Back to College…
Dearest friends, I have once again regained my post at Hughes 210. I haven’t felt like this since I moved in last year (big suprise!) I am actively longing to go and stay at home – except for when I’m distracted from this desire by my wonderful roommate, or meals.
This is sad on two accounts: 1) You’ve been though this before, and should be filled with anticipation for the future (which I sorta am) and 2) home isn’t that far away. Loser!
Well, I found good friends last year, such as Sarah and Ryan, so I expect the same from this year.
We have a large number of freshman which means that the few left-overs from last year are charged with conveying the whole culture and traditions of the previous year. This is a heavy burden because from what I’ve observed, we have a very different floor. However, we have our first floor meeting tonight, so I’ll finally get to meet everyone.
I’m extremely tired – so tired that I can’t even write with my usual literary flurish. I think its all the energy I’ve put into meeting people – new people.
Justin my new roommate, I’m sorry to say, is from New Jersey. He seems to misunderstand the whole concept of HIM joining US in OUR room. I do enjoy him however, and we’re getting along as well as could be expected considering the location of his home!
I miss everyone at home though, and am looking forward to visiting sometime soon. You continued prayers for my semester/year would be wonderful!
Last day at CLC
It’s Over! My summer internship at CLC’s Communications Department! Today was my official last day and it was every bit the joy the rest of the summer has been, minus Don, who was on vacation!
Yesterday, to commemorate my leaving, the department, minus Don, headed out to Red Robin to celebrate! Pictured above, L-R, Ryan James, Me, Jeff “Lew” Lewis, Jenn Thompson, Hannah Kim, and Mike Hartnett.
Its was an amazing joy, and I look forward to maybe serving there again sometime soon.
I also have pictures of the Birthday Broadcast from Lydia to post, I’ll get to that soon!
2006, The year of the Fogartys
Secret Communiqués of Government Officials…
I wanted to post the correspondence that Tyler Fogarty and I exchanged before and after Lake George, leading up to a Age Of Empires LAN party we had this past weekend. These diplomatic messages were only recently de-classified and I believe I am the first to bring them to the public eye. These messages which you may quote from in my biography, are simply fun reading. In case you were wondering – yes, people still do talk/write like this!
| From: Tyler Fogarty |
Hi Jason,
Ttyl,
Tyler
| From: Jason Cunningham |
-Jason.
| From: Tyler Fogarty |
Thanks for the reply on CBCF and clarifying your official position on dorkyness terminology given the subject matter. I, too, am glad that there is another individual with enough foresight and, may I say, heart to play a strategy game with a non-offensive mindset. While violence does, in fact, solve problems, according to Robert A. Heinlein’s classic book, “Starship Troopers” and in-game experience, it is a method that I believe is subservient to the greater needs of the villagers that I endeavor to protect and provide for in the game. This tendency and paradigm may be my weakness, however, as I go to lengths to protect my citizens that are truly unprecedented, or so declares the military monkeys of the modern age that so frequent such games as AOE. Gavin, in particular, calls my strategy, “completely unfounded” and at other times “grandly idiotic” as a lone enemy infantryman can decimate an entire acre of farmland nearly without resistance. Though I wish it was not required, I must ally myself with the military brilliance that is Gavin and company to ensure my villagers live on to see their great-great-grandchildren (aka the population limit). Therefore, to accomplish precisely that, a symbiotic relationship is necessary for my/our survival as I reap the vast benefits from trade cart travels and maxing out the market place and in turn aid those that do the dirty work to keep my people from harm.
Anyway, as for moving from talk to action, it would seem to me that either this weekend or the 19th or 20th of August may work out best.
Let me know.
Thanks,
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| From: Jason Cunningham |
Hi Tyler,
The account of your persecution at the hands of military-minded dictator types that share the inner recesses of your home is touching. While reading it, I remembered a time when I tried to convince a friend who was attacking me to stop out of consideration for the families of the troops involved. I told him to picture the widow, tears streaming down her face, surrounded by her flock of children all wailing at the thought of growing up without a father. I pointing out that there would be no safety net for such families, and as the banks foreclosed on their homes, or bulldozed them to make room for castles or more barracks, how sad a situation it would be. What would such a widow and her would-be orphans do without a father to look after them?
My opponent paused for a brief moment to consider the emotional impact of his actions on my villagers. Then, letting out a chuckle, he took the course that most tyrants must take when conquering a territory, and limited my people to nothing more than objects, to pixels that can be bought and sold at will. Destroyed or let live. He turned a blind eye to humanity, and proceeded to decimate the majority of my citizens, leaving me with no option but to build an army and fight them out. I lost the game.
While I stop short of calling Gavin, or anyone who shares his tactics “Tyrants”, I find their methods do tend to lean towards the tyrannical. However, a union between two such viewpoints seems an almost perfect marriage of compassion and fortitude.
August 19th or 20th would be ideal! I must confess, when I first read your email, I didn’t read it carefully enough, and thought that the 19th and 20th wouldn’t work, at which point my heart sank, and my mind snatched for alternatives. However, a closer reading, resembling a double take, revealed a much more heartening sentence that would meet my scheduling needs perfectly!
Put me down for either one. I’d prefer the 19th because I am scheduled for Facility Staff on the 20th, however, if it comes down to it, I could swap for another week. That’s how much of a priority this is. ::chuckles::
Deriving much joy from your eloquent replies,
-Jason
| From: Tyler Fogarty |
Dear comrade,
As a side note, Gavin and I, as allies against two computer opponents, ran through a couple regicide games this weekend on the “hard” difficulty setting and did very well. I even created a few troops of my own as incredible as that may seem.
Last but not least, Jesse, I am glad that you are joining us. This way we’ll be able to set the map to “Giant” for a massive game. Good times.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Over and out,
Tyler later added…
Dear Mr. Jason Cunningham,Thank you for your recent registration to the AOE CBCF alliance. We appreciate your understanding of modern, humanitarian focused productivity and are excited to have you join our elite ranks. This email is a confirmation of your intent to visit the Fogarty household on the 19th of August, 2006. A Google Calendar event notice will be forthcoming.
If you have any questions or concerns please let the event organizer know.
Many thanks and sincerely yours,
Tyler Fogarty
This was the last email in this series. The event took place on the weekend of August 19th, and per Sharon’s request, it was a sleepover! We had a marvelous time and succeeded in building our friendships on strong foundations. 2006 may be remembered as the year of the Fogartys because of their prominence in our hearts, minds, vacations and blogs – and I wouldn’t mind a bit.
Lake George 2006 – Fabulous Fun with Fogartys
Friends, I have returned from Lake George NY! Well, I’ve been back all week, but things have been busy and I haven’t had a chance to post about the many marvelous adventures we had while up in the North, or Le Nord as the French say.
Our week started at 4:00am (or 04:00 hours) when we departed our house and headed to the highway. Our destination? A gas station outside Harrisburg, PA. At this gas station we would Rendezvous with the Fogartys and scarf down some McDonalds. (Below)
Once we were done we jumped back in the car, and were about to roar down the road, when the Fogarty’s radioed us via our wireless communication devices, and informed us that we were about to leave our darling dog Dover, in the McDonald’s Parking lot. As I looked out the window, I could see Dover running up towards the car, stopping and staring at us in shock. He may as well have said, “What are you guys doing? Leaving me here? Are you insane?! You need me to defend the shore against the crashing waves at Lake George!” And he was right, we did need him. So we let him back in. OOPS!
Before we go any further, let me share with you one of my favorite families, and our guests at lake george this year.
Sharon Fogarty – AKA Mrs. Fogarty, what a delight she is! She is so delightfully candid I’m amazed that anyone can honestly say what they’re thinking. I need to learn from her example of directly addressing the issue rather than skirting around it with endless prose. She is also a great kidder. There is nothing like using your God-given sense of humor with some one who shares such a gift (or at least enjoys it). For some reason, I have come to think of parents, particularly mothers, to be sense-of-humorless. They are too wrapped-up in everything a mother does for that. (I don’t know why, my own mom has a great sense of humor!) Mrs. Fogarty breaks this stereotype and I enjoy her teasing very much. She’s pictured above looking rather wind-blown, yet lovely all the same.
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After 8 hours in the car, swapping back and forth between the two vehicles, we finally arrived at Lake George! (Below: the view towards the lake, from Demilog, pictured: Overbank where us Cunninghams would be staying.)
Above, the view from Overbank, up the bank to Demilog, where the Fogarty’s would be staying.
We arrived at about 1pm (13:00 hours) and still had plenty of time to swim, and play.
The next day, we enjoyed a splendid breakfast on the porch of overbank. We did fairly few meals with the Fogartys because we didn’t know how private they were going to be, however, I would have preferred to do many more meals together – like all of them – though maybe that wouldn’t have blessed the parents.
Later that day we launched the boat, and discovered that the motors brushes were corroded and would no longer work. Dad had to take them apart and clean them by hand.
We went on relatively few evening cruises as a result of dad’s distrust of the motors, battery’s, and the weather. That shall bother me for the rest of my ownership of that wonderful boat: the fact that you can’t use it. But it is one of dad’s greatest blessings to me, and a darn good-looking buoy ornament.
No friends, this year was the year of the sail. The Fogartys had brought along their 14′ sailboat and were soon taking the the water like a fish to… well… water. Docking was a tad cramped due to the shorter dock and unfamiliar waters. In years past we docked at the other dock, the one we just sold with the other half of our property, however, we were able to use that which we still have.
On Monday, we climbed up to inspiration point for the first time. It was a unique hike because I’m not much of a hiker, however, my running really made this year’s hike feel great! I was less pained than I have been any other year! that was cool. The view was also incredible! We actually climbed the mountain twice, the below pictures are from both hikes.
Above: The gang just before setting out on our first hike up Inspiration point.
Below: goofing off on top of what Dad called the Intercontinental Arrow Head, the Indians first/last attempt at world domination.
Below: Kristin always manages to catch the light just right so that she appears the most glamorous. This fluke almost appears fake, but is 100% real!
Below: Tyler about to pounce. No worries, I stopped him right after I took the picture. I warned them, then I ran to avoid getting shot by his… er… Leatherman!
Below, eventually, we reached the top, Inspiration Point!
Below: Me filming, my usual pleasure!
Below: My favorite pictures of the Kids-only hike up the other side of the mountain. Dad actually send us with a gun for protection. Tyler and I were the only ones to know about it at the time, as the groups “leaders”. It was a wonderful exercise in humble leadership – an exercise I failed in, but am learning from even now. Perhaps the most delightful part of the photograph is how each person is posed in a position that fits them perfectly. You might have had to have been there, but each pose really reveals a little bit more of “them”.
On Wednesday night we headed over to Ozie’s house for dinner and fun!
Yeah, you can probably guess what I was most excited about – the Model A rides in Ozie’s 1930 Ford Model A!
Thursday was the day the Fogarty’s rented a 185 HP speed boat! The First thing we did was tour a stretch of the lake. We toured the lake with these two grand dames of Fashion!
when we returned from touring, it was Water skiing time, and tubing! Yahoo… sorta! Mr. Fogarty officially trained me to drive the boat, and I was given the privilege of getting the skiers and tubers either up on the water, or out of the tube. I was better at up on the water. The rules for tubing were simple, try and knock the rider out of the tube, use boat wakes, big waves, even syntrifical force, but not small islands or other boats. ::shucks!::
Below: Carson looking rather like a model from JCrew or something. “Carson stares meta cognitively over the water…”
Below: She was cold – we all were. It was a group “keep warm” effort. We were tubing and couldn’t return to dock just yet.
Below: These two! The Twins! Jesse at Right and Carson at Left – or wait… no switch it… or no? Maybe? who knows?! Everyone kept getting the two of them confused all week. I guess thats a compliment for them? They’re both kinda good looking, right? (don’t’ answer that)
After we were cold, wet and tired, (and in good spirits!), it was time for RISK!! It wouldn’t be a week at Lake George without a game of RISK. Its tradition! Below, you can still see I own part of N. America. I was soon to be defeated by an alliance made up of the younger 4 children. (Tyler and I making up the older 2) Below: Carson, Gavin, and Tyler.
It was actually, really interesting Carson was the first one to be kicked out, however, it was his decision to attack Tyler in Africa, as opposed to Kristin in Europe that started a ball rolling that ended in a Victory for Kristin, the only girl over all the other guys. Gavin held out the longest, but was defeated at last in Australia. We had a little ceremony for each player that was eliminated. We’d all hold our hands over the spot on the board where the player’s last piece was effectively shading that country and a shadow of sorrow. Then we’d hum mystically, and the eliminated player (who’s hand was on the bottom) would reach down a pluck his last piece off the board. Loads of fun. The best game in a while!
Below: when we weren’t playing Risk (every night but Risk night) we talked around the relocated fire circle:
Below: Our group, minus Evan, and Tyler. This was on the last day, Friday, and we walked around the Silver Bay Association. The picture is taken at Slim Point looking down the lake towards our cabins.
Below: The Young’uns as we have come to call them. Pictured on a rare vista on the otherside of the lake.
Below: a rather droll picture of “the old’uns”? Those older than 20, or at least out of their teens. I only barely qualify in either camp. Why we look so… well… bad is uncertain.
Above: Lake George looking interesting, the winds blowing out of the South, as is normal for the region, however, rare for our week. We had abnormal wind that week, baring mostly out of the North which brings warm water, but cold air. I’m told having a week of Northerly breezes is rare, and my past experiences on the lake agree. We also had a full moon during our week, which cast an unusual brightness over our nightime activities. Weatherwise a strange week.
Above: The moon hovering over the distant mountains, and reflected in the water.
And here we must leave our merry band of Cunninghams and Forgartys, we thoughts of, and reverence to previous guests such as the Pattons, the Royers, David Somerville, and the Schicklers. What a joy it has been to share this week with each of them, and to have the privilege of getting to know them better. This year and the Fogartys is no different. I’m extremely thankful for God’s organization and provision of the Fogartys and their ability to join us. They are wonderful friends whose relationship I’m looking forward to deepening.
With many kind regards,
