inspiration, university, skis

it requires a great deal of inspiration to continue through a prolonged 5th year of undergraduate studies. by this time in your college career you have either completely blown past the required 180 credits to graduate or you have swapped majors seven or eight times. the people in the registrar's office eventually tire of your questions and accusations and the career counseling center begins offering career counseling to their employees who have seen you countless times.


tired in big sky

one spends most of their 5th year in college swearing and drinking, two habits that have formed with vicious efficiency over the past four years. papers and studies get lost under dinner plates and friends and onlookers eventually begin to wonder why their friend (who is still in school) hangs out at the library: they never talk about schoolwork. they never talk about class. are they just creeping on the freshers? no, they are not. they are still in school, suffering through and hoping that this quarter or the next will be their last. either this or that the world will come to some fiery end.


spencer, crashed on his bespoke mattress system in byron's shed

inspiration alone can combat swearing and drinking for so long. eventually the white blood cells of everyday life breakdown and the virus begins to take over. once this process has begun it is nearly impossible to reverse. antibacterials such as nights out at the bar don't work anymore. this is, after all, a virus that we're talking about. a virus that has sat dormant and patient for the past four years is never keen on being dispatched by trifling distractions. you become lazy, angry with school and academia. work slows. there may even come a point where you don't care if all there is to sleep on is a box spring cot sans mattress so long as you're afforded peace and quiet.


line prophet 90s

ah, but there is hope. don't you remember how good it felt to go purge the system? to bootpack for 20 minutes up a run where you're rewarded with maybe four or five sweet turns? remember how good deep snow feels under the p-tex?


bootpacking up bone crusher

yeah, yeah you do. school? no problem, all i need to do is make sure that my credits from study abroad come through and i'm all set. work? that's alright, at least i have a job that pays for my active habits. drinking? if it's an occasion but otherwise i just can't be bothered. sleeping? it is rather necessary but there's nothing wrong with early mornings.


ben & spencer at the lodge

aye, so cheers! gather your mates. work hard. burn yourself out. see if you can make the last tram of the day. try that steep line. get haggard and bask in the lactic acid buildup and remember what it feels like to crash and come out on the other side unscathed and giggling. this is the antiviral. this is the purge. this is the proverbial leech for letting the bad blood.

anybody heading to mt. baker on sunday?

-e