Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2003 - 2:24 p.m.
I know, I know, I haven't updated in a while... for the most part, there hasn't been much to report, and secondly, I am in Oklahoma. I have a few free moments here, though, so I will try to give a recap-nooner of what happened in the Red Baron episode. Bear in mind that I haven't seen it in a week and I didn't even fly a damned plane. My commentary will be pretty minimal.
Mostly, I notice myself in the background of these kinds of episodes and am looking out for funny faces and weird instances that make no sense to anyone but me. Did anyone notice that I came fully clothed, pigtail-clad, with the blue sweats, and by the end of episode, I've got my hair down, wearing a tank top, and someone's cowboy hat? I swear I don't have head lice, but I should by now with all the hat thievery that goes on by my own hands.
The mission looked like so much fun... I wanted to fly one of those planes so badly, but it came down to a very simple factor. This was a competition, and we needed even teams. I don't drive stick very well, and if steering an airplane is anything like driving a stick-shift, I don't want to be the person who screws up and causes the team to fail when there are plenty of other people who are more than capable of driving stick with clean-cut fluidity. It was more of a preventative action than martyrdom. I have no qualms about small spaces or heights (Cara doesn't like either of them, and Darrell hates heights with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, "but I'll do it for ten g's, baby.") I just don't like being the person that every mission comes down to, and I didn't feel it necessary to put my personal desires of flying that plane for the experience over the Road Rules Desire to Win. Enough said. Thank goodness Theo brought a deck of cards... I taught him how to play "Speed" (one of the few things I excell at...) and sat around in the heat for roughly 12 hours before we headed back to Telluride, which is about an hour and 45 minutes away from Montrose. Funfunfun.
Can I tell you how much I love Roni? That girl lights up my life. She has such a great, positive spirit. Not only that, but she is compulsively honest and very careful with her words and actions. She doesn't get caught up in the drama, and is quick to laugh. I really love that girl. She and I were roommates. She keeps all of her travel stuff in Ziplock bags, perfectly organized. Sometimes that would wake me up in the mornings on Interview days... I could hear the "zzzzt! cracklecracklecrackle...zzzzt!" of her getting all of her shower stuff ready, or looking for the perfect earrings, or on the ever-present hunt for Q-tips. I would wake her up with drunken conversation or fumbling through my human-sized duffle bag in hopes of finding a secret compartment filled with clothes that I didn't realize I'd brought... all my cool, normal person clothes that I never seem to think would be appropriate for an active reality program. I am an idiot. I am always that person who hurredly packs everything and more that I could possibly need for a trip to the African jungle and once I'm comfortably seated on the plane, I realize that I've forgotten my toothbrush.
Anyway, the order was slightly shifted for the mission. Roni DID win it for us, and Dave didn't even really need to win because it was already taken care of. The way the numbers went, we had beaten them by a point when there was still one more match to go. They let them compete anyway. Most people were pushed out of the "legal airspace" before anyone was even shot down. They weren't allowed to go below 9,000 feet and weren't allowed to go above something like 10,500, so their range of motion was relatively limited. One instructor was apparently better than the other, though, and he would give little pointers if you were a cute girl. I think Theo got a couple as well, but for that, there isn't much explaination. Maybe it was the accent? I sat around and waited with way too much Taco Bell in my system. I felt gross and fat the entire time we were there... not fun. No plane flying, just Taco Bell. Ick.
The worst part about Steve going to the Gauntlet for the second time was that I knew there was some sort of faction against the both of us from the beginning. He knew it, too, but the second he felt it, he began to pull away from the group activities to listen to music, read, play on the computer, or take a nap. Now normally, I'm all over those activities like white on rice, but you just can't do that in these situations. I learned that the hard way.
"Sarah, you wanna come on a team run with us?"
"Yes, even though I detest running, yes, I very much do. Please refrain from voting me off?"
This is the proper form of interaction that must take place between you and your Reality Television Enemies. It can be seen as a form of selling out, but in perspective, it felt that I would be selling myself ridiculously short by not just going with the flow and winning a butt-load of cash. Call me a sell-out. I've taken the loser route before, and there is no dignity in that, either. Who ever said there was dignity in reality television should be bound and given their final cigarette.
So Steve, knowing the day before of the faction, knew that he would be going into The Gauntlet the next day, win or lose. He really hoped that with a win that he wouldn't, but realism and optimism are two conflicting entities. He said, "I volunteer myself, thank you for being honest, yadda yadda yadda, let's go into this thing with a sense of humor, shall we?" We all ran out into that arena da-dah-dah-ing the Rocky theme song, and were cued to "Oooooh!" when the die was rolled. It was actually pretty funny, because hey, Puzzles~R~Fun. Now here's the funniest part of all.
There was such a huge to-do about Steve and puzzles. We all knew he practiced frequently and was confident in his abilities in that department. We all were slowly becoming confident with him because no one can be insecure when they are surrounded by people humming the Rocky theme song/ Eye of the Tiger. Most of us didn't know the words to Eye of the Tiger, thoough. The theme is better for humming, anyway.
Everyone is required to turn around with their backs to the pool while the puzzle pieces are thrown into it by Production so the competitors don't have a well-formed plan of action as to where they'll be running when that horn is blown. They both jumped into the pool at the same time and Steve hurled his pieces out of the water with ease. We (and by we, I mean EVERYONE, including most of Production) aren't even watching Trishelle, because the last time we saw the puzzle event, it took at least 15 minutes for someone to solve it. By some form of divine intervention, Trishelle literally placed all the pieces in the correct places unknowingly. If you watch, she isn't paying any mind as to where they're going, she's just picking them up off the ground and putting them into the mold. She's a savant for sure... who knew? None of us did, and that isn't an insult to her intelligence, because we all know that she's 3 credits away from a degree. That is far closer than I am at this point. Gotta respect someone whose academic success is within reach, right? I wasn't saying, "You wouldn't think Trishelle would be good at puzzles" to insult her intelligence. It definitely comes off that way, but it was more of an attempt to bring a dose of levity to a fairly depressing situation. I tend to be one of those people who says something funny when they're crying... Too bad you don't see those little blips. I was just honestly surprised out of my mind. I don't think I've ever been so dumbfounded in my life... after they got out of the pool, the match was finished within 15 seconds. My jaw dropped to the floor.
And Steve is with us no more... dearly missed by me the most, I think, but missed nonetheless. Steve, I know you're reading this, so I just wanted to reiterate that I will always call you the Puzzle Master, and if you like, I'll even scream it out when we're in the middle of a bit of coital bliss. Sound good?
As for everyone else out there, I appreciate all the letters of support you've been sending me, but I'm fine! We filmed it months ago! Happy Turkey Day, kiddies. Soy Turkey, that is.
