I exist again!

Hey all lovely taspers--I realize I am abominably delinquent, but I assure that it shall be made up in due time. (How, I have no idea; but the thought is there all the same)

At long last stolaf classes are over. I was kind of nonexistant for the last semester because I made the smooth choice of doubling up on physics classes. The rest of my schedule was made up by first year writing (a horrendous class that we, unfortunately, all have to take) It isn't exactly that I don't like to write, but that if I have to hear another prof announce that "the three keys to writing a successful essay are to make a point, make it clear and make it interesting" I am going to hurl. This is usually pronounced with the same air as santa clause unveiling a particularly gargantuan toy. They all seem to labor under the belief that we have managed to complete 12 1/2 years of schooling without ever having run into this tidbit. This particular class was made slightly more interesting by the readings consisting of mainly "graphic novels" (extended comic books), one of which turned out to be more than mildly pornographic.

Music theory, on the other hand was amazing. I have a new prof who had a fondness for challenging how the music dept runs things--a practice I intensely support. She had a little of john sinclair in her, though without the whole drugs/moving-to-amsterdam/actively-supporting-the-overthrow-of-the-american-govt thingimabobber. She is big into electronic music, so for a field trip one day she took a bunch of us down to see the virtual sound labs at the university of iowa. On the way back me and a couple others were late for a orchestra dress rehearsal. So she displayed her prowess at passing cars on the right while doing 110 in a minivan. twas exhilarating.

I'm having doubts about what to do with my life. I thought coming into college that I would try and get a physics degree and use it to study meteorology in grad school with freelance music on the side. I unfortunately, however, fell in love with particle physics. So now I am in a quandary as to continuing with the skies or going full force into the exceedingly fun practice of banging things together. And, of course, there is the long term significance to consider--doing some rough calculations, I figure that for the same amount of money we just spent in switzerland for the LHC, we could have... oh... fed africa for a year? We'll see what happens; I'm going to be working this summer for a prof crunching numbers for a project looking at glacier movement, so maybe that will rekindle my interest in metorology and climate.

To happier matters: as of the end of this school year, I am contentedly single. I realize that this seems an odd thing to brag about, but at stolaf it is truly an accomplishment. A 2/1 female-male ratio in my dorm, combined with the oft-quoted statistic that "80% of Oles marry other Oles" makes maintaining your status as a straight, vaguely polite, caring, single male about as simple as mounting a single-manned attack on normandy beach. It's not that I have anything against my female friends (truly--if any of you are reading this don't resent you at all : ), it's just that they have a tendency to equate a smile and occasional hug as evidence of your deep abiding love for them that only needs to be brought to the surface. Another piece of awesomeness is that the verb "to date" has been whited-out of every dictionary on campus. Two people can be "friends" or they can be "in a relationship" (as heralded by facebook), but "dating"?
qoi? Je ne comprendre pa?
April of senior year is crazy with couples getting engaged "like dominoes", as my sister put it.

In addition, this summer I get to tackle two other jobs; one is to continue my stint as a rock wall instructor--aka I get payed to climb. Second: My dad is a silvaculturist for the forest service and goes up to alaska for about two weeks every summer to take field data. This year he managed to get me approved to go with him as a volunteer crew rat. Which means I get to spend two weeks of august in the wilderness of the kenai peninsula.

Anyway, I have to go soon so I will leave you with one more piece of wisdom for old times sake. And assure you that even though I am a sporadic poster myself I read all of your posts and enjoy hearing about your lives

Top 5 right now

5. Louisiana Bayou--Dave Matthews Band
4. I Want it That Way--Backstreet Boys
3. You and I Both--Jason Mraz
2. Hammer to Fall--Queen
1. No Doubling Back--Jason Mraz

It's good to be back

-bern

Hello again!

Hello all! It's Lisa here. I haven't posted for so long! But don't think I haven't been thinking about you. I love and miss you all!

A lot has happened since I last posted/talked to any of you. First of all, I'm sick. I have ME/CFS (myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome) and fibromyalgia. I've actually been sick with this for years, but this past school year it was especially severe. I didn't have it while I was at TASP, but it developed about four or five months after I got home. For the first couple years, I would just get sick a lot and have a lot of fatigue. The second half of my senior year, I was sick about eighty percent of the time. It seemed to improve during the summer, and then, two weeks into my freshman year at UCR, it came back. At this time, I was both working and going to school. The illness kept getting more and more severe. The symptoms now were nausea, horrible muscle aches and stiffness, joint pain, headaches, sore throat, extreme fatigue, "brain fog," and fevers. Various other symptoms came and went. I struggled with school and work, and finally, I had to quit my job at the beginning of January. I continued to struggle with school as my symptoms got worse and worse. I missed a lot of school during winter quarter, and tried my best to make it all up. Toward the end, it became clear that I would not be able to finish.

So, I have had to withdraw from UCR. It was devastatingly sad, but it was something I had to do. I adored my classes, had connected with great professors, and was loving the honors program.

It was really a difficult year. That's not to say that there weren't wonderful things as well as sad things. I'm still with Jeremy, and he is an amazing support, friend and partner. Our relationship has grown, and we have grown. We work hard to have a healthy relationship, and it has truly paid off.

Speaking of Jeremy: he's been published! I mean, he's had tons of short stories and stuff published before, but now he has a novel out! It's called Vacation, and Raw Dog Screaming Press is the publisher. It came out in April, and the word definitely seems to be spreading. Jeremy has done so much to get the word out, and in really unconventional ways. And more and more people seem to be responding. Several reviews are due to be coming out, including one on Amazon's blog. He'll also be reading for a popular podcast. It's all very exciting, and more and more people are finishing the book and giving feedback now. If you'd like to check out the stuff, visit his myspace at: www.myspace.com/jeremywriter.

Anyway, back to me. I tried quite a few of the medications that my doctor prescribed me for my illness, but unfortunately, all of them had terrible side effects, and none of them worked. Even if they had worked, they would have only suppressed my symptoms, and not helped heal my body. Recently, I tried a homeopathic medicine called rhus tox that helps my muscular and joint pain, and it works super well, with no side effects. This, combined with the path I was already on, encouraged me to look for natural cures to my disease. The most recommended treatment for ME/CFS was detox. I read what it had done for other people (real people, not advertisements) and decided to try it for myself. It's based on making the body stronger so that it can heal itself, instead of suppressing individual symptoms. That's where I am now. I bought a great book: The Detox Book by Bruce Fife. It's much better than finding detox information on the internet, where everything is pretty disjointed. It approaches detox from a very holistic perspective, which I love. I've started an ultra-healthy diet, and am going to try the rest of the cleansing techniques. I'll let you know how it goes!

Anyway, even though I've been very sick, I've been happier this year than I've ever been. There's lots more to tell, but I'll spare you this time, as this post is already so long. If you guys have any questions about CFS or anything at all, I'll be glad to answer!

I love reading all these posts. It's so great to see what you guys are up to. I miss you guys!

P.S. 60 days until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!! (I hope I'm not the only nerd who's looking forward to it)

Happy Stinkin' Birthday!

Oi! It's Chris's birthday!

Everybody dance now.

Happy birthday Chris!

Summer stuff

I'm going to Rhode Island for the summer! I got into a computer graphics research program at URI (which is in the city of Kingston, not quite 2 hours south of Boston). Time for some serious reunion planning, Northeastern TASPers.

Also, one of the UMich 07 TASPers contacted Ruth and asked for advice about what to see and do in Ann Arbor and environs while at TASP. Suggestions go as comments to this post, please.

Groetjes,
Sam