About a month ago, I got a link to a YouTube of a song called "From The Morning," by a singer/songwriter called Nick Drake. I had never heard the name before, or heard any of his songs. (As soon as I looked the name up, I commented to Flansburgh, who gave me the link; "He's not a 27 year old dead rock star, he was 26!" Flansburgh replied that he was just that awesome.)

I liked From the Morning on first hear, and downloaded it and two other songs, both of which I grew to like immensely. After I woke up from my cyborgization, I asked Dad to give me my iPod so I could listen to it. This is all a blur to me after the first one, but Dad says that I must have listened to it about 10 times before they took me out of the recovery room. I don't know where all the plays came from on my iPod, but that was probably it XD.

Because I liked the music so much, I told my dad that I wanted to get it legally instead of being a pirate. He had already taken care of that; Barnes and Noble was apparently having a sale on his CDs, and I got his three albums as a welcome home from cyborgization. I fell in love with more of his songs.

Now it's monthly mixtape time, and I sent my recipient a mix of my Nick Drake favorites. You take it too if you'd like.



This is From the Morning. Listen.

During band camp, I met two freshman boys through a bit of randomness. One, M, was short, curly-haired, and he played the trombone. I only learned his name and nothing else. The other, L, was tall, curly-haired, and played the trombone. I learned his name too. The next day, the tall one was wearing a shirt that said "I fart in your general direction." As soon as I saw that, I spouted off "Your mother was a hamster..." and he immediately followed with the next line. Because the fact that I had returned to the real world  from CTY had not sank in yet (still hasn't), I dashed forward and hugged him. He seemed okay with that, because he hugged me back. We started talking more for the rest of band camp, and into rehearsals.

Fast forward one month to this past Monday. I was trying to persuade L to get a facebook after rehearsal, but he was adamant that he would not be getting one now or in the foreseeable future. He mentioned that he had a DeviantArt, and I said "I have one of those!" I was about to ask him for the URL, but M asked, "So...are you two screwing each other yet?" I whacked M with my video camera, and after a bit of laughing about it, I all but forgot it had ever happened.

Today was the day of the first band competition. The rule for hanging out around the stadium is; you must always have a buddy or you will be forced to stay with a parent for the remainder of the competition. I intercepted L at the bus when everyone was putting their instruments away, and asked "Walk with me?" He walked and talked with me over half of the practice field when M caught up. M immediately got playfully shoved away by L, who didn't knwo that multiple-person buddy groups could exist. I explained this quickly to L, who apologized, but the damage was done.

"You shoved me and not her? I think that says a lot," M said. L and I each gave M a dirty look. "I still think you two are screwing each other, or you will be," M continued. Both of us yelled "NO!" but M didn't let up for the rest of the day, even after I had made the point that it would be a bad idea to shove a) a girl and b) someone who's perpetually off balance. Short of avoiding L entirely, which I didn't want to do because I like the guy, (with a lowercase l) there was nothing I could do.

I had told L about CTY previously, and I found out that if L wanted to, he could go next summer-he'd taken the SATs in 7th grade (like me) and scored higher than most seniors do (like me). I vowed to kidnap L and bring him to Lancaster next summer, because I thought he'd enjoy it immensely. However, that is beside the point. I realized today when I was talking to him on the bus that if I had met him in the Alcove instead of at band camp, I would probably be just as good, if not better, friends than I am with him now. But that is what we would be; friends. L is one of those quirky, nerdy people that aren't afraid to be unabashedly themselves that I am so drawn to, but it's not a romantic attraction in any way shape or form. It could take that shape, it has before, (see earlier post: Laundromat-also there were two others, one requited) but in most cases, that attraction manifests itself in the desire to be friends with these people.

M and a few other people teased me and L about a "band couple waiting to happen" for the rest of the day, and I couldn't hug L when I left because I knew M would spout off again. This close type of friendship with L that I have experienced with other people, regardless of gender, at CTY, may be impossible in my high school setting. It makes me sad.

I randomly heard it at the end of fourth period physics coming from the Italian class down the hall and started singing quietly. A girl in the back of the class was doing the same thing, and knew all of the lyrics too.

I've never spoken to her and didn't get to after class. I wonder if she learned the lyrics from the same tacky singing plastic moon that was on my aunt's door until it broke.

So, today I walked by a laundromat, and caught a strong whiff of hot air and fabric softener. In fifteen years of life, I have never once been inside a Laundromat. They smell like safe places to me, but there could easily be pedophiles that don't have washing machines in every Laundromat you come across. But I've always associated the smell of fabric softener with safety since I knew how it smelled. This may possibly be why.

I first saw him at nerd camp on the second day, but didn't speak to him because he was 20 feet away, carrying a bass case. He was all in black except for a rather colorful tie, and had very long brown hair. A closer look at him revealed that he was a dead ringer for a young David Gilmour, except he was a bit taller and heavier. I, being the Floydian that I am, think that young Gilmour was extremely pretty. So the next day I talked to the guy, telling him my name and that he looked like David Gilmour. (I left out the 'I think David Gilmour was sexy' part.) He told me his name. He was from Virginia and he thought Pink Floyd was awesome, but he was a jazz person. I talked to him more over the next few days, and I found out that he was in marching band and was pretty much the only liberal in a town of conservatives in the middle of nowhere. His approval rating went way up.

During the first dance, I slow danced with him once, (my first slow dance!) and found out that he smelled like fabric softener. He explained to me later that no one at home used it, so he used Franklin and Marshall's free supply liberally. He was taller and wider than me, so whenever he hugged or danced with me, I'd get a smell of it. In his arms during "Nightswimming," I felt extremely safe. I had known him for only three days, but apparently this was the way things happened at nerd camp. The next day, during the second dance, I couldn't find him during the first slow song, and decamped to the balcony of the ASFC a few songs later. He found me up there, and told me that he had been looking for me during "Iris." I promised him the next slow one, but wanted to stay where I was in case the next song was a rave. Next song turned out to be "In Your Eyes," and I danced with him to my favorite canon song, on the ASFC balcony. The rest of the night is a blur in my mind.

Over the next few days, we spoke little. He was drawing away from me, and I had no idea why. We remained friends, and I lent him a dress for Second Saturday, but I felt like it was a different guy than the one I had danced with on the balcony. I found out why as soon as I got home; he was in a relationship already with a girl at home. I was angry for a while, but later understood why he hadn't told me. I wish I had known before. Now, it leads me to wonder-why ever did he dance with me, or act somewhat non-platonically towards me? Was I just a pretty girl at camp that he danced with because he could, or did he actually feel something for me? Those are questions that I will probably never know the answers to. All I know is; if he actually did feel something for the four days, it was the first time any feelings of mine, however inconsequential they are in the grand scheme of things, were reciprocated.

If you're reading this, and you know who you are, I have no regrets, and hope that. Tell the girlfriend that a random girl from camp sends her regards, and she's a lucky girl. And, if I ever become a director, and a scene in my movies features a couple dancing on a balcony to Peter Gabriel, thank you for the inspiration.

This movie has high levels of win.

Koyaanisqatsi, Hopi for "life out of balance," is a motion picture essay about modern life and how screwed we are. It's telling us that basically, we're all hot dogs on a conveyor belt and we're all headed for lives of hurrying around, never quite having a place to go. It may sound pretentious, and I suppose it is, but it was nice to watch an environmental caution/human excess warning with no cute robots. It's also one of the most beautifully shot movies I've ever seen. The Pruitt-Igoe and final sequences got tears in my eyes from both content and visuals.

One must not casually watch Koyaanisqatsi. Preferably, watch it in hi-def and full screen so there are no distractions. The musical score betrays almost nothing of what is happening on screen. There is no dialogue. Blink and you'll miss some shots. Hopefully when whoever clocks on the link watches it, they have an hour and a half free. I didn't, and had to watch it over two days.

 

Thank you to flansburgh38 for bringing it to my knowledge, and CFM is quite awesome for knowing about it.

PS: Eric Whitacre for my choir is a bigger lie than the cake.

So, today a member of what I can safely call my favorite band in the world died. This member was the one I also held in the highest regard of the four, as he seemed to have the fewest ego issues. And, he was the keyboardist, which always piques my interest. I'm talking about Rick Wright.



I own every Pink Floyd album except for The Division Bell, and a whole lot of RoIOs as well. The most played Pink Floyd song on my iPod is a track off Atom Heart Mother entitled "Summer '68." In 15 years of life, I've only met two people that know it without me telling them of it. Wright composed this song, and I play it on the piano A LOT. (when I don't have a broken arm.) The first piece out of my fingers when my arm is nonbroken  and does not epically fail at piano will be that.

I have to make this a short one, because I have to go to bed. Nevertheless, Rick will be missed by me and I'm sure, many others. Shine on.

OK, so I probably can't march for the entire marching season because of my cyborg therapy and recovery time. But! I have thought up an epic idea that will keep me busy and maybe  even help get me into college, and it is called "Clockwork Butterflies," at least for now. I have started filming a documentary which may turn out to be a miniseries, or a miniseries that may turn out to be a documentary, about my Color Guard.

There are seventeen girls, including me, in color guard, so there is a diverse range of personalities, even with the ones who don't like being interviewed. My captain is awesome, the guard instructor is a complete diva whose favorite line is "I'll kill you, *pining*," and our show is amazing this year. It'll definitely be finished and on the field by Giants Stadium competition (unlike last year. One word: disaster) All the girls are open to being acknowledged as Guard members in the documentary, so I won't have to blur faces out. And I can do that now: I HAVE ADOBE PREMIERE PRO! o.0

This documentary also serves another purpose; it'll stop my mother and father from pressuring me to outright quit color guard. Why do parents think that they know what'll make their kids "happy?" I'm happiest with the Guard, holding my camera, or dancing (no matter that my parents don't want me to dance), or having fun with the people I love.

Well, they put me in choir. But they took me out of French WITHOUT putting me in a language, so I now have no languages, something that colleges won't like at all. The parentals are pissed and are planning to yell at guidance tomorrow, but I know what guidance is going to do to make them happy...they're going to pop me right out of choir and put me back in French, where the teacher is supposed to SUCK.

ARRRRRGGGHHH. They're doing Eric Whitacre in choir!  (For the ignorant, Eric Whitacre is the closest thing to a musical orgasm that I've heard in 15 years of life. Link will happen later.)

How can they make me leave a musical orgasm?

I realized today; I haven;t been on deviantART in a long time. If you want to see some of my photography, which I'm uploading there right now, go here.

I'm going to have a lot of fun clearing out all the SPAM...

No film spaces available, even though the teacher told me I'd be in. I have no gym first semester because of my arm, so I'm going to ask if I can use the film room during that period.But I'll only be able to edit my own footage; I won't be actually learning anything.

They're also pushing me not to switch languages to be in, honors mixed choir. There is a spot in a women's choir available, but I REALLY wanted mixed choir for a number of reasons, among them being that I generally like SATB music better than SSA, and a lot of the girls who didn't like singing but could were placed there. I don't want to be the standout, who actually likes to sing and is the first one to stand for warmups, among that crowd. I want to be the one who likes to sing among those who want to sing.


I'm not very optimisti.

So, it comes a time when I must return to school, and the school guidance counselors have handily screwed up my schedule so I have none of my electives. so, tomorrow my father and I are going to the school, and I am going to play the part of the sad little girl with her arm in a metal brace. I really hope it works 1. Because I really want to take the film class which freshmen aren't allowed to take, and 2. Because I made into honors mixed choir, which sings really awesome songs. my only quibble about that is that the choir is going to be too big this year, because MN, choir director, is a teddy bear and couldn't say no to anyone who wanted to join. That resulted in us having 60 people accepted. A bunch of people quit in protest. I hope that it's better than last year, when I was in the freshman choir. where nobody actually wanted to sing. also, someone that I'd rather avoid that was threatening to join couldn't fit it into his schedule, so I'm happy about that. (MN has never heard him sing; he probably be kicked out once he was heard if MN wasn't such a pushover.)

three days till school starts. Hopefully will be better than last year.

I lifted my arm for the first time last night.

I also slept through the night for the first time since last Tuesday.

I can carry small objects.

My appetite is back.

I can pull my own zippers and button my own buttons.

I can now do the Caramelldansen again. Well, sort of. Hold the DMD for now, but hopefully soon.

And I typed this with both hands.

LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ LULZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


But what scares me?

She also won Miss Congeniality.

Okay, so no matter what party wins the election this November, is going to be something new in the White House. It will be a minority with Barack, And a woman with McCain.

I don't know much about Sarah Palin, but I do know that she's fairly new at politics. Her stances are not very clear on many things, but she is antiabortion and opposes gay marriage. Those are two things which I care about very much, I hope that abortion and gay marriage are never banned throughout the nation. As for the other issues, she could just come up with any variation of Republican opinion and not be accused of hypocrisy, as she had never said anything on it before.

Playing the gender card is a bit of a cheap shot,but it could swing both ways. Republicans may be uncomfortable with a woman so high up in the administration and not vote for McCain, but then again, Condoleezza Rice. Undecided "feminists" could swing towards Palin, and Palin could also play the disability card because she has a son with Down's syndrome.

I don't know what McCain is trying to prove by this. Is he trying to prove that the Republican Party has changed and is more accepting of "minorities?" Women are not minorities FYI. Women can also be crazy  for a cause as shown by Shirley Phelps Roper. does he intend to make Palin a puppet with a few good campaign points? That would lose him even more respect than he's lost now. Palin has the mother card, the disability card, the gender card, the blue-collar card, and she claims she's a feminist.

My thoughts are unorganized right now but that might be a result of all painkillers I'm on. ( yes I'm home from the hospital, yes my oarm fucking hurts, no I do not want to talk about it, that's why I'm talking about politics!)

Listen. Just listen. PS: Stole the "song cheating at life" concept from EJM. Next post, I'll be a cyborg. For real. (They put off my operation today, so I went home. Have to get up at 430 AM tomorrow.)

This "calm down" thing isn't working. AT ALL. So I'm going to make another list, of stuff I'm looking forward to doing once I'm out of the hospital, and a cyborg.

• Telling people I'm a cyborg (thanks flansburgh38 for coming up with that term in reference to me. I'm using that!)
• Typing legibly and quickly
• Playing the piano (I was arranging End of the Tour on the day I broke my arm. If you do not know what I'm talking about, listen.)

Sorry, only 30 second preview.

• Doing this.

• And this.

• Making AMVs.
• Carrying heavy stuff like tripods, which means I can start production on my two pre-production movies.
  
• Spinning a flag
• Marching in marching band
• Clasping my own bra
• Taking actual showers
• Getting my hair dyed again.
• Having good posture
• Being out of this sling
• Ski season
• eating Nutella
• Wearing non-baggy shirts some of the time
• Not being stared at
• Not being called by grandmas hourly (I'm an atheist, but I have two Jewish grandmas. And that means...I HAVE JEWISH GRANDMAS.)
• Talking about things to these grandmas and others other than whether my health has changed in the past hour
• Finding out who really cares.

Here's a link to my delicious profile. What I'm mainly doing for that is using stumble upon  and then tagging. I got a few useful tools on that.

http://delicious.com/annodamydal

Hospital tomorrow. Very scared. 

For the past 10 years, I have had a recurring nightmare involving me waking up in the middle of surgery. Unlike most dreams, Where the pain is not real and you know it's a dream, the pain is real in this one. A blue eyed Dr. stands over me, and asks his assistant to hold me down, and I wake up sweating.

The only time I was ever in the hospital for surgery is when I was five, and I had my adenoids taken out.   I recently discovered a photo of me in my hospital bed. I am five years old and Sesame Street is playing on the television in the background. The Dr. standing next to me has very blue eyes. I am convinced that I woke up in the middle of my adenoids surgery, and the dream is the memory that I retain. I have asked my parents about this numerous times. They deny it.

I have always managed to recover from this dream because I knew that I was not going into the hospital anytime soon. However, now that is not the case. I have to go into the hospital within a week to have a metal plate inserted into my arm, so I will be able to straighten it again. It will be much bigger surgery than adenoids. I am terrified that I will wake up in the middle of surgery again, or something worse will happen. This surgery is not commonly performed on 15 year old girls. It is usually performed on little old ladies.  In addition, lots of surgeons and doctors are on vacation or at conferences right now. The orthopedist says that if surgery is not performed within a week then a scar will start healing in the bone, and I may never be able to straighten my arm again without intensive physical therapy. I'm quite scared.

Because of this new development-the break is more serious than we thought-my father is becoming very protective. He won't even let me walk 5 minutes from my house because he is scared that I might fall and have no one to help. As a result, I may not be able to go to the CTY reunion, which is one thing I wanted to do before CTY/surgery.

I'm going to go listen to canon now.

Well, I am returning from a family reunion (Communist side, not Catholic) that has been happening for the past week in Cape Cod, and while I have been here, I taught my cousins how to play Silent Football. Silent Football is a very complicated game played at CTY, that is totally understood by very few. I taught my cousins the game to the best of my knowledge, and over the week we had some funny, albeit small (there were 6 of us), games. The only rule needed to know to understand this entry is that at the end of the game, the person with the most penance points has to perform penance. For the whole fishcake on Silent Football, go here.

Today was the last day on the Cape, and the only day it was warm enough for swimming in our cousin's lake. I suggested a game of Silent Football, and we gathered in a Universe made of floats. My brother was the fastest to accumulate penance points because of excessive heinous pronoun use and speaking out of turn, so the non-losers gathered to decide what his penance would be. We decided that one of my cousins would swim about 100 feet out into the lake with a pool noodle, and my brother would have to swim out, touch the noodle, and swim back...naked.

My brother did it with some objection, but then swam straight for shore to tattle to my mom. I watched from the water until my mom called to me,

"He enjoyed it!"