This is how we do it, it's Friday night

Well, here we are. Friday night and I am blogging. To my credit I have actually been making an attempt at being a productive adult.
1) I filled out an application to read to senior citizens
2) I sold my juices for a sweet $35
3) I used my freshly acquired library card to pick up Ulysses by James Joyce
This brings me to my goal for the next 3 1/2 months, to read the Modern Library's best 100 novels (The boards list). If I have read the novel I am not re-reading it (Kiss it Faulkner, there is no way I am re-visiting a Light in August). This list made me feel entirely robbed from my high school lit classes. Most of the text that I digested in high school came from the book with the picture of the baseball player on it and consisted of various short stories by obscure unknown authors, or three page excerpts from more famous authors, I suppose the Jordan school district couldn't afford the copy rights. I have only read 5 of these books, three of these being way into my twenties. So I embark on this journey to become well read (it also doesn't hurt that I can accomplish this goal while lounging on the couch). Ulysses. Seth asked me what it was about, and much to my chagrin, I could not answer, but soon I will know, and when I find out, I will share it with you, as you can expect my posts to take on a much more pedantry air.
On that note, accomplishments two and three have me rubbing elbows with Lafayette's finest, the hobos. I am pretty sure that at any given point during the day, the entire homeless population of our town is either at the library or the plasma bank, and by January I hope to have a few new buddies who can teach me how to make a mean hobo chili.
Things are pretty dull here in Indiana, nothing really to report, Holly and Eric are coming to visit us for a few days on Sunday, which will be nice, because then we will get to really see all of the sights and tourist attractions of the Lafayette that you only visit when relatives are in town.....
Seth is putting his nose to the physics stone and is looking forward to graduating in a few months, or dreading it with the certainty of unemployment and eventual homelessness, it is hard to tell.

Shabbat Shalom ( aka a tribute to the big guy... Mike)

In honor of the Jewish new year, I am delighting you reader with a little treat. Over the course of the summer I received a Shabbat-o-gram in my mail box every Friday afternoon. These were from our Masada Unit Head Micheal (Big Mike). These little gems were so appreciated, that I saved them to share with the world, Enjoy!

First Week

Thank you for welcoming me to the Camp Livingston Family! I've had so much fun getting to know everyone and cannot wait to see how amazing this summer will be!
Shabbat Shalom,
Michael

Week Two
The start of the session has gone great
Lets continue to keep eating from a plate
Thank you for all of your hard work
I also have enjoyed some of your quirks
Lets continue to be a great team
And give our campers the summers of their dreams
Shabbat Shalom,
Michael

I have lost some of the poems, although I swear I saved them all, but I am not really sure of the order until the finale...

The summer is going by really fast
Make sure you take time to rest
It's been hot outside
Take your time and be a guide
Remember to try new things
and discover new mings
Remember to give it your all this week
and try not to be very very weak
Shabbat Shalom,
Micheal

The summer is beginning to come to a close
Please be sure to take home all your clothes
Please continue to give your campers a great experience
and do not stop running interference
I've loved working with all of you this summer
You do not want to end this summer on a bummer
I hope you have have a very enjoyable Shabbat
Let's not forget the lessons of cabbat
Shabbat Shalom,
Michael

I am so sad
I am going to become mad
The summer is coming to a close
Please don't leave any clothes
Why do our campers need to leave soon
Why are we going to be left with all this room
Thanks for all of the great work you have done
I have had so much fun
I hope I will see you all next year
I am going to shed a tear
Keep in touch as you go on your separate paths
Be sure to take lots of baths
Please call me and talk about your life
Don't leave and cut yourself with a knife
You have changed my life for the better
Please please please send me a letter
It's not goodbye, it's just lehitraot
Don't forget the song for hadaoat
Shabbat Shalom,
Michael

Shabbat Shalom Everyone!

The reality is setting in

I arrived in Chicago after 19 hours flight time, and 23 hours total travel time. It was so strange to jump back into American convenience and organization. It was about 8:00pm by the time I got through customs and then we had the two hour drive home (and the one hour time difference) getting us to Lafayette at about 11:00pm. I had visions of a luxurious bath, but instead plopped my dirty self down into bed and slept.
(The inevitable scrubbing did come the next morning).
It is so strange to go from this summer, or this last year I guess, of constant occupation, to having NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING to do. You would think that at least with this lull, would come a sense of relaxation, what with having no obligations and all, but there is this annoying little voice in the back of my head that says, "Enjoy it while it lasts, because soon you will be working at Walmart to pay off your student loans." I laugh at this now, but I am sure in a couple of months I will be begging to restock shelves. Oddly enough, I don't feel a sense of doom with the uncertainty of the next year, either everything is going to work itself out, or my brain is protecting me from the crippling anxiety that if I felt in it's entirety, would make my heart explode.
But there are still clothes to unpack, dogs to be walked and logistics of moving out of state for the first time in 18 years to be dealt with, not to mention the Lord of the Rings Marathon that I am planning for later today.... so I suppose I will be kept busy for the next few hours at least.