It's been a while now since I got my 2nd tattoo, but I never did post pictures. I got a slightly modified version of this symbol, which I think matches my other both visually and thematically. Here are some vaguely unflattering pictures of the finished product. I'm very happy with it, but #3, whenever it happens, will definitely be larger. Shortly after I got it I saw this article, and it's great to feel like part of a growing community as opposed to a minority, as is the case with so many other things. The first one did seem like something of a rite of passage, too, and both have seemed like steps toward a future version of myself which I can only occasionally catch glimpses of.

On the subject of change, it's always reassuring to have moments that evince personal growth-- and the more surprising its direction, the better. Evan and I have gone camping twice since the last big update, and now I can confidently say that I like to go camping. My parents shipped me off to a handful of summer camps when I was younger, but I was too petulant and overwrought to do anything but make myself (and my cabinmates) absolutely miserable. In late May, though, when we spent a long weekend camping at Rabun Beach Campground, we both had a fantastic time. We made a great campsite, hiked up to Angel Falls, played frisbee and football, made S'mores on the campfire... We even swam in a lake. Why had I never realized before this trip how fun it is to swim in lakes? The second camping adventure at Vogel State Park was longer, but much less eventful: a massive thunderstorm rolled in the night we set up camp and was near-constant for the next three days and nights. Because there was never a chance to dry anything out, we, our towels, tents and everything else became so waterlogged that we had to drive to the gift shop and buy more towels. The icing on the cake, though, was the tarp over our tent. Every fifteen minutes or so, it dumped the rain it had pooled into the mud at the corner of the tent where my head lay, producing a long, loud, wet farting noise: Phbbbbbbbbt. This went on day and night through the entire trip. Phbbbbbbbbt. Even at the time, it was miserable and ridiculous enough to be marginally funny. The trip was something of a wash (no pun intended), but the experience was still valuable. However subtle the shift may be, I have a different view of myself because of it.

Whoo, that's some pretty hardcore navel-gazing right there, ain't it? Phbbbbbbbbt. I promise that not everything that's happened lately is about me. Probably the biggest event, in fact, was not. Two friends from UGA, Jennifer and Amish, got married on July 1st in the UGA Chapel. It was the first wedding of my adult life, and while I was unsure what to expect, it was actually a great time, and genuinely moving. Really, though, getting to celebrate a special occasion with close friends I haven't seen in years-- how couldn't it have been? Rachel also held the bachelorette party at my place while I stayed with Evan, and I think spending a night in a small apartment with over twenty partying women had to be the most exciting event in Pharaoh's life in a very long while. (During the quick peek I got, he was stretched out on the living room table soaking up the attention.) There are some pictures from the reception, but Jen has since kidnapped them to Argentina. More on this as it unfolds.

The next ten days or so are slated to be ridiculously busy at work as hoardes of students arrive to move into their apartments and, in doing so, herald the end of summer and quiet in Athens. Hopefully I'll find a way before then to send this summer off on a fittingly high note.