spargel

Good Eats of 2011

2012-01-09T15:23:00.001-05:00

One of my 2011 resolutions was to cook something new every week. I can't say with certainty that I met this goal literally (okay, I can definitely say I didn't meet it...I'm pretty sure I didn't cook anything new while on vacation), but I did uphold the spirit of the resolution, and we tried a lot of new recipes this year. Some were from cookbooks (new and old), and others were found on the web. Most of the recipes we gave a try turned out to be winners and have shown up on our plates more than once.

Although I haven't made this a 2012 resolution (okay, I haven't yet made any real 2012 resolutions), I do intend to keep trying new foods. Fortunately, we both enjoy cooking (most of the time), and we have adventurous palates, so trying new foods is fun and not a chore.

For my own reference and in case you're wanting to give some new recipes a try, I'm including links to a few of our favorites from 2011. (Some of the recipes listed below were first tried in 2010, but they were favorites of 2011, so I'm including them.) Let me know if you give any of them a try.

Butter Chicken
A very simple recipe for a very tasty Indian dish. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the recipe, but I can say that it tastes delicious.

Sweet Potato Ravioli
Making your own ravioli can seem daunting until you've given it a try. This recipe makes it so simple. We usually use butternut squash instead of sweet potato, but it's delicious both ways.

Shrimp Curry
We both love curry of all varieties, and this is a quick, easy, and hearty one with good flavor.

Coconut Curried Fried Rice
The coconut and curry flavors really take this fried rice to the next level. After eating so much nasi goreng (fried rice) in Southeast Asia during our travels that we thought we might never want to eat it again, this recipe brought us back to this easy (one pot!) and tasty meal.

Couscous and Feta Stuffed Peppers
We love stuffed peppers, and this recipe is our new favorite way to make them. The filling is so delicious, and if you make too much, it makes a great dish on its own.

Risotto with Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes, and Basil
This is summer in your mouth. It's so good, especially at the height of summer when we could pick the tomatoes and basil straight from the garden.

Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Chorizo and Manchego Cheese
We made this appetizer for our holiday party, and it might have been my favorite dish we made. In addition to piquillos, we also used sweet cherry peppers, which make for a more bite-sized appetizer.

Light and Fresh Potato Salad
This is one of our standby summer sides. With no mayonnaise and some vegetable additions, it's really fresh and scrumptious.

Zesty Three Bean and Roasted Corn Salad
Another summer favorite, this salad is great for cookouts. It has a little kick, which raises it far beyond the typical bean salad in my opinion.

Crap. Now I'm hungry.

If you've got any great recipes to share, please leave them in the comments. I love having new things to cook up in the kitchen.

Books: 2011 in Review

2012-01-03T15:24:00.000-05:00

A Few Statistics

Number of Books Read: 39
Number of Books That Were Fiction: 35
Number of Books Written by a Woman: 24
Number of Books That Were at Least Partially Set Outside the United States: 18

A Full Listing of the Books I Read (in the order I read them):

Take Me Home by Brian Leung
Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwarz
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Tinkers by Paul Harding
The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
The Age of Orphans by Laleh Khadivi
What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman
Dear Husband by Joyce Carol Oates
You Lost Me There by Rosecrans Baldwin
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed
The Gendarme by Mark Mustian
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Solo by Rana Dasgupta
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Personal History of Rachel Dupree by Ann Weisgarber
A Gate at the Stairs by Laurie Moore
Room by Emma Donoghue
Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
Accordian Crimes by Annie Proulx
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier
Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones
Jim the Boy by Tony Earley
The First Desire by Nancy Reisman
The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

My Top Books of 2011
(This is hard. Very hard. But there are the six books I awarded 5 stars on Goodreads. An additional sixteen books received 4 stars, fourteen received 3 stars, three received 2 stars, and one received 1 star.)

Tinkers
Age of Orphans
The Invisible Bridge
The Personal History of Rachel Dupree
Once Upon a River
Unbroken

Resolution Update: October, November, and December

2011-12-29T15:03:00.000-05:00

Resolution One: Write or Edit Creative Works for at Least One Hour Five Days a Week
November was a very productive month for me writing-wise, as I really focused on writing every day. This fell off in December with the holidays and all the hub-bub that goes with them. I'm going to refocus on writing in the New Year and hopefully come up with some sort of "schedule" that works for me.

Resolution Two: Get a Story Published
I didn't succeed here. I did send one story out, however, to two different places, one a contest and one a very top journal. It was rejected by the top journal. It didn't win the contest, but it was a finalist.

Resolution Three: Submit Chapter Book to Agent/Publisher
As I noted before, I decided to call this one off. Maybe I'll revive it one day.

Resolution Four: Get Two New Freelance ClientsAlready accomplished. October was a very productive month for me, and November and December continued on that trend.

Resolution Five: Reenvision, Relaunch, and Maintain Blog
I'm still completely up in the air as to how I want to handle this. Some days I want to invest more in it; other days I want to say forget it.

Resolution Six: Ride a Century
Accomplished! On October 29, we completed the Durham Habitat for Humanity Century Ride. It was the nastiest day we've had all year, I think. Temperature in the low 40s, rain, and wind strong enough that I thought I might fall off my bike at points. Definitely not the day I would have picked, but we biked anyway and were 2 of only 15 people to finish the century. (All other people, being apparently saner than us, opted for the 31 mile or 62 mile routes.)

Resolution Seven: Cook One New Thing Each Week
We continued adding new food to our repertoire, welcoming back fall favorites such as butternut squash and sweet potatoes. We also prepared a slew of new things for our holiday party: chorizo and manchego stuffed piquillo peppers, sundried tomato stuffed mushrooms, beef en croute with bernaise sauce, smoked salmon tartlets, two types of mini quiches, and more.

Resolution Eight: Sew a Piece of Clothing to Wear
Fail! My sewing machine continued to be put to use for repairs but did not create anything new. I still might get a pillow sewn before the New Year. Maybe? Maybe? But using my sewing machine more will have to be a goal for next year.

Resolution Nine: Take a Class to Learn Something New
Already accomplished.

Resolution Ten: Read a Minimum of 25 Books
Already accomplished. Over the past three months, I read an additional 10 books, and I'm halfway through one more, which I hope to finish before 2011 departs.

Resolution Eleven: Have an Adventure Every Month
Our adventures continued through the end of the year, but they were much more low key. In October, we didn't actually leave North Carolina, but we spent a lot of time exploring parts of it we hadn't been to before--both on our bikes and during a visit from Jeff's parents. In November, we made our annual pilgrimage to Seattle for Thanksgiving, and in December, we traveled to Louisville for Christmas celebrations.

Gay Rights are Human Rights

2011-10-12T17:11:00.000-04:00

Last month, just three days before we headed to Spain and amidst a frenzy of laundry, packing, collations, and copyedits, I put everything on hold and drove to the North Carolina state capitol in the middle of the day. My purpose was to join the rally in support of gay marriage/in opposition to a proposed state constitutional amendment banning it. It was time for me to put actions with my words. It was time to add my voice to the chorus, to speak for myself rather than hope or expect that someone else will do it for me.

While we rallied on the lawn outside the chambers, where inside the Senate was voting whether to put said constitutional amendment on the ballot in May, speakers took to the stage to denounce not only the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage but also the fact of allowing a majority to vote on a minority's rights. The speakers represented a range of faiths, races, social classes, occupations, ages, and sexual orientations. Some spoke angrily; others spoke eloquently. In-between, the crowd cheered, waved their homemade signs, and yelled "Shame on you" at the chambers and the few lawmakers that gathered on its balcony after the Senate voted in favor of putting the amendment on the ballot.

I heard a lot of arguments that afternoon about why the ban was bad news. They ranged from it being bad for business, to there not being a need for a ban because NC law already prevents gay marriage, to there being bigger and more important things for the NC legislature to worry about. All of these are true. And I'm in favor of any argument that will get people to come out in May and vote against the amendment (or stay home in May if they planned to vote for it). However, I find all of these arguments to be superfluous. As far as I'm concerned there is only one argument, and it is spelled out in the U.S. Constitution: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Denying homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered people the right to marry the person of their choosing is a declaration that they are, in fact, not equal. It is a denial of their right to Liberty and their right to pursue Happiness. Because we live in a secular country, it is as simple as that.

Today is National Coming Out Day. Next week is Ally Week. The fight for equal rights in this country is not one that should be fought alone by those whose rights have been denied but one that should be fought by all people who believe in a just world, who believe in that second sentence of our Constitution. It is our job to speak out not because we are gay or know someone who is, but because we are human and because this is an issue of human rights.

Please take the time to stand up and make your voice heard. Even if this isn't an issue on the docket in your state right now, it is a pressing issue nonetheless. Our voices need to be heard constantly and consistently until all people in this country, regardless of sexual orientation, have full and equal rights. Don't say this isn't your fight. You are human, aren't you?

Comments, as always, are welcome, even those with conflicting viewpoints, so long as those views are presented in an inoffensive and rational manner. Any comments I deem to be inflammatory or hateful will, however, be immediately deleted. It's my blog, and I believe in civility. If you don't, please go away.

Resolution Update: August and September

2011-09-30T14:16:00.000-04:00

Resolution One: Write or Edit Creative Works for at Least One Hour Five Days a Week
Basically, this isn't going to happen as spelled out here. The one hour a day five days a week thing doesn't work for me. I've tried and I keep trying, and I want it to work, but it doesn't. And I've decided I'm okay with that. I can't write on a schedule. Creativity doesn't work for me like that. But I am writing, sometimes multiple hours in one day and sometimes no hours at all. I think I need a goal that is more accomplishment/final project oriented. I'll have to think more about this, but in the meantime I'll keep writing and keep trying to find some sort of "program" that works for me.

Resolution Two: Get a Story Published
Well, I've got three stories I plan to send out. I'm almost finished with revises on one (I need to get rid of a pesky 120 words or so that just won't go), and the other two are in progress in terms of revises. I have a couple of contests I want to enter in October, so I'm hoping to do a mass send out this month and see what happens. I'm starting at the top with the places I'd most want to be published, so I don't expect success this round, but I figure why not start at the top.

Resolution Three: Submit Chapter Book to Agent/Publisher
See last update. On hold indefinitely.

Resolution Four: Get Two New Freelance Clients
While having already achieved this goal for the year, I'm always working on evaluating and improving my freelance business. In the past two months, I haven't gotten any new clients per se, but I have picked up some new long-term work from some of my clients. I've also been recommended by one of my clients to another potential client, so I'm waiting to see if that goes anywhere.

Resolution Five: Reenvision, Relaunch, and Maintain Blog
This continues to be an epic fail. I don't really have any more to say about it than I did last time, but you may be seeing some new action from me in the next month, so check in both here and at Lives of Wander.

Resolution Six: Ride a Century
This is the goal I've probably made the most progress on. We've been going on long rides every weekend with some shorter rides thrown in on weekends and we're now up to 60+ miles of riding. We're also officially signed up for the event on October 29, so basically I have one more month of training left. Unfortunately, it's also a busy month with some weekends already spoken for. I am, however, only planning to train up to 75 miles or so. I've found that it hasn't been that hard to increase our distance each week. Sure, it takes more time and I'm good and tired afterwards, but I'm pretty sure that even if the event were this weekend, we'd be able to pull it off. As long as I keep myself fed (I eat a ton while riding!), then most of riding long distance is mental for me, and since I'll be riding with Jeff and our neighbors Carl and Kristen (who we also train with on occasion), I think I'll have the support I need to finish it.

Resolution Seven: Cook One New Thing Each Week
Though I haven't been keeping track of this, I think we do pretty well on this front. It doesn't hurt that I very easily get tired of eating the same things, so I'm always looking for something new to try.

Resolution Eight: Sew a Piece of Clothing to Wear
Looks like it's going to have to be a fall or winter piece or maybe even something for next year, since this hasn't happened yet. I don't do very well at indoor projects in the summer. As the sun sets earlier and earlier each night, I think the chances for this goal being achieved increase.

Resolution Nine: Take a Class to Learn Something New
I've already checked this goal off the list. Hooray. No overachieving to report.

Resolution Ten: Read a Minimum of 25 Books
Completed! Woohoo! I have now read 27 books this year. In the last two months, I read A Gate at the Stairs by Laurie Moore, Room by Emma Donoghue, Going after Cacciato by Tim O'Brien, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander Smith McCall, Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones, Accordian Crimes by Annie Proulx, and Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson. Of these, I would most recommend Room and Silver Sparrow.

Resolution Eleven: Have an Adventure Every Month
Our adventures continued in August with a weekend trip to Chicago to visit my brother Gregory. We ate a lot of good food (Xoco and Little India being my favorites), took an Art Deco architecture walking tour, and went to an art fair. We were also able to visit my cousin Elizabeth and her awesome kiddo Jack and see their new home. In September, we headed off to Spain for a combined business/pleasure trip (well combined for Jeff, all pleasure for me.) We started out in Barcelona, where Jeff had a conference. I then headed south during the conference to visit Ronda and Cordoba. After the conference, Jeff met up with me and we traveled to Sevilla and Granada. It was a great trip. We loved the Alhambra, the entirety of Sevilla, and all the good food to be had. We don't yet have an adventure lined up for October (that century ride is taking precedence), so we're taking suggestions. We might have to opt for a micro-adventure this month.

On Politics, Lost Hope, and Feeling Duped

2011-08-02T22:05:00.000-04:00

I remember what HOPE felt like. I remember feeling it in Nicaragua, sitting on a hostel couch as election night results poured in, and in Africa, where Obama adorned everything from shop walls to wrap skirts. I remember it from before then, from standing in a parking lot outside my office with a coworker, listening to Obama give a speech in the months before the primaries were decided. I remember that feeling....but I don't feel it anymore. Now all I feel is disappointment.

Politics are ugly. Politicians are never who they seem to be (unless they're members of the Tea Party, and they are exactly who they seem to be). To be a politician, you have to have a huge ego, to believe yourself capable of things that no human is capable of, to be certain that you---yes, you---are the change this world needs. I know that the person who will be president will not be the same person we see as candidate for president, but I expect that they will at least maintain the outline of that person, that the shadow they cast will fill roughly the same space. With President Obama, I feel, however, as though I've been duped.

Is it me? Did I expect too much? Did I fall too easily for words? Did I overlook hints, clues, signs, messages from beyond that said that as president, Obama would fail to lead, that he would throw his own party under the bus, that he would not stand up for the things that he, as a supposed liberal, believes in. Did I fail to recognize that he is, at best, a moderate conservative with a weak spine? Was I that easily tricked?

I believe in compromise. In general, I think it's a good thing. But I don't believe that compromise and lying down and playing dead are the same thing. I don't believe that allowing radicals to hold you and a country hostage has anything to do with compromise. I don't believe that throwing away your principles can count as victory, no matter what it says on paper. I don't believe in giving and giving and giving without ever demanding one thing in return when we're talking about the game called politics. I believe that when the other side isn't willing to do their part you have to stand up and lead, compromise be damned. The Republicans don't seem to have trouble understanding that. So why, why, why do you Mr. Obama, the man we elected to be president, the man we elected to lead?

I'm not saying that if it were November 2008 all over again, I wouldn't vote for Obama. You better believe I'd vote for him over McCain and the crazy woman he partnered with. But if I, if this country, could go back to the primaries, would I still want to see him chosen as the Democratic nominee, knowing what I know now (and I'm not just speaking in relation to this debt ceiling debacle but in relation to the sum of his presidency thus far)? I don't think I would. Hope, it's been said, is a good thing, maybe even the best thing, but as it turns out, that's not applicable in the world of politics. In politics, it's not hope that counts, it's action. And that just doesn't seem to be something our president has in him.

I'm not looking forward to the 2012 elections. Surely, I'll be voting Democrat (have you seen the crazy lady leading the Republican field this time around???) but I'll be doing it with a heavy heart, wishing that I had the option of choosing a true liberal, not a moderate conservative who, in the era before the Tea Party, would have made a damn fine Republican.

Resolution Update: April, May, June, and July

2011-07-31T18:32:00.000-04:00

Good thing I didn't make a resolution to actually make monthly updates about my resolutions. I managed to only do that once. Next time it was a two month update. This time it's a four month update. It seems you shouldn't expect the next one until the end of the year, considering the pattern I've established. Or maybe I'll change and become a diligent monthly updater. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. But without further ado, here's wehre I stand on my resolutions with 7/12 of the years behind us.

Resolution One: Write or Edit Creative Works for at Least One Hour Five Days a Week
April-July: This was an overall fail. I'm not really sure this is a good goal for me. I've honestly been trying to do this for years, but I've never been able to. I write in spurts, which works to an extent, especially if I'm content to write short stories, but I'll never be prolific or be able to turn out a novel with the sporadic writing schedule I maintain. My other problem is that I've been swamped with paying work. I know you have to "pay yourself first," but when I have paid work hanging over my head, I find it really hard to put my creative work first. For the month of August, I'm going to make a concerted effort to actually stick to this goal and thus have a better idea of how I feel about the concept of writing for one hour every day.

Resolution Two: Get a Story Published
April-July: No success of this front either, though I have decided on three stories I plan to submit to journals come fall, and I've had two of the three reviewed by fellow writers. I need to make some final revises this month and then send them out in September.

Resolution Three: Submit Chapter Book to Agent/Publisher
April-July: I may be throwing the towel in on this one, and I'm going to do it without guilt. I'm just not into this goal right now. With the limited amount of time I have for creative writing, this isn't my highest priority. It will remain living on my hard drive, and I may one day bring it back out, but for now, it's in hibernation.

Resolution Four: Get Two New Freelance Clients
April-July: Technically, I already achieved this goal, but I like to overachieve (and there' s the other matter of never knowing when you might lose a client). In this period, I did both---gained and lost. On the success front, I won a bid for a job from the Freer & Sackler galleries that involves editing an entire catalogue. On loss front, I am no longer freelancing from Groupon. They decided to end their entire freelance program, which was, honestly, a relief as that company is one hot mess and they were not paying me anywhere near what I'm worth (and I'm not even valuing myself that highly at this point!). Overall, the freelancing is going quite well, keeping me busy on a full-time basis these days.

Resolution Five: Reenvision, Relaunch, and Maintain Blog
April-July: My enthusiasm for blogging has definitely waned. After busy days of work (some stretching late into the night these days), it's just not what I want to do. I also haven't been reading too many other blogs. I keep up with friends and pop in on favorite blogs every now and then, but I've found myself disconnecting from the online world lately and feeling rather fantastic about it. To put it simply, I've been more interested in living and enjoying my own real life rather than reading about the adventures (or more often the banalities) of people that I don't really know. That's not to say I'm going to become an online hermit. There are blogs I get enjoyment from reading. I do love to read about what my friends have been up to. But I've given up on keeping up with the masses online. It's just not me, and I like me the way I am...live and in person and, when I feel like it, online.

Resolution Six: Ride a Century
April-July: There's definitely been progress on this front. Most importantly, I've finally gotten a road bike. Hooray! I've also been doing some riding, both short little trips during the week and longer weekend rides, and I'm on track with the training plan I have for the October 30 event I plan to ride. Progress. Good stuff.

Resolution Seven: Cook One New Thing Each Week
April-July: I don't know if we've literally cooked one new thing each week, but we are regularly cooking new things, so I consider this goal a success. Our menu for this upcoming week is loaded with new items, all making meals out of our garden abundance, particularly in regards to tomatoes.

Resolution Eight: Sew a Piece of Clothing to Wear
April-July: I'm not going to be wearing a new piece of clothing sewed by myself this summer, but I did use my sewing machine to fix a bag, and I'm working on altering a dress I bought on clearance, so, again, progress.

Resolution Nine: Take a Class to Learn Something New
April-July: I've already checked this goal off the list. Hooray. No overachieving to report.

Resolution Ten: Read a Minimum of 25 Books
April-July: I put the hurt on this goal over the last few months, and I'm already at a total of 20 books read for the year. I have all confidence that I will surpass this goal. Books I've read in the past four months include: The Age of Orphans by Laleh Khadevi, What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman, Dear Husband by Joyce Carol Oates, You Lost Me There by Rosecrans Baldwin, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed, The Gendarme by Mark Mustian, Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, Solo by Rana Dasgupta, The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, Still Alice by Lisa Genova, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, and The Personal History of Rachel DuPress by Ann Weisgarber.

Resolution Eleven: Have an Adventure Every Month
April-July: We kept the adventures rolling over the past few months. April was busy with a trip to Houston for Cristina's wedding and then a spur-of-the-moment roadtrip to Florida. We hoped to see the launch of the space shuttle Endeavor, the second to last NASA launch, but technical difficulties kept the launch from happening. Instead, we met up with friends Taylor & Courtney in Daytona, toured St. Augustine, and wandered Savannah all in one weekend. It was great fun, though I really wish we could have seen the shuttle launch. In May, we drove to Louisville for the Derby, Jeff's first. It was fun, maybe a bit too much for one person in this partnership, his name to be withheld :-) Our other May adventure was a weeklong trip to the Litchfield Beach in South Carolina with my family, which was relaxing and fun per usual. In June, we actually kept our adventures in state, enjoying our own town. We did, however, make it to the beach, checking out North Carolina's Kure Beach for the first time. In July, we headed out to Seattle for the Fourth of July. While there, we made it to the Olympics (my first time), saw the Mariners, and took part in a lot of Bainbridge traditions. It was an adventuresome first seven months. Hopefully the next five prove to be so as well.

Resolution Update: February and March

2011-04-07T13:37:00.000-04:00

So it's April. How did that happen? I'm going to blame the fact that I was in Hawaii during the February-March transition for my failure to post a resolution update then. As for March, well, I can't really post about March if I haven't posted about February, now can I? Reasons, excuses, whatever. The fact is I am behind. And so I'm going to pull a double shift here and provide both February and March updates in this post.

Resolution One: Write or Edit Creative Works for at Least One Hour Five Days a Week
February: Fail
March: Fail

I really did a poor job with this goal for both February and March. Thankfully, I'm a member of a writing group that expects me to submit a piece for critique once a month, so I did manage to produce two pieces, but I did not go above and beyond that. I blame the fact that I was traveling and working in an office for much of February and March, but again, excuses. I will do better this month (or what's left of it...).

Resolution Two: Get a Story Published
February: Fail
March: Fail

It's hard to get a story published if you don't submit it for consideration. I did enter one contest, which I apparently did not win, but I didn't submit my creative work anywhere else. Submission season for most literary journals is actually approaching a hiatus, since most run according to the academic calendar. So I'm probably going to have to wait until fall to have a chance at accomplishing this. In the interim, I need to write, polish, pick markets, and have multiple pieces ready to submit once the fall comes around.

Resolution Three: Submit Chapter Book to Agent/Publisher
February: Fail
March: Fail

I've really lost steam with this project. I honestly can't remember the last time I looked at it. Time to dig up the file and give it some love.

Resolution Four: Get Two New Freelance Clients
February: Success
March: Success

Finally, some success! All those fails at the beginning were feeling a big discouraging. But honestly, if I want to maintain my sanity and enjoy my life somewhat, I'm not going to be able to accomplish all my goals every month. They are goals for the year, that's what I have to remind myself, though monthly progress would be good. Anyhow, February and March were really great months for my freelancing business, so I'm pumped about that. I began getting a substantial amount of work from the Smithsonian, the one client I already had, and I added two new clients to my roster: Groupon, for whom I am writing daily deals; and Oxford University Press, for whom I am providing copy editing and production editing services. I also attended a social venture job fair, where I made contacts with three other businesses that could potentially use my services. Things are looking good on this front. Now just to maintain the momentum.

Resolution Five: Reenvision, Relaunch, and Maintain Blog
February: Success
March: Success

I've been posting fairly regularly to Lives of Wander, and I feel good about where it's at now. It's not ever going to be anything more than my personal travel blog, and I'm 100% okay with that. Now to launch the KY Blog...

Resolution Six: Ride a Century
February: Fail
March: Progress

I've made some progress on this goal in that I think I've chosen the event in which I would like to ride: the Habitat for Humanity Durham Century Ride at the end of October. I've also begun my quest to find the perfect road bike. I still have to buy the bike and most importantly, get riding!

Resolution Seven: Cook One New Thing Each Week
February: Success
March: Success

Aside from the weeks when we were traveling, we've done a good job of adding new meals to our menus. I need to compile a list of favorite new meals and share them.

Resolution Eight: Sew a Piece of Clothing to Wear
February: Fail
March: Fail

We did finally clean up the front bedroom and rearrange it so that my sewing machine has a place to live that is easy to access. I need to pick a pattern and some material now and get sewing. Though first I need Jeff to wrap me in duct tape...

Resolution Nine: Take a Class to Learn Something New
February: Success
March: Goal Accomplished

I'm not sure I have to call March a failure, because CHECK, I accomplished this goal. I wanted to learn something new this year and I did. I took a class and learned to surf while in Hawaii. Woohoo! Goal Accomplished! I'd like to maybe take another class to learn something else, but we'll see. Lots of other resolutions to tend to.

Resolution Ten: Read a Minimum of 25 Books
February: Fail
March: Fail

Wow. This is the most surprising fail for me, but both February and March were lean months for me in regards to reading. Things turned sour when I spent forever trying to read Lotus Eaters and just could not get into it. Then I took some books with me on vacation but never got to them. Then I was working in an office by day and at home by night. Reading in all forms took a major hit. I'm almost caught up on New Yorkers, and I just went to the library and got two books, one of which I'm 50 pages into, so I'm back in the game, but good thing I did so much reading in January!

Resolution Eleven: Have an Adventure Every Month
February: Success
March: Success

We headed to Hawaii at the end of February and stayed into the second week of March, and I'd say Hawaii was a pretty big adventure, so great success on this front. I also spent a weekend in Houston for Cristina's bachelorette party, so lots of adventure in February and March. The upcoming months look good on this front too!

Eleven for '11: The January Check-In

2011-02-01T13:33:00.000-05:00

This year I decided to stick to the beaten path and create a set of resolutions for myself. Needing a clever way to decide just how many resolutions to make, I opted to go with 11 resolutions for the year 2011. Yes, what can I say, I'm just that clever.

The resolutions are

Write or edit creative works for at least one hour five days a week.
Get a story published.
Submit chapter book to agent/publisher.
Get two new freelance clients.
Reenvision, relaunch, and maintain blog.
Ride a century.
Cook one new thing each week.
Sew at least one piece of clothing well enough that I actually wear it.
Take a class to learn something new.
Read a minimum of 25 books (plus all issues of the New Yorker).
Have an adventure every month.

The problem with resolutions is that they can be damn hard to stick to, especially when no one is holding you accountable but yourself. That's why I just posted all 11 of my resolutions here for the whole world to see. I want to be held accountable. Which is also why at the end of every month, I'm going to post an update on what I did in regards to each resolution that month. Whether or not anyone else ever reads this, I think just having the monthly accounting written down will help me see where I am succeeding and where I am falling short and will thus help me do better with each new month. Hopefully.

Anyhow, here's how things played out on the resolution front for January.

1. I fell short on writing/editing for one hour/5 days a week. In total, I may have worked for that many hours, but I wasn't consistent, which is what I'm striving for. I have been playing around with time of day and environment to discover how I work best, but I haven't found the magic combination yet. Must work harder on this.

2. I did not get a story published this month nor did I even submit one. I did, however, do some research on literary magazines in the hopes of finding the perfect home for one of my stories. This month, I plan to continue researching and actually submit something.

3. I did not submit my chapter book to anyone. I have completed the entire draft of the story, but I think it needs a lot of work. I will continue to edit and polish in the hopes of submitting before the end of the year.

4. Unfortunately, I did not land any new freelance clients this month, though it wasn't for lack of trying. I've sent letters of introduction to travel publishing companies in the hopes of getting freelance copy editing work. I have also sent out emails to all acquaintances in the NC area in hopes of making some connections. None of this has translated into any work yet, though one company was interested but needed me to be in NYC. Boo.

5. Much of my energy in January has been spent on reenvisioning and relaunching Lives of Wander. I've got it pretty close to where I want it to be, though a few tweaks remain. I am back in the blogging spirit and expect to be able to maintain posts 3x/week. My goal now is to increase readership.

6. I've got a sample training program for a century taped to my wall, and I tried to do week one, but honestly, it was too damn cold. I really don't like riding my bike when it's below freezing. So I'm putting off the training until the weather improves a bit. I also need to pick a century event to ride in. So far, the ones I've been interested in have not been on dates that work well for me. I need a commitment and a deadline however.

7. I've been on a roll with cooking new foods, exceeding my goal of one new item a week. New recipes that were a hit this month include chicken cacciatorre, sweet potato and black bean burritos, and sweet potato ravioli. The ravioli was the hands-down winner. I'll post the recipe later this week.

8. I haven't yet sewed anything on the new machine I got for Christmas. I'd like to make a skirt or dress before my upcoming Hawaii trip, but that might be ambitious. Goal number one is to get the front room arranged in a way that I can leave my machine set up.

9. I have not taken nor signed up for any classes this month, though I have been checking out the options. I think I might like to take a pottery class that begins in late spring.

10. The reading goal is going to be the one I accomplish most easily. I probably should have set the bar higher, but it's kind of nice to have one goal I feel like I'm rocking. I read five books this month: Take Me Home by Brian Leung, Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwarz, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Tinkers by Paul Harding, and The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard. I would recommend all of them. I also read all January issues of The New Yorker.

11. This month's adventure was a trip to Colorado, where we visited friends in Denver and Grand Junction and skied at Copper Mountain, Powderhorn, and Loveland. It was a great long weekend and set the tone for fun adventures for the rest of the year.

And there you have it. The successes and not-yet-successes for January 2011. What about you? Any resolutions for 2011?

Images from the Rally to Restore Sanity

2010-11-11T12:48:00.001-05:00

Though we couldn't see or hear what was happening on stage for a good half of our time at the Rally to Restore Sanity, we always had plenty to look at, primarily in the form of signs, some of which were serious, some of which were funny, and some of which were nonsensical.

The sign with the dodo bird on it said "Dodo birds feared nothing. Now they're extinct."

If you can't read it: This sing has a word in Arabic, under which it reads "Relax. It just says McDonalds."

Rally to Restore Sanity: The Experience

2010-11-01T13:51:00.000-04:00

*I'm going to divide my comments on the Rally to Restore Sanity into three posts: one simply detailing the experience, one providing an analysis of it, and one with photos of the signs we saw and perhaps some other nonsense.

It's 6:20 a.m., when we turn over the engine of the Volvo and drive down the quiet Saturday morning streets of Durham, destination Washington D.C. and the Rally to Restore Sanity. For 3.5 hours, we move quickly and steadily down I-85 and then I-95, trees decked in their fall colors brightening our ride. When we approach the D.C. suburbs, traffic grows heavier but continues to move. Our first back-up is at the Franconia-Springfield exit, which takes you to the furthest out Metro stop on the Blue Line. Because it's not yet 10 a.m., we decide to push on to the West Falls Church Metro Station, which is both closer to the city (inside the Beltway) and closer to the home of the friends who we are staying with that night. We don't make it much further before we hit traffic. We watch the arrival time on our GPS push back minute by minute, but we manage to arrive in the vicinity of the station around 10:15. We grab some food in a nearby shopping center and then turn down the side road to the station. That's when we get the first inkling of how big this rally is going to be.

The surface lot at West Falls Church is full, and the line to get into the garage is long. We join it and creep forward. Our friends, who tried the Vienna Station, which is on the same line as West Falls Church but is further out, call and tell us that it is full. We see a few cars come out of the garage, and I'm convinced there are no more spaces. We enter anyhow, and climb up, up, up through full floors of cars. We take the last spot on the fourth floor. Success.

At least until we get down the stairs and across the street to the actual station entrance. There we are confronted with a line that snakes back and forth and back and forth the entire length of the drop off lane outside the station. There are hundreds of people in this line, if not a thousand. But it is calm, orderly. People laugh, joke. No one pushes. We hop in line, and then I decide to try to pop my head inside the station and see just what is going on. I come running out two minutes later. "Come on," I yell to Jeff. "The line is for buying tickets, not getting on." Though we haven't lived in DC in two years, we still have our Smart Cards, and so we bypass the line, push through the turnstiles, and descend to the platform.

I check the sign. Train in two minutes. We scan the platform and try to guess where to stand to maximize our chances of getting on. We find a regular who says he knows where the doors open, and we stand with him and wait. The train pulls in. Packed. Packed. Packed. It's brake squeal and work hard to stop. It takes longer to stop than normal. The doors are ten feet in front of us. Far too far away for us to have a chance of being among the two or three people that squeeze on. We let it go. Another one will come soon, I think, but when I check the board, it's another 8 minutes. And then another 12. Metro is running its regular lazy Saturday schedule with trains spread far apart and with only six cars on each train instead of rush hour's eight.

Some people switch sides and hop on the train going in the opposite direction, their plan to take the train to the end of the line and get on there where it might not be so full. We decide to try for the next train and reposition ourselves. We chat with the people around us. When the train pulls in, it is again full. Beyond capacity. Beyond my comfort level. But this time a door is in front of us when the train stops, and we push our way in. There is no where to hold on, but there is no need to. I couldn't go anywhere if I wanted to. But still people laugh and joke, remain friendly.

The train moves slowly, each stop taking forever, as people try to push on, and the doors refuse to close. The conductor asks that when we stop and the doors open we politely tell the people on the platform that there is no room and they should not try to enter. We laugh. When has that ever worked?

At a few minutes before noon, rally start time, our train pulls into Federal Station and we hop off along with all the locals. Out-of-towners continue on to the Smithsonian stop. Though closer, we know it will also be crazier. We walk past the Smithsonian museums and then onto the mall. There are people everywhere. In all the years I lived in DC, I have never seen so many people. Fourth of July looks tame, tame, tame compared to this. We mash our way into the crowd. The crowd is majority white, though there are significant numbers of people of Asian, Indian, and Middle Eastern descent in the crowd. African Americans are also present. Hispanics seems to be very underrepresented. The crowd is young, but the crowd is also old. There are families with small children. There are teenagers with their parents. There are people who belonged to the Vietnam protest era. There are grandparents. There are many more people in the 40-70 demographic than most people would have expected.

We hear distant music. The capitol, which is where the stage is located, is far, far ahead of us.

"Has it started yet?" I ask Jeff.

"I don't know," he says. It's completely unclear what is going on.

"Let's try to get closer," he says.

We push forward, finding passageways here and there. We point out the signs we see. Some are serious. Some are funny. Some resonate. Some are purely silly.

The music ends. We hear words. People begin to chant: Louder, Louder, Louder.

"Who is that?" I ask.

"John Stewart," Jeff says. I can't tell.

The talking stops. Then we hear a mumble that grows louder.

"I think they're singing the national anthem," Jeff says. We stand quietly.

All the while, we try to keep pushing forward. We are still a good ways south of Seventh Street, which had been designated the entrance to the rally, the idea being that everyone would congregate from Seventh east to the capital. Instead, people are packed in almost all the way to 14th Street, near the Washington Monument.

The next thing we hear is the introduction of the Myth Busters. We hear bits and pieces of what they say, mainly that they want us to do the wave. We hear the countdown. We assume it begins. We wait and wait and nothing happens. We assume it dies. And then there's a rumble.

"I hear the wave coming," I say. And it does come, reaching us something like 30 seconds after it began.

From noon to two, most of the event passes us by. All I see are the shoulders of the people around me. Jeff says that he can sometimes see a Jumbotron, but that it is far, far ahead of us. Bits and pieces of soundwaves make their way to us. I catch a few lyrics of Crazy Town. We join a Love Train as it pushes forward. Most of the time we hear only the conversation of the people around us. Most of the time we see nothing but kids trying to climb trees and scale lamp posts for better views. Every once in a while our section erupts into cheers, but it's not for what is happening on stage, but for the kids who manage to scale the trees successfully. "Yes you can. Yes you can," the people around us cheer for the tree climbers. We have no idea what is happening on stage.

By about 2 p.m., we have successfully pushed our way up to Seventh Street. We see the First Aid Tent that was supposed to be at the back of the event, still a fair bit in front of us. Jeff is now able to see the Jumbotron in the far back. I can still only see the people around me, but I can now hear. We hear the Stewart-Colbert debate. We hear Stewart give his final speech. We hear the final group sing-along.

And with that, the Rally to Restore Sanity is over. We have friends we want to meet up with, but there are no phone signals. The lines are jammed. At 3:30 p.m., I receive a text that was sent at 12:30 p.m. We press against a truck as the crowds swarm pass and wait to find our friends. I look up Seventh Street. It is a mass of humanity as far as I can see in both directions. I wonder if the people waiting in line to buy tickets for the Metro ever made it here.

Eventually we meet up with our friends. We don't even want to try the Metro so we set off to find a bar. We walk north and south and east and west. We walk and walk and walk. Everywhere is packed. Eventually we find a seat outside. The wind is brisk, especially now that we are not packed together person to person.

Later we go to another friend's house and have dinner and drinks. At 11:30 p.m., when we board a Metro back to our car, it's still standing room only.

The Sunday Wedding Announcements: The South Lives On

2010-10-28T14:16:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, for shits and giggles, I read the wedding announcements in our Sunday paper. More than anything else --even the old men at the fair handing out "I'm proud of my Confederate heritage" stickers--the announcements are a reminder to me that I am, without question, living in the south.

Let me explain to you how they do this in five concise points.

1. The photos are of the brides only. Apparently the grooms don't matter.

2. All of the brides' middles names appear to be their mothers' maiden names.

3. The brides are all wearing pearls. No matter what their dress looks like, no matter how they wear their hair, no matter whether it's a fancy or a slightly-less-fancy event (I don't think Southern weddings are ever casual), the brides are wearing pearls.

4. The announcements are at least eight paragraphs long and list every single member of the wedding party. They also announce how many showers were held and who threw them, where the bridal luncheon was held, and who hosted the bachelor/bachelorette parties. Of course, they also mention who everyone wore.

5. They contain sentences like this: "The bride was presented at the 2005 Terpsichorean Debutante Ball."

Garden Bounty

2010-09-09T09:17:00.000-04:00

When we stepped outside this morning to water the garden, there was a slight chill to the air. Not cold by any means, but not hot like it has been for months, the heat and the humidity present regardless of what the clock read. I realized that fall is on its way, and there won't be many more weeks of watering the garden left. Many of our tomato plants have already begun to shrivel. We're in a losing battle with squash bugs. The overly prolific cucumber plants have only a little left to give. The okra is no longer impossible to keep up with. Our garden--Jeff's garden to be honest--has a few more meals to give us, but then it will be done. I will miss its bounty.

A Beautiful Day for a Neighbor

2010-09-02T12:11:00.000-04:00

For the four years that Jeff and I lived together in D.C., we lived in a condo building that had eleven units. It wasn't big, but somehow it wasn't small either. Though I recognized the cars in our lot--a green Escort sticks out in my mind--I couldn't have put driver with car. There were only a few people in my building that I could recognize with certainty. I didn't know any of them. In the four years we lived in our unit, we never knew the people with whom we shared a wall. On the day we moved out, as we loaded up the moving truck with our couch and TV, sheets and towels, they introduced themselves to us. I don't know if they thought we were moving in or they were doing that D.C. thing--the thing you do on the Metro when you see someone you know but you avoid making eye contact with them until you're about to get off and then, as you walk toward the door, you stop next to them, say hi, and then exit.

Though there are things about D.C. that I miss, I don't miss that. I don't miss the distance people kept, the preference for not making eye contact and not saying hello, the bubbled existence. When I'm asked how I like living in Durham compared to how I liked living in D.C., this is the difference that most readily pops into my head. Here I have neighbors who are not just people who live next door. Here I have neighbors that I say wave to and stop to say hello to, neighbors whose houses I've had dinner at, neighbors who I've gone to ball games with or walked to Ninth Street with for ice cream.

So this past weekend, in celebration of neighbors and in hopes of meeting more, Jeff and I hosted a block party. About half of the residents on our twenty house block came. They brought homemade pickles and store bought cake, homemade hummus and store bought chicken salad. We set up tables and chairs, lit citronella candles (oh, the mosquitoes here), and grilled hamburgers. Neighbors we knew came, and neighbors we hadn't yet met came. We ranged in age from twenty-five to senior citizen. We were born and raised in this area, and we were from as far away as Honduras. We had moved in last month, and we had lived on this street when the first houses were built here. I met a neighbor who runs a popular local blog, the man to go to when I want to know what they're doing with that empty building downtown or when the new restaurant I heard about it going to open. I met a neighbor with nine-year-old quadruplets (!!!). I met a neighbor who promised to alert me to any and all Greek festivals and to bring me some of any Greek pastries she might make.

We came from different backgrounds and had different interests, but we were united by where we live. Each of us shared a love of older houses and all the character they have, a preference for urban living over suburbia, a desire to live in close proximity to restaurants and bars, the farmers market and Durham Bulls. Our neighbors arrived at 5:30, mixing and mingling over the course of the evening. As it got later, people drifted off, but at 10:30, a group of us were still sitting there, chatting, snacking, finishing off a bottle of wine and a growler of beer.

There's lots of things I've come to like about Durham. I enjoy Durham Bulls baseball games, Saturday mornings at the Farmer's Market, picnics at Duke Gardens. I like the city's diversity and the way it prides itself on being a little bit funky. I like all the local restaurants and the many food trucks. I like the DLC and the library's culture series and finding good talks to go to at Duke. But most of all, I like the people that call Durham home, and I like that I have a really good set of them to call my neighbors.

The School of Life

2010-08-26T15:47:00.000-04:00

During the years we lived in D.C., I forgot about the cycle of the school year. The anticipation, in August, of a new year. The joy of getting fresh school supplies, pencils that hadn't yet been used, notebooks that weren't yet marred. The anticipation, again, in May of being set free for a summer. The thrill of the final bell on the last day of school. We didn't live particularly close to a school in D.C. or know people with kids. We rode public transportation almost exclusively, so we didn't get stuck behind school buses. And though it is full of colleges and universities, D.C. is no college town. The influx of students was not noticeable in a city that always seemed pack, and the fact that so many students came to D.C. each summer for internships and summer jobs meant that, really, numbers did not change that much. The bars in Foggy Bottom and the shops in Georgetown were packed regardless of what the calendar read.

But here in Durham, the school year imposes itself on you. In the morning, the brakes of the school bus, which picks up the girl right across the street, act as a sort of time piece. If I look out the window, I see parents walking their kids to our neighborhood school. I love that. That we have a neighborhood school and that kids still walk to it, lunch boxes swinging in their hands, backpacks bouncing with each step. On Monday, Duke freshmen arrived. Their older counterparts will join them next week. The track around the East Campus is full now whenever I drive by, girls with bodies they don't know they should be thankful for and boys wanting people to look at them as they run without shirts now outnumbering moms with jogging strollers. Next week Ninth Street will grow more crowded. It will be harder to get a seat at the Federal or the James Joyce. The line at Chipotle will be long no matter what time of day you go.

I've seen the freshmen already. They're instantly identifiable. They still have their room keys and IDs on the lanyards Duke gave them, and they wear them around their necks or twirl them around their index fingers. They wear Duke t-shirts everywhere. They move in packs, with no idea yet of who their friends will be, who they will still be hanging out with next summer, next year, on graduation day. They look young. But I guess, compared to me, they are. As we walked past a pack of the freshmen last night on our way into the Bulls game, I thought back to my own Orientation Week, when we went to the Astros game, and I realized that it was eleven years ago.

That realization took my breath away. "Eleven years," I said to Jeff, not just once, but twice, three times. Eleven years. More than a third of my lifetime. It doesn't feel that long ago, not really, and I don't know why. I don't know if it's because that's just the way life is, that we can never quite believe how quickly it passes us by, or because I still sometimes feel like a freshman, it not at college at least at life, uncertain of what it is I want to do or how to get there.

Though technically this school year has nothing to do with me--I'm not taking classes or working at a school--I've decided to embrace it. I've decided to look at those freshmen at Duke, to look at the elementary neighborhood kids on their way to school and to see myself. I've decided to take the time to remember what it is I wanted and hoped for way back when I was starting first grade, six grade, high school, college, and to brush off those goals that I had then that I still care about and to say a resolute goodbye to those that no longer interest me but that I have for whatever reason clung to. I'm going to ask myself what it is I want to learn this year, who it is I want to hang out with this year, in what ways I want to grow this year. Then I'm going to set myself some goals and go after them--even if my pencil has already been worn down to a nub and my notebook is already a good bit full.

"I never met a Kentuckian who wasn't coming home." --Gov. A. B. "Happy" Chandler

2010-04-05T17:12:00.006-04:00

Today, I sat on my back porch and ate my lunch, looking out at the beautiful flowers blooming in my backyard. Last night, we had friends over for an Easter dinner, which was a tasty success. On Saturday, we enjoyed a lovely day of biking to the farmers market (which was bustling!) and then biking to the Durham Bulls stadium where we watched the home team take on their major league affiliate Tampa Bay Devil Rays, for whom Jeff's college teammate and roommate Jeff Niemann pitched the first four innings. On Friday evening, we met an old high school friend of Jeff's (who we just found out lives on our street!) for some drinks and conversation at a neighborhood bar. As spring blossoms and the city comes back to life, Durham grows on me. Yet still, even in the moments when I'm enjoying myself and finding positives most places I look, I know that this isn't home...at least not permanently.

You see, today as I sat on my porch eating my lunch, I thought about how I wanted to have my mom come over and help me turn my front yard into something half as nice as my backyard. I thought about how much more fun it would be to cook out and play a few games of cornhole if my brothers could come over and join us. I thought about the Easter cookout at my cousin's new house that I missed and the baby showers for friends and family members that I've been unable to attend. I thought about how my grandpa just turned 85 and instead of being able to wish him a happy birthday in person, I could only send a card.

When I left Kentucky, way back in 1999 at the age of 18, I did so because I thought there weren't enough opportunities for me in the Bluegrass State. The state's universities didn't appeal to me. I couldn't conceive of a job that I wanted to do that I could find at home. I was ready for change. Now, more than ten years later, I've had lots of change. I've lived in three states (Texas, Maryland, and North Carolina). I've lived in two countries (Germany and Greece). I've spent time in dozens of other countries.

And while I've been away, Kentucky has, in some ways, changed. On simply the experiential level, Louisville is definitely a more interesting city than it was when I left. In other ways, Kentucky is still the same. If I wrote down all the characteristics I'd want in an place to live, it probably wouldn't be much of a match. It's much too conservative and much too fundamentalist. Outside a few select fields, it's been slow to attract new companies and new jobs. Its public education system leaves much to be desired. Its international airport is only international if you're willing to go via UPS. It's still poor (46th in per capita personal income with a poverty rate of 17%), falling behind in education (only 17% of Kentuckians have a bachelors degree and only 74% have a high school diploma; compared to 27% and 85% nationally), and overwhelmingly white (87%). But rejecting a place to live based on a set list of characteristics is like rejecting a potential life partner because they don't fulfill every single quality on your dream spouse list. No one and no place is perfect. It's about the total package, the feeling you get when you're with the person/place, not their ability to match 100% with your preconceived notions.

And while the fact that I see Kentucky changing, progressing (even if the facts don't prove it) is important, what's probably more important is the fact that I've changed. As I've lived in different places and held different jobs (some with "wow" factors, some without), I've realized that it's highly unlikely that there's any job in the world that is going to play a truly determining factor in my happiness. There are jobs I will like better than others; but there are no jobs that make everything else irrelevant. I've also come to see that successful people can be successful anywhere. There may not be as many opportunities to do the things you want to do in some places versus others, but there are opportunities (or opportunities waiting to be created), and sometimes it's better to be the big(ger) fish in the small(er) pond. I know lots of smart people in Louisville leading successful lives. Finally, as I mentioned in the credo I published at the beginning of the year, I've learned that when it comes right down to it, people matter most. I can do awesome things and see amazing places, but if the people I love the most aren't around to share it with, how great can it be?

And so, I've decided I'm coming home.* It won't be tomorrow. And it might not even be our next move.** But sooner, rather than too much later, we're coming home. I want my future children to see their grandparents once a week, not a few times year. I want them to learn how to fish from my dad. I want them to be close to their uncles, their cousins, and the family members that they don't even know how to quantify (greats and once-removeds and so on and so forth).***I want them to celebrate birthdays surrounded by people who know the second verse of the Happy Birthday song and to know what it means to give someone down the road, even if that also means they sometimes say "worsh" when they mean "wash," call Detroit "DE-troit," and carry an UM-brell-a instead of an um-BRELL-a. And when eventually, they too leave Kentucky, I want them to go out and experience amazing places and do awesome things, and then, having grown up in the embrace of family and close friends, know that while it's all well and good (and necessary, in my opinion) to see what all is out there, what counts when the day is done is people, pure and simple.

*The good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise.

**We'll be here in Durham for at least three years. In an ideal world, Jeff would then be offered a full-time job (with long term potential). In that case, we'd be looking for that job in Louisville (at U of L most likely, unless anyone knows of anywhere in the city else hiring research scientists). In the realistic world, it's likely that Jeff will end up having to do another post-doc. In that case, we would not be looking at Louisville. It is rare in the science world to take a job at the same place you did a post-doc, and since a job is the long-term goal, we'd want to look elsewhere for the post-doc.

***Yes, I do realize that not all of our future children's grandparents would be in Louisville. But, if we're in Louisville, that means we only have to travel to see one side of the family, not both, meaning we'll have more time to make the trek out West. I also realize that there is no guarantee all, or even any, of my brothers will end up in Louisville. I do know, however, that they, like me, love Louisville. I hope that they will at least be close. I know, for certain, that even if they don't live there, it is someplace they will return to often, meaning I'd still see them more if I'm there than if I'm anywhere else.

****And yes, by "I" I do mean "we." Jeff is aware of and onboard with this plan.

A Contest Worth Entering

2010-03-30T12:04:00.002-04:00

Part three of my rambling series about figuring out what I want to do with my life is coming soon, but I'm interrupting it to let you know that Epiphanie, the creator of some very cool camera bags, is sponsoring a rather awesome contest. The winner gets to choose between a Canon 5D and a $2,500 Southwest gift card. Think of all the places you could go or photos you could take. Insane!

And though I usually refuse to enter all the contests that require you to do one million and one social networking tasks (argh!), this one was too good to pass up. Plus to get one entry (which is all it takes to win!) you just have to comment on their blog, which isn't so difficult. And I decided that it was such an awesome giveaway that it was worth blogging about too (in the hopes that if you win, you'll come visit me with your Southwest gift cards...they fly to RDU!...or pay for me to come visit you.) Anyhow, the deadline is tomorrow, Wednesday, March 31, so leave a comment on their blog and hope that you (or I) get lucky.

Finding Focus

2010-03-26T09:35:00.003-04:00

(Continued. Read Part 1 Here.)

Officially, I am now a writer. That's what I tell people I do when they ask, though a note of hesitancy always slips into my voice. What really qualifies someone to claim to be a writer? Do you have to have a certain number of things published? A business card? A website? Or do you just have to churn out word after word after word with the hopes that some day someone will read it? Writer is what my taxes will say for 2010. It is my only (sometimes) paying job. From the outside it looks like I'm finally doing exactly what I set out to do back when I was young enough to believe that you really can be anything and everything you want to be. But from the inside, things are still confused.

You see, writer, though containing only six letters, is a big word. It has so many meanings. There are newspaper writers and television writers. They are speechwriters, screenwriters, press release writers. There are bloggers and website writers. There are travel writers. There are essayists. There are poets. There are playwrights. There are biographers. There are novelists. Behind every single thing we read--from bestsellers to the back of the cereal box--there are writers.

So trying to sort out just what kind of writer I am, just what kind of writer I want to be, has been difficult. Because as I said before, I'm a rational person, and I can't ever escape the thought that what I do has to make money (and in the here and now, not the somewhere down the road). No matter how many times Jeff tells me that we're fine without a reliable paycheck from me, no matter how many times I smile and nod, I can't let the thought go. And so when I sit down to write, I usually don't find myself lost in a story, but instead find myself pondering what kind of writing I can do to make a buck. I peruse websites that aggregate freelance writing jobs. I consider churning out how-to articles for Demand Studios. I delve into the idea of monetizing my blog. But always, I reject idea after idea. Because when I really take the time to find my voice amidst all the noise, I realize that none of those jobs embody the type of writer I want to be, that if those are my options for writing, I'd honestly rather just take a desk job. Writing what someone else wants me to write has as little appeal to me as entering data all day ... and at least data entry pays better.

And then there's travel writing. The road most of you probably think I want to go down. The road I myself thought I might want to go down. I've had a bit of luck getting some articles published in magazines and newspapers. I'm at work on my second guidebook. I lovingly keep up a blog dedicated solely to travel. But as I said to Jeff while we sat in a plaza in Cartagena and had a drink, "I don't think I want to be a travel writer." You see, I could care less about top hotels, best restaurants, the 10 most romantic spots in the world, or the most fashionable carry-on bags. I don't like interviewing people. I hate querying, following up, and waiting for responses that rarely come. I'm going to cancel my subscription to Budget Travel if I see Italy on the cover one more time. Writing service pieces (where to go, what to eat, where to stay) interests me once in a blue moon. I don't like working (or feeling like I should) while I'm on vacation. I hate social media (the bloodline of writing these days it seems). I prefer paper to online. And I can probably count on one hand, in this world of shortened attention spans and rapidly dying print media, the number of publications I'd actually like to work for.

On the surface travel writing seems like the perfect fit. I love to travel, and I love to write. But it's not. When I travel--as I see new things and meet local people and come to understand once foreign cultures and histories--I take tons of notes. I file away images, both in my mind and on SD card. But when it comes time to sort through them all, what I find myself creating is not articles but stories. I don't want to tell you the facts; I want to tell you the bigger truth. I am not a journalist. I am a storyteller. Fiction is what I love.

(To Be Continued...)

Plunging

2010-03-25T12:46:00.004-04:00

You know how some kids just know what they want to be when they grow up? They determine at age five they're going to be a doctor and twenty years later are graduating medical school. Or they spend their childhood mimicking the news anchor and then land a broadcasting job after college (after interning in the field all four years). Or they run for class president in second grade and end up a career politician. Well, that wasn't me. Not exactly at least.

There was one thing I've always wanted to be--a writer--but I haven't always been true to that tract.

Through grade school, I remained primarily dedicated to my goal. I excitedly scribbled a Young Authors story and proudly accepted a medal for my writing nearly every year. I worked on the student newspaper. In my eighth grade autobiography, I wrote that I intended to study writing and become a novelist.

But in high school, I lost focus. Though I'd never considered a career in science up to that point, in fact hadn't cared for the subject one bit, I was suddenly finding myself being encouraged to pursue that field. Apparently, I was good at it. The knowledge came easily to me, and my teachers were eager to discuss the possibilities. They didn't mean any harm. They didn't know that I really wanted to be a writer. They were just showing me all the doors that were open to me, doors that led to good jobs with good pay. Come the summer after my junior year, I was studying astronomy at Governor's Scholars rather than creative writing at the Governor's School for the Arts. At senior day for the soccer team, it was announced that I wanted to pursue a degree in engineering. My world had flip-flopped, but that just seemed a part of growing up. Most of us, after all, don't grow up to be the firefighters or astronauts or baseball players we imagine we'll be when we're children.

In college, the conflict came to the fore. As I trudged through biology, chemistry, math, and physics classes, I looked forward only to the lone English or German class on my schedule. Late at night from the floor of my dorm room closet, I'd call home crying about how much I hated physics. When I officially submitted my declaration of major form, changing from bioengineering to English and German, it felt like a failure, but I also felt free.

In the end, owning a piece of paper that declared me to be the holder of degrees in English and German didn't make it any easier to be a writer, or to even dedicate myself to that path. You see, I am a rational person, and being a writer did not seem like a responsible decision. Writing is a path fraught by uncertainty. It is a career that does not come with a guaranteed paycheck. It is a lifestyle marked by failure more than success. And so I meandered. I hemmed and hawed. I tried teaching. I tried research. I tried non-profit work. I tried editing. And while some of those jobs were more palatable than others, it was often again like college. While I made my way through the day, I dreamed about the creative writing class I was taking that evening or worked on the story I planned to present to my writing group. I entered a contest here or there. I won prizes for a few essays and a short story. But writing remained always on the sideline.

Until this year. When faced with a new city and no job, I decided to jump into the cold, murky waters, bottom depth unknown, of writing. Yet still, a few months into this new career, I still don't think I'm where I want to be, doing what I want to do. I still feel like I'm treading water, pondering the descent to where it is I want to be, sticking my mask into the water to see the amazing life that's right there waiting below the surface for me, but holding on to just the slightest little bit of air in my BCD. But you know, I think I'm ready. It's time to orient myself, do one last final check, signal that I'm A-okay, and plunge in.

(To Be Continued...)

Finding My Voice Amidst All This Noise

2010-03-23T12:54:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I wish I could move somewhere where being connected required real effort on my part, where I had to make a conscientious decision to check in and see what's going on in the world. I'm not sure such a place exists, however. I've heard cell phones ring on a spit of land in the middle of the Okavango Delta and in the depths of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. I've been approached by beggars sending texts. We're nothing if not connected.

There's a lot of noise out there. And at the risk of sounding old, I'm going to say that it's too much and it's too loud. There's Facebook. And there's Twitter. And there's some new Google Friend program-a-ma-bobby. There's blogs of friends and blogs of family and blogs of people I have never and will never meet. There are iPhones and iPads and iDon'tKnowWhatElses. There's CNN.com and WashingtonPost.com and NewsNoOneCaresAbout.com. And of course there's Wikipedia with its bottomless pit of information.

Without putting any active thought into it, with only the twitch of a muscle, I can find out that a girl I probably never even said one word to in high school is going to have sushi for dinner tonight. I can browse the vacation photos of someone I last saw at my eighth grade graduation. I can learn that Reese Witherspoon is now dating someone new, that Heidi Montag (who the hell is she?) has reached the limit for breast implants, and that some jackass Congressman from Texas yelled "It's a baby killer" not just "baby killer" during the health care reform vote.

Whew. What a lot of useless information. The age of information has made us repositories for junk, turned us into junkies for crap. And I'm (finally) saying enough.

Upon turning 29 nearly two weeks ago, I decided to make this a year of taking stock, of cleaning house, of finding focus. I'm cutting out on the things I don't care about, cutting back on things that suck up my time. I want to spend my time tending a vegetable garden, riding my bike, reading good books, making ice cream. I want to live my own life, not be a voyeur in someone else's.

And so today I'm clearing my cache, cleaning out my bookmarks, letting go of bad Internet habits. You'll still find me on Facebook (but only once or twice a day, not every time my cursor is in the address bar). I'll still be keeping up my blogs and checking in on others (though I'm whittling my visits down to the blogs of friends and families and a very few select others). And I'm sure that every once in a while I'll click on a stupid CNN.com article. But overall I'm breaking the bond. The Internet and I have been spending way too much time together recently, and I really don't like where the relationship is going. I just have too many things I want to do here in the real world.

Six Things I Like About Durham

2010-03-01T11:10:00.002-05:00

Because I love a good challenge, I'm taking on Lisa's assignment from the comments to my post on Six Things I Miss About D.C. So without further ado, my list of Six Things I Like About Durham.

1. Our House
Though it still needs a few pieces of furniture, though we still haven't emptied all the boxes, though some of the walls still beg for decor, I like our house. It's cozy and comfortable. It's got great architecture. It has a nice backyard. It has room for guests. It feels like home.

2. The Durham Literacy Center
In searching for a way to meet people and get involved, I found the Durham Literacy Center, and recently I've started volunteering there as an ESOL teacher. I love it. The center is really well run, with a training program that empowers volunteers to really be effective. The students are amazing--smart, funny, enthusiastic, and hardworking. They work hard all day, yet manage to be eager students in the evening. A combination of refugees from countries such as Iraq and Burma and immigrants from Latin America and Africa, these people came to America for a better life and are working hard to make that happen for themselves. And the other people who volunteer at the center are like-minded individuals who I enjoy working with. I really look forward to the nights I get to teach at the DLC.

3. How Friendly People Are
In D.C., not talking was the norm. It was a rare occasion when you talked to the person sitting next to you, legs practically touching, on the Metro. Passing on the sidewalk was not cause for hello. Heck, half the time you could get on the elevator at work and your co-workers wouldn't even bother with small talk. Here, everyone says hello. Everyone asks how you are. Everyone talks to each other. Sometimes, after all those years in D.C., it's a bit unnerving. I want to swivel my head around to see if there's someone else behind me they're talking to. And sometimes when I really just want to grab a gallon of milk and go, the chatty cashier having long conversations with everyone in front of me makes me impatient. But overall it's nice. Not to mention that we have great neighbors. In D.C., we never knew our neighbors (even though we literally shared a wall). Here, despite the crappy winter that's kept everyone inside, we've already met four sets of neighborhoods, and they all seem great. (Not to mention that the woman across the street is also from Louisville. Small world.)

4. All the Stuff within Walking/Biking Distance
Since we don't have good public transportation here, and since driving involves taking your life into your hands, it's particularly awesome that we live within walking or biking distance of many things. The library, the farmer's market, the Durham Bulls stadium, Duke University (Jeff's work), and a slew of restaurants and shops are all within easy walking and biking distance of our house. Once the weather warms up a bit, we're going to be able to leave the cars in the driveway the majority of the time and explore by foot and bike.

5. Being Able to Grill
In D.C., local ordinance prohibited grilling within 100 feet or something like that of a building, and our condo rules prohibited grilling period. It sucked. No chargrilled burgers. No steaks. No beer can chicken. Our poor grill had to be put in storage. But not anymore. Now it's out on the porch, ready for backyard barbecues and heavy summer use. In fact, last night we grilled up a pair of steaks, and oh my were they good.

6. ......
I'll have to get back to you on number six. I'm at a loss. I'm hopeful that once summer rolls around I'll have many more to add to the list. I really should be prohibited from moving to a new city in winter, because I hate winter, and I find it very, very hard to find good things about a place in the winter. But in summer everything is so much better. And also, I heard that the beach is less than three hours away. If true (and if the beach is good), then my glasses might turn out to be rose-colored after all.

Six Things I Miss About D.C.

2010-02-23T16:32:00.004-05:00

1. The Metro
Sure, I got frustrated when I was on a train that broke down, and I hated those winter days when I missed the train by just a second and had to wait in the freezing cold for the next one to appear (I got on at an outdoors station), but I'd gladly take the occasional Metro upset over driving any day. With the Metro, you didn't have to worry about traffic, parking, gas, or designated drivers, which is certainly nice. But what I miss most is my reading time. With a 30 minute commute in each direction, my daily Metro rides added up to an hour of guiltless reading time.

2. Eastern Market
Part farmers market, part craft market, part flea market, Eastern Market is a place I never got tired of. There was always something new to discover, always interesting people to watch, always something tasty to try. There was never nothing to do on the weekend, because there was always Eastern Market.

3. Sushi
Okay, Durham has sushi. It's not something that I can't get here. But good sushi, well, that's another story I'm afraid. I've tried different places. I've sampled from all over the menu. And it's not bad; but it's not good either. It's just kind of bland. The fish that is, and since sushi is all about the fish, that's not good news. And also, rather oddly, about 9/10 of the offerings are tuna. I like tuna, but I like variety more. Oh what I'd give for dinner at Raku...

4. The Writer's Center
Tucked away on a side street in downtown Bethesda, you'll find the Writer's Center, home to a plethora of affordable, interesting, and helpful writing classes taught by published writers. I took a class there nearly every semester and loved it. I got valuable feedback. I learned new tricks. I felt motivated and inspired to write. The area where we live now is supposed to be a hotbed for writers, but there's no writer's center or any other similar organization. The best I've been able to find so far is a few writer's groups, but the huge group sizes and very, very broad assortment of skill, interest, and style make them less valuable to me than the Writer's Center.

5. D.C. Drivers
Seriously. I know all you D.C. residents are sitting there slack-jawed wondering if you read that correctly, but you did. Now I'm not saying that D.C. drivers are good (and Lord knows there are way too many of them), but at least, in my opinion, they were bad in a predictable way. Everyone was trying to get ahead. Here, drivers are just freaking oblivious. In the few months we've lived here, I've had way more close calls than I've had in the entire rest of my life. Driving here is downright frightening. (Makes me miss the Metro even more!). Just in the past couple of weeks, we've encountered someone driving the wrong way down a one-way street (and not an alley, but the very large, very busy one-way street parallel to our own one-way street with its own Interstate exit); a person making a U-turn in the middle of the road without looking to see if traffic (aka us) was coming in the way she now wanted to go; a person who pulled out of Wachovia and almost smack into the side of my car because the two lanes nearest her were clear and who actually bothers to look both ways; a person who decided that even though his lane ended and the cars coming entering the Interstate on-ramp from the other direction had the green light he did not need to slow, stop, or merge, and instead tried to plow right into me; and a person making a turn into the wrong lane (aka the one I was in) at about 35 mph in the library parking lot. And honestly, that's no where near a comprehensive list. It's insane...and only proves the point that the driver's test here is worthless.

6. My Friends
I miss chicken salad sandwiches with Jessica, pub quiz night with Jeff's lab, dinner with Lisa, drinks with Tiffany, game night with Phil and Rian. I miss having around me people who know me well, people I can make plans with at the last minute, people I can meet at a cafe for drinks, gossiping, and bitching, people who I can invite over even if the house is a little bit messy and I haven't cooked anything special, people I can ask for a favor, people that make my life more interesting and more fun.

Mmmm Bread

2010-02-20T10:36:00.011-05:00

Is it possible that there are people on this earth that don't love bread? Who are able to sit down at a table at which there is a loaf of warm, fresh bread and not have any? I don't believe it possible. I believe that any normal human being seated within arm's reach of such a loaf will eat not just one but many, many slices. At some point, they'll realize what they have done and for a moment be dismayed at all the carbs they've consumed, but then they'll reach out and take another slice. Good bread is just impossible to resist.

Which is why we're in big trouble here.

For Christmas, Jeff gave me this book.

In case you can't tell the title is "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day." He'd sampled two loaves made by people who owned the book and was sold. He wanted this kind of bread in his life. And so I got the book for Christmas. That's how boys work in case you didn't know.

And so, one weekend in January, when there wasn't a darn thing to do but sit inside and moan about how darn cold it was outside and how everyone we knew in North Carolina was a liar because they all claimed the winters were mild, so, so, mild, we decided to make our first batch of homemade bread.

I was suspicious of the five minute claim. But churning out the dough turned out to be simple: throw some yeast, warm water, salt, and flour into my mixer and let it go.

A few twists and turns of the dough hook, and we've got dough. Lots of it. The awesome thing about this book and its recipes is that when you make the dough, you make enough for about five loaves. And the dough can be stored in your refrigerator for up to two weeks, meaning all you have to do when you want a fresh loaf is pull out a bit of dough, not start from scratch.

And for all you sourdough fans, the bread gets more sourdoughy over the course of the two weeks without requiring you to maintain a starter or anything difficult or time consuming like that.

Now though the book claims you can have artisan bread in five minutes that's not really true. Though making the dough itself definitely took five minutes or less, you've still got to bake it. This part takes longer. For starters, you've got to heat the oven.

And you've got to shape your loaf and let it rise.

Then comes the very, very, very hardest part. You have to sit and wait while your bread cooks. You have to be patient while your house fills with the smell of warm, delicious bread. You have to continually wipe the drool off your face. It's difficult. But if you can make it the twenty or so minutes it takes for your dough to transform into a loaf of delicious bread, warm and chewy on the inside, nice and crispy on the outside, then you will be rewarded greatly.

Mmmm.

We're addicted. Which, I guess, explains the fact that we have a 25 pound bag of flour in our hall closet.

Irrelevant Questions from the NC Driver's Test

2010-01-13T18:40:00.002-05:00

Question 1: How many points do each of the following traffic violations incur: passing a school bus, reckless driving, littering from a motor vehicle?

Answer I Would Have Given If It Were Write-In and Not Multiple Choice:
Who cares? Before doing any of them, am I going to stop and think, "Oh, passing a school bus, that's 5 points, guess I better not," or "Littering, 1 point, no biggie, I'll just toss this soda cup right out my window." Does it matter how many points each incurs? They're all illegal, and if you get caught doing any of them you're going to be in trouble. Period. End of story.

Question 2: For how long is your driver's license suspended if you're caught driving while impaired?

Answer I Would Have Given If It Were Write-In and Not Multiple Choice:
Probably not long enough. And again, does it matter? You shouldn't operate a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol, because A) it's just plain stupid, and B) it's also illegal. If you're dumb enough to do it anyway, the length of time your license will be suspended probably doesn't figure into your decision. Can we just make this a true/false question stating that your driver's license will be suspended (Period. End of story.) if you drive while impaired? Thanks.

Question 3: What percentage of traffic fatalities are caused by drunk drivers?

Answer I Would Have Given If It Were Write-In and Not Multiple Choice:
I have no freaking idea, but I do know that even one death is too many. Beyond that, numbers are irrelevant. Period. End of story.

My main objection to all three of these questions is that they have absolutely no bearing on your ability to operate a motor vehicle. Because someone knows that reckless driving is going to result in four points on their license doesn't mean they're not going to do it. And it's not a fear of raising the percentage of deaths caused by drunk drivers that's going to stop someone from getting behind the wheel after drinking. These trivia facts may win me a round at pub quiz one of these days, but they're not going to make anyone a better driver.

Why not ask questions that matter? Such as when do you not have to stop for a stopped school bus? (A: When on a divided highway or a four-lane or bigger road with a middle lane). Or who has the right of way when two cars approach a four-way stop at the same time? (A: The car to the right). Or when is it okay to run over pedestrians? (A: Never.) From my experience driving around here, those are the questions that people really need to know the answers to.

But, I guess I shouldn't expect better. When has anyone ever known the DMV to make sense?

(For the curious, the correct answers are: 5 points for passing a school bus, 4 points for reckless driving, 1 point for littering; 1 year; and 38%. Of course, except for the drunken driving fatality statistic, those are the answers just for here in North Carolina. You could be wrong if you provided these answers on another state's test, which I'm sure has some equally irrelevant questions.)

Why Moving Sucks

2010-01-04T20:59:00.002-05:00

1. Packing. Loading. Unloading. Unpacking.

2. You have to to take all the furniture and decorations that fit so nicely in and went so well with your last residence and try to find a place for them in your new residence, which is a completely different size and style.

3. You have to get a new license, which means going to the DMV. Which means dealing with people who, if not actually stupid, are trying very hard to convince you that they are.

4. You have to activate all of your utilities, which might mean that you have to go to the actual office of the cable/Internet service where you get to stand in line behind a crapload of people who are there to inquire just how much they have to pay to avoid having their service shut off.

5. You have no idea where the grocery store, or anything else, is.

6. You have to spend all kinds of time and all kinds of money fixing and changing things, no matter how "move-in ready" your house is.

7. You have to make new friends.

Getting Married Small Town Texas Style

2009-12-10T12:21:00.007-05:00

On November 14, my good friend Tiffany married her now-husband Robert in a ceremony in her hometown of Hallettsville, Texas. Never heard of the place? Well, I'm not surprised. The population of Hallettsville is 2,700, less than the undergrad population of Rice University, where I met Tiffany on our very first day of college.

Jeff and I made the trek to smalltown Texas, meeting up with our friend Cristina, to celebrate the special occasion. Our weekend started out with a welcome dinner at Tiffany's parent's house. If I'd been a good photographer, I would have photographed the food, because it was ridiculous. We had barbecued beef, ribs, shrimp wrapped with bacon and stuffed with jalapenos, and mashed potatoes with bacon and cheese. It was meat heaven, and it was all delicious. The next day at the wedding, the meat feast continued with grilled beef and chicken, green beans with bacon, and spinach salad with bacon. Good thing we were not vegetarians! I don't think that goes over so well in a town of cattle ranchers.

The next day we had all morning to explore Hallettsville before the 3 p.m. wedding. We began by driving past the water tower to the Wal-Mart. Though still in the old-school style, it is open 24 hours a day and is thus probably the most happening place in town.

From there, we stopped in for kolaches (a Czech pastry popular in these parts) at the locally famous Kountry Bakery. (Again, I failed at photographing food.) We then drove by the donut-deli-Chinese food shop with the liquor store next door (now that's multi-tasking!) and tried to figure out just what a "drive-in" grocery is.

With a bit of time left before the ceremony, we stopped to check out the reception hall. The people in Hallettsville are magic, ya'll, because they took this building

and turned it into this.

Beautiful, huh?

That's not where the beauty ended though. The bride was stunning, and Cristina and I managed to steal time from her busy schedule for a photo. I'm usually not a fan of strapless dresses, but this one was amazing. A perfect choice.

The reception, which was attended by nearly all of Hallettsville it seemed at times, along with many of their out-of-town friends and families, was fun. We started the evening with the Grand March. Apparently a local tradition, the Grand March involves everyone at the reception coupling up and marching around and around the reception hall. At some point, the lead couple (the bride and groom) stop and put their arms together making a bridge that everyone must pass under. The next couple follows suit and so and so forth until everyone makes their way under, including, at the end the bride and groom. They then end up in the middle of the floor where they do their first dance. It was pretty funny. Though also quite tiring. By the time we were done, Cristina and I were out the door to get our flats from the car. Our feet were done.

Later we got to march again. This time, in honor of the groom's New Orleans heritage, we did the Second Line, which involved us marking around waving white handkerchiefs (or Kleenex as the case may be) behind the bride carrying a white parasol all while the New Orlean's style big band played "When the Saints Go Marching In." They definitely did a good job of personalizing their wedding, and I think we all had a great time.

The personalization didn't end at the wedding though. The hotel did their part too, offering Texas-shaped waffles. What more could a person want?

Capping off our very Texas style adventure was the woman we saw set up right at the interstate on-ramp offering photos of her longhorns. I stole one from the car window, because seriously, what's more Texan than that?

Anyhow, congrats Tiffany and Robert! We had fun at our Hallettsville wedding adventure, and we wish you two a long life filled with happiness, adventure, and love.

Don't Move In Without...

2009-12-03T15:57:00.002-05:00

In less than two weeks, barring any major disasters, Jeff and I will take ownership of our house. We'll be moving in with practically nothing, literally an air mattress, some clothes, and a bit of food. Our full-fledged move-in will be after Christmas, when we'll drive our belongings from Louisville to Durham with the help of family. We're moving from a one-bedroom apartment to a 1900 sq. foot house, so let's just say that there's going to be a lot of empty space. We're okay with that. We plan to gradually fill it all in as we find items that we really like and the money to buy them with.

But there are some things you just can't live without. Toilet paper for instance.

We want to be sure we have all that necessary type stuff on hand when we move in. I've been brainstorming and making lists, but I'm sure I'm overlooking plenty of things. So let me know, what was the one thing you ran out to get as soon as you moved into your house because you'd forgotten all about it but desperately needed it? Or what did you forget for months but then need and wish you had had it on standby all along? What will I need that I have no notion of? What can't I live without for even a few days? And what should I do or arrange to have done in the time span from when we close to when we actually move our furniture in?

All ideas appreciated.

To Paint or Not to Paint

2009-12-01T20:27:00.003-05:00

The house Jeff and I are planning to buy (inspection today went well, closing date set for 12/15) has two small rooms, both of which are in the very back of the first floor, that are wood paneled. As you may have heard me say before, nearly every single house we saw in our weeks of househunting in Durham had at least one wood paneled room. It's apparently rather in style in this part of the country. The paneling ranged from cheap to expensive, grody to not bad.

Considering there was practically no chance of getting a house without paneling, what we ended up with is pretty darn good. The rooms with the paneling are small, and the paneling itself is of the high-end variety and in good shape.

Here's room #1.

It's the family room, a 12 x 12 room off the back of the much larger living room. The two rooms are connected by a French door style opening in the middle of the wall connecting the two. This means that the rooms are pretty well open to each other, the yellow-painted living room giving way to the wood-paneled family room.

Here's room #2.

It's the study, a tiny 9 x 8 room off the back of the kitchen. A smaller than average doorway connects the two rooms, so you can't see much of the study unless you step all the way into it.

Upon first seeing the house, our plan was to paint the paneling. We're not really into wood paneling, and with hardwood floors, it seemed like total wood overload. Seeing it first on a gloomy, rainy day, the rooms also seemed really dark. At home in Louisville last week, I began the search for paint colors for the rooms while on a trip to Lowe's with my parents.

Today, when we went to the house for the inspection, I took the paint chips I had picked out with me to get an idea of how they'd look. We want to get the house painted before we go home for Christmas so that when we come back with all our junk, we're ready to move right in.

At the end of the day, I still like the colors I picked out. But at the end of the day, I'm also less certain I want to paint at all.

I don't know, but painting wood paneling just feels kind of wrong. Maybe it's the Zimmerman in me. My grandpa was a varnish man and thought painting wood was about the worst thing you could do to it. I'm also worried that painted paneling might just look cheap.

What do you think? I've got myself all confused, and I'm desperately in need of opinions. Would you paint the rooms? Would you leave them as is? Would you paint one and leave one?

A Sneak Peek at Our House

2009-11-15T09:31:00.004-05:00

Assuming all goes well with inspections, we'll be moving on December 15.

We're excited. We'd looked at about 20 different houses by the time we saw this one, many of those documented in an earlier post, but when we saw this one we knew it was the right one for us. I'd actually seen the house online before and liked it, but at the time it was a good $25,000 out of our price range, so I put it out of mind.

But then the sellers dropped their price significantly, putting it in the range in which we were looking, and it showed up in the set of new listings our agent sent us. We immediately made plans to see it. And as soon as we walked in, I was hooked. It was what we'd been looking for: an old house with character, in a neighborhood within walking/biking distance of Duke and downtown, two stories, three bedrooms, and in move-in condition.

The Kitchen

The Dining Room

The Living Room

So after seeing it for the first time on Tuesday morning, we returned Wednesday at lunch time for a second look. We received answers to a few questions Wednesday night, and then on Thursday at lunch time, we made an offer on the house.

The Durham market isn't much different than any market around the country at the moment, and there are a lot of houses sitting a long time on the market. We'd seen a lot of houses that had been listed for 200+ days. This wasn't the housing market of a few years ago when you had to make an offer the moment you saw a house and sometimes even offer more than the list price.

But I guess a good house is a good house, regardless of the market. As soon as the sellers dropped their price, the house started to see a lot of traffic, at least according to the listing agent. We had time to see it twice, but this wasn't a house for sitting on. In fact, as we were putting in our offer, we learned that another couple was seeing the house for a second time at that very moment. Hoping to beat them to the punch, we put a short expiration on our offer. But we still took a gamble, offering them $7,000 less than list price. We are in a buyer's market, after all.

All evening, whenever the phone rang, my heart seized up. But we didn't get any news except that one of the sellers was on the way home from out of town, and we wouldn't hear until the morning. The expiration on our offer was noon. At 6:10 am, we had to be on a plane heading to Texas for a wedding. We let our agent know when we'd be available while on layover in Houston, and when we'd finally land in San Antonio.

Through our entire layover, we held onto the phone and checked in for messages a few time, but it didn't ring and we were told over and over no new messages. Then we get on the plane and go to turn the phone off and are suddenly told we have two new messages. We dial up and listen.

The first message: They've countered with an offer $3,000 higher than ours.

We're thrilled. We expected a counter-offer, and this will work for us. We're ready to call our agent back and say accept. But first we check the second message.

The second message: As our agent was conveying their counter-offer to us, she got another call. Deal off. The sellers were getting a second offer. We now had to put in our best and final offer.

Elation to disappointment within a minute. Of course at this point the plane is about to take off and the stewardess is making us turn off our phone. There's nothing we can do but spend the entire flight thinking about the situation and what we want to do.

Once safely on the ground in San Antonio, we're on the phone. First to our agent to talk about our options. Then to our parents in search of some advice. We weren't really looking to get in a bidding war. Damn it, this is supposed to be a buyer's market! But we feel really strongly that this is the house for us. We think and ponder and debate. We pro and con. I try to rationalize my emotional response. In the end, we go for it. We put in an escalating bid, offering to pay $1,000 more than the other people placing a bid, but capping our offer at $1,000 over list price. We want the house, but we decide that if the other people are willing to pay well over list, then it just isn't meant to be. We also figure that if we do win, we'll be paying full price + $1,000. Knowing they're in competition and have to put in a best and final offer, we figure they'll put in full price. Why would you do anything else?

Well, I still don't know the answer to that question, but the other couple offered $3,000 less than list price. This means the house is ours, and we still don't have to pay full list price in the end. Woohoo!

When the call came, we were thrilled...and relieved.

I have to say that I hated the whole experience once we got into the offer phase. I am not a gambler and that's what this felt like to me. That kind of anxiety is not for me. I also don't like that kind of disappointment. So thank goodness we won. I love the house. I love the location. I love the neighborhood. It's an exciting new move for us.

But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I have some reservations. A house is so permanent, so tying. I can't just call up my leasing office and say I'm moving out in 6 weeks. I'm stuck with it. And the financial responsibility is pretty darn big too. I have to say that when we signed the contract, I felt thrilled, as well as completely sick to my stomach. Do you know how many times we could go around the world with that kind of money?

Silly Zoo, That's What Lions are Supposed to Do

2009-11-09T11:02:00.003-05:00

Check out this article in the Washington Post: At the Zoo, No Escape for a Deer in the Lions' Den

Is it just me or does anyone else think they should have just left the deer in there? I, for one, am happy to see that the lions, probably zoo animals since birth, still retain their natural instinct to hunt and kill. I think it would have been awesome to witness this. I certainly wouldn't have run away screaming nor would I have cheered for the deer; I'd be cheering for the lions.

Also, didn't the zoo realize that this would be one less meal they'd have to provide if they just left the deer in the cage? It died anyways, so now it's just wasted meat. Plus, anyone who has lived in the area knows that Rock Creek Park has a serious deer overpopulation problem. It's not like they're endangered. And, finally, the deer jumped into the cage. Obviously, he's not the brightest of the bunch, so let's let survival of the fittest do it's job. What do you say?

The Hunt for a House

2009-11-05T09:53:00.005-05:00

Jeff and I decided that when we moved to North Carolina we would buy a house, so before we got here we spent a lot of time thinking about what we wanted. We had a few solid ideas. We wanted an older home with character in a lively neighborhood close to restaurants and shops (think Highlands if you're in Louisville; Ballard if you're in Seattle). We wanted to be close to Duke so that Jeff could continue to ride his bike to work. We wanted 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, something with room for guests and an office but not too much extra space that we'd just have to furnish and clean. We wanted it to be in live-in condition. Though the idea of renovating an old house has its appeal, we're realistic enough to know that right now we don't have the time...or the know-how.

So our first two days here, we just rode all over Durham trying to get a feel for it, figuring out which neighborhoods looked like good fits and which didn't. On our third day, we went out with a realtor and saw 11 houses. Two days later we went out and saw 2 additional houses. On Tuesday, we went and saw 1 more. So far, that's 14 houses that we've seen in person. How many we've looked at online I can't even begin to guess. Yet we're still at square one, without a house that we want to purchase.

We've seen some interesting houses though. We've seen two that must have had previous lives as boarding houses, as none of the rooms were connected, with each and every one opening up into a hallway that ran straight from the front door down the middle of the house. They had some cool old fireplaces and doors but weren't exactly livable. One also had a styrofoam ceiling. That's a new one for me.

We've seen one that was firmly situated on the corner of Okay and Not Okay. The tricky thing with Durham is that you can cross one street and go from a neighborhood of lovely, well-maintained homes to a neighborhood you wouldn't walk through by yourself at night...and maybe not during the day. This house, if approached from the south, seemed to be well located. If approached from the north, it seemed to border the ghetto. And for us, the corner of Okay and Not Okay is pretty much Not Okay. (Props to my friend Kate for this original reference, which Jeff and I love.)

We've seen a couple that used to be duplexes but have been reconverted back into single family homes. By reconverted I mean that they simply filled the window and door areas with drywall while leaving the framing. Very classy.

We've seen a cool solar home, but it was a bit far away and more of an ideal set up for a single person, or at least a couple who never intended to have overnight guests.

We've seen one or two homes that are nice, but just aren't us.

And twice we've seen our dream house. The first one was oozing with character---beautiful wood floors, a cool closed in sleeping porch, an amazing fireplace surrounded by built in bookshelves in the living room, an updated but not at all sterile kitchen.

But it was on a busy street, set only a few yards from it (so a good bit of street noise), and with a driveway about as big as one car. It's impossible to get in and out, and the nearest street you can park on requires you traipse through your back neighbor's yard. It also only has one bathroom, and there wasn't an obvious place to put a second one. Also, near the top of our price range, we won't really have extra funds for adding bathrooms. And finally the washer/dryer was in the basement, which totally reminded me of a cave (or being on the Seattle Underground tour). It is not what anyone in Louisville would call a basement, but apparently the standard for around here. It was exposed dirt...with exposed wiring and exposed insulation to match.

The second one we adored was an Arts & Crafts style bungalow (exactly what we were looking for!). It had great hard wood floors and fireplaces, lovely crown molding, a nice front porch, cool built-ins, a redone kitchen, redone bathrooms, and a good yard. Perfect. Except for the neighborhood. The immediate neighbors looked good. (Though the house immediately next door isn't as nice, and is, in fact, on sale for $70,000 less than the house we looked at!) But the house backs up to an apartment complex that appears to house a lot of people who like to keep the majority of their possessions on their front porch. Three houses down in one direction is a house with literally 15 cars parked in the yard. Three houses down in the direction is a house with a falling down barn-like structure and a driveway filled with junk. At the end of the street is a used car lot and a checks cashed place. I really wish we could just pick up the house and move it.

And then there was the house we'd probably put a bid on if it weren't for one major thing. The house isn't our dream house, but we like it a lot. It's just down the street from Dream House #1, and it's a fantastic neighborhood of mainly much bigger houses at much higher prices. It's right across from a lovely park, a short bike ride to Duke, and best of all, just a mile walk from the newly revitalized downtown area. It's set much farther off the street than the other house, has a turnaround and garage, and has a large, terraced lawn that blocks out most street noise. The kitchen and bathrooms are a bit smaller than we'd like, but livable. The living/dining area is great as are the bedrooms. There's a nice fireplace, beautiful hardwoods, elegant crown molding. There's also a closed in sleeping porch that would make an awesome office, and a large and very light-filled sun room. It would make a great house.

So what's the problem? Well, it may just collapse on us if we bought it. You see, the first time we saw it, we noticed a bit of cracking inside by the windows and doors. We took some photos and sent them to my brother, an architect who works for a firm that pretty much specialized in this kind of thing. He got back to me and said that they didn't look too bad from what he could tell, but we should look more closely and especially pay attention to the outside. So we revisited the house, and I don't know how we missed all the cracks the first time. They were everywhere. And worst of all, they were outside. There were lots of stairstep and pyramid cracks, which indicate that the foundation has shifted (or is shifting). There were cracks that had been filled but had cracked again, a sign that it wasn't a one-time thing. There was a crack that was 1/2 inch wide, which my brother says is pretty substantial in the world of architecture. And there was a long horizontal crack, which is apparently a sign of wall failure. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Not wanting to entirely write it off, we requested info from the sellers. They were, however, completely unhelpful. They claim that they had it looked at when they bought the house 10 years ago and were told it was fine, but they can't provide any paperwork to substantiate it. They also claim it hasn't moved since they have lived there, though they haven't had it looked at any time recently and don't have crack monitors, so I don't believe they have any way of knowing, except that it hasn't fallen on them. And they don't appear to have any interest in having a structural engineer look at or in paying for any necessary repairs.

So we're walking. And it's back to square one. Though sort of fun at first, I'm already getting tired of the house hunt. It feels like it's been a long hunt already (as evidenced by this long post!). Not exactly inspiring is the fact that we're moving into the holidays and winter, which is not a popular time to be house hunting. But I guess all it takes is the one perfect house. Cross your fingers for us!

Three Things I Miss and Three Things I Don't

2009-11-02T12:13:00.002-05:00

The Things I Miss

1. Jeff
Today, Jeff started work in his lab at Duke. For the first time in a year, we're not together all day, every day. You think that would be enough togetherness to drive anyone insane and make them long for time to themselves, but really, we have a damn good time together, and I miss him. The fact that I'm home completely alone probably doesn't help.

2. Walking
During our travels, we pretty much walked everywhere. We walked to the grocery and to restaurants. We walked to the store. We walked to the beach. We walked through town. We walked up mountains. We walked and walked and walked. I wish I'd taken a pedometer to determine how far we walked each day because it was a lot. Now, we drive. It's too far to walk most places, the road's aren't pedestrian friendly, and well, it's just not what you do. Sure, you can go for a walk, but walking as a mode of transport is not common. We're looking to buy a house in an area where our feet would be our main mode of getting around, but right now, the car is what we use.

3. Summer
Fall was nice at first. The crisp smell in the air, the crunch of leaves on the ground, the splendor of trees in full color. I enjoyed putting on a sweater, and not sweating while I slept. But okay, that was enough. I'm done, especially now that we've changed the clocks, and it gets dark so early. Winter is on its way, and I, for one, am not a fan. I want summer back.

The Things I Don't

1. The Clothes in My Backpack
The five tops and five bottoms I took with me on the trip are still in Seattle, and for all I care they can stay there forever. I love having jeans again, enough underwear to not have to do laundry every week, and clothes that actually look good together. It's a bit overwhelming though, and I have to admit that rather than decide between the many items I have, I sometimes just put back on what I wore the day before (though I do change underwear, don't you worry). If I could re-wear clothes in stinky, sweaty developing nations, then I can do it in clean, clean America.

2. Dirty Bathrooms
I walk into public bathrooms here and marvel at the cleanliness. There's toilet paper, soap and running water, hand towels or dryers! Though before I'm sure I found them a bit sketchy, I'm now quite certain I could probably eat from the floors. Private bathrooms are simply
phenomenal. The soap smells nice! The showers don't require shoes! The toilets flush! We are spoiled I tell you.

3. Eating Out
When you go on vacation, one of the highlights is getting to eat out the entire trip. When you go on vacation for a year, however, that gets old really, really quickly. You get really tired of sitting at a restaurant, only getting to eat what's on the menu, waiting for food, paying the bill, etc. You sometimes want nothing more than to open your refrigerator, pull out your favorite foods, and home cook yourself up something delicious. In South America, a lot of hostels had kitchens, and we took advantage. In Africa, these kitchens disappeared after we left South Africa, and they were pretty much non-existent in budget accommodations in Asia. Now that we have a kitchen back, we don't want to leave it for a restaurant. I'd rather cook.

Blog Action Day: Climate Change

2009-10-15T13:41:00.004-04:00

My friend Megan, the world's best photographer (literally), alerted me to the fact that today is Blog Action Day in regards to Climate Change, so I figured why not bounce back into posting on Spargel with some thoughts on the topic.

Over the past year, Jeff and I have been amazingly lucky; we have seen some of the world's most spectacular landscapes. We've watched the sunset over Torres del Paine, seen icebergs calf off of Perito Merino Glacier, experienced the fragility of the Galapagos Islands, come within arm's reach of breeching whales, felt the heat of geysers in the cold desert morning, stared gapjaw at the Iguazu and Victoria Falls, laughed in delight at the antics of Africa's wild animals, stared in silence at the magnificence of gorillas in the wild, relaxed on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, climbed active volcanoes, and gone scuba diving among delicate corals and delightful marine life.

We've also seen mudslides wipe out villages. We've seen farmers stand in barren fields waiting for rains that never come. We've seen great swaths of forest stripped by logging companies. We've seen oil pipe lines destroy the Amazon. We've seen the remains of towns wiped out by floods, tsunamis, and overflowing rivers and lakes. We've watched as people throw trash out the window of buses. We've searched in vain for recycling bins. We've found toothbrushes atop coral reefs and plastic bags in the surf. We've refused to touch some waterways for the amount of garbage that is visible to the eye, not even imagining all the pollutants that we can't see.

Climate change is real. Sometimes we can feel it. Perhaps we did this summer, when normally hot parts of the U.S. end up getting drenched all summer or normally cooler parts see the mercury hit 100. Often we hear about it. Monsoons coming late or not at all. Mudslides occurring in areas that usually don't see much rain.

Some amount of climate change is natural. Let's go ahead and get that out there. The earth has not existed in the same state since it came into existence. If it had, we wouldn't be here. Or we'd be in hiding from the dinosaurs. But the speed at which it is changing in this current era is not natural. We are speeding it along. How much we can slow it back down remains to be seen, but we shouldn't just shrug our shoulders and say oh well. We need to act. Otherwise the amazing places we saw may become only memories. Otherwise the terrible things we saw may only become worse.

Recycle. Take a bike instead of a car on short errands...or longer if you're tough. Lower the thermostat and put on a sweater instead. Be thankful that you live in a country where the water from your tap is not only drinkable but probably delicious and quit wasting money on plastic bottles that only pollute our landscape. Stock up on re-usable bags for your shopping trips and forget the plastic bags. Start a garden. Eat locally. Do what you can.

As for travelers, it's not always easy in the developing world when the people's concerns often don't go beyond meeting basic needs. Unfortunately, it's these places that are most often affected by climate change, so do what you can while you're there. One of the things we took on our trip that we really, really loved was our Steripen. It's small, easy to carry, and saved us money as well as kept us from adding to the already huge plastic problem. After just one minute of sterilizing, we had a liter of drinkable water straight from the tap. If you're going anywhere where you don't think you'll be able to drink the local water without treating it, then I suggest you get one.

If you're feeling uninspired, a little too comfortable in your current life to make any changes, then I suggest you go outside. Take a hike. Go to the lake. Ride your bike through the local park. Stay up and stare at the stars. You don't have to go to one of the official wonders of the world to see how wondrous our world is. Let's keep it that way. I want my children and my children's children and descendants that I can't even begin to imagine to get to see the beautiful things I saw...live and in person, not just in a book recounting the way things used to be.

Help Me, Rhonda (Or Whomever)

2008-09-11T16:32:00.004-04:00

By next Monday, I need to submit an author photo to Moon to go with my book. This photo will appear on the inside back cover next to my author bio. It can also be used for publicity purposes and could appear in any articles or reviews that may ever be written about the book. Ahh, the pressure! What picture to choose. This task has been hanging over my head for weeks, but I just can't make a decision. First of all, I don't have that many pictures of myself. We tend to take pictures of bugs and birds and trees and flowers and waterfalls and vistas...but not people. Secondly, in the photos I do have of myself, I'm usually being goofy and making strange faces. And thirdly, I can't decide what style I want this photo to have. Do I want more of a headshot or something taken from farther away? Do I want to look like a hiker (to give me some credence since this is a hiking book) or do I want to look pretty?

I don't know. So I want your opinion. Below you will find the photos under consideration. Please leave me a comment and let me know which one you think I should choose. (You can leave a second and third place vote too if you like...in case they come back to me and decide the one I choose is to close up or too far away, or you know, too pretty:-) )

Also, if you're interested, you can go to the Moon Homepage and check out the various guides through the links under the Handbooks, Metro, Outdoors, and Living Abroad sections on the right side. You can then click on any title to see the author photos of others.

Please, please, please vote. This decision can not be left up to me alone!

IMAGE 1:

IMAGE 2:

IMAGE 3:

IMAGE 4:

IMAGE 5:

IMAGE 6:

(The image will appear in black and white in most places, which is why I'm showing them to you that way, even though they are all actually color photos.)

(Also, I've posted twice today---prolific, I know. So after you vote, go read the post below too if you haven't already.)

Help Save a Life

2008-09-11T10:49:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, we probably all know someone who has been affected by cancer. The many different types of this disease are treated in many different ways, but for some people, the best hope is a bone marrow transplant. Too often, however, finding a donor is a difficult, if not impossible, task. So many factors come into play, and a perfect match is rare, with a family member often being the best hope. For those without a matching family member, the best hope lies with a generous donor, someone who joined the national bone marrow registry.

Have you considered joining this registry? If you haven't, but are interested in the possibility, now's the time to act. Normally the registry asks that you make a donation of $52 when you join, in order to cover the cost of testing. However, from September 7 to September 22, a sponsor is covering the cost, so you can register for free. Take a moment to consider this option, and then, if you wish, use this link to register.

After registering, you'll receive a kit in the mail, which you'll use to swab the inside of your cheek. The registry will then use the swab as a tissue culture and add you to the list. Should this culture appear to be a match for someone in need, you'll be contacted and asked to undergo further tests, and then should those also indicate a match, you'll be asked to donate marrow. (Just so you know, the chance you'll actually be a match is small, but the chances of a person in need finding a match are even smaller if you don't register.) While the registering part is completely painless, donating bone marrow can be a bit painful (just want to be upfront and honest, since I don't think you should register unless you truly intend to be a donor if you're called upon). BUT, in my opinion, the amount of pain you may suffer is truly a drop in the bucket compared to the joy you'd experience from knowing you helped save someone's life. Anyhow, I encourage you to consider the option and then click on the link above if you're interested. You can also find more information on bone marrow transplants and the donation process by following that link.

Out of My Hands

2008-09-02T16:58:00.003-04:00

Because I've had a few people ask, I thought I'd write a post and declare that yes, indeed, I am done with the book! I submitted the manuscript, maps, and photos on Friday before I left on Saturday for Stockholm (where I am now, in case you didn't know). The book is with my editor. I'll see it again (probably in early November to answer queries from the copy editor, and then again in late December for a final blueline proof of it), but the bulk of the work is done, and the manuscript is now on its way to becoming bound copy. It should hit the shelves sometime next spring. I'll definitely update about that when I know more. Working on this book has been a rewarding (but oh so tiring) endeavor. Though I enjoyed working on it over the past six (!) months, I have to say that it feels good to be done. I can now truly revel in my free time (and finally finish planning our trip).

Maybe I'm Heartless

2008-08-21T10:49:00.003-04:00

Have you read any of the many articles on CNN about the baby whale in Australia that has lost its mother? Well, after multiple failed attempts to reunite the baby with its mother...or some other mother that would feed it...authorities have decided to euthanize the whale, which is going to die anyways.

Lots of people are very, very upset about this. I don't get it. I also don't get why they're going to the trouble of euthanizing the whale instead of just letting it die naturally or become a meal for some other hungry animal.

This is nature people. The mother probably left the calf for good reason. Or maybe the mother fell victim to the food chain. Without the mother, the calf cannot survive. Period. End of story. Is that sad? Maybe. If you want to feel sad, I'm okay with that. But spending time, money, and energy on trying to rescue the whale seems silly to me. Quit trying to fuck with the circle of life. And if you're so compassionate and have so much money and time, I'm sure there are plenty of starving people who would be happy to have your attention.

Cape Cod Article in Frederick News-Post

2008-08-10T16:38:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, when I had approximately 3.5 free seconds, I decided that was way too much free time. Being completely out of my mind, I sent off in that moment a query to my editor at the Frederick News-Post and ended up with an assignment to write an article about Cape Cod. I managed to pull one together in about a week's time, and it was published last Sunday (I'm late posting this notice, but if you saw the state of my house right now, you'd understand). You can read it here. I would have preferred the story to be no more than the first section on the Cape Cod League, but the FNP wanted a more general story, so that's what it is. The print version has 7 photos enclosed. I'm sorry they aren't all available online, but you've all probably seen them before as many appeared with my recounting of our trip on the blog last August/September.

I haven't posted this to my writing website yet and probably won't for a while. I'm hoping to revamp the site while I'm in Sweden. We'll see if that happens... I have many good intentions these days, but I need the days to be about 48 hours each if I'm even to stand a chance at getting them done.

The Hiking Book in Numbers

2008-08-07T22:23:00.003-04:00

As of last Sunday, all the hiking for my book is complete. Now it's just finishing up the writing and editing. Hooray!

A look at the experience in numbers:

I did 80 hikes with a total distance of over 400 miles.
The longest hike was 10.7 miles.
The shortest hike was 1.25 miles.
The most hiking I did in one day was 21.1 miles.
I hiked on 36 different days between March and the first weekend of August.
In the process, I drove (or rode) over 4,375 miles.

Lotus Bloom

2008-07-26T20:26:00.003-04:00

I took this photo today at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and just wanted to share it because I love it so much. I may post other images later, as the gardens are in full bloom right now and just astoundingly beautiful, but for now you can enjoy this one perfect bloom.

It's a Weird World

2008-07-18T11:51:00.001-04:00

Check out these interesting creatures that Jeff caught on film (ok, SD card) while we were hiking in Prince William Forest Park last weekend. Don't they look like they belong in some Japanese cartoon?

Blackberries and Hail Marys

2008-07-07T15:39:00.005-04:00

This weekend, Jeff and I were supposed to go camping in the George Washington National Forest, but the weather did not cooperate. A forecast of rain and thunderstorms had us wary, and when we woke to rain on Friday, we said no way. We were going to be doing primitive camping and three days of being sopping wet sounded less than appealing.

Not getting in any hikes would have really killed our schedule, however, so we headed south toward Richmond where the forecast looked better. It was hot and humid but not rainy as we marched off the miles at Pocahontas State Park and Belle Isle. Things looked fine as we headed on to Lake Anna, and as we got started on our 5-mile excursion, we could hear the roar of boat motors on the lake and the sounds of people enjoying Independence Day. About halfway into the hike, those sounds began to be replaced by the roll of thunder. It was distant, however, and the skies were still looking good. Plus at this point, we'd be just as quick finishing up the hike as we would be backtracking. We thought we'd just hurry along and hopefully make it out before the storm rolled in.

But that's before we saw the blackberries. Lining a clearing through which we had to pass were bush after bush after bush of first-of-the-season berries. I grabbed a couple to snack on, and then offhandedly said to Jeff, "We ought to pick these and take them home and make a cobbler." The word "cobbler" perked his ears right up and got him rooting through my backpack looking for a bag to gather them in. A quarter-full bag of dried mangoes was the best we could come up with, but that didn't stop us. We'd walk a few steps, grab a few berries, walk a few steps, grab a few berries---until the trail ducked back into the woods and left the bushes behind. At this point, we didn't have enough to make much of anything, but lo and behold the trail spit us back out into the clearing. We were destined to gather blackberries. And that's what we did...as the thunder got louder and the sky got grayer. "Just one more" seemed to be our mantra. Or "Oh that one's just too perfect to pass up."

Eventually we had not just a full bag but a couple of extra handfuls too. And that's when we decided to put it into high gear and take off. It was too late, however, as the wind picked up and the sky turned black. Thunder clapped. And lightning, still a bit distant, crackled. We were off and running...or sort of. You try running with an overflowing bag of berries and hands gently clasping the extras. It's not easy. And we had at least 1.5 miles, if not 2.0 to go.

With a huge clash of thunder, the skies opened. Wind shook the trees and small branches rained down along with huge drops of water. Lightning pierced the sky, much closer than I'd prefer. This was a big, bad storm, and it was right overhead. And so we ran and ran, through puddles and along the trail as it ran with us, washed out by the rain. A litany of Hail Marys passed through my lips. When you've got nothing else you can do, prayer seems as good as plan as any.

I'll admit, it was a bit scary...but still we held onto those berries as we sloshed our way back to the car, sopping wet but with nearly all our berries in tow and intact.

So okay, it wasn't the brightest thing we could have done. But damn if that blackberry cobbler isn't delicious.

(And now, after a much less eventful hike on Sunday, I also have a bowlful of raspberries in my refrigerator waiting to be turned into sorbet. Mmm. I feel so darn pioneering.)

**Parents no need for alarm. Jeff and I maintained a good distance between ourselves as we ran, so if one of us was struck by lightning, the other one wouldn't be and could give CPR. That makes you feel better, doesn't it?

My Debut in the Short Story World

2008-06-29T19:51:00.004-04:00

Months and months ago, I read about a short story contest that Bethesda magazine was hosting, and I made plans to enter it. But of course things got busy, and I never got around to writing my story, and so I decided to forgo entering. Then about two days before the deadline, and one day before my brother Matthew and his girlfriend Amanda came in to town, I decided that I would be dumb not to enter because hey what if no one else entered; then I'd be the shoo-in for the top prize of $1,000.

At this point, I obviously didn't have time to come up with something new, so I grabbed a story I'd written before and emailed it in, approximately 10 minutes shy of the midnight deadline. I wasn't thrilled with the story. The ending was weak and overall needed some serious editing, but it was what it was.

End result, I didn't win the $1,000. Damn it. I did, however, get honorable mention. Unfortunately it doesn't come with any money, but it does come with all the glory I can handle from having the story published on the Bethesda Magazine website.

If you'd like to read "Mayfly Summers," follow this link to the Bethesda Magazine site.

You can then leave your constructive criticism in the comments.

Pawleys Island Vacation in Pictures: Part Three

2008-06-10T22:09:00.006-04:00

Day Six: Thursday, May 29
It's a rainy day, It's a rainy day, It's raining outside and we can't go out and play.
...Except we do anyways. But not to the beach because that would be dumb. Instead we drive down to Charleston, where it's not really raining but a bit grey and cool.

We begin the day following this path, which is supposed to lead us on a self-guided garden tour.

They may want to reconsider naming it the church and cemetery tour.

We do see some plants and flowers, however, and of course, we take pictures of them, because of course these plants and flowers are unique and special.

We also see some fantastic houses. I want to buy one but God has not yet seen it fit for me to win the lottery so I must wait until he provides me with a vision of the winning numbers. Lottery winning is the type of prayer that God concerns himself with after all.

We have a tasty lunch at Poogan's Porch, where we eat some alligator. Not this one though. He's still alive and thrashing as far as I know.

We then go to the market where we see a lot of ladies weaving baskets from sawgrass. I am not sure they are aware of the laws of supply and demand, as there was a lot of supply and not so much demand yet no one offered a better price. Maybe they are all members of the sawgrass basket weaving union.

Luckily for us, it never really rains and the only water we see is in the many fountains around town.

My brothers claim that this one is named Golden Shower. I really should disown them.

Instead I take a picture with them. They're family. What can you do?

Pawleys Island Vacation in Pictures: Part Two

2008-06-02T20:26:00.005-04:00

Day Four: Tuesday, May 27
A kayaking trip to Sandy Island is the focus of the day. As the various paddle positions may give away, some of us are better kayakers than others. I am not naming names, however.

We spot a bunch of alligators while kayaking. The first one is a big 12-foot male, but I don't have my good camera with me and he goes underwater by the time I'm close enough to get a decent shot with my point-and-shoot. We then see a 9-foot female who does the same thing. Apparently, it's hanky-panky season in gator world. Though the 3 or 4 smaller gators we see aren't getting in on the action and instead hang around to have their picture taken.

We hike around Sandy Island, and see a variety of plant life, including this prickly pear. Apparently, we paddled all the way to the desert.

As we paddle and hike, we get to hear our guide's version of history. He gets very excited when he tells us that plantations used to turn a 9% profit. Personally, I think if you aren't paying for your labor, you ought to be making a lot more than that. After a while we tune him out, and take pictures with funny trees, like this long-leaf pine.

In our excitement over kayaking, we lock the keys in the van. Jeff hitches a ride with our not so charming guide, breaks into our house, and returns in his car while we all wait in the parking lot. As you can see, it's a very fun parking lot. Nothing can top it, not even the yummy s'mores we roast up that night.

Day Five: Wednesday, May 28
We again spend most of the day on the beach. The water is a bit rougher than usual, however, and it washes a lot of jellyfish onto the beach. Though I really want to touch one, I don't.

There's also a good bit of coral and sea weed on the shore. I hate when seaweed touches me when I'm in the ocean. I always think I'm getting attacked by the creature from the black lagoon.

After lunch, Jeff decides to join my parents and sit in the surf, but sitting is apparently not his strong suit.

After a bit of instruction, he figures it out and joins my mom in watching for stingrays. We see a couple flipping in the surf, which inspires us all to hold a moment of silence for the Crocodile Hunter.

Apparently too lazy to get up or too afraid that he will fall over again if he leaves his chair, Jeff decides that sand is a good replacement for sunscreen.

In the evening, my mom and I head back up to Brookgreen Gardens to see the big f***ing otters that I had wanted to see on Monday. They turn out to be disappointing, neither big nor f***ing. I have to settle for birds.

Meanwhile, everyone else attempts a round of adventure golf, but spends most of their time hiding in caves since the sky decides to open up, leaving the course in need of a good squeegee. Astroturf just isn't that absorbent.

It is not a complete loss, however, as they do get to see a very exotic bird species and its young.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Pawleys Island Vacation in Pictures

2008-06-01T20:25:00.011-04:00

Day 1: Saturday, May 24
We arrive in the afternoon at our house, Barefoot on the Beach. It's a very nice house in a prime location. We get settled in.

Though evening has come upon us and it's past prime swimming time, we head to the beach. My brother Gregory, aka Jesus, says "Let there be water," and there is. Lots and lots of water. Now everything is in place, and we can enjoy the rest of our week.

Day Two: Sunday, May 25
We head to the beach, where Gregory and I construct this amazing sand sculpture. We have admirers stopping by all day to marvel at it.

I then lead the charge into the water, which is a very comfortable temperature. Soon everyone is body surfing in the waves.

Matthew and Amanda discuss the propensity of the ocean to tear off your pants. Fortunately for us, they are able to keep theirs on, though apparently they require a bit of adjusting.

Gregory practices his Baywatch run, though he goes in the wrong direction.

Having consumed way more than our daily recommended allowance of salt, we head back to the sand for more fun. Being the appointed vacation photographer I don't appear in many photos, so I take a picture of my foot to prove I am indeed there.

The sun makes Mark loony.

And Matthew takes to playing Frisbee by himself.

Jeff, Mark, and Gregory come up with a game that involves bombing sand structures with baseballs. It may be a new beach favorite.

Day Three: Monday, May 26
My mom, Mark, Gregory, and I begin the day with a trip to Brookgreen Gardens. We see many lovely statues.

We also see many beautiful flowers.

The live oaks are very nice and remind me of one of the things I liked about Rice.

We encounter a handful of lizards, including this guy who modeled for me.

In the afternoon, we return to the beach, where Gregory, Jeff, and Mark continue to bomb seaside villages into oblivion.

We tell my mom and Matthew to go fly a kite.

And so they do.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Oh The Things You'll Find

2008-05-18T22:54:00.000-04:00

You never know what you might find when you go out hiking. Maybe an old rusted out car.

Or maybe a spooky, crumbling, old house.

Both of these were alongside trails in the Maryland state park system. The car's actually kind of hidden and you have to cross through a swamp of skunk cabbage to reach it, but the house is literally trailside. Adding to the spookiness factor was a big turkey vulture that flew out of it as we passed by.

My Crazy Life

2008-05-14T21:44:00.002-04:00

I've been remiss about posting here, but I have to say that life is rather crazy here at the moment. Here's a little peek at what we've been up to.

Weekdays
7 a.m. Get up, shower, dress, eat breakfast, make lunch (and dinner for Jeff)
8 a.m. Out the door to catch the Metro
8:30 a.m. Start my work day
6:00 p.m. Leave Work
6:45 p.m. Arrive home. Begin dinner. (It always takes longer to get home than to get to work. Why is that?)
7:30-8:00 p.m. (On a good day) Eat dinner. Clean up dinner. (On a bad day, dinner is maybe at 9:00)
8:00-10:30 p.m. Work on hiking book. Write entries, edit entries, code entries, plan upcoming hikes, make maps, decide on photos, write front of the book and back of the book materials. Consider writing queries for other articles. Reconsider, decide sanity is better than bylines.
10:30 p.m. Jeff calls. Go pick him up from work. (Yes, he's working 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. these days. It's the final push...it's fun I tell you.)
11:00 p.m. (Three days a week) Remember that I haven't written a post for Lives of Wander. Get to work on that. Maybe watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report while I write. Other days try to do some trip planning.
12:00 p.m. Go to bed.

Weekends
7:00 a.m. Get up. (There is no longer any sleeping in around here). Fill water bottles, pack picnic lunch, confirm directions, double check contents of hiking bag.
8:00 a.m. Out the door. Spend the next 1-2 hours driving to trailhead.
9:00 a.m. to Sunset. Hike anywhere from 1-4 trails at 1-4 locations for up to 16 miles.
9:00 p.m. Try to find somewhere open for dinner.
10:00 p.m. Return home. Jeff goes to work. Shower all the dirt away. Prep for the next day's hikes. Write if there's time.
12:00 a.m. Pick Jeff up at work. Jeff showers. Bed.

I'm not looking for sympathy. We chose this life, and though it's crazy and we're both looking forward to our vacation in 1.5 weeks more than we can express, we're pretty happy people overall. But if I haven't returned your call or your email, commented on your blog, or posted anything new on my blog, please forgive me. It's not that I haven't thought about it. It's just that I really haven't had the time.

Okay, back to work. I have about 30 minutes to 1 hour to get some editing done before Jeff calls...

What a Wonderful World: Fauna Edition

2008-05-04T22:43:00.005-04:00

We've done the plants, now let's check out the animals.

A very gorgeous dragonfly. If you enlarge the picture by clicking on it, you can see some cool detail on his wings. (Credit: Jeff)

A teeny butterfly resting on the trail. I've gotten good at spotting small things...and then telling Jeff to take a picture of them. (Credit: Jeff)

A bright orange salamander that I was almost convinced was fake...but it wasn't. I poked it to be sure. (Credit: Theresa)

A very lovely butterfly. We've seen many different types but most aren't so kind as to hold still like this one did. (Credit: Jeff)

A heron hangs out on the edge of a marsh at Blackwater Nature Preserve. (Credit: Theresa)

This tiny bird's nest was simply amazing. Those birds sure know how to build things.
(Credit: Jeff)

A something-pede. I didn't get to count all of his legs, but there are a lot. (Credit: Jeff)

A wood frog. We've found a lot of these on our hikes, most fairly small. This guy is a bit bigger than most. (Credit: Jeff)

What a Wonderful World: Flora Edition

2008-05-04T22:14:00.009-04:00

One of the coolest things about going out hiking every weekend is the way in which I am so much more in tune with nature. It's amazing the differences you notice each week and the things that I probably used to just walk by, but now see with fresh eyes as I've had to pay close attention, take notes on what's around me, and learn to identify various plants. So in a series of posts this week, I'm going to share with you some of the things I've seen. Maybe it will inspire you to get out and explore your part of the great outdoors. It's really a pretty fabulous place.

So today, the flora edition. Stay tuned for fauna, landscapes, and a fun category called surprises.

A jack-in-the-pulpit. Some of them have purple stripes, which are a bit cooler, but I guess I didn't photograph one of those. (Credit: Theresa)

Some type of aster--maybe fleabane?--that grows in pretty clusters. (Credit: Jeff)

A very interesting pine cone in a bright shade of red. Does anyone know if this is just an immature stage or if its just the style of the cones on this tree? (Credit: Jeff)

A fern waits to unfurl its leaves. (Credit: Theresa)

A morel mushroom...a small basket of these was going for $20 at my farmer's market.
(Credit: Theresa)

If you peek underneath the leaves of a mayapple, you may see one of its white flowers. Mayapples pop open like umbrellas...it's pretty cool. (Credit: Theresa)

The spring beauty--a small, five-petaled wildflower with delicate pink stripes--is found on the edge of many trails. (Credit: Theresa)

The trillium is currently blooming in the woods around us. (Credit: Jeff)

The largest beech tree I think I've ever seen. (Credit: Jeff)

Silhouette of a flower on the paw paw tree. (Credit: Jeff)

Go Here Now

2008-05-02T12:06:00.002-04:00

I have an article up on Brave New Traveler. It's a list of songs about travel. Go check it out and add a comment.

And I promise a new post on here soon. Life has been pretty nutty lately. Free time is simply a fantasy.

Just How Prestigious is That Honor Roll?

2008-04-21T15:49:00.001-04:00

Congradulations honor roll students.

That's what the sign outside the school I passed on my way to the grocery read.

I'm not the only one who finds this ironic, am I?

No Pope for Me

2008-04-15T21:42:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time (say November 2001) in a land far far away (say Italy), I saw the pope. Not the current one, but Pope John Paul II. It was a bit of an accident. I was going to the Vatican, so it wasn't as if I saw him out having a beer in some random trattoria, but we hadn't really made any plans to try to see the pope. By some random stroke, my friends and I just happened to decide to go to the Vatican on the same day as the pope was leading a beatification ceremony. I have to say it was pretty cool, especially when the pope got in his popemobile and made his way through the crowds.

This week Pope Benedict XVI is in town, but I don't have any plans to see him, and I won't even be going anywhere that might lead to an encounter similar to the last time. In fact, I think I'm going to do my best to stay far away. Not because of the crowds (which will be horrendous) or the security (which will be tight), but because I strongly disagree with the direction in which the Church, as headed by the pope, is moving (and I also disagree with the way the Church is so stubbornly standing in place in regards to some issues).

I was born and raised Catholic. I spent 13 years in Catholic schools. My grandmother was Irish Catholic (can you get any more Catholic than that?). Catholicism is a part of my history and culture, but I can no longer, in good conscience, embrace it. And though there may be some issues of faith that concern me, my main reasons are the Church's views on social issues. Let me lay some of them out here.

1. Abortion. In my ideal world, there would be no abortion because every pregnancy would be planned and every baby wanted. But the fact is, that isn't how things are. Rape, incest, and other horrible acts lead to pregnancy. People with addictions, with no means of supporting a child, with no desire for a child, end up pregnant. In my opinion, it's better than these pregnancies not result in births because of the trauma and pain that is likely to be inflicted on that child. That's my opinion, and I know the Church has a different opinion. Let me say that I support their right to have that opinion, and I even understand where it comes from. Protecting and celebrating life is the right thing for the Church to do. Providing alternatives to abortion is a wonderful thing. (Though supporting birth control might be a good start.) What I have a problem with is the extreme stance that the Church has taken on this, going so far as to say it should be the deciding factor upon which Catholics should base their vote. Seriously? That is absurd to me. I see much bigger issues that should factor into voting, namely the way in which politicians propose to care for those already alive on this earth. How we plan to care for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the abused, the imprisoned, and the dying seems much more important to me. And in my opinion, by addressing these issues, we go a long way to addressing the issue of unwanted children. When people are in a better place, they are less likely to end up unable to care for a child, and they are more likely to have the means to make smart decisions.

2. Homosexuality. Does anyone honestly think that people choose to be homosexual? Who in their right mind would choose a lifestyle that leads to discrimination and alienation? People aren't gay because they choose to be. They are gay because that's the way they were born (otherwise known to many as the way God made them). The Church's stance that people can by gay and be okay so long as they don't act on their tendencies is total bullshit. Love is a good thing, a great thing...regardless of whether it's between a man and a woman, a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.

3. Women. In the Catholic Church, women are second-class citizens. How in this day and age can the Church justify its exclusion of women from the role of priest...and the higher positions that can be obtained once one is ordained a priest? Why is a man the only one who can have this highly celebrated role? Again, it's bullshit. Women can have the same calling, the same strong faith, the same ability to lead a congregation. I refuse to condone, even silently, this overt discrimination.

The sex abuse scandal and the pitiful way in which the Church dealt with it (or didn't), the archaic view of the Church on sex and birth control, and the willy-nilly way in which the Church hands out annulments are just a few other things that get me riled up.

Before I close looking like a hater, let me go ahead and say that I think the Church has done many wonderful things. I have been lucky enough to have known many amazing priests, brothers, and nuns, who have made my life and many other lives better. The Church itself is a beacon of hope for many people. It provides outreach to some of society's most forgotten and neglected people. It has the power to do real good in the world. I respect that, and I admire that.

But, at the same time, I am sickened by the Church's discriminatory nature and closemindedness. And until I see true progress in those areas, I will seek a spiritual home elsewhere.

Random Wednesday

2008-04-09T09:02:00.002-04:00

At my Trader Joe's, Luna Bars and Clif Bars cost the same amount but Clif Bars have about 100 more calories, which is good when I'm hiking. However, those Clif Bars require so much damn chewing that I think I burn more than those 100 calories just trying to eat the bar. They also look like crap...literally. I think I'll stick with the Luna Bars.

One sign that your house is small: You can plug your vacuum in and vacuum the entire house without having to switch plugs. Yeah, I can do that.

If you're looking for a chocolate cake recipe, look no further than the back of the Hershey's cocoa box. For Jeff's return to the U.S. I made the "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake, and it was indeed perfect. It was my first ever layer cake (I usually stick with the much easier sheet cake), but I didn't have a bit of trouble. The cakes came out flat and stacked easily. The icing (recipe also from the cocoa box) was easy to spread. And the cake itself is super moist and delicious. We just have a tiny slice left for tonight...we've been eating it every day...and I'm almost tempted to bake up another one. Fortunately, we're going out of town tomorrow night, so I won't. But it's that good.

Olympic Issues

2008-03-31T20:32:00.007-04:00

"We should not politicize the Olympics." Something to that effect gets said by some ICO higher-up anytime anyone questions the decision to award (reward?) China with the Olympics. But I don't think anyone is buying it. It's so obvious that the IOC is just trying to cover its hide after making a piss-poor decision to hand the Games, which are supposed to symbolize the best of the human spirit, to a country determined to do everything it can to trample said human spirit.

Even those of us with the shortest historical memory can take a look back and see that the Olympics have always been highly political. Was Hitler's use of the Games in 1936 not political? Were the Russian and American boycotts not political? Was the banning of South Africa from the Games for its refusal to condemn apartheid not political? Was the banning of Germany and Japan from the 1948 Games as "punishment" for being the aggressors of World War II not political?

Short answer: They were all political. The fact that athletes compete for their country is political. The process of awarding the Olympic Games to a city is political. Nearly every freaking thing about the Olympics is political. So I for one thinks the IOC needs to step up and start explaining.

Should, however, they stick with the party line, I think there's a bigger question to be asked and that is whether human rights are "political. " In my opinion, human rights are above politics. Defending human rights is not about what political system I believe in, it's a statement of belief in the value and dignity of human life.

And China is right up there with the big boys of human rights violations. The Chinese people are terribly oppressed. They are denied the right to free speech, living in fear of saying anything negative about the government. They are denied a free press and unfettered access to the Internet. They are even denied freedom over their own reproduction. Others, including those in Tibet, are denied the right to autonomy.

Now China isn't the lone bad boy of the world. Human rights violations are taking place all over the globe, including here in our own backyards. But we're not plying most major human rights violators with billions of dollars, rewarding them with a global stage as they give the world---and more importantly, their own citizens---a big middle finger.

But, at this point, what is to be done? The Opening Ceremonies are four months and one week away. All the talk about boycotting this or boycotting that is just talk---a way for other countries to pat themselves on the back and say they really pondered the issue while doing nothing in the end. And why, I wonder? I imagine we'd be up in arms if the Games were awarded to say Cuba. But China, and we all whisper among ourselves, but then smile politely when the host comes around. Why is that? Something about money maybe, and trade relations, and our pitiful dependence on China to supply way too many of our goods (especially considering the ridiculously poor health and safety standards they maintain and the way their workers are treated). Right, I almost forgot.

Hmm, looks like it ends up right back at politics after all.

(Also, on a semi-related note, does China not have any idea what Tiananmen Square conjures up for the rest of the world? I find it so odd that it's the setting for their big torch lighting ceremony, because all I can think of is the extreme violence perpetrated by a government against its citizens as they peacefully protested.)

Calling All Internet Detectives

2008-03-26T21:42:00.003-04:00

I need help identifying this plant.

I have encountered this plant on almost every hike I've done in the DC area. The first picture shows the entire plant (shrub? tree?), and it shows one of the larger versions of the plant that I have found. The second picture shows the leaves in more detail. From what I can tell, the plant keeps its leaves all year round and they remain green. (Otherwise they appear very early in the year, since I've been seeing these since late January). They are often found in clusters, and are part of the understory, though they're more often in areas of the forest where the canopy is fairly open rather than in the areas that are densely shaded. In general, the ground in the DC area is swampy, and they seem to thrive in that environment. I haven't yet seem any blooms on these plants, but it is still pretty early for that. Fairly often, the leaves are mottled as if the plant is being attacked by something.

My best guess is that it's some kind of rhododendron, but I'm not certain on that. Matthew, upon seeing them on the hike he did with me, also immediately went to rhododendron. I know there are many species of rhododendron, and it seems the closest match so far, but I'd like more input. Despite spending time with two large botany books today, I've yet to have that aha moment. So please, internet detectives get to work and identify this plant! Mucho thanks.

Love Might Be Too Strong a Word

2008-03-25T20:19:00.004-04:00

There's not really a lot of love lost between me and Houston. It's not my favorite city. It's not one of my 100 favorite cities. It's not even one of my 1,000 favorite cities (even though I haven't even been to nearly 1,000 cities). You get the point. So when I went to Houston at the beginning of February with the intent of writing an article about the city, I was a bit nervous. I don't mind being honest, but I was afraid I'd just come across as negative. There are, after all, people who like Houston, people who voluntarily move there. Weird, I know. But I think I managed to pull off a pretty good article. Check it out yourself. I doubt it convinces you to make a trip to the Bayou City, but perhaps it will give you a few good ideas of things to do if you ever find yourself there.

Well The Calendar Says It's Spring

2008-03-22T17:21:00.005-04:00

I can't say that March is the best month for hiking in the DC region, especially this March, which certainly came in like the lion it's said to be, but has yet to become the lamb that it's said to evolve into. Cold, grey, and rainy have been the best ways to describe this month. To be honest, we have had a few nice days, but they have consistently been mid-week. The weekends have been gross. But I've survived and I'm close to being done with my first chapter. The weather willing, I'll do two hikes tomorrow, and then hike my final Metropolitan DC trail on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed.

On a positive note, getting out every single weekend to hike has really made me notice all the little changes that happen in the evolution of winter to spring. Each week I notice something new---the first crocuses and daffodils, the red buds of a maple, the blossoms on a cherry tree, the bright yellow of the forsythia, the earliest wildflowers, the greening of the underbrush, the flowering of magnolias. The hike I plan to do this coming Friday is in the National Arboretum, and I fully expect it to be rather lovely by then. The cherry blossoms are supposed to be in their full glory, and the magnolias and azaleas might be flowering too. A little sunshine would certainly help.

Anyhow, here are a few pictures of the springing of spring.

Another cool thing about hiking in the early spring, before the forests have turned green, is the opportunity to spot wildlife. It's certainly a lot easier to catch sight of whatever it is you hear tramping through the woods when the woods are bare. I've easily been able to pick out the Eastern Bluebird, whose feathers are electric blue, and I've been able to locate all the woodpeckers that I usually just hear. And back when I was just working on the proposal, Jeff and I actually caught sight of a coyote. Today, on a trip to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, which I didn't have high expectations for since the waterlilies for which the park is known don't bloom until summer, I actually had a pretty cool experience.

I saw a small red fox, which kept its eyes on me until I pulled out my camera at which point it ran away so I only got a lousy shot of it. I also saw a gorgeous Great-blue heron.

And in one of those cool nature channel moments, I watched a raccoon attack the nest of a Canada Goose. The goose went crazy, honking and hissing and flapping its wing, but that didn't deter the raccoon at all. Unfortunately, Jeff has our good camera with the zoom I needed, but I did manage to capture this shot. You can see the raccoon in the grassy area to the left of the tree. The goose is taking a break here, having worn itself out to no avail. It did later on have energy again, however, as it went crazy coming after me when I got kind of sort of close to it. (For both this shot and the one of the heron, I had to zoom beyond the capacity of my point and shoot camera to take a good picture, so the quality isn't that great.)

How Aware Are You?

2008-03-13T13:14:00.004-04:00

Go here. Watch the video. Then respond in the comments whether you passed the test.

(Don't look at the comments until you've done the test, in case someone gives something away.)

I failed.

Self-Documenting the Birthday

2008-03-10T21:51:00.003-04:00

So in the spirit of keeping up the tradition of having pictures from my birthday every year, I self-documented my present opening.

Here's me with the boxes my mom sent. My eyes are the same color as our walls in this photo.

And here I am modeling the fancy-pants eye mask she sent. I'm going to be a stylish traveler. No cheap, scratchy free airline version for me. But let me tell you, taking a picture of yourself while wearing an eye mask that blocks out all light is not the easiest thing. Imagine that.

This one captures me in action opening the box that contained lots of sweet treats plus a journal and some other goodies.

Pretty awesome photos, eh?

Good Health to Me, Good Wealth to Me

2008-03-10T09:38:00.002-04:00

At 7:03 p.m. EST this evening, I will have been in this world for 27 years. So far it hasn't really felt much like my birthday. But then again what are birthdays supposed to feel like? When I woke up this morning, I had to remind myself that it's my birthday. That's because Jeff is out of the country, so I'm celebrating solo. I think out of the 8 birthdays I've had since Jeff and I met, we've been apart for 5 of them so this is nothing new. But when he missed them in the past, I was living with roommates, so there was someone else around to do the whole celebrating thing with. I'm going out a with a friend after work for a drink or dinner, and tomorrow I'm going to lunch with two friends from work. Also my brother is coming in town on Wednesday, and my mom is sending gifts, so it's not as if the day is going unnoticed. It's just going to be a little odd opening presents all by my lonesome. I'm not quite sure how to approach it, not having someone else to show my gifts to.

Anyhow, this past year has been a good one. My freelance writing has gotten off the ground. It still has a ways to go before it's truly airborne, but it's on its way. I signed my first contract to write a book. Not the Great American Novel I have planned, but a start. And the planning for our Round the World trip has picked up speed, and is manifesting itself as a blog. And this upcoming year promises to bring more excitement with it. We'll actually take off on our trip, and by my next birthday, I'll be very familiar with South America. I'll also have completed my book and hopefully it will be well on its way to arriving in bookstores. And I'm sure there will be a fair amount of surprises that pop up over the course of the next 365 days. It will be fun to see what the first year of my "late twenties" brings.

Extra Extra Read All About It

2008-03-09T15:34:00.003-04:00

I have an article in today's San Antonio Express News about rafting the Grand Canyon. You can read it here.

They Must Think We're Stupid

2008-03-07T14:08:00.003-05:00

I just went to the CNN website, and in a bright yellow banner titled "Developing News" that spans the top of the page it says: "President Bush says, 'It's clear our economy has slowed.'"

Thank you CNN and President Bush. I would have had no idea about the current state of affairs without that very important bulletin.

With all of this hiking...

2008-03-02T20:20:00.002-05:00

I'm either going to end up in the best shape of my life or fat as a cow.

I covered about 20 miles this weekend. I can feel it, though fortunately it's an "I worked hard" ache and not any real pain.

But all those miles, make me a hungry, hungry hippo.

My existence has condensed into two things: hike and eat, sometimes simultaneously.

How Is Your Stupidity My Problem?

2008-02-28T09:09:00.003-05:00

The whole economic crisis that the United States is currently in really pisses me off. We've brought the entire thing upon ourselves by being a nation full of economic idiots. Apparently, while my parents were teaching me that no, money doesn't grown on trees, a whole lot of other people's parents were teaching them the exact opposite.

Somehow these people looked at their salaries and then looked at the price of the mega-mansions they wanted to buy and figured that somehow the hundreds of thousands of dollars in difference would miraculously resolve itself. They ignored the details of the terms of their adjustable interest loans, thinking that by the time the interest adjusted they'd have magically earned tons more money and it would be no big deal.

Then once they had their mega-mansions and adjustable interest rate loans, they took the little pieces of plastic in their wallets with their names on it and some random numbers and went hog wild furnishing their homes, and buying the big cars and the fancy clothes and the luxury vacations that you are apparently entitled to if you live in such a home. Who thought they would one day have to pay actual cash for those purchases? Isn't that little plastic card magic?

And now the entire nation is paying for the stupidity and selfishness of these people. Those of us who wisely put our money into savings are watching the earnings on those savings shrink as the interest rate is cut to rescue those who made bad choices. Those who made investments in preparation for retirement are watching their stocks take huge hits as the market struggles to remain afloat amidst the crises in housing and credit cards. Those of us who take the time to budget are watching as our budgets are blown up by the sharp increases in gas costs, food costs, and other costs, which can all be traced back to the weakness of the dollar caused by the constant lowering of interest rates. Our buying power is rapidly shrinking. Our salaries aren't increasing. We will all feel the pinch of living in a consumerist society in which we're encouraged to buy, buy, buy without any regard for how we're going to pay, pay, pay.

I am by no means a financial genius, but it doesn't take much more than simple subtraction skills to know that when you're subtracting your expenses from your income, the number on the top (aka the income) better be bigger than the number on the bottom (aka the expenses). And the more positive difference between those numbers, the better. We'd all be in a better spot if we could learn to live within, if not below, our means. Although with the government bailing out all of those who haven't quite figured this out, how's anybody ever going to learn? Maybe this is cold-hearted, but I was always taught that you have to live with the consequences of your choices, and I still firmly believe this to be true.

That's My Name on That Book

2008-02-23T07:52:00.003-05:00

I don't believe in the idea that things "happen for a reason." There's too much senseless tragedy in the world for that. I do believe, however, that sometimes opportunities arise from setbacks.

When the start date for our trip was pushed back to October, I have to admit that I was disappointed. I was set on leaving in July. But shortly after that setback occurred, I received the opportunity to interview for a job that I was greatly interested in. And now, I'm happy to say that after a fairly intensive application, interview, and proposal process, I have been awarded a position as author of the forthcoming guidebook Moon Outdoors Take a Hike, Washington, DC. The final manuscript deadline is in September, so it just works perfectly with our new trip start date.

Now guidebook writing isn't exactly a lucrative career, so I'll be keeping my regular job. Which means for the next few months, I'll be doing one of four things: 1) working my 8:30 - 6:00 schtick; 2) hiking the approximately 80 trails that will be featured in the book; 3) writing about those hikes; and 4) planning our RTW trip. It'll be crazy, but it'll be worth it.

Flying Butter

2008-02-20T19:48:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I had a choice. I could either go to a staff meeting and hear all about how we have no money, whine, whine, moan, moan, bitch, bitch. Or I could go see butterflies. Tough choice, huh?

The Smithsonian Natural History Museum just opened a walk-through butterfly exhibit. It's in the museum, but it actually requires an admission fee. Considering butterflies live for only about two weeks, and they have to be shipped in from Central and South America, it's not exactly a cheap exhibit. (Also, I'm sure they, like us, don't have any money either.) Anyhow, Smithsonian staff were invited to a preview of the exhibit, so I jumped on that. I then found out that I can get one free ticket a week for myself and discounted tickets for ,y guests. (I'm not sure how much they cost to begin with but I think it's about $5.) Maybe I'll make this a weekly habit. It's a really good pick-me-up. Who can be grumpy surrounded by such beauty?

I remembered to take my camera, so I thought I'd share a few pictures.

And That Kids is How the World Was Saved

2008-02-17T17:55:00.003-05:00

If you're reading Lives of Wander, you'll know that I have a list of things I hope to do before leaving D.C. One of the things on the list is participating in a protest.

So this past week, I'm reading the Express as I ride the Metro to work, when I come across a full page age that has "Save the Planet Protest" written in large letters across the top. Hey, I think, that's something I could get behind. Who doesn't want to save the planet? Immediately I picture myself in front of the White House advocating for Bush to sign some global warming protocol. I have a little poster, there's a chant or two. It's cool, and I go home, pat myself on the back, and cross that one off my list.

But then I start reading. Turns out the organizer of this protest isn't gunning for the president or even Congress. No, he's directing his anger at the Discovery Channel. Yes, you did read that right. He's protesting a cable television channel.

Confused as I am? Well, apparently Lee (the organizer), believes that the Discovery Channel is not actually trying to save the planet with their programming but is instead, gasp, a "corporation whose real interest lies in money." Oh my God! I had no idea! I thought I was watching a philanthropic channel whose only goal was to save the world. I'm in utter and complete shock now. My eyes have been opened!

The ad chastises the Discovery Channel for airing shows "about people who build pollution machines and other environmentally harmful practices." In one ad, he specifically mentioned Cash Cab, but I see that he didn't put it in the online version of his ad. Guess he figured out that you can't knock the Cash Cab.

Anyhow, Lee wants people to gather from 9 am to 9 pm from February 15 to February 23 to let the Discovery Channel know that they need to start broadcasting shows that really address ways to save the planet. Apparently, as a cable television channel, saving the planet is their responsibility. I knew there was a point to TV.

I'm considering driving by tomorrow to see if anyone has turned out for what must be one of the funniest protests I've ever heard of. Seriously, where do people get these ideas? If you want to read the ad, click here.

Anger

2008-02-15T09:32:00.002-05:00

The shooting at Northern Illinois University disturbs me to the core. College should be a safe place. What is happening here? Why are these sick, sick people turning classrooms into places of terror? How do these people end up with arsenals of guns and why do we keep defending their right to have them? And why, why, why if you hate your life so much can't you just kill yourself and leave everyone else out of it?

I don't care what their background story is, I have no sympathy for these shooters...the ones who take guns to classrooms, to shopping malls, to wherever. They are repulsive, selfish, horrible people. I feel very Republican saying that, but it's how I feel. There is no excuse, no reason, no justification. There is right and wrong. And they chose wrong. Very, very, very wrong.

Too Boring for the Paper

2008-02-12T11:22:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago, the financial planner Jeff and I had met with last year (and who sent us $20 movie gift certificates for Christmas---sweet!), sent us an email asking if we’d be willing to be interviewed for a Washington Post article about couples and money. After ascertaining that we wouldn’t need to provide any kind of specific details about our finances but would rather be asked general questions about how we handle money, we agreed and we each were interviewed by phone. The interviews took place while we were at work, and when we both got home from work, we shared what turned out to be the same reaction: We weren’t what the reporter was looking for.

Reporter: So do you and your husband have similar or different views on money?
Me: We’re both savers. We both believe in living within, if not below, our means.
Reporter: And you think that is both of your natural dispositions?
Me: Yes
Reporter: So you both generally agree on how to handle your money?
Me: Yes
Reporter: Oh, okay.

Reporter: Have you ever had any big fights over money?
Me: No, not that I can recall.
Reporter: Nothing? Not even something that seems small now but was a big fight at the time.
Me: Nope, we don’t really fight about money. We have a plan, and we stick to it.
Reporter: Oh, okay.

Reporter (After asking what we both do): So you make more money than your husband?
Me: At this point, yes.
Reporter: Is that an issue for either of you?
Me: No, the money all goes into the same pot at the end of the day.
Reporter: You don’t think he has a problem with you making more money than him?
Me: No, we’re not really into the idea of traditional gender roles. And I’m sure one day he’ll be making more money than I do.
Reporter: And that won’t bother you?
Me: No, it can only benefit both of us.
Reporter: (I think I hear a sigh.)

Reporter: So are you concerned about the possibility of a recession?
Me: No
Reporter: It doesn’t affect your outlook on savings at all? You won’t be tightening your belt?
Me: No, we already put a lot of our money into savings, and we’re so young that we have to look at the big picture. If we were planning to retire soon, we might be worried, but we have many, many more years before that happens.

She continued on to ask similar questions, clearly looking for an area that we disagreed on or which had caused problems in our relationship. Unfortunately, for her (and fortunately for us), there weren’t any big juicy secrets to reveal.

The article was in this weekend’s paper. We’re not in it. A couple who spent $11,000 on dining out while declaring that they were trying to save money was in it. A couple who has separate checking accounts because she bounces checks and he can’t handle it was in it. A couple whose jobs depend of government contracts that might not be renewed due to the current economic situation was in it.

I’m glad we weren’t.

And the Commercial Break Continues

2008-02-04T22:46:00.001-05:00

I have been doing a poor job of posting recently. I know. I apologize. But I'm at work on a rather large project right now, and it's sucking away all my free time. I'll be done with it next weekend, and I'll get back to posting then...if not sooner. Please don't go away.

Take that Mr. Presidents

2008-01-23T23:16:00.001-05:00

This weekend Jeff and I braved the cold and went into the city. We didn't manage to check anything off our list, but we did make our way to a few interesting exhibits---the Nature's best photos exhibit at Natural Science is really good; the Hopper exhibit at the National Gallery was probably pretty good, but it was so miserably busy that I didn't actually see anything, so I can't comment.

We also stopped in at the Portrait Gallery, which happens to share the same building as American Art, the Smithsonian where I work. As you can see, the Portrait Gallery has a very popular exhibit on America's Presidents. Just look at the crowds waiting to get in the exhibition hall.

Just kidding. American President's was practically empty. The bathroom outside American President's was, however, quite the hotspot, as crowds flocked to see the portrait of Comedy Central pundit Stephen Colbert and have their portrait snapped with it. If you watch the Colbert Report, you probably saw the fairly funny episodes about this. If you didn't, well, I bet you can catch it on You Tube.

I don't know what this says about America. But I'll be interested in seeing museum attendance numbers at the end of the month. I'm pretty sure they'll be much higher than average and I don't think it's the Presidents or any other real exhibit bringing in the crowds.

The Things That Keep Me Up at Night

2008-01-13T15:03:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late on this observation since it dates back to the bowl games and the awesome halftime shows I was treated to, but I thought I'd share anyhow.

Why do members of marching bands have to wear such terrible outfits? What rule requires the jumpsuit style ensembles, the hats that sit so low they cover the eyes of the wearer, the fringe, and the feathers? What can't the uniform be jeans and a school t-shirt?

Also, is there a dorkier person in the band than the person who plays the cymbals? I mean, what reason could you have for playing the cymbals besides a deep desire to be in the band? For many other instruments, the band could just be a side activity, the greater goal some bigger musical accomplishment. But the cymbals, um, not so much. And does it really take any talent to crash two large pieces of metal together? I think I could do that. If I wanted to be in the band. If I wanted to wear that awesome outfit.

Why I Don't Care About Experience

2008-01-08T19:17:00.000-05:00

Though the media likes to spin it as if it's a fresh story, it's not. Every time elections roll around, the candidates get to talking about experience--how they have it while their competitors don't, how it's the one thing that really matters when it comes down to it. Well, I say phooey. I don't give a rat's ass about experience when it comes to deciding who I'm going to vote for for President, and here's why.

First, and most simply, I don't believe there's a job in the world that can prepare you to be President of the United States of America. No amount of "experience" can condition you for the amount of power and the amount of responsibility that you will wield as President. It is a job like no other, and I don't envy anyone it.

Secondly, and most importantly, I've seen what "experience" does. I've seen what happens when someone slowly climbs their way up the ladder to reach that top rung. What happens is that they get jaded. They begin to believe the company line. They greet any new idea with a "won't happen." They've seen it all. They know it all. And they immediately dismiss anything that doesn't fit with their "experience." I'm not simply referring to the U.S. government here, but to institutions and corporations throughout the country and world. Look at your own boss and think about whether it's true for them.

So tell me, please, how do we progress when we are led by people unwilling to take a risk because they've "been, there, done that, and know it won't work"? We don't. We walk down the same paths over and over, moving in circles, going nowhere, except maybe backwards.

Look around at companies that have really made it big. Look at the Googles of the world. Were they led/created by people with experience? More often than not, no. They were led by people with vision, people with ideas, people who were willing to try something no one else would because they didn't have the "experience" to be convinced it wouldn't work out.

I look around me and see young people who are smart---maybe even brilliant---, hardworking, and innovative. I see people who could do a better job leading their department, company, organization, or whatever than the "experienced" folks at the wheel. But they're told to wait their turn, to watch and learn, to gain the necessary "experience." What for? So their talent can go to waste and they can one day turn into the "experienced" drone who favors stagnation over growth because it's the less risky path?

Phooey, I say again. What inspires me isn't experience. It's the desire to make the world, the country, the company, the organization better. It's the willingness to listen to ideas, to try the unconventional, to believe that different isn't wrong. It's talent. It's intelligence. It's wit. It's daring. It's passion.

A New Article from Yours Truly

2008-01-07T11:50:00.000-05:00

Check out my latest article, which appears online at the daily travel magazine, Brave New Traveler. Next year at about this time, I'll let you know if my advice is worth the paper it's not written on.

So That's How We Elect a President

2008-01-03T21:13:00.000-05:00

I just spent the past 25 minutes watching live video feed on the Washington Post website of one of the Democratic caucuses in Iowa. All I have to say is weird.

As I understand it, the Iowa caucus works in the following way:
Those interested in supporting a candidate show up at a designated caucus location by 7 p.m. sharp on polling day. Campaign personnel do all they can to get supporters to the caucuses including providing transportation, babysitting, etc. Other personnel are at the site, and their job is to gather as many people as they can to their corner (literally as each candidate is assigned a physical area in which supporters are to group). At a specified time, all caucus-goers have to be in the designated area of their candidate. They are then counted. Candidates who don't receive support from at least 15% of the total number of people in attendance are eliminated in contention. (The 15% is for a precinct that has 4 or more delegates. The % changes if the precinct has less delegates, but the one I was watching had 8 delegates, so we're going to work with that number.) Once a candidate is eliminated, the group is disbanded and the supporters of the candidates still in contention try to recruit the supporters now without a candidate into their camps. (They can also try to recruit from camps that are still in contention.) This process continues until all groups meet minimum requirements. At that point, the delegates are doled out using the following formula:

(number of supporters in the group MULTIPLIED BY the number of delegates)
DIVIDED BY
(total number of caucus participants)

The overall winner is then determined by the percentage of delegates that goes to each candidate.

Apparently, just filling out a ballot and dropping it in a box just isn't fun/easy/interesting (?) enough.

So, what does it look like in real life you ask?

The closest thing I can come up with is a high school pep rally that pits all the different class years against each other. Each group is huddled close together, and a few of the most high-spirited people are leading cheers promoting their group. The "cool kids" are just chatting, out on the edge of whatever group they've claimed, too cool for the cheers or to really pay much attention to what's going on around them. And the "teachers" (aka caucus workers) are banging on the table, shouting into megaphones, and just generally trying desperately to get everyone's attention, but failing miserably.

It's absolutely fascinating. I had no idea that that what's democracy looked like.

Oh, and did I mention the methods for counting people? It's nothing scientific, no dropping something that can't be duplicated in a box, or swiping of a card in some form of computer. No, this is Iowa folks, and there's no need for anything as fancy-pancy as that. Instead, one group used the good ol' "sound off" technique, where one person yelled out 1, then the next person yelled out 2, and so on and so forth. Another group used a technique that involved everyone raising their hand and then lowering their hand as the chosen counter pointed at them and said a number. What kept members of group 1, who were not lined up in any organized manner but were rather arranged in a big amoeba-like blob, from counting themselves again by yelling out a second number I have no idea. And what kept members of group 2--also a messy mass of humanity--from putting their hand right back up and being counted again beats me. I guess that they must know the total number of people present and the numbers from all the groups added together can't exceed that, but it just seems a little bit backwards to me.

At the same time, I'm completely tempted to move to Iowa during an election year so that I can join in the fun that is caucusing.

(In case you were wondering, the precinct I was watching broke down as follows: 3 delegates Obama, 2 delegates Clinton, 2 delegates Edwards, 1 delegate Richardson. )

Why Winter?

2008-01-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

According to Wikipedia, the ancient Romans established January 1 as the beginning of the new year in 153 BC. In the following centuries, however, this wasn't adhered to and the date that signified the start of a new year varied, most often to align it with Christian holidays or natural events such as the vernal equinox. The Gregorian calendar, which was created in 1582, listed January as the first month, thus making January 1 the first day of the new year. This wasn't universally accepted, however, and as a matter of fact, Britain and its colonies (which included America at the time) did not begin to recognize January 1 as the new year until 1752.

If you really start thinking about time, it gets confusing, considering the ways we have for measuring it are primarily man-made constructions that have varied over the course of existence of life on Earth. It still varies even today. For example, Ethiopia just celebrated the millennium on what our calendars showed as September 12, 2007. Apparently traveling back in time isn't as difficult as we all think it is. Just hop a flight to Ethiopia, and you'll be in the year 2000.

Anyhow, I've kind of meandered away from the point I originally intended to make, which is who the hell thought it was a good idea to make the new year begin right in the heart of winter? If I had the power to alter the calendar, I'd move the new year to spring. It just makes sense. Spring is about renewal, rebirth, new life. Spring is inspiring. Winter...well, it is dark and depressing.

I feel unmotivated and lazy in the winter. When it's dark and cold outside, there's little I want to do other than curl up on my couch with a blanket and a good book. I don't want to do all the things I resolve to do in the new year. When the temperature is below freezing and the wind is blowing brutally, the last thing I want to do is go outside and exercise. I have no doubt that the reason most people don't keep their New Year's resolutions is that it's just too hard to keep up your motivation in the darkest months of the year. Only the most self-punishing prevail. It's as if we're being set up to fail. Cruel, I tell you.

Additionally, it would be much more fun to celebrate the new year at a time of year when the weather is better. Who really enjoys standing outside to watch fireworks or dropping balls when the mercury is hardly registering in the thermometer? Who wants to put on a cute going-out outfit only to cover it with a heavy coat you have to keep track of all night? Not me, that's for sure. And, having just celebrated Christmas, I'm kind of partied out by the time the calendar flips. Seriously, it's just not the right time of the year for a change.

But I don't think my one woman crusade is going to make any waves, so I guess I might as well wish you a happy 2008. Good luck with those resolutions.

Merry and Bright

2007-12-27T22:16:00.001-05:00

While in Louisville for the holidays, I found myself in a couple of situations where I wish I had had my camera. The first was when I drove downtown to purchase the Phantom of the Opera tickets my brothers and I gave my mom for Christmas. It was a dreary day, which made for a fantastic river view, as everything was shrouded in fog except for the very tips of the bridges. Very cool. The second was when my mom and I went to the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center to browse the studios. In the courtyard, an ice sculptor was at work on an angel, and there were definitely a couple of opportunities for interesting shots. But alas, I didn't have my camera on me, so the only place those images can be found is in my head.

I did manage to take a few pictures though. The first two of are a holiday display on Jefferson Street in downtown Louisville. I thought it had a nice old-timey feel.

It wouldn't be Christmas at the Dowell house without a picture on the stairs. Since time immemorial, all the kids have squished on the stairs for a picture before running down to the living room to see what Santa brought. We all always look beautiful, as you can see.

And here's what the living room looked like before we ransacked it. When I was little, Santa didn't wrap our presents. We'd rush down the stairs to toys everywhere. It was amazing. Now that we're older and have a better idea of just what it is we're getting, the presents are wrapped to maintain some element of surprise. We each have a set spot where our presents are, so we know exactly where to plop down and start the unwrapping. And when it comes to Christmas morning, we're not the one-person-at-a-time type of family. It's a free for all, with everyone ripping their presents open and exclaiming over their gifts. It's also presents first. There would be serious mutiny if anyone even suggested breakfast before presents.

Though Jeff and Matthew got plenty of big boy presents, they seemed to most enjoy this race track, which was a gift from Santa to the whole family. It's a throwback to one of our favorite toys. We used to spend entire days racing cars down the track (which in the old version had only 2 lanes, I think). Each race was a heat of sorts, with the slower cars eliminated and the faster cars moving on round after round until we were left with one car to crown champion. Obviously, the track hasn't lost its allure.

This year we even managed to take a family picture in which everyone looks good. No closed eyes or goofy expressions. It's a Christmas miracle! The tripod and remote we got for Christmas obviously work quite well.

Where We'll Land Nobody Knows

2007-12-18T22:18:00.000-05:00

As Jeff moves into the final* stages of his PhD program, he's starting to think about where to go next. Professionally the next step for him is to take a post-doc position. Since we'll be traveling for a year, he won't move directly on to this step, but will take it on as soon as we return, hopefully. As finding a post-doc position while half a world away in a developing nation with unreliable means of communication could prove difficult (I love to understate things), he's working on making connections and investigating options now. (He's a thinker, I tell you.) Being unemployed and poor is not really something we are aiming for.

So we spend a decent amount of time these days talking about where we want to move, sometimes in a very philosophical if we could move anywhere type of way, but more often in a "there's an interesting program here; what do we think of the place" type of way. Locations that have come up in regards to the second type of conversation have been Memphis (St. Jude's Children's Hospital), Delaware (I can't remember what), and Sacramento (UC Davis program).

I can't say I was doing cartwheels over any of those. In fact, I was almost convinced that Jeff was trying to come up with some pretty bad locations as some sort of psychological tool to make mediocre places seem awesome. I was waiting for him to pull out Fargo, Boise, or Buffalo.

But then I got to thinking. First, a post-doc position usually only lasts 2 or 3 years. Second, I'm willing to travel all over the developing world with nothing but a small backpack, and I'm not willing to relocate with all of my things to any city in one of the most developed nations in the world? Third, is there anything better for a writer than to have a multitude of experiences, to meet all kinds of people, and to observe life in all its different forms?**

So, go ahead and bring it.*** Anchorage or Asheville, Billings or Bermuda, Charleston or Cleveland, Detroit (okay, I do draw the line somewhere) or Dublin....I can handle it.

(And yes, you can go ahead and give me the best wife of the year award.)

*The word "final" should be taken with a grain of salt. Jeff's working hard to finish but a lot of things still have to fall into place and the Neuroscience gods must smile down on us until we can say "absolutely final." We're hoping that's about 6 months from now. It could be 9. It will most certainly happen in 2008.

**What could actually be better for writing, in a weird, messed-up kind of way, is being stuck in a town that really, really sucks. Without anything else to do, there'd be so much more time for writing. And my imagination would really get a work-out.

***This does not mean that I won't come up with all kinds of negative things to say about any proposed place. I will most certainly still whine, moan, and complain. But then I'll buck up and and make the best of it. That's just my style.

Is It Really Almost Christmas?

2007-12-16T17:24:00.000-05:00

Hello, anyone still out there?

Sorry I've been neglectful about posting lately. I've been feeling a bit over-committed, and Spargel took the hit.

The holidays are here, and though it doesn't quite feel like it to me (I'm not sure why, but I'm thinking that will change when I head home on Thursday), we've been doing all the typical Christmas things.

Our tree is up. It looks pretty much the same as it does every year.
I must say, however, that I think getting the tree up this year may have been even more difficult than the year I did it myself. We just couldn't find the perfect tree. In past years, we've easily been able to find the right one, but this year, we looked, and looked, and looked, and then finally settled for what seemed best. As you can see, it looks nice.

Unfortunately, however, the tree trunk has scoliosis. It it far from straight. After a bit of struggle, we managed to get it to stand up. But after loading it with ornaments, it was no longer what I would call upright. So we then spent forever trying to adjust, the tree fully decorated with lights and ornaments, and only two set of hands. Jeff would adjust the stand while I held the tree, but we needed a third person to tell us when it was straight. Let's just say there were many, many do-overs, and I was close to throwing the tree on the porch and saying forget it. But I guess we managed to right it well-enough since it has now been standing for one week without any tottering. Woohoo!

In other Christmas news, I spent the weekend doing some holiday baking. I cut back a bit this year, because I was tired and busy, and because, let's face it, we just don't have that many friends around here who we can give our cookies to. So this year we have chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, macadamia macaroons, cookie dough truffles, s'mores bars, and spiced nuts. All but the s'mores are tried and true, and most are different from the ones my mom, the queen of Christmas cookies, makes. Since we'll be home for about a week and can munch on her cookies then, I figured I'd avoid repeats.

My holiday shopping is pretty much complete, although I have two things I need to pick up once I get to Louisville. I know what they are and where to get them, so it shouldn't be hard although I hate not having them yet. I just love to cross stuff off my lists.

Two more holiday parties this week, and then we are done. I've already had two work-related ones (one for the entire Smithsonian and one for my department), and I have one more on Monday (for my specific museum). Jeff has also already had two (one for grad students and one for his entire lab), and he has one more on Wednesday (for his section of the lab). I can't complain about the free food and drink, but it's starting to be a little much. Couldn't we just consolidate them into one fabulous party instead of many mediocre ones?

Does that sound Grinch-y? I really do love the holidays. It's just that right now I feel like we've been squeezing the holidays in between a zillion other things. It'll be nice to be home and not have all those other things to worry about. I'm ready for a break.

Hermey, Yukon Cornelius, and that Red-Nosed Reindeer

2007-12-04T09:43:00.000-05:00

Set your DVRs, VCRs, and Tivos, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer airs tonight at 8 p.m. (Eastern Time) on CBS. Can it be Christmas without at least one viewing of this classic? I don't think so.

A Library Beyond All Libraries

2007-11-28T21:14:00.000-05:00

My brother Gregory claims that libraries make him ill, and thus he does his best to avoid them. I think, however, that I found one that he might just like.

While out visiting Jeff's family for Thanksgiving, Jeff and I ventured into Seattle on Saturday and spent the day checking out sites, both new and familiar. One of the sites that was new to both of us was the Central Library of the Seattle Public Library system. The library, designed by architects Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Ramus, opened in 2004 to much acclaim and a couple of dissenting voices. It's hip, modern, and nothing like how you expect a library to appear.

Credit: Seattle Public Library Web site. (It was cold outside and we didn't think to stop and take a photo.)

Inside, the building teems with cool features. The first thing we noticed was a overhead book handling system that was completely high-tech, taking returned books and automatically sorting them based on where in the library they belong. Then we noticed the interesting art installation on the floor--556 lines of raised text in 11 languages found in the library's collection. The text is reversed "to reference both how books are produced and how we learn to read from symbols that are at first unknown to us." Also on Level 1 and rising upward all the way to Level 3 (Level 2 is a staff only floor) is a huge auditorium used for readings, performances, etc.

After peeking around Level 1, we hopped on the escalators, which are a crazy neon green color. Impossible to miss.

Though not a great picture, you can get an idea of the escalator's striking color.

Level 3 houses popular books and two things which seem pretty unique to me, at least as far as libraries go. One is a coffee/sandwich cart. My entire life eating in a library has been a big no-no, but here it's actually encouraged. Although, to be fair, you can't take the food out of this little area. Additionally, there was a gift shop that didn't sell used books but instead featured an eclectic array of items for the book lover that was, for the most part, not at all stuffy or intellectual, but in fact rather lighthearted and humourous.

Now Level 4 is the location of meeting rooms, but we're not talking your typical library meeting room. You know, the dark, dank, and dull meeting rooms common to most libraries and all too often tucked away in the basement. No, this Level's circular corridors are painted bright, bright red. It was very funky and space-agey.

Don't worry. The meeting rooms are painted in neutral colors.

Level 5, for reasons I'm not sure of, is referred to as the mixing chamber. It's really more of a multi-media floor with hundreds and hundreds of computers available for public use. A large librarian's desk is also on this floor and overhead is an electronic installation that shows what's being checked out...kind of a tally of what's being read in Seattle.

The bulk of the library's collection can be found on Levels 6-9. These levels actually spiral upward with each row a tiny bit higher than the row before it. The slope is really gentle, so much so that you don't actually realize you're walking up a ramp, but if you browsed the collection from the beginning of the Dewey Decimal System to the end, you'd actually rise three floors. How cool is that? Also, unlike in other libraries where you have to get up close to each row to see what Dewey Decimal numbered books can be found down it, in this library you can tell from fairly far away thanks to big floor mats at the end of each row with the relevant numbers on them.

The top floor, Level 10, is a reading room with study tables and comfy lounging chairs. It's also the place to go for the best views. Through the glass, you can peer out at the city.

You can also go out on a small landing and peer down at the library below you. It was intensely dizzying (I don't think you'll ever catch me bungee jumping) but really cool.

You could also get a view of the video projection by artist Gary Hill, which is installed on the white atrium wall. Although we were more intrigued by the cool patterns the ceiling projected as the sun played peek-a-boo through the clouds.

In this second image, you can see the video projection, although not very well.

Art-wise, I was much more intrigued by the video sculptures by Tony Oursler, which are in the wall of the escalator between Levels 3 and 5. I was too busy checking it out to take a picture, but here's one I co-opted from the Web.

Credit: Seattle Public Library Web site

I didn't realize the library would be so interesting and something I'd want to write about on my blog, so I didn't take as many pictures as I wish I had. (Plus inside photography is hard.) I encourage you to go the Seattle Public Library website to check out their slideshow of images. And if you're ever in Seattle, be sure to check it out. I can pretty much guarantee that you've never seen a library like this before.

I'll Take the Day After

2007-11-25T18:03:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving. It's never been my favorite holiday.

When I was young, I didn't care much for turkey, stuffing, cranberries, or any of the other traditional food associated with the holiday. I wasn't even much of a mashed potato fan at that point in my life. And what is Thanksgiving about if not eating? It doesn't have the presents and festive decorations of Christmas. It doesn't have the candy and egg hunts of Easter. It was just food and family get togethers, a holiday for grown-ups in my childish eyes.

Then, was I was 16 years old and finally coming around to appreciating the holiday, my grandpa passed away during Thanksgiving week. We spent Thanksgiving at the funeral home in deep mourning of a man I loved dearly. My dislike of the holiday only deepened.

When I went away to college, I quit going home for Thanksgiving and became somewhat of a Turkey Day orphan. I had the usual feasts in Baton Rouge and Galveston. I made do with chicken in Freiburg and Athens. And when Jeff and I got married, I began spending Thanksgiving in Seattle. While I'd be loathe to give up Christmas with my family, I can handle Thanksgiving just about any way you give it to me.

But there is one thing that I especially miss about Thanksgiving at home, but it doesn't actually have anything to do with Thanksgiving day. It's all about the day after: Black Friday.

When I was little, I'd wake up on Black Friday to find my mom gone. I never quite knew where she was, but she'd be gone a good part of the day, "running errands" according to my dad. The year I discovered that Santa Claus wasn't quite who I thought he was, I found out that the "errands" weren't quite of the toilet paper buying type, but instead she was out in search of our Christmas gifts. That year my mom invited me to go along with her.

We were up early. It was still dark outside, the air crisp and clear except for the little clouds of heat made by your breath. My mom had a list and a big stack of ads, a plan for hitting the stores in the right order so as to maximize deals and hit as many stores as we could right after they opened. (And while this was early, back in the day, it wasn't the ridiculous 3 a.m. - 5 a.m. openings that are so common now. We weren't that crazy.) Strategically we'd go after the hot items first, the toys that every other person in town wanted too, and most of the time we'd succeed in nabbing that most wanted item, the number one on one of my brothers' Christmas lists, the toy that they were counting on Santa to bring, the reason they'd shape up right away as soon as they were reminded that Santa was watching. I thought it was great fun, a scavenger hunt of sorts complete with the thrill of victory when you found just what it was you were looking for.

After we'd hit all the openings of the big box stores, we'd head to the mall and go straight for the Cinnabon store for a gooey breakfast treat. Then it was more shopping until our stomachs started grumbling again and we'd sit down for lunch. Not too long after that, we'd head home, our feet tired, the trunk of the car full.

I don't know whether it was the secret nature of the shopping trip or just the fact that I got to spend the whole day with my mom (and not share her with any of my brothers or my dad) that made it such a fun day, but it was. And every year, when I eat my turkey or whatever stand in is at hand wherever I am, I recall those days with a sense of happiness and a tad bit of magical feeling. So you keep your memories of turkey and stuffing, I'll enjoy my memories of shopping and Cinnabon.

To-Do: Nothing

2007-11-18T22:13:00.000-05:00

Jeff and I had nothing to do this weekend. It was awesome. It has been forever since both of us were at home with no obligations. I took full advantage and gave myself permission to relax. I didn't get out my planner at all and look at the huge list of things to do that I always seem to have over my head.

I have to admit that the last few weeks I've been a bit overwhelmed. Jeff's been out of town or extra busy working long hours in the lab, so I feel like I've had to handle a bit more of the household things than usual, and on top of that, we've had a bit more household excitement than usual with the installation of new windows and window coverings. I've been taking a class at the Writer's Center, which eats up my Thursday nights (7:30 to 10 p.m.) and involves outside assignments. I've been querying and writing, which although fun has become a bit stressful recently in that I feel like I'm always working, either at the full-time job or at home on the freelance stuff. I've been planning our big trip and working on our blog (new site coming soon...maybe tonight). I've been running and trying to work out. I've been pushing away thoughts of Christmas and all the related gift shopping and listmaking and card writing and cookie baking. I've been attending conferences and weddings. And I've been working that regular, everyday 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. job.

I must say that this past week all that activity started to get to me, and I found myself a little grumpy. (I don't think the cold and dark are helping either.) As I walked to the Metro one morning, the children's book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" popped into my head. That pretty much summed up my mood.

I have a tendency to be hard on myself. I always feel like I should be doing something productive. Just the other night, I was actually thinking to myself that I should find somewhere to volunteer. (Did I mention in my to do list that I also already do volunteer editing for the Holocaust Museum?) Obviously, at this point, that's not a good idea, and I recognize that, but I still can't help thinking it.

And you know what doesn't help? Things like the Smithsonian Magazine Young Innovator's Issue featuring 37 people under age 36 making big noise in the arts and sciences. Or the National Book Foundations "5 Under 35" fiction awards. Reading about these people only makes me feel like I should be doing more, achieving more. It leaves me thinking, why isn't that me? Is it because I'm not talented enough or smart enough or work hard enough? It's stupid, I know. I don't need you to tell me that. And I'm not fishing for compliments here. I'm just revealing how I think, as messed up as it is.

But this weekend, I gave myself permission to relax...without guilt, which is the key. There are plenty of times I've sat down to watch a TV program but not enjoyed one minute of it because the whole time I was thinking that I should be doing something else. Seriously, relaxing is not my forte. But I succeeded this weekend. On Friday, I read, from start to finish, "A Thousand Splendid Suns." (Highly recommended. I didn't intend to read it all in one day but I could not stop. And just as an aside, Khaled Hosseini's first book wasn't published until he was 38, so take that all you Under 35s.) On Saturday, Jeff and I played Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii (I admit I was skeptical, but it was very enjoyable, and Jeff had a great time laughing at me), and we also played a couple of rounds of Hoopla. Today, I made some spiced nuts, caught up on Grey's Anatomy, watched some football, and went out with Jeff for sushi. It was fun.

(But, okay, I admit it, I couldn't just do fun things. I also dusted and ran the vacuum, did 5 loads of laundry, picked up needed items from Target, and went to the stores to check out a few items for our Christmas list. Oh well, it's as close as I think I'll ever get to a purely relaxing weekend. It's just the way I am.)

Different Strokes

2007-11-17T13:54:00.000-05:00

At the end of October, Jeff attended a conference for grad students in Stockholm. One of the sessions he attended was about career development, and he came home to tell me that one of the tips from the presenter was to marry another scientist.

Well, guess what, too late. We're already married. I'm not a scientist and I don't plan to convert to being one.

The presenter's reasoning was that only another scientist could truly understand you and the demands of your work. I call bullshit. Sure, I don't always understand the intricacies of what Jeff does. I know he works with proteins and his current focus is Parkinson's disease. I can't tell you all the little details. But I can understand hard work. I can understand the need to put in long hours to get where you want to be. I can maybe not like it so much when he has to go in to the lab on the weekends (he's there right now), but I can understand that it's what he needs to do.

I think Mr. Presenter maybe had a bit of a ego problem, a feeling that science is more important than other fields, bigger, better, more demanding. Does he think it's easy to be a baseball player, a novelist, or an architect? The truth is, in my opinion, that if you want to be good at what you do, if you want to be one of the best at what you do, regardless of what that is, you have to work long and hard. You don't have to be in the science field to understand that. You just have to be someone with passion, someone who also wants to be succeed, someone who understands hard work, commitment, and dedication.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if scientists only married scientists, engineers only engineers, writers only writers, accountants only accountants? Eek, I quiver thinking about what those dinner conversations must be like.

"Oh, honey, you should have seen me at work today. Nobody handles a pipette like I do."
"That's what I love about you, you know. There's nothing hotter than a man in a lab coat and goggles."
"Well you're not half-bad yourself. I wish I could transfer cells as well as you do. Now how do you keep your medium so healthy?"

(Yes, trust me, that is what two scientists sound like when they are together.)

So, anyhow, Jeff and I have very different careers. He couldn't do mine, and I couldn't do his. But we have many common interests, which carry the conversation through dinner. We have other things to talk about besides DJ1 or Color Field painting. But you know what, we also can talk about those things. Because while I'm no expert on science, and he's no expert on writing, editing, or art, we are interested in each other and what each other does.

And because of our differences, I think that we might just actually be more knowledgeable people. If it weren't for me, Jeff wouldn't be reading the New Yorker or going to see plays or attending art openings. And if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have the first clue about cell culture, I'd be much less likely to stay up late watching baseball, and I'd definitely never have been to a party celebrating PINK1.

Watch Out Rudolph

2007-11-12T18:29:00.000-05:00

We all know that on Christmas, Santa and his helpers travel by reindeer-pulled sleigh. But have you ever wondered how the North Pole crew gets around the rest of the year? I hadn't thought much about it, but this past Wednesday, as I flew to Louisville, I got the answer. They use Southwest. I had no idea the North Pole was part of the Southwest route, but here's your proof.

When the plane we were to take to Louisville landed, off filed about 25 elves. They were tiny and dressed in green and red velvet. You should have seen all the gaping mouths and stares. Soon enough the elves were swarming the seating area, handing out candy canes, posters, luggage tags, and other goodies, all advertising the movie Fred Claus. Apparently Southwest is the official airline of the Fred Claus Elves Tour.

So the lesson here is that you really better watch out, since you never know where or when you might run into Santa's helpers. You wouldn't want them to catch you being naughty.

Next Year I'm Not Changing My Clock

2007-11-05T21:59:00.001-05:00

I do not like the fact that we are no longer saving daylight. I've been a lazy bum tonight, and I am unabashedly blaming it on the fact that it was 100% dark by the time I left work tonight.

Run, Run as Fast as You Can

2007-11-03T21:09:00.000-04:00

You know those people who run easily and naturally, the ones who go out for a run intending to just run something like 5 miles but before they've known it they've run 10? Yeah, I don't like those people. That's not me. I don't think I've ever run a distance and estimated it to be less than it was. If anything, I overestimate.

Really, that was only 2 miles; it felt like 10. That's more my experience.

But running is good for you, and it's easy to do in the sense that it doesn't require any special equipment. You don't have to belong to a gym or drive to a specific place in order to do it. Lace up your tennis shoes and walk out your front door, and you're ready to go. So in an effort to be healthy and in shape, I've been running since June.

Actually I've been running for years, but it's always been sporadic. I'd run every day for a week, then quit for two weeks. I'd never get into any kind of rhythm, and I'd never see any type of improvement in either time, distance, or ease. I often made excuses--it's too hot, too cold; I'm too busy, too tired. You know how it goes. I'm a goal-oriented person, but I didn't have any goals for running.

So this summer, I decided to do the Couch to 5K program. Now, I'm not a couch potato. I didn't need to start at zero. But I did anyhow. I followed the program step by step because it gave me a precise goal for each week. And while starting in the summer might not have been the most brilliant idea--heat for one, lots of travel for two--that's what I did. And I managed to make it all the way through the program, 100+ degree days, oppressive humidity, and all. If there's anything I dislike more than things I'm not good at, it's quitting.

As the weeks passed, and I ran farther with each session, I found that running did come a bit easier (mind you, still not easy). But I could feel my legs getting stronger and my breathing becoming less labored. So, when I completed the program, I didn't stop running. Instead I got Jeff in on the act and now we get up 3 days a week and go running. For years, I have sworn that I cannot run in the morning, but I think I may have been wrong. Perhaps running before your brain is fully awake and can realize the ridiculousness of what you're doing is a good idea. I'm only hoping we can keep it up through the cold and the dark of winter. I might not run that fast or that far, but I am, in some sense, a runner. And I like the sense of accomplishment that comes with pacing off a few miles first thing in the morning.

A Request

2007-10-27T20:04:00.001-04:00

If you subscribe to any magazines that you discard after you've read them, would you mind saving them for me? One thing you hear over and over as an aspiring freelance writer is that you need to be familiar with your intended market and that the best way to do this is to read the magazine. Well, folks, that gets expensive. I subscribe to the magazines that are at the top of my "I wish I could get published here" list, but there are a ton of magazines out there, and I just can't afford to get them all...even just to buy an issue of each from the newsstand would be a little much. And while I'm most interested in travel writing, there's room in almost nearly every magazine for some type of travel piece.

I'm only trying to acquire one issue of each magazine, preferably a recent issue considering how often magazines change their styles, so I'm not asking that you save them all for me, but if you could set aside one issue, I'd be most appreciative. I'm also particularly interested in regional magazines, as those don't even show up on my newsstands, but seem like they could be potentially good markets. If I'll be seeing you over the holidays, you can just hang on to them until then and I'll haul them back with me. Otherwise, if you don't mind, you can mail them to me (you may even be able to mail them via Media Mail, which is pretty cheap). I'll be most grateful.

I'm pretty much interested in anything you can come up with, but if you're not sure, you can leave a comment, and I'll let you know. Thanks!

New Article Published

2007-10-17T20:32:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, the Frederick News-Post ran an article I wrote on the Lake Champlain Islands. You can read the article on my Web site or on the Frederick News-Post Web site.

Glory Hallelujah, The Sun Does Shine on Seattle

2007-10-16T19:06:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, Jeff and I went out to Bainbridge Island for the wedding of our friends Britt and John. It was a lovely wedding and reception, and we had a fabulous time.

There was one thing about it that was extra amazing: the weather was beautiful. Seriously, blue skies and sunshine (once some crazy, cool fog lifted in the early afternoon) .

You couldn't have asked for a more perfect day anywhere, and this was in the Seattle area.

In six years of travels to the Seattle area, I have never had good weather (except for some sunshine on a side trip to Mt. Rainier, but I believe even then it was raining in Seattle proper). Regardless of when I go, whether it's July and August (which are just gorgeous according to Seattleites) or February or November (when you might except things not to be all that great), the weather is always the same: grey, cold, rainy. No exceptions.

On this trip, however, I got not just one sunny and nice day, but three. I didn't see a drop of rain or a grey sky. It was miraculous. So we took advantage and spent Friday wandering around downtown Seattle. We made two fun discoveries: the Globe bookstore, which sells all kinds of fabulous old books plus some nifty baseball postcards drawn by a local artist, and the Chocolate Box, where I had a Venezuelan sipping chocolate, which is pretty much a really intense chocolate bar in melted form.

We walked up and down First Avenue, which you could fill a whole day exploring. Lots of great shops. Too bad it's usually too soggy to enjoy a stroll. On Sunday (the wedding was Saturday and pretty much filled that day), we checked out a handful of Bainbridge Island parks. The leaves were changing up there but still primarily on the trees, so it was really pretty. Unfortunately, we forgot to take our camera so we didn't get any photos. I'm kicking myself for not taking it with us to the parks as I don't think I'll ever see such a lovely Seattle day again.

But, here we are at Britt's wedding, enjoying the fabulous day. Our friend Chris was playing photographer.

Stairmastering it at Shenandoah

2007-10-07T10:06:00.000-04:00

Even though temperatures on this "fall" weekend were hovering up near ninety, Jeff and I decided to head down to Shenandoah for a hike. With the elevation there, it's usually cooler, and this was true yesterday, as the temperatures were closer to 80. We've done a fair bit of hiking in Shenandoah and wanted to do a new trail, so we stopped in at the visitor center to get a recommendation from a ranger.

We ended up 19 miles down Skyline Drive on a hike to Little Devils Stairs. We were doing the circuit route from the parking lot, with the total miles to be hiked at 7.7. About 5 of those miles are along a fire road, so the trail is wide and there aren't too many steep changes in grade. It was kind of like walking down a country road.

For the most part, the trees were still green, although off on the hillside you could see a few trees beginning to change.

And even though the trees weren't bursting with color, there were plenty of colorful and interesting plants to enjoy.

The other 2.5 miles or so of the hike were much more strenuous, pretty much a rock scramble down into a canyon and then back out. The trail crossed over streams (although the current drought conditions left most of them dry or just barely trickling) and up cliff faces. It was quite a lot of fun, although also hard work. And it was very, very humid down in the canyon, not at all cool like it was up on the fire road. In total, the hike took us 3.5 hours and was a very good work-out. I'd be lying if I said we didn't feel it today.

Towards the end of the hike, we saw something neither of us had ever seen before and felt duty-bound to document it for all of you.

That's right, stick-bug sex. Bet you've never seen that before, now have you?

Lives of Wander: The Blog

2007-10-04T20:36:00.000-04:00

In preparation for the big round the world trip Jeff and I plan to go on, departure date summer 2008, we have created a blog. We're going to use the blog as a means of documenting our trip and staying in touch with friends and family. So why start it now, you ask? Well, we also want to use the blog as a means of recording our pre-trip planning, thoughts, hopes, goals, etc. In many ways, this trip is bigger than a year. It already consumes a good part of our life...at least as far as thinking and planning and dreaming go. We've made a few posts and plan to continue through the planning and the doing. We'll see where it goes after that.

We're rolling it out slowly, introducing it first to you, my loyal Spargel readers. We have high hopes that it will grow though, so please don't be shy about sharing it with friends or linking to it on your blog. In a way, we're hoping the blog will become a conversation...not just us talking at you. So please, leave comments, start a dialogue, check in often. (I'm talking to you lurkers too. I know about you people who read Spargel but don't comment. Don't try to hide.)

So without further ado, may I present Lives of Wander.

The Big Ask

2007-10-04T09:36:00.001-04:00

Today on the way to work, I passed a panhandler. I pass many of them every day so there's nothing unusual about this. But instead of asking in a mumble if I had any change, he very clearly and boldly asked if I had $5 I could spare.

Go big or go home, right?

Darkness and the World of Writing

2007-09-29T19:19:00.000-04:00

It's just now 7:20 p.m., and it's already dark outside. Oh how I dread the upcoming changing of the clocks! It's already dark much too early now. I can't bear to think of what it will be like by the time we change them in early November, over a month from now. I hate the darkness.

But on a lighter note (hehe), it was a glorious day today. Beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures. I took advantage and went down to the National Book Festival on the Mall. I first listened to an interview with Edward P. Jones, author of The Known World and multiple collections of short stories. He's also the winner of a MacArthur Genius Award (I want one of those!). And though I admired his novel, I must say that I found him to be rather boring in person. The Genius thing didn't really come through.

The second speaker, Joyce Carol Oates, more than made up for it though. I'm a big fan of her work and have read many of her novels (though not nearly all considering she is superhumanly prolific). I think We Were the Mulvaneys is my favorite, although her most recent novel, The Gravedigger's Daughter, is quite good too (except for the first 12 or so pages which I found to be s-l-o-w). Anyhow, if you've read any of her work, you'd know that she tends to be a bit fatalistic, with a somewhat tragic view of the world, so I found it quite refreshing to be witness to a fantastic sense of humor. Really, she was very funny. Even Jeff, not nearly the bibliophile that I am, was laughing out loud.

Interestingly both authors offered similar advice when asked what they'd say to an aspiring writer. Instead of the usual "Dream big" offered by most people in advice-giving positions, they both said "Expect nothing." In the writing world, rejection is such a common-place occurrence that it often destroys people unaccustomed to failure, causing them to quit before they really even get started. Both suggested that if you expect nothing, you won't be torn apart by the disappointment and will be able to continue to churn out works and send them away. And then, rather than being disappointed by all the rejections, you'll be pleasantly surprised when someone, somewhere does want something you've written. Makes sense. But I'm not sure a big banner over my desk that says "Expect nothing" would be all that inspiring.

Brookside Gardens

2007-09-24T19:32:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day, warm and sunny but not humid and sticky, so I decided to make the most of it with a trip to Brookside Gardens where I played around with the camera. I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

Tagged!

2007-09-22T12:23:00.001-04:00

My friend Megan tagged me, which means that I'm supposed to share on my blog eight random things about myself that you might not know. I doubt that any one of you will find all eight of these surprising considering I think the people who read my blog know me pretty darn well, but, hey maybe there's a surprise tucked in here for someone.

1. Growing up there were three things I wanted to be: President, an astronaut, and a novelist. I kept the President dream up through 8th grade when I was student body president. Shortly after that I realized that a) I'm not good at schmoozing or selling myself, b) I am a very private person, and c) Politics is dirty. I kept the astronaut dream alive through my first year of college. I studied astronomy at GSP and went to Rice intending to study engineering and hoping to do some kind of work with nearby NASA. My inability to grasp physics effectively killed that dream. The novelist dream began early when I won my first Young Authors contest in first grade and has never really died, although it's been repressed at times primarily because it seemed like such an abstract thing and I've always been much too rational and responsible to just say screw it all I'm going to try to write a book. But, lately I've realized that a) I'm not going to starve and b) it's still the one thing I really want to do, so in a year or two I'm going to go ahead and say screw it, I'm writing a book.

2. I'm afraid of dogs. There's no reason for this--I've never been bitten or had a bad experience. I'm just highly uncomfortable around them. (Although Jeff is convinced that I secretly like them.)

3. I am terrible at relaxing. I can't sit on the couch and watch TV without feeling like I should be doing something more productive. I can't lay on the beach or at the pool for more than 15 minutes without getting restless. A resort vacation would be my worst nightmare. I always need to be doing something, seeing something, learning something. Reading is the closest thing I can do to relaxing guiltlessly.

4. I'm a book junkie. I read everything I can get my hands on. And if you talk to me when I'm reading, I won't answer you. I'm not being rude, I just get so absorbed in reading that I literally do not hear you talking to me. When I was a kid I loved books so much that when my family went to the lake, I'd bring a book and read while everyone else fished or swam or whatever.

5. I'm actually very silly, but only around people I am very close to. Around others, I come across as very reserved and serious.

6. I have never in my life eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I like peanut butter sandwiches and I've been known to eat jelly bread for breakfast, but the idea of combining the two makes my stomach churn.

7. I'm almost always cold (or chilly as I like to say). Unless it's over 90 degrees and I'm in direct sunlight, I'm probably cold.

8. When I was little, I had a Madonna tape (from my cousin Lisa I think) with the song Like a Virgin on it. My next door neighbor and I used to dance to this song while wearing halos or wings and acting like angels. This is because I thought virgin meant angel thanks to the Church always referring to Mary as the Virgin Mary. It seemed like a logical leap to me...Who would have thought they'd reference someone's level of sexual experience so often in a religious place?

Now it's my turn to tag eight people...except I don't think I know eight people who have blogs, so um, if I know you and you have a blog and haven't been tagged before, consider yourself it.

Farewell to Summer

2007-09-19T11:17:00.000-04:00

Though it's still over a week until its official arrival, fall has begun to sneak in. The sun isn't as intense, the air carries a slight chill, there's dew on the ground, and the hours of daylight keep shrinking. I like fall...I really do...but I love summer. So it is with sadness that I bid it adieu.

I will miss...
*perfectly ripe peaches dripping juice down my face
*the smell of garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers
*sweet crisp yellow corn on the cob
*pints of multi-color cherry tomatoes
*bundles of brightly-colored zinnias
*waking up to sunshine
*twilight until late in the night
*cookouts
*hanging out at the pool
*flip flops and bare legs

And you? What will you miss?

New York City: The Last of the Vacation Narratives

2007-09-13T22:38:00.000-04:00

From Boston, Jeff and I headed down to NYC, but stopped outside of the city in Norwalk, CT, where we were able to visit with my friend Despina and her husband Taso. They'd literally just gotten back from Greece, where they were married, so it was very generous of them to have us stay, but we were so happy to get to spend the evening hanging out with them. Especially since they introduced us to this amazing place called Chocopologie, where we went for dessert. Between the four of us we ordered some truffles (the dark chocolate truffle with burnt caramel and sea salt was phenomenal...we weren't convinced when the waitress suggested it, but we were sold after the first taste), chocolate beignets, and a sampler that included ice cream, mousse with ganache, a molten cake, and some kind of weird chocolate "butter." It was a delicious night!

The next morning we said goodbye and took the train into NYC, where we had a $19 hotel reservation and tickets to the Yankees. The hotel was a serious steal. It was a few blocks from Grand Central station, within easy walking distance to many sites, and the room was fantastic. Comfy bed, spacious bathroom, quiet, well-decorated, and with a cool lighting system that gave you control over every light in the room from one panel by the bed (one on each side actually). What more could you ask for? Lucky us.

Oddly enough the worst weather of the trip was in NYC, where it was kind of chilly and where it started to rain after the game ended. You'd think we might have been cool further up north, but instead the further back south we came, the more we pulled out our jeans and long sleeve shirts. Anyhow, we weren't going to let a little rain ruin our trip, so we put our rain jackets to use and set out. We first went to Chinatown, where I added three pashminas to my collection, and where we had dinner. The lo mein was great. I wasn't as big a fan of the beef dish--weird texture, I thought--but Jeff liked it. Oh well, now I know not to order that dish in the future.

The rain wasn't letting up, but we kept up with our walking, heading to the Brooklyn Bridge, which we walked halfway across for the view. I actually think it might have been a better view because of the rain. Kind of romantic if you will.

We then paid our tributes at Ground Zero, which is hard to fathom, especially since it now seems to be one huge construction zone. But there's definitely a hole in the horizon. And then we wrapped up our rainy New York evening with a stroll through Times Square, bathing in its neon glory, before cozying up in our nice, warm, $19 bed.

The next morning we had a few hours before we had to head out of town, so we first headed up to Central Park, where we wandered past the Children's Zoo, the Bethesda Fountain & Terrace, one of the ponds, and Strawberry Fields.

The Bethesda Fountain & Terrace was my favorite part of the park. It has a very Eastern feel to it, which was heightened by a man playing a lute, its haunting melody floating across the park.

On our way back to the hotel to pick up our belongings, we enjoyed a few slices of New York pizza and took in Radio City and Rockefeller Center.

Hardly enough time for NYC I know--what about the Met, the MOMA, SoHo, the Village, Fifth Avenue--but I'm certain will be back. There's just way too much to see. and the city is nothing if not intoxicating. I first saw NYC when I was 14, and at that time I said that I thought it would be an amazing place to live for one year. When I told Jeff this (before our trip), he kind of scoffed. He'd only seen NYC briefly as a child while waiting for a passport or something, and he was convinced he wouldn't like it. He assumed it would be too fast, the people too rude, money too important. But we weren't there long before he was saying that I might be on to something. NYC isn't somewhere I could imagine as home, but it's somewhere I would be interested in adopting for a year. There's just nowhere else in the world like it. The center of finance, the center of the arts, the center of literature, the center of everything. You can just feel the pulse of the world running through it. I'd love to have a year to just live that, experience that. Now I just have to figure out how to make that happen.

Is it just me or do you too wish that you had multiple lives to live? There's just way too much I want to do.

Let Us Now Praise Neosporin

2007-09-11T20:57:00.000-04:00

Wonder drug! Magic in a tube! Miracle worker! Who knew the marvel that Neosporin is? Long live the trusty over the counter topical antibiotic that requires no doctor's visit, that demands no prescription, that asks no questions. I am forever a devotee!

What inspires this love song to Neosporin you ask. Well, if you recall, a week ago, my face looked like this.

Now, a mere one week from the accident, my face looks like this.
What was horrible red and oozy abrasions across my face has healed to pink patches of new skin. I can pass you on the street and you won't recoil in horror. In fact, you might not even notice unless you're staring directly at me, and even then it's nothing much to look at. Heck, you might think it nothing but the effects of a bad sunburn. And what do I have to thank for this rapid recovery? Nothing more than ice for the first 24 hours, a few infrequent applications of heat, and a whole heck of a lot of Neosporin. And while the Neosporin does give my face a nice shine and is good and sticky, I have no complaints. I think in another week or so there won't even be a trace mark to serve as reminder of my encounter with the tow rope. So three cheers for Neosporin. Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!