Mitch

I don't know why I've never written about this before or why I haven't recalled it until now but here it is. I believe I remember the kid's name and that it does start with the letter 'M' but for anonymity, I will call him Mitch.

Yes, this is a camp story.


Summer of 2006. I worked at a summer camp down in Brown County for the whole summer. I can't remember which week this but I believe it was sometime in mid- to late-July. This particular week there were less campers and there was also a simulataneous, specialized camp going on called Hang Out Work N Stuff where older teens went out with our counselors to build houses in the community. So, there were only a handful of cabins this particular week. I believe I had five campers. One of them was Mitch.

He quickly became a problem. He'd disappear on us all the time. He would not get along with the other campers in our cabin. Every activity and every person was "gay" or "stupid." It was frustrating to say the least. I believe he was 9 or 10 but I can't remember exactly. So Mitch was the one problem kid I had that week. My co-counsloer David and I struggled in vain to get him interested and to keep him with the group.

Well, we found a few things out a day or two later. Mitch was a foster child. Looking back, I should've talked my parents into adopting him, he would have been a great little brother. Anways. Not only that but his brother, who was also a foster child, was at camp. Apparently they lived, for whatever reason, in seperate foster homes and so never saw each other. That is until camp.

So now I understood. But it still posed a problem. David and I both had seperate talks with Mitch but nothing changed. That is, until the overnight, which was Wednesday night. Our adventure group (a boy and a girl cabin together form an adventure group) hiked out and went to our camping spot, away from all the other cabins. I think by now Mitch and I were starting to form a bond of some kind. Whenever we did activities, he wanted to be on my team. He wanted me to be his canoing partner in the lake, etc. I obliged because I knew it would help him enjoy himiself.

On the overnight, we had a mini game of capture the flag. Mitch was on my team of course. I inadvertantly knocked another of my campers down while chasing him, but that's another story. He also helped us cook dinner, gather wood, etc. Overall, he started to be more a part of the team. I think it was a combination of all of us accepting him and allowing him to particiapte, as well as David and I setting stern ground rules (but also allowing him time to visit his brother) that helpped Mitch.

Over the course of the rest of week, he stayed more with our group, interacted more and got along with the other boys in my cabin, and did what David and I asked of him. It was great.

On the last day of camp, as his foster parents' car pulled away, he shouted out the window at me, "See ya Will!" I could hear the week's enjoyment emanating in his voice.

"Have a great summer, buddy!" I shouted back.

There is something to be said...

Okay, three posts in one day. It's a new record. But that isn't the point. I have had three, seperate but equal) points to make.


This one?

We could all take a lesson from tea. It's subtle, warm (or iced), and good for you.

A Leaf By Any Other Name...

So this leaf is (still) on a tree right outside my house. It has survived the winter and I think this says something about how determination is more powerful than sheer strength.

We were perfect when we started, I've been wondering where we've gone.

-"A Murder of One" by Counting Crows

"The world is a playground. We knew that as a kid. But somewhere along the line we forgot that."
-Zooey Deschannel in "Yes Man"

"When we were kids
We hated things our parents did
We listened low
To Casey Kasem's radio show
That's when friends were nice
To think of them just makes you feel nice
The smell of grass in spring
And October leaves cover everything"

"When we were kids
We hated things our sisters did
Backyard summer pools
And Christmases were beautiful
And the sentiment
Of colored mirrored ornaments
And the open drapes
Look out on frozen farmhouse landscapes"
-"Have You Forgotten" by The Red House Painters

All of these quotations capture it perfectly, beautifully. Poetically. Sorry for the adverbs but its true.

Everything, everything, everything I have ever thought or written about stems from this. Childhood is beautiful and magical. I understand that this isn't true for all, but for me and many others it is.

I remember everything. I remember when Christmas parties meant getting treats and gifts, playing with my cousins, singing carols and seeing Santa Claus. I remember how summers never seemed to end but August always came a little too soon. I remember getting up with the sun and playing until after it went away.

I remember. The good and the bad. And I feel nostalgia for everything.

Here's honesty: I feel like I don't have direction. It's easy when you're a kid because adults tell you what to do. You go to school, you play with your friends and family, you have fun. Sometimes you have to do chores and homework but its always worth it.

Then you grow up and you get a part time job, and that's when things start to set in. Money is great to have and all but its not everything, and a lot of the time its not worth what you have to sacrifice to get it. Then you go to college which comes with all sorts of learning experiences, good and bad. Its good to have bad learning experiences to, to make mistakes, because this is what learning is.

But you learn a lot about yourself. Stuff you never knew and stuff you never wanted to face. It changes you, sometimes for better but a lot of times for worse. You realize you are no longer the carefree little child you used to be. You worry, you hate, you limit yourself. You try desperately to hold onto old things and resist, terribly so, the new. But you can't hold on forever, and the more you resist the harder things become.

I write and I play guitar not too escape but to ascend. I'm trying to find not a balance but a new level. I want those feelings, those memories...all of them, the sights and smells and feelings of childhood but on an adult level. I want to live, damn it. And I don't mean necessarily going bungee jumping or anything of the sort. I want to be happy all the time. I want to sometimes just be carefree. But I also want to be responsible.

I don't know how close I am or how much further I have to go.

All you need is a sharp knife.

One last post of reviews

At least for awhile.

Here's the three for this one: "Doubt," "Gran Torino," and "Wall-E."

"Gran Torino"

Yeah Clint Eastwood is close to 80. And yeah he's still badass, especially in this role. I can't think of one thing I didn't like about this movie. It says so much about a lot of different things. From most people, the thing they dislike most (or the only thing they dislike) is what happens at the end but honestly I thought that things happened as they should have. Eastwood's character made the right decision: He set out to do exactly what he aimed to do which is to give those kids a future while protecting their physical and mental wellbeing.

9/10



"Doubt"

This movie was astounding. Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman put on a hell of a show, let me tell you. These actors were freakin' wonderful in the film. I saw them, yes, but it was like their faces were on someone else's bodies the acting was so well done and so believable. On top of that, this story, and this theme, was phenomenal. Yes it isn't a perfect film, it was a little lacking in some parts but overall it was just amazing. I mean the atmosphere, the way they juxtaposed the priests and the nuns, old ways and new. Awesome.

8/10



"Wall-E"

Okay so it's not big news that Pixar/Disney can make one hell of an animated flick. Wall-E is no exception. Great visuals, great story, great message. Its shorter than these other two films and very kid-friendly so if you have some young'uns, I recommend renting this flick for the family and the other two for yourself and your significant other.

8/10

More Reviews

"Yes Man"

So a new Jim Carrey movie, eh? I feel like the last comedy he was in was Bruce Almighty, which was pretty good. If he's been in any other comedies since then, they probably weren't important because I don't remember them.

However, I really enjoyed this movie. There were several times where I laughed out loud. Sure, it sounds a lot like "Liar, Liar" and it is in some regards but for the most part, this movie was awesome. And the very cute Zooey Deschannel is in it (you'll recall her as the love interest in "Elf" even though she's been in other movies).

You'll also recognize Carrey's characters friends, at least I did. One of them played "Hyde" on "That 70's Show" and the other well I'm sure he's been in a bunch of other movies but I recognize him as "Ben" from "Wet Hot American Summer."

Man, there were some very zany and very funny, and kind of gross and kinky stuff in this movie. Please rent it.

8/10


"Blindness"

All in all, this was a good movie. There was a little too much sex and nudity, though. A couple times very unnecessarily so. But it was a neat concept and neat twists and such. It was artistic in regards to the effects they used.

I didn't like a lot of what the main woman character did (and I forget both the character name and her real name). She didn't do what any person would've obviously done and so it dragged the story along unnecessarily so. Basically, she didn't know how to survive but somehow managed to. It really pissed me off.

I didn't like how the government reacted in this movie, either. It seemed a little unbelievable. They basically did what they did with like TB patients back in the day: put em all together in some isolated location and kept the world away from em and vice versa. Except this wasn't staffed with doctors and nurses, they basically just quarantined these people, gave them a little food, and let them do whatever inside. Sure, everyone thought they were contagious, but come on. I call shenanigans on this film. It was entertaining for the most part but it felt too much like a prison movie in an unbelievable context.

6/10



"Miracle at St. Anna"

Yes, this is a Spike Lee film. And yes, this is the first Spike Lee film I've watched all the way through (almost 3 hours long). I liked it, I really did. It showed the story of four black US soldiers who find this little Italian boy who is...not crazy, just kind of off. Parts of it are magical, surreal, and spiritual. Though it does drag on, it is very interesting, the lives of all the characters in the film.

The ending was kind of lame, though. Very cheesy, hollywood. But all in all it was a good film. It did drag on at times, but I put it up there along the lines of movies like "Saving Private Ryan."

9/10

Movie Reviews

I have watched quite a few important movies lately. I am going to post my $0.02 for each here. There are a few more movies I mean to watch and probably will review them. The reason I'm writing about all of these is because they are all pretty much dramas and are more meaningful, in many ways, than just straight up comedy or action flicks.

The three I'm going to review in this post are "Changeling," "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas," and "Watchmen." These may or may not contain spoilers so read at your own risk. Here we go:


"Changeling"

This movie was critically-acclaimed. Directed by The Man With No Name himself, Clint Eastwood. Powerfully acted by Angelina Jolie, John Malkovitch and others. This movie, among other things, paid detailed attention to the time period. There were several stories going on actually, and several themes as well. It's interesting that even in the late 1920's, the LAPD was doing poorly.

Although the story of Christine Collins (Angeline Jolie) was very intriguing, I was more interested in the story of the boy Sanford Clark. They did pretty well following the history of everything that happened (I did my research on it). If interested, look up the Wineville chicken Coop Murders to read about all of the actual history, before or after the movie, either way.

8/10




"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas"

No I didn't spell it incorrectly, well I did but that's how the title is spelled, for whatever reason. This movie is about an 8 year old boy named Bruno. His father is a Nazi officer and the family move out into the country--about a mile away from a concentration camp. This story is about Bruno learning about the Halocaust and what Jews really are (actual people) and the friendship between him and Schmul (a Jewish boy stuck in a concentration camp). There was a lot to be said in this movie. It's powerful how blatantly black and white things are in it, especially through the viewpoint of a child.

And goddamn the ending. That's all I have to say.

8/10



Before I review "Watchmen," I want to talk a little about the previous two movies. Both involve tragedy and children. I'm with Eastwood on the idea that the worst possible crimes a human can commit is against children. I happened to watch both of the movies (seperate nights) late at night before I went to bed, which I recommended against doing. These movies stick with you and make you think about a lot of things. They also make you want to find the children in your life and hold them close, away from all the goddamn despicable evils out there.

Holy shit.

Anyways, onto...

"Watchmen"

Here are my two complaints, somewhat spoilerific: Ozymandias' character was shown as very shallow in the movie. In the graphic novel, he was revered by everyone and so the ending was so much more shocking. Also, the ending was very hollywood, not too detracting but I liked the conversation between Dr. Manhattan and Ozy at the end of the graphic novel.

Everything else was superb. Yes it's 2 and a half hours long. Did it feel like it? Yes and no. Some people say its too long and slow in parts and others say its not long enough. Yes there was a lot of superfluous material from the graphic novel cut (the thing was loaded with material) but overall, I think it was one of the best, if not THE best comic book adaptation I've ever witnessed. Yes I saw it on opening night and yes I am a fan of the graphic novel. Other than the things I've mentioned, really all the complaints people have against it are ultimately against the graphic novel itself because the movie is very true, shot for shot, to the source material.

9/10



So not too spoiled, I suppose. But anyways, expect more...I plan to watch "Seven Pounds", "Doubt," "Gran Torino" (of course more Eastwood!), and "Blindness."