things I'll remember from today

 hearing the cat-themed parody of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, Smells Like Cat Litter

drill a hole in a little rock with a different little rock

we hiked to this waterfall and if you climb up the waterfall there's other pools and things and this boy I was with wanted to keep following the river and find the source and I also feel that same urge to just follow a trail or river and see where it goes

I made up this french character who was visiting American summer camp and the kids didn't like the accent and found it annoying

why is one rat bigger than another rat?

is that fair? is it fair for a rat to be bigger than another rat? how did it get that way? did it eat more rat food? was it more efficient at turning the food it got into more rat? was it some other rat growth factor? is the biggest rat in the world the best rat in the world?

don't worry about these things. they are foolish. what matters is that the rats are friends. instead of thinking about what separates the rats. think about what unites the rats. in this way, the rats can build a house so strong that the cat army cannot destroy it. they bring their cat tanks but it cannot stop the impenetrable walls of friendship fortified by rat ingenuity.

Crab takes a peak in the door to see Andy facing the corner of the room holding things in his hands and talking to himself. Guess he's doing alright. thinks Crab. 

respond to the show ok goodnight

 this song scares me.

it kind of reminds me of Angus the prize winning hog in parts.

In response to the anti-dwelling statements, they seem to suggest that one should go and follow the money instead and pursuing money for the sake of money is clearly an illness.

so, yeah. But it seems like they're doing the thing where they're like 'oh we're what evil people sound like.'

It's a good song.

Another thing I want to say is that this week we have a group that is content to sit and enjoy each other's company and wow does it feel good. It's so nice. like they don't need distractions or mediation to avoid conflict. dang. shoutout chill group.

I need to make more art

 more art for myself. to share with others. but it's for me.

do a person do a thing for their own sake or for the sake of others. 

again this is a question that could be best answered by watching ants.

when you watch an ant do something, is it for the sake of the individual ant or for the other ants it knows?

Neither is true. We do not ascribe these motivations to ants. We say, 'it acts in its own ant nature because that is all it can do.'

So it is the same with us. And we must never make the mistake of removing ourselves from the ant world. We act in service of our nature and make up a justification afterwards. 

In no way is this meant to debase or devalue human action. Acting without thinking is the way of the world. It does not negate kindness or compassion or sweetness. It does not negate growth or change. 

ant mode and dwelling

the weirdness will happen

 one of my all time favorite things about camps is that people feel comfortable being a version of themselves they don't normally show. I've seen glimpses of it this summer but I start to get a little bored or sad when things feel too normal or people would rather be whiny or argue. 

I write this post to remind myself that you can't rush it. If that's the flower, you have to make the conditions right for the plant to grow. You have to let people feel safe and get familiar with what's going on and then they can have fun.

 if you're not tapped in to what kids are doing these days, one thing they do when they're outside are kill spotted lantern flies. they're obsessed. and open invitation to murder without remorse. they treat it like it's their mission. that they're saving the trees and by extension everyone else.

but after seeing the stray lantern flies that end up in roads or on sidewalks or in parking lots and then seeing the hundreds that swarm trees and all manner of plant material, it makes me think that the ones that happen across our path are just the ones that got pushed out due to overpopulation anyway. that all we're doing is killing the ones that were already condemned. the real horde is where we aren't and the cheap bit of solace we take against the castaways is really just a sign of how much they've already won.

But I don't know. Good that kids care about invasive species.

"WHAT DOES CHUD MEAN? WHAT DOES IT MEAN? THERE'S A KID AT GAGA NAMED CHUD KID WHO CALLS EVERYONE CHUDS! WHAT DOES CHUD MEAN?"

said on the bus yesterday.

My favorite part is naming the kid who calls everyone 'chuds' chud kid. I think there's beauty in that. That what you see the world as is what you become.If you look all around and see nothing but chuds, then you are the chud kid.