Totebag winner

[rootbeer1]

Been a pretty busy week. Last weekend we went to keanubear's birthday party, where we received the grand prize, the official John Ashfield Totebag, after Neil, the original winner, left it behind:



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As another way to remember poohbearhjim, I've created a web page for some of his family's recipes, and it can be found here.

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I went to the gym yesterday and met a friend who, surprisingly to me, can't swim. I had time, so I helped him try to do some rudimentary dog-paddling. It just sort of amazes me when I find friends who can't swim, especially since my family's vacations, when I was growing up, seemed to center around water -- swimming in the ocean, pools or lakes. In high school I opted out of the regular PE requirement in order to swim all year, and at the end was certified as a lifeguard. And even now, although the ocean is too cold to swim in here, I look forward every summer to the various pool parties around the bay area, and not just because they are filled with hairy bearded men in Speedos.

But I think there are more people than expected who don't swim, or never learned how. So ... poll-time!

[Poll #1134139]

Comments

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

In order to graduate from my college, you had to pass a swimming course. (The school legend is that the donor for the athletic centre had a daughter who drowned and so made that a condition for his gift.) I wasn't looking forward to it because I'd gone to swimming lessons at least three times before and flunked every time. But then my teacher showed me the backstroke and back crawl and I was like, Wait, I can swim WITHOUT having to put my face in the water? Holy moly, this shit is fun! Turns out it wasn't the swimming I didn't like, it was the breathing. Also, I was too ectomorphic back in the day to float well, so just treading water was a bitch, but time and tide have taken care of that.

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

Did you go to Cornell?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I went to the Cornell of the West. Or, as we used to call it, "U of C".

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally, Cornell has an almost identical graduation requirement and legend attached to it but apparently the legend proves false. Students aren't required to take a swim class unless they fail the swim test that they usually take during orientation week of their freshman year. The swim test consists of swimming three consecutive lengths of the pool; the first using breaststroke, the second backstroke, the third is whatever you want. I got no less than 10 feet away from finishing my third and final lap when I got winded and had to be helped out of the pool. So embarrassing. But the class definitely helped me improve my form.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I didn't even take the O-Week exam since I knew I'd fail. IIRC, it's not specified what stroke you have to use, you just need to complete a set number of laps.

I also want to state for the record that the fact that my swim teacher was so much more HAIRY and GORGEOUS than anyone who'd tried to teach me previously had nothing to do with me passing the course. But, dayumn, it didn't hurt!

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

Alas, I wasn't so richly rewarded for my failure. Actually, that's not entirely true. As I sat in the locker room, wheezing and quietly dying of shame, this cute n' beary guy who saw me being helped out of the pool offered to get me a soda to help me reconstitute. That same guy is my best friend to this day. He's straight but I don't hold it against him. ;-)

Come to think of it, there were a couple of hot guys that had to take the swim class with me. The post class shower in the locker room was always a good time to take a few peeks at hunky naked bods. This one particular guy was of Greek descent, husky and oh so perfectly hairy. He was also frustratingly flirtatious for someone who claimed to be straight. He was always grabbing my ass and sometimes reaching for my junk, usually once we were clothed. One time I cornered him in my dorm after he grabbed my ass and tried to kiss him but he wasn't having it. I wonder what he's up to these days...