take a chance on me.

I'm going to be stranded on a house boat for a week.
And it was explained to me that we would be floating in the middle of the lake with no cell reception.
And my brain just can't wrap itself around the concept of a house that is also a boat.

I don't see the benefit in living on something that can sink.

Also, I have bangs now. Weird.

I have to say that I am very fortunate when it comes to receiving clothes. I have several outfits consisting of things that were hand me downs or hand me ups. I wear things from my sister, my little brother, my mom, my older brother, my cousin, my brother's former girlfriend, someone my aunt knows, Megan, etc. And I enjoy it grately because shopping is not one of my fav things.

i am determined to plan a dance marathon that is at least 12 hours.
the last couple standing wins.
just need a venue.

or i need to stop watching gilmore girls.

just to prove that he was sorry

Today I hunted for dragon eggs and sang Christmas songs.
And narrated a brief version of Les Miserable in the morning while wearing an 80s princess dress.

Type "yourname needs" into Google search:

1. Lauren Needs Attention
2. Lauren Needs advice and direction
3. Lauren needs constant care and attention
4. Lauren needs a myspace
5. Lauren needs to kick the crack habit...Seriously.
6. Lauren needs a hotel room
7. Lauren Needs [a movie on imdb]

once you were gone it was never the same

This summer is turning out very different than past summers I've had. Which I think is good for me. I go to bed early, exhausted. I don't have any boy that I'm fawning and trying to spend all my time with (or at least there are'nt any close enough to fawn over too much). Many of my friends are gone and on to other things. Yet, my entire family is all in the same house which hasn't happened for a while. So in a lot of ways it's really nice to have camp to distract me from things that are different.

But at the same time this was the most stressful week of my life. Today my co-counselor was gone and I was with a group of 19 with 3 Junior Counselors to help me. And I was also in charge of planning/writing/directing a play to be performed tonight for family campfire. And I survived. And I didn't kill anyone. And the play wasn't that bad. It was a combination of Lion King, Robin Hood, Cinderella, and Peter Pan. Just think about that for a while and see what you come up with. So I have next week off, but I'm actually kind of bummed to not be at camp. It makes each day so eventful. And I feel so adored there. Though it is a shame to only have Saturdays to do things with people really.

And I yelled at people this week...I never yell at people.

I'm such an extreme camp counselor my sweat smells like pine trees.

my halo's got a hole in it so it don't keep me dry

this morning i put on chapstick and a girl came running up and gave me a hug, "you smell good, like strawberries!!" it kind of made my day (which is not saying much because today was rough, but still...).

I have to say I really, really enjoy my little brother. He tried to "prounce" on me and I started chasing him around. Then I hid in his room in the hopes he'd walk in and I could jump out at him. But when he came by I was trying really hard not to laugh and thought he already knew I was there so I just let out a medium at best, "rawr" and stepped foreward. Well, he was all wrapped up in his comforter (for whatever reason) and screamed and fell over. Quite quite hilarious.

i drove all niiiight to get to you. is that alright?

Sigur Ros gives me chills. It is such beautiful music.
My new goal is to go to Iceland to teach English.
I just decided I have to go there.
And the language is like some wild version of English or any Romance language that hasn't been tamed.
Sometimes it's annoying not understanding their songs, but it's okay too.

I just aquired their new CD because Ian pressed his face up against the screen as I walked in the computer room and almost gave me a heart attack, yet somehow I was expecting him to be there. A delightful surprise.

A bit earlier I listened to a mixed CD Julia sent me in the mail and basically relived my past semester. So many wonderful songs with great memories. Everything from Flight of the Conchords to that song from Requim for a Dream to The Killers, Cindy Lauper, and Dolly Parton. As well as Enrique and Sufjan and Moulin Rogue. Plus a little Pina Colada Song and Samurai Pizza Cats.

Worked fifteen minutes short of 11 hours today.

and i know it's only in my mind

today was stress in a hand basket.
i need to remember how to breathe.

you ought to know by now.

Katie brought me back a sweet sweatshirt from Tawain. It has ponies and rainbows and mushrooms and ferris wheels and lady bugs and cities and trees and keys and angry bird faced trees and rain clouds and pinatas and clouds and stars...and basically everything wonderful on it.

I wish I could fix everyone's problems.
That'd be a good ability to have.

Also, I don't want to admit this but I was looking through the buttons or whatever they are on the Facebook application with the bulletin board and there were so many talking about how Edward (from the Twilight series) is soooo great and sooo wonderful and such a perfect guy. But he's not. Granted, I started reading bits of them again because the next book and movie are coming out soon and he seems a bit more likable than I found him originally. But still, she's just obsessed with him because he's a supernaturally hot vampire. And he makes her do crazy things and she freaks out hardcore when he's not around, which does not seem healthy to me.

What's more important is that Jess from Gilmore Girls is the greatest fictional male. Bar very few.

my heart is stone yet still it trembles

Went and saw Les Mis in Portland.
It's the best musical ever.
They had a good pit band, some lady came up and asked them if they were high schoolers and I kind of laughed, because they were way too good to be high schoolers.
We were in the front row so they were kind of overpowering sometimes but it made me realize how good they were.
Though the trombone player came in a measure or two early once. I was proud of him.
The lighting was very cool in one scene in the beginning.
And it's just a wonderful story.

Also went to the Art Fair with some of the gang from work.
We awkwardly switched between camp names and real names.
But I like dem kids a lot.
And finally got to see Maddie who is one of my most favorite people ever.

uh oh, it's morning time again

My group won the all camp game this week.
And I realized I'm super competitive.

In honor of Holden's last day at camp we did a cover of his favourite Weezer song...With some campilicious alterations.

Holden: Hey bra', how we doin', man?
Panda: Alright.
Holden: It's been awhile, man. Life's so rad! This camp's my favorite, man. Don'tcha love it?
Panda: Yeah.
Holden: Aw, man, do you want a water?
Panda: Alright.
Holden: Aw, man. Wow, bra', this is the best, man. I'm so glad we're all back together and stuff. This is great, man.
Panda: Yeah.
Holden: Hey, do you know about singing songs on the bus?
Panda: Yeah.
Holden: Aw, man, it's gonna be the best. I'm so stoked! Take it easy, bra'.

I'm me, me be
Stung by a bee
I can, sing and
Hear me, know me.

If you want to destroy my lunch box.
Rip it up it's a paper bag

Me: Hey, what's up?
Holden: Not much.
Me: Um... did you hear about the bus?
Holden: Yeah.
Me: I think I'm going to go, but, um... my friends don't really wanna go. I bet Mane [bus driver] will give us a ride.

Oh no, it go
It gone, bye-bye...bye
No pond, just mud.
I sink, and I die.

If you want to destroy my lunch box...Woah-ah-woah-ah-woah.
Rip it up it's a paper bag -- It's a paper bag!
My food will fall out onto the ground.
Covering the floor, covering the floor
It's litt-er-ing!!

If you want to destroy my good time
Well you can't because I love camp -- Because I love camp!
Sunburns, and bug bites, and dying newts
I'll be back again! I'll be back again!
'Cause camp's so funnnnnn.

It was a hit.
My group also did this but in skit form.
And then Brandon sang a high school musical 2 song it is made for 2+ people and he sang it all by himself.
So it was basically the most epic campfire so far this summer.

Daily stats:
2 people threw up (luckily not in my group)
1 crying incident
2 band-aids administered
1 sunburn (me)

i don't like waking up early five days a week.

Our House. In the middle of Our Street.

Today:
Went swimming and had to deal with people crying.
Panda and I had a great dance party in the lodge.
Unofficially started the [a certain camper]-yelled-at-us-when-we-didn't-deserve-it Club
Members: Me, Caveman, and Logan

I have yet to have a week where one of my camper's didn't cry.
But I swear it's not my fault.

Caleb really likes it at camp, which is good. I think I would take it personally if he didn't.

Camp asks way too much of me. I have to find a crazy hat for tomorrow. Yeesh.

on the boardwalk

I have to clean a lot because my sister is moving into my room.
I really want to go to Iceland.
Both me and my JC have our ankles wrapped up, I hope we don't get attacked by a bear.

i can't wait to see you again

Faced my fear of longboarding last night.
It wasn't too bad, fun even.
Went with a pro who makes them with his brother-in-law.
But of course I fell super awkwardly trying to go over a tiny bump.

I don't know why I miss Provo so much. I know I'm going back eventually. And it's going to be all different anyway. I think mostly I just miss college life and having lots of people around all the time.
I keep having this aching feeling in my chest like I'm pining for something that I can't quite put my finger on.
It is ridiculously hot.
And I'm sad because many of my favorites won't be at camp this week. But Caleb's going, so that should be interesting.

I st-st-stuttered when you asked me what I'm thinking 'bout

Things many people think are cute/fun that I am not a fan of:

-glitter
-glitter/glue or the combo glitter glue
-pictures of children kissing
-when people say things about their boyfriend like, "isn't he so ca-uuuuuuuuuuu-ute?" when he is standing next to them.
-ferris wheels
-fake purple butterflies
-mittens
-Hermione (in the movies)
-bubble gum lip gloss

tgif

Being a camp counselor is one of those things where it's kind of hard to explain what you go through each day.

"And other tasks as necessary." Is what it says in our job description.

Today there was lots of crying.

Do you hear the people sing?

i like it when people laugh louder than the people around them.

unrelated: strange that it's been going on for four or something years and i still can't seem to come to terms with it.

What is the deal with Social Security cards? It's a tiny bit of heavyweight paper but it holds such tremendous importance apparently. You have to keep it in a safe place and take care of it, but you can't laminate it.

And it turns out it doesn't even belong to you. "This card belongs to the Social Security Administration and you must return it if we ask for it."
Are they planning a mass recall in the future?

do you know what it feels like?

At least once a week there is a moment at camp where I think, "I'm never having kids."
Then I reconsider and realize they're not so bad but I know for a fact that I will refuse to have 8 kids all at once. No octoplets for me.

P.S.
I just came upstairs after all the lights had been turned off and miscalculated my perception of my house and ran into a wall...with my head. And now am feeling slightly concussed...and confused...and confused.

for some reason i can't explain

I found this amusing:
Rated PG-13 for some violence and reckless behavior.

This job makes me more exhausted than I know how to feel.
My whole body hurts when I move.
And I don't look sunburned but my body is radiating heat.

Today Holden tripped and fell so that a stick went through the front of his shirt, making two holes...But it just scratched him. He said he saw his life flash before his eyes. I'm kind of impressed. And also glad I'm not his counselor anymore, haha.

1st and 2nd graders are amazing because they have no concept of personal space.

sharing is caring and having fun

This week I have 1st and 2nd graders and they are very little and quite adorable.
It's such a big difference from my wild 5th-7th graders.
They need things explained to them and want to hold my hand
and they actually think my jokes are funny.
My stomach always hurts on Mondays now.
I should probably get it looked at.
I'm going to bed super early tonight. Like...now.

to be alone with me...

Jacob's farewell was today. My best friend and more will be in Brasil for two years. And that's about the only way I can sum up my feelings about the whole thing. I know he'll be absolutely brilliant. I will miss him, for sure, but there comes a point when you realize you can't be dependent on any one person, no matter how long they've been around or how close you got to them. I'm sure there are people in Brasil who need him way more than I do.

If you haven't seen Get Smart I highly recommend it. I also recommend seeing it with both of my parents. Because my mom tried to get me to see it with her before it even came out and my dad had no desire to see it. Nevertheless, it was a family outing yesterday when we saw it. First off is my mom, laughing out loud (which I was too) and making small exclamations such as, "oh!" and "that was great!" Next to her was my dad who did not laugh and I think had his arms crossed. But someone has a prejudice against Steve Carell for making Regional Managers look bad and had previous claimed that Maxwell Smart was a dumb show.

Watched a Bollywood movie and it said whenever you sneeze someone is thinking about you.

if you want to destroy my sweater.

Everyone likes a nice sunny beach but I am quite fond of our stormy Oregon coast.
Rolled out of bed (figure of speech, because if I had rolled out of bed I would have been in a world of hurt because said bed is ten feet up and has a metal dwall [dwarf wall] around the edges) at the crack of dawn (7:30) and no one was awake in this huge house. So I went running along the beach like I have been really wanting to do for some reason. It was windy and raining, but the rain felt good on my face and legs. I got lots of sea air in my lungs and got the hiccups. It was nice to be alone for a few moments and just enjoy the glorious world we live in.

There was, however, a large scattering of debris that some careless firework-lighters left. It made me upset mostly because the beach is such a wonderful thing and there is no one to take care of it. The biggest problem I have with littering is that people think they don't have any responsibility. They just make a mess and walk away. Well, where does that leave us? Stuck with a bunch of intergrity-less people living in an ugly place and having to pick up the slack just because people are thoughtless. It's frustrating.

All the more reason to love Wall-E. He cleans up messes he had no part in making. I adore that robot...

But it's also obvious in how people treat other people. Sometimes people will come along and mess up other peoples lives and just walk away like nothing happened. Thoughtlessness. It makes me :(

In other news, watched Vantage Point and enjoyed it. It was exciting and I like exciting. Plus my favorite character from the beginning ended up being the best person. A lot of people died though, which I am less than fond of. But that's action movies for you. I was kind of hoping it would be more of a movie where you can figure it out as you go along, but I think I'm too slow at thinking, haha. Plus the wideshot of Spain was pretty!

p.s.
happy fourth.

i'm proud to be an American because we rebelled against England after having a tea party and invented peanut butter.


Speaking of America, I'm leaving it in exactly eight weeks.

need you here tonight just like the ocean needs the waves

I'm sitting on a brand new leather couch looking at the waves out in the ocean.
The sky and water is all white and grey and it's kind of like looking at a black and white photo that didn't get light long enough when it was being printed...Like most of the ones I printed when I was in photography.
Pretty nonetheless.

I really wanted to wake up and go running along the beach this morning, because I think that would have been horribly refreshing. Working at camp I am walking/standing/running nonstop and last night I started feeling super restless. But, I didn't think to bring my shorts because I packed in about 3 minutes after work last night and then we left.

There is something about the beach that makes me feel alive. Just looking out over the ocean and realizing that this world is so big and there is so much I haven't seen or experienced. And there is something exciting about massive amounts of water crashing against the sand. Frawer.

It really bothers me that English doesn't have a word for "you all". Because I don't think "Hey yous!" is yet grammatically correct.

Wall-E was grand and full of laugh out loud moments.
Sometimes I am that person who is the only one laughing in the theatre.
And sometimes I have to remember to keep my commentary to myself while in a theatre, even if it's very poignant or hilarious (which it usually is).
In short, Pixar has a sense of humor that I enjoy greatly.

Wednesdays and Fridays at camp we get an hour break during the day.
Today we had a fruit party...And it was delish. I will always love every kind of fruit.
And tomorrow is the last day because Friday is a holiday!

megan is my favorite friend.

I am a genius because I guessed exactly how long Wall-E is.

Here's the story:
I was sitting on the couch at Megan's house and we (Megan) looked up the times for Wall-E. And I thought to myself, and also aloud, I wonder how long the movie is? Well, I said I bet it's an hour and 47 minutes...And clicked the link with more information. In mid-click I said, "No, 37." And what appeared on the screen? "1 hr 37 minutes" Another successful evening.