Kshon update: Lightning round!

AKA: Real quick, WML (Write More Later).


Ready................................................. go:


Just finished my first full summer/fall season at NCOBS! WOO!!!
Jam Crew is a strong band of friends from NCOBS and I miss them a whole lot:Represent WHAT?!
AORE conference coming up....
Riding my bike with Lucas and Katelyn along the C&O Canal !
In Morgantown for a few days.... hung out wth Molly Chamberlain (yay she cooked pasta!)
Played soccer tonight ("interesting...")
Climbing hard and yeah... living life

Upcoming:

Red Rocks climbing for Thanksgiving
Seattle for the time after until my bro's birthday
Morgantown for December? I dunno!
January: Florida Everglades with NCOBS


Much Love,

Kev

Hello out there from NCOBS land!!!

Well, I have my fall/winter schedule. For those interested please remember that my schedule is due to change- I have about 20 days before I need to confirm this schedule. if you would like to do something with me, I would love to! But, we should start making plans soon so I can make it work with my schedule :) and yours :) :)

Okay so here goes....

Episcopal: 8/21-8/27

Blue Ridge School: 9/13-9/18

Cannon School: 9/23-9/28

Woodberry: 10/4-10/10

Saint Phillips: 10/13-10/19

Florida New Staff Training: 1/4-1/11

Ransom I: 1/13-1/19

Ransom II: 1/20-1/26

Savannah: 2/2-2/8

Berkeley Prep Leadership: 2/13-2/19

Support Staff: 2/22-2/19

Canterbury: 3/1-3/7

Palmer Trinity: 3/10-3/16


A Calendar will soon follow (for all of us visual processors out there!)

These dates are liable to change.... but .... the sooner I confirm them, the less likely they are to change for me.

I miss you all very much. I am realizing how important you all are to me by not being able to be in proper touch (I live in the woods!!!!)... so I would love to see you.

I have a lot of work offered to me- which is a blessing. This is a really good sign... I am honored with this job and with this amount of work- but I am equally honored to have you in my life.

I can not stress enough... IF YOU WANT TO GET TOGETHER- please let me know :)



Quick daily update:

Yesterday- Zach and I ran 7 miles after bouldering for the afternoon, then we blew a tire on a company truck on accident (a low lying rusted old pole was barely peeking out of the ground and snagged the side wall- pretty hard to see in any case)...

Woowoo

Today- Zach and I went sport climbing at Hawk's Bill Mountain- a beautiful area... we pulled hard and I am now really tired.

Tomorrow: Old Crow medicine show in Boone- need I say more?



Miss you all,




Kevsky Shonovich

Greetings from North Carolina!

Wow...

My how the time has passed: Colorado, NYC, Vermont, Joanna's Graduation, Saying "Goodbye" to Carly for the summer, and NCOBS. Life is certainly busy for the Kevster, but somehow I am managing to hold on. In fact, I am holding on not due to any one action of my own accord; I am holding on because you are here in my life and for this I am thankful. You see, I am missing my dear friends dearly- I have been living in the woods nearly the entire summer and it just hit me the other day how much I actually miss all of you~ !!!

Okay, I think a quick update is in store for everyone...

After returning home from Colorado I attended a conference in upstate New York (an AEE conference). After this I cruised down to the big city and spent four lovely days with Aspen Enjoli Fitzgerald-Dorsey and Ginny Yang: Two of the most beautiful women possessing some of the most hospitable hearts that I know... To be honest? The NYC was kind of intimidating- after three long months in the vast valley bottoms of Western Colorado the skyscrapers, flashing lights and "rat race" was more than apparent.

Whew- what a mouth full... After NYC I drove north to visit my good friend Jarod Waite outside of Burlington, Vermont. I was recertifying my Wilderness First Responder and St. Michael's College (where Jarod was a graduate student) was the only course on the entire east coast that matched ,y personal schedule. After this craziness of New England travel I headed south to visit Maggi Chamberlain (one of the world's coolest/amazing/inspiring women!!) in Newark, "Dela-where?" and then on to Manassas for a quick visit with the folks and then it was down to Radford for nine unforgettable days with Joanna Lilley (I LOVE THAT GIRL!!!) Joanna is like the amazing sister that I never had: She loves the outdoors, she is beautiful, intelligent, knows what she wants, is a doer and the list goes on and on- I am honored to have her as one of my bestest friends! So what did we do for nine days?

We drove to North Cacalaka and attended Merlefest and awesome bluegrass festival in Wilkesboro, then we travelled around the Pisgah area in search for NCOBS base camp and Carly Ferguson. It was so great to meet up with Carly for a while and it was so great for the three of us to have some true quality time! Then it was back to Radford for Joanna's graduation!!!!!!!!! I helped her move her things into a place for storage and then went to the ceremony.... sadly enough I then had to leave her for oneof the happiest/accomplished moments of my life thus far- I was driving to Morganton, NC to begin my job with the North Carolina Outward Bound School!

Gosh- so here I am. At Table Rock Base camp, updating my blog for the first time in months... It has been a crazy ride since May 8th, and I know my life will never be the same because of this place. I went through a two week immersion familiarizing me with Outward Bound during New Staff Training and I am now a new member of the NCOBS family. I have led two courses so far and they have been life changingly-positive for me. I am learning so much about myself, others, and the world around me. Our base camp has survived treacherous wildland fires that threatened to burn our base to the ground as a hot spot jumped a fire break only three miles down hill from where are are situated. I have sen Carly a few times since beginning with NCOBS and currently Zach Mauss is in our staff library to my left, reading some deep philisophical literature (Gary Larson). I am so glad that Zach is here- he was in Israel for an entire year and I have not seen him since his college graduation from WVU more than a year ago. Nothing has changed but nothing remains the same for he and I but one thing is for sure- true friends stay true friends even though they are miles and miles apart :)

I had an epiphany the other day. I realied how much I miss my loved ones and how I yearn to talk with, write to and visit everyone that I cherish so much! It has been a real challenge to become at all organized so that I may stay in more consistent touch. Believe me, please- once I get a system going that will set me up for success I will be writing, calling, and visiting much more often! The Chamberlain clans, My own folks, Carly, the Fergusons of course, the WVU crew, the Extraordinary League of Adventurers, Adventure WV peeps, friends from High School and the like- basically, I MISS YOU.

I am committed to my job and committed to making a difference here and elsewhere in the world. However, I am also committed to making a difference in my own world- with the peoiple and places that I love. I want to apologize for being out of touch- the woods tend to aid in that process (read: Walden, Henry David Thoreau). I am making an attempt to balance my life between the educative benefits of the wilderness as well as my educational profession thereof and the people in my personal life of whom are truly a priority of love, comfort, understanding and true significance as to who I am.

I love you all. I want and need to show you that. I will. :)

But I digress- NCOBS is great, I will be working mountain courses this fall in the Pisgah National Forest and will be running some winter courses down in the everglades during January, February and March! This will be a really need chance to see a different NCOBS course area and learn a lot along the way.

Carly is well but is looking for work where she can and hopes to find a satisfying job real soon. Please send your thoughts and prayers for her. Also please always send your thoughts and prayers for one of my best friends Sam Chamberlain and his entire family. He is in Iraq and puts his life on the line everyday for our safety... I miss him, his wife, and his entire family in Virginia. May our hearts be with him and his men as they try to hash out this middle-east conflict thing...

I hope you like the pictures below of Zach and I on a hike to the summit of Table Rock mountain taken earlier today... You all are welcome to visit me ANYTIME!!!

Shalom,

Kshon

My Time In The Big Apple: Building, Cops, Bites, and Rock Shows!

Well Helllllo,

It's been a while since my last posting, and let me tell you- a whole lot has happened.

I have left Clark, Colorado. Carly flew out and rode back with me- which was amazing and so good for us. When we arrived in the east we stopped in Maryland for a bit to visit her parents- I love them! It was then on to Morgantown to see our peoples and to view the Banff Mountain Film Festival... Back to Maryland then onto Virginia to be reunited with my family!

MY BROTHER FLEW IN FROM SEATTLE FOR MY DAD'S BIRTHDAY!!!

It was great! We celebrated in a classic Shon way- we sat around and just spent time together, no big celebration, just enjoyed the observation of my Dad's gift of life...

Then I had to jam back to Motown to join my Adventure West Virginia peoples for the Co-Regional AEE conference in Claryville New York. It was so great to see Greg, Forrest, and the entire Adventure Crew. I also saw Joanna Lilley! I HEART HER! She and I won a trip to go onto Keith King's Schooner in the fall, and we are sooooo pumped about it!

I was able to present two workshops on integrating Environmental Interpretation into a freshmen orientation program and the OOPS! Symposium was so great also! Brent Bell has really started something good.... it is great to see the OOPS! torch being carried from year to year. Next year's symposium will be in Asheville, NC at the AORE conference. I AM SO EXCITED TO BE IN THE AREA FOR THIS EVENT! I had a great time...

So ANYWAY... About the Big Apple- right? p.s. did you notice my interpretive thematic title about NYC? Catchy :) Catchy...

So... I came to NYC en route to recertify my WFR in Burlington Vermont. I didn't want to drive back to Virginia and then back up to Vermont and i have several friends in the city. It makes sense to come here.

On this visit I am only able to see my two beloved friends Aspen and Ginny. Aspen is a grad student at Columbia University studying film, Ginny works for Spin Magazine as a free lance writer, but her full time gig is working for MTV in their Digital department. YAY!
So... I am currently writing this blog from a New York Apartment in Harlem where Aspen lives, where as Ginny lives in the Neighborhood near Greenwhich Village.

First of all...

I am leveled to know that the Virginia Tech mass slayings were committed by a guy from Centreville, VA- the town next to Manassas- where I grew up! I am still very attached to Virginia and I found out about the tragedy from Aspens Apartment. Well... Columbia had its own fair share of problems too...

A man captured a girl at her apartment, took her upstairs, raped her and tortured her from 9p.m. until 4 a.m., tied her up, and set her apartment on fire. She managed to escape, and is alive, but so is he. He is running the streets of New York somewhere and the police said that even the drug dealers (or "corner boys" as they called them), want him. This was really looked down upon even in the criminal community. How did I find out about this?

Well... Here's the deal...

Aspen had an apple computer and a part on it broke. Her CD player had a bad component, so she sent it in using her "applecare" warranty thing. Long story short, Apple says "Oh, the part won't be in for a month, have a free brand new I Book." Aspen replies "Okay I'll take it!" We take the subway to the Apple store- which is underground, however, to enter the store you must approach this 60 foot glass cube with a front door and a giant apple symbol on its frontwall.
It looks like a clear giant cube from afar, and it has posted security all around the cube peering into the store from above... kind of a neat environment that they have created. But I digress...

So, Aspen gets her IBook but she doesn't want to take it on the subway or train, because it was about 10:30 p.m. when we piked it up- the store is open 24 hours, and that says "PLEASE ROB ME OF MY NEW IBOOK!." So, we walked to my vehicle that I needed to move because of street sweeping anyway, and I drove her to her apt. where she would deposit her computer, get back in my car, and we would drive to a parking spot and ride the subway train back to her place. Great plan!

While I am waiting for Aspen to return to my car from running upstairs, I am sitting there with her roommate in the back passenger seat, Padmini. As I am talking with Padmini, I see two flashlights approaching me from the back of my vehicle. "Shit. What did I do?!" I think to my self. I didn't do anything- I was double parked, but everyone does that here.

It turns out they wanted to run my plates and such to check on any suspicious activity. Having Virginia plates, an a green 4runner packed to the brim, I made for an enticing q&a with the boys in blue. While they were running my plates, about three other cops came around to my driver's side window just make conversation... They were actually very cool with me.

I was respectful and acknowledging of their authority, and they treated me like a real person. We talked about backpacking, telemark skiing, and that one of the officers went to school in Baltimore at Howard. Very cool. They also were patrolling to inform everyone that a 6-foot tall bald man with a goatee was at large, showed us a sketch, and let us know how serious it was. They said "If you see a stranger matching this description in you're lobby, let us know... If you see him at your apartment door waiting for you? Beat town... run... call us."

So it was pretty alarming..... This guy, to my knowledge is still at large.


That's where buildings, bites (as in megabites), and cops come to make part of my NYC experience. But wait! THERE'S MORE!

Ginny, the lil' MTV staffer that she is took us to a CD-release party for some rock band that is up & coming in the city. Aspen and I felt pretty darn cool to be around such an event- we had a few drinks, listened to some pretty cool music, and we headed out around 2 a.m. when a lesser known band played their music (which was after the CD of the release party band had been played through). We left. The band that was actually playing live wasn't so good. They had promise to be a really good rock set, but then it quickly diminished to high school antics on stage. Poor form guys! They did have an awesome violin player though :) She could rock out harder than any other violinist I have ever seen in such a context of he rock genre.

ANYWAY... so that was fun. We are going to see the CD release party band tonight in Brooklyn for, like, 12 dollars or something. I am excited. Their CD was pretty good :)

After I head out from the big apple (and I'm not talkin' sizely computers here people), I am going to stay with my friend Jarod in Burlington, where I will recertify my WFR at St. Michael's college.

I think that is all for now- this was a long one that really only scratched the surface of everything. I would love to sit down over a cup of tea and share with you more on the Adventures of Kev.

After this entry, I will only have to share about the WFR and leaving for NCOBS which I will do in May. We'll see what other adventures happen along the way...

See you on the other side,


Kev

So...

My Morning Jacket still ROCKS.







Just thought I'd let you know....



7 days until I lave Clark, Colorado to head east for a month of craziness.
WFR recert, AEE conference, Merlefest, Backpacking in Pisgah (or the Smokies), then off to North Carolina!! OW OW!!!!


Miss you all,




Kevin


Fishing in the Trail River with my buddy Sam, Kenai Peninsula.
p.s. 1st Lieutenant Samuel Cain Chamberlain is home on leave from Iraq for two weeks!
AMEN!