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Show AggieLife Page 6 Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 Ordinary nothings to extraordinary nothings FREE BURGER AND FRIES LORAL GODFREY LAYS in his hammock in Kolob Canyon at Zions National Park. He is a part of Hammock Club International of which has more than 110 people. Photo courtesy of Loral Godfrey Burger and Fries with the purchase of a drink! FREE BURGER AND FRIES 2095 North Main Show USU ID & bring this ad one per person expires 09/02/2009 Hammock: Students study, sleep and enjoy the outdoors -continued from page 5 gives him a chance to be in the outdoors and relax, especially throughout the stressful school year. As the equipment specialist, Godfrey said his job is to educate members on items they need to ensure an enjoyable and safe time. One of the safeties, he said, is to make sure the rope is able to handle the weight of the individual or the couple who may be sharing a hammock. Another important part of setting up hammocks, said Godfrey, is making sure the trees are a proper distance from one another. If the trees are farther apart it makes the hammock less stable; however, if the string is too loose, Godfrey said it is not good either. He said three to four feet of rope on each side of the hammock is ideal. Dusty Ott, operations specialist for HCI, said he educates members on what knots to use and how to properly hang their hammock. He said it is ideal to use a figure eight knot around the tree and attach the hammock with a slip knot. He said this knot makes the hammock easier to be taken on and off the tree. Ott, senior majoring in industrial hygiene, said he enjoys being a member of HCI because not only would he rather take his Sunday nap outside than inside, but many other reasons come to mind. “I enjoy taking someone who hasn’t been before,” Ott said, “preferably a girl.” Ott said one of his neatest experiences hammocking was while camping. He said a downpour of rain and extreme wind hit his campsite. He had constructed a shelter with a tarp above of his hammock and the large storm did not bother him. “It was one of my favorite things to be in the thick of things and not get wet,” he said. “It was a well thought-out plan ,which worked.” Godfrey said contrary to belief, campers can go hammocking in cold weather. To stay warm, he said campers should place a sleeping bag and blanket on the hammock, and wrap a tarp around themselves. He said by doing this, it blocks the wind and keeps the heat inside. “I call this my cocoon,” he said. “You sleep comfortably and warm. I don’t necessarily like to camp in the cold but you can keep warm. You can hammock in all situations.” Ott agrees. He said he recalls a time when he took another individual hammocking in the snow. He said he brought along a gas stove and made hot chocolate. “The hammock and snow made it perfect,” he said. Gunderson encourages everyone to join the club’s Facebook group, Hammock Club International, to learn of and join club activities or to get the latest scoop on hammocks. People also can e-mail usuhammockclub@gmail.com for information. Although the club is student organized, Gunderson said, the club is not recognized by USU. -courtnie.packer@aggiemail. usu.edu One of the best things about writing a column is the freedom I have in regards to topics, the liberties I have in regards to the English language and the opportunities I have in regards to sharing my crazy wonderments with people I do not know. A close comrade once told me that I am really good about writing about nothing. That I can take nothing and successfully blab about it for paragraphs and paragraphs, and my readership is none the wiser. Which is true, but I like to think of it as taking the ordinary nothings of life and transforming them into extraordinary nothings. Enjoyable, if trivial, nothings. Cut me some slack, however. If I truly were to write about nothing, I would do just that. Write nothing. Have a big ol’ blank column. It would probably be headlined something like this: The Epitome of Nothing. And even then, most of my USU readers would assume it was a printing mistake rather than a tangible representation of an abstract ideal. Therefore, you must agree, I generally end up writing about something rather than nothing, even if my something is nothing, si? And you know what? I think people need nothings. We college students are so hectically busy, that a few minutes of nothing is a sweet distraction from all of the pressing somethings in our lives. Nothings are calm. Nothings do not mean anything significant, so this is a relief, which may make them significant after all. It is complicated. Well-intentioned people often give me advice about what I should write about. My brother insists that I write about something radically controversial, take a strongly opposed stance and reap the emailed responses of uncontainable rants. But, ew. Why on earth would I want to encourage a load of offended, obnoxious people on my case? Crushing criticism irritates me more than hangnails, cold sores and whiny people combined. Maybe this is another reason I write (mostly) about nothing. Nothing is nothing. Nothing provokes nothing. Glorified nothings are generally appreciated and accepted by a wide, varied audience. Last year a good-natured gentleman wrote an entire counterpoint against my column about Mexican food. Several articles later I received a bunch of biting e-mails from benevolent souls regarding my column condoning bubbles in the Spectrum. Believe me, there are people out in the world that take nothings quite seriously. One of my literary idols is Dr. Seuss because he invents funky words that make perfect sense within their context, same with Lewis Caroll in his poem, “Jabberwocky”. Lemony Snicket does the opposite by coming up with curious definitions to ordinary words. I love words. I love big words. I love expanding my vocabulary, even if the vocabulary is not commonly accepted by a dictionary. I like stringing incomprehensible words into sentences of comprehension. Why say something is good when you can say it is jubilacious? Why say someone is stuck-up when you can say someone is shnorky? 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