Inspiration in the form of a plush rhino

Back in the day

Before it was cool to have a blog, before there was a proliferation of people's opinions posted at whim on the internet, I used to have a gig writing for a website.

It went something like this:

Take 9 or 10 college kids, ranging in age from 19 to 22, and give them one rule: make one post per week.

Well, two rules. The second (unspoken) rule was "Don't be a dumbass." We all did OK with the rules. Most of the time.

I retired from my 2 year career as a writer in 2003, at age 21, as the site died down. Some people graduated, some people didn't have time anymore, and the posts became fewer and fewer.

When I posted my farewell entry, someone left a comment saying that they thought that my leaving the site felt like there was a character leaving the cast of Friends. I've never been more touched, and I've never felt more confident that people actually do enjoy reading things that I write. Sometimes.

I'm in the process of digging up my contributions, and I'll likely be posting some of the highlights as I find them. I found this one using the WayBack Machine, and it made me laugh to remember this moment in time. It was Labor Day, 2002. So, without further ado, here it is.



Lakeside Adventures

I believe more firmly than ever that pain is very much mental. Girls will empathize with me on this one--if you've ever cut your legs shaving, you really don't even feel it until you see the cut when you're drying off. I'm not sure why the brain works that way, nor do I have any desire to find out--but it's baffling all the same.

Labor Day... a day of cooking out, beer, swimming, going to the lake, and generally just having one last day of summer. Well, unless you're an Aggie. *gloats* Or you live in the Baylor Bubble. No matter which way you look at it, as an American, you have an obligation to eat red meat, refresh your tan one last time, and drink a beer on that day each year. I did all of that. Well, I tried to, anyway.

Windy Point is a very cool place to go if you're in Austin and the weather's nice. Not surprisingly, half of the people who live in Austin went there yesterday, to include myself and a group of friends. Among the highlights of the day:

White Trash Woman and the $30,000 truck

We had to take two carloads of people out there. One (the one I was in) managed to find a parking spot relatively close to the main gate and tollbooth. I think the other guys had to park halfway back to campus. While waiting, the four of us in the first carload just kind of stood around. One of the guys leaned up against some red truck--a decent truck, but c'mon--it's a truck. I don't think any of us were prepared for what happened as a result. All of a sudden, this trashy woman came flying towards us, screaming "Don't lean on my truck. It's a $30,000 truck. Get the hell off of it."

OK--maybe he shouldn't have been leaning on it, a fact that my friend readily acknowledged. However, since she was screaming at him, he wasn't exactly inclined to be cooperative. After he huffed a bit, she screamed "Don't you huff at me. Don't lean on my truck. It's a $30,000 truck." She drove off after that, proceeding to curse out the two park rangers preventing people from driving onto the point. I caught "I have 10 kids to pick up down there, and I can't make them walk all the way back up here. Why the hell can't I fucking drive down to the point?"

My friend raised two good points. One, trucks are made for hauling stuff. If you're worried about people leaning on it, you've purchased the wrong vehicle. And why would you spend that much money on a truck that couldn't serve the purpose it was created for? The second point was that it's generally a good idea to spend more on your trailer than on the vehicle you tow it with. Not exactly PC, but true. *sigh*

Watch out for Stabbing Rocks

I'm a self-admitted klutz. However, usually there's more drama involved in my injuries than there was yesterday.

As we were walking along the (rocky) path to find an unoccupied grill, I was actually being careful not to trip. Maybe wearing flip flops when it's that rocky isn't the wisest move, but hindsight is always 20/20. I felt myself kick a rock after a minute or two, but it wasn't enough to make me stumble, so I didn't even bother to look down.

When I did look down a minute later, the big toe on my right foot was gushing blood from a gash about 3/4 of an inch long and 1/4 of an inch wide. Lovely. I stopped, stared, and thought "Gee, it really doens't hurt for all that blood." My friends saw it at that point, and were all rather grossed out. To be honest, I was really grossed out, and it was on my toe. After we dumped the stuff at the table (another 100 yards away, I might add) one guy and I hiked back up to the front to see if the park rangers had some first aid stuff. They were quite impressed with my cut, and one antisceptic wipe and three band-aids later, I was good to go.

Of course, my day was shot so far as swimming, sand volleyball, and pretty much anything involving dirt or water. I called the UT nurses' advice line when I got home last night, and she advised that I get it stitched up. Then I thought about the fact that the Urgent Care center at the Health Center was closed, and I'd therefore have to wait through the Labor Day crowds at the ER. I now have an economy sized box of butterfly bandages and a huge tube of Neosporin.

Spatulas: An Essential Accessory for the Modern Griller

We had way too much shit in the way of food and beer when you considered that there were only eight of us, and of those eight, four were girls. The other six managed to get the grill going while I was in search of first-aid, and we popped the first of the burgers and hot dogs on when I got back.

We had everything you could need--beer, Smirnoff Ice, Dr. Pepper, Vanilla Coke, regular Coke, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, ketchup, two kinds of mustard, Capri Suns, lemonade, plates, paper towels, chips, salsa, forks, knives, napkins, and even a trash bag.

When it was was time to flip the first of the burgers, we realized we had no spatula. Yesterday was a learning experience--"How to grill with a fork and a few paper plates without third degree burns". Most of the burgers were more like crumbles of ground beef collected on a bun. Oh well. I didn't pack the cooler, so I feel no responsiblity.

The burgers really weren't bad, either.

posted by K @ 6:10 PM