I often have a lot of opinions about things, especially after I've finished a book or something of that nature. If I continue to write reviews of book and the like, I might choose to develop a different blog for that, but as is stands I have only written this one review. Looking deeper at it I do realize that it is more a review of 3 books rather then the merely the one I finished most recently. Sorry to put such a long winded disclaimer prior to this entry, I just want to make it clear to anyone who might read this later (most likely merely the author himself) that I have shifted focus away from a travel narrative.
I generally enjoyed reading Brisingr, but I was left feeling this was a stop-gap book with really nothing important added to the story. We learned a great deal about Paolini: he has improved his skill at drawing characters; he is well aware that he has a captive audience so he can fail to edit his book and make it dry as toast at points. We also learned that he “interject” obscure words into a sentence to make the story sound more intelligent rather then worrying about the flow the sentence itself. The development of Eragon as a character seems to be secondary to all these new ideas Paolini has pushed into the series. The flow of the story was good and one thing lead to another, but why did we have development of other characters like Roran then magically mysteriously disappear in the last quarter of the book?
I honestly preferred Eldest. It was a great leap forward in the right direction from Eragon. Where as Eragon pretty obliviously had no outline and the author was apprehensive throughout that he would not make it to the end, the Eldest was everything Eragon wasn’t. That is why Brisingr is so disappointing, it’s needless long, well over 700 pages, though I generally enjoyed the experience the beginning was laughable with awkward sentence structure and with words in places that barely made sense. Why use an obscure word just because you can? Also descriptions are only good when they relate to something a reader already knows something about… what size exactly is a “winter rutabaga”?
This is the third book in this series I had expected better things by this point, not the author to become so self-possessed with his own descriptions. The last would do better to lean more toward the Eldest rather then this overly wordy in-need of a diet fantasy installment.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Run up to Thanksgiving in a nutshell...
So it’s been well over a month since my last post… not entirely sure how that happened. I had plenty of time while I was in Spain; I guess I was just doing other things. Having now been back in the US for now almost a month, I still don’t really have any idea when I’m going to get to go back.
To those who haven’t heard this story yet the reason I came back to the US was I got a job with the Spanish government teaching children in a Spanish school 4 days a week. In order to take that job, I had to come back and get a different visa then just the regular tourist one that I had prior. It has been a huge amount of work to both get into the program I’m a part of, but also to apply for the student visa that I need to go back to Espana. It looks like, even though I thought I would be back to Spain in less then a month, I won’t be going back until at least after Christmas. (I got back on Halloween). I’m just not sure if I’ll have a job if I go back that late. We’ll see I’m trying to make sure that the education ministry is well informed of how I am doing so they don’t give away my post.
Other then chasing parts of my application I’ve mostly just been sitting around the house either not doing anything, which is most of the time, watching TV, or simply reading something. So far I have finished a couple of books, the most notable and enjoyable is “Germs, Guns, and Steel” by Jared Diamond. It’s a real good read and I like his whole theory of development of human society, even if I don’t think it’s anyway the last word on societal evolution. I’d recommend it to anyone, even if they don’t believe in Human evolution (since he does make reference to at points, but it’s not overly important to the point he’s making). Though I suppose if you hold that the human race is only 5000 years old, then there might be some trouble with his ideas….so on second thought maybe that wouldn’t work.
The other real noteworthy book is the “Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman. It’s an interesting read, because you’re never really sure where he’s going to take it next. Though my main complaint with it is all the main characters are really cold. The main character is a girl who grows up at a college surrounded by students and faculty it’s really similar to my childhood. When we finally find out who her parents are, they are both pretty horrible people. Who kill people and care little for anyone except themselves. I had planned to read the entire “Dark Materials” series, but after I got the end of the first book…I decided not to continue with it.
Besides reading the news too much and hanging at my parent’s house all the time, my time has been pretty open. I have a few other books I’m working on and I really enjoy having the open ended time to myself. It’s been interesting not going anywhere for a while and I have really enjoyed the slow pace of life I have experienced in the last few months. In the US we’re so obsessed with work and getting things done all the time, that we don’t take the time to smell the roses. It’s nice to take the time to cook something or just hang out with people and talk about nothing in particular. Time, at least in the US, is used so sparingly on those kind things it’s nice to enjoy the slow pace of everything. Any its Thanksgiving so I’m going to hang out with the assembled family.
To those who haven’t heard this story yet the reason I came back to the US was I got a job with the Spanish government teaching children in a Spanish school 4 days a week. In order to take that job, I had to come back and get a different visa then just the regular tourist one that I had prior. It has been a huge amount of work to both get into the program I’m a part of, but also to apply for the student visa that I need to go back to Espana. It looks like, even though I thought I would be back to Spain in less then a month, I won’t be going back until at least after Christmas. (I got back on Halloween). I’m just not sure if I’ll have a job if I go back that late. We’ll see I’m trying to make sure that the education ministry is well informed of how I am doing so they don’t give away my post.
Other then chasing parts of my application I’ve mostly just been sitting around the house either not doing anything, which is most of the time, watching TV, or simply reading something. So far I have finished a couple of books, the most notable and enjoyable is “Germs, Guns, and Steel” by Jared Diamond. It’s a real good read and I like his whole theory of development of human society, even if I don’t think it’s anyway the last word on societal evolution. I’d recommend it to anyone, even if they don’t believe in Human evolution (since he does make reference to at points, but it’s not overly important to the point he’s making). Though I suppose if you hold that the human race is only 5000 years old, then there might be some trouble with his ideas….so on second thought maybe that wouldn’t work.
The other real noteworthy book is the “Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman. It’s an interesting read, because you’re never really sure where he’s going to take it next. Though my main complaint with it is all the main characters are really cold. The main character is a girl who grows up at a college surrounded by students and faculty it’s really similar to my childhood. When we finally find out who her parents are, they are both pretty horrible people. Who kill people and care little for anyone except themselves. I had planned to read the entire “Dark Materials” series, but after I got the end of the first book…I decided not to continue with it.
Besides reading the news too much and hanging at my parent’s house all the time, my time has been pretty open. I have a few other books I’m working on and I really enjoy having the open ended time to myself. It’s been interesting not going anywhere for a while and I have really enjoyed the slow pace of life I have experienced in the last few months. In the US we’re so obsessed with work and getting things done all the time, that we don’t take the time to smell the roses. It’s nice to take the time to cook something or just hang out with people and talk about nothing in particular. Time, at least in the US, is used so sparingly on those kind things it’s nice to enjoy the slow pace of everything. Any its Thanksgiving so I’m going to hang out with the assembled family.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Headed out on the road again
I wanted to give a big thank you for anyone who's bothered to read this blog in the last few months. The whole idea was spawned out of my parents wanting to know I was alive and keeping. Also to make sure that there was some account of my journey that was not scrawled in a notebook and entirely unreadable. Thank you for reading this and putting up with my rather bland narratives and accounts of my first trip across the United States.
As I mentioned in my last post I was living at home at my parent's house in good old Massachusetts. There was many great things about being back, not having to drive 8 hours a day, seeing friends and familiar faces regularly, and drinking a brew at the old haunts. But I was living at my parent's house which gets old about as fast as you might think. I am not trying to suggest I don't like or get a long with my folks, that is not the case at all. There is just not anything to do around Andover other then go to the movies, which you can only do so many times. I suppose there is a bar, but it barely counts as one.
I thankfully did not have to spend the entire time at home and actually hitched a ride with my mom into Boston for most of the month of August. I was taking a course at the Boston Language Institute to get a certificate to teach English as a Foreign Language, shorthand (TEFL). It was a pretty rigorous course, though I have to say it didn't make me really freak out until the last week of the month when like everything seemed to be due.
I met some really cool people, who were both students or somehow affiliated with the institute. Being around there did make me like I didn't know anything as most people who were either teachers or students knew at least 2 languages and most often 3. Sounds like I need to get my butt in gear about that.
The last week has been really chill, in fact too relaxed, I barely got anything done. It is amazing how much TV needs watching when you having nothing pressing on you. All in all it was a slow week with my evenings filled with saying goodbye to friends I know around the Boston Area. I'm going to miss them and I hope I get the opportunity to see them again. Though they too might want to fly the nest and head on the road at some point themselves. Maybe I'll see them all in glory...
As of today I headed out again. This time I headed back to Spain where I was for 2 weeks this last May, man it was fun. I currently don't have a return ticket, but I'm thinking I'll be back before my 3 month tourist visa runs out in December. We'll see how it ends up going. Spain again, should be really sweet. I'm going to start in Madrid and then figure out a plan from there. I wanted to check out Lisbon in Portugal last time I was there, so I will have to do that. Also I want to go at some point and check out Basque country it is supposed to be amazing. Provided I don't run into the terrorist separatists.
Since I will be on the road I will have some access to internet and I will also try to keep in touch with people. If you want me to send an email or a post card, contact me I'm a constant email checker.
As I mentioned in my last post I was living at home at my parent's house in good old Massachusetts. There was many great things about being back, not having to drive 8 hours a day, seeing friends and familiar faces regularly, and drinking a brew at the old haunts. But I was living at my parent's house which gets old about as fast as you might think. I am not trying to suggest I don't like or get a long with my folks, that is not the case at all. There is just not anything to do around Andover other then go to the movies, which you can only do so many times. I suppose there is a bar, but it barely counts as one.
I thankfully did not have to spend the entire time at home and actually hitched a ride with my mom into Boston for most of the month of August. I was taking a course at the Boston Language Institute to get a certificate to teach English as a Foreign Language, shorthand (TEFL). It was a pretty rigorous course, though I have to say it didn't make me really freak out until the last week of the month when like everything seemed to be due.
I met some really cool people, who were both students or somehow affiliated with the institute. Being around there did make me like I didn't know anything as most people who were either teachers or students knew at least 2 languages and most often 3. Sounds like I need to get my butt in gear about that.
The last week has been really chill, in fact too relaxed, I barely got anything done. It is amazing how much TV needs watching when you having nothing pressing on you. All in all it was a slow week with my evenings filled with saying goodbye to friends I know around the Boston Area. I'm going to miss them and I hope I get the opportunity to see them again. Though they too might want to fly the nest and head on the road at some point themselves. Maybe I'll see them all in glory...
As of today I headed out again. This time I headed back to Spain where I was for 2 weeks this last May, man it was fun. I currently don't have a return ticket, but I'm thinking I'll be back before my 3 month tourist visa runs out in December. We'll see how it ends up going. Spain again, should be really sweet. I'm going to start in Madrid and then figure out a plan from there. I wanted to check out Lisbon in Portugal last time I was there, so I will have to do that. Also I want to go at some point and check out Basque country it is supposed to be amazing. Provided I don't run into the terrorist separatists.
Since I will be on the road I will have some access to internet and I will also try to keep in touch with people. If you want me to send an email or a post card, contact me I'm a constant email checker.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
It's so weird to be back here
Traveling from Columbus the afternoon of the Sunday I responsible for all those kids I took the shortest drive I have taken on my trip. I headed to Gambier, my old collegiate stomping grounds, and met up and crashed with a friend. It was cool to see her again and we spent a good deal of time both walking around and catching up on what the other was doing. She seems to be doing pretty well and is enjoying working for the admissions department as she has since our graduation.
Gambier has and hasn’t changed much with the exception of some trees missing and a few new buildings here and there. Though as I expressed in a letter to a collegiate friend I wrote while there, it was a vacant place. I don’t mean just that the students were missing because they were, more that my time has passed from the place and I am an oddity, a remnant from some bygone time. My friends and experiences are what made the place and them being gone helps me move on as they have.
Having spent the night in Gambier at one of my friends numerous houses I headed out about mid-morning but I was slow to get started and didn’t do as much driving as I would have liked. I got past Pittsburgh quite a ways and ended up staying in a motel since there did not seem to be much in the way of state parks along I-80 in Pennsylvania. I was surprised about how much I liked the scenery, there are numerous rolling hills in Western Pennsylvania which was a refreshing changed from the flatness I had been experiencing across the Midwest. Granted the hills were nothing in size to anything in the Rockies, but the very green watered fed scene was a stark difference when compared to the parched West and Northwest I visited.
The next morning realizing I only had about 8 hours of driving to do, I figured I had some time to see a few things. Having now seen Groundhog Day, the movie, about a million times at this point, I thought I should check out Punxsutawney PA where the movie is set. It was cool to see the town and its weird devotion to the Groundhog, something most farmers truly dislike and classify as vermin. “Phil” the mascot and groundhog who either does or does not see his shadow has fiberglass statues all over the town. You could pretty easily tell that Groundhog Day, Feb 2 is the biggest day of the year in the sleepy little town. I surprised about how the whole place doesn’t look anything like the movie and it left me wondering where they actually filmed the movie.
Having now put off the drive off until noon I started to head back to MA. It was an entirely uneventful journey except for me finishing my book on tape, David McCullough’s John Adams and having to find another. I ended up starting Twilight by Stephanie Meyer about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. Unfortunately I didn’t finish its 13 hour run before I got home, so I have been trying to decide to finish it or drop it. The last installment of this book series is supposedly coming out this week, but it is definitely teenage girl fiction if there ever was any. This is due to the constant description of the love interest’s superiority, lips, and “muscular body.” I’m not one to finish something I haven’t started but this one is trying my patience and I might just have to wait until the movie comes out to find out the ending.
So now I’m back in Massachusetts for now going on two days and it’s a refreshing change to be back in familiar surroundings and scenery. I spent yesterday cleaning out my car and doing nothing in particular which was a refreshing change from driving too much. Looking at the odometer I put just a little under 10,000 miles on my car in all the time I was gone and the machine didn’t let me down. It’s official I love Volvos.
Gambier has and hasn’t changed much with the exception of some trees missing and a few new buildings here and there. Though as I expressed in a letter to a collegiate friend I wrote while there, it was a vacant place. I don’t mean just that the students were missing because they were, more that my time has passed from the place and I am an oddity, a remnant from some bygone time. My friends and experiences are what made the place and them being gone helps me move on as they have.
Having spent the night in Gambier at one of my friends numerous houses I headed out about mid-morning but I was slow to get started and didn’t do as much driving as I would have liked. I got past Pittsburgh quite a ways and ended up staying in a motel since there did not seem to be much in the way of state parks along I-80 in Pennsylvania. I was surprised about how much I liked the scenery, there are numerous rolling hills in Western Pennsylvania which was a refreshing changed from the flatness I had been experiencing across the Midwest. Granted the hills were nothing in size to anything in the Rockies, but the very green watered fed scene was a stark difference when compared to the parched West and Northwest I visited.
The next morning realizing I only had about 8 hours of driving to do, I figured I had some time to see a few things. Having now seen Groundhog Day, the movie, about a million times at this point, I thought I should check out Punxsutawney PA where the movie is set. It was cool to see the town and its weird devotion to the Groundhog, something most farmers truly dislike and classify as vermin. “Phil” the mascot and groundhog who either does or does not see his shadow has fiberglass statues all over the town. You could pretty easily tell that Groundhog Day, Feb 2 is the biggest day of the year in the sleepy little town. I surprised about how the whole place doesn’t look anything like the movie and it left me wondering where they actually filmed the movie.
Having now put off the drive off until noon I started to head back to MA. It was an entirely uneventful journey except for me finishing my book on tape, David McCullough’s John Adams and having to find another. I ended up starting Twilight by Stephanie Meyer about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. Unfortunately I didn’t finish its 13 hour run before I got home, so I have been trying to decide to finish it or drop it. The last installment of this book series is supposedly coming out this week, but it is definitely teenage girl fiction if there ever was any. This is due to the constant description of the love interest’s superiority, lips, and “muscular body.” I’m not one to finish something I haven’t started but this one is trying my patience and I might just have to wait until the movie comes out to find out the ending.
So now I’m back in Massachusetts for now going on two days and it’s a refreshing change to be back in familiar surroundings and scenery. I spent yesterday cleaning out my car and doing nothing in particular which was a refreshing change from driving too much. Looking at the odometer I put just a little under 10,000 miles on my car in all the time I was gone and the machine didn’t let me down. It’s official I love Volvos.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Two ends of the Age Spectrum
I got into Glen Ellyn, IL where my Grandparents live at about 1:30 in the afternoon. I didn’t have to drive far so I had left later in the morning but didn’t really make much difference on the final arrival time. It was really nice to take an easy day of travel after having spent the two days prior driving.
I had planned to stay with my Aunt, so I headed over there. Despite contacting her before arrival and her assurance she would be around during the day she wasn’t. I hope I don’t make this sound like it was a big deal. It being a Friday and the middle of day I was not surprised she had found something to do with herself. When you have your days free to do what you will with them and people in your life know that, activities have a tendency to come calling you; I should know I also do not have a job.
Having gotten to my aunt’s house and not found anything there to keep me occupied I decided to try to go see a movie I’ve been longing to see. Hellboy II, had been out for a while and I wanted to see it in a theatre because it looked pretty cool. Despite having a demonic title it is not about anything very deep other then the usual bad guys versus good guys. So I found a movie time online courteous of a rogue wireless network and headed over.
I would like to predicate my next statement with saying I have been trying to adapt myself to military time, or the 24-hour clock, for the last couple of months. Well I serious miscalculated the time of the movie so I was over an hour early. A showing of Batman: The Dark Knight was showing far closer to my arrival time, so I decided to see that.
It was a gritty movie and overall an artfully crafted movie. I just didn’t enjoy the whole experience because the movie was too jarring. The picture was about “the Joker’s” psychotic nature, was more unsettling then enjoyable to me. I don’t understand why we are obsessed with the crazed killer in this country. CSI and Law and Order are both formulaic around a central theme of crazy people. Why as a society do we rightfully vilify these people and then make movies about them that glorify their tragedies? Why are some horrible acts usually more thoroughly covered then amazing acts of kindness? What does the media slogan still apply “it saying it bleeds it leads” always win?
When I got out of the theatre I had got a call from my Aunt and she was around to hang out. I headed over to her place and move a bunch of my stuff into her place for the night, all the while catching up with her. It had been a few years since we had seen each other and had things to catch up on. I really like my aunt and just talking about whatever. She’s super nice and often too generously laughs at my jokes. My aunt seems to be doing well and been enjoying the time off she has had since quitting work in March. Not liking what she was doing for a living as well as an interest to take some time off had spurred her to quit. It was cool to have the validation, that as long as you have the ability to pay the bills it's ok not to have your entire life figured out by 30.
My Grandma called while we were talking and so we headed over to restaurant rendezvous. It was a place I had been to before with my aunt, grandfather, and grandmother, but I enjoyed it and we talked for almost 2 hours about things. My Grandmother is ever the conversationalist and it was good to hear about what she and Grandpa have in their lives at this point. We ended up heading back to my grandparent’s house to see a news program she had extolled the merits of over dinner. It was a cool segment that is not broadcast in the Boston area, despite being one of the news programs on PBS.
After headed back to my Aunt's I pretty much went straight to bed, since I planned to leave early the next morning. Throughout this trip I have learned that “early” is a very relative term and due to having a schedule I pretty much set on a daily basis, I have a tendency to be a little lax about starting my day in a timely fashion. I didn’t end up leaving my aunt’s house until about 9:30 which is mid morning, but it as nice to have a full night’s sleep.
After leaving my Aunt’s house it did not take me long to lose an hour by crossing yet another time zone. Since getting the book on tape it has made the driving far less momentous and I find myself really not focusing on the length of but rather just the story and the immediate driving. It is a welcome mental distraction after merely having the radio and my IPOD for weeks. I don’t think it has hampered my alertness at all, to those who might be worried about such things.
It was a middle length day driving to Columbus to see my college friend Rich and I got there about 5pm. I got into a debate with the kid within 10 minutes from walking in the door; same old Rich. It was good to see him and see what he has been up to since he moved back from Cleveland to live with his folks. He has started his own business of rehabbing old houses to turn into decent rental properties. The houses he’s buying seem to either be under foreclosure or easily gotten cheaply at very reasonable in price. He showed me his first house and what he has done so far and plans to do for it in the future. I can’t say it would be a business I would want to get into, but I got to give the guy credit as having an entrepreneurial spirit. I got to see his parents ministry which was cool, they have had a huge influx of people into the program and it was cool to hang and talk to the kids who are involved in the program. Since I was there for both the Saturday night and Sunday services I got to see the kids that were around there the most, I forgot how rambunctious kids around 10 can be.
I had planned to stay with my Aunt, so I headed over there. Despite contacting her before arrival and her assurance she would be around during the day she wasn’t. I hope I don’t make this sound like it was a big deal. It being a Friday and the middle of day I was not surprised she had found something to do with herself. When you have your days free to do what you will with them and people in your life know that, activities have a tendency to come calling you; I should know I also do not have a job.
Having gotten to my aunt’s house and not found anything there to keep me occupied I decided to try to go see a movie I’ve been longing to see. Hellboy II, had been out for a while and I wanted to see it in a theatre because it looked pretty cool. Despite having a demonic title it is not about anything very deep other then the usual bad guys versus good guys. So I found a movie time online courteous of a rogue wireless network and headed over.
I would like to predicate my next statement with saying I have been trying to adapt myself to military time, or the 24-hour clock, for the last couple of months. Well I serious miscalculated the time of the movie so I was over an hour early. A showing of Batman: The Dark Knight was showing far closer to my arrival time, so I decided to see that.
It was a gritty movie and overall an artfully crafted movie. I just didn’t enjoy the whole experience because the movie was too jarring. The picture was about “the Joker’s” psychotic nature, was more unsettling then enjoyable to me. I don’t understand why we are obsessed with the crazed killer in this country. CSI and Law and Order are both formulaic around a central theme of crazy people. Why as a society do we rightfully vilify these people and then make movies about them that glorify their tragedies? Why are some horrible acts usually more thoroughly covered then amazing acts of kindness? What does the media slogan still apply “it saying it bleeds it leads” always win?
When I got out of the theatre I had got a call from my Aunt and she was around to hang out. I headed over to her place and move a bunch of my stuff into her place for the night, all the while catching up with her. It had been a few years since we had seen each other and had things to catch up on. I really like my aunt and just talking about whatever. She’s super nice and often too generously laughs at my jokes. My aunt seems to be doing well and been enjoying the time off she has had since quitting work in March. Not liking what she was doing for a living as well as an interest to take some time off had spurred her to quit. It was cool to have the validation, that as long as you have the ability to pay the bills it's ok not to have your entire life figured out by 30.
My Grandma called while we were talking and so we headed over to restaurant rendezvous. It was a place I had been to before with my aunt, grandfather, and grandmother, but I enjoyed it and we talked for almost 2 hours about things. My Grandmother is ever the conversationalist and it was good to hear about what she and Grandpa have in their lives at this point. We ended up heading back to my grandparent’s house to see a news program she had extolled the merits of over dinner. It was a cool segment that is not broadcast in the Boston area, despite being one of the news programs on PBS.
After headed back to my Aunt's I pretty much went straight to bed, since I planned to leave early the next morning. Throughout this trip I have learned that “early” is a very relative term and due to having a schedule I pretty much set on a daily basis, I have a tendency to be a little lax about starting my day in a timely fashion. I didn’t end up leaving my aunt’s house until about 9:30 which is mid morning, but it as nice to have a full night’s sleep.
After leaving my Aunt’s house it did not take me long to lose an hour by crossing yet another time zone. Since getting the book on tape it has made the driving far less momentous and I find myself really not focusing on the length of but rather just the story and the immediate driving. It is a welcome mental distraction after merely having the radio and my IPOD for weeks. I don’t think it has hampered my alertness at all, to those who might be worried about such things.
It was a middle length day driving to Columbus to see my college friend Rich and I got there about 5pm. I got into a debate with the kid within 10 minutes from walking in the door; same old Rich. It was good to see him and see what he has been up to since he moved back from Cleveland to live with his folks. He has started his own business of rehabbing old houses to turn into decent rental properties. The houses he’s buying seem to either be under foreclosure or easily gotten cheaply at very reasonable in price. He showed me his first house and what he has done so far and plans to do for it in the future. I can’t say it would be a business I would want to get into, but I got to give the guy credit as having an entrepreneurial spirit. I got to see his parents ministry which was cool, they have had a huge influx of people into the program and it was cool to hang and talk to the kids who are involved in the program. Since I was there for both the Saturday night and Sunday services I got to see the kids that were around there the most, I forgot how rambunctious kids around 10 can be.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Purple Mtns. to Waves and waves and waves of grain
After being at the Oregon State Park I continued on to Salt Lake City, which took most of the day. It was a mostly uneventful journey with the exception of the amazing scenery zooming by my car. I will say that having traveled both though the Northwest and West, it is an increasing dry place. I have heard the reports on the news saying there is not much rain here, but it’s another thing to see it first hand. I hope that trend changes because as much as Americans are building here, it doesn’t bode well for the long term sustainability of the region.
When I got Salt Lake City, I got lost despite having good directions from my host. After being on the wrong side of town from his house, I finally got the way the streets worked and got to his place. All the streets are number and don’t really have official names, so for example you can live at 1100S and 900 E. It made finding his place a lot easier once I figured out where I was on this massive grid.
I met Joel, the guy I was staying with and learned a little about being a young attorney. He was also a really interesting guy just in his own right with a lot of interest in environmental law and it sounds like he’d recently gotten into disability claims which I made the mistake of getting confused with liability and suing for malpractice.
I crashed on his floor that night and headed out toward Colorado by way of Temple Square. It was a pretty building and the Mormons do a lot to make it look pretty. Apparently we weren’t allowed in the Temple itself, but I did get to take a picture of where they regularly had services and stuff. They had a lot of visitor centers and a museum about The Church of Latter Day Saints. I was most unsettled by the fact there was a lot of people about my age or younger just standing around there to welcome you. I figured they were all on their two years service. They bothered me with how they all looked the same with their nametags and their super neat appearance. After that initial observation I realized that if I was doing something full time, like greeting, I would probably look the same, so I decide to cut them a little slack.
From there I spent the rest of the day in the car with the weather turning hotter and hotter as I headed toward Colorado. I managed to pass the day pretty well between calling people and listening to the radio. It was still a long trip and I need to find something else to either listen or do to break up the time. I arrived in Denver and met my hosts Dave, Dan, and PJ who were really cool and gave me my own bed to sleep on. They also had a really cool dog by the name of Dante that made me wish I had one. They were a nice group of guys and I like just chilling with them for the time I was there.
When I headed into Denver the next morning, and I had intended to see a good chunk of the city and the art museum, but I unfortunately I didn’t get to the museum. I spent so much time chilling and walking around the city I got to the museum about a half hour before it closed. The city itself is pretty neat with a lot of shops and restaurants. The thing that visually makes it for me though is they’re big about getting people to create public works of art. That means there are these massive sculptures throughout the city not just the same statue throughout painted differently. There is also all these mountains all around so the scenery is cool and the people are nicer then on the East Coast.
The next day, after biding adieu to my hosts I headed over to Boulder just to check it out for a few hours. I only really had time to see the resort section and see a few things. I can see myself in the future headed back there for at least one trip. The mountains were there just being begged to be climbed in all their glory. I did take the time to see Celestial Seasonings, a tea company that has really cool pictures on their boxes. It was neat to see their factory and see how the tea gets inserted into bags and then sent to the consumer.
My only real complaint with Colorado was the lack of water both it in large pools on the ground and the lack of it coming from the sky. I’m not saying that its something they can fix, I’m sure if they thought they could get more rain they would be doing it. It was just emphasized to me by the fact it was so dry the whole time I was there. It was plenty hot, but it was so dry with no humidity that I really didn’t ever feel like I was sweating, I got dehydrated way to easily.
I managed to get into Nebraska late that night and decided to spring for a hotel because after checking the State Park list I thought there wasn’t any near the highway. As it turned out there are numerous state parks along interstate 80 in Nebraska (I’m writing it down so I’ll remember in the future). Even if it broke the bank it was a good time and refreshing change of pace; I really enjoyed having my own space and bed. I didn’t get out that early this morning because I was just enjoying lounging and now having put a lot of miles on my car I’m finally sick of driving.
I did manage to stop though Omaha today and truthfully its older sections are really depressing. There isn’t really anything in the downtown section other then a few banks and some businesses that have chosen to stick with the place. The two I noticed were ConAgra and Union Pacific, which are big names, but can’t really keep an entire city employed. Omaha has seen better days and I hope it can be looking up some day.
While in Omaha, I stopped on the outskirts and checked out a Cracker Barrel for some books on tape. It was weird being back in one, since I hadn’t been back since I stopped working at one two years ago. It might have been the one I worked in Mass. it looks exactly the same with all the merchandise in the same spot. I was able to rent a book on tape for $3.50 a week, but I had to put in a deposit for how much the whole thing sells for that I’ll get back once I return it to another Cracker Barrel down the road. I got a copy of David McCullough’s new book John Adams, it’s been really interesting and a breath of fresh air to have something to listen to while driving, I should have done it sooner. I hope I get more then one book done by the time I get home.
I also made good time going across Iowa and only really made one stop in Grinnell IA. It is home to a college of the same name that was mentioned to me when I interviewed at Kenyon. It is a small liberal arts college about the same size and locality, they both are in very rural settings, so it makes sense I might have applied there. Now having seen the place, it would have been cool to throw an application at it, not to suggest I would have changed where I went now that the hand has been played. I was just surprised it impressed me.
I’m breaking the bank yet again tonight and staying at a hotel in Davenport IA and hopefully will be headed to Chicago again to see my Aunt and Grandparents. Nite!!
When I got Salt Lake City, I got lost despite having good directions from my host. After being on the wrong side of town from his house, I finally got the way the streets worked and got to his place. All the streets are number and don’t really have official names, so for example you can live at 1100S and 900 E. It made finding his place a lot easier once I figured out where I was on this massive grid.
I met Joel, the guy I was staying with and learned a little about being a young attorney. He was also a really interesting guy just in his own right with a lot of interest in environmental law and it sounds like he’d recently gotten into disability claims which I made the mistake of getting confused with liability and suing for malpractice.
I crashed on his floor that night and headed out toward Colorado by way of Temple Square. It was a pretty building and the Mormons do a lot to make it look pretty. Apparently we weren’t allowed in the Temple itself, but I did get to take a picture of where they regularly had services and stuff. They had a lot of visitor centers and a museum about The Church of Latter Day Saints. I was most unsettled by the fact there was a lot of people about my age or younger just standing around there to welcome you. I figured they were all on their two years service. They bothered me with how they all looked the same with their nametags and their super neat appearance. After that initial observation I realized that if I was doing something full time, like greeting, I would probably look the same, so I decide to cut them a little slack.
From there I spent the rest of the day in the car with the weather turning hotter and hotter as I headed toward Colorado. I managed to pass the day pretty well between calling people and listening to the radio. It was still a long trip and I need to find something else to either listen or do to break up the time. I arrived in Denver and met my hosts Dave, Dan, and PJ who were really cool and gave me my own bed to sleep on. They also had a really cool dog by the name of Dante that made me wish I had one. They were a nice group of guys and I like just chilling with them for the time I was there.
When I headed into Denver the next morning, and I had intended to see a good chunk of the city and the art museum, but I unfortunately I didn’t get to the museum. I spent so much time chilling and walking around the city I got to the museum about a half hour before it closed. The city itself is pretty neat with a lot of shops and restaurants. The thing that visually makes it for me though is they’re big about getting people to create public works of art. That means there are these massive sculptures throughout the city not just the same statue throughout painted differently. There is also all these mountains all around so the scenery is cool and the people are nicer then on the East Coast.
The next day, after biding adieu to my hosts I headed over to Boulder just to check it out for a few hours. I only really had time to see the resort section and see a few things. I can see myself in the future headed back there for at least one trip. The mountains were there just being begged to be climbed in all their glory. I did take the time to see Celestial Seasonings, a tea company that has really cool pictures on their boxes. It was neat to see their factory and see how the tea gets inserted into bags and then sent to the consumer.
My only real complaint with Colorado was the lack of water both it in large pools on the ground and the lack of it coming from the sky. I’m not saying that its something they can fix, I’m sure if they thought they could get more rain they would be doing it. It was just emphasized to me by the fact it was so dry the whole time I was there. It was plenty hot, but it was so dry with no humidity that I really didn’t ever feel like I was sweating, I got dehydrated way to easily.
I managed to get into Nebraska late that night and decided to spring for a hotel because after checking the State Park list I thought there wasn’t any near the highway. As it turned out there are numerous state parks along interstate 80 in Nebraska (I’m writing it down so I’ll remember in the future). Even if it broke the bank it was a good time and refreshing change of pace; I really enjoyed having my own space and bed. I didn’t get out that early this morning because I was just enjoying lounging and now having put a lot of miles on my car I’m finally sick of driving.
I did manage to stop though Omaha today and truthfully its older sections are really depressing. There isn’t really anything in the downtown section other then a few banks and some businesses that have chosen to stick with the place. The two I noticed were ConAgra and Union Pacific, which are big names, but can’t really keep an entire city employed. Omaha has seen better days and I hope it can be looking up some day.
While in Omaha, I stopped on the outskirts and checked out a Cracker Barrel for some books on tape. It was weird being back in one, since I hadn’t been back since I stopped working at one two years ago. It might have been the one I worked in Mass. it looks exactly the same with all the merchandise in the same spot. I was able to rent a book on tape for $3.50 a week, but I had to put in a deposit for how much the whole thing sells for that I’ll get back once I return it to another Cracker Barrel down the road. I got a copy of David McCullough’s new book John Adams, it’s been really interesting and a breath of fresh air to have something to listen to while driving, I should have done it sooner. I hope I get more then one book done by the time I get home.
I also made good time going across Iowa and only really made one stop in Grinnell IA. It is home to a college of the same name that was mentioned to me when I interviewed at Kenyon. It is a small liberal arts college about the same size and locality, they both are in very rural settings, so it makes sense I might have applied there. Now having seen the place, it would have been cool to throw an application at it, not to suggest I would have changed where I went now that the hand has been played. I was just surprised it impressed me.
I’m breaking the bank yet again tonight and staying at a hotel in Davenport IA and hopefully will be headed to Chicago again to see my Aunt and Grandparents. Nite!!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Fire and Death on the Road to Walla Walla, WA
Going immediately following the last entry. I managed to get down to the Burke Museum after spending most of that morning just lounging around. It was a cool museum and their Northwest Coast stuff was cool for what they had of it, the Field Museum in Chicago has a better and more extensive collection. They had some really cool things, but I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures of the stuff inside, which left me really bummed. I had made the trip there to see it and it appears the museum caters more to a younger age bracket then myself, like people under 10. Even with the exhibits being fairly simplistic they had some really neat artifacts and fossils. There was a primitive whale skeleton and they had various dinosaurs bones set up in life posses, like a stegosaurus. The stegosaurus left me the most intrigued because I have for a long time taken it has a granted that it had spines along its back and a spiked tail, the way its usually depicted. I am not an expert, but the spines anthropologists have always put along the back are in no way connected to the skeleton and could have gone another place, it seemed like to my untrained eye. Though I suppose they are putting the flat dagger shaped bones along the spine, due to dig evidence and not just conjecture. Hopefully evidence is why they look the way it does, otherwise I don’t get why the points down the spine. I found the museum enjoyable and it was cool to wander around the University of Washington’s campus afterward.
After finishing around there I was trying to head over to the City Hall area of Seattle and then maybe the Fremont Troll, but I then had the misfortune to experience what would be occupying me for the rest of my afternoon. I got a flat tire, something I had thought I had fixed prior to leaving my friend Laurel house that afternoon. The second time I had to fix it I was trying to take a short cut and ended up in an upper middle class neighborhood where I stopped under a shady tree to fix my leak.
I was minding my own business and trying to patch my leak, with yet another patch when three little people and a shepharding mom came out to play outside. It didn’t take long for me find out one of the two boys was called “Sam,” which left me feeling pleasantly surprised due to the coincidence. His mom was trying to fix his bicycle as well and it left me wishing my mom was here to bail me out of this one. (Though this mom didn’t know the first thing about bicycles, but “Sam” was still at the stage where parents are all knowing almost supernatural beings.) So I patched it for the 2nd time and headed down and over a block so I could turn around.
Well lucky me the leak wasn’t fixed, so I flipped my bike over and went at it again. At this point I was reusing patches and I was trying to get it too work, when another Mom rolls up and said “I have a pump and a patch kit if you’re still here when I get back.”
I said thanks self-assured that I was going to make it with what I had. No such luck, the patches refused to hold anything and I pumped up the tube a couple of times to see what the problem was. By this time the 2nd mom for now my 3rd patch had come back, I was still there getting more frustrated. She was very helpful and gave me a whole kit to fix the hole, that at the time I didn’t think I would need having just finished the leak. I thanked her told her were I was from and the other usual stuff people talk about when first meeting and hit the road. After getting about maybe a half a mile my fire was flat yet again. So I took the tire off again the 3rd time and used the kit she gave. I patched it and though I had got a good hold on it except the patch failed to hold around the edges, so I ripped it off and tried again. It didn’t work the 4th time either, but figured if I added another patch I couldn’t go wrong, right? I added a 5th and had just as much luck as the fourth. So had 2 patches on my tire and still have a hole and since the air was holding for a little while I decided to pump it up high and try to limp my way home. I got all of maybe a quarter mile before I needed to pump it again and at this point I just gave up and called a cab since it was past 7 by this time and been about 3pm by the time I started this escapade. My tire is still flat, I might have wrecked my back rim, and I currently don’t like my bike.
The next day I drove downtown and walked all over. Being a member of REI I checked out the original store, which was cool, though not as cool as the LL Bean store in Freeport ME. I also just wandered about just seeing things and that looked interesting. For example I bought this really sweet hat at the best Army/Navy store ever. I had intended to see the Fremont Troll sculpture that was under the Aurora Ave bridge, but I managed to forget on my way back toward Laurel’s house. Oh well something to see next time when I go back.
The following day I headed up to Vancouver BC, for the day. It took longer then I had expected partly because I started later in the day and the customs line took forever getting into Canada. The guard wanted to know about my finances as I didn’t have a job and thought I was just coming to Canada to freeload. I gave him some information, but he was kind of insulting but I finally got into Canada. Vancouver, as a city is pretty cool the buildings reflect both a Europe and American influence that is definitely Canada. I checked out downtown and a museum on the University of British Columbia’s campus and then hit the road again. It is a place I would like to visit again, but didn’t feel I had given myself enough time to adequately explore. I also know half of Vancouver’s mystique is the nature around it and I wasn’t really sure where to start since my guidebook only covered the States.
The drive back was uneventful except for an incident I had at the border. I guess I got in the right most car lane called the “Nexus lane.” The only thing I can figure is its for frequent border crossers because they people an extra ID to cross there. I got ushered into Customs Office, hoping I didn’t have to pay a fee as they sent me in with a form that said “Nexus Violater” on it. At this point I was informed that there had been adequate signage, despite seeing any, that told me I was not supposed to be in that lane. It is certainly possible that I had zoned out, but I didn’t see any signs telling me it was a $5000 fine for going in the right most lane. I started to mention this to the guard, but then realized it was better to hold my tongue and let him say his piece. He got the fine waived and sent me on my way after having talked to his supervisor. I got back to Seattle and chilled out at the house for the rest of the evening.
I got up decently early, but I didn’t get moving until later, so I had headed out at about noon and made some headway toward Oregon. It was a boring drive up until I made the turn off toward Walla Walla, WA. There was a tree and grass fire on the way with the largest individual plume of smoke I have ever seen. It was outside the small hamlet of Wallula and I actually saw a fire truck out fighting the flames, which was neat to see while passing, since stopping to gawk at the flames did not seem like the most intelligent thing to do at the time.
I continued on and got caught in a traffic jam that I figured was for an accident, since the road was pretty small I figured it was for that reason. It slowed down and I got a chance to see why things had slowed down as much as they had. It appears to have been an accident between a truck with a trailer and motorcycle and it would appear the accident was fatale for one rider of the motorcycle.
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1216588463105730.xml&storylist=orlocal
Walla Walla, WA was a pretty cool town between both Whitman College that is in town and the wine is grown there it is a pretty happening place when compared with other places of a similar size. I had the privilege of running into the annual Sweet Onion Festival and I got to see a few of the sights as well as eat a good onion sausage. Since I was running late I ended up crashing at a fairly decent Oregon state park that I really liked both for its cheapness and its general comfort.
After finishing around there I was trying to head over to the City Hall area of Seattle and then maybe the Fremont Troll, but I then had the misfortune to experience what would be occupying me for the rest of my afternoon. I got a flat tire, something I had thought I had fixed prior to leaving my friend Laurel house that afternoon. The second time I had to fix it I was trying to take a short cut and ended up in an upper middle class neighborhood where I stopped under a shady tree to fix my leak.
I was minding my own business and trying to patch my leak, with yet another patch when three little people and a shepharding mom came out to play outside. It didn’t take long for me find out one of the two boys was called “Sam,” which left me feeling pleasantly surprised due to the coincidence. His mom was trying to fix his bicycle as well and it left me wishing my mom was here to bail me out of this one. (Though this mom didn’t know the first thing about bicycles, but “Sam” was still at the stage where parents are all knowing almost supernatural beings.) So I patched it for the 2nd time and headed down and over a block so I could turn around.
Well lucky me the leak wasn’t fixed, so I flipped my bike over and went at it again. At this point I was reusing patches and I was trying to get it too work, when another Mom rolls up and said “I have a pump and a patch kit if you’re still here when I get back.”
I said thanks self-assured that I was going to make it with what I had. No such luck, the patches refused to hold anything and I pumped up the tube a couple of times to see what the problem was. By this time the 2nd mom for now my 3rd patch had come back, I was still there getting more frustrated. She was very helpful and gave me a whole kit to fix the hole, that at the time I didn’t think I would need having just finished the leak. I thanked her told her were I was from and the other usual stuff people talk about when first meeting and hit the road. After getting about maybe a half a mile my fire was flat yet again. So I took the tire off again the 3rd time and used the kit she gave. I patched it and though I had got a good hold on it except the patch failed to hold around the edges, so I ripped it off and tried again. It didn’t work the 4th time either, but figured if I added another patch I couldn’t go wrong, right? I added a 5th and had just as much luck as the fourth. So had 2 patches on my tire and still have a hole and since the air was holding for a little while I decided to pump it up high and try to limp my way home. I got all of maybe a quarter mile before I needed to pump it again and at this point I just gave up and called a cab since it was past 7 by this time and been about 3pm by the time I started this escapade. My tire is still flat, I might have wrecked my back rim, and I currently don’t like my bike.
The next day I drove downtown and walked all over. Being a member of REI I checked out the original store, which was cool, though not as cool as the LL Bean store in Freeport ME. I also just wandered about just seeing things and that looked interesting. For example I bought this really sweet hat at the best Army/Navy store ever. I had intended to see the Fremont Troll sculpture that was under the Aurora Ave bridge, but I managed to forget on my way back toward Laurel’s house. Oh well something to see next time when I go back.
The following day I headed up to Vancouver BC, for the day. It took longer then I had expected partly because I started later in the day and the customs line took forever getting into Canada. The guard wanted to know about my finances as I didn’t have a job and thought I was just coming to Canada to freeload. I gave him some information, but he was kind of insulting but I finally got into Canada. Vancouver, as a city is pretty cool the buildings reflect both a Europe and American influence that is definitely Canada. I checked out downtown and a museum on the University of British Columbia’s campus and then hit the road again. It is a place I would like to visit again, but didn’t feel I had given myself enough time to adequately explore. I also know half of Vancouver’s mystique is the nature around it and I wasn’t really sure where to start since my guidebook only covered the States.
The drive back was uneventful except for an incident I had at the border. I guess I got in the right most car lane called the “Nexus lane.” The only thing I can figure is its for frequent border crossers because they people an extra ID to cross there. I got ushered into Customs Office, hoping I didn’t have to pay a fee as they sent me in with a form that said “Nexus Violater” on it. At this point I was informed that there had been adequate signage, despite seeing any, that told me I was not supposed to be in that lane. It is certainly possible that I had zoned out, but I didn’t see any signs telling me it was a $5000 fine for going in the right most lane. I started to mention this to the guard, but then realized it was better to hold my tongue and let him say his piece. He got the fine waived and sent me on my way after having talked to his supervisor. I got back to Seattle and chilled out at the house for the rest of the evening.
I got up decently early, but I didn’t get moving until later, so I had headed out at about noon and made some headway toward Oregon. It was a boring drive up until I made the turn off toward Walla Walla, WA. There was a tree and grass fire on the way with the largest individual plume of smoke I have ever seen. It was outside the small hamlet of Wallula and I actually saw a fire truck out fighting the flames, which was neat to see while passing, since stopping to gawk at the flames did not seem like the most intelligent thing to do at the time.
I continued on and got caught in a traffic jam that I figured was for an accident, since the road was pretty small I figured it was for that reason. It slowed down and I got a chance to see why things had slowed down as much as they had. It appears to have been an accident between a truck with a trailer and motorcycle and it would appear the accident was fatale for one rider of the motorcycle.
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1216588463105730.xml&storylist=orlocal
Walla Walla, WA was a pretty cool town between both Whitman College that is in town and the wine is grown there it is a pretty happening place when compared with other places of a similar size. I had the privilege of running into the annual Sweet Onion Festival and I got to see a few of the sights as well as eat a good onion sausage. Since I was running late I ended up crashing at a fairly decent Oregon state park that I really liked both for its cheapness and its general comfort.
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