Roadtrippin...

Greetings from the Midwest. I want to say that I am absolutely crushing the midwest right now...in the past week or so I've racked up 3 new states--Michigan, Indiana and Missouri...and ladies and gentlemen we're not done yet. I've still got Tennessee and Arkansas to go.

Like I said...absolutely crushin' it.

The cause for this little roadtrip is to meet with agencies and organizations like the Minnesota Conservation Corps, Americorps St. Louis, The CRWRC, etc... We've (and by we've I mean Hands On) worked with these groups over the course of the past year and this was an opportunity to go in and shake some hands, exchange some business cards and essentially say hi. While a trip of this nature requires a lot of time in the car, I think it's great to meet with these people outside of the hectic environment of wherever we happen to be deployed--so it's good, I'm learning and making some connections.

The next big thing on my agenda is going to Haiti. This is something that has been on the radar for a little while now and it looks like it's finally going to happen. I am excited--so excited. The opportunity to go to a place like this (albeit, only for a month) has me giddy. Hands On has a project in Gonaive, a city north of Port Au-Prince by about 4 hours where they've been working on a variety of projects with the people affected by Hurricanes Ike and Hanna since November. The projects range from removing Mud from homes to well ring construction, playing with children at a safe space, etc...for more info on the projects go to www.hodr.org because the work being done is absolutely amazing.

So yeah...I have a camera ready to capture this experience and will try to post some either here or on facebook when I can.

It's a party y'all...

The floor that separates our apt from our upstairs neighbors seemed solid when I was up there but I was way off. I still feel as if I'm apart of the party happening upstairs even though I'm not actually there...joy. 

Today was a day of reminiscing  and fun with Chris Wilson who has been in town visiting; the last time I saw Wilson was at Bonnaroo '07 where we hung out and partied in Manchester, TN for a couple days.

It's good to know that some things don't change...hanging with Chris has been like it's always been--fun. I'm glad that he came up to hang for a day or two before he goes off to St. Thomas for a month or so, he's good people.

today=good

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.