Haircut

aw yeah...

Learning is Fun my ass...

The California Academy of Sciences closes at 5pm...wtf? All of our prep work in route finding and directions didn't include checking the hours of operation--it didn't cross our minds. I figured that a Thursday night would find an after work crowd peeking in the nooks and crannies...but alas the Museum closes at 5 everyday. boo. So we took ourselves across the street to the DeYoung Museum which was closing soon...so we made the best of it and took a stroll through their Sculpture Garden...very interesting:

From there we decided to walk to a different part of town...so we ventured out into San Fran's unknown...The Richmond, Laurel Heights, Pacific Heights and almost to Nob Hill. We've done a lot of walking the past two days and have seen a lot of this place--it's very nice. Really nice homes. But we were exhuasted and needed a break so we saw a movie. Only we didn't see the movie we thought we were going to see. We saw Zack and Miri make a Porno...but thought we were going to Nick and Nora's Infinite playlist (or whatever the name is). Ridiculous mistake that we didn't realize until the movie started. Good mistake though as the movie was funny.

All in all, another good day.

Tomorrow Mr. Wilson gets to town and things could get ugly. I'm looking forward to seeing this guy...it's been far too long.

Oh and the High Life I purchased this evening...I hope someone got a raise for coming up with the new look for their "Limited Edition Fall Series." Awesome.

Are you going to San Francisco?

Ladies and Gentlemen, the eagle has landed; my new roost is in San Francisco shackin' up with my lovely lady...Claire.

I've been here for a week now and have basically been a hermit. It's been nice catching up on sleep, loafing and being a lump--good stuff. Claire and I are currently waving the unemployment banner...so we have time to stare at things and walk around for hours at a time because we can't afford to do anything else. While I enjoy being a gentleman of liesure, daddy needs to start making some cheddah...this city is expensive.

It's been a while since I've lived in an urban center and it's definitely going to be an adjustment to the constant hustle and bustle again...but what I think is going to make life better is the proximity to non city-like things. Things like hiking, shredding (which I'm geeking out about right now), the ocean...NYC didn't really accommodate things like that and I don't count my dip in the Hudson "the ocean." ew.

Anywho, today we walked, we took an epic stroll to Golden Gate Park...San Francisco's Central Park...and had a lovely time. But before we left we fueled up on tacos and chips--cheap and delicicous...

The rest of the day was spent taking in this beautiful city and enjoying what sunshine there was.

Tomorrow we head to the Academy of Sciences. Learning is fun.

The Shred

As September comes to an end I notice the morning's require a sweatshirt and night air being a little crisper. The sunny days are tempered with a gentle breeze letting me know that colder weather is just around the corner. Don't get me wrong, I love sunny days spent outside, where footwear is optional and finding someplace to swim can make or break your day.

But really...I'm a cold weather guy. I like bundling up. I like shoveling snow. I like wearing slippers. I relish the nights when snowfall blankets the streets and muffles the sounds of the world going by. What's more, is that I love to snowboard. After living in a mountain town for 2 years and enjoying everything that it afforded me, to then come directly to Iowa...I'm only just beginning to realize how badly I need a fix. Tyson sent me a trailer of a new video coming out and it stoked the embers into a fire once again. The giant has been roused from his slumber and he demands satisfaction. He wants pow. He wants las montanas. He wants the unabashed joy of destroying an untouched line down a glade. He wants a 500 inch winter.

He wants to Shred.

Minnesooooohhhhhta

Ah to be away, if just for a few days has been fantastic. I left Iowa last Sunday with Claire. She's in the process of doing her own amazing things right now and still managed to spend some time volunteering in Iowa before driving us to the great state of Minnesota to hang out with her family. They rule by the way.

Since arriving we've done a lot of...nothing. hanging out. being with each other. laughing. cribbage. eating and sleeping. Her family has a cabin on a lake in Wisconsin so we went up there for two days with plans of boating and frolicking and general merriment only to have it be crap weather. boo. So we played a lot of crib and just hungout. We also played on her trampoline where I learned that she's a little gymnast completing a front and back flip. Impressive.

Now we're back in St. Paul for one more day before I head back to Iowa to finish out Project Cedar Rapids with Hands On . It has been so nice to be here with her, to see where she grew up, meet her friends and hear some of the stories that make her who she is.

It's been a good week. I'm sad it's ending but am happy that I've had the chance to spend the time with her that I have.

good stuff I tell ya.

good stuff.

My way is the highway -God

I'm not religious. I don't believe in a God. I believe that organized religion has done a lot to cloud the issue. I find it odd that people need to be told how and when to pray to whatever or whoever they believe in.

I'm also finding that a lot of my preconceived notions about religion, in particular the pious few who lead their flocks have been jaded by the media and the dogma it puts forth. This is not to say that I'm giving it all up to become a man of the cloth...I'm merely stating that since being in Iowa, a state devoted to religion, my views on said subject have changed.

What sparked this internal monologue (which has since spewed forth) is a pastor from a church in Bluffton, IN. They brought a group of about 20 people down to Cedar Rapids to volunteer for a week...people in the know call these "mission trips," and all I can think of when I hear that term is Elwood Blues saying "we're on a mission from god..." so it can't be that bad right? Anyway, the Pastors' name is Kent, a guy in his late forties I'm guessing; he is a man that had a unique outlook on life and had an infectious personality. We have similar senses of humor, so we got along well. The week they were here was a productive one and when they left I wished them a safe journey back and hoped that we'd see them again. Kent pulled me aside and handed me a check...this was on top of the week of hard work they had put in and said thank you, we'll see you again. I was amazed and knew that he would be back...

fast-forward to this morning...I open my email and see that indeed Pastor Kent, true to his word, is sending another crew with a check to cover some of the materials for re-building. Instead of amazement I am happily re-energized. Then at the end of his email he said that he prayed for me by name. I'm 27 years old. There aren't too many things that, upon them happening, I can recognize that it's my first time dealing with it --this is one of those instances.

I kinda lost my train of thought about halfway through...

Religion is a powerful tool that's used to acheive a lot of bad and also a lot of good...I guess it's nice to experience first-hand the good side of it after hearing so much of the bad.

Iowa Bound

Just as the title of the blog indicates, another change has occurred that is taking me from Aspen to the flood plains of Iowa. Fits and spurts, that's how change occurs in my life.

I'm going to be a stipended employee of 'Hands On disaster Response' for the duration of their deployment in Iowa. Pretty sweet huh? Finally, I get a shot at doing what I want and not only that, but I'm going to get paid to do it--aw yeah!

I fly from Denver to Cedar Rapids on Thursday to start this adventure and will be there throughout the month of July and from there? who knows, hopefully the trend will continue and I can carry on with the work and continue to get paid. Fingers crossed.

so yeah, big doings people. big doings indeed.

This is a photo of the sandbagging effort to keep the flooding out of Clarksville.