180° SOUTH

I just finished watching 180° SOUTH.
It was like watching the part of me that is my hopes, dreams, and imagination separate from my body and than leave for six months to make this documentary. I mean this was it. This was the real. Watching this film brought me back to some of the best moments of my life. It was like I was standing on the edge of Bond Cliff or Mt. Zealand again, miles and miles away from the nearest road or other mark of civilization. It was like I was summitting Mt. Katahdin after four years of impatient waiting and anticipation.

Therein lies the problem. While I was remembering and reflecting upon this high points of my life, the people in 180° SOUTH were living them, day by day. They weren't just on a weekend section hike or on a quick two pitch climb. They were living with nothing but vague destinations and a concrete understanding of what makes life worth living.

I've teetered back and forth between the points of grasping and rejecting this concept. There have been days where I was more than ready to drop everything and go. Maybe I'd finally hike the AT, maybe I'd drive out to California. Who knows. People might say that these impulses are rash and irresponsible, but I argue that the only thing rash about it is that we have so many physical and temporary barriers that prevent us from doing it. We are used to lifestyles of comfort, of security, low risk living coupled with mediocre reward. I'll admit that I get pretty well settled into that as well... But everytime I hit the trail I get that itch again. I get that nagging at the back of my head that says "just go for it! What's stopping you? What is really stopping you?" Sooner or later I'm gonna start listening to that voice. Sure, sure, might as well get college out of the way first, but once that's done...

"The best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you didn't even think to ask."
- Jeff Johnson

Indifferent

We're halfway through summer, and it's turned out to be pretty much what I expected: A myriad of drinking, certain herbal drugs, and watching way too many bad movies.

It's not like I'm trying to be above any of that: believe me, I'm not. I have no problem doing it, for the most part. We engage recreationally once in a while and at the end of the day everything is totally fine. We're in good health, young, and we've got the world ahead of us. The world and all of it's opportunities is at our disposal. But maybe that's the problem.

I've got two sides pulling at me. Part of me, the more balanced and perhaps sane side, is content with this wait. It knows that waiting is what we have to do sometimes. Soon enough I'll have schoolwork, internships, paid positions, marching band, and a million other programs that I'll be climbing my way to the top in. The other half of me doesn't quite agree with this. It's impatient. It's the side that drives me to compulsively compose 3 hours of music without stop, paying perfect attention to detail and striving for perfection. It's the side that hates all the drinking and hates all the fun nights we have, not because of health reasons or regretful decisions, but because of the opportunity cost of the lost time that comes with it. Could I be working towards a more efficient goal here? What else could I be doing with my summer? I'm split between a triathlon training program, 1.5 hours a day of trumpet practice, and a decent paying job, which by all means should be more than enough. It's not that I need to fill the physical void that time seems to leave throughout the summer. It's that I need to be moving. I'm moving horizontally instead of vertically; moving, just not in the right direction. Of course, I'm not moving in the wrong direction either. We're all just moving, letting ourselves become one with the fast fleeting days of summer and rolling in and out with tides of time. I guess that's why I'm so sick of it. I want challenge. I want to be able to sit back at the end of the day and say "well, I made the best out of this day, and look where I am not" and then simply smile and relax. That's what I'll never understand about myself. After all, who ever thought that the biggest inhibitor could be freedom itself?

Here we go again...

It's been about a month since I finished my 90 day ordeal with Tony Horton. You know, this guy:


That's done. History. Time for the next level.


Trust me - I remember how bad things got when I was doing P90X. My eating habits got veryyyyyy unhealthy, and pretty much everything about me started to get out of wack. I know, I know. But this is going to be different. I'm in a much better place mentally right, and I'm really ready to do this. I've maintained 90% of the results I got with P90X in the month following it's closure, but I want to push myself further. I'm talking something like 6, 7 percent body fat. Something I've never even come CLOSE to in my life. This will hurt. This will suck. Hell, I'll probably end up puking a few times. But that's what it takes, and I couldn't be more excited.

See you in 60 days...

- Connor

Radical Face - Ghost

Radical Face - "Ghost"
March 2007
Morr Music Records

Track listing

1. "Asleep on a Train" - 2:01
2. "Welcome Home, Son" - 4:48 (Emeral Cooper on piano and Mark Hubbard on snare drum)
3. "Let the River in" - 5:07
4. "Glory" - 6:13 (Alex Kane on bass)
5. "The Strangest Things" - 4:26 (Alex Kane on bass)
6. "Wrapped in Piano Strings" - 3:38
7. "Along the Road" - 4:18
8. "Haunted" - 4:44
9. "Winter is Coming" - 4:24
10. "Sleepwalking" - 4:43
11. "Homesick" - 3:44

I'm selfish about this album. I want people to listen to it to experience it for themselves, yes, but I also want them to listen to it so that I can FINALLY have someone understand what I meant when I said that this album is "a summer soundtrack, a way to find yourself, and the audio embodiment of most of the emotions I've ever felt". Well not most. That might be a little extreme. Nonetheless, however, I give you my word on this one. It will change your life. It's got a great folkish accent to it which makes a lot of the interludes fantastic, but not to the point where you get the feeling that you are listening to strait up folk music, good or bad (sorry, Bon Iver). "Glory" and "Welcome Home" are seriously the #1 and #2 most played songs on my iTunes right now, it's absurd! Just listen to them, or go longboarding to them if you have the opportunity. I first found these guys in the "Western Sessions" youtube series by OriginalSkateboards, which is a pretty sweet longboarding channel on youtube. Anyway. Go listen. I've got finals to deal with.

Connor: 1, Tony Horton: 0

I did it. Holy freakin crap, I actually did it. Despite all the complaining, bitching, and breakdowns, I managed to survive and successfully compete P90X.

So what can I say? First of all, I owe an incredible thanks to everyone that helped me out on this. And not just the people who worked out with me and helped me going day to day (Anthony, Dano, Patrick, etc). I'm sure many of you probably got real fed up with my complaining and talking about it constantly. I realize this. Please not that, despite your annoyance with me, you were doing me a huge service. There were several points where I was ready to quit, b/c I wasn't satisfied with the results I was seeing and I felt alone in what I was doing. So all that bitching I did was sort of my way to get through it. Yes, I know it wasn't the most mature thing I could have possible done, but hell - it worked, didn't it?

Results! This is the fun part. I regret that I won't be able to post my day 90 pictures right away, because I lost my camera at spring weekend and need to post new ones. but I think the changes from day 0 to day 60 are still pretty significant.

And by the way:

Weight last October (before I started GRAB workouts): 186 lbs

Weight at the beginning of P90X: 175 lbs

Current Weight: 154 lbs

That's right. 32 lbs. Gone. I also lost about 6 or 7 inches on waist overall, and tonnnnssss of fat everywhere, which means I need to to get all new clothes. But I'm not complaining. Afterall, this isn't the end. I've definitely set up a lifelong mission here. I'm done with all the fast food, junk food, and late night binges that I used to have. And trust me, I had that pretty bad. I've learned a ton about the way metabolism works, about the way what I eat and do effects my health, about pretty much everything (thanks again patrick).

So here are the pictures. Don't laugh at the poses. I just did what Tony Horton told me to do.

Day 0











































































Day 30 (ish)



































































Day 60 (ish, more like Day 70 or so)






































































And now a Comparison Shot:































So that's that.

It's certainly an interesting way to look back on my freshman year. I mean let's face it, overall, it's been not much short of a disaster. Everyone knows my whole thing with Gettysburg (see an earlier post for that) but aside from that I've been dealing with the fun situation of having nobody to hang out with, mood swings, frustration with the failure to get a job, depression, etc. But I've countered it with therapy, more school, music, and what you've seen on the above. So what. My first year of college wasn't what I expected. I didn't make a million friends, I didn't fall in love, I didn't find my calling. But I found myself, and I finally began to accomplish what I've wanted to do throughout my entire life. Am I there yet? Not even close. But after many, many, MANY failed attempts, I finally got on the right track. And I owe that to all of you.

So overall? Not a bad freshmen year, all things considered.

Nope

Ok, so I'm laying off the drinking for a bit. Still down to party, but spring weekend was definitely eye opening.

10 Inexpensive Short Notice Summer Ideas

Last summer was awesome, but you have to admit: We really didn't do much. Well, there was Katahdin and North Caroline, but between those two events there was just a lot of hanging around South Windsor, doing absolutely nothing. And since I'm sitting in a 3 hour sociology class, I'm going to come up with a huge list of stuff for us to do this summer! I'll try to include week long epic things like NC and long hikes, but I'm also going to try to come up with a bunch of 1 and 2 day trips that will either be free or very cheap. So anyway.

1. Block Island, Rhode Island.

Description: Block Island is a small island off the coast of Rhode Island. It's beautiful when the weather and nice, and it's got a good mix of shopping, beaches, and sight seeing to do.

Length: Day Trip or possible over night if we choose to camp somewhere near the island on the night before.

Distance from South Windsor: 3 hours 18 minutes / 111.49 miles. I'm pretty sure that the time includes the Ferry Ride.

Expected Costs:
- 11 $ for Round Trip Ferry Ticket
- Food
- Gas
- Shopping $$

Things to do:
- Shopping (That's you, Sarah George)
- Biking (There are some hills that are a few miles long. It's really quite incredible)
- Longboarding
- Hiking
- The Beach



2. The White Mountains: Franconia Range,
Littleton, NH.

Description: One of the two "epic" hiking areas in NH, with the other being the presidential range near it. Doesn't even need a description.

Length: 1 really really long day, 2-3 days if we choose to backpack or camp at a campground near there.

Distance from South Windsor. 3 hours 39 minutes / 218.76 miles

Expected Costs
- Gas
- Food

Things to do:
- Hike (probably the loop we always did in high school)
- Backpack?
- Awesome picture sessions?





3. Watch Hill Beach
151 Bay Street Westerly, RI

Description: We've been here twice before (after prom and after reception), but there's a lot there that we haven't checked out yet. We've yet to be there during the open season though...

Length: 1 Day

Distance from SW: 1 hour 36 minutes / 78.29 miles

Expected Costs
- Parking (Either 5$ or 20$ per car, dont' remember.)
- Food
- Gas

Things to do:
- Go to the Beach
- Explore the Fort there
- Explore the town! This is something that we've actually never done, and I want to go there sometime during the summer so that we can go when everything is open. We'd have to leave really really really early for this.

4. New York City

Description: Come on. It's NYC. Enough said.

Distance from South Windsor: 2 hours 34 minutes / 125.16 miles. That, however, is if we drive. You can get round trip train train tickets though...

Length: 1 Day, possibly more? If anyone has any family in the area than that could be a possibility, but I'm down for a get there early and leave real late type of day.

Expected Costs
- Train Ticket (20-30 Dollar Round Trip)
- Food
- Shopping Money

Things to do
- Longboarding in Central Park!
- Concert?
- Explore the city
- Walk around and find stuff to do
- It's NYC, I don't think we even really need a reason, do we?


5. Build a Trojan Horse

Description: Ok, I know this sounds like pretty much the dumbest idea you've ever heard of, but I totally want to do it.

Distance from SW: We can do this one at home!

Length: This is probably a multiday project. But an awesome one at that.

Expected Costs: Materials. Probably no more than 5 to 10 $ per person.

Things to do: Ok, now I know this idea sounds strange... but that's why it's awesome! Here's what I'm thinking. I don't know how yet, but we could build a wooden frame out of wood we buy/find/have in my basement. PVC pipe could also be used. Sounds like a lot but it really wouldn't be. After that we'd have to acquire a ton of cardboard to actually make the horse look like... a horse. I'm sure we could find that by going around to stores and asking for supplies. Sure, the horse would probably look awful, but hey this will still be awesome. I know it sounds dumb, but I think it would be way cooler, and definitely way more memorable than sitting around playing video games in my basement for a few days or something.


6. Dart Hill Park Cookout or Possible Pig Roast?

Description: Get everyone together and do a cookout at Dart Hill Park. Or at Wichkam park! If we got enough people (20 people at 5$ each) we could try to pull off a pig roast at somebodies house... maybe invite families or something? I feel like that would be a cool thing for us to do.


Distance: Home
Length: 1 Day

Expected Costs: 5 to 7 $ for food and stuff

Things to do: It's a cookout. You cook. Out. and then you eat. The End. Roll on snaredrum. Everybody laugh.



7. Lake Compounce

Description: This is probably the most expensive thing on there, but I love this place. And it's awesome if you go for the entire day... Boulderdash at night is sick.

Distance From SW: 40 minutes / 27.48 miles

Length: 1 Day

Expected Costs: 35$ for tickets, money for other things if you feel the need.

Things to do: Ride roller coasters. All day long.


8. Camping!

Description: Let's go car camping! I know how much some of us love to backpack, but I figured if we do this than we'll have a chance to relax and include more people who aren't inclined to pooping in the woods for a week and eating gross noodles all the time.

Distance from SW: Variable. There are tons of great places to go, but there are a couple free campgrounds that we could hit up within 45 minutes driving distance.

Length - 2 to 3 days

Expected Costs: 10-15$ Per Person for Food.

Things to do: Play music, build fires, sleep outside under the stars, cook food, find lakes, go swimming, pretty much anything.



9. Newport, RI

Description: This place is sick. A lot to see, a lot to do.

Distance from SW: 2 hours 2 minutes / 91.15 miles

Length: 1 long day, possibly spread over two days.


Expected Costs:
- Gas
- Food money
- Shopping money

Things to do:
- Check out the mansions
- Cliff walk trail
- Walk around the town and check out shops and stuff
- Longboard!
- Beach (is there a beach there?)



10. Go Cliff Jumping

Description: I'm sort of sick of going to the same place, so I want to go try to find all (or at least some of) the best places in CT to go cliff jumping. After all, the trip and adventure to get there is more than half of the fun anyway, right?

Distance From SW: >1.5 Hours

Length: 1 Day (Multiple Times)

Expected Costs: Gas. That's pretty much it.

Things to do: Find Cliff. Jump off Cliff. Repeat.
I know we've had some good places that we've been going , but I want to find some new places to hit up. It'll give us more opportunities to see more places and make the most of our summer.







11. Ultimate Frisbee (College Version)

Description: Play Ultimate, but actually follow any sort of rules/plays/anything.

Distance from SW: In SW

Length: All Summer?

Expected Costs: None

Things to do: So I know we play ultimate all the time, but I really want to play the way some of us have played in college. I know some people are going to complain and say we're being "stiff" about it, and that we should just go with it, but eh. I































I'll continue to update this throughout the end of the semester, as I'm hoping to get 20-30 things on here, and while we don't have to do all of them, I want to try to do a lot. I want to actually do stuff this summer. Yes, I know we'll all be working and busy this summer, but I think some people have been over thinking how busy they will be. Also, most of these are free or very cheap, so there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do some. We've got from roughly May 15th to August 15th - Thats 90 Days. Even if you work 80 of those days (which is totally unrealistic in every sense), that's still 10 days, 10 possible trips. Let's make this happen!

Keep checking for more updates!

- Connor