What the hell is up with John Aaron? Why does everyone have such a hard on for him? ::huh::
I knew him pretty well, and he sounded like he was much more of an interesting guy back when he was a smoke -jumper... then CEDU took away his nuts and handed him a summit key.
re: the hacking mention. I just got thrown off, because normally anonymous postings were listed as "guest", and now they are listed as "a voice from nowhere". Today was the first time I saw the change, so I got confused.
Yeah, I did that stupid fucking poster. Most of it, since I was the school's art whore, and I was soooo proud of that "honorable" distinction. Oh we need a banner, oh, we need a poster, oh, we need someone to design the new childrens propheet scroll, oh, hey, can you draw a dolphin for my little sister? She's coming out of the truth tonight! a.r.t.w.h.o.r.e. I actually got talked to in a rap when I was in quest because I did something that didn't meet their standards.
So, when they said, hey, there's a new staff workshop coming up, it's a big deal, and we want you to design the poster, make it, and have anyone you'd like to help you out with it. Now, as the here forever poster was your eyesore, mine was the camelot poster from the staff workshop which was held years before. Granted, it didn't have the school's horrible taunt "here forever" up there in gothic blackletter, (in my defense, I didn't do those. I suck at typography) but it still totally sucked. As a result, I felt honored that I could put something up to replace that piece of crap. And but so... the here forever poster became the new piece of crap.
What did they end up replacing that with, BTW?
Interesting you bring up the wilderness challenge. I think that was the only time during my stay there that I can actually still consider peaceful and enjoyable in retrospect. We went to the owyhee desert.
For me, normally anything that causes any kind of sensory association with the school is negative, especially if I smell something similar to what it was like there. I know that every so often I will be somewhere and smell something that smells almost exactly like Idaho dirt in the fall, just as the morning frost begins to melt. The only reason I know this is because that's the smell I smelled every morning as I started my work detail for my fucking full-time. I'd climb up on the rock wall with my tamping iron and shovel, and catch that sickly sweet whiff of the clay and soil that I had been using as mortar for the rocks. And then I would take my shovel and break through the frost that was still there, so I could start my work.
As a result, whenever I smell that smell, I associate it with isolation, hopelessness, survival, futility
When I went to the owyhee, that was the first time I had ever smelled sage. At first, I hated it. I thought it smelled like rotten mustard. But by the end, I loved the smell, and I still love it. The whole expedition itself had its annoyances, but was mostly removed from bullshit, despite the fact that Richard was one the support staff.
Seriously, the best time I ever had at that school was on my four day solo. I was finally away from all of those FUCKERS!!! The staff, the school, my utterly shitty peer group who I hated with every fiber of my being. I was by myself! I realized that, with the exception of the shorter solos that we had on the quest and discovery, this was the first time I was going to be entirely unsupervised. For four fucking days! Woo hoo! Several people in the peer group were like "oh I'm scared to be alone." "oh how on earth am I going to survive four days on one bag of gorp?" "oh, what if an animal eats me?"
Oh suck it up, you sad twats, do you have any idea what a fucking break you're getting? The staff are going to come by and check on you for a few seconds every day by walking by, making sure you are still alive, and dropping off whatever ridiculous envelope, from one of your friends in the peer group above yours, that has some quote from martin luther king jr. or from the book jonathan livingston seagull, and THAT IS IT!
So, with this newfound sense of freedom, do you know what I did? NOTHING!!!
And it was AWESOME!
So, when I smell sage, I think... sanctuary.
