Now that's one hell of a story.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

One of my great joys in life is sitting around the kitchen table, just talking with people. I find that sooner or later, lots of people have a bizarre and interesting story to tell. Something that happened to them, or someone they care about. So I invite you all to my kitchen table to entertain and enlighten. Give a story, and in turn receive. I want to be compelled and amazed with what's floating around Ironworks, and I know I can't be the only one. So let me start, and we'll see where this goes... I think it can be an interesting twist on "Getting to know you" type threads.

I've been doing yoga since seventh grade. I had often lamented the fact that lots of people had gone to summer camp, and so when I found out there was a yoga camp at the Sivananda Yoga Ashram in Val Morin, Quebec, I was thrilled. (Side note: The phrase, "This one time at yoga camp" attracts much more attention than "This one time at band camp). I packed my things and did yoga in the mountains for a month, and absolutely loved it. The following year, I was too old to participate in camp, but they invited me back to be a camp counselor. It turned out to be one of the most lovely and positive experiences I ever had.

The following year, I was invited back. Having made the trip twice now, my parents put me on the Amtrak train by myself. It was all planned out... I had identification, a notarized letter from my parents saying that they were aware I was leaving the country and had their permission, a letter from the camp, the works. I hopped on the train and of course headed to the snack car, as there's no better place to meet interesting people than on an Amtrak snack car on a long trip.

Shortly after we passed the border, the Canadian immigration people came aboard, as I knew they would. They made their way down the cars, asking people why they were coming to Canada, checking ID, the usual stuff. It was a fairly laid-back process, so I was fairly unconcerned when it was my turn to be interviewed. I was so tired at that point (I hadn't slept the night before) that I made the fatal mistake of revealing too much detail. When they found out that I was working with children, they asked the question that haunts me to this very day:

"Can I see your medical records, please? We need evidence of your tuberculosis vaccination."
"What?"
"It's a newer law. People coming to the country to work with children need immunization records."
"Well, I got it. Nobody told me about this."
"Come with me, please."

And there I was, doing the Walk of Shame up the cars, dragging my large bags behind me. They put me in the back of a police vehicle and pretty much arrested me. After a half-hour interview, they determined that I wasn't a threat, and released me. On the Canadian border, with $10 on me and no credit cards or cell phone. They were at least gracious enough to let me use the phone at the border office, and I made the call that every mother dreads.

"Hi, Mom. Guess what?"
"You got arrested?" My mother has the demented humor that I have, and thought she was kidding. An hour of phone conversation, and we came to the realization that I was indeed stranted seven hours from home at the ripe old age of 14. Great.

After some wheedling and arranging, they put me on a Greyhound bus headed back to New York. I ended up sitting next to a very large man with very large body odor who took up his seat and half of mine, unable to understand that no, I didn't want to talk about why I was there and please let me sleep. To my credit, I never freaked out or lost my composure. Seventeen hours later, I was back in Penn Station... Dirty, exhausted, and frustrated. I got home and slept until the next day.

Looking back on it, I'm glad things worked out the way I did. We did an icebreaker once that had us all write down a fact about themselves and then pick randomly, guessing who had which fact. Nobody ever guesses that Illumina was arrested by border police. I even wrote the story in my college admissions essay. A month at yoga camp is priceless, but not as good as a story, I think.

Who's next? It doesn't have to involve Brushes With The Law (though they're always fun), but I'm curious to see what's happened to you all.

[Harkoliar]

A Story what happened today? hmmmm... Here is one for me..

Just yesterday, I went to Uni as usual and attended several stuff here and there. It was in my last class (note: class and lecture are two different things here in Australia), that I finally noticed that in the PR marketing subject I am doing, 90% of the class are girls and among the 90% there is 20% women that I consider gorgeous. So in a class of roughly 25-30, that would mean that roughly there are 5 gorgeous ladies in my classroom.
- 1 blonde hot Swedish Girl
- 1 hot American (the girl who reminds me of American PIE 1 foriegn exchange student)
- 1 beautiful Asian (either Chinese or Jap)
- and 2 hot Australians

Damn, I wish I can have a photo shoot with all 5 girls in the pic.
Anyway, to continue on my story, now in my next class Strategic Risk Management, I am grouped with in an all girl group where (including me is a total of 5) that there are another 2 hot girls in the group. Another Australian and Chinese-Australian born.

Now, you must be thinking I may have low standards in considering beauty, but trust me, when I saw they are beautiful I mean it!

Now you can imagine me being tempted and as I am currently in a long distance relationship for the past 3 years. First off, Ill admit, yes Im tempted, but CHOOSE not to cross that boundery and dont plan to break what I have so worked with my GF for the past 3 years. (hey long distance is damn hard)

My GF doesnt mind If I look as long as I dont touch... which I do quite alot .

What brings up the irony is the latest Sam and the City article in Sydney Morning Herald, www.smh.com.au . I like going there on the replies of fellow bloggers in regards to relationships.

First off the link:
http://blogs.smh.com.au/samandthecit...her_woman.html

and the article:

The "other woman" (or man) in a relationship Print Normal font Large font Advertisement Julius Caesar had one, Franklin Roosevelt indulged in one and John F. Kennedy had many. Who are they? They're the beguiling "other women." Marie Antoinette was one, Marilyn Monroe was many and Denise Richards is currently one. So what's their real story? We're all familiar with "the other" woman... she's typically known as the scheming vamp, the seductress, the home-wrecker. And although the man often likes to chase "the other", it seems he never actually walks with her into the sunset... Oh yes, being "the other" woman is not all champagne and strawberries, (although rumor has it there's plenty of that going on too.) Things can be tough for her, what with all the sneaking around, the lying, not being able to tell her friends and folks about her new beau, and certainly not allowed to call him during work hours, "family time" or on the weekends. What a life that would be. So why do they do it? (Okay, aside from being showered with attention, lavished with gifts and being treated like a goddess...) And have you ever wondered what the heck goes through their mind when deciding to take the "other woman" stigma on? "I was the 'other woman' for a few years and it was all about the thrill of the chase for me, " claims one anonymous blogger who claims her busy job (as an investment banker) left her little time for a real relationship. "This way I could have all the perks of a married man, without actually being married to him. The best part was that I didn't have to worry if he was cheating. I knew that his wife was at home!" All seemed hunky dory until his wife caught whiff of what her darling hubby of five years was up to behind her back. "I once called his mobile by mistake during his 'family hours' and his wife picked up the phone. Everything went sour from then on. He refused to leave her, but didn't want to loose me. It was all a bit heavy." Yet despite the perils, apparently there are loads of "other women" (and men) sneaking a flirtatious glance at your loved-up partner right at this very moment. Perhaps it's all thanks to the Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles fairytale ending, providing the ultimate belief that if a woman or man can't find "the one" on their own, they have the right to steal someone else's. After a quick nip around Google, I found another reason for the frolicking about with someone taken. A bunch of scholars at the University of Louisville found this: women who go for married men do it as a result of suffering from the "mate copying" syndrome. In other words, women are more comfortable with a man who has already been pre-approved by another female. (Don't you realise that it's always the "taken" ones that are more appealing?) And if you think putting a ring on a man's finger and muttering the simple words, "I do," will help keep the "other woman" away, think again. Irwin M. Marcus, author of Why Men Have Affairs, gives his explanation of the phenomenon: "Women have affairs because they are looking for a better relationship. Men have affairs because they are trying to solve some internal problem that they may not be aware of." And if either parties decide you must do the dirty, according to author Charlotte Hatford, make sure you don't get caught out... Have you ever been, or been tempted by, the "other woman" (or man)? Are the taken ones always more appealing? Topic suggested by: Nat Samantha Brett August 22, 2006 11:18 PM

One blogger (not taking seriously) is the reply of ISSAC in regards to the OTHER

Girls, Many women welcome another female in the relationship - there are lots of benefits. She gets a break from her body being treated like an amusement park every night and has someone to talk about her feelings and go shopping with during the day. However, most men are not excited by the idea of multiple sexual partners, so you really need to sell it to him. There are two ways to do this: 1. Wear a dress with flowers on it. 2. Cook him a nice meal. Posted by: Isaac at August 23, 2006 10:14 AM

but the scary thing is, there is actually a blogger who says that he has a "other" as I am quoting to you now

Ive told my story B4 , ie i have a married mistress and both of our partners know about us. Both myself an my mistress have been faithfully married for 20+ yrs but our partners were no longer having sex with us. I love my wife , soul mate , friend ect but she has lost her libido and after 5 years of 2-3 times a year mercy sex , i with absolute fear an trepidation told her i wanted a sex life again an preferably with her. She just didnt but we still wanted to be with each other and so i went an found my beautiful sexy mistress who is in a similiar situation. WE are all better happier people in ourselves and our relationships. Its not perfect , we have our ups an downs but its as good as it can get. ABSOLUTE BRUTAL SCARY HONESTY IS THE ONLY WAY THO. If u have any self respect then you cannot "cheat" cos thats the cancer that will destroy your relationships. Posted by: phil at August 23, 2006 09:23 AM

Ah such irony this article came up in my situation. Anyway, this is my story. Enjoy!

[ZFR]

my friend lives in timbucktu. i sent him a book on how to seduce girls and hes using the same method on guys. hes turning all my friends into poofs. Thankfully it hasnt worked on me. I didnt know my friend would betray me like this. Im so depressed

Thanks for giving this space to share my story.

[Neo the Warrior Cat]

LOL


About the best I can muster is that some idiot brought a gun to a band field trip. No, they didn't fire it or nothing, but since my dad was the last chaperone to wake up, WE got saddled with being late to the amusement park so we could deal with it.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuun. So fun I wanted to shove the gun down their throat.

[robertthebard]

Well, I'd have to say that my 18th birthday was pretty interesting. I was in a juvenile delinquent place, since I was a juvenile delinquent. We had weekend passes, and on the weekend before my birthday, I'm taking the 90 mile bus ride back to the center from my home. On the bus, I meet this really nice girl, and we spend the whole trip chatting. Well, she lived in the town where I was at, and when my birthday rolled around, I gave her a buzz, and she met me at the city park. We sat on top of this hill in a picnic gazebo, and drank a liter of Jack Daniels...wooo. No dirty story, sorry. She gave me a ride back to the center, and I'm drunk. I go back to my room, avoiding all the staff, and try to just keep myself sequestered back there, to avoid staff contact. Welllll, best layed plans....I'm the group leader, and some of the people in my group aren't doing what they are supposed to do, so I have to go out and admonish them...right in front of a staff member. Fortunately for me, the legal drinking age was 18, and all I got was some points off my contract, but it was kinda funny trying to pretend that I wasn't drunk, since I could just barely stand up...

[Sever]

In the list of unforgettable moments that i can currently remember, this one's pretty low. It's also the only one that i can post here, so here goes..

When i was about 8 or 10 or something, a friend of mine was sick in hospital. My mum and me were going to go and visit him and give him some lollies and stuff like friends do, but before we went there, she had to pull up at home and get something from inside. She turned the car off but didn't put the transmission into park properly. Or she did and it slipped. Or she did and i nudged it. ( [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img] Nah, even after what happened, i can still remember this. It slipped. But they still think i nudged it.) Anyway, you get the idea, the car started rolling backwards. The house in question had a gravel driveway 30 metres long with a slight gradient. When i realised the car wasn't stopping by itself (which was about the time it started rolling pretty fast) i decided to jump out. Don't ask me why i didn't just step on the brakes. I don't know. Maybe i was younger than 8 or 10 and didn't know how. Or maybe it was something else. Anyways, i open the door and jump out, being sure to do it fast enough that the door didn't hit me as the car kept rolling. In my haste, my foot got caught in the seatbelt and the rest of the story gets a bit fuzzy from there.

Basically, i hit the skids like a sprinting dog on a leash and land on the gravel. I think the door did some damage as it kinda rode over me, but not as much as the gravel did as the car dragged me the rest of the way down the driveway. There were a few other mystery bumps as well. For a time afterwards, i remember being adament that the wheel ran over my head. Unlikely, of course, but it'd probably explain a few other of my life's mysteries. The car stopped when it hit the fence at the end of the driveway (the fence running parallel to the driveway.. I swear that car never drove so straight before or since) and i vaguely remember being carried off by someone to go and visit my friend in hospital.

I got the bed next to him.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Now that's one hell of a story...