Tuesday, June 5, 2007
"Well you just laughed it off it was all ok"
Shit, it's been awhile. A long while. One of those whiles where things keep happening to me, and I think to myself, "I should update my blog about this," and then more things happen to distract me and before I know it, a month's gone by, and so much has happened that it's too depressing to even begin trying to sort it all out.My cat just distracted me by coming downstairs and meowing plaintively for attention. I comforted her somewhat, and she ran back upstairs. She knows she's not supposed to be in the basement.
But I digress. So much has happened since my last post. Like my senior retreat, where we stayed in yurts and went white-water rafting on an ass-cold river. And I mean cold. But, somehow, not as cold as the company (or lack thereof) of my yurt-mates (I had no idea it was possible for someone to ignore at you). I spent most of the time avoiding them, which was not without its perks. It ultimately meant that I got on an all-guy raft. So that was a plus. But these events, and the religion teacher's lecture, which sparked off some unpleasant self-examination in my head, combined and culminated in a nervous breakdown in the middle of the night. Fortunately, I knew better than to let anyone there know what was going on. Instead, I called Lauren, who calmed me down and made things make sense for me again. Sometimes I feel bad for her, being my friend. She has so much to deal with. At least she knows how.
Also, the senior prank, which involved cups of water, a giant pyramid made of more cups of water (not so easy), cars, plastic forks, toilet paper, and the moving of massive quantities of furniture. And football uniforms. It turned out brilliantly, thanks to our sleep-deprived efforts. Although only two seniors, myself and Thomas, stayed completely awake the entire night. That would be because we watched Pulse together on his laptop, and I discovered that I do, in fact, like horror movies. 'Specially when there's a cute guy sitting next to me. Besides, Pulse was genuinely good. Scary and goose-pimply and all that good horror shit.
More importantly, the senior trip, which consisted of eight days in Rome. Yes, the Italian one. That was... well, to my chagrin, I had the same roommates that I had on the retreat. Only this time, I had no recourse to Lauren. Well, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. So they say. All I can say is, if you had said that to me while I was freaking out because the lights had turned off because they had told me I couldn't eat with them and walked out, taking all the room keys with them (you had to have a key in the switch to run the electricity), which meant that I had no way of turning the lights back on (or getting back into the room if I left), and I don't deal with being alone in the dark in a strange city, well, if you had said that then, I would have hauled off and punched you in the mouth. But that's as much as I let things get me down all week (well, not exactly, but we won't go into that). I was determined not to let them ruin my trip. I won't let anyone, especially not them, have that kind of power over me.
Eventually, the rest of the class finally stepped in and took my side against Those Bitches (as they called them. I referred to them as The Alien Bitches From Hell, but then again, I was the one who had to live with them). So I ended up having a good time, despite their best efforts to the contrary.
And really, all whining aside, Rome was awesome. From the top of St. Peter's to the bottom of the catacombs. Because I avoided Them, I got to know other people better. Even dealing with the annoying vendors ("Is not stolen! 20 euro! Just for you!") was fun. We had to walk at least ten miles a day, at a killer pace, and we saw just about everything there is to see in Rome. The major basilicas, the Vatican, Via Appia, the catacombs, the Spanish Steps, all the shopping streets, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, Forum, various fountains, and, of course, numerous gelaterias. Not to mention the pope himself at an excruciatingly long and sunny Papal Audience. It was a privilege, I'm sure, but it was also a severe penance. I don't know how the Swiss guards (with whom I imediately fell in love...sigh) stand that heat. And they even wear spats. I sweat to think of it. We even took day trips to Assisi and Ostia Antica. And I managed to bring back a bottle of wine, and smuggle a Cuban cigar through (not, I'll admit, without a few anxious moments in Customs, what with the Atlanta airport making me fucking re-check my luggage once I'd gotten it back safely. And then Mr. V dropped Robby's red wine and it looked like we'd killed someone.... Yeah. Go Atlanta security. Good times).
So, yes, I enjoyed Rome. Whenever I could ignore those girls, I had a lovely time.
Most importantly of all, however, we graduated a week ago, meaning that I am no longer a high school student. I'm not anything, now. It's kind of a weird thought. August will come (faster than I'd like), and then life will catch up with me and I'll become a College Student, but for the time being, I'm nothing. It's nice, being nothing. Nothing's expected of you when you're nothing, and you can just drift along lazily, doing nothing.
Graduation went well. We all got dozens of meaningless awards. Faber was allowed to walk, so I got to see him again. And we all made fun of each other in our silly caps and gowns. Some of those caps wound up floating in the fountain as a result of the hat toss. Everyone got a CD with a song for each member of our class on it. My song was "Float On" by Modest Mouse. I approve.
After all, that's sort of what I'm doing right now, isn't it. What with my new nothing status and all. Just floating on. Don't you worry. Etc.
Spudge at 8:47 PM