Pictures from VHL Stock!

Right Here.

I hope this will give some people an idea what it was like.

Back to School...

Yeah, I'm back to school. I'm kind of busy and don't have much to write about as of yet, but I'd just like everybody to know that I am no longer using therandomnessoflife.com as a URL. To get to my blog, you'll have to use alcatraz014.blogspot.com like we used to. I will hopefully be registering therandomnessoflife.net sometime soon, so this is merely temporary. The reason is so that I can finally get my blog unblocked at school. Thanks for being patient.

Swim Team: Concluded

Before camp started, swim team ended. And it ended with a citywide swim meet. As you may know from past posts, I have not been happy with swim team nor my swim coaches. In fact, I was to the point where I wanted to get them back. I'm not sure I'm proud of it, but I did indeed get them back, and I think it's a story worth telling.

So I went to the citywide. My events were the medley relay, 50 free, 100 breast, 100 free, and free relay, in that order. The medley relay and 50 free were the first day, and the other three the second day. For the medley relay, I swam hard and tried to get a good time for my team. But the 50 free... Well I front-flipped for the entry. In the grand scheme that's not that bad, But there is nothing that frustrates my coaches more. By the end of the day, they were livid. It was actually kind of funny to see how immaturely they acted about it. One of them actually flipped me off.

But that was the beginning of it. Second day, I showed up earlier than I needed to and played racquet ball with my fellow swimmers. I swam regularly at the 100 breast (to their relief). But at the 100 free, I repeated my original stunt. And this time, it turned out that the swim meet people weren't very happy about it. So I got kicked out of the swim meet.

What was bad about this was that I wasn't able to swim for my free relay, and my team had to swim exhibition (they got to swim but it didn't count). I realize now that what I did was kind of immature but that feeling of righteous anger made me feel really invincible. It was the last time I would see my swim coaches and there was nothing they could do to me.

Eventually I apologized to the swim coaches, because I did regret being such a jerk. But at the same time it was still kind of funny. Well that was the end of swim team. I'm not sure if I'm going back next year, but if I am there'll be new coaches and maybe a new experience, so who knows? We'll all have to wait and see.

VHL-Stock

Let me start by saying something: there is no magic but music, and there is no magic like music. I came to VHL-stock expecting to learn that, and sure enough, I did.

As many of you know, I flew in to Los Angeles on Saturday with my aunt Amy. Unfortunately, we ended up missing our direct flight to Los Angeles and had to go through Seattle. And then the rental car took hours to get. I finally was able to go to bed at around two in the morning. It was a long, long trip.

But the trip was worth it. In the morning I got up early and had some breakfast and I practiced with the band. The band consisted of Uncle David (Calvin's Dad on the drums), Uncle Brian (guitar), my cousin Calvin (guitar), Nick (keyboard and guitar), and Wes (6-string electric bass). I really never knew music could sound quite that good. I was lucky to be part of it.

As the day progressed and practice ended, we started setting up lights and equipment for the event. In case you don't know, VHL-stock was a fundraiser for the VHL foundation. VHL stands for Von-Hippel-Lindau syndrome, a rare disease that leaves the affected person(s) especially susceptible to tumors on the eyes and adrenal glands. Unfortunately, Calvin has it. When he found out, he decided to be active and put together this fundraiser-music event thing to raise money for the VHL Foundation. Just about the whole family showed up. Aunt Kimmi even pulled a few strings to get the event sponsored by Activision.

The music, as I've said, was incredible, and the whole event was really inspirational and a fun time. And for me it was the end of the summer. I went out with a bang having an incredible musical experience with my family.

So I'd just like to say, Thank you Brian, Thank you Uncle David, and Thank you Calvin. I'm so glad we got the chance to do this. I hope to see you guys again soon!

The Good, The Bad, and Brian

The Good: Well everybody I finally made it back from Camp Orkila in the San Juans, and I had a great time! We went on a six-day kayak trip, circumnavigating Orcas Island and staying at an assortment of the islands scattered throughout the San Juans. Probably the best two weeks of my life, although I don't really count my life by groups of two weeks, so I guess I can't say that but. But it was still pretty incredible. All the people in my cabin were smart friendly people who I hit it off with, and the counselors were the best-funnier than hell too. The highlight of the week was playing an island-wide game of capture the flag on Doe Island, and island that had the absolute best beaches for climbing. It was so fun. So good.

The Bad: When you play with water, you get doused. And that sort of thing isn't good for electronics. What I'm getting at here is that my camera is broken, and I have no way to upload the pictures I did take. Mom warned me but I put it on the kayak anyway. Oh well. I'm sure I'll figure out something.

Brian: So I got back home Thursday, but guess what? I'm leaving Friday for Los Angeles! Brian and Calvin have put together a fundraiser/music event called VHL-stock. All proceeds go to the VHL foundation. VHL is a rare cancer-related disease that Calvin unfortunately has. It leaves him especially susceptible to tumors on his eyes and adrenal glands. He has in fact already had two delicate operations to get two removed. And so he's putting together a fundraiser for the cure. So anyway, I'm coming down to LA to help them out, even sit in for a couple of songs! It will be really cool. If you're reading this and happen to live in the LA area, I would suggest going.

VHL-Stock
An evening of dessert, wine, and music
featuring Calvin Cieslak
Saturday, August 16th 7:00 p.m.
23515 Hatteras St. Woodland Hills
An event to benefit the
VHL Family Alliance Cancer Research Fund
http://www.vhl.org/