Carol Bontekoe

This blog has been keeping track of my adventures since 2004. The stories and the adventures have come from my college dorm room to Uganda, Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan, learning Dutch in the Netherlands to living in the wilds of Homer, Alaska. I went back to school in Amsterdam to study Theaterwetenschap (Theatre Science) at University of Amsterdam. And now my adventures as a Fruit Fly, a Sexy Unicorn, and creating a movement with Team Sparkle in Chicago.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Working the job not letting the job work me

Last Wednesday was the lowest tide of the year. I was able to talk the higher ups at the police dept into letting me take a friend along in the ATV. My friend Howard is a Naturalist. He came with me to show me all the cool life that can be seen during a low tideI went from never having seen a Sea Star(commonly known as a Sea Fish) to having seen about 50.. I wore flip-flops(like always) while we walked along slick slippery rocks. I ended up biting it on a large rock. So, after Howard and I had walked a ways out on the slick rocks I tried to be smart and walk back to the shore on a sandbar. The sandbar eventually stopped and I tried to wade through what I thought was shallow water. It turned out I made my walk back to shore twice as hard as my walk out. I had to walk through nearly chest high water on top of slick rock with a huge amount of sea weed pulling me down. When I finally arrived to the shore with Howard and a couple that wanted tomake sure I didn't die(although who would they have called to save me? I'm the beach patrol.) were standing there watching me. I could feel my legs getting slashed open on the rocks, but it was so cold that it didn't really hurt. When I came out of the water I started to bleed everywhere. Howard and I walked back to the ATV I was muddy and bloody. There were a bunch of school children near by so Howard brought over a sun star to show them. I came with him and acted as if I didn't notice that my leg was completely red from the blood. .
I can only hope the children learned as much about sea stars that day as I did. And that they will remember that day as the day they saw a boat wreck survior walk onto the beach-not just some crazy stubborn lady who took the worst possible route to the beach.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Rose you coming?

I just have to start out by saying I got a really good deal. Excellent in fact. I'm not one of those people with designer labels to show off. I have designer knock-offs and still like to brag about how cheap I got my wanna-be Dolce & Gabbana glasses in Mexico.
Recently at a garage sale to help the fire dept I got a TV for 50 cents! I was reluctant to buy it because we have no cable and it had a built in VHS player- I don't have any VHS anymore. The ladies were desperate to get rid of the last few things they had so they said they would throw in a box of VHS with the TV for another 50 cents. I looked through the box- I tossed aside Titanic and Ace Ventura and noticed Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Sold! Sweatin' to the Oldies and the Baywatch movie- double sold!
I was so excited to have something to watch. I watched You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle to the point that it wasn't fun to watch them anymore. I decided I should go through my big box of VHS and watch something else. The two tapes of Titanic were glaring at me. Refusing to be ignored. All I could remember of the movie was that I didn't like it, it was long, the music annoying and right before she pries his hand off of her and drops him in the ocean Rose says, "I'll never let go."
oh, and Kathy Bates is in it somewhere and the dude from Twister.
I felt it was time, after 12 years, to give the movie a second chance. I ended up watching the movie with my roomie Liz and my friend Christi. Our reaction to the film was considerably different than what it was 12 years earlier. Although I was an angry and bitter 13 year old when the movie came out I was not yet a jaded-single-female. A women who has dated and loved her share of losers. At 13 I just thought the movie was kinda stupid. Now at 25 I am 8 years older than what the main character-Rose is suppose to be in the movie. Now I just wanted to give her some tips about relationships. My friend Christi is a bit younger and nicer than my older roommate Liz and I. Christi briefly tried to defended Jack and Rose's love. Liz and I shouted our life lessons at the 50 cent screen.
"He's GAY Rose!"
"Married. Married with two children back in Wisconsin!"
"He is a male prostitute for the men shoveling coal in the bottom of the boat."
"Rose, come on! He "hung out" with French Prostitutes. He just gave you chlamydia!"
Again I don't really remember what I yelled at the screen 12 years ago but I'm 98% sure none of these made it. Especially since thanks to the movie Sleepers and my cousin Kent reading the Swedish Subtitles I had only learned what a BJ was a month before I saw the movie. Although later on that year I learned a lot more about BJs thanks to the GOP being obsessed with Clinton's love life and cable news networks.
Twelve years ago I had no idea why she would jump back on the boat. Why would she be so willing to die with him? I finally figured it out after a long debate over whether or not Rose came in the back of the car. We said he was probably a two pump chump. Than I realized she must have come. There is no way a girl would jump back on to a sinking ship for some guy who didn't make her come.
Yeah, for the jaded-single-twentysomething-female of the 21st century this idea of a innocent love worth dieing for doesn't make sense. Than you remind yourself it's a movie... Rose is only suppose to be 17. SEVENTEEN! What the heck does she know?
Your best love stories are the short ones. There the only ones that don't get jaded with the truth of time.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Carol

I think I have finally come up with the most narcissistic thing that someone can do. I think it is making love to a bunch of songs with your name in it. There are some songs named Carol... most of them revolving around how great the girl named Carol is. Put together they make about a 25 minute playlist.
That got me thinking that would make a perfect gettin' it on playlist... till the creepiness of wanting to do that sunk in.

Oh, yeah baby... want me to get you in the mood? Marvin Gaye? No we don't have that.... But I do have a selection of songs that feature my name. What do you mean, what do I mean? They are all songs about a girl named Carol. No they're good songs... What's weird about that? Why are you getting dressed?

Maybe I won't be do that anytime soon.
But I can dream that someday I'll find someone who loves me as much as I love myself so we can make love to a song that includes the lyrics:
Oh Carol I think it's time for running for cover
Believe me, you're everyone's and nobody's lover

while looking up lyrics to Carol songs I noticed that Chuck Berry says:
Oh Carol don't let HIM steal your heart away
yet The Rolling Stones remake says:
Oh Carol don't let HER steal your heart away.
Why GOD?!
Why is there always the implication that I'm a lesbain.... maybe doing it to songs named Carol wouldn't be as great as I imagined.