A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
-King Solomon
My devoted legion, my steadfast disciples, my honorable champions, this goes out to you:
On may 4th we began an epic journey, and from what began as a choice few companions, we have grown into a staggering 200. I cherish each and every one of you, my legion, for in this endeavour we are not separate, we are as one, and as one we shall topple the world and have kings prostrate themselves at the very mention of the 155th legion. As a proud participant in our glory, I am gratified to put into words the philosophy of our noble cause. As I am a simple wordsmith, I can craft my own musings, however, I am in no way above the legion, as it is our joint endeavour, I relish any call or bequest to scribe the thoughts of those who share in my glorious purpose. I am aggrieved to inform you that due to the restrictions of the site I appointed as our harbinger of glory won’t let me respond to your stirring comments. So I would like to take this opportunity to publicly and officially recognize each comment; it is wonderful to feel that sense of camaraderie from you all. To address one specific utterance, that of Toviarch Nefreius who intellectually states, “Tell me more about the cousins”: well said my most prized champion: I shall now endeavour to do just that.
I come from a family that is ninety strong, and another that holds the fort at seventy. I have many cherished relatives and cousins. But amongst those is a pair of brothers who I hold above all others. Jorge Campos (27) and Enrique Gonzalez-Blanco (26). They both moved to England shortly after my mother and I did, and since then have we have spent a lot of time in quite close proximity to each other. The three of us have stark differences, especially in our physical makeup, but we have become a close group nonetheless.
The older brother, Jorge Campos is a strong, short man with very defined physical features. He is a ‘rough’ character, who does not mix words and has little problem expressing his joy or distaste with a person or situation. He has an incredible knack for languages and is a prodigiously dedicated student. He is stubborn to a fault, well read (so he can argue his point), and loyal to his convictions. Since I was a smaller than them in stature, felt it my personal mission to be their superior in wit, it did not go well. Whenever I was feeling cheeky, it was often Jorge’s fist that came down to stop me, and I dare say I deserved it. Jorge is a big fan of the tough love school of thought, and was never one to hold back when it came to physicality. I personally consider myself a “tough” kid, at the least; I can take a hit and am determined to go through with whatever plan I have, this I attribute to Jorge. His second greatest area of influence has been in how I approach my sports: I saw Jorge play whilst growing up. Though at the time he was a behemoth (I have long since passed him in height) what stuck with me was his work ethic; he set to do something, and would train until he did, because of that he is now an outstanding athlete.
The younger brother, Enrique Gonzalez-Blanco has little in common with his brother in stature: he is the taller of the two, and not interested in strenuous physical activity. He too is stubborn to a fault, and sadly he is smart enough to argue with anyone he deems worthy. As aforementioned, I was the cheeky one of this triumvirate, and on the few times I could out pace Jorge, or find a gap he could not fit through it was Enrique’s turn for retribution, and he gleefully took it. Granted, there were times that we were not at each other’s throats, and I remember them with joy. Like his brother, he was active while growing up, but he soon went in pursuit of a more mental calling. When I moved to the United States, he went to chef school in Napa Valley, so we saw each other quite frequently. Enrique is subtler than Jorge’s blunt nature, neither one better than the other, simply different temperaments. Whilst in Berkeley, I learnt to drive shift (but don’t tell mum), I learnt to sword fight and how to properly eat sushi. Between the two of us, we have an ingenious talent for creating games, and using these games we can while away the hours discussing all of life’s particulars and bouncing ideas off of one another. I have taken more from these talks than I could garner from a dozen high-school teachers, for it is those talks that teach one what the nature of life is. He too, has been a great inspiration.
So, here we stand, three guys, one stands out more than the other and I seem to find myself in the middle. They put me in my place when I was a child; they raised me and taught me the things I could never learn from my mother(s) and have been great companions since then. I once told my mother that I would change my name to Campos for a month. Growing up with their mixture of brains, brawn and blunt truth has been nothing short of a pleasure, I am proud to be their family.
-King Solomon
My devoted legion, my steadfast disciples, my honorable champions, this goes out to you:
On may 4th we began an epic journey, and from what began as a choice few companions, we have grown into a staggering 200. I cherish each and every one of you, my legion, for in this endeavour we are not separate, we are as one, and as one we shall topple the world and have kings prostrate themselves at the very mention of the 155th legion. As a proud participant in our glory, I am gratified to put into words the philosophy of our noble cause. As I am a simple wordsmith, I can craft my own musings, however, I am in no way above the legion, as it is our joint endeavour, I relish any call or bequest to scribe the thoughts of those who share in my glorious purpose. I am aggrieved to inform you that due to the restrictions of the site I appointed as our harbinger of glory won’t let me respond to your stirring comments. So I would like to take this opportunity to publicly and officially recognize each comment; it is wonderful to feel that sense of camaraderie from you all. To address one specific utterance, that of Toviarch Nefreius who intellectually states, “Tell me more about the cousins”: well said my most prized champion: I shall now endeavour to do just that.
I come from a family that is ninety strong, and another that holds the fort at seventy. I have many cherished relatives and cousins. But amongst those is a pair of brothers who I hold above all others. Jorge Campos (27) and Enrique Gonzalez-Blanco (26). They both moved to England shortly after my mother and I did, and since then have we have spent a lot of time in quite close proximity to each other. The three of us have stark differences, especially in our physical makeup, but we have become a close group nonetheless.
The older brother, Jorge Campos is a strong, short man with very defined physical features. He is a ‘rough’ character, who does not mix words and has little problem expressing his joy or distaste with a person or situation. He has an incredible knack for languages and is a prodigiously dedicated student. He is stubborn to a fault, well read (so he can argue his point), and loyal to his convictions. Since I was a smaller than them in stature, felt it my personal mission to be their superior in wit, it did not go well. Whenever I was feeling cheeky, it was often Jorge’s fist that came down to stop me, and I dare say I deserved it. Jorge is a big fan of the tough love school of thought, and was never one to hold back when it came to physicality. I personally consider myself a “tough” kid, at the least; I can take a hit and am determined to go through with whatever plan I have, this I attribute to Jorge. His second greatest area of influence has been in how I approach my sports: I saw Jorge play whilst growing up. Though at the time he was a behemoth (I have long since passed him in height) what stuck with me was his work ethic; he set to do something, and would train until he did, because of that he is now an outstanding athlete.
The younger brother, Enrique Gonzalez-Blanco has little in common with his brother in stature: he is the taller of the two, and not interested in strenuous physical activity. He too is stubborn to a fault, and sadly he is smart enough to argue with anyone he deems worthy. As aforementioned, I was the cheeky one of this triumvirate, and on the few times I could out pace Jorge, or find a gap he could not fit through it was Enrique’s turn for retribution, and he gleefully took it. Granted, there were times that we were not at each other’s throats, and I remember them with joy. Like his brother, he was active while growing up, but he soon went in pursuit of a more mental calling. When I moved to the United States, he went to chef school in Napa Valley, so we saw each other quite frequently. Enrique is subtler than Jorge’s blunt nature, neither one better than the other, simply different temperaments. Whilst in Berkeley, I learnt to drive shift (but don’t tell mum), I learnt to sword fight and how to properly eat sushi. Between the two of us, we have an ingenious talent for creating games, and using these games we can while away the hours discussing all of life’s particulars and bouncing ideas off of one another. I have taken more from these talks than I could garner from a dozen high-school teachers, for it is those talks that teach one what the nature of life is. He too, has been a great inspiration.
So, here we stand, three guys, one stands out more than the other and I seem to find myself in the middle. They put me in my place when I was a child; they raised me and taught me the things I could never learn from my mother(s) and have been great companions since then. I once told my mother that I would change my name to Campos for a month. Growing up with their mixture of brains, brawn and blunt truth has been nothing short of a pleasure, I am proud to be their family.