Long Overdue

Hi Everyone,

So today will be E-Mail catchup day, until I get sick of it and put a ton of them off like I have been doing for a year. Anyways, I apologize for not being the best about being in touch post-Colby, but it has been nice to see some of you in the last few months since I've been back in the states. Brief update for those who I haven't talked to. I moved back from Edinburgh in September and have been living in Portland since. I've been hanging out with Rachael, Charlie, Jamie, Leora, Dave, and a few other Colby people a lot, which has been nice. Currently I am employed at the LL Bean warehouse in Freeport as a seasonal monogrammer (yes, the guy who sews your initials on the backpacks and tote bags...) It is pretty monotonous (no pun intended) work but the people are friendly and I'm making money for now. I would reccomend a bean bote-and-tote with a personalized touch for anyone on your holiday shopping list by the way, but stick with the traditional ones, these new fancy coloured print ones are not only ugly but also a bigger bitch to sew on. Anyways, besides that I've just been hanging out in Portland, had a nice visit to NY where I saw too many Colby people and for my few sober hours was thoroughly intimidated by a smelly city (ok it's not that bad). I also had a ridiculous visit to New Haven during which Taylor, Rebeccah, Goldring, and I (along with tay and becs friends/family) proceeded to drink all day after my lack of sleep in NY the night before, it was a fun doghead-ish tailgate party without the snow and in nice warm weather.

Ok, I'm realizing that this is getting excessively long (and I've used way too many parentheses). Anyways, also in new news, I am moving to switzerland for 3+ months in the beginning of January to teach history in the swiss alps to english speak 7-8 grade students on a "winter term". It sounds pretty much like my dream job, teaching history, living in the alps, and, ohh yeah, I get to ski ever afternoon. So I'm pretty excited about that but also a little frantic trying to see people, many of whom I haven't seen since I've been home, before I leave again. So, I hope I can see many of you if your in or around Maine/New Hampshire over the holidays! Let me know if your up for some skiing in NH over new years, or any other time, I'll be around. I may have to make an emergency trip to NY to get a visa, so I'll let that portion of you know if I make it down there. Either way, I'd at least love to hear from some of you before I go, so give me a call if you're keen, my new number, for the next month, is 207 400 9106!

Hope all is well with everyone.

Brian

I Want to be There!

Tay,
Where is this, and how can I join? That's ridiculous, and I want a flock of ducks to be my entourage wherever I go. Imagine if I showed up at a ski race with a flock of ducks to chase me down the trail... Or maybe I could give the ducks a tour of Colby... Or maybe I could just have a bunch of follow me around NYC. Do you think they're allowed on the subway?

I think that you will appreciate this toast, I'm not sure about anyone else...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDpfRYy2RsY

-TK

Shalom

My name's Dave.  Long time reader first time contributor.  Some of you know that I'm living in Portland right now.  There's a pretty good Colby community here which is nice, even if Mr. Sweeney and Mr. Goldring are too sweet to hang out with me.

After cooking at the restaurant in the airport for a few months I have moved up in the culinary world to Sea Dog Brewing Company.  If any of you have been to the one in Topsham its basically the same restaurant except that this one is located near the Maine Mall and has a lovely view of the highway and a furniture store instead of being on the water.  My days here are numbered though as I have found out that in February I will be going to Israel for a five month Hebrew immersion program.  I will be living on a Kibbutz (that's a collective farm, Aditya) relatively close to both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.  My time there will be split between Hebrew classes and working.  I don't know what kind of work they will give me but its possible that I will be working in the petting zoo.

I am thinking about taking the month of January off from work to get ready for my trip and I will probably try to travel around a little bit and visit with people.  In the off chance that any of you would like to see me this is your last chance.  Ever.

I hope everyone is healthy and happy.

Dave

Snow

Toast, congrats on knocking up the pineapple. I hope it is the beginning of a fruitful relationship... Sorry for that. Anyhow, snow has come to Colorado early this year. Looks like this storm will easily eclipse a foot (I'm hopeful) in downtown Denver, and has already dropped multiple feet on parts of the mountains. That means all of you should come visit to build forts and snowmen and the like. Hope all is well wherever all of you may find yourselves.

Jamie

Scrappy Jr. is Pregnant!

It's finally happened! Scrappy Jr., my beloved pineapple plant, has become pregnant with his second pineapple!

This marks a momentous occasion: It is the first time any pineapple plant I've owned has produced a pineapple of its own volition. Scrappy Sr. (RIP) only produced the one it had growing when I bought it from the store. Scrappy Jr. produced the one it had growing when Jess gave it to me, and now it's having another. Scrappy III, the plant I've grown from the crown of Scrappy Jr's first pineapple, is alive and well, and I am confident that it will become pregnant soon too.

This is going to take a lot of patience because these fruits don't grow quickly, especially in Aroostook County, but I am stoked to have a new addition to my pineapple plantation. I'm not sure what it's name will be yet. I don't think I can call it Scrappy IV because it's not a descendant of III. Maybe I'll call it Aditya????

I'll take pictures soon, but right now my camera battery is charging, so we'll have to wait...

In other news, it's been snowing lately, and for the second year in a row, I got my first ski in on Oct 22. It's raining now, and the skiing will be gone tomorrow. I've made the most of the last three days, though, skiing four times. My parents were event able to get a ski in...

Oh yeah, my parents came up to visit last week. It was really great to show them around, and they definitely got a kick out of all the crazy Acadians. I taught both parents to shoot a biathlon rifle. It was pretty funny to watch my mom holding a big gun. She looked truly absurd. My papa decided to make friends with the Acadians by hauling wood with them, which was a truly inspired idea. They all seemed to love him for it, and in the end they threw us a special dinner, complete with Acadian Chicken Stew (which I adore, and know I'll never perfect because it simply isn't in my blood) and ployes. They left today, and although it was awesome to have them here, it will be nice to have my little apartment to myself again. I think they will be happy to be home as well. They were chagrinned, to say the least, when they found out their big fall vacation would not only be cold, but snowy. At least there isn't snow in the driveway in Steamboat yet.

Now it's time for laundry, and a nap.

Love and Adventures,
Toast

With Paper Clip for Comparison

Doesn't look like I've got any award winners in this bunch

Not Ready for the County Fair... Yet!

Hey Everyone,
Happy Fall. The leaves here are beautiful, and I just got back from a good run. Life is busy right now, but it's also going really well. I had a great time at the USSA cross-country coaches conference in Minneapolis. I got to visit Big Dan and John Swain, and I did a lot of great networking. I was tickled by the fact that I was on a "business trip" in a big city, so I used lots of words like networking and management. Noteworthy moments include visiting my first strip club... where we were also the only white people and getting set up at a bar by the head coach for the US Ski Team! It was sweet.

I was also able to visit Colby a bit this fall although, unfortunately, not when any of you were there. It's carrying on without us, but it definitely misses us. Foss has gone seriously downhill I hear. They aren't even open on weekends now. Oh how I miss Foss Brunch!

The other reason I'm writing today is because I have finished harvesting the last of the vegetables from my garden. It was not ceremonious (though I did thank the powers that be for the bounty, if you can call it that). It was however, a good nod to the ceremony they call potato harvest here. Harvest Break just ended, and the kids all went back to school today. For the next week or two people will scavenge the potatoes the harvesters missed from the fields. I will participate if I find a good companion. There are also a few apples left waiting to be picked from trees here and there. After that, they ground here in the Saint John Valley will not bear more food until next year. Mothers are at work canning and filling root cellars, and I look forward to a few charity jars of pickled veggies in the next month. I'm almost out of the jams that were bestowed upon me when the berry picking was good.
My garden, although I cared for it lovingly, did not yeild that much food. It sent some sugar snap peas my way and some lettuce early in the summer. I had about a pound of green beans and even several thumb-sized cucumbers. I added the cukes to a batch of pickles I made from some legitimate sized cucumbers that I got at a farm stand.
Finally, today I picked my carrots. It was time because I gave up weeding a few weeks ago, and grass was threatening to over-run the entire patch. My carrots are true baby carrots. They are prettier and healthier and sweeter and better for the environment than those guilt-laden "baby carrots" that were lathed down from the real thing in a factory somewhere. However, I was not trying to grow baby carrots. They, like the baby cucumbers, were simply a function of the crappy soil I planted in. Lesson learned: soil quality is clutch. I have a good batch of compost brewing, and next year I plan to have better soil and vegetables that would at least hold their own at the fair. I don't need to win, but I don't want runts again either.

Lastly, I have the preliminary results from my VO2Max test back. It looks really good. I scored over 80, which is right up there with the best in the world. The average male around our age is in the mid 40's, and the highest ever recorded is 96 (interestingly, achieved by the greatest Nordic skier ever). What this means is that in the months ahead I will try to build up my fitness, and I will put some serious thought into a professional career. The potential is there if I can put it all together. The next step is telling Mama and Papa Toast... I'll keep you posted.

Love and Adventures,
Toast

More Adventures

Hi Friends! I've been making the most of the last few glorious weeks of summer. Last weekend I went camping on the coast of Northern New Brunswick with friends. I even mustered up the the strength to subject myself to the icy Canadian waters. Let me tell you, my junk has never tried to hide from the world with such vigor. As the picture shows, we had fun. We also went hiking in Mount Carleton Provincial Park. It's a really pretty place that I will definitely be returning to.

Yesterday I did a VO2Max test to find out the maximum amount of oxygen I can get to my muscles. Basically it measures my potential capacity. I think it went very well, but I don't get the results for a few days. Later, I was coaching high schoolers, and we found a pile of wheat in a field. We gathered a few bags of it, and we're planning on making flour out of it. Then we'll be able to take home-made bread to a whole new level! I can hardly wait...

Today is the first rainy day we've had in weeks, and I'm almost happy to see it. It's also started frosting at night. I had to pick all my cucumbers the other night even though they are still pretty small.

Anyway, that's the news from Madagasgar

Love and Adventures,
Toast

Rooooaaaad Trriiiiiiiip

Hey Everybody,
It's been a while. Since my last post, I've had a great vacation. Here's a short report:

I started by visiting Boston where I stayed with Katie Klepinski and her boyfriend Max. They live in the North End, and we went to the neighborhood pool, ate lots of Italian food, and went paddling on the Charles. It was really fun. I also got to visit Alyssa Lee and miss Jess Coliflores. It was good to see everyone and catch up on life.

Next I visited Family in Connecticut. That part's probably not that interesting to you all, but it was still a good leg of the trip.

After a little visit to Lake Placid, I went to visit Anders Wood in Schenectady, NY. He recently moved there as part of his job with GE. We had a great time exploring the area, and hanging out with his house mates. It's a pretty cool place, and his house mates are really cool. We also went to the race track in Saratoga, which was AWESOME! It was unbelievable how fast those horses move, and the the roar of the crowd as they came down the stretch was thrilling. I only made two bets, but I won them both and got about $37. I bet on exactas, which means that I picked 1st and 2nd place. I can totally understand how people blow their life savings at race tracks because the feeling I got as the horses came around the last curve and my one guy was pulling away and the other was coming up on second can only be described as exhilarating.

I'm back in the County now. The weather is absolutely perfect: sunny, not humid, highs in the 70s. It's absolutely glorious. In a few days I will have a VO2Max test conducted on me to see how much oxygen I am able to get from the air to my muscles. Basically, it measures how big my engine is. If it is big, I may begin racing again in the 2010/2011 season as a professional. I'm pretty excited about the prospects, so send me some good vibes on Friday.

Later this month, I will be traveling to Minneapolis for the national coaching conference. Should be a good trip, and hopefully I'll be able to make some good connections.

My adventures have been numerous and wonderful lately. May yours be the same.

Toast

As there is all this slander against my character, I would like to clarify a few points. I was not in my apartment, but hiking through the woods, where I came across a group of school children under attack from a pack of wolves and four mutated black bears. After fending off the wolves (note not killing, as they are dogs and I am not named Vick) I assaulted the bears, using only a hatchet I found nearby. With only one left, it amazingly wrenched the hatchet from my hand and began wielding it violently at the children. Diving in front of the bear's first blow, I deflected the blade with my finger before putting the bear into a sleeper hold, laying it to rest. And well, the rest is history....(which I majored in, so my analysis must be true!)

Anyhow I live down in Denver now, just started up some law school and rugby, all of which is quite glorious. I recommend that you all move here, especially now that the mutated black bears have been pacified. Hope all is well with you folks.

A story about Jamie

So, my own life isn't that exciting right now BUT when emailing Charlie back the other day I realized I do have a MAJOR update about Jamie. Since I don't think Jamie is going to ever share this story himself (at least not with as much detail as I will) but because I also think you all deserve the chance to laugh at him whenever possible, I've decided to post it here for everyone's amusement. Sorry Jamie.
So, about two/three weeks ago Jamie was up in Avon and I was down in Denver. As the story was later relayed to me, around 4:30pm Jamie decided to fix his bike which broke in transit between Philadelphia and Denver. The broken piece was a small wire connecting the brakes or something. Jamie had wire, but not wire cutter. He decided this would not be a problem as he did have a hatchet and everyone knows hatchets are basically created to cut wire. So Jamie was hatcheting away in the living room of his apartment when, two swings in, the blade bounced off the granite and straight onto his left index finger. It didn't completely cut the finger off, but as Jamie described it, the tip of his finger was "floppy."
Bleeding profusely and, I'm sure, swearing like a sailor, Jamie got in his car to drive to the hospital. However, as he was driving down I-70, due to the shock of the injury and the fact that he's kind of a pussy, Jamie started to pass out. Luckily, he was able to pull over to the shoulder where he had no choice to call 9-1-1. To add insult to injury (ha) the dispatcher sent not only and ambulance, but a fire truck, which proceeded to block an entire lane of I-70. Jamie was humiliated.
Luckily, he got to the hospital (via ambulance, not fire truck) and they stitched the finger back on and everyone lived happily ever after. Oh, except one nurse who Jamie overheard complaining about the jackass with a fire truck on I-70 who made her late for work.
Hope everyone is well :).

Back to school, back to school...

Well it's that time of year again.  My amazing life of world travel and adventure has been replaced by my much more mundane life of 6 am wake-ups, regular coffee intake, pretending to speak Spanish, and children.  So many children.

Actually, there are no children yet.  We officially started the school year last Thursday but kids don't show up until Wednesday (the day after tomorrow, ah!).  I can't complain too much because I had an amazing summer, it's just a pretty rough transition.  I've spent the last few weeks trying to get my classroom together and plan lessons with is less than fun.  Oh, but I did manage to blow off BOTH Taylor and Sophie in about a one week period so that was pretty cool.  Sophie when Jamie and I were supposed to hike a 14er with her and called at 5 am to say we were sleeping in and Taylor when I was supposed to drive up to Wyoming with Jamie to see him and then decided to stay in Denver and get my classroom ready.  My bad guys.

Other highlights of recent weeks include making a die table out of a door at Jamie's house and teaching a bunch of my TFA friends to play.  Three of them actually plunked which was exciting.  I also hiked my first and second 14er (Grey's and Torrey's, they're next to each other so you do them in one day).  That was before I ditched Sophie on what would have been my 3rd one.  Oh, and I've been to a few Rockies games this summer and now officially love baseball.  Well, at least live baseball.  Well, at least drinking heavily and eating hot dogs while in a baseball stadium while a game is going on.

And, sadly, that's all I have to report. 

Snow in August?

Dear Friends,

I am currently in a decades old motel room in Buffalo, WY. I happened to be stealing internet from some ignorant neighbor when I saw that Sophie was bragging about her geology endeavors. I myself happen to be currently on a statewide treasure hunt for rocks. Mr. Luckenbill happen to join the party for a little bit in the Beartooth mountains and if any of you are around Wyoming you should come camping for a little bit. I have lost most of my phone contacts due to a mishap at the cingular store, but feel free to call me and come visit. Sophie, you should come up into the wyoming mountain ranges, where rocks are significantly less mundane and where it snows in the beginning of August (and yes, I have been keeping my eye out for Bill Sullivan).

Toast, I sincerely doubt your monopoly skills.

I actually drove my car out to Wyoming and on the way I slept inside of it at a rest stop in Ohio. That was the least exciting night of my life, I wasn't sure if it was because I was sleeping in the back of my car or because I was in Ohio.

I have basically been a nomad for the past month and a half, between Australia and Wyoming. Australia was incredible, I was excited to see kangaroos until the first 12 that I saw were dead on the side of the road. I spent 30 nights sleeping outside without a tent, I took a total of 3 showers (that's if you don't count swimming in stagnant water holes), and probably ate more than 50 meat pies. In other words, full of many firsts for me. It was also more like a month long off-roading trip, we were using these vehicles owned by the Geological Survey of Western Australia (which happens to be fairly wealthy due to mining resources of the state) that were the ultimate geology vehicles. They had three times the range on one gas tank, they had 100 liter built in water tank, a built in fridge/freezer. An example of the terrain we crossed is in the picture below, with my advisor directing us and me in the driver's seat.


I have been having an awesome and itinerant summer, but I am ready to be back in New Haven on a normal schedule with normal coffee in the morning. Despite popular belief, New Haven is an awesome city with a lot less muggings than you would think. Please come visit and you will have an apartment to yourself.

Anyways, I must be going. Did you know that they have fat tire in cans now?

Cheers,
Taylor

Snow in August?

30 shades of grey

Hi everyone!

I am procrastinating right now because I am currently involved in the most boring of all geological tasks. I collected over 200 rock samples this summer for my research (this is where you all say " wow! what a geological badass"). Now I have to unpack all of them, and decide which shade of grey, red, orange, or purple they are. To give an idea of how awful this is, there are over thirty shades of grey to chose from- very light grey? medium light grey? medium grey? All viable options.

Other than this job, its been a great summer with lots of sunshine. I was camping in the WY badlands for 4 weeks with 24 other people, one of whom was a sleep yeller. He especially liked to yell to me about his tent collapsing on top of him in his sleep. I would wake up, get out of my tent to find him sitting outside in his underwear, asleep and yelling at me. Once his tent did collapse, but I slept through the whole thing.

Back to the rocks! come visit!
Sophie

Yo Yo Yo

What up ya'll?
1. I made blueberry pie yesterday
2. I kick ass a Monopoly
3. Road trip during the second half of August (Itinerary includes Southern ME, Boston, Schenectady, Lake Placid, Montreal?
4. My garden is sweeeet

Love and Adventures,
Toast

Recent Events

Hey Everyone,
It's been a little while since I've shared. I think the last time I was in Steamboat and very busy. It was really nice to be back in CO. I ran in the Teva Mtn Games and hung out with Sophie and some of her friends. We also bumped into Anna Bruno in Vail. Then I visited Val and Mr. Luckenfeelings. It sounded like they had a really really difficult summer of traveling and playing outside ahead. I was pretty jealous. I also spent a day with Katie Price and Kyle Haskett in Boulder. They're doing well, and KP's puppy is unbelievably cute.

Since I've been back in Maine, I think I've spent more time in Fort Kent than in MadTown. The US women's biathlon team was in town, so I was over there a lot helping with coaching and hanging out. It's been a fun summer so far although there hasn't exactly been an abundance of sun (I'm sure you other East Coast folks know what I'm talkin about).

My vegetable garden is growing, which makes me very happy. I really like tending it, and I've even harvested some lettuce and snow peas already. It's a little garden, but I'm making a good go of things. I've got the affore-mentioned veggies in addition to spinach, cucumbers, hot peppers, and carrots. I also have rosemary, basil, oregano, and mint in pots at my house. It's pretty awesome. For those of you who know my pineapple plants, Scrappy Jr. and Scrappy III are also hanging in there. Scrappy Jr. was sick for a little while, but I gave him some new soil, and I'm hoping he'll recover. I'll let you know if there are any more additions to the family.

My boss took the other coaches and I on a retreat recently to discuss the future of skiing in Maine. We went to a Sea Dogs game in Portland, but it was kind of a disaster. The starting pitcher began the game something like this: hit batter, walk, walk, strike out, walk, hit batter, double, home run, walk, double. At that point it was 7-0 with one out in the top of the first... We didn't pay much attention after that. It was funny though.

I hope you all enjoyed the 4th of July. It was very low-key here because the Acadian Festival last week, which is a very big deal. There were live bands, and bed races, and lots of people, and I got really drunk at the street dance and was pretty ridiculous. I want to quickly describe the bed races because it was quite a scene. I outfitted most of the women's national biathlon team with gear from my costume box, and we proceeded to push suped-up twin beds with bike wheels in head-to-head races against other folks in town down main street with hundred of spectators (most of whom had the same last name) cheering. For pictures... mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com

Stay in touch

Love and Adventures,
Toast

I'm heading east!

Hey all,

It's been a long time since I've written, although I make a point of checking this blog pretty frequently and have enjoyed hearing what everyone is up to.

I'm having lots of fun experiencing my first summer without work in a long time.  I know you all are doing the real world thing so I won't rub it in too much that I'm currently on a two and a half month paid vacation.  I spent the first few weeks in Denver where I got to see Toast for a few hours which was sweet.  The rest of my summer is going to be pretty much non-stop travel.  Jamie and I just got back from an 8-day canoe trip down the Green River in the Canyonlands National Park in Utah with some of my TFA friends.  It was pretty amazing, I think we saw about 10 other people total for the entire 8 days.  I'm back in Denver now, but tomorrow morning I fly out to New York.  Christa is meeting up with me and we're traveling around New York and New England for about a week so if you're around give one of us a call, I want to see as many people as possible!  When I get back I'm going to Lake Powell in Utah where my friends and I rented a house boat for the fourth of July, and after that I'm heading to Europe with my family for two weeks.  Being a teacher is rough :)

In all seriousness, I hope I get to see as many people as possible over the next few days.  I miss you all and if anyone has travel plans that take them to the Denver area, I'll be around after July 21st.  Taylor, I'll be in touch about Wyoming.

Hope everyone is still enjoying life in the real world,

Val

Good Afternoon

Hello Everyone,
I hope that everyone is enjoying or enduring the summer so far. Im sure you all know that I now have a fiancee, Miss Beccah Amendola. I am very excited about this, and you should also be excited about July 3rd next summer. I am trying to call everyone back and talk to people, which I will do at some point. We were out on Nantucket when I proposed and it was perfect. Not to mention that I was catching a lot of striped bass the entire time, too. If you couldn't tell, it was a great time in Nantucket. Escpecially since Jamie "condon metal" Goldring came out to visit for a couple of days, which were good times for everybody.
I am also leaving for Australia on Friday (26th) and will be gone doing some field work with my advisor and a couple of friends (other students) and I will be back in town on the 28th of July. It will be a long trip but should be very fun, I have my sat phone again, so send me a text.
When I get back from Aussieland, I will leave within the week in order to drive out west to Wyoming, where I will doing research on my project for almost all of August. If you want to get put to work or want to go camping for a couple of nights in the beautiful mountain uplifts of Wyoming, give me a call and we can arrange a rondezvous point.
This year has been great so far but scary since already a year has gone by (wow). Hope I get to see you all this year as much as the past one.

Cheers,
Taylor

Actually done with school!

So I finally graduated this past weekend, and now I can't just pretend I've graduated. I've survived my 3rd day of vacation but I'm bored already. Currently I'm just trying to make it through the 26th when Val arrives on the east coast. I have no plans until then, so if anyone has free time from work and wants to hang in the NY area, let me know.

I got a job offer for the Boston area which would start July 6th, which I'm not sure if I will take, but it gives me a positive outlook on the job front. Heads up, I may be looking for a roommate very soon. Also if anyone knows any structural engineers in NY or Boston, I'd appreciate the contact!

Alright well that's about all going on in my life. I spent the evening eating ice cream, potato chips, watching Slumdog Millionaire and drinking wine by myself and it was delightful. Oh and I ran into Caroline in Boston yesterday!

-Christa

Back in the Boat

Hey Everybody,

I'm back in Steamboat and it's pretty much glorious! It's warm and sunny, and we've been skiing and playing and having fun. We checked out the river festival last weekend, which was pretty cool, and the snow up high has help up well. I can't wait to get in some fishing and paddling... Get in touch with me if you're around.

(207) 227-3843

Love and Adventures,

Toast

It's a Sprang Thang

Hey,

It's been a much busier spring than I expected. I've been all over the place, and it's been fun, but less restful than I had planned.

Since my visit to Tay, I have visited Colby and Oregon, and I'll be headed to Steamboat for a few weeks soon (By the way, you should tell me soon if you'll be in CO while I'm there!!!)

Colby was an interesting experience. It was really fun to see everybody, and there was some good partying (glad to see Mr. Goldring), but it was weird to not be a part of it all anymore. I felt out-of-the-loop in a way I hadn't expected. I guess that's what happens when you're not around anymore. I am sad that I won't be able to be there for graduation, but I'm being paid to go play in the remaining snow in Ski Town USA (I don't need your pity).

Oregon was a good trip. I visited a lot of family (including Mama and Papa Toast, who made the trip out too). I was on the University of Oregon campus for a few days, which was fun, but I'm really glad that I went to Colby instead of there. I couldn't have made it in that place. I also got to go to the beach, which is always nice. I downed a few dark and stormies, which brought back some good memories of Taylor's house after graduation. That drink holds a special place in my heart. I also completed a couple great missions.

1. swimming in two oceans in one week (Atlantic in Portland, ME and Pacific in Newport, OR). Both oceans were absurdly cold, but the Pacific was definitely a few degrees colder. 

2. I flew from Portland, ME to Portland, OR, which I'm sure Val has done a few times, but I thought it was cool.

For now I'm back in MadTown trying to catch up on work, which reminds me, I'm typing on a new computer!! MWSC bought me a new MacBook, and it arrived the day I got back from Oregon. It's really really great and a huge upgrade from the dinosaur I had been toting around since I graduated from high school. I'm almost done transfering all my old files, but I am really struggling with making all my contacts from Outlook go onto the new computer. I have over 1300, so it's kind of a big issue... advice welcome.

I went on my first bike ride of the year today, which was a nice change of pace. I'd been doing a ton or running lately. I also visited Grand Falls, NB with Nick Kline over the weekend, which was amazing. It wasn't quite Niagra Falls, but it awed us both. I wish I had taken pictures because it's really tough to find any online. Maybe next time.

Love and Adventures (I guess I've had a lot lately),

Toast

Springtime in New Haven

Hello All,
I do believe that I promised this awhile ago and I now I have some procrastination time. Anyways, everything is going very well here New Haven, I never realized that the majority of the trees that line the streets around me flower in the spring, so it has been a nice place to enjoy the change of seasons. Work makes the days fly by and I am really enjoying everything about it, preparing for a long time in the field this summer: 26June-23July in Australia and late July-late August in Wyoming. The rest of the time I will be either in New Haven working in the lab or in Nantucket reading papers and being with Beccah.

Otherwise, things have been fairly busy and exciting. Toast came to visit, which was really fun 'cause that meant that I got to walk around campus and hang out with Toast for a while on a bright sunny day. I also have some plans to go up to Colby graduation. Charlie and Beth, I hope, are going up and I thought I might hitch a ride with them. Anybody else got plans?

I hope you all have some time to swing by and hang out at some point, I truly know where the best pizza is now, it really would be worth your whiles. Maybe I should have a party sometime in June. I'll keep you all posted.
-Taylor

Dates in Steamboat

Hi Everybody,
I bought plane tickets a couple days ago, and I'm going to be in Steamboat for 20 days! That's plenty of time for people to come visit (and maybe for me to visit Vail for the Teva Mountain Games). I will be home from May 20-June 9. From the time I arrive until June 2, I will be hosting a camp for some of the elite skiers in my program. That means that I will be skiing up hills a lot during the first two weeks. However, if that's when you want to visit, it would probably still be fun. You just might have to sleep on the floor. I will be totally free of responsibility for the last week. The Teva Mountain Games are June 4-7, but most of the action is the last two days. I'm still thinking about which events to do, but there's time. Anyway, who's in Vail then? Can I stay at your house?

Also, I'm off to Oregon in less than a week! Hopefully the University of Oregon is ready for me...

Love and Adventures,
Toast

The Full Report + My Easter Trip

Hey,
I coincidentally stayed on campus at Colby on Monday night, and I got the full report on what went down. I've pieced things together from several sources, and I think I've got a pretty solid account of what happened. There were mistakes by all parties, and it's a shitty situation now.

SPB hosted a rave (first dumb move) in Page that night. It ended up being one of the best attended SPB events ever, and Page was at capacity pretty quickly. That meant that people were getting turned away at the door, and a lot of people were milling around Pulver. Security found a kid passed out and unresponsive in Pugh, so they called CER. before the EMT's arrived, Ozzy and Jacob came over and told security that they didn't need EMT's and they would take the kid back to his room. Obviously that didn't fly (the kid ended up blowing a .28). Security got in a dispute with the two, and one of the students threw a punch at a security officer (second dubm move). Security is armed with nothing more than walkie talkies, so they called the cops. Apparently Waterville PD, Augusta PD and state police all showed up (definitely overkill). Ozzy and Jacob got their asses kicked (third dumb move), and supposedly one of them got maced (maybe not true). I was also told that Ozzy and Jacob weren't that drunk (one of them blew a .12). The fact that there were so many people milling around Pulver means there were a ton of witnesses.

The two guys spent the night in jail in Augusta (I was also told that a random football player tried to help and got arrested too, but idk). Kelly Wharton was the dean on call, and she didn't answer her phone, so she didn't bail them out. Dean Turhune was called, but he refused to come help.

The next day, the video was played in Pulver and the administration was invited to come watch, but only one administrator showed up. The rally was yesterday at noon, and about 800 people showed up.

Here are the problems:1. The video doesn't show what the students did to provoke the violence. 2. The two students were minorities, so there's a serious racial element. It is hard to say if police would have done the same thing to white students, but the fact of the matter is that either way, those two got fucked up needlessly. 3. The admin is in a shitty situation because they don't want to look like they are passively perpetuating racism, but they also don't want to send the message that you can get drunk and fight security and the school will back you up.

Now you know the full story, and you can decide what you want.

The reason I was at Colby was because I was driving home from Easter in Connecticut. I saw Taylor and Becca, which was really fun. I also visited my aunt's family. I got to hide Easter eggs for three little kids, and I was there when the surprise Easter kitten was unveiled. Their black lab was absolutely baffled by the kitten, and the kids went into hysterics immediately. It was mayhem. It was fun though.

My next trip will be to Oregon from the 24th through May 5. It's going to be a nice long trip, and I think it will be fun. I will go home to Steamboat for about 10 days at the end of May, so please come visit if you are around. I will be hosting a camp, so I won't be very mobile. I would love to see some of you though, and I am sure that you folks haven't been to the 'Boat enough this year (with the possible exception of Sophie).

Thank you for letting me know that this blog is meaningful to you all. I appreciate that.

Love and Adventures,
Toast

Life and Colby Security

So I must confess that I did forget about the blog (not all of you of course), but rembered about it this morning as I was searching for a median to contact all of you about something I will touch on in a minute, so Toast it was sucessful.

As far as life with me goes there really isn't much to tell...I am angrier than I used to be, as I now get up at 4:45Am every day, and drink as much as I used to, I just do it all in one night, but other than that not much has changed. I went to Doghead where hilarity and disaster insued, I saw Jamie, Rich, and Brad a few weeks ago as we all met up at my ski house in Utah and have the good fortune of seeing Aditya pretty regularly. I also plan on heading to the Beast of the East this Saturday.

Anyway the reason I was writing was to post this video, which I am sure all of you have seen by now. It depicts an incident involving some Colby Students and security and the Waterville police. Don't really know much else about it, but you can make your own decisions.
Here is the video:
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-243844


Hope all it well. Let me know if your ever in NYC or the northeast in general.

I hate you all,

Kabatz

Big News

Hey all,

I've not contributed to this for a while, although I have appreciated checking in on it every now and then. So that's my 2 cents on the blog's popularity -- it's definitely a good thing.

In any event, as most all of you know, I've been living out west with Lucky, Ricky, and Pinky, and though I haven't made it back east yet, my Colorado life will be ending in mid-May when I make the oh-so-exhilarating drive back home via Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and PA. I would have liked to stay here for the summer, but certain plans (which I will explain in the next paragraph) got in the way. The winter here has been awesome. I've skiied 95 days so far, and hope to get a couple more good ones in by the end. My job, working in a ski boot shop with Jamie (Jake and Rich worked in the Vail branch of the same store), couldn't be better. Our manager, a Bates grad, might as well have graduated last Spring, as his one of his nicknames in Captain Blackout. Needless to say, he knows how to party and, more importantly, lets us ski every day.

So the big news, which I've gotten distracted from, is that I'm pulling a Jake Franklin (you can expect an email from me soon, Jake) and on June 29 moving to China, where I will be teaching English for two years through the Peace Corps. It's an exciting and daunting prospect, and I probably haven't given it enough thought yet, since I really don't know what else to say about it now. I will, however, get home in mid-may and promptly travel Northeast to check out Colby graduation and meet up with as many other people as I possibly can. I'll also probably open up a Skype account at some point, so expect further news on that front.

Anyways, I gotta make like my pants and split, but I hope to talk to all of you pretty soon. Hope things are splendid with all of you!

One love,
Charlie

A Kick in the Ass

So I've been reading all of the posts for a while now and every time I start to write my own, but always fail to finish it, so, knowing how much this blog has meant to me as a way of remembering all of you and smiling when I have a bad day, so I'll take Toast's post as a reminder of how much it means to me to stay in touch with all of you!

So, where to start.  Things are going great here.  I love living in Edinburgh, but missed skiing and the outdoors this winter, although living in a city has its advantages as well, there are great galleries and museums right outside my door (literally), and a huge castle too.  I just handed my essays in yesterday (Yes, I wrote them all in about 2 nights, some still things haven't changed) so I am actually all done with the taught portion of my degree and have just to write a dissertation before mid-August.  I am taking a week off to hike and explore Scotland before i start working again.  Rachael DeCruz and two of my friends who I was abroad here with junior year are coming to visit at the end of May, and I'm also taking a short holiday to Croatia in may, which should be amazing.

Other than that, I am still up in the air about what comes next, still thinking about staying around here, but I have also applied for a position as a teaching fellow in Toast's home town at the Lowell Whiteman School, where Julie Casper works now actually, and am waiting to hear back from the headmaster there wants he gets back from vacation!  So that would be an amazing opportunity that I would certainly move back to the states for right away, and I would really love to live in Colorado and get some good skiing in to! and be close to many of you!

Well that's most of what is new here, I'd love to hear from all of you, and of course if you have some spare time/money, visitors are welcome!!!

Cheers

Brian

The blog is definitely being used

People are definitely still looking at the blog a decent amount if they aren't posting.

I have gotten several replies to my last post, but via other ways (facebook, over the phone, in person, etc).

Maybe if there was some way people could reply to posts, we'd see some more action here as no one really seems to use the comment function all that much.

The blog has been more successful than I thought it was going to be, and is used more than what you might perceive toast.

Thanks for putting it together

Fools just need to post more

It has helped me!

All,

I agree wholeheartedly. I must admit, I have been reading a lot more than I should be writing. Keep your hopes up Toast, if only just a few of us use it, it will still be worth it. Gotta run, lab is burning.

-Taylor

p.s. I have a new post within a couple of days

Preliminary Conclusions

At the start of June 2008, I tested out an idea. I created a blog that a group of friends and I could post to in order to help us stay in touch after graduation from Colby College. My theory was that instead of writing many similar emails to different people, a task we would never be able to keep up with, we could all write posts to everyone. In this way, I hoped we would stay in touch. It was a forum for all to post to a couple times each month with updates on what was going on.

In the nearly ten months since its creation, that blog, “The Adventures of Colby 2008,” has been successful in some ways, and it has been disappointing in others. It is a success in that I am not the only person who checks it. Since I installed a hit counter in July, the site has been visited 635 times. That means that some people are definitely looking at it. It also means that some of these friends want to know what everyone else is up to. It has been disappointing in that only a few people continue to post on it. Posts are infrequent at this point, and I get the sense that many of the original members have forgotten about it. This means that ultimately, we have not stayed in touch very well. The blog has not served its purpose.

Although this experiment has not been entirely, successful, it has helped some of the members keep tabs on each other. I am happy that I was able to facilitate this. I will continue to post on this blog occasionally, and I hope that others will as well. I am launching my own website soon that will include a blog. It will afford me more creativity and control over the content. When it is ready, I will post a link on this blog. I will maintain both sites as long as they are serving their purpose in some way.

Toast

Tele Skis

Hey,
I just completed my new telemark setup last week. Now I can drop knees like a true hippie: "Free the heel, free the mind maaann."

I have two more weekends of coaching at big races, and then I think I'm free to run wild for a while. I'm open to suggestions if you have any...

Toast

My Life

I figured it was about time for an update.

I got an apt on wall street (actually in the same building as Mary
Huvane and Susan if you've been there). We live on the 23rd floor and
have a view of absolutely nothing. I'm living with Nate Lifton, Emily
Parker, and Christina Evriviades. It's been going pretty well so far,
we moved in at the beginning of February.

Christina and I actually signed the lease without having jobs...
slightly risky. But luckily I found a job about a week after signing;
Christina just found one and starts Monday, so it all worked out in
the end.

That's right, I actually found a job. It's at priceline.com in
Norwalk, CT. This unfortunately requires a 1:30 commute each way. What
do I do? I keep William Shatner's nether regions dry. Basically I
"handle" his ball sweat. I've been doing so well there is even talk of
promoting me to take care of his grundle as well.

My day to day life goes like this:

5:40am - Wake up
6:20am - Leave the apt
6:58am - Get the train to Darien
8:00am to 6:30pm - Caress Testicles
8pm - Aquarobics
9pm to 11pm - Get home, make myself something to eat, do whatever else
I need to do
11pm to 12am - Quietly cry myself to sleep.

You're all welcome to come visit whenever.

Take it easy.

Yowza!

Hey All,
Here's the big news in my life:
Todd Lodwick, Steamboat native, has won two world championship races this week in Nordic combined! It's a bid deal because he's been to four Olympics and seven world championships before and has never won a medal. Also Billy Demong got a third!

Championship events are also going on for my skiers. Three MWSC athletes have recently won state championships in high school skiing, and there are still a few championship events to come this month.

The Colby ski team is hosting Eastern Collegiate Championships this weekend at Sugarloaf, so send some love their way too!

Sophie Speaks the Truth

Sophie you're right, I know that windy, unassuming road, and it's a bitch. You'll have to get used to the wind at Eldora, though. I don't think I've ever skied there without battling hurricane force winds...

Also, I don't know if I'm coming home in the spring. I would rather come home for a time that is not mud season. I was thinking maybe a little visit to Florida if Sam isn't too busy. Maybe Steamboat in late June/early July though?

BOULDER- THE WINDY CITY?

Dear all,

Who knew that Boulder could have such weird weather? It goes from snow to sun, 60 degrees to 10 degrees, and dead calm to THE WINDIEST DAY EVER in one day. There is one really unassuming road which drives parallel to the mountains in the flat, open plains where I have almost LOST MY LIFE due to wind pushing my car across the road into oncoming traffic. Last week I was climbing a local ski mountain on my skis when a ski patrol zoomed up on a snowmobile and warned me that winds of 90 MPH were being clocked on the mountain summit and advised me to move towards the nordic center.

So for all who want to get blown away by fun and wind- hop on a flight!

P.S- TOAST are you coming back this spring? How about not june 4-18th because I won't be here.

Top 5 Most Silly Recent Madawaskan Foibles

5. I was asked out by an 8th grader last week.

4. I was recently told by a man who was cooking stew that I would make a good wife for somebody someday because I can cook for myself.

3. Due to cold and snow, several high school ski races were postponed a couple weeks ago. High school ski races are a joke (start/finish lines marked by a coach's ski poles, and kids skiing so slow that they might as well just take off their skis and do sommersaults around the course). Anyway, in order to make up for the postponed races, there were four scheduled for last week. It showed about as much forethought as when Dave asked Aditya to put sunscreen on his back in Costa Rica.

2. After both of the ski club's snowmobiles recently broke down, I was engaged in a total of 2.5hrs of discussion on the pros and cons of snomobile specs I knew absolutely nothing about. I was then obliged to call the ski area in Steamboat to ask if they would sell us a groomer for cheap, as if I could just give the president of the company a ring and ask for a favor. They didn't understand that it would be akin to calling Delta Airlines and asking to speak with the CEO about buying a jet engine at half price. I instead called my dad, and pretended to speak to a ski area exec. They peope here bought it.

1. The only pizza place in town, Jeff's, burned down on Tuesday in a raging fire that was only spotted by people who had snuck out on the roof of the mill to smoke. People began calling shortly after to invite me to watch the blaze, which was fed by more than a ton of heating pellets and a backdraft-esque explosion that occurred when the firemen opened the door to the heating pellet room. Luckily there is a vacant pizza restaurant two blocks away that everone expects Jeff's to move into shortly.

Visits and Ski Races and REALLY COLD WEATHER

Hey Everybody,
Here's an update on life:
Taylor and Sam are really awesome! They drove all the way up to the northernmost part of the County just to visit me for a night. I showed them around a little, we shot some targets at on of the biathlon venues, and I showed them where the werewolves used to hang out. Sam felt right at home in the creepy room due to his huge werewolf beard. Nice work on that puppy, Sam. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I thought that was really cool of you two. Thanks for visiting.

OK, let's talk about cold. We all experienced some cold days at Colbs. I definitely had some cold moments in the 'Boat. We know what it's like when the mercury drops to the bottom of the thermometer, but nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for last Friday. In fact not even the grizzly old Acadian guys were prepared for the kind of cold that descended upon us. Wanna know how cold it was? I'll tell you but first let me explain some of the funny things (and some not so amusing things) that start to happen when it gets really, really cold.

I'll preface by saying that we were trying to leave for some races on Friday morning. It was so cold that one of the vans wouldn't start, and we had to scramble to get a truck from one of the other coaches. Not so amusing

When it gets cold, keys become maleable. We take a u-haul style trailer to races so we can wax in it, and we keep it locked with pad locks. When I went to open the lock on Friday, it was so cold that my key bent and broke off in the lock. It was amazing how easily it bent. It was like butter. Kind of amusing

After that we used a heat gun to warm up the lock before we tried another key. I learned that when it's really cold, water turns straight to vapor without freezing. The heat gun would melt the ice, and as soon as you moved the heat off of it, it would turn to steam. I was amazed by that. Really cool

So, how cold was it? 55 degrees below zero! -55 is really cold

Eventually we solved our cold issues and made it to the races in Rumford. I saw the Colby team there, which was nice. I was also able to race one day. I got 15th in the skate sprint, which was really good considering how big the field was. Skate sprinting is usually my weakest event, so I was thrilled to do well. I was a little annoyed that I just had my best sprint race and I'm not racing seriously anymore. What was I doing all those other times when I sucked?!?!

It's less cold now, and life is back to normal.

Toast

It's 2009

Heehee, Kabatz...

So the last time I posted, I was pretty tired and pissed about life. After that, travels only got worse. I will spare the grim details, but I thought it was a good lesson. You don't know how many lemons life might give you in a row, and turning sour half-way through is only going to prolong the agony. Anyway, I did make it home for Christmas (barely) and it was nice to be at home.

Since getting back to the County, life has been pretty nice. I finally got all the pieces for my new bed, and put that together. I've been sleeping like a baby since then. It's crazy how much easier life is after a good sleep.

I also got a slew of new spices and cooking tools for Xmas, so I've been fooling around with those. Cooking is fun! If any of you ever make it up here, you'll be in for a treat.

While at home, I skied in the local New Years Relay race, and managed to win my leg despite the altitude. Last weekend, I skied in a little community race up here in Maine. It was pretty fun, and I won without much trouble. My racing ego is pretty big right now. I've also got a lot of street cred with my athletes. I guess, what I'm saying is that I'm a happy camper right now, and I hope you all are too.