III. Saturday Night Fever
Marni: Before dinner, Cee had asked me about getting access to the camp office’s photocopier in order to print out flyers for the dance “afterparty” at Klub Deer that night, and when I asked Katie (Alpine assistant director) about it she thought it was hilarious! Katie was new to our group this time and, much like Beth last time, I think eventually came to really like us. I mean what’s not to like? The flyers also said “Free before 2am / Free after 2am” which was perfect and I think Carmen’s idea.
Cee: The homemade runoff flyers totally reminded me of rave afterparties in the 90’s. We managed to get everything printed and ready right as the talent show started.
Meredydd: The Alpine Meadows staff said that this was the first time there had been a dance club at the retreat. A-Camp is a totally singular experience. Where else can you spontaneously create an underground nightclub at 8,000 ft that opens and closes in three days?
+
The Talent Show
Brandy Howard, The Talent: Julie and I hosted The Talent Show, which means Julie hosted it while I sat on the side of the stage and drank vodka out of a water bottle.
Carly: I was trying to be really on top of the talent show situation, trying to make sure that the talent didn’t run too long because I selfishly wanted to make sure we had a lot of time for the dance. Except that I did everything sorta backwards and then we wound up with like 25 acts and the talent show ended up being way longer than it was supposed to be. Totally my bad, you guys.
Brandy: The Talent Show is always the perfect summation of camp and there’s something for everyone. Whether it’s sexy girls doing frivolous stuff, or sexy girls doing serious stuff — it takes a lot of courage to get up there in front of everyone and at the end, we all feel like we went through something very special together, and we did. Camp!
julie & brandy hosting the talent show
Sara Medd: I wanted to have a front row seat because the Talent Show is one of my favorite activities at A-Camp. So I sat on the floor in front of the front row.
Morgan McCormick, Battlestars Counselor/Contributor/Calendar Girl: Mollie and Launa! How was that fair, doing burlesque as the first act of the night?? Do you realize how many of us were tripping over our words after? I think we needed an intermission right then and there.
Carly: I cannot listen to both the True Blood theme song and “Feeling Good” without thinking about that performance.
opening number
Marni: Talent shows are such a fun way to end a camp session, with everyone as relaxed and as supportive and close as they’re ever going to be. Jetpack’s “Blame it on the Altitude” song was so amazing and brilliant and I think really spoke to everyone.
Carmen: You’re all very talented but unfortunately I’ve blocked out everything from this portion of the night that isn’t Mollie Thomas stripteasing me. Just kidding – because I was deeply moved by Blame It On The Altitude. That’s my life story, you guys.
Rachel: Jetpack’s breathtaking original composition of “Blame It On The Altitude” was clearly the showstopper, and everyone who says differently is a dumb jerk.
Cee: So much talent! I loved the poem by Ashley. I posted it to Facebook a few days ago and my mom told me she cried when she read it. So yeah, mom liked it too.
Alex: I always cry a little bit at the talent show. And by “always” I mean that one other time in April that we did this. I can’t help it, sometimes I’m just overwhelmed with the feelings, with everyone’s feelings, with the support/respect for whoever is on stage no matter what, with how fucking awesome everyone is. What did it this time? It was the violin solo you guys. SO AMAZING.
evey plays her violin (photo by rachel walker)
Crystal: I stood up the back of the room during the talent show with Alice, who cares about my well-being and kept slipping me $1 bills for the vending machine so that I could stay hydrated.
Morgan: I saw over a third of my campers up on the talent show stage being their truest, bluest selves. If my pride could have affected plate tectonics, you would have seen every Richter scale the world over light up.
erin enjoys mollie’s performance (photo by katie o’donnell)
Marni: I had a blast jamming with Ashley, who agreed to jump on stage with me on about five minutes notice to do a Jessie J song.
Riese: Marni had thought about performing at the talent show but ultimately vetoed her own idea ’cause she didn’t want to take time away from the campers. I mentioned this to Brandy Howard and we decided the best way to override Marni’s veto would be for Brandy to announce that Marni was on deck when announcing the next act. SURPRISE!
Sara Medd: I didn’t think that that Jessie J song could be any sexier, but Marni singing it acoustically with Ashley Reed on the drum was exponentially sexier than Jessie J.
marni & ashley do it like a dude
Brittani: I’m pretty sure Marni won camp with her “Do It Like a Dude” cover.
Stef: The room got very quiet as Marni immediately became a sex symbol throughout the entire land.
Rachel: I didn’t tell either Marni or Riese this when camp was actually happening, but Marni’s rendition of “Do It Like A Dude” has fundamentally altered my sexual identity. I am now only attracted to humans who can perform “Do It Like A Dude” as well as Marni can on acoustic guitar. Sorry, everyone.
[Riese: This song will be available for download ASAP, I promise. Marni and Ashley are recording it.]
Carly: THUNDERCATS, you made my heart explode with pride and love. But really I was in awe of everyone who got up there, you are all brave and talented and I love you.
Sara Medd: 21 Hump Street’s skit was THE BEST. Okay, maybe I’m being a little partial to my cabin, but seriously it was genius. There were bedsheet church choir costumes, and doctrinal readings, and Anna Goodman does an amazingly accurate impression of me. Praise Lesbian Jesus!!!
21 Hump Street at the talent show (photo by rachel walker)
Stef: I was so proud of my baby Battlestars for all of their performances, which were all brave and funny and adorable. The talent show is quickly becoming my favourite part of A Camp; it’s so wonderful to see how amazing and talented all of our campers are. My tiny heart exploded over and over with every skit, or maybe it was the altitude. Everybody, you were so cute!
Laneia: The talent show feels like getting a hug from camp itself. We stood in the back of the room because it’s the best way to watch everyone experience the same thing all together. I can’t get over how hilarious and creative A-Campers are! Like where the heck do you people come from with your giant brains and hearts??
Mary: I laughed, I almost cried, I laughed some more. I was honestly blown away with how talented and brave our campers were.
Daniela: This is the part that I have the hardest time communicating to anyone who hasn’t been to camp — everyone is talented, and creative, and awesome. I left hoarse from excitedly screaming every time someone new went on stage.
morgan at the talent show
Stef: Alex and I had been talking about doing a ukulele version of “Call Your Girlfriend” for months (even before someone suggested it as her Indiegogo campaign dance!), but I had realized early on that Robyn’s vocal range is… slightly better than my own. We definitely wanted Marni joining me on guitar, but then started exploring the option of having Haviland sing… In the end though, we decided to just sing it ourselves, and I’m actually really glad we did! The audience sang along with us, so it didn’t matter how terrible my voice is. As usual, Alex was amazing and funny but she danced so hard that the entire stage was shaking and if you watch the video closely, I’m actually desperately trying to hold the mic and music stand down with my feet. Everything is better with a kazoo solo.
Alex: Here’s how to make a ton of friends really fast… learn a silly dance from the internet and have your friend play the song on their ukelele while you do the choreography. People like it. Idk.
Marni: Alex’s dance was perfect (we’d established way before camp that it was a non-negotiable talent show event, and she delivered).
Carly: Anyway by the time we got through everything and through all the staff intros and cheering and crying we were running an hour behind.
Crystal: At the end Carly ran up to me saying, “OMG did you see our campers perform? We have the BEST cabin!” and we high-fived in agreement. We were just so proud of everyone.
Riese: At the end Brandy and Julie called us all up there so that everyone could applaud and I could say things. I kept it short/sweet.
Ali: Even though I was sick for the talent show (altitude!), I hear my exploits earned me the name Ali “Your Clit Deserves It.” It’s kind of like my “Dances With Wolves.” I can deal with that. I can deal with that so hard.
+
The Dance
mollie sets up for the dance (photo by robin)
Crystal: After dinner I was alerted to an illness in the Thundercats cabin, however by the time I got there Hot Doc Amy had already provided medical support and everything was going to be fine. I provided ice cream and hug support and then bid a sad farewell to the few campers who weren’t going to the dance.
Carmen: Cracked a bunch of wristbands, threw a streamer until it got caught for the third time on a ceiling bar, and then sat back and waited for Drake to play.
Daniela: I remember wondering at camp in April about all the decoration during the dance, and this time I got to see the magic happening: people throwing paper rolls everywhere, hoping against hope not to hit anyone in the process.
Sara Medd: Carly looked so legit behind her DJ booth. Not only did she put together a kick ass set, but she looked fucking rad with her headphones.
carly prepares to disc jockey (photo by robin)
Carly: I was a little stressed. I JUST WANTED EVERYONE TO DANCE ALL NIGHT! So we set the dance up SO FAST and I put on my dapper bowtie and Robin set up this amazing photobooth and then I didn’t see Grace for so many hours (which was the longest I went all of camp without seeing her) and I kept asking who was in charge of my thirst but then just drank all of Alex’s whiskey (sorry!) and Lauren Aadland was the best hype man/go-go dancer a girl could ask for. Great moves.
Carolyn, Morgan, Sara Medd, Megan, Lauren & Alice
Brittani: If there’s a better way to start a dance than with ice cream sundaes, I couldn’t tell you.
Crystal: Earlier in the day I had promised some campers that I would dance even though I never dance, because that’s how much I love them. I stood on the dancefloor and let them dance around me for a few songs, then spent the rest of the night watching campers play it up for the photobooth. Carolyn and I took the opportunity to emulate poses from bad 80s cop movies.
carolyn & crystal
Stef: Annika and I went to Wolf Lodge to do a couple of tequila shots, and my body apparently decided it had had enough of my shenanigans. I ended up being mostly sober for the entire dance, which was novel!
Carmen: I think I finally rapped for you guys, right? Everyone saw that, right? Brittani and I definitely rapped multiple times as in we pretty much recorded a mix tape on Saturday night. I also ran in and out of the Smokers’ Circle and discovered someone had left a cooler of beer on the steps. Let this be known as one of the many acts of Lesbian Jesus to occur at September camp.
medium-sized rascals
Marni: Mollie Thomas is a gift from Lesbian Jesus.
Stef: I spent the evening dancing to the sweet sweet tunes of DJ Carlytron on stage with some of my favourite ladies. Mollie Thomas took it upon herself to grind her body against mine for an extended period of time, during which I turned beet red and probably made a series of amazing faces. It was probably the most terrified I’ve ever been in my entire life. Thanks for that, Mollie!
mollie dances w/erin
Cee: I danced. I passed out flyers to the exclusive after party. It wasn’t super exclusive actually because everyone was invited.
Sara Medd: I was asked to dance by a really cute girl I had been eyeing all week….although I tried to remain professional as a staffer, I still got butterflies inside (don’t tell her that).
Carly: Three things that happened at the dance:
1) Mollie Thomas told me that if I played Britney’s “Slave 4 U” that she would go dance on the stripper pole (did I mention we installed Mollie’s travel stripper pole in the center of the dance floor? Because that is a thing that happened), at which point I loudly asked, “If Mollie Thomas tells you to play a song and she’ll dance on the pole, you do it right?” and everyone shouted “YES!” Moments later Launa asked for Rihanna’s “S&M” and I obliged, telling everyone I had to “keep the music sexy.” Jesus take the wheel.
2) I took some other requests too… I played a Missy Elliott song for Katie Millar but then accidentally turned it off halfway through (I still feel bad about that), and I played Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name” for the Auto-staff. You’re welcome.
3) The dance was to end promptly at 1am, but as we started late I decided I was going to keep playing music until I got in trouble. Sometime after 1, Marni came up to me and I thought for sure the party was over… but she told me to keep playing. She also Danced Up On Me. MARNI IS THE BEST YOU GUYS, we got to party until like 2:30 or something.
Meredydd: I had such a great time at the dance and not just because we were handing out the flyers Cee designed for Klub Deer.
Mary: The dance had such great beats! Carlytron is the best DJ everrr. At some point a camper gave me a can of whipped cream and told me to ‘have fun’. Obviously I covered Haviland’s arm with it and told Ashley she had to lick it off.
Laneia: I’ve made “somewhere on the stage behind Carly” my official dancing spot, because it feels safer back there and I can pretend no one can see me. Also Carly’s DJ set-up is fascinating. The dance is just super surreal you guys. Mountain magic and such.
Brittani: Post-dance I was exhausted. I’d worked all week and then squeezed in a week’s worth of fun into 24 hours. I went to my cabin and there were like two people there. I felt a deep shame rush through my soul but I desperately needed to nestle into my towel pillow so I called my girlfriend and went to sleep.
Carly: It was one of the best nights of my life. I’d like to just go back and relive the dance on a loop. Sigh. #feelings
IV. After The Party Is The Afterparty
Carly: After the dance, Mary, Grace, Mollie and I went to go surprise the Thundercats and the Little Rascals. I was so excited! Mollie and I ran to the Thundercats cabin and found that most of them weren’t there, some were off processing feelings, god only knows where the rest of them were, and I gave Rachel a high five. We felt defeated and headed off to find the Little Rascals’ cabin – much harder that I thought it would be in the dark – and eventually stumbled upon Mary and Grace sitting on the floor with the Little Rascals, talking about their feelings. It was precious.
Riese: I took a disco-nap during the dance and promised to wake up at 2AM to finish the “gifts from our district” exchange. I fell asleep with all my clothes on, the fact that I actually did wake up at 2AM and go to Cabin 17 is a great testament of my love for The Runaways.
Carly: Finally we wound up at Klub Deer. LUCKILY I was able to get past the bouncers and I don’t even know how to explain what I found when I went in there (there were body shots involved)… so I won’t. What… a whirlwind.
Sara Medd: Obvs I got a VIP wristband and didn’t have to wait in line. I’m just glad I received the flier at the dance.
kelsea + kalyna (photo by jenna)
Carmen: When I arrived at Klub Deer the place looked like a log cabin or something. So I shut the blinds, turned on my iPhone in the iHome (see what I did there), and turned off the lights. Ten minutes later I committed myself to being one of many official Klub dancers and proceeded to recruit Jamie and Fonsexy in this pursuit as well. Our platform of choice was the mantle to the fireplace, which sits app. 1 inch off of the ground.
Cee: Club deer was bouncing! Tons of people showed up, DJ iPod was amazing and the lighting was super high tech. Body shots happened. That’s all I’m allowed to say. The rest is classified.
Sara Medd: KLUB DEER!!! Off the hook! There were go-go dancers, body shots, strobe lights….apparently its the hottest new venue in Angelus Oaks. And it happened to be right across from my cabin!!
Sarah Croce: Closing night: Body shots. Need I say more?
forever 21 toasts (photo by kelly c)
Gabby: Katrina and I take our jobs as counselors very seriously. We want our campers to feel connected to A-Camp, us and each other other. This type of solidarity doesn’t just happen when you throw a bunch of queers in a cabin. You have to build it and then they’ll come (all over each other). We came up with a few ritual calls to get our Snatchers feeling like a troupe, like a crew, like a gang of queer badasses. When we yelled: Who Runs the World? They yelled: SNATCH. Yeah maybe other cabins hated us but it was fun and gave us something verbal to proclaim. These things might seem silly but damn did everyone know when Snatch-22 was around and it stuck us together like gorilla glue which is something that camp queermos have in their back pockets. Well maybe just Marni.
Every night, Katrina and I (together or separately) checked in with our Snatchers for at least an hour, which is super important because they were our gaybabies and it was our duty to be their fairy godbrothers. Every day of camp is filled with feelings. Feelings you never thought you had or that you’d ever feel again come spilling out. And it’s tough and super emotional and not something to just be shrugged off. So we knew it was mega important to get those feelings processed in a safe space with our campers. Enter the ‘snap circle of feelings’ where everyone got a chance to tell us something great (rose), something bummer (thorn) and something they were looking forward to (rosebud) about every day of camp. We listened, snapped our fingers and then moved on to the next person so everyone got a chance to speak, be heard and feel loved. We also shared a few drinks, played some strip truth or dare, listened to Ashley slam and watch Nia shake her rump. Basically, good times all around and well, it made me feel closer to them and feel like camp really was a place to learn how to make family and mean it. Snatch-22 for life.
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For you Mel!
*Hunger Salute*
And so it was that Purple team won the Recap War after already winning the Rainbow War. Unfortunately we’re losing the Gay Pet War(for now).
Purple for life!!!
Thanks, Mer!
*Hunger salute*
I will properly respond to this final recamp after I finish processing all those feelings…
Carmen when are we crafting to Kanye again?????????
omg hopefully ASAP
MICHELLE! JETPACK! PURPLE! etc. etc. Blast off. I miss you girls.
And of course, the ever-so-amazing BRIANNA!!!
Jetpack love, y’all.
you guys i think the plural of anonymous is anonymice, obvs
i love it.
I feel like that picture of Stef should be her new picture for all purposes, ever.
(that picture being the ‘get in the van’ picture, if that wasn’t clear previously)
Okay. After going through all the pictures, reading campers quotes, reading what the staff had to say, all of these feelings are coming back.
I want to thank everybody soooooo much for being the amazing people that you are and teaching me so much in a span of 4-5 days. A-Camp was one of the best experiences in my life, and I can’t wait to see everyone again in May.
Somebody’s chopping onions in the office, yo.
TIP FOR FUTURE A-CAMPERS:
If you don’t absolutely have to, for heaven’s sake don’t take the first bus out of camp on the last day. It is rather isolating and you end up with WAY TOO MANY FEELINGS and no one or no where to process them.
I’m considering roadtripping it next time.
Word. I woke up still, um… “tipsy” at 8 AM for my 8 AM shuttle, I had gone to bed at 5:30 AM.
You WILL have loads of fun, don’t do the early shuttle.
FACT! It is so hard to say goodbye, but I think it is probably important and if you can’t miss the 8am shuttle try to remember to say goodbye the night before preferably before Klub Deer.
I didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone other than the other 8am kids (but a few of them were former nooners and I think I even did the *cough*hungersalute*cough)and Stef who gave me my morning feelings farewell hug and I feel like my heart is still on the mountain in a lot of ways because goodbye and or breakfast might have helped stop the Gin Nalgene induced cryfest that happened alone at LAX and for 3 of 6 hours in Dallas.
Lanie every time you comment and I see your avatar I get really emotional.
<3 me too it is my new fave picture. I miss you and Carly and the Thundercats!
me three! #feelings
AAAHHH ME TOO. I was the only one flying Delta and was way too early and just urghhhhhhh.
um cried for a long time on that bus
noone got to hug you goodbye, you know!
yo i volunteer to hop the next dapper luncheon. i salute you.
can I be your hopper helper? please?
you’re on. bring lots of tiny spring rolls.
“Crystal: At the end Carly ran up to me saying, “OMG did you see our campers perform? We have the BEST cabin!” and we high-fived in agreement. We were just so proud of everyone.”
this just makes me want to cry and hug carly and crystal forever. i seriously think the best thing that maybe happened to me this camp was how amazing my counselors were. i feel so lucky.
also, that photobomb picture with carly and robin in the background had me laughing forever.
i should be packing to move to chicago in 10 days but I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW I CAN’T.
Yes to everything Jen said (except I’m not moving). I really go to know my cabin really well this time and can’t wait to see everyone again. Also, I have a question about May camp. Who should I e mail?
email a.camp.september[at]gmail[dot]com and i’ll get it to the right place :)
<3 <3 <3 THUNDERCATS <3 <3 <3
OMG. I am wearing my camp shirt today and now I am crying. Miss you all! Especially my gay bopsie twin plaid wearing entourage. I LOVE the photo booth pics. I am counting down the days til next A-camp. Love you all!!! A girl couldn’t dream up a better group of people to call her friends and family. Seriously.
i love you. MADLY.
blush.
BANGARANG. THIS. “It’s not about trying to being a “man.” For me (maybe even us) dapperness is where queerness connects to my instincts to be chivalrous, old school, gentle, well-dressed and dignified.” <<< all the words I never knew how to use to describe myself! I love it, thank you for that Gabby Darling (get it? peter pan reference? ..anybody?) ;)
This was my favourite comment so far. Of all the comments. It hit me right in the heart. I am femme/androgynous/tomgirl identified, I guess… but for all my dapper friends, lovers/partners, and most of all my current flame/boyfriend/girlfriend – truth.
Also, well-played on the peter pan comment, yo.
aww sweet. you just made my night. now i’m having all these feelings and can’t find the words! so much love, darling, so much dapper love.
I wanted to make all these wonderfully insightful comments after each page, but then promptly forgot everything I wanted to say because #FEELINGS.
Also, that is super soon for May registration. I’m going to have to go into overdrive convincing my girlfriend that Camp is for her, too.
oh, do you have a girlfriend?
Oh yeah, I like never mention her or anything.
I love Autostraddle and A-Camp. But my honest to goddess favorite part of this camp was that you brought me KD all the way from Canada.
so much SNATCH LOVE in this post! <3 between the drunken dance photos, and the fact that I got like, 3 shout outs in this recap I think I will have this big goofy smile plastered on my face the whole rest of the day :D
NOVEMBER 12TH YOU GUYS. I don't care how broke I am.
YES. I’m not sure how I’m going to pay for the flight all the way from France, but my visa expires two days before camp starts, so it’ll happen. Somehow. Lesbian Jesus, hear my prayer…
I really hope you can swing it!! the snatch reunion is going to be EPIC
Yes! C’mon L.J.!
I’m not entirely sure where Crystal was, but I distinctly remember playing soccer on Saturday… 3v3 IIRC, through my altitude-magnified alcohol-hazed memories.
I was probably waiting out front of Wolf Lodge to see if anyone wanted to play soccer. I can’t believe I missed my own activity, what a champ.
You were probs still shaken up about the spider and needed to decompress.
Aww! A few of my pictures were posted! And of course the video I took of Marni’s “Do It Like A Dude”, and Ali posted a link to her blog where she embedded the video I took of her telling her fisting story :)
Also, I miss camp and can’t wait for November 12th so I can reserve a spot for May!
The pictures of me, Jill, and Nate should be our wedding photos. Guys, let’s get married.
i want to hop your wedding reception.
you hop around girl
YES
I’ll spit a poem at the reception!
and i’ll fist a story!
You guys, I miss you all so much! Maybe road trip next year so more time together? Hansen, Torre, I’m looking at you. We can take detours and pick up the rest of the Avengers on the way!!!
ROAD TRIP YES.
Yes, I want this to happen.
Reading all the recamps has convinced me more than ever, even though I felt deeply last April that I wanted to come this fall, but just couldn’t swing it, that I need to attend A-Camp next May. Though I am a grad student and though I live in Vancouver, I simply cannot think of one reason why I cannot make that shit happen. Not only did I work at summer camp for 6 years growing up, so camp is already heavenly, but queer camp where magic happens in all shapes and forms?!?!
See you at A-Camp 2013!!
this is the desired effect! see you in may!
“I cannot listen to both the True Blood theme song and “Feeling Good” without thinking about that performance.”
Mission accomplished.
Also, huge, amazing thanks to the two campers brave enough to learn and perform an exotic dance after *one* lesson! Best “recital” ever!
Also also, Saturday will always live in my mind as the day I taught a whole routine to five amazing girls (and a whole second routine to Mollie, who seriously picks up choreography like a champ) we caught Julie and Brandy peeping and ended up bringing then into Deer for a private performance. Also Brandy told me Launa is a very sexual name and I haven’t been able to think of my name the same way since.
Basically camp was inspiring and perfect again and if I can raise the money to go in May I promise another talent show striptease and I’ll get more naked (pro tip: if you’re shy and don’t want to appear in a ton of photos, dance next to Mollie when she decides to strip down to her underwear. It’ll be magical for you and you can be fairly certain no one is looking at you, LOL!)
Everything I have heard about A-Camp makes me positive that this is something I need to do very much.
How easy/hard is it to save a spot for yourself? As in, do I need to camp out by my computer to register the minute it opens?
spaces usually fill up within a few days — you can reserve one by putting down a non-refundable $50 deposit. however a lot of people end up canceling, in April there was a long waitlist of people who never got in, but in September everybody who wanted in, got a spot… in April we only had room for 165 campers though, in September we had room for 250. also september’s dates were like the worst dates of the year to do camp because of school, so that could contribute to why everyone got in. so,w e’ll see! i’d recommend camping out by the computer. it’ll get you in good practice for camping in general.
Jetpack/Purple team recamp domination!! The fucking best of times, you guys. The best of all the times.
GOLDEN GIRLS!
the thing about the golden girls is that no matter who “wins” the “rainbow wars,” they’ve always got gold
I don’t even know what to say anymore you guys a camp put my heart together and then everyone left and where are those pieces that felt so glued?
I love everyone in all of the photobooth pictures that was such a genius idea!! Everyone seems to be having such a wonderful and silly time.
I especially love that picture of Tiana, Ju and me so much I want it big also
MISFITS you guys what am I doing with my hands but our pictures are beautiful I mean really beautiful even the one I’m not in. Misfits succeed in beauty.
omg you misfits literally. i am so moved by you guys
My semi-prom date, I miss you.
Definitely want those photobooth pictures in big, tooooo!
i just hit on a lesbian by showing her this recap.
great success
FOR THE WIN. 20 points to Gryffindor!!
#queernerdSWAG
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this post was too much for me.
carly and alex, i love you. everyone, those whom i’ve met already and those who i’ve yet to meet, i love you.
so much.
SIGH
OMG IT’S MICHELLE ATTAH, Y’ALL!
MICHELLE ATTAH! YOU ARE THE BEST! Will we be seeing you in May!?!!?
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
omfg, I LOVE YOU ASSCHAT CREW
we like you ok
You can barely read it, but Kait and I are holding paper plates that say: “WISH YOU WERE HERE”. Hence the sad faces.
These recamps always result in me wandering around campus with my face glued to my phone and then realizing I’ve stopped moving and because I’m so caught up reliving the emotions and experiences!!
Also, Saturday was the longest day of my life! In such a good way, but seriously somehow 24 hours has never been so filled with activities and love <3
yes, me too. standing in the middle of the path, being that obnoxious person who just stops in the middle of pedestrian traffic.
re: Autostraddle Trivia. First of all, I can always count on Carrie to come up with flattering AS-related nicknames for me, such as “Autostraddle’s Official Historian,” “Autostraddle’s encyclopedic magician,” and now “Autostraddle factoid machine.” <3 you.
re: the lightning round: Alice definitely named 100% more team members than I did. Even if she was sweating it a little bit. Just thought I’d defend her honor.
Also also also, where did all of those pictures even come from? I mean I saw people taking pictures but this is my first time seeing any of them. My #1 feeling is that I need a haircut.
Brianna, there will never be enough names to describe your amazingness.
it’s no “your clit deserves it,” but i’d take it if i were you.
holy shit those photo booth pics made me cry. i’ve never cried at a recap. WHEN IS CAMP AGAIN CAN IT BE NOW
carmen we have to go visit ju and smoke a lot of cigarettes and be alternative in canada
YES!!! Come visit meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
My comments weren’t put in the recamp so Imma just post them right here:
The tattoo/body art discussion was a bunch of us sitting around a picnic table, showing off our tattoos. Everyone had incredible, elaborate, beautiful pieces and I only have a few smallish ones, so I tried not to say anything until Crystal made me. Thanks, Crystal. Thanks for that. Actually, everyone was really nice and the discussion turned to workplace acceptance and that we like female tattoo artists best. Also, I want about two thousand more tattoos because of this little talk so my wallet thanks you all.
Autostraddle trivia actually just surprised me. Some of you really, really love Autostraddle. I had no idea how deep your love runs but I’m so grateful for it.
THE TALENT SHOW. Are there words? Sooo much Andrea Gibson, which I’m totally fine with. So. Many. Feelings. The skit about lesbian Jesus was hilarious, thank you guys for that. Zeller now sings, “Blame it on the altitude” because she doesn’t know the real words to that song and I consider this a success.
After the talent show, Julie and Brandy introduced all of the Autostraddle team and I got to be in it! I went through camp in relative anonymity because I wasn’t a staff member. I didn’t know this was happening and I was sitting in the back and couldn’t get to the front and everyone was so kind and parted their chairs for me. I actually don’t remember anything about it except Brandy getting me confused with someone else, saying I was going to fix the site. Whatever! I’m fine with it! I tried to hide behind Morgan, telling her that her hair was too pretty to be in the back row. It is, just so you know.
At the dance, I mostly just took awesome pictures at the photobooth. I think the highlight of the dance for me was a Misfits camper refilling a couple’s cup for them while they were making out and they were really, really grateful. This wouldn’t have happened anywhere else.
AUTOSTRADDLE, Y U NO POST HANSEN’S COMMENTS?? JK, #FEELINGS #ILOVEHANSENANDZELLER #MISFITS4LIFE
You’re welcome.
I would like to say something very meaningful and smart but I can´t get over the pictures of MARNI doing things. Her butching up is like foreplay or something, so I just go back to page 1, stare and objectify the shit out of her. And I´m not gonna feel guilty about it.
ldfehowighrpl …
i can totally relate to this emotion
Okay, so I know that there were a few campers who also played violin so I figure I should let you all know what my solo song was. It was Grazyna Bacewicz’s Polish Caprice. It’s actually way easier than you might think and it’s super fun to play.
Also, I highly recommend looking her up on Wikipedia because, not only is her life and accomplishments pretty awesome, she has the most don’t-give-any-fucks picture.
loved it so much. thank you!
Thank you again for this. I was totally enthralled by your playing.
looking at those pictures I can only repeat what I said/thought at camp ALL the time: EVERYONE IS SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL.
a friend of mine texted me last night because she started to cry when she saw pictures of me at camp.
girlfriend on the other hand makes fun of me because she says that a) I obviously look like I am praying in the healthy luncheon picture and b) she’s very amused by the “hey I got a shiny thing on my head”-expression I make in the cabin picture. “It looks like they photoshopped you into that picture, everyone is goofing around and you’re just like ‘look at me I’m pretty'”
reading all the recamps, I feel like I should have talked to a lot more people and done things I wouldn’t necessarily have done. next time…
what I really wanted to say is that I didn’t get to say goodbye to ca. 100 important people and itfelt really bad. Daniela kept running away because she didn’t want to cry and that was really cute but heartbreaking too…
So I didn’t even go but reading all these recaps has made me cry so I’m sat here crying at my laptop and my mum just walked in and asked what’s wrong and I don’t know how to explain that I’m crying that all these queermos I’ve never even met are just so HAPPY. I think you broke me goddammit.
Saturday was the day I decided I was done have feelings, and I am consequently having too many feelings now.
These recaps make me really sad that I won’t be able to make it to A-Camp for the forseeable future but also really happy that something like this even exists. For all the queers but especially for the younger queers, or the ones who don’t have a support system in real life. I’m 32 and have been out for many years and am lucky to have a totally supportive family. But when I think about what A-Camp would’ve meant to me and done for me when I was 18 and just coming out and scared and confused and all of those things, I could cry.
So please keep having A-Camp for years and years, so all of the people who may need it or who simply just want it can experience it. If it’s still going a few years from now, when my wife and I will perhaps be able to travel without kids, we’ll be there with bells on.
I’m so happy that more pictures of me were taken on Sunday — when I was unshowered and sad — than on any other day.
Instead of reading “OH, REAL LIFE and your humans”, I read it as “OH, REAL LIFE and your hummus.” The laughter that ensued helped relieve some of feelings I had built up while reading this recap.
to the lovely queermo that had feelings with me on the swings after the gender panel, you’re on my mind and totally in my heart. i hope you’re well and finding that good groove between where you are and where you’re going. mad love. you are bold, strong and badass.
swing set feelings forever.
These posts have made me fall halfway in love with Carly – dem curlzz, dat bowtie y’all. Just sayin’.
I want to go to the next a camp and drool over all the cute queers and their sidecuts!
I have over 200 photos from A-Camp that are part of a slide show on my desktop. When my day is super bad, or I can’t deal with the conservative heteroness of my office I close everything down and just stare at my desktop. Thanks everyone for all the awesome memories and making office life just a little easier.
Aw I feel like crying now because I just found out my family is planning on having a big reunion during the May camp. I would really rather go to camp. Poop.
I am seriously almost crying because I desperately miss a place I have never been. Even though I’m flat broke and crazily trying to figure out how the hell i’m going to afford to go in september, simply the knowledge that such a thing even exists is just, phenomenal and makes me feel less alone in this world. Strange how simply knowing OF a thing makes you feel safer and more ok with being the queer person you are.