my life as ali...
ali

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February 24th, 9:43pm 0 comments

"B" is for boston...

those who know me best know that i am a survivor junkie.

survivor first started back in the spring of 2000. i was a senior in high school. the first season's finale (survivor: borneo) aired the night before i left for college. after 39 days of competition and probably the most infamous final tribal council speech of all-time from a bitter sue hawk directed towards richard hatch (winner) and kelly wiglesworth (runner-up)...
"i plead to the jury tonight to think about the island that we have been on. this island is pretty much full of only two things: snakes and rats. and in the end of mother nature we have richard, the snake, who knowingly went after prey. and kelly, who turned into the rat, that ran around like the rats do on this island - trying to run away from the snake. i feel we owe it to the island spirits that we have come to know to let it be, in the end, the way that mother nature intended it to be... for the snake to eat the rat."
...I WAS HOOKED!

a bunch of my friends were over and we all watched together in "upstairs the garage". for those of you menominee folk, you know and love the room i speak of. for those outsiders, "upstairs the garage" is the secret room above our garage. there was a couch, a fan, an old wooden nordic track (more currently updated to a fancy state-of-the-art treadmill), enough floor space to comfortably fit 17 sleeping bags (there were many sleepovers followed by a to-die-for G.O. early (and i mean EARLY) morning breakfast), and a tv that needed to "warm-up" before it could be used (literally, sometimes it took hours). but i've gotten ahead of myself... "upstairs the garage" is an entirely different story.

survivor. now i've watched every episode of every season. each episode i rewind numerous times to re-watch certain challenges or scenes and to re-listen to certain conversations and tribal councils. as the fates would have it... at central michigan university i met my survivor soulmate, jer. we analyze. we strategize. and our survivor "alliance" has carried over and proved useful in many other aspects of our lives. we even make survivor spreadsheets for the fridge (don't judge) for reference and to always keep a visual on the game.

the latest season, survivor: redemption island, began only 8 days ago. only 2 episodes down and this season not only looks promising but already has a few people in the running for "the ultimate crazy"... but most importantly, this season brings back my all-time favorite survivor for his 4th run to outwit. outplay. outlast.
rob mariano... aka: boston rob.   

(download)

rob has dominated his seasons with his physicality in challenges and strategic game play. he's blunt, he's sneaky and he is one of the biggest villians survivor has ever seen. i love him.

rob's survivor stat sheet
  *survivor: marquesas (7th person voted out)
  *survivor: all-stars (although the season was deemed "rob's season" by host jeff probst, rob finished as runner-up to winner amber brkich, now his wife)
  *survivor: heroes vs villians (8th person voted out)
  *survivor: redemption island (season currently in progress...)

(download)

on one of my favorite seasons, survivor: all-stars, rob and another of my top 10 survivors, amber brkich, formed an alliance. an alliance that turned to love. rob proposed at the live finale just before amber took home the million with a 4-3 vote. rob and amber were married in 2005. they have two children, lucia and carina. i follow them both (rob and amber, not the kids) on twitter (THIS JUST IN: twitter is fricking fabulous!)

i just can't get enough...!

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