july.

third month of camp comes to an end.

after eight weeks of spring staff and four weeks of regular camp, only three weeks remain for my summer job. definitely has been (and still is) a growing experience; i had no idea being in leadership was going to be this demanding of a job. of course, i would redo this whole experience in a heartbeat.

still, i'm sad that one of my favourite months is coming to an end. although this has not been a typical july for me, it was still great on account of the amazing weather and the great company.

i think i'm going to enjoy the second half of the year. with my new position on nutimik leadership coming to a close, i'm heading into my last year of providence college and i have a girlfriend that i'm excited to spend time with in the fall.

anyway, a more in depth blog about my summer to follow (i meant to keep up with it more, but with the busyness of life, i just wasn't motivated during my downtime!)

anyway, hope you enjoy your long weekend

- me

electronic memories

i'm a bit of a pack rat. i like to keep photos people give me, birthday cards, notes, things like that... so it would be safe to assume that i don't delete a single personalized email. every now and then, i enjoy reading over them to see what people had to say to me.

so yes, i am one for sentiment...

anyway, i just found an email sent to myself [eerie, i know] with a lot of old things i wrote. so, i wanted to share this monologue i wrote for grade 11 drama class....

The Hereafter

Hi, My name is Sean.

I bet you’re wondering how I got here…

Heh, I might as well tell you my story,

We’re not going anywhere anytime soon…

Well, I should properly introduce myself,

Like I already said, my name is Sean,

I’m 16, I’m in grade 11, I go to Sunny Valley High School,

I get good grades, I’m on the school volleyball team.

Ha, volleyball.

In my school, if you’re on the team, that means instant popularity.

I have the girl, I have the friends… the right friends.

I go to the parties. The parties…

So I should be happy, shouldn’t I?

Well, if you haven’t picked up yet,

I’m not.

Which is why I’m here, really.

Are you cold? I’m cold.

I’ve been cold for a while now.

Anyway, you want to know why I’m here.

It happened a few nights ago,

We were all at Bobby’s place,

Well his parents have a cottage, and we were using it,

He had this huge party, everyone came.

People were drinking, it was getting pretty crazy.

It was getting out of control, but that’s not what this story is about,

Every party is like that.

I was talking on the deck was Kim,

She was talking about her week,

We weren’t really paying attention to what was going on inside.

But suddenly, it got really quiet inside,

Then there were these loud shots, and Kim and I both flinched

She ran inside, there was another loud bang and she screamed.

I ran inside and I saw her lying on the floor.

Then I saw him,

It was this guy Gary from school.

He was one of those kids who no one talked to,

People didn’t make fun of him, they just flat out ignored him.

Which is probably worse…

There were tears in his eyes, he looked at me.

I couldn’t hold his gaze, I looked away.

Kim was on the floor, she was trembling.

I looked at Gary again,

He was holding something in his right hand.

He raised it and pointed it at me,

I think he said something, I’m not too sure.

In the few seconds I had left,

I realized what was coming.

He pulled the trigger.

Death is a strange event,

Everyone knows they are going to die someday,

They just don’t know how, or when.

But we know its coming…

They say that going to a funeral can really help you put your life in perspective,

But when you’re the one what actually died? That’s the kicker!

You can look back on your life, and pin point exactly where you went wrong,

All that crap I wasted my time on,

Computers, tv, videogames,

That’s the stuff that can really suck your life away,

Not just death.

So many things I want to change, so many things I wish I cold just erase just erase.

Like that Gary kid,

You know, if someone reached out to him,

If I reached out to him, I could still be alive,

Kim wouldn’t be in a coma right now,

But… now I’m here… waiting.

Dead.

sleepy time

i don't know what it is about going to bed, but almost every night my thoughts run wild before sleep. i go over the days events, my thoughts on what happened, funny things people said, etc. not to say i'm all OCD and over analyzing everything, my mind just seems to function best at night. it definitely makes for annoying mornings.

...

...

...

yeah, three weeks and all i got is a blog about falling asleep. something with more substance will hopefully come soon.

(maybe)

LOST

about six years ago, i was sitting in my high school's library [DMCI] reading a MAD magazine, the issue was lampooning a tv show that had just started out. the premise was described as a group of people surviving a plane crash on a deserted island, while also encountering polar bears, smoke monsters, and another faction on the island known as "the others". immediately i fell in love.

unfortunately, i had already missed most of the first season, and because the internet wasn't what it is today, i was unable to catch up. i would frequently check the dvd section of different stores to see if this "lost" tv show had finally been released, but i would have to wait about six or seven months before it was. the day i saw it sitting in wal-mart [don't shop there], i picked it up and watched it within a week. i would have to wait another year to watch season two. by this point, i was able to start watching season three week by week.

i watched the season three finale with a group of friends who had never watched an episode previously. all three were hooked by the end of the two hour long finale.

tonight, i watched the series finale with one of those friends. it was definitely a bittersweet experience to watch the last episode, in the sense that it was good to know that the producers had a definite ending planned, but knowing that nothing new would ever be made with the same writers and actors.

so, as annoying as most of the characters had become, as frustrating as the constant lack of answers and the raising of new questions was, as unrealistic as the dialogue was between characters, as familiar as the score would become between scenes... i somehow look past all that and have become captivated by the multi-layered characters, the interweaving storylines, the mystery of the unknown, the philosophical references...
i have really appreciated two themes that have been cropped up in the series: the idea that every person has a purpose in life and importance of the people around you. very inspiring.

overall, i would say Lost is a worthy investment of one's time. as i've pointed out, it is not without it's imperfections, but it is a well-crafted, original piece of work that dips into a wide variety of genres. if ever you find yourself wanting to escape into something deep, check out LOST and tell me what you think.

KSherman

"she looks like a deer caught in the headlights!"

that's what a friend said about a girl this year.

and now i understand the metaphor. the motivational speaker, the the teacher, and myself hit a deer last night!!

running water

something we have not had for the past 24 hours.

for the past 2 weeks

i have been living in a house with five other single young adults; a textile science major, a kinesiology major, an education major, an agriculture major, a social science major, and a... traveling motivational speaker...

sounds like the premise of an MTV reality tv program.

what are we doing? we're putting together a summer program for a kids camp. some of us are hiring staff, scheduling, and networking, others are processing applications, one us is maintaining the site, while others are preparing the outdoor gear for the wilderness program.

we've has some pretty crazy experience so far, and i'm sure a lot more will come in the next 3.5 months.

so be sure to tune in to see (read) what happens!