As many of you know, and many of you don't, I enjoy writing. I used to keep a blog about my school exploits but since I'm a grown up now (in theory) I've decided to start a new blog. You can still get emich girl (if you care to) as I'm not taking it down, I'm just moving on to a new chapter in my life. The new blog is easier to remember, it's www.sosobusy.blogspot.com I wouldn't trust that link tho, as I'm not sure it's 100% correct. Chances are you're reading this from a link on my facebook, you won't have to worry about it anyway.
My Aunt gifted me with a wonderful cruise as a graduation present. Between me and you dear reader, I think my family didn't think I was going to make it to graduation, so they were very excited to give me presents when I finally made it. I know most people who take 6 years to finish school usually have their masters, but what's wrong with taking your time to get a communications/marketing major? I just wanted to savor it is all...
What I thought was going to be a mild distraction, may have turned out to be the best week of my life, and as I sit here in cold cold Michigan listening to my new Danny Black CD ( http://www.thedannyblack.com/ ) I felt the need to get it all down and explain why it was as amazing as it was. Plus this way I won't have to relate the stories all the time, it's win-win!
As I am a night owl, and my aunt is not, I spent many many nights on my own on the ship. However with the help of a pal I like to call Long Island Iced Tea I was able to make new and interesting friends! People who know me, may be surprised when I say I got stark-raving-drunk every night, and sometimes day, of the cruise. However every single one of my new friends (LIIT included) taught me something new, about people in general, about myself, and about the world.
The singles cruisers came first, a few of them discovered me lurking on the deck reading a book one night. This was before I started with the heavy drinking, as I had planned to be a hermit all week and avoid human interaction, I was only staying up late because I was turning 26 at midnight, and figured I should wait up for that. I just wanted to sit a read, which has kind of been my go-to thing for the past few months. Erica, pranced over to my chair and started spinning me around, got me up and brought me over to some other people who told me all about the singles cruisers. It came up that it was my birthday and they insisted on taking me to the disco.
The next night after spending a wonderful day of snorkeling with Julie, I made what was one of the best discoveries of the week. Danny Black is, by far, the best entertainment on the ship. He was playing on serenity, I had free drink tickets from my parents, and my love affair with drinking every night started. Julie stuck around for the adults only show, which was in the middle of the acoustic set and thanks to some cheating on the part of Danny and Calvin I won a ton of beads and a spot in the second version of the show the next night. Tonight was also the night I discovered how AWESOME Calvin is, he has a way of making fun of people, but they eat it up and love every second. He gave Julie a nick name that she became widely known as, Aunt Aubergine. He and I decided we are going to get married in the winter, and my bridesmaids are going to carry muffs instead of flowers. He will forever be one of my favorite people on that ship. Since I had drunk myself stupid (after three drinks, because my tolerance was soooo low at this point) and Aunt Aborigine wanted to go to bed I decided to go on the deck and read, which I hadn't gotten to the night before. I still wasn't bold enough to strut into the disco on my own. I met Erica on the deck on the way back up to serenity. She was crying because of something a guy did, as we girls tend to be crying over a lot. I've always been a sucker for people crying, and derailed my plans to read/try and flirt more with Danny (who I assumed was possibly still up there packing up, keep in mind I'm still incredibly drunk) and sit down with Erica. Sometimes a girl just needs a good cry, and someone to tell them the guy isn't worth their tears. I made a great friend that night sitting under the stars, waxing poetic about life and love, under the EXTREME influence of alcohol. I went to bed at 3:30.
Next day get up at 8 for another stop, another beach, and more drinking directly after noon. At this point I had caught on the being drunk opens me up a lot more then I thought. Again any normal friends reading this might think it's NOT POSSIBLE for me to open up more, but thats because I have known you for years. Me getting drunk made me act how I normally do with you, but with strangers! Julie and I met a lovely couple at the beach, where we all drank and ate local food. Later on the cruise ship Julie didn't feel well and went to bed early, leaving me on my own much earlier than the nights before. I had fancy dinner with two older gentleman who I happened to be sat with. We talked about our 401K's, and how the housing market was doing. Needless to say it wasn't the most stimulating conversation, and I yearned to do anything else. I ended up going to Danny's show again, where I met some very sassy girls from Alaska and one of the Dakotas (I believe South?). We sang a long with the music and giggled about the ladies who were all there ogling Danny, and somehow convincing ourselves we were different. After the set, and more drinks, we pranced to the disco where I ran into Erica again, and we all danced the night away. Us gals got pizza afterward but spent most of the time fighting off unwanted advances from some of the not so subtle gentleman on the ship. I went to bed at 4 that night.
Thank god I don't get hangovers, since I got up at around 9 the next day for more beach fun. Once Aunt Aborigine and I got back to the ship we decided to go to a battle of the sexes type game show. Tyson got a little offended that the girls were winning, and got a little sassy with Misty. I was pretty drunk and decided to start screaming out things like "our hands are smaller so that we can reach inside the cups to clean them better!!!", just to make things worse. My obviously sarcastic remarks caught the attention of two ladies sitting near me, who's husbands were on the other side of the room. They laughed, I ate up the attention, and before I knew it I had more friends.
That night I was supposed to be in the adults show with my aunt, but she didn't want to go the second time around. "I don't want to have to do lesbian stuff with my Niece", was her excuse. I let her off the hook, and found Erica who then became my partner. The physical challenges in the show were a bit sexually charged, so it was perhaps for the best that I wasn't doing them with a member of my family. Erica and I won the challenge and I earned a bottle of champagne and another stick on a ship.
A few days later I ran into the couples from the battle of the sexes game in the rock stars lounge, and sang "get low" with Summer. I also laughed hilariously when one of the guys got on stage and claimed to be from "West Baltimore" right before doing a FANTASTIC performance! This was also the night I met the most adorable family of French Canadian girls. We talked about shoes, head bands, and just things girly girls like to talk about. They were all so fantastic and I sat with their family for a good hour. Also they sing and dance BETTER than the Spice Girls.
Eventually I convinced the two groups to combine and I was with my Utah/west baltimore friends, and my canadian friends. Before I knew it, Cody and Amanda came on the scene. I assumed they were married, but was told right away they were in fact, brother and sister, sorry about that guys!! Cody and Amanda also became my friends quickly, and not for the first time, I was struck with how outgoing everyone on the cruise was. Almost everyone I met was fantastic, to be fair there were some not-so-great people from New Jersey, but I think thats to be expected.
Cody did an amazing rendition of Tik Tok by the super talented Ke$ha. I think Cody did it better. I was not sober for any of this, my tolerance was slowly building up, if I remember correctly we eventually went to watch Danny again. I got on stage with him and sang Brittany Spears, and made an ass of myself for the millionth time on the cruise.
That night in the Disco I danced, and drank, and eventually went to go get pizza with Erica. I met a guy named Kevin at the pizza place who was visiting some buddies who work on the cruise ship. He was actually pretty amazing, and I don't know that I've ever met someone I had more in common with. We talked about our love of similar books and writing (both big Kurt Vonnegut Jr and Cracked.com fans), had an in depth conversation about nuclear power plants, politics, and other things that come up when you meet someone and you're both to drunk to have filters. That night I stayed up until 4:30. Kevin is probably the only true old school gentleman I've met in a long time, he opened all doors, was incredibly polite, and walked me back to my room at the end of the night. How adorable is that?!?
The second to last night was more of the same, hung out with new friends, drank to much, went to the disco, and again left with Kevin. We had another late night session of running around the ship, being way to drunk and talking about stuff that strangers probably shouldn't discuss (politics, religion, etc.) We were up until 5 that night, and like the true gentleman he is, he again walked me back to my room, even though he was pretty much falling asleep the entire way. As an aside, at Danny's show that evening I met another lovely couple, the wife Corrine, loved my shoes, and I loved her plaid top, since I pretty much have the same one. We were also fast friends after that conversation, and our mutual adoration of the acoustic guitar show.
The last night was amazing, danny had a great set in which a member of the audience played a koch shell, that he recorded and then played in the back round of his music, while we laughed so hard we were crying. It was the perfect evening for me because EVERYONE I had met was at the show, hugging, taking pictures, making plans to meet up again, and writing our names down for facebook. The singles were there, the french canadians, cody, amanda, my girls from Alaska and South Dakota, The couples from Utah, Corrine and her husband, Kevin even walked by at one point and yelled "free bird" at Danny, who just rolled his eyes, like every other time someone yelled that, or "stairway" at him. I also met some vary sassy older ladies, who love wearing wigs, and showed me pictures of cakes they make into dirty shapes. I hope I'm just like them someday. That night Cody and Amanda decided they are going to come visit me in Michigan for the Warrior Dash, and I really hope they do! Unless of course the three of us decide to work on a cruise ship together instead.
I can honestly say leaving the ship the next day was incredibly hard. The last few months have been some of the roughest of my life, and just getting to know these strangers, who are now new friends, really made me shift a lot of perspectives in my life, and rethink things in general. It was kind of a how stella got her groove back moment (at least I assume from the PREVIEWS I saw of that movie in 1992, I never actually watched the film.)
These are the things they taught me:
Erica - No matter what goes wrong, pick yourself up and have a great time. Life goes on, your heart gets broken, but stay positive and never let them see you're hurt. Also if you see a cute guy, go for it, even if you have reservations. Thank you so much for that Erica, I hope you get to read this someday.
Cody and Amanda - Be outgoing and have as much fun as you can. You guys were so much fun, both making me laugh so easily. I don't know very many siblings that seem to enjoy each others company that much. I hope you really do come and visit me, I would LOVE to show you the lakes, they're pretty great!
Calvin - You are so truly yourself, and it's FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. Everything you said made me laugh. I hope I can emulate some of that confidence.
Danny - Even if you go to school for business, you can find yourself doing something you love that you never thought you would do. You told me one night you've lived more in your year on the ship then you have in your entire life. That has to be an amazing feeling, and I need to figure out how I can do that as well.
My French Canadian Family- I know how to say Headband in French now!! A more adorable, close, and sweet family I don't think I will ever find. Thank you truly for adopting me.
My girls from Alaska and South Dakota - it's ok to let lose and be drunk and crazy. You guys were so much fun to drink with, and you have probably seen me drunk more times in the last week then most of my friends have in their lives.
All the couples - If I get married someday, it doesn't have to be boring, I can still go out and have fun, singing I will survive with guitar players, pretending I'm from other states, and going to dinner with my hair filled with salt water.
Kevin - there are still awesome guys out there who will walk you to your door, and not just try to take advantage of drunk girls. I don't know if I will ever talk to you again, but it's nice to know you're out there.
This may be the longest, and least funny blog I've ever written. I think it's because I'm tired, and still in awe of my week. I never thought I could have to much fun on my own, I always have friends around me, but it's nice to know I can make them, even if it's just for a short time.
If you're in the mood for my funny writing, I suggest you check out the older blog, http://www.diaryofanenragedeasternstudent.blogspot.com/. The first post should, in retrospect, probably be in this blog, but we'll say it's a transition post.
I promise I will be more funny and less long winded the next time I write, I just needed to get this all out before the memories start to fade.
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