7 days in desolation

so i just got off of my 1st trip of the season...a 7 day desolation canyon trip on the green river here in utah. i've never been on a 7 day deso trip (usually i'm on the 5 day trips from hell) so needless to say i was really looking forward to spending lots of time in the canyon. the passengers we took down were 6 inner city kids from florida, one of their dads, a "leader" (you'll understand why that's in quotations) and a board member of this organization. the kids were great - they've never been camping before, many had never even been outside of their city. just to see the look in their eyes when they were paddling their inflatable kayaks into a rapid, or how they loved seeing shooting stars for the first time, or cooking smores on a real campfire - that made it ALL worth it.

this quite possibly could have qualified as one of the best trips i've ever been on in utah. the kids did a "show" for us, which consisted of telling jokes (my favorite - "your momma is fat, she has a chip on her shoulder. then she ate it") hahah, you know i love silly jokes. we were "initiated" into their tribe, while we had a mandatory dress up night and the boys were all wearing girls clothes since it was all we had. (and the "leader" was afraid they were turning into cross-dressers!) yeah, the leader was a TOOL. from day 1 i hated the guy, and i know that's not very social-worker of me, but he was such an idiot that i couldn't help but ignore him. he made racist comments in front of the kids and didn't even try to help them. it bothered us all, but the fact that the boys were energetic and were enjoying themselves made up for it.

i think the best part of the trip had to be night 3....after seeing a bear in camp the previous night, the leader was freaking that the bear would come into camp. it then started to pour rain, amazing lightening and thunderstorms and we continued to cook dinner (and drink whiskey on the down low...the kids didn't know because they were all in their tent). we drank just enough to make the rain bearable and even fun, then the clouds literally parted and it was time to eat the sandy hot dogs and burgers i cooked. we happened to be camped above a sweet rapid, so us 4 guides took 2 inflatable kayaks and ran the rapid a few times. it was sweet....how i've missed utah!

anyway, i load for a 4 day trip tomorrow that starts sunday morning. it'll be my frirst lead guide this year and i'm stoked about it....this hot weather is so nice, and doesn't make me miss boston one bit!

canyonlands....

i have made it to utah, my friends.....

isaac and i had a long drive yesterday. we didn't leave camp lotus until 11am or so. we stopped for dinner in elko, nevada (whoohoo!) and rolled into salt lake city around 12am. i thought it would be fun to go trekkin' up the mountains around salt lake to look for a place to camp. eventually we found one high up in the wasatch national forest. very beautiful...lots of aspens (my favorite!) the only bummer was that i forgot my sleeping bag in groveland and ended up sleeping in the back seat of isaac's car. yeah, my n eck is still hurting today :)

we made it into ver-NAL around 2ish. did the usual stops (the cowboy shop, deseret thrift store, ashley trading post, the library) and i got to take a LOVELY 2 1/2 hour class on food preparation and handling. did you know that most food born illness is due to improper preparation and temperature? and that in utah, they call diarrhea the "trots"? (nice, i know. i practically slept through the whole thing, and was embarrassed because i almost didn't pass the test at the end). i know that he's coming to look for me on the river!

there will be more to report on my short time in california, dawnelle's wedding, and of course my river trips. for now i've gotta get to the guide house to get my first REAL night of sleep. it's been a while, my friends :)

ciao!

summer time....and the livin's easy :)

FINALLY!!!!!!

i just completed my first ever summer school session. now i know why i've never taken summer school before....how do they expect you to concentrate, when there's so many distractions? like the sun? the beach? the cape? drinking beers and having bbqs? baseball games? ahhh, the list goes on. by nonetheless, i'm SO DONE. and i'm so proud of myself. wow....now it's onto the REAL summer....

jenny, megan, monkey, and i are going to go celebrate with a few beers at my favorite pub down the street. tomorrow morning early i leave on a jet(blue) plane home! kristin is going to pick me up and head up to g-town. we have some projects to complete before dawnelle's big day.

in 1 week from now i will be embarking on a road trip with isaac out to utah. we're both on a 7 day desolation canyon trip (my first ever 7 day trip....i'm usually on the 5 day trips which aren't as fun). anyway i'm SO looking forward to being on the canyon. so looking forward to road trippin' it with isaac (he's spent the last year in chile, so we have a lot of catching up to do!) and SO looking forward to spending some much needed time with the fam. and reggie, of course!

this time tommorow i'll be chillin' on my mom's new grass, sippin a beer, chatting with friends and fam and playing with the dog. i can't WAIT! ....yes, the fun has just begun....

kitty needs a home...and other bits of randomness

first things first....i finished my 30 page community assessment paper. YEAH! i haven't worked so hard on a project before, and i finished it yesterday. didn't quite know what to do with myself since it's basically taken over my life for the past 3 weeks! so in true fashion, monkey, jenny and i went out for a little celebration. we went to this nice shee-shee wine bar/french bistro place near south station. had yummy food, then went to wally's jazz cafe. it was so awesome, these musicians were just lined up to play. and they were all so young!

i'm starting to pack my stuff for my vacation home. i can't believe how much i've accumulated since i've been here. (well, actually i'm not that surprised!) it'll be interesting to see how i'm going to move all my stuff outta here....

does anyone wanna give my kitty lola a home? she's a loving, sweet 18 lb. cat (she's not fat, just big boned) :) she is super cuddly, loves attention and likes to be outside. judy's mom and sister have been graciously taking care of her, but since her sister will be having a baby shortly they can't take care of her anymore. and we don't want to give her to the SPCA (she's just too great of a kitty!) so if you know ANYONE with a good home that is looking for a 4 yr old cat, please let me know.

it's off to get coffee for me!

london calling

i woke up to another sad, sad day for our world......

it doesn't seem that long ago that monkey, laura and i were hanging around the british museum....taking the bus to king crossing, or catching a train to the airport from liverpool station. on my first trip to london, my cousin alison and i stayed at a hostel right in russell square. things will never be the same, and my memories of my time in london have changed forever.

what makes me sad is that this is just fueling the fire of our fucked up nation. (of course i am sad for the 40 people who died in the tube and on that bus, the hundreds of wounded others, and their families). but i'm more sad that, again, our nation will be exploited by our president in the name of "homeland security". today i had flashbacks of a war rally/protest i went to in london. this was right before we invaded iraq, and britain was considering joining the good ole boys. hundreds of thousands of british protesters were there, warning blair that it wasn't a good idea. i guess today he has seen that they were right.

so what do we do now? invade another country? send more troops? sign another "homeland security act"? search everyone that gets on a bus or train? i don't have the answers.....just a whole bunch of fucking questions....

4th of July fun and sun....

hello all....

i've been without internet access for a week so i haven't been able to blog! i was in the cape again, chillin' out on the beach, playing pool and swimming. i know, i know, i have nothing to complain about! it was so nice to be able to relax.....not that i haven't been relaxing lately, it just felt good not to do anything! (and yes, i was kind of "working" while i was down there. i got about 10 pages done on my paper so that's a good start!)

my 4th of july was pretty fun. we went to a bbq in providence the night before, and i won $20 playing texas hold 'em (watch out, i'm pretty good!) but, i gave the money back because i felt bad that i won....don't bring me to vegas :) we didn't wake up til 12 the next day and headed back up to the cape to go swimming in the pool....had some beers, watched the fireworks over the water, and just chilled!

i'm getting SOOOO excited to come home....in only 1 week! i can't believe it. things are getting prepared for dawnelle's wedding (the wedding that i'm in....only 2 weeks away!) crazy, i know. i'm starting to think about what i wanna say for the "speech" at the wedding....have to make sure not to drink TOO much beforehand...not that i would embarass dawnelle, but her parents might get a little upset if i mention all of the shenanigans we got caught up in, both in high school and afterwards!

after that it's off to utah...whooohoo! i can't wait to be in the canyon. all this time off has made me realize just how much i need to be OUTSIDE during the summer. i don't know how i'm going to make it once i have to get a "real" job! yuck! won't think about that yet!

it's off to class for me. i can't believe i only have 1 week of summer school left. where did the first half of the summer go??? :)

blazing in boston

yuck. i'm sticky. i'm hot. it's humid. yes, the summer has finally arrived in boston! jenny and i refer to the heat as "blazing saddles". it's definately blazing saddles in boston.

i just returned from a little trip to the cape to visit a new friend....we chilled, drank beers, played frisbee, and well....drank beers! it was soooo nice being on the ocean. it smelled like santa cruz, and i began to reminisce about the good ole days in the cruz....i didn't realize just how much i miss california. don't get me wrong, boston is a great place to be! but ahhh, to be chillin' on the beach in the SC, having a bonfire at twin lakes beach, and eating sushi at pink godzilla sounds just too damn good right now!

other than that, nothing new to report on shannon's whereabouts. i'm about to start writing this huge community assessment paper on tuolumne county (which is going to take up all of the 3 weeks i have left here). as is to be expected, i am DREADING going to the library tomorrow. oh well, at least it will be air conditioned....

for now, i'm gonna go change my sheets. i think it's time to get rid of the flannel sheets for some soft cotton ones. oh yeah, and i had to break down and buy a fan today. it's just too blazing saddles in this apartment!

focus, focus!

whew!

it's been an INSANE past couple of weeks....and i've been a bad blogger. i'm sorry :( i promise i'll be better! i've just returned from my short trip to california...back to boston where the weather is nasty and people look at me strange because i have a nice tan!

the flight out home was rather interesting....i swear there were 15 babies on board, all with dirty diapers crying there eyes out! needless to say i got zero sleep (plus, the baby poo smell was just a little too much for me). definately made my uterus say "yeah, not ready for that yet!"

my pops picked me up in pleasanton after a nice lunch with my grandmother. once home i got to see both my stepbrothers whom i haven't seen in a long time (one is in the coastguard stationed in oregon, while the other is in the army stationed in washington). i always joke with my hippie stepmom tish - "you're a hippie, how come your sons are in the service?" there's just somethings you can't figure out! after that, we had a nice bbq at my mom's house. i invited my guide friends who had just gotten off the tuolumne (high water trips at 10,000 cfs make me wanna shit my pants, but they think it's fun!) my mom, kevin, and my friend matt braved the rain and bbqed the shish kabobs i made. it was great to get caught up with them on all of their winter travels. made me jealous, and made me feel like i had a lazy winter!

my bro's graduation in davis was great....jason, matt and i pounded beers in the parking lot before the (yawn!) LOOOONG ceremony. someone had to be drinking! but i don't know if that was such a good idea, since i started to fall asleep during the ceremony! (no offense aaron, i'm sure you started to fall asleep during mine!) the party/bbq afterwards at my aunt and uncles new house in folsom was great. good food, family....played in the pool and the hot tub, did sake bombs with the 'rents....you know, just like any other trip home!! the next day we went out on folsom lake in my aunt and uncles new 24 ft boat. yeah, it's frikkin' HUGE! i was just trying to soak up the sun, since there's not much of it here!!

so...now it's time to FOCUS. only 3 weeks left of summer school (hahaha, bet you forgot i was in summer school!) and a few papers left to finish. i've already got summer running through my veins, so a little support from you all to stay focused would be appreciated :) hope all is well!

Recovering....

So, there's just no possible way to describe the incredible weekend I just had. Let's just say, Jenny and I are EXTREMELY sad to have left the farm. But we made tons of friends, saw some incredible musicians, and soaked in lots of sun (and rain)! This blog would be way too long to describe the whole experience, but here's some highlights from our 4 days at Bonnaroo:

-hippies EVERYWHERE. you think that they no longer exist, but they do! and they walk around naked! and roll around in the mud after it rains! and have children with dreadlocks!

-our camp was located in "camp happy gilmore", and we made friends with some FUN people. the neighbors we got to know were from california and north carolina. bubba (from NC) thought it would be a good idea to cook hot dogs in beer instead of water. they became our neighbors after their campsite was flooded and their car had to be pulled out of the mud.

-let's just say, it was a "introduction to the drug culture 101". yeah....people sucking on nitrus filled balloons, peddlers selling mushrooms and weed...and well, a whole lotta other things i had no CLUE about :) oh yeah, and a man dressed up as santa claus approached our tent and declared, "get me high, dammit!"

-"swamp music" became the song of the weekend. because it rained so much, everything was muddy. this became a problem for jenny, who only had flip flops. she slipped a couple times in the mud and had to be rescued by our california friends.

-outhouses for 70,000 people? yeah, i don't need to provide a visual for that one. you get it?

-AMAZING performances by jack johnson, alison krauss, ray lamontagne (check this guy OUT, he's absolutely incredible), the john butler trio, citizen cope, galactic, jurassic 5, and de la soul.


-the "karnival" parade. my costume consisted of angel wings and a halo, while jenny was decked out in lots of mardi gras beads. our friend paul was dressed up like jesus, and his brother Sean was wearing a prom dress. When we got separated from each other, i wandered around asking people, "have you seen jesus?" (yeah, i had had a couple beers for SURE!)

....and so the recovery begins!!

bonnaroo BAY-BEE!!!

yeah!!! we've arrived!!! (and it's just kinda weird that i'm blogging in the middle of a field in tennessee surrounded by lots and lots of fellow festival folk!) anyway our flight left at 6am and my friend annika graciously brought us to the airport at 4:30. yuck! layover in detroit for an hour (that wasn't so bad, we got to catch up on the sleep we didn't get the night before). made it to the humid state of tennessee, and was greeted by hundreds of other bonnaroo goers at the airport. the bus ride here was a breeze, and we got to bypass all of the traffic (which was INSANE! people waiting in line for literally hours just to get through the gates. it was basically a parking lot).

we were dropped off near the camping only section of the "farm" which is great because it's super close to "centeroo" (where all of the stages/food/games/vendors are). we set up our tent, made our little site and introduced ourselves to our neighbors. the crowd here is SO diverse. aaron (brother), i thought of you because you would be having a BALL people watching. seriously, there are hippies, wookies, frat boys, bohemian girls, naked girls, yuppies, old people, young (and i mean young!) people. yeah, it's great. i think the best part so far has been jenny and i people watching. we drank some beers, walked around and got to know where we were situated so that when the shows start today we know what stages to go to. there are literally 80 abnds playing on like 5 different stages, so we're carefully planning who we're gonna watch, when. there's also a beer garden, a air conditioned tent that plays movies 24 hours a day, batting cages, a game room, an autograph place, vendors, a general store just in case you forgot something. oh yeah, and an internet place with free internet and free use of phones in the US...it's CRAZY! soooo much fun! 70,000 people all living together for 4 days....i love it :)

today we have a packed schedule of band after band....starting with joss stone, then jurassic 5, ray lamontagne, dave matthews...tonight there's a "mardi gras" dance that we might get dressed up for. though people here have some crazy costumes that i don't think we can compare to.

the weather is humid, and it sprinkled a little bit but it felt SO good.

have a GREAT day!

get me outta here!

allright, well as you all know....jenny and i board the plane bound for tennessee tomorrow morning at 6am. yes, that's pretty damn early, i know....but at this point i'm seriously counting down the hours til we leave. i'm already on "bonnaroo time" (have been for months!) so anything i attempt to do today takes a little bit longer to get done. i was supposed to start writing a paper that's due next week (thought i'd get a jump start on it)....figured i'd try to pack first, pick up the tent, and get that all outta the way so i could "focus" on writing the paper. but no, after i finished everything i just sat staring at my computer screen. "i wonder how hot it's going to be?"...."so how are we gonna make shade out of a 8x10 foot tarp with no poles?"...."hope someone will let us borrow some ice"....yeah, couldn't concentrate on ANYTHING.

i guess the most exciting part about this for me is the fact that it's the beginning of my summer travels! after this it's on to california for my bro's graduation. (round 1 of the cross-country summer trek). and really, i mean next year i'll have to be looking for a job....so i might as well enjoy the summer of travel, right?

ok, well i can't even concentrate on finishing this blog so i'm gonna go for a run (make that a jog)....

the Bonnaroo countdown begins!

so i know that everyone i talk to is SICK AND TIRED of hearing me talk about bonnaroo....(i think jenny has even come close to strangling me a couple times!) but how can i not be excited?? 4 days of camping, sun, beer, and music? jack johnson? jurassic 5? iron and wine? dave matthews? joss stone? allison krauss? ray lamontagne? a beer garden? a cinema tent? not to mention lots of southern boys with nice twangy accents! hahahah.

in preparation for the event, jenny and i headed off to good old target (tar-JEY) to get the needed supplies. and yeah, it was on a whim so we took a cab there. classy, huh? i wandered the store aimlessly and piled the cart high with unneccesary supplies (like a good mother figure, jenny made me put many things back)....but we ended up with cowboy hats, a solid tarp, a few bungy cords, and lots of granola bars. sweet! and no, we didn't take a cab home, but trekked to the nearest bus stop. (and what a ride THAT was...stuffy bus + lots of passengers + no air conditioning+dirty diapers = eeew, sick i think i need to barf!)

now all that's left is to sit through 6 hours of excruciating pain (also know as summer school) tomorrow, and wednesday is dedicated to baking snacks for the trip. our flight leaves at 6am thursday morning (good god!) but that's okay....

3 more days, whoohooo!

down for the count!

It's Friday night, the weather has been great, and there's a Sox game on. And I'm curled up on the couch with a giant headache!?! AHHH! It appears as though I've come down with a sinus infection, which has proven to be very annoying considering the fact that I'm leaving for Bonnaroo in less than 6 days (whoohoo!)

Anyway, Jenny and Stephanie (an old friend from high school) got sweet tickets to the game tonight. they luckily get to partake in the hot dog eating, beer drinking, and cheering festivities. and i'm jealous :(

So I'm just gonna curl up on the couch, make some popcorn, take my amoxicillin, and watch a movie. Hopefully this time tomorrow I'll be drinking beers and watching the game....

oh yeah, this pic was from the last game Jenny and I went to in May.

help me find a home!

....so i've realized that i've seriously taken my living situation for granted. i mean, who could compare to my current roommate, ms. jenny cole? she's clean, does her dishes, has a wonderful array of hairproducts, an even larger collection of earrings...and even lets me snack on her trail mix! but alas, this girl is headin' back to the greener grass of california, and i'm stuck looking for another place to live. now, this wouldn't be so hard if our landlord wasn't a dick and i wanted to find a new roommate. nope, i'm off searching for some poor souls who will let me call their house my new home. the past few mornings have begun with a search on craigslist. (FYI, if you don't regularly check out craigslist, it's an ABSOLUTE MUST!) a hilarious community website where you can find a roommate, red sox tickets, free sofas, and even boyfriends! so anyway, i've been replying to ads looking for roommates for september 1st. and these ads are few and far between, because everyone is looking for roommates for the summer. i've responded to about 10 ads, and have received only 2 or so responses.....friggin' craigslist. anyway, i checked out a place last week and was greeted by a small man named jerry**. jerry was looking for a roommate to fill an empty room (that was currently filled with loads of shit). he proceded to show me around the disgusting apartment, complete with a fooseball table, 3 aquariums with tropical frogs (cool!), 2 hookas, and many mexican jesus candles. all the while, there was this weird christian chanting music going on, and i felt like i was at a mass or something. yeah, i tried to make small talk and pretend like i was interested in the place, but it was so hard not to , say "look jerry, this place is a fucking pigsty, and i don't think anyone in their right mind would live here!" but no, i held my tongue, asked if heat and hot water were included in the price, and how nice the landlord was. then i grabbed my purse and took off! so tonight i'm supposed to check out another place....this one is with 2 guys and a girl. the place is really close to my old deli job (grrrrr.....) but very close to the T. i'm keeping my fingers crossed.... ** name changed to protect jerry's privacy :)

Vermont....it's the CHEESE

california and wisconsin both brag about their cows and their cheese. i mean really, who hasn't seen those silly "cheese head" hats the green bay packers fans wear every season, or those funny talking cow commercials in california? well my friends, i will have you know that vermont, that little unknown state in the northeast, has some DAMN good cheese.

among the other things vermont is known for: covered bridges, quilts, maple syrup, and men with facial hair (at least that's what the guidebook told us). so monkey and i ventured out to check out this beautiful little state...and though we only made it to the southern tip, we had quite a good experience.

we drove through the rolling green hills of western mass, then up to the little town of brattleboro, vermont (population 12,000). this town is apparently known for it's "60's mentality"...which to me translates into lots of insense, body hair, and birkenstocks. we stopped at this cute farm stand, bought the said delicious cheese, a mini blueberry pie, and some homemade bread. yum! after lunch we explored the main street, with it's cute boutiques, outdoor gear stores, political book stores, and coffeeshops. i bought some fun stickers at the bookshop and some beads for a necklace at the bead shop. almost bought a magnet that had a picture of george w. and dick cheney hugging naked, but decided to save my money for the night on the "town".....

the trip wouldn't be complete without checking out the local watering hole! oh yeah, i forgot to mention the parade that was happening (it was, after all memorial day)...though this was no memorial day parade. this parade consisted of dancers with jingle bells attached to their legs, dancing to the tune of a flute and throwing a scarf-like object in the air. i think they call it "morris" dancing, though even the locals we asked didn't know a thing about it. anyway, the dancers were in the local brewpub (i would be too if i had to dance that ridiculous dance!) they were singing numerous drinking game songs, and by 9pm were totally passed out.

i decided to try my luck on the game of "ringo" (not sure if that's the real name, but that's what monkey called it). anyway, this game consists of throwing a metal ring onto a hook that's attached to the wall. except the ring is attached to a string hanging from a piece of wood. hard to explain, but after attempting over 100 times to get the damn thing on the hook, some poor local came over and showed me the "right" way to do it. once i got the hang of it, it was great, and i promised to make one at home, just to make him feel better.

oh yeah....one more thing about the bar...it was one of those places that you could throw peanut shells on the ground. it reminded me of that bar in chico that has sawdust on the ground. anyway, monkey and i bought a basket of peanuts just so we could throw the shells on the floor. (this became much more amusing after several beers, might i add) :) yup, a fun night was had by ALL!!

friends, those are the highlights from my trip. oh yeah and we passed through vermont's longest covered bridge. oh yeah, and did you know there are 3 different kinds of maple syrup? and that vermont has good cheese?? .......

welcome to my blog!

so, it's 12am, and i'm starting a blog. don't ask me why...last time i had a "bright idea" this late in the evening, i ended up on the evening news singing a song about the san francisco giants. and yes, my mom still plays that traumatic video to every boyfriend i've brought home....it's a long story!

anyway, i'm starting this blog 'cuz all the cool kids are doing it around here, and well, all day long i read about "organizational analysis" and "community coalition building"...i need a creative outlet, because i'm driving myself insane!

i really think today's boston globe headline should have read "for christ's sake, it's memorial day weekend and spring has FINALLY arrived!" yes, my california friends, we still have not seen the sun since the beginning of may. and it SUCKS. so today, for the first day in a long time, i actually got to run around the reservoir in a (gasp!) TANKTOP! yeah, my very pale white arms got to see the light, and no longer resemble kevin's ghostly mayo legs....

in other news, monkey and i went to vermont this weekend. we had so much fun hanging in this very hippie town (about as small as groveland, but as hippie as santa cruz. i was in heaven!) i'll write more about it later, as it's getting late and i should probably go to sleep....

go red sox! :)