously didn't tell the entire staff because I was wide out in the open laying on the lounge chair on the top deck. Somebody had to even work around me to set away the lounge chairs. I also assume that they searched for me in hallways instead of places a person would be (i.e. top deck). Also, those of my friends who went up to me and told me that they knew I was probably on the top deck listening to my Ipod, you can blame Mrs. Moorfield for not letting you search for me. She said to me that she told the staff not to let the kids look for me because she didn't want everyone being hectic.
This was made into too much of a big deal. One that I never asked for. I didn't like the Senior Banquet so I left it. No reasons like girlfriend problems or emotional issues, just pure apathy for the ceremony itself. It's a good thing high school is over because that place was starting to get on my nerves.
In conclusion, I don't think that watching the waves on any other time would have meant as much to me. There was something in the fact that I was my decision to stop and smell the roses. Something in the fact that I was happy and more than satisfied with the choices I was making for myself. This is the part of your life where you need to spread your wings and fly. It's never to late to try to surround yourself with the atmosphere, environment, and people you want to be surrounded with. Even choices to not surround yourself in certain situations have value. Taking charge of your life and not being a pushover is extremely important. Become an active participant in your life, and keep fighting the good fight.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
New Wind Offense
Just an idea I had in the shower this morning. Instead of the basic 3 handlers and 4 cutters when it's windy, I think there should be an offense with 4 handlers and 3 cutters. It's easier to give short passes and dumps, which is pretty safe during windy times. And 4 cutters usually end up crowding the short throws in front of the person with the disc. Imagine if the offense was made up almost entirely of upline dump throws or dishes. I don't think it would get crowded if the dumps were moving around, and more open space is exactly what a down field cutter needs in the wind. Think about it Taylor.
Nothing Else to Do
Yesterday was a really busy day. I don't remember what time it was exactly when I woke up, but not too soon after I did wake up, Stephen asked me if I wanted to come to the gym with Jerry. We don't own gym memberships, but I figured it wouldn't be that hard to get into a gym for a one time gig with no loss of money. When we got the 24 hour fitness (which Jerry is a member to), Stephen handed a little couple that he got at a street fair during the beginning of the summer to the front desk. It said something like, "Ask Brian about a free two week trial at 24 hour fitness!". Stephen and I thought that they would just let us in for free, but instead the front desk guy said, "Oh your in luck, Brian is here today." Fuck. Seriously Fuck. They made us fill out a form with all our information (I didn't think about it until later in the day that it must have looked weird that Stephen Hubbard lived at 3218 Cheryl Cir, while Ben Hubbard lived at 3975 Olive Dr). Brain ended up giving us a 45 minute tour of the gym. He thought we just joking when we asked if we could get some free time in the tanning machine, but guess what Brian, we were not joking. Anyways we ended up giving him the line, "We were actually gonna try out alot of other gyms before we committed to a single gym". I'm sure he has heard that line a million times, but just in case we were legit, he scheduled an appointment with us next Tuesday at 11:30.... What!?!?! is he crazy? Just see through our bullshit and realize we just want to workout for one time. Seriously, yeesh. Lol but it's his job to try and get as many membership sign ups, so I do think he did do a good job trying; too bad Stephen and I were lost causes.
Brian: "So do you guys play any sports"
Stephen: "Yea, we play Ultimate Frisbee"
Brian: "Huh what?"
Stephen: "Ultimate Frisbee"
Brian: "Ohhhhh yea, you can definitely get a good workout here"
I fucking don't like dumbells. If there are machines in one area while dumbells in another, I'll usually stay completely in the machine section. I like how the machines will work single muscles, or an area on the body. Most of them I can do sitting down and concentrating on that single area of my body. They even have little signs on them describing what muscles are being worked on that machine. Dumbells just work your upperbody, and even then I'm never sure if I'm doing the exercise exactly right to maximize muscle gain and minimize strain. I can still get a full body workout if I have it in my head that I have certain machines that I need to do. I also love doing the eliptical machine and stair master. The eliptical machine makes me feel like I'm experiencing how robots walk/run. I'm almost 100% certain that eliptical machines will be the transportation of the future. Then the stair master makes me feel so badass. It will get my sweating so much that sweat drips down my face, then falls onto the steps. Then what do I do, I keep walking right over it. The stair master makes me feel like I'm able to concur pain while still moving up and up. It's also great because it puts me up really high up so I get a great view of everyone (ladies) else working out cardiovascuclarly.
We got home around 1 and I took a shower. Stephen and Jerry made some lunch for themselves, and when I got out of the shower I made myself a tuna fish sandwich and a bagel. Tuna fish is like a drug to me. I couldn't image not living in a house without tuna fish. It so quick, easy, and practical. It goes into sandwiches most of the time which makes it delicious, and it's got protein which makes me happy. The bagel and cream cheese was ok too. I ate both of those while watching another "It's always sunny in philedelphia" on Hulu.
At 2:30 I drove out to 7-11 to pick up some protein bars and a gaterade. Then drove to Sunol where the Foothill Ultimate Club was going to run up the ridge. I had run up the ridge with Karan and Eric Ling three times during the summer, and it would pretty fun, but it was quite a physical challange so I wanted to see how everyone would hold up. They ended up only going halfway up the mountain than what I've usually done, but that was ok and everyone did great. Eric and Thoe were always at the front of the pack with me trailing behind (I was cramping from my lunch). There was this one time where I pissed my name onto the trial right before everyone was about to run over it. Some people got angry at me, but they could stay mad at me because c'mon, writing your name in pee is pretty cool.
Got home around 5 from doing that, and I was really tired. But I had LPC practice tonight with Jake, and I couldn't give up now. I did go to the store instead of showing up to do drills, so when I got to practice around 7:10, they were just about to start playing. Perfect. It was rediculously windy and cold at the field, so my throws were complete shit. I ended up throwing more turnovers that completed passes. I felt kinda bad, but I still wanted to keep playing. We played 4 different games hardcapped at five. The dark team (my team) lost all of them. This meant that after each game we had to do sprints.
This surprised the shit out of me. I thought that I was exhausted and gonna be one of the last people crossing the line. But I constantly was the second person to cross the line (to taylor lahey) on long sprints, or the first person to cross the line on short suicides. Are you seriously, did I seriously just become the fastest person on the team. Did I somehow increase my speed from all the workouts I've been doing currently. It felt good and I just wanted to keep running. That's exactly what I did and I felt amazing. Last night at practice, I did score a single goal which is odd for me, but I did end up having two good layouts which I'm happy about. The first layout was through Dave (another guy with height) to catch a throw Karan threw to me when he thought I was cutting in when I began cutting deep. The second layout was to try and catch (but miss) a throw from Bob which was to far to my left, but I still layedout from a full sprint to try and get it. Oh, and I also D'd Zip in his endzone while unintentionally giving him kneeing him in the stomach. I jumped without knowing anything about my surroundings, I tip'd it while Zip jumped right into my knee. This made me flip over and slide on the turf about 4 yards while scraping my lower back and hitting my head. I felt so pumped up that I hardly felt it, and Zip was ok afterward too which is good. In the end, I felt amazing about my body from the entire day. I wasn't even tired or exhausted at In-N-Out afterwards.
Moral of the story: exercising your body when you have nothing else to do is alot better than just sitting around the house moping all day. Mise well right?
My goal is to get a heart rate in the 40's sometime this year. That would be legit. I'll document it here with a cell phone pic when I do achive that goal.
Brian: "So do you guys play any sports"
Stephen: "Yea, we play Ultimate Frisbee"
Brian: "Huh what?"
Stephen: "Ultimate Frisbee"
Brian: "Ohhhhh yea, you can definitely get a good workout here"
I fucking don't like dumbells. If there are machines in one area while dumbells in another, I'll usually stay completely in the machine section. I like how the machines will work single muscles, or an area on the body. Most of them I can do sitting down and concentrating on that single area of my body. They even have little signs on them describing what muscles are being worked on that machine. Dumbells just work your upperbody, and even then I'm never sure if I'm doing the exercise exactly right to maximize muscle gain and minimize strain. I can still get a full body workout if I have it in my head that I have certain machines that I need to do. I also love doing the eliptical machine and stair master. The eliptical machine makes me feel like I'm experiencing how robots walk/run. I'm almost 100% certain that eliptical machines will be the transportation of the future. Then the stair master makes me feel so badass. It will get my sweating so much that sweat drips down my face, then falls onto the steps. Then what do I do, I keep walking right over it. The stair master makes me feel like I'm able to concur pain while still moving up and up. It's also great because it puts me up really high up so I get a great view of everyone (ladies) else working out cardiovascuclarly.
We got home around 1 and I took a shower. Stephen and Jerry made some lunch for themselves, and when I got out of the shower I made myself a tuna fish sandwich and a bagel. Tuna fish is like a drug to me. I couldn't image not living in a house without tuna fish. It so quick, easy, and practical. It goes into sandwiches most of the time which makes it delicious, and it's got protein which makes me happy. The bagel and cream cheese was ok too. I ate both of those while watching another "It's always sunny in philedelphia" on Hulu.
At 2:30 I drove out to 7-11 to pick up some protein bars and a gaterade. Then drove to Sunol where the Foothill Ultimate Club was going to run up the ridge. I had run up the ridge with Karan and Eric Ling three times during the summer, and it would pretty fun, but it was quite a physical challange so I wanted to see how everyone would hold up. They ended up only going halfway up the mountain than what I've usually done, but that was ok and everyone did great. Eric and Thoe were always at the front of the pack with me trailing behind (I was cramping from my lunch). There was this one time where I pissed my name onto the trial right before everyone was about to run over it. Some people got angry at me, but they could stay mad at me because c'mon, writing your name in pee is pretty cool.
Got home around 5 from doing that, and I was really tired. But I had LPC practice tonight with Jake, and I couldn't give up now. I did go to the store instead of showing up to do drills, so when I got to practice around 7:10, they were just about to start playing. Perfect. It was rediculously windy and cold at the field, so my throws were complete shit. I ended up throwing more turnovers that completed passes. I felt kinda bad, but I still wanted to keep playing. We played 4 different games hardcapped at five. The dark team (my team) lost all of them. This meant that after each game we had to do sprints.
This surprised the shit out of me. I thought that I was exhausted and gonna be one of the last people crossing the line. But I constantly was the second person to cross the line (to taylor lahey) on long sprints, or the first person to cross the line on short suicides. Are you seriously, did I seriously just become the fastest person on the team. Did I somehow increase my speed from all the workouts I've been doing currently. It felt good and I just wanted to keep running. That's exactly what I did and I felt amazing. Last night at practice, I did score a single goal which is odd for me, but I did end up having two good layouts which I'm happy about. The first layout was through Dave (another guy with height) to catch a throw Karan threw to me when he thought I was cutting in when I began cutting deep. The second layout was to try and catch (but miss) a throw from Bob which was to far to my left, but I still layedout from a full sprint to try and get it. Oh, and I also D'd Zip in his endzone while unintentionally giving him kneeing him in the stomach. I jumped without knowing anything about my surroundings, I tip'd it while Zip jumped right into my knee. This made me flip over and slide on the turf about 4 yards while scraping my lower back and hitting my head. I felt so pumped up that I hardly felt it, and Zip was ok afterward too which is good. In the end, I felt amazing about my body from the entire day. I wasn't even tired or exhausted at In-N-Out afterwards.
Moral of the story: exercising your body when you have nothing else to do is alot better than just sitting around the house moping all day. Mise well right?
My goal is to get a heart rate in the 40's sometime this year. That would be legit. I'll document it here with a cell phone pic when I do achive that goal.
Monday, September 15, 2008
College Packing List
Everyone around me keeps telling me that I should start packing. Screw that, it takes like 2 hours to pack whenever I go somewhere else overnight. How hard could packing for college be? I guess it is the time though to be thinking about what I plan on bringing or leaving behind. But there is still no way I'm gonna start packing until 10 P.M. the night before I leave.
Here is my list of things that I plan on bring so far:
- My sleeping bag
- Some shirts/shorts/underwear/socks
- Cleats and Frisbees/Foot Powder
- Maybe bike
- Canned soup/Computer
And that is so far all I have so far. Maybe I'll add on stuff later.
Here is my list of things that I plan on bring so far:
- My sleeping bag
- Some shirts/shorts/underwear/socks
- Cleats and Frisbees/Foot Powder
- Maybe bike
- Canned soup/Computer
And that is so far all I have so far. Maybe I'll add on stuff later.
Purpose of this Blog
I started this blog specifically a couple of days before college so I could become accustomed to writing in it before I got carried away with a new life to create a blog. The purpose of this blog, beyond attempting to be good reading material for interested colleagues, is simply to keep track of everything I've done and accomplished.
Recently I've been living with the mentality that I should experiment with almost everything (besides drugs) and try to experience everything I want to experience. It's been important to live completely in the moment, and not worry about remembering things (not in a hang-over way). The rational for this mentality was not reckless abandon, but cynicism on the brain's ability to remember things. Most of you have lived 18+ years so far in life. That's easily more than 6500 days spent on earth. 3% of that becomes around 200 days. Now, I hate using numbers to make points because it makes me look like a douche bag, but the number 200 is a BIG number. Living a normal life, people can only probably recall at most 20-30 days without thinking really hard about their life. Then after thinking really hard, chatting with friends, and looking at pictures, they might get around to remembering 200 days. It feels sick, but you'll only remember 3% of what you've done in life. Sadly that's my current view, but I figure that college will open up my world of possibilities and adventures... so I want to document them. I'll keep a log of kick-ass things that when looked back upon will make me say, "Shit I am so super kick-ass!"
My ground rules/objectives
1. Write about Ultimate Frisbee/ Athleticism
2. Write about people only in positive light
3. Write about college life
4. Propose brilliant ideas that would help humanity
5. Propose brilliant ideas that would give someone something to think about, but not necessarily help humanity that much
6. Become famous
Recently I've been living with the mentality that I should experiment with almost everything (besides drugs) and try to experience everything I want to experience. It's been important to live completely in the moment, and not worry about remembering things (not in a hang-over way). The rational for this mentality was not reckless abandon, but cynicism on the brain's ability to remember things. Most of you have lived 18+ years so far in life. That's easily more than 6500 days spent on earth. 3% of that becomes around 200 days. Now, I hate using numbers to make points because it makes me look like a douche bag, but the number 200 is a BIG number. Living a normal life, people can only probably recall at most 20-30 days without thinking really hard about their life. Then after thinking really hard, chatting with friends, and looking at pictures, they might get around to remembering 200 days. It feels sick, but you'll only remember 3% of what you've done in life. Sadly that's my current view, but I figure that college will open up my world of possibilities and adventures... so I want to document them. I'll keep a log of kick-ass things that when looked back upon will make me say, "Shit I am so super kick-ass!"
My ground rules/objectives
1. Write about Ultimate Frisbee/ Athleticism
2. Write about people only in positive light
3. Write about college life
4. Propose brilliant ideas that would help humanity
5. Propose brilliant ideas that would give someone something to think about, but not necessarily help humanity that much
6. Become famous
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