Okay, so I've been a bit AWOL for a while now. I not only forgot the password for this blog, but also the email I used to sign up for it. I guess I set up a gmail account and used that, but I had forgotten about that, so there you go.

Anyway, I realized that I had accomplished a bunch of things over the past year, so I felt I should go ahead and update what I had done.

Aside from reading a few new books (number 90), including a non-fiction about Bedrich Smetena (number 85), I went to some local band concerts (number 7), went camping a few times (number 33), gave my senior piano recital (number 17), went to a few museums (number 16), had a few snowball fights (number 96), went sledding (number 97, which I incidentally did in a construction barrel, of which there is video on my facebook), went to a Tigers game (number 74), grew my hair down to my shoulders (number 89), got into grad school for musicology (number 24), and climbed the Lake Michigan Overlook on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. Interesting story there...

I was camping (number 33) at Inerlochen with Krissy, my girlfriend, and we had done a little drinking the night before. And by "a little drinking," I mean we tossed back a fairly substantial amount of booze. It wasn't anywhere close to another Caraffe Night, but it was a nice start on it. Very rare for me.

Anyway, I woke up the next morning a little hungover and maybe a little bit sick, too. I hadn't been feeling great, so I might have been at the start of a little stomach flu. I also didn't eat anything for breakfast and didn't really have anything to drink, either. The end result is that I was already more than a little dehydrated by the time we arrived at the precipice of the Overlook.

I had an enjoyable jaunt down the 450-foot 70 degree sand and rock face. I tried skipping a few stones on Lake Michigan at the bottom. I walked on the beach for a few minutes. Then I began my ascent.

I'm not as young as I used to be.

I made it up in pretty good time (about 20 minutes), but struggled the whole time. My legs were jelly, my breathing was heavy, and I felt a bit lightheaded. I had Krissy drive and I reclined the passenger seat so I could rest. In the meantime, it started becoming more difficult to breath and I started feeling more disoriented.

We decided to head to nearby Glen Arbor, but first Krissy wanted to see Glen Haven because there was a maritime museum. We started driving through Glen Haven and I was growing concerned that I might need a little help, so I told Krissy we needed to get to Glen Arbor.

We eventually stopped by the fire station and Krissy helped me in to talk to the paramedics and they checked me out and got me some water. Their diagnosis was that I was badly dehydrated and overheated. They offered to take me to the hospital if I wanted, but I was already feeling a little better, so I politely declined. We shot the bull for a little while longer until I felt strong enough to walk again, then we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to Interlochen. I was still not feeling great, but definitely much better.

After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing. I woke up the next morning feeling much better and the crisis was over. But throughout all of that, I accomplished something very important.

Number 39? Done and done!