Adventure Log

Whew. Another update. Pictures will be coming, just not at the minute, as I'll explain in two seconds.

So I was sitting around in class, looking up random internets on my laptop, when I heard this awful clanking noise emanating from my cooling vent. It sounded like a screw had gotten loose inside and was stuck in the fan like a rock in butter.

I took out my handy-dandy jeweler's tools, and unscrewed my laptop case. I couldn't see the screw, but I could still hear it clinking around, so I took my laptop and gave it a pretty vigorous baby-shaking. Nothing fell out, so I reassembled the casing and pressed the power button. But it didn't turn on, not even after I pressed the stupid thing 40 times. Whoops.

Jon took a look at it that night, but he just shrugged and told me to buy a new computer. So I did, and now I'm typing on my brand-new touchscreen Tablet PC, which is a pretty sweet machine. Half the cost of my old laptop, but 3 times the RAM, speed, and hard drive space. The touchscreen is pretty cool too - I can finally draw directly instead of scanning all my pictures in.

The only downsides are the weird keyboard layout and the difficulty with writing on the screen. Sometimes the text-recognition program doesn't work very well - my lol's become (01's. Other than the few nitpicky things, it's an awesome computer. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Anyways, adventures this week: A couple of the engineers suited up in formal wear (ties, dress shirts, skirts and dresses) and went to The WestEnd. It was a good night, but Nik and I were craving some adventure, so we decided to climb CNH. Lisa, Laura and Julianna tagged along with us. The night got off to a good start - we were running around, hiding from each other, and generally just playing around like drunk students will do. Things sorta went sour when we tried to explore Quarter's. The manager spotted us and called security. Nik and I had the presence of mind to RUN, but the girls weren't so smart and ended up getting cornered by the Mac 5-0, who kicked them off campus.

Nik and I saw the whole incident from the roof of CNH, and met up with the girls back at WestEnd. Julianna and Laura both went in for more drinks, but Lisa tagged along with us. We decided to go to the old trainyard, a couple blocks down east. It was dark and misty, and the trains cast long shadows on the ground, setting the atmosphere for an amazing night.

We hoisted ourselves up onto a long, trailing set of grain cars. I never realized how tall trains were. The one we climbed was nearly two stories, and about 30 cars long. We walked the entire length of the train, jumping across gaps between cars while keeping an eye out for the warehouse workers. It was cold and wet, but we were in adventure mode, so the weather didn't bother us much.

We explored the trainyard a little more and found a watchtower, about 80 feet tall. A single ladder went up all the way to the top, where we could see a small platform and a spotlight. The ladder had some sort of metal barrier on it, but we bypassed this by climbing the framing. We scaled our way to the top and sat 80 feet above the ground, in the strong wind, on a dangerously swaying tower.

On our way down, Nik dropped his knife and his cell phone. The cell fell all 80 feet onto hard gravel, while the knife narrowly missed my head by two feet. Fearing the worst, we climbed down quickly, jumping down rungs two at a time. Nik found his cell phone, and turned it on - only to find that it worked perfectly, without any damage at all. Just to note: Sony Ericssons are INDESTRUCTIBLE.

We went to the nearby golf course and told a couple ghost stories. We also played with the hole flags. We kept walking and walking, until we hit a road, and realized how far we'd actually come. We began at WestEnd, and ended up at Aberdeen and Longwood, about 5km away from our starting point. It took us a freaking hour to walk back, in the cold mist, at 4 a.m, and we ended up sleeping for a bit on a sidewalk. Amazing night.

It didn't end there though. This morning, I got up at noon and met Nik at his house. We walked down to the school and got on a totally random bus. We spent the entire day drifting from one bus to another, stopping at malls and stores and restaurants. There were a lot of interesting shops, and a lot of interesting people - crazy candy lady, one-arm man, and black sand man. I saw a lot of Hamilton I haven't seen before, and we'll definitely do it again soon.

It's 2 a.m. and I'm exhausted. Pictures coming soon, and I'll tidy this up sometime. Night.

ESC

On the Internet, no one knows who you are. You can pretend to be a rich, privileged kid living in a beautiful suburb whose parents are both lawyers with high-paying jobs, and even though they work a lot of the time, you don't mind because you spend a lot of your time on your state-of-the-art laptop browsing internet forums and pages. No one can tell that you really live in a trailer with your unemployed parents, and you struggle to pay the internet bill yourself because the sound of your secondhand computer is the only thing that can drown out the screams when your father comes home drunk.

You can ask a million people to draw a picture of you, but although they may be perfect physically, there isn't an artist that can truly capture a soul on paper. And if there was, would you dare to look? The dark, twisted parts, dabbed in black, that you try to hide from the light. The hurt in swashes of deep scarlet, the broken parts that sometimes can't be fixed. The truth, in blinding white, the parts you try to deny. Would you look at such a painting?

Does anyone know who you are? Which is more real - the face you wear or the complexity inside - or are you an amalgam of who you really are and what you pretend to be? The face in the mirror is what people see, but what they feel is a different picture. Could you paint your soul? Do you know who you are?

We always search for an escape - to deny the truth - to put on a mask and shield ourselves from the world. We need that ESC button, the pause from reality, our pinky reaching towards the top left of the metaphorical keyboard. We all try to hide, behind designer labels, false bravado, and anonymous internet usernames. Whether it's on the internet, a lawless world where the only pulse is the transfer of information, or in reality, where each beat of your heart reminds you of what lurks beneath your facade, we all strive to hide. To thine own self be untrue.

Adventure

Things are looking amazingly sky-high.

So Frosh week was an experimental period of separation between me and the people who I used to force myself to hang out with. It worked, and I've effectively divorced myself from the YEAH DRINK TO GET DRUNK crowd. I've never felt better letting myself go, and getting angry sometimes has helped my self-control incredibly.

Anyways, I was sitting in front of my computer one day, and I was writing about all my previous life 'adventures'. Then the irony hit me like a truckload of fail - here I am, writing about sleeping outside and hitchhiking across continents, but now I'm sitting in front of a computer on facebook. I miss adventure. What the hell am I doing here?

So last night, me and Nik built a cross at Adam Wong's house (Adam is sort of like an engineering god). Then we climbed ABB (our school's science building) and explored the roof for hours. I took an amazing photo of Thode at night from above. The roof of ABB is like a maze, there are ladders going up and down and pipes running everywhere, and vents spewing random white smoke. We had some dangerous moments climbing across six-story drops, and then we went an explored the maintenance level with all the steam pipes and wires. It was like being in a submarine hallway. Fucking incredible.

Eventually, we went down into the building itself, and tried to get into a lot of places, like the electron microscopy lab. We jumped over the staircase railing to get past the door lock, but there was ANOTHER locked door. We also tried the loading dock, but some radio music was coming out, so we figured someone might have been working late. We also found a scary demon painting called 'Fallen Angel" - not a nice sight in a dark, silent building at night. I also got scared by the maintenance hallways, and my reflection in a window. Lol.

Eventually, we went over to BSB, and got in through the unlocked elevator entrance. We went up to the fourth floor, but some guy was there, so Nik started jamming the "close door" button and we escaped to the third floor. BSB was sort of boring, but we did explore the subbasement and found the building blueprints labeled "BSB Phase III". Like any good spy, we took the prints and ran to JHE.

That night, when I got home, I talked to my housemate Lisa and convinced her to sleep outside. It was so freaking nice, but it got really cold around 5 a.m., so we went inside. I almost missed the speech I had to give this morning, but it was SO worth it.

Then today, I got Jon and James and we climbed the hill/cliff/mountain at the end of Emerson road. The hill ended at the highway, but it was still cool because we saw a deer and got some exercise.

You know when self-made promises never ever go right? Well, this one went perfectly. Anyways, I need to go. I have more adventures to explore.

Autopilot

Justin says:
I have no idea how I got home Wednesday.
Aaron d[-_-]b says:
hahaha maybe someone dragged you home
Justin says:
DAMMIT WHO?!
Justin says:
Probably Josh or Nik... I'll ask them.
Aaron d[-_-]b says:
probably
Aaron d[-_-]b says:
or maybe your autopilot works
Justin says:
Haha sweet.
Aaron d[-_-]b says:
theres only one way to test this hypothesis
Justin says:
... oh no.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be: The Stranger

The boy stood at the foot of the narrow bed, watching the other toss fitfully in his sleep. The room was dark, doubly shaded by the night sky and the tightly closed curtains - curtains that had forgotten what it was like to be open, laden with dust and grime.

The blankets were so warm, damp with sweat from the restless nightmares. He lifted an edge and tucked himself in, lying next to the larger figure, feeling the twin heartbeats beat in rhythm - both speeding - one fighting a losing struggle, the other racing in fear.

All was silent, save the beeps of the medical equipment counting down the seconds, and the ragged breaths echoing in the room. The air was still, stagnant, almost frozen in anticipation. The boy held his breath along with the world - it seemed as if the universe was waiting in anxiety, paused on the dreadful cusp of a great fall. All was silent.

The darkness was choking. No longer a concept, it had become alive, a thing unto itself, raising its dark arms to envelope the occupants of the room and swallow them whole. The boy could feel it now - cold hands reaching for the bed, tilting them up, and sliding them into a maw from which there was no escape. He scrunched his eyes tightly shut.

A few seconds later, he opened them. A figure was standing by the bedside, obscured by the shadows, mere inches away. It was a shape the boy recognized, because it came every night, visiting in the late hours, although all the doors were locked and windows bolted. No barrier could stop this one from coming, not when it sensed its time was near.

The boy spoke wordlessly, screamed silently, shouted nothing. The figure was motionless, still, but its presence was heavy with intent and foreboding. Each night it would appear, frozen as the moonlight, and each night it would vanish again by daybreak. He never saw it come, and never saw it go, but every night, it would stand by the bedside, waiting.

One day it would move, stretch out its arms, and take the other away. The boy hoped against it, but he knew. There was no stopping The Stranger. Not when there was a debt to collect.

He turned away, but he still felt the coldness at his back, the tingle up his spine. He knew.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Frosh Week Wheels on a Bucket

Quick post. I haven't had internet for the last few days. We disconnected it for August (since everyone went home for the summer) and we just got it back.

Anyways, recap of Frosh Week (a more in-depth one will be coming soon):

Monday: Bed Racers, we screamed a lot, I ran after the Kin students, I was hit by the commerce bedracer, we got disqualified for the thrust walk. That night, 'meeting' at 29 Norfolk, and they drew a picture of me with keyboard teeth and tiny genitals.

Tuesday: Faculty day. I lost my voice today, we ran over humanities, I tackled a Science Ninja, ten frosh called me son. Watched Tokyo Police Club, it was great. Ruby Coast was excellent too.

Wednesday: Airbands. I tried bungee walking and failed miserably. Reds meeting that night, where I got completely pwnzrd by cheap pitchers of 'water'.

Thursday: Gek, where I spent the entire time getting eaten by bugs while walking forest duty. I left early and went to WestEnd instead, and had a few pints with my housemates and Jon's house.

Friday: Bus Pull and FWP. I left FWP early because it was honestly pretty expensive, loud, and shitty. I ended up going to WestEnd again with Jason S and Jason O.

Saturday: 266 Invite-only party. Most drunk I was this week, Josh made me shotgun a beer, then shotgun another one when I failed the first one. Went swimming and made a whirlpool, then played the 'point and tackle circle' game in the water. I really enjoyed this party because it was just a bunch of cool first-years and Reds that I can rely on. We saw the Alexisonfire concert too, which was AMAZING and headbangalicious.