Growing old is mandatory...

...growing up is optional.

So I'm going to try something new.  I recently found a word document that contained a lot of old writings that I had written way back when I was in high school.  Yes, you read that correctly...high school.  Old, angsty, "woe is me" literary works that were fueled by hormones and deep philosophical emotions that only a teenager could experience.  A lot of them appear to be profile and/or away messages from my old AIM screen names.  And most refer to incidents that I have long forgotten, but at the time were the most significant things in my life.  Ready to take a peek at my teenage mind?

The basic idea is to post those lovely gems that I wrote as a teenager and respond to them as someone who is nearing their Dirty Thirty.  Hopefully I've grown a bit wiser and a bit more mature since then.

Brace yourselves dear readers, for this is going to be one hell of a ride!

Alcohol...

I swear, one of these days I will eventually finish these posts.  I chalk it up to being a semi-perfectionist and writing and rewriting blog posts until they're nothing but digital bits of information floating around in the interwebs.  Anyway, something is better than nothing, and hopefully a little incomplete post will be better than an eternity in cyber purgatory.


Alcohol...the cause and solution to all of life's problems.

Yes it's true, alcohol is great and terrible at the same time.  And this time, it was great.

What more can you ask for than a weekend camping trip full of friends, food, and plenty of booze, up at Stumpy Meadows Reservoir and Campgrounds.

The lake was a little walk away from our campsite and trekking down there with our inflatable rafts wasn't a problem.  The dust was a bit much but the water was worth it.

The Lake

After a nice cool dip in the lake, it was time to set up camp.  She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts.

Home sweet home

And nothing makes home feel like home like a nice roaring fire.  We had everything we could ask for in nature - shelter, fire, food, and most importantly, alcohol.  

Fire

Nothing like getting in touch with Mother Nature through a game of beer pong

As the alcohol raged in our systems, it was time for the night's main event - the beer bong.  Now I've seen plenty of movies depicting college drinking and they have all included either the keg stand or the beer bong.  I have participated in neither.  Until tonight.  A little worried that I wouldn't be able to chug all of the liquid in one go, I apprehensively observed my friends attempt the beer bong before me.  Many a suds were sacrificed to Mother Earth.  The sounds of amateurs choking on beer was high and mighty.  Mere minutes before my date with destiny, I was informed of the secret, the one key that would spare me the embarrassment of failure and let me bask in the glory of success.

SHOVE. YOUR. TONGUE. IN. THE. HOLE.

Yup!  Apparently the secret is not to try and open you gullet and let the liquids flow down your throat, but to use that magnificent muscle to control the tide of hoppy gold.  I channeled my inner frat boy and I'm happy to report that I did not choke nor spill any beer from my inaugural beer bong!  High five bro!  

New Thing #4: Do a Beer Bong - DONE

Completed August 9, 2014

UPDATE:

Stumpy Meadows has been completely destroyed by the 97,000 acre King Fire that was allegedly started by an arsonist on September 13th, 2014.

Sadness

Youtube video of the fire