hey there

Since a while now, I've been reading nothing but Agatha Christie and assorted non-fiction works, and strangely enough, it's been quite fun. My current favorites in the two genres are probably What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! and The Tipping Point. Charles, I did read Freakonomics, and thought that it was as enlightening as you said it would be. You should check out The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell as well. It's about epidemics and how little things can change the face of the world. I really liked this one line in the introduction, not quoted verbatim -- "like the proverbial hummingbird whose flutter in one continent causes a hurricane in an another." Aaaah, for some reason, that image is SO inspiring.

And now for a short summary of my life in the past few weeks:

Prom was amazing. I'd bought two dresses from different boutiques as June 9 grew closer, but finally decided that I wanted to make my own dress. So I took a gold-colored Indian skirt that I had, removed the excess frills and embroidery strips that gave it the ethnic feel, and lengthened the bottom so that it would reach down to my ankles. Then I began my marathon shopping quest to find a pretty top to go with it, and after a few DAYS, I found the perfect gold colored blouse at Macy's. But the thing had these translucent sleeves which I removed, and I also stitched in lace at the bottom to attain the desired length... Are you still awake? hahhaa, I just wanted to say that the experience of actually putting together a dress of my own invention trumped the night itself. It's a lot fun when you're being creative.
For after-prom, we went to this slightly shady, grimy nightclub called Avalon in Manhattan. Honestly, this was an experience I will never forget. I've been clubbing before, but never in a place like this. The whole atmostphere was charged, and the lights were dizzying, the crowds pressed against your body, and random guys would try to grind against you. It was fun dancing in a group with my friends - I would never never do this on my own. Around 2 though, this one random Indian 20ish freak started following me around the dance floor. Seriously, it was sooo scary. And it wasn't even easy to get away from him considering that the floor was so packed you could at most, dance in place. At one point, he tried to turn me around and kiss me, but I elbowed him in the chest and my friends, who had witnessed this, sort of punched and kicked him away. In retrospect, that was amusing. All in all, a very memorable night.

By the way, did I tell you guys that I'm a real estate agent now? For the last month of school, seniors have the option of not going to class and instead, participating in an educational internship. So I decided to venture into real estate. I completed the 45 hour course at an institute in Manhattan, and passed their final exam. Now as soon as I turn 18 in November, I'll take the state test, and actually obtain a realtor's license. It'll be so cool. Anyway, seeing as I'm trying to gather a clientele, if any of you need to sell or buy property in New York or later, Georgia, go through me, okay? ok.

Graduation was amazing too. The speakers were funny, the teacher-elect speech (my favorite English teacher) talked a lot about Uncle Rico of Napolean Dynamite - that was nice. About how Uncle Rico has this obsession with football because he always believed that if his coach had let him play 4th quarter of the final game, his whole life would have been different. About how Rico purchases a time machine online and how that injures him in a delicate area. About how we all have our own time machines already in the understanding that many years from now we will want to have lived each moment fully, and in this understanding itself, we can come back to that time - now. Am I just rambling? Probably. But graduation was poignant and I even teared up a bit. High school was great. It taught me soo much, not just subject-wise, but about people and their dynamics. Though I'm sure college will surpass any expectations that I may have.

Stay merry,
Sanjukta

TASP nostalgia . . . and World Cup!

For me, Sunday was the big day, not only the anniversary of my arrival in TASP but my sister's first birthday. Our family tradition on birthdays is to reminisce about the day the birthday person was born, so we were talking about my departure for TASP - it's strange to think that as long as our family tradition continues, we will discuss TASP every June 25. I think it suggests an auspicious bond between my baby sister and the Telluride Association . . . my Callipygian is packed in a box somewhere, bound, I believe, for Grandma's garage in Fremont, California, so I can't pull it out right now, but I've looked at it several times over the past few months. I stuck a few TASP mementoes inside its cover: my boarding passes for flights to (or maybe from) Michigan, my UMich summer ID, the newspaper article featuring our own Matt Slayton, and *sniff* a bubble tea card with two stamps. Maybe I'll have to go listen to our 4th of July mix or something . . .

Visas have not been forthcoming (bureacracy, grrr), so I am still in Cairo with ample, often unstructured time on my hands. The World Cup has stepped in to fill this void, although erratic television access has added some drama to the experience. For a while, the TV in the lobby of our hostel was picking up a Swiss sports channel, so I was able to watch the Dutch lose to Portugal 1-0, with 2o yellow cards and 4 red ones, complete with commentary in German. Certainly an exciting game, although perhaps for the wrong reasons . . . anyway, sometime in the neighborhood of yesterday morning the Swiss channel enacted some kind of security code (perhaps in spite over Switzerland's loss to the Ukraine?) that kept our hostel TV from picking it up and kept me from watching the Brazil-Ghana game *pouts*. In order to see the France-Spain game (very exciting 3-1 French victory! Vive le Tricouleur!) last night, I had to venture to the nearby KFC (it seems to be popular in Egypt), where the game was playing on 2 big-screen TVs. Such inconveniences aside, I'm glad to be somewhere where people at large care about the World Cup - I've been able to watch games and discuss the tournament with staff and fellow residents here at the hostel, people with whom I might otherwise share little common ground. It also adds some excitement to the experience - two tables over from me at KFC, two French guys, apparently also sans television, were wincing and loudly sucking in their breath at every close call. Looking forward to the quarter-finals this weekend . . . still haven't seen Brazil play, but they seem pretty golden. England should be worth watching, too, though.

Groetjes,
Sam

Today's our one year anniversary!

And I'm back in Vienna. Will try to post something subtantial about my holidays sometime later, including photos of me with TASP t-shirt on the Great Wall (it turns out I did pack it after all).

Btw, I think Sophie's birthday was on the 12th of June, so Soph if you still read this blog, here's a very belated Happy Birthday to you.

Jason

And now a message from our sponsors, the beetles:

I'm just writing to again apologize for not having read or contributed to the blog for a while. I've been working an average of ten hour days the last two weeks so I tend to come home, get dinner and fall asleep. I'm trying to accrue hours to make up for the fact that I wont be in for the next three weeks. The other thing that that means is that I might not be able to hear from you for a while because I am going to be essentially off-grid. While there is a computer lab where I am going they emphasize the policy of only using it as necessary. I'm getting vibes that they might order trained wolverines to attack me if I pursue such frivolities as blogging.

I'm sorry if what follows makes absolutely no sense. You kind of have to be an entomologist to get all of them

Top 10 signs you have been working with beetles too long

10. You refer to them by abbreviated latin names
9. You refer to killing bugs as a "dendroctonus suppresion study"
8. You think nothing of the fact that the chemical Verbonone looks exactly like the slices of American cheese you take in your lunch
7. You think nothing of the fact that the insecticide you use looks exactly like banana laffy taffy
6. You have customized your hard hat
5. You get excited over dendroctonus valens
4. You've stacked more petri dishes than you have poker chips
3. You release tagged beetles with the words "fly well!"
2. You refer to said tagged beetles as "the children"
1. YOU FIND BEETLE DUST IN YOUR VIOLIN CASE

Until I can write to you again

owf veedurzayne
yep, pretty sure thats not it Herbage

miss you all

-bern

World Cup Fever

So, oddly enough, I haven't left yet. I'm actually about to scram in 15 minutes. But...

I have been watching the games attentively. Give a hand for Germany? Anyone? They are kicking some good ol' arsch out there. But I must say, them Brazilians! I can just tell, their holding everything in for the games that call upon the most passion, the most intensity. So far, they haven't been playing too well. But when Japan gave them scored on them, making it 1 - 0 for the Japanese, the Brazilians really knew how to start playing. A major comeback, but of course, expected. Teams to watch this year: Ghana, Argentina, and Ecuador. With the way things have been going for them, I'd say World Cup Fever may thwart any opponent, even the Brazilians, from the bracket. Although I agree with Charles that Brazil may take the cup, the whole essence of the World Cup is that anything can happen. Davids have beat Goliaths multiple times, its almost cliche that a huge upset will happen every tournament.

But otherwise, I don't know how frequently I'll be able to Blog in Europe, guys. But if I find an internet cafe anywhere, you can be sure I'll give you all an update. At first, I'll be in Germany with the family for a one week, and then I'll be alone with Andrea for two. Kinda scary, now that it's finally happening, but it'll be all good. Plus, I may be able to visit this Telluridean guy (Rid says he was a factotum) who's staying in Stuttgart. I got his email and all, and maybe, just maybe, the blue and yellow smoke on the horizon signals a blind Telluride reunion (does that even work? I mean, blue and yellow aren't everyone's colors in Telluride Association. There should be a flag! Crikey!)

So, I hope all goes well. I'm bringing Small's 'Musicking' with me for a re-read, and maybe I'll be able to respond to the intense transitive verbicking discussions of Bern and Sam. Who knows, but all in all, I'll talk to you guys later. (Sorry I haven't been posting much recently, by the way.)

Aufwiedersehn (I'm prety sure that's not how you spell it, someone correct it for me)

Henrik

On football

I'm ruther surprised to peruse this fine blog and see no mention of the ongoing World Cup anywhere. I understand that people are busy, and Henrik is actually off in Germany watching the games (Where are our daily updates, man?), but what's up with that? The US felt the throes of death today against Ghana, and that hopefully ends the horrendous jingoistic hype that faced the unknowing viewing public (namely me) from the boys and girls at ESPN. Honestly, not every movement of the ball can be compared to a US game, not every foreign player has to have a US counterpart and I don't really care about the last time a team went up 3-2 in the second half in a even-numbered year while wearing white jerseys. It was so bad sometimes I switched to spanish-language-soap-opera-channel Univision, which was more comprehensible even if I only understood the accented Spanish a paltry handful of words at a time. Now how do I pirate the BBC feed?
Brazil ran circles around Japan today in a wonderfully entertaining match, and it's so hard not to love them. They play a beautiful game, and it's all speed and feeling and a untouchable finesse on the ball. There's a reason they win the Cup year after year, and I'll have to tip them for the championship again. Can you tell I'll stay at home to watch the Brazil games?
Which leaves me wondering, how are our foreign-situated TASPers doing? I imagine Egypt must be at least watching the games, if not shutting down for days at a time, and France must be feeling the effects of a national team facing imminent elimination. Right?
So, listeners, any teams you just have a feeling about? Anybody to look out for? And dammit Henrik, tell us what you're up to!

I leave you with a bit of magic

Salaam alaykum

Hey there,

After a whirlwind week of packing up and moving out, marked by such stimulating activities as defrosting the freezer, selling bikes, and wrapping a myriad of objects in bubble-wrap (the moving company delivered an industrial-size roll with our boxes), I am relaxing, and in Egypt, no less. My mom, my siblings, and I have another week to wait until we get visas for our final destination, so we're staying in Cairo. The taxi trip into the city was rather hair-raising, with 8 people, 6 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 2 violins, 1 cello, 1 bass guitar, 1 briefcase, 1 portable crib, and 1 collapsible stroller crammed into a five-seat Fiat sedan (it had a luggage rack on the roof, thank goodness), but all the more exotic for it. Cairo is a lively place, especially traffic-wise (think screeching tires, car horns, and liberal interpretations of the lane), and being a pedestrian is an adventure. Also, musicking! We saw a music/dance performance by a group of Sufi mystics - sometimes they're called whirling dervishes. The main part of the performance involved a dancer in brightly-colored clothes spinning continuously in a circle at varying speed for about 45 minutes without getting dizzy(!), all the time supported by a backing band (mostly dressed in long white robes and turban-like headdresses) with several pipers, a musician with a violin-like instrument, and a handful of percussionists (reminded me of Emma's TASP project). Before the dancer came out, though, the musicians would come forward one by one and play little solo-like riffs, often in a kind of call-and-response system with the rest of the band. The percussion in particular was fantastic -the best part was when a tall gentleman with a conga-like drum and an older gentlemen with a pair of castanets got into a sort of musical conversation. Electrifying stuff. Hmm . . . we found out that the el-Abd bakery down the street serves pretty amazing mango ice cream (maybe even as good as the Washtenaw Dairy - maybe). And we spotted a toy store that sells Barbie dolls with hijab veils. Only in Egypt. : )

I'll try and get some good photos with me and my TASP shirt.

Groetjes,
Sam

One raccoon face

checking in.

I went backpacking this weekend and got majorly sunburned from spending eight hours tramping across snowfields. (It’s still early season so snow tends to linger up high) What was cool though was that I put first tracks of the season up China Cap Mountain. I left a note on top for my coworker the gist of which was “neener neener”. Another thing that was cool is that I forgot and left my ipod in my pocket from the drive up, so I found myself camping at 8000 ft with 20 pounds of gear and 3 gigabytes of musicking potential. I realize that sounds terribly artificial (I mean, you go backpacking to escape), but it actually wasn’t. I was surprised how much a pristine wilderness can be—not exactly improved, but changed not for the worse—by a soundtrack.

I’m sorry I haven’t been on the blog recently. It’s been mainly due to two factors—I started work, and I started a journal. Work actually rocks this year. I worked in for the same people (USFS) two years ago, and it kind of sucked because my job consisted of counting all day. I counted trees, spray paint dots and dead beetles 8 hours a day. Now, however, I am a wee bit higher on the totem pole which means I am kind of the crew leader for doing field work and I get to do a lot of hiking in the woods and drive my own government rig. The best part is that our study involves trapping beetles, tagging them w/ fluorescent dust and then releasing and recapturing them. What’s sweet about this is that I managed to score the job of assessing the recaptured beetles to see if they were tagged or not. This means that I get to sit in a dark lab with BLACK LIGHTS on and look at glowing beetles through a microscope while I blare techno through my earphones. Hey, simple pleasures.

As for the journal, a friend gave me a really nice black notebook for a grad gift, so I figured I would start keeping a diary/thought sheet. It took a little while to get in the habit of it as I am not particularly introspective, but it is really helpful in getting stuff out. Also it means that you all won’t have to read the page and a half of delirious whining that I jokingly term a “post”. At least not the really bad stuff.

A fair warning: those with tenderer sensibilities might wish to skip the following paragraph.

So I go to a Fred Meyer the other day (okay, it wasn’t really the other day. More like 2-3 weeks ago. Irrelevant anyhow) and my mom and I split up ‘cause I have to pick up boxers and she had to go get a shirt or something. We arrange to meet in 5 minutes in front of the handicapped checkout sign. I motor back to the men’s section, find my boxers and return to the sign. Of course my mom is nowhere to be seen so I stand there smiling at the passers by and try to ignore how ridiculous I look standing in front of a (closed) handicapped checkout line in my LHS tennis sweatshirt that is four sizes too big clutching three pairs of plaid boxers. Presently I become aware of the fact that another man is standing about 15 feet to my left. I discreetly glance over and notice that he is examining a small box from one of the main aisles. I glance again and wonder what it is he is so engrossed in. Then it hits me. This man has been standing there for the past 8 minutes comparing boxes of CONDOMS. Don’t get me wrong, I am no prude. I realize that condoms are a very important part of life for a significant segment of our population. I do however believe that when I reach that stage in life where I feel the need to join that segment, I will at least be discreet about it. Not this guy. He must have examined every box on that wall. Magnum, ridged, lubricated, all-natural, flavored, desensitizing; all of them. At one point he has three boxes down and he is comparing the specs on them. He could have been reading the nutrition facts on a can of chef boyardee. The worst part was when he noticed me standing there, turned around, smiled and gestured as if to say “gosh, aint it a great day to pick out condoms? Want to join me?” Sorry but no thanks. I already know more than I wanted to about your sex life. I hesitate to speculate what you would think of mine.
Guys; when you pick out condoms, please, for all humanity’s sake, don’t use it as an opportunity to advertise to the world your penile status.

Anyway, I had better go to bed—for me work starts at 6:00 sharp.

miss you all

-bern

Gradumawhating

Most flipping sweet TASPers:

So I was perusing the photobucket. I noticed that the Wu man has blue hair, which was confusing. Also, the captions are kind of hilarious and random. But most importantly, I was made nostalgic by seeing Adam waving a bottle of Vernor's. I had forgotten about this sweet nector of the earth. We cannot find it on the east coast, unlike Looza, which is available at Whole Paycheck. I longed for the sharp, nose-tingly goodness of Vernor's. It called to me.

Okay, now to current events...
All the underclassmen left campus on Thursday afternoon, and prom was on Thursday night. We loaded ourselves onto coach buses and went down to Boston for a flipping sweet prom. There was mad musicking, pretty dresses, delicious food (we took pictures) and wardrobe malfunctions. All I'm going to say is that one friend had to be assisted with double-sided boob tape. Last night was the senior carnival, which had an inflatable obstacle course, caricatures, bullriding, sumo, professional massages and GIANT TWISTER (think 40 people in on a game). There are some classy pictures of me bent over random people. One of the girls on the polo team and I somehow kept getting tangled and she would knock my leg with her face in an attempt to knock me over and eliminate me. We're a little competitive, but in a fun way. I did all the activities, even the sumo, which had suits that smelled just a lot like butt.

We'd planned to go bridgejumping today, but it's cold and rainy. My BFFs (I'm secretly in middle school) and I went to breakfast instead. We were sitting there, and it occured to me that in 24 hours we would be alums. I waited for such a long time for prom and graduation and my driver's license, and it's all happening. Living the things you've fantasized about is sort of surreal and exciting. The campus is empty, I've taken my walk around the school to really look at it the way I didn't get a chance to when I was working here. I opened my time capsule from 9th grade and read the letter I wrote to myself. I listened to the CDs which had recorded messages from friends, my favorite songs. Essentially, my 9th grade self thinks I'm a badass, but I'd be better if I had a hot boyfriend.

On the awesome side, I wrote a list of my favorite books w/ a title, and the library made it into a bookmark. Several of my friends got theirs, too, and it's really awesome.

Booty, booty, booty, booty rockin' everywhere...

Top 5:
1. Ms. New Booty - Bubba Sparxxx
2. Such Great Heights - Postal Service
3. I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
4. Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunny Men
5. Thirsty - Zox

-Meredith, gradumawhating extraordinaire

summer sadness.

obviously, this summer will be nothing like last summer. Last summer we were all together, and this summer (as the slow down in blogging indicates) we will probably be further apart than ever. Besides the hope I still have for a reunion, I think we should try to remedy this by taking pictures in our TASP t-shirts wherever we go this summer. The third photobucket still has plenty of room! I hope everyone has just as great a summer this year as last, even if we can't enjoy it at 1322 Hill.

~Emma

hokay, I heard it on npr.

diet coke and mentos. Mmmm. I don't know if you guys have ever tried this in real life, but regardless you have to watch the video. It's a replica of the Belagio fountains in Las Vegas and quite a musicking experience to boot.

*__*

Not a proper post

Rather, a quick update: check http://www.tellurideassociation.org/ ! We get our comeuppance after all! Our faces are the faces of Telluride for the next year at least :)

Musicking Quilts

So my sister and I spent two entire days this week finishing two massive quilt fronts made out of old T-shirts for a family-history/church-related service project. The T-shirts all have some significance in my family's past - some are emblazoned with the mascots of our old schools, some we got free at the 5k races we used to run together, one has my the names of my dad's high school graduating class on it, etc. We cut them up into 60 12-inch squares and sewed them all together. Incidentally, I can thread the sewing machine in my sleep now, and I've gotten pretty good at picking out bad stitches with a pin and a pair of scissors. I also discovered that sewing is an activity ideally suited to musicking - while it involves sitting still in a single position for a long time (eliminating the possibility of annoying earphone-cord tangles) it requires less intellectual engagement than most schoolwork. So I can justify the title of this post using our handy-dandy new definition.

Any fans of Ender's Game (besides Ridley) in the audience tonight? I reread that this week, when I didn't have my nose to the sewing machine. It was so much better than I remembered (maybe because the last time I read it I believe I was about 9?). Anyway, I was totally thrilled by it, and then I read this essay,
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/Killer_000.htm, which left a really bad taste in my mouth. I completely disagree with this guy, but maybe I'm biased because I like the book so much. Any thoughts? Sam vs. Dr. John Kessel?

Top 5 quilting songs:

5. Something so Right - Paul Simon
4. Use Your Brain - DDBB
3. I Want You - Bob Dylan
2. Man in Black - Johnny Cash
and
1. Roller Derby Queen - Jim Croce

Song that I didn't listen to while quilting but still totally rocks my socks:
I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord - Lyle Lovett

Groetjes,
Sam

Perhaps the musicking don't stop...

... but the blogging sure do, or has.

At least that's how it seems. I guess everyone's busy doing awesome summery things (or moving house, as the case may be), and doesn't have time for the blog. This post is just to say that:

My school's graduation ceremony and ball were today, so I spent way too much time overheated in a suit, and felt like sweaty biowaste. But it was fun and filled with oh so much nostalgia and last goodbyes. Now I'm finally completely free of school (I know, it's taken a while).

I'll be in Malaysia and China over the next few weeks, starting in, oh... seven hours when my plane leaves. So if I do blog, it'll be at even more ungodly hours.

Bye,

Jason