Saturday, June 27, 2009

Remembering Brian


My friend Brian Bradshaw died in Afghanistan on Thursday.

Brian was such a uniquely authentic person. He brought himself 100 percent to everything he did. I worked with him at summer camp for 4 years. His humor and sense of adventure was contagious.

Despite his busy schedule, he always made an enormous effort to show up at camp gatherings, or volunteer a few sessions or facebook chat with his friends. His sarcasm and in-your-face energy never stopped him from letting his friends know he cared about them. I've always thought of him as a protector- someone I would want with me if I was stranded on a dessert island needing to survive. It kills me to think of how scary it must have been for him over there.

My heart breaks for his family.

In a few days everyone from camp is gathering for staff training and I look forward to sharing our stories about Brian. We'll make sure to keep him in our thoughts throughout the summer and spread his message of love to the campers.

I'll miss you Brian!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Hiatus: Over (for now)

Holler, friends! 

It's been a while since I've done a legit post. For old time's sake, let's start things off with a list.

Top 5 activities to improve your mood (btw, wtf is up with this shirt? I think that's a llama but it seems irrelevant to the rest of the shirt...):

1. Take a shower: The steam goes up the nose, clears the sinuses and lifts the brain up just a bit. After a shower, I always look SO MUCH BETTER. Even if I didn't look "dirty" before, the memory of my pre-shower self suddenly becomes caked in filth. My face looks like I could be in a clean&clear&undercontrol commercial. My hair smells like cupcakes. 

2. Listen to music: This could mean downloading your favorite new song from iTunes (treat yourself!), pillaging through your playlist for an oldie but a goodie, or perhaps just letting the shuffle take over. Once a worthy track hits your ears, snap those fingas and DANCE!

3. Exercise: No new news here. Whether it's walking, running, jump roping, galloping, or doing high-kicks in your room as discretely as possible while trying not to make grunting noises, exercise is a mood enhancer. Endorphins are the new meth. 

4. Take a nap: Maybe you're in a bad mood because you're sleepy. I often have to FORCE myself to take a nap, but it's well worth it. Even if you're still in a bad mood when you wake up, you at least cut out an hour or so of bad-mood time. 

5. Buy someone a present: If you can't seem to make yourself happy, switch your focus on someone else. Scrounge up some change and buy a treat for a friend. Surprise them. 


Next on the agenda: "The most dramatic rose ceremony in Bachelorette history!!!!"
 
Have you ever noticed that ABC can ceaselessly reuse this line in their promos by simply replacing either the words "dramatic" or "rose-ceremony"?

For example, they might say: "Next week, stay tuned for the most grotesque rose ceremony in Bachelorette history!!!"

Or, they might say: "Next week, stay tuned for the most dramatic one-on-one date in Bachelorette history!!!"


Jillian is the new Bachelorette and she's a mess. I wish I could be trendy and say she's a "hot mess", but she's not even hot and I'm actually over the phrase "hot mess". 
"Jilly" has a wardrobe that I'd give my right femur for, but I wouldn't wish her camel face on my worst frenemy. She was so endearing as third runner up on last seasons "The Bachelor", so what's changed? Who knows. Maybe she just seemed great compared to Molly and Melissa AND JASON (UGH). Anyway, she gets hammered in almost every episode (don't THINK we can't tell!) and talks like she has gum under her upper lip. 
Ab Nelson (cousin) has had us over every Monday night to eat hummus and watch the Canadian camel-face drink, cry, receive spin-hugs and bequeath camel-kisses to the masses. Her friends are huge Bachelor/Bachelorette fans and it's truly my favorite night of the week. 

That's all for now, folks. I've got my last two days at the PUD, then back to K-town for two nights, then off to camp for staff training! THENNNN, Edinburgh! Still filling out a shize-load of paper work, but it will all be worth it. Can't wait!

Live long and prosper, 

Margaret
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