lost at sea

In last night's wind storm, the rope that tied our precious little skiff to land, BROKE. This morning, my father woke and found no sign of the durable aluminum-inflatable boat. So, before leaving for the weekend, he called the Sentinel, Problem Corner, the Police Station, the Harbor Master, and most of our local family.

At lunch time, I gathered a search and rescue accomplice (Kaari), she sported a pair of "running sneakers" and we set out. We drove the coast, and walked the coast in search of the aqua boat. We even crossed over to an island to look for the boat. But no luck. It wasn't until we were inside that the phone rang. It was the Harbor Master. A fisherman had found our skiff FIVE miles north of Sitka. I found that to be a pretty impressive distance for a little boat to travel in less than 12 hours.

Anyway, the boat has been recovered, and our search and rescue efforts have been retired.

oh... really? wow... interesting...

"So where are you going to college next year, Elaina?"
"Well, I've applied to Seattle University and Gonz-"
"Oh, really? Wow. Yeah, my brother-in-law went there... So have you been accepted?"
"Well, actually, I've been accepted to Seatt-"
"Oh, well, good for you. I'm sure you'll do well. Are you excited?"
"Yeah, I think it-"
"So, what will you be studying?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but I'm thinking maybe business... and maybe advertis-"
"Oh, well, neat!"
... and the droning convo continues.

Ok, I've decided that I need to send out a MEMO to everyone about what I'm doing next year. As a matter of a fact, I think someone should invent an actual "memo" thing; whether a memo-pad, memo-watch, or whatever... Basically, people could type in a short message and it would be sent to everyone efficiently and simply, like:
"TAPERED PANTS ARE OUT OF STYLE,"
or,
"GO TO NOCONDIMENTS.COM FOR A GOOD TIME,"
or for this instance,
"ELAINA IS GOING TO SEATTLE UNIVERSITY NEXT YEAR, SO STOP ASKING HER."

It just gets so irritating constantly being asked what I'm doing by adults that I hardly know. -And especially when its obvious that they don't even truly care and they're going to forget everything I said in about two minutes. Sometimes I just want to tell them that I'm going to Guam to fight a war against wars. Or that I'm going to sail the world with a fisherman named Kaelan that I randomly met and hardly know . Or that I'm going to a COMMUNITY college (HEAVEN FORBID a COMMUNITY college, because that'd mean I'm a failure). Or that I'm going to stick around in Sitka, eat potato chips, update my webpage, and get fat. Or maybe, just that I don't even know, and it doesn't even matter because I'm only 18 years old, and everything is going to be okay... Regardless.

But for now, the memo is that I've been accepted to Seattle University and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to go there and hopefully study business and play a little bit of softball.

rachelle's response

Rachelle responded! Yes, the mommy murderer! Yes, the notorious LJ (Live Journal) murderer!
After waking late in the day, I went out to my kitchen and noticed pieces of mail for me laying on the table. One of which was a large envelope from Seattle University including financial information. The other which was a small envelope addressed to me, from Rachelle Waterman with a special stamp reading,
"WRITER OF THIS LETTER IS AN INMATE OF AN ALASKA STATE PRISON."

So, I instantly opened it up... And here is what it said:


Elaina,
Sorry this took so long. I had to wait on stamps.
Well, yes, I have gotten a lot of these letters, but mostly from creepy guys in prison. Besides, pen pals are fun and I appreciate your efforts.
As for the case, I can’t talk about it, only say I’m innocent. Those two fucktards (the guys) are full of it.
Anyway, that site must be old, we can’t get guitar lessons and they’re mostly behavior classes. Unfortunately, they’re for men. This is technically a men’s prison, the women get crap. Oh well, I already play guitar (music is my passion).
Though I do have a job. I’m the computer techie and I teach a basic computers class. Other than that, I read, write (songs, poetry, letters), draw, listen to the radio, work out, and hang out with my fellow inmates. Nothing too exciting. Though I suppose that’s good. After being secluded in such a drab environment, The Groundhog’s Day from Hell, any exertment might just give me a heart attack.
As for the food… Eh, I eat salad, apples and coffee. So I don’t mess with that. Besides, I’m a vegetarian and I didn’t know we could get veggie-friendly meals for a bit. When I found out, the lady in charge would be suspicious of why I’m a salad shooter all of a sudden.
Well, I’ll save some corny humor for my next letters.
Ta -
Rachelle Ann Waterman
P.S. Sorry my handwriting sucks
P.P.S. When addressing the envelope, no abbreviations or they’ll send it back.
-If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.

warning:

Last night I went to a superb bonfire with many Tlingit, softball friends. I called "411" asking for the number for the "Sheetka Kwaan Naa Kaahidi House." I used a Tlingit accent and the operator-woman got very, very flustered. -Try it sometime.

Today I was looking up some weird drug names that I found laying around my housing people's house... (I am investigating why they are so obsessed with ducks... Haha. Just kidding. I'm just curious/snoopy.) One of the drugs I looked up was Celebrex. The drug is supposedly used to "reduce pain and inflammation (swelling and soreness)." -Harmless? Yeah, I thought so. Until I read a bit further about the "Special Warnings." They read as follows:

Celebrex can cause stomach bleeding suddenly while you take Celebrex. Stop taking Celebrex and call your healthcare provider right away if you get:

a burning stomach pain
black bowel movements that look like tar
vomit that looks like blood or coffee grounds

Celebrex can also cause serious allergic reactions that include swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat. These allergic reactions may cause problems with breathing, swallowing, and wheezing. Serious allergic skin reactions have also happened.

WTF? If something came out of my pee that looked like TAR, I'd be pretty freaked out. Or if I vomited something that looked like coffee grounds! And I could pretty much handle the problems with breathing and swallowing. I mean, those aren't very important bodily functions... But wheezing? Oh, what would I ever do if I had problems WHEEZING? Haha. What a joke.

how much wood, would a wood-duck, duck, if a wood-duck, would duck wood?

First off, my pre-arranged housing didn't work out. I was supposed to be housed with Rena in Juneau. Instead, I was housed out with Hannah at John and Darla Orbistondo's on Wood Duck Lane. You might say, "Tee-hee, silly street name." -But no, the depths of that name are frightening. We were shoved into a room downstairs that was decorated with DUCKS. They had three different duck pictures hung on the wall, an actual wooden duck, duck curtains, and duck sheets. -The only thing that wasn't "ducky" was a picture of, well, a duck-hunting dog! Don't believe me? Click here to view proof.

Well, we pretty much got used to the duckyness of the room, deciding it was just a guest room and they thought it'd be cute to decorate according to their street name... However, one night, when we arrived very late, we found Mr. and Mrs. Orbistondo sleeping on the couch/floor in the living room! -How nice of them to let us stay in their room... But this means that they actually ARE obsessed with ducks! It wasn't just a guest room with lots of ducks, but instead their own personal bedroom, filled with duckyness!

Yeah, besides weird housing... Hannah was pretty freaked out by some crazy driving we encountered... An ol' pal of mine in Juneau offered up a ride and we hopped in. -Anything to avoid the Capitol Transit public bus. She was driving pretty crazy, never slowing for turns, driving 80 MPH, while Hannah and I exchanged worried looks. It got even worse when she turned and said, "Oh, by the way, my breaks are going out..."

Superb time in Juneau... Ketchikan beat Juneau after an overtime and bad reffing... Juneau girls won as usual.

things are rather ducky...

Hannah and I are hangin' out at our housin' place in Juneau awaiting our big Ford F-250 to pick us up and take us to Mendenhall Mall (the quite literal HALL-mall). Our overall Juneau experience has been a silly one... I'll expound on some particular events when I return to my nice, personal space. But until then, just an FYI:

The girls/guys basketball teams lost to Ketchikan last night. They wont play until Saturday. The girls' game was actually pretty good, especially considering they were lacking 4 awesome players (Tawny (broken finger), Kim (something that requires crutches), Cameo (knee business), and Kirsten (ankle?)). The boys, well, the boys lost (by about 20)...

And Pep Band rules! I wore my red, polyester suit and side pony-tail (along with Hannah) and received several compliments... And one DE-compliment:
"Wow, you girls have got real guts to wear your hair like that..."
"Yeah or insanity," replied Hannah.
"If someone in Haines wore something like that, they'd be teased for MONTHS!" (as she looked at me).

dear mom murderer, woops, i mean rachelle

Rachelle Waterman is from Craig, Alaska, and she had her mother killed. Myself, and many others have become acutely obsessed with the live journal murderer (she discussed her hatred in a blog that was made known to the web community), so I decided to write her.
I began the process by phoning Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
"Hello, Lemon Creek, this is Jay."
"Hi, is it possible to write to.. umm... inma-umm... people in ja-umm... reside-"
"-You mean the prisoners?"
"Yeah, them. So, how do I address letters?"
"Well, just put their first name followed by our address."
"Oh, that's simple enough... And umm.. Can you put anything other than the letter in? Like stamps? And extra paper? And an envelope?"
"Nope. If you do it'll be destroyed. Just the letter in a plane envelope."
"Oh. Ok. Thank you Sir."
"Mhmm-bye."

Phew, as I wiped the sweat from my brow. So I wrote my letter and logged on to the webpage which I found quite amusing... @ http://www.correct.state.ak.us/corrections/institutions/lccc/
I sent the letter off last week... Maybe Rachelle is reading it this very moment...

Rachelle,

You’re wondering, who the heck is writing me a letter? I don’t know you. And quite possibly, this is the fifty-millionth letter that you’ve received like this. However, I wasn’t sure if that was the case, so I decided to give it a try; and write you a letter in hopes of a response.
I’m Elaina. I’m from Sitka. I’m pretty sure I’ve played a few softball games against you. I’ve been following your case. -I find it quite interesting. I’m considering flying over for the trial. I hope everything works out for you. I believe there is more to the story than is let on… From both sides. But who am I to make judgments about the situation?
Anyway, I read up a bit about Lemon Creek. Quite honestly, it didn’t sound that bad! I mean, you can take GUITAR lessons? Haha. That is down right awesome. But the whole being secluded, eating nasty food, and the rest doesn’t sound too appealing.
Well, I wont bog you down with too much reading material. If you’re interesting in being sort of pen pals (that is so cheesy, but what else can you call it?), then I’d love it if you respond. To make it easier for you, I was going to insert some postage, envelopes and paper. Maybe you already have that stuff, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway. However, then I called the facility, and they said that if I included anything other than a letter, it would be “destroyed.” So quite obviously, here is the bare letter. Oh, and I was also going to throw in a couple of articles that maybe you haven’t had an opportunity to see yet, but I don’t know if that’s ok…
So, take care Rachelle, and I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Elaina

uhh.. no!

I've neglected the bloggin' a tad... And I know the Idaho trip was sort of a long time ago, but I have to add one last entry about it...
During the last day of our trip, Hannah and I and some others had a splendid time in the Seattle airport.
At one point, we found a wheel chair (as you can view in the videos) and literally, PUT Hannah into it, and pushed her around. -It was interesting to see how people treat and look at the handicapped differently.
Also, while in the airport, we had a SORORITY GIRLS sighting! So, I decided to walk up to them.
"Hey! Are you girls in a sorority?" I asked innocently, even though it was 100% evident from their shirts that read, in symbols, "Delta Sigma Phi," or something of the sort.
One girl responded, "Yeah! We are..."
So I continued, "Can I take your picture?"
One girls started to fix her hair and get ready, "Sure! Yay!"
Another girl interrupted, "Umm.. Why?"
"Wait, where are you from?" said another.
"Oh, I'm from Alaska. We don't have sororities there..."
While the one girl was still primping and trying out poses for the pic, a sorority girl dictated, "Umm.. Yeah. We can't have our pictures taken. I mean, you could take our pictures of our head. But yeah, no, we can't have our 'letters' in the picture..."
And just as the one girl was starting to feel sympathetic, and disappointed, another girl grabbed her arm and said, "Come on, lets go!"
-So no sorority pictures because they're "not allowed."

not THE, but AN outstanding band... day 3

In competition with other bands, we performed our three songs in a dingy, junior high cafeteria with excessive, cheesy "got milk" posters covering the walls. Two bands prior to our performance, was Mr. Purvis' old band from South Whidbey Island. -They nailed their first tune, but our set was all together better.
At the Winner's Concert we were announced winners! Yay! We screamed, made a big scene, and then gathered back stage, nervously clenching our instruments with sweaty fingers. We played our hearts out, as winners, on the big stage and marched off, expecting to receive a drum set, keyboard, microphones... Or some sort of prize.
Once backstage again, Mr. Purvis asked us to gather and told us that for the first time in the 30-some years, we performed as a runner-up band (rather than as the actual winner). Might I say a bit humiliating? They had announced the wrong thing! How do you mess that up? Was the announcer pulling an Up-Chuck Findley (drunk)?
Oh well, it was a bummer that we didn't actually win, but the experience was awesome.
Later that night, Caitlin and I crossed a wheat field, a railroad bridge and a seven-lane highway to get back to the hotel. Unfortunately, I lost my cell phone in the process, but I'm recovering...

"i love eskimos!"... day 2

Good morning Idaho. And Ralph.
A small crowd of us went to an auditorium on campus to watch high school choirs perform. Sitting directly in front of us were several preppy girls from Roosevelt High School (a large school in Seattle). During an intermission, they turned around and asked us where we were from. We replied, "Alaska."
And one girl, Isabella (we later found out when she performed an amazing vocal solo at the Winner's Concert), exclaimed, "You're from Alaska!? I love Eskimos! *crunch*" As she bit into a celery stick. It was quite humorous at the time that she was calling US Eskimos because she had darker skin, and a fur coat!
(Click here for pictures of them)
Another girl chimed in, "Oh you're from Canada? Cool."
We all responded, "Oh no, not Canada, we're close, but-"
"Yeah, Vancouver right? You're from Canada-"
"Umm.... No, we're no-"
"Yeah, I love Canada. Cool!"
The girls got back to their business, taking pictures and such.
"Picture time! Say cheese and hotdogs!" *flash*
"That's a keeper!"

That night, Vocal Jazz found out that they won, and got to perform on the big stage at the Winner's Concert.