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Apicula
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#1
Old 06-09-2016, 05:54 AM



Here's the gist of things: I'm a baker who lives and works in a small mountain community that's a tourist destination and camp. Ridiculous things happen.


(I'll jazz the thread up later when I think of something.)

In The Latest Installment: I ignore the greater part of September, goodbyes, new friends, BOARD GAMES

Last edited by Apicula; 09-30-2016 at 05:14 AM..

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#2
Old 06-11-2016, 06:16 AM

Back in summer 2009 there was someone who gave me a lot of drama because she thought I was trying to "steal her man". Which wasn't the case at all, but this girl was convinced. They weren't even dating so it only made it more awkward. Gosh, that summer was a heck of a thing. Anyways, tonight during one of the summer staff orientation hangout times I approached some friends and this guy I could vaguely recognize calls me by my name. It took me a second, but finally it clicked. He was The Guy.

It's so weird meeting people who knew me then because a lifetime of stuff has happened to me since. I barely remember the person I was then because my old self is so foreign to me now.

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#3
Old 06-11-2016, 02:37 PM

So you know that part in Muppet Christmas Carol where Kermit is singing "One More Sleep Til Christmas' and it's a cute song about what a magical time of year it is, but then at the end he starts screaming internally? Replace Christmas with Camp and you've got how I'm feeling right now. I'm simultaneously feeling so ready and so unprepared. These next ten weeks are going to be wild.


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#4
Old 06-18-2016, 03:38 AM

The first week of camp was, as to be expected, crazy. I've met so many new people and had to bake so much stuff I never want to see sugar again. I haven't even taken sugar in my coffee for a while now, but summer always nails that point home for me anyways.

One of the highlights for me was an interaction I had today. There's this guy who I had a really deep heart to heart with in the bakery about a week ago who ended our conversation by telling me that if I ever chose to become a mother I would be a good one. Because of a lot of personal baggage the concept of me ever being a mother is so far removed from my current ability to imagine so the fact that he said this so genuinely it made me tear up. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, really.

Anyways today he came up to me and asked if I could do him a Big Favor. He looked so sheepish and worried I'd say no so I asked him what this favor entailed. He told me he asked the girl he's been crushing on for a while now on a date and he wanted to take her out on a picnic at a nearby meadow. He asked if I could help him with the dessert because he really wanted to make the date special and he didn't want to mess this up. Knowing how much both of them have been looking forward to this long over due date, I just looked at him and answered, "Of course."

The smile I got in exchange for that answer was more than enough and to top it all off he gave me the biggest hug.

Despite all of the times I've Noped out of the possibility of being in a relationship myself, I love helping people get their happy endings. Whether it's lending a listening ear with the occasional advice or being the world's best wingman I am so down for helping people find happiness in love in any way I can. Lately I've become more of a fairy godmother and honestly I couldn't be happier.

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#5
Old 06-20-2016, 03:03 AM

Last night was so much fun, but today my body definitely paid for it.

The first Saturday Staff Event of the summer is traditionally a themed skate night. Last year's theme was "Class of '46"/"Retirement Home" and it was so much fun to dress up for, but hardly anyone actually dressed up for it so it was kind of disappointing. Especially since I went all out with stage makeup wrinkles and greying my hair. This year's theme was the vague "Sports", which is totally easier to just throw something together for, so I was expecting to see more decked out. I ended up looking like I had come straight from a roller derby only to find out that like a fourth of the people who showed up even attempted to put something together. The few that did though looked so great. So much cheesy 80s workout gear.

Fortunately the music was on point with songs that sounded like they'd come straight from an 80s training montage. Also this year they have really been pushing the "meet your spouse" jokes. The RDs especially just went for it last night with all the couples skates. So I got all the awkward hand holding action. It was actually kind of great because there were a few guys I didn't even know that well who just kind of swooped in for the hand holding. Fortunately all of them were pretty cool so it wasn't awkward and what better way to get to know each other than moving at high speeds connected by your hands and with the constant threat of eating it because I'm an unfortunate, clumsy human being?

I totally ate it, by the way. It was one of those things were I could tell I was losing control so I purposely fell in a way that didn't make me completely obliterate my tailbone. Because if there's one weird skillset you learn as a clumsy person it's how to hurt yourself less when the inevitable strikes.

Also had a really awkward moment with my sister yesterday that was also kind of amusing. Our relationship is complicated at best, but I always try to approach things with a good attitude. But sometimes it's hard because she's kind of draining to be around sometimes. So last night when she tried to play that "I'm gonna tell you something, but I'm gonna be coy about it so you're forced to "force" it out of me" game, I was like nah. She basically out of nowhere told me she had an "awkward crush" like the person she's crushing on is something to be embarrassed about and I could tell she was just waiting for me to be like "Oh who is it~?", but I was really not feeling it so I just waited for her to tell me. She eventually dropped the name and it's a guy I know really well and hang out with a lot during the off seasons when we're not going in a million different directions. He's one of the nicest, most decent guys I have ever met and there is nothing awkward about having a crush on him? Because he's a genuinely good human? Like why must you be so dramatic about these things.

On a happier note, I finished the first chapter of a story I'm writing for a friend and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out. Basically we've been separated into different kitchens this summer so I wanted to write a story and send her a chapter a week. The story is completely ridiculous and makes fun of all the fairytale tropes while reading like a bedtime story. I ended up giving her the first chapter in person and when she read it in front of me it was such a joy to see her reactions. Especially when she got to that plot twist at the end where the guy you think is the main character dies. Or at least, kind of dies. It's going to be a long story.

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#6
Old 06-21-2016, 06:56 AM

So I ended up doing some soul searching in a super hipster independently owned coffee place today. This was my first time at the coffee house's second location and the two places could not have been more different aesthetically. Where the other was cozy with wood tables and exposed brick walls (one of which completely papered with various coffee bag labels), this one was all clean lines and white walls. Still very hip, but I kind of like the cozier place.

I won't go into too much detail about all the personal stuff I'm sorting because that's a lot of... stuff.

On the bright side I did come up with a few story ideas that could be fun to pursue. Now if only I could get my brain to focus on one. That'd be great.

On the other bright side when I came home there was a grocery bag full of dvds with my name on it and a note from a friend. The note said that she was downsizing her movie collection and thought she'd give me all the dvds she was getting rid of. Finally, my reputation as a film nerd is paying off! Looking through the bag I found that there were quite a few in there that I had always wanted to own, but never got around to purchasing. There were also movies that I've never seen before and only a few of them wandered into what-the-hell territory. Truly I have been blessed this day.

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#7
Old 06-21-2016, 07:33 AM

*being a creep*

That's so cool that you got a bag full of stuffs that you really want. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for that moment to happen to me.. x]

What kind of movie do you like to watch the most?

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#8
Old 06-21-2016, 04:44 PM

MeIshCutie v2: That's fine, creep away! I'm one of those people who will watch just about anything if the mood is right. For instance one night I watched a very existential Swedish film from 1957 (Seventh Seal), a German crime thriller from 1931 (M), and a French musical from 1967 (The Young Girls of Rochefort).

I do have my weirdly specific niches though. Probably the one that catches everyone by surprise is the fact that I am really into cheesy treasure hunting movies. It definitely goes back to the fact that Indiana Jones was my first love as a kid. I am a total sucker for fake archaeology and skewed history mixed with snappy one liners and action scenes.

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#9
Old 06-23-2016, 05:46 AM

So since late fall last year this guy and I have been trying to get people to start a swing dancing class with us. We met a few times throughout the winter, but it always ended up being just the two of us. This led to a lot of eyebrow waggling and wink-wink, nudge-nudging from a lot of our mutual acquaintances. Despite all the insinuations really we'd just be swing dancing for about two hours and would eventually end up laying on the floor talking about random things such as me giving him Borderlands tips because he had just gotten into the series.

Well the two of us thought that with summer staffers being here we might have a better chance of trying to lure people in, but the only problem is all the buildings/rooms up here would be in use because of the summer camp programs. After a lot of thought and deliberation, I thought of the optimal time and place, but we knew we'd have to get it approved by the RDs and the Camp Director. Well I just talked to the "Summer Staff Mom" who is the RDs' boss. She was ecstatic about the idea. She even said she'd talk to the Camp Director for me and try to get this rolling by tomorrow. Right after that conversation happened the guy came over to me and asked what I had been talking about with Mom. When I told him that we had her in our corner he gave me a giant smile and said, "This is happening."

I'm one of those realists bordering on pessimists sometimes (even though I'm always optimistic when it comes to other people's wants, needs, and plans. If that makes sense) so I was just like, "We still have a pretty big hurdle, but yeah it looks like this might happen." and his smile got even bigger as his asserted, "This is happening."

I really hope so. Even though I've never actually taught such a big group. Gosh. Am I even ready for this if it actually happens?

I might be teaching a dance class. Yay, but yikes.

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#10
Old 06-24-2016, 04:55 AM

We got permission to start the swing classes.

I nearly started doing a victory dance in the middle of the dining hall during dinner rush when "Mom" came and told me we got permission to start this Tuesday. Like this started off as just two people who wanted to bring joy to the hearts of people through dance, but now we're an HR sanctioned official weekly staff event. I haven't been able to tell my partner in crime about this and everything is still on the down low, but if anyone tells him before I do I'm going to be disappointed. I mean even if someone did tell him I imagine we're going to have a bit of a freak out next time we see one another.

Also had a movie night with a friend I don't get to see much anymore because summer has a habit of making everyone busy in new and exciting ways. We watched the Fantastic Mr. Fox because she's never seen it and drank the movie appropriate beverage hard apple cider. Then we watched one of my current favorite youtube channels You Suck At Cooking. It was so chill. I need more chill in my life right now.

---------- Post added 06-23-2016 at 10:06 PM ----------

Just in case anyone is curious about YSAC, it's a delightful little channel and honestly it was hard to pick just one video to post.



Watch and feel joy.

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#11
Old 06-25-2016, 03:29 AM

So this will start with a throwback all the way to just an hour before 2016 started.

My partner in crime for swing dancing and I were hanging out at a New Years party. We already had a few dance nights and he really wanted to try to meet up again despite the fact no one ever shows up besides us. I jokingly told him, "You know if you wanted to get me alone all you have to do is ask." He waggled his eyebrows and shot back, "What do you think I've been doing this entire time?"

Flash forward to today when I managed to find him so I could tell him the news of our Official Swing Night. His eyes got huge and he started punch dancing (he nearly punched someone on accident in all his enthusiasm). When he finished, he put his hands on my shoulders and said, "We're kinda a big deal." I just smiled and rolled my eyes. As he walked away he yelled, "I'm going to bring my dancing shoes! I don't even have dancing shoes! I'll bring my feet!" Honestly what a nerd.

The bakery also had a great day. We put together some trays of treats that we could deliver to different departments as a little pick me up and "We ♥ You" from the bakery. Each tray had Heath Bar Brownies, Gingerbread Truffles, Mini Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Rice Krispies topped with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache.



Everyone's reactions were so great. We had stunned surprise, cheers, high-fives, hugs, and rap air horns. If they weren't too busy we stayed to chat for a bit and asked them how their weeks were going, giving encouragement if they needed it. Honestly cheering people up and making their day better is my favorite part of the job.

As I was walking home I was jamming out to Bastille's new song Good Grief so my mind was somewhere else entirely when I almost got ran over by a bike. Like we're talking so close they clipped me. They skidded to a stop just in front of me and when they turned around I saw it was one of my friends. This friend is a fairly new one, but became quickly dear to me because once she gave me Bengay that she told me she bought while she was high on pain meds (she got some melted butter splashed in her eye and scratched her cornea) because she remembered my neck hurt and she wanted me to be happy. Anyways, her eyes were basically bugging out of her head and she had a manic smile on her face so I was just like, "Uh, you okay?"

She told me that she'd been working triple splits since 6am and drank both coffee and mountain dew (she gets REALLY affected by caffeine). She said that she got so excited when she saw me that she almost ran me over because she misses me. She can join my swing dance partner in the nerd corner.

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#12
Old 06-29-2016, 05:18 AM

My parents are visiting and today was one of my days off so we spent the morning off roading and taking a five mile hike from a meadow to a waterfall. It was a nice change of pace from some recent Drama. Definitely got sunburned, but it was made worth it from some of the cool photos I managed to snap.

Then my first swing dancing class happened.

I kind of lowkey had no idea what I was doing since I've never taught a class before, I had no idea if anyone was even going to show up, the tech guy never showed up to help us set up so we had to track him down, but we just kind of went for it.

Well we had 60+ people show up with an even amount of leads and follows (which never happens!) and the person who was teaching with me and I had natural teamwork chemistry. That and everyone was having such a great time I couldn't help but smile.

Once we shifted more into social dancing the guy who was my first student and I started dancing together. We both couldn't shut up about the fact that this started out with just the two of us and how everything about tonight was perfect. It was so cheesy, but so true. Also on Sunday I made another treat tray for one of the departments and it had two dozen oatmeal raisin cookies on it and he told me he ate eight of them. He ate eight. What the heck. He told me it wasn't his fault because I knew they were his weakness and I told him that since I care about him so much I'm going to help him by not making him oatmeal raisin cookies every again.

He actually fell to his knees and begged me to reconsider just from the suggestion.

Nerd.

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#13
Old 07-09-2016, 05:28 AM

So a lot has happened.

On Thursday (the 1st) I went off roading with some friends. We drove out to a meadow filled with redwood stumps left over from the logging days. It was kind of sad to see so many fallen giants and I couldn't help but wonder what the place looked like when they were still standing. Being that person I decided to climb the tallest stump which stood at about fifteen feet. It's been so long since I've done any climbing so even doing that small of a scale felt great. Unfortunately it was also covered in soot from being touched by a recent forest fire so I also got covered in soot.



On the way home I took a trail I'd been down before, but it had been a while and the recent seasons hadn't been kind to it. There were several times where we were at about a 70° incline either horizontally or vertically. I honestly thought I was going to roll the car a few times. Thankfully that never happened and now I know I can basically handle anything a trail can throw at me. Even though I'm now going to do everything within my power to avoid ever doing that again.

On Saturday we had our Hoe Down to celebrate the 4th of July. There are two parts to the Hoe Down. The first part is a barbecue and competition for the Golden Hoe. The games look less like games and more like a confused mass of 300 people who are getting points somehow. Ever since that summer my knee became a jumbled Rubix Cube during the festivities I've been more than glad to sit out. The fact that I'm full time food service and so I have to work during that part just gives me an excuse.

The second part is by far the superior part and that's because it involves two of my favorite things: Not Being Covered In Flour (dressing up) and Dancing. This year was no exception. We had swing and square dancing with a couple of line dances thrown in for fun. I danced with friends old and new, and even got asked to dance by quite a few guys that I've never met before. I ended up going to bed exhausted and sore in the best sort of way.

Unfortunately the good lord has made me terrible with names and faces so come Sunday morning I had forgotten most of the guys I'd met at the Hoe Down. This made it fun when a few of them tried to approach me for conversation throughout the day. One of my friends started referring them to my One Dance Stands.

I had made plans to visit my parents for the 4th in part because I wanted to visit, but also because I needed some distance between myself and where I'm at due to some things happening. Even if it was for a few short days. Just the physical distance sometimes helps with clearing my head, you know? Unfortunately my off roading shenanigans messed up my tire alignment and I hadn't had time to drive into town to get it fixed. So I was stranded. This left the head space feeling all sorts of messed up, but fortunately I had some friends who came in clutch with coffee and conversation.

We had our second swing dancing class and even though we've only covered the basics and like four additional moves, the students are starting to gain confidence and it's kind of great to watch. We even talked to the RDs and they offered to let us have a Swing Night Under The Stars at the end of summer so people can show off what they've learned. Just the thought of it gets me hyped.

My usual dance partner wasn’t there and he came up to me the next day to apologize profusely. Honestly I hadn’t even really thought about his absence, but he seemed so sincere in his apology so I told him I forgave him. Also since our conversation about his Oatmeal Raisin addiction I’ve started to make sure I always have a couple cookies stored away for whenever he comes to visit me at work. It payed off when he came in looking really tired from a hard day last night. It’s nice to be able to do little things like that for people.

Yesterday was amusing when I literally took one step into the bakery and one of my staff told me "There was a cute guy looking for you. I did a ring check. You're golden." I just gave her a blank stare and asked her to elaborate on that one. She told me that she didn't get a name, but that the guy had brown spiky hair, brown eyes, was white, average height, and slightly muscular build. Given the fact that she just described like 90% of the guys on staff I just deadpanned, "You might as well have told me he had a face."

Turns out the mystery man was an old coworker and friend. One that last summer's staff wanted me to go out with, but the two of us were strictly bros. It was so good to see him again given the fact that our goodbyes happened during the middle of an evacuation. Man that was a weird time.

Speaking of my staff, the girls started making justgirlythings parodies based off of things that happen in the bakery.

Have I mentioned how much I love them?

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#14
Old 07-14-2016, 11:11 PM

On Tuesday I finally got around to playing the third chapter of the new Kings Quest game and it was all about how King Graham met Queen Valanice. It was so cute and nostalgic I am officially dead and now writing this as a reanimated corpse. Seriously that game is doing such a good job of capturing what made the original games good while reinventing it in new and exciting ways. My childhood self is more than pleased.

Last night I ended up hanging out with some of my Off Season Squad. We never get to see each other because we got separated into different kitchens and summer has a habit of tearing people apart because everyone is so busy. Appropriately we spent part of our time sprawled on the floor telling each other how much we miss being together. Then we tried to Think Positive by talking about how hard we're gonna Friendship once the summer is over. All the movie and game nights. All the Girls Night Outs. We also ended up having some much needed serious conversations because we're all at such unique points in our lives and it's kinda great knowing I have these people in my life.

Today we finished work way too early and so we were kind of at a loss of how to fill up the rest of our day. (Honestly my team has gotten too good at their jobs it's crazy). We eventually just made a five layer cake and doused the thing in sprinkles because why not. When my breakfast shift partner and I got off we decided to give the abomination to the first campers who went "Is that a cake?" We then proceed to get coffee and watch the campers share the cake with everyone who passed by. They managed to eat about half of it before the temptation became too great and they shoved it in one of their counselor's face. Ah, to be a camper again.

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#15
Old 08-12-2016, 05:07 AM

I've been in that stage in life where a significant amount of the people around me have moved into the chapter of their lives where they have gotten married and started their own families. I've been happy for every single one of them, but because I admittedly have issues of constantly feeling like an outside observer in 90% of my personal relationships it's always been just kind of a thing that happens. Well last month one of the people I care about most in this world gave birth to her first child. We're such close friends that she told me she was pregnant by asking if I was ready to be an aunt. When I saw a picture of this new life for the first time the thought that entered my mind was I can't wait to see the person you become. I can't wait to meet and spoil the heck out of this kid. Unfortunately I haven't been able to make the drive back to see them yet, but I honestly can't wait until I get the opportunity.

Meanwhile in bakery land we took our staff photo and honestly it was a thing of beauty. Our theme was Brawling and Baking so we dressed up like greasers who just got into a massive fight, but then we were sitting down to have a fancy tea party. Stage makeup bruises and fancy china everywhere. It was funny because our bruises looked so real that for the rest of the day (because of course we rocked it all day) my guy friends kept asking me who they needed to beat up. I would always just give them a grin and go, “You should see the other guy”. I also had some... not fake injuries to add some flavor.

Because, well, I gave myself a rather impressive knife wound in my left pointer finger. It happened while I was making dinner at home and because I'm an unfortunate sleep deprived person who requires constant supervision... things happened. Because my Baker Hands™ are used to all sorts of abuse the injury itself didn't really hurt. It just bled. A lot. Instantly I was able to tell I'd need stitches so I wadded it up in paper towels. Looking around at all the mess I realized I didn't want to leave a puddle of blood for my roommate to find, so I cleaned up the mess. Then I just really nonchalantly got ready to go. As I walked to the camp infirmary I ran into some friends who asked how I was doing to which I just let the paper towel cocoon unravel just enough for the blood to start gushing a little. (It'd gotten worse by this point.) They decided to accompany me to the Infirmary and we honestly had a good time. People always look at me like I'm crazy when I mention this, but honestly it was so casual and low key. We just chatted with the doctor and when he found out I was the baker he admitted he and his wife are Big Fans of my work and he just generally seemed like a cool guy. Maybe it was also the sleep deprivation, but like I said, it was the most chill time I've ever had getting stitches.

We also had our Kitchen Staff event. The past two years our event has been completely abysmal. My first year we had a cooking competition. My team totally crushed it and won, but even then I thought it just wasn’t a well thought out event. Because hooray our special thing is what we did every day, but fancier and with a harsher time crunch. That, and not everyone got to participate if they didn’t get a team. Like I said… not well thought out. Then last year we didn’t even get an event. This summer has been our first summer under new management, so I was cautiously optimistic. We ended up going to a family fun center. The type of place that has an arcade, a couple of kiddy rides, water slides, go karts… that sort of thing. With our group it ended up being so much fun. I spent the whole time drifting in the go karts, getting soaked in bumper boats, was pleasantly surprised by their ropes course, and had several banter filled shootouts during laser tag.

Afterwards a smaller group of the whole went and saw Star Trek Beyond. Oh my god. That movie. It was the most Star Trek of any of the reboots and it was just so good. Wow. We ended up taking up an entire row in the theatre and honestly it was one of the best shared movie experiences I’ve had in a long time? We were all so into it. I’m briefly going to venture into incredibly vague spoiler territory and say that the moment Sabotage by the Beastie Boys started playing was honestly the purest joy a film has brought me so far this year? Everyone in my group Lost It. We then blasted the Beastie Boys all the way back up the mountain.

The following week was a week of reunions. My parents were visiting as well as an aunt and uncle. It was also the week of summer that a youth group I used to work with as a mentor comes up. So naturally I spoiled the kids I used to work with by baking them a ton of extra treats. In return one of the girls drew me a picture of everyone in their cabin eating what I had baked for them and it’s honestly so cute. Like forget the fridge, that picture went straight up on my wall that’s filled with posters and post cards of impressionist and symbolist painters. Right between Klimt and Van Gogh. Where it belongs.

Speaking of Van Gogh I was asked by my friends to make cupcakes for their wedding! Their colors are navy blue/grey, they’re using sunflowers, and overall they’re kind of going for a slightly rustic vibe. Honestly the first thing that popped into my head when I heard the navy/sunflower/rustic combo was Van Gogh’s paintings. I proposed giving them a texture that resembled an oil painting and generally mimicked that aesthetic and they were all for it. This is going to be one of the more ambitious things I’ve tried, but I am so looking forward to it! It’s also the first wedding gig I’ve ever had. So that’s a thing. I’m so up for this challenge though!
Other than all that we’ve officially entered that part of the season where the summer staff slowly starts departing. With this being my ninth summer part of me is already mentally prepared for this, but it’s still not my favorite. Today one of my girls pointed out that this was the last day that all of us would be working together and we all started honestly tearing up as we tried to conceal all these Emotions with our usual humorous banter.

All of this along with some other personal crap has really left me feeling super out of it for a while now. Which leads me to breakfast this morning. I took my breakfast break alone, but a group of elderly biker guys asked if they could share my table. We struck up a conversation and they ended up being super cool to talk to so there were zero regrets. When I told them it was time for me to head back to work, one of them was like “Hey before you go, I want to tell you something…” This guy I had never met before this shared meal proceeded to give me encouragement that spoke directly to some stuff that I’ve been struggling with for the past month. Things I’ve never even voiced. It was literally exactly what I needed to hear. I was just internally like, thank you benevolent psychic biker grandpa.

---------- Post added 08-11-2016 at 11:03 PM ----------

How could I forget to mention that while my parents were here they informed me that there was a guy on staff this summer who was the son of my Namesake? And that this guy happened to be someone I hung out with quite a bit this summer? A few hours after getting this information, he came up to me and was like, "So you're named after my mom." I was just like yep because how else does one respond to that? He then looked at me and said, "I think my mom would be happy that her name was passed on to someone like you." And how do you respond to that?

Also the other night when I was going through what i'd refer to as a Bad Brain Night, one of the guy who was a student in a year long program that we have up here asked if I could help him make a birthday cake for a mutual friend of ours. We ended up making a carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting while we talked about life and how cool space is (his dream is to become an astronaut and I'm always down to talk about space). It was our first time really hanging out like that and honestly what crappy timing because he'll be leaving in a week. He's just such a ray of sunshine and the whole evening was like a balm to my soul.

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#16
Old 08-16-2016, 05:37 AM

On Friday night a group of about forty of us made the trek out to a large field to watch the Perseids, an annual meteor shower. I haven't missed the peak of the showers since 2008 and I have got to say this particular experience would definitely compete for my favorite year. When we got to our viewing destination we essentially formed a giant cuddle pile. I ended up sandwiched between two friends who just got hired for full time staff. On my left was someone I bonded with almost instantly this winter and have missed this summer because we got separated into different areas of the camp. We have so much in common and we just kind of get one another. I can't wait until we can get back into full friendship mode. On my other side was someone I'm still in the early friendship stage where we're trying to figure one another out. I had already heard that he had gotten full time (from my friend on the left), but there was a moment where he just kind of quietly stared at me until he told me the news himself. There was something about the way he said it that made me ask him how he felt about it. He admitted he was excited, but unsure how he felt about it exactly and I told him we'd have plenty of time to figure it out. We ended up staying out in that field until 4am and I loved every minute of it.

Which was great because Friday morning brought me one massive headache. It started when I walked into work and one of my staffers took one look at me, burst into laughing, and exclaimed: "Boy do I have something to tell you!" She went on to inform me that there is a summer staffer that has a huge awkward crush on me. However, when she told me the name of my admirer, I didn't recognize the name at all. She started to describe him and I still had no idea. It wasn't until lunch when she pointed him out that I confirmed that I had never once had a conversation with this guy in my entire life. My staffer told me she knows that, but it hasn't stopped him from talking about me. This apparently more common knowledge than I thought because for the rest of the day person after person kept approaching me like "Did you hear that..." Yes. Yes I had. I felt like I was in Jr High again.

I initially didn't think much about it because if the guy hasn't gotten the guts to talk to me all summer, then he's probably not going to find that courage in the last week of camp. Then he could move on and forget about this stupid summer infatuation. It wasn't until people started talking about convincing him he should ask me out when they knew I'd say no that I started getting annoyed. I hope they were joking because that would be so unfair and rude to him. Like I said... Jr High.

Saturday officially began the End of Summer where our seasonal staff starts to disappear off into the woods, never to return. That is, until next summer. Possibly. Either way, there's a lot of hugs and promises to keep in touch. With this being my ninth summer I've long since gotten used to this part of the process so I rarely get super emotional during the goodbyes themselves. Instead it always ends up hitting me in the quiet that comes after the end of the season. From now until next Sunday it's going to be a weird emotional purgatory.

And what better way to wander through that emotional wasteland than to have an IMPROV NIGHT. Every year this particular Saturday is reserved for a Whose Line Is It Anyway style entertainment as well as showing videos that all the different departments make. At lunch, my friend who is obsessed with the oatmeal raisin cookies told me that his department's video was one of the most embarrassing things he has ever been a part of. He told me at the very least I should turn my eyes away so that some of his dignity could remain intact. I assured him it couldn't possibly be that bad, but he told me that "On a scale of one to crucifixion, it's the electric chair." After a brief pause I asked, "And this is you trying to convince me not to watch it?" He just gave me a pained expression.

Well let's just say that video really was quite an... experience. It was the story of one of a Princess (played by one of the guys in their department dressed in an 80s prom dress) who was kidnapped and the "Complete Package" (played by my friend) who saved him. I could try to go into more detail, but honestly I couldn't do it justice. Probably the best part was while watching it was I was sitting next to one of the guys from that department and throughout the short film I could see him slowly sink in his chair from mortification. He was practically on the floor by the time the video was done. On my other side was that guy who just got full time who kept giving me perplexed looks as if I could explain the pure art that we were witnessing. Meanwhile I was just watching through my fingers trying to survive the secondhand embarrassment while giggling uncontrollably.

I will say this though, it wasn't the most embarrassing thing that happened at Improv Night. The problem with improvisational theater is that it's truly a craft that you have to work at. It's different than just being funny. That's why there's entire classes based solely around it (is my Theatre Kid™ showing?). But typically when you go to amateur Improv Nights it's just a bunch of people who you know are naturally funny, but they are awful at improvisational acting. So instead of funny, it's just awkward. Then you throw in the fact that it spiraled into what became the complete Roasting of the summer staff Male RDs. They made it seem like they were cool with it, but a lot of those "Roasts" just seemed petty rather than funny. Which only made it more awkward.

On Sunday at breakfast I walked up to my friend and greeted him like, "What's up, Complete Package?" He looked at me like a kicked puppy. I told him that, yeah, that was pretty bad, but I had to admit it looked like it would have been fun to film and that's all that really mattered. He seemed to appreciate the comment and he appreciated it even more when I went into detail of all the other embarrassing stuff that happened the previous night. So all in all, I think his dignity will remain intact.

That night we had a Fulltime Foodservice Hangout where we said goodbye to two of our friends who are leaving the hill. It was the first time in nearly twelve weeks that all of us had been in the same room and the snark levels were unreal. It reminded me of how much of a weird little family we are. Our boss also told us that this upcoming week we're going to have two candidates for the open Executive Chef position visit to see how we like them. It honestly felt like a single mother telling her kids that she was bringing a new boyfriend around. This will be our third executive chef in the three years I've been here, so I really hope this one sticks.

Today I went down the hill to run errands and see a movie. I ended up going to Pete's Dragon. I'll admit I don't remember the original 1977 movie perfectly, I remembered enough to know that this isn't so much a remake as a completely different movie. The only real similarity is that Pete's an orphan and there's a dragon. Without going into too much details because of spoilers, the thing that stood out to me the most about this movie is how very little actually stood out. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't spectacular either. I don't regret seeing it, but I'll be fine if I never see it again.

Apicula
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#17
Old 09-30-2016, 05:13 AM

This last month has been one heck of a thing. There's been too much overtime, too little sleep, and enough drama to fuel a telenovela.

Today I said goodbye to my friend who bought me Bengay when she was high on pain meds. We ended up sitting in my car listening to Chvrches' album Every Open Eye, the album we listened to on the drive into town that very day she gave me Bengay and later my tooth would get knocked out resulting in a whirlwind dentist appointment. That was a wild time. It was also the day that we knew our friendship was real. So it was only fitting we listened to it. My whole brain is a mess from everything happening right now and I'm rarely emotional during goodbyes, so I felt weirdly disconnected during the whole thing, like it wasn't really happening. Maybe it's also because I know we'll see each other again. I do know that I'll miss her presence in the kitchen. Her unpredictable and loud sense of humor balanced perfectly with my deadpan witty one liner humor. We made a great team.

As we always said we would, my friends and I started friendshipping super hard once summer ended. We've all been spending quality time together, affirming the shit out of one another, and offering support in some trying times. I honestly don't know what my mental state would be without them. We're even planning some possible extended off the mountain adventures for November and December and when the heck did it become this late in the year? What happened to 2016?

Mild existential crisis aside, we started game nights! Every Monday night a dozen or so of us meet up in a room above one of the kitchens to play board games. It's kind of great because we have a big enough group to have multiple games going so there will always be something that fits anyone's tastes being played. The fact that we have quite the impressive collective library of games helps too. I even started searching out games that I know no one up here owns which is how I acquired my latest favorite game: Betrayal at House on the Hill. We've only played it twice, but it is so amazing. 10/10 would recommend.

One of the brighter parts of this past month has been the new students arriving. I had my first work study weekend helper last Saturday and oh boy did he get to see me in a crazy light. We had just survived the Understaffed Week of Hell and on top of that I ended up frosting cupcakes for a friend's wedding after work on Friday from 8pm to 7:30am the next morning. 240 cupcakes with Buttercream Sunflowers on top, you know? Anyways, this poor kid had to deal with severely sleep deprived me, but he took it like a champ. At least my short circuited social filter provided us with some interesting points of conversation. The fact that he was a good worker who recognized my Borderlands references and also listens to The Thrilling Adventure Hour means he can definitely party with me. That the fact that we talked about everything from deeply philosophical things to the fact that he thinks the Twelve Dancing Princesses was the last good Barbie movie. Yep, he can stay.

 


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