Headed west

October 11, 2002

Starting today or tomorrow, I’ll be going out to cover a big chunk of western Maine (hopefully) in probably my biggest trip yet (or maybe my Aroostook one will be bigger, not sure).

This trip involves going out to the mountains of the western third of Maine to get some photos, find some places, search around, and hopefully see some peak foliage. I’ve been experimenting around with my camera some, so I hope to get a lot of photos while I’m out there. Most likely I’ll be headed out Saturday morning and coming back Sunday night, staying somewhere over there tomorrow night. I’ll be headed back to UMaine on Monday.

Places on my list: Rangeley, Rumford, Saddleback, Grafton Notch, Bethel. I’ve heard it’s really great over there, so hopefully I can have a lot of fun. After seeing the other three ‘corners’ of Maine, it should be a good trip.

Oh FieldCam, we hardly knew ye

October 10, 2002

We’re about to lose the field outside of our window. Tomorrow, UMaine is going to pave over the field from last year and make it a permanent parking lot. Cars have been parking on grass outside since the beginning of the year, and they chose tomorrow to pave the thing over.

Fortunately, I’m the creative sort. If everything works out, you should be able to check in from now until whenever they finish to see how they’re progressing. I’m not going to be here for the entire time, but hopefully the camera will stay in place, the power will stay on, and the computer won’t crash. If all goes well, it should be fun to watch.

Click here to visit the webcam page, or just keep track on the right side of the main page.

Whew

October 8, 2002

What a day.

Great OS X software

October 7, 2002

Woohoo! Proteus came out with a new version that fixed a big which made it impossible to stay connected to AIM. I can IM again! IM me sometime.

Also, I found Chimera, a simple browser from the Mozilla people. I really like it: it’s pretty fast, easy to use, and simple. Just what I like in a web browser.

More music!

October 7, 2002

Over the past week I’ve bought five CDs for a grand total of — brace yourselves — $0.17. Here’s how it broke down. Strawberries ($25 gift coin I haven’t used for a few years): Our Lady Peace – Clumsy ($14), Something Corporate – Leaving Through the Window [used] ($8), Jesus Jones – Doubt [used] ($2). Bull Moose Music (money left over from selling CDs there, and I still have $3 left): Semisonic – Feeling Strangely Fine [used] ($4), System of a Down – Toxicity [used] ($7).

I LOVE used CDs (can’t ya tell?). And all the music is really great. I love it. And to think, a couple years ago I thought I had to pay $18.99 each for CDs. Now I like to search.

Another trip

October 5, 2002

Check out the gallery – I’ve put up a new album of pictures from my trip today.

I visited places like Lamoine, Hancock, Sorrento, and Orrington; my first time to a lot of them. I found out some interesting things, too. I’ll add an Exploring Maine page later about it.

Next weekend I’m pretty sure I’m headed off to western Maine for a couple of days. From the amount of foliage I saw turning today, it should be a great trip. It was nice to get back to driving (and to the ocean) today.

What’s this ‘culture’ you speak of?

October 3, 2002

Tonight I went to my first art show. Well, art opening. Or is it art reception? Anyway, that’s not really important. I went to see a showing of art pieces by my art teacher. In a way, it was exactly like I thought it would be; people talking to the artists about their work and commenting on the quality of the pieces, people handing out small glasses of wine and pieces of sushi, people glancing at price lists to see if they could afford a piece or two. I really enjoyed it; it gave me a different look into a side of higher culture that I haven’t had much experience with. The whole community is really close, I guess; I even saw my new media teacher Raphael there. The gallery has its own web site.

I had dinner at Momma’s Kitchen right down the street – great food. Probably the best cheese lasagna I’ve had since I’ve been home, and there was A LOT. Great service, great food, I’m very full.

I even saw the northern lights on the way home. I wanted to take some pictures, but I don’t know if the camera would capture them. Maybe another night.

Mad libs!

September 30, 2002

About a week ago, I did some Mad Libs with Chad and Sarah from a package of GladWare. Sarah wanted me to put them on the site (I dunno if she was joking or not, but…), so here are a couple. I might put more up later. They’re from ‘Mini Mad Libs from Outer Space.’

— When we look up into the sky on a dark summer night, we see millions of tiny spots of light. Each one represents a rock which is in the center of a green solar system with dozens of lemonades revolving undoubtedly around a distant sun. Sometimes these suns expand and begin shouting their neighbors. Soon they will become so big, they will turn into isthmuses. Eventually they subside and become interesting giants or perhaps black crows. Our own planet, which we call Bobby, circles around our confused sun 3,765,402 times every year. There are eight other planets in our solar system. They are named Jim, Bastion, Sebastion, Atrayu, Jesus, Jupiter, and Mars. Scientists who study these planets are called names.

— The greatest true-life space story is the one about our astronauts shitting to the moon for the first time. There were 2 astronauts. We all remember their names: Chad, who was the expert in phone, Sarah, a blurp test pilot with a Ph.D. in speakers; and Justin, who was the ship’s butt doctor and conducted a series of really weird experiments with blue mice and ninjas. It was a great day for America when they landed and said, “Whatta ya know? It really is made out of cottage cheese.”

— The adventures of Captain Zoom, Space Nail Clipper. Captain Zoom is a superhero who wears an aquamarine cape and a beige suit of long underwear. He has his own bitchy rocket ship, which takes him all over the universe. His ship is fueled by harvest corn mixed with rain and can go 42 miles per hour. Captain Zoom loves to go to the assistance of poor girls who are in trouble. When he hears of such a torn situation, he leaps annoyingly into his ship and zooms off into the wild red yonder. He journeys throughout the galaxy, sometimes going as far as the doctor’s office. He has a lost companion who goes with him on all of his adventures. His companion is a -53-year-old boy whose name is Chad but who is called “butt monkey”.

— Dear Earthling: I am a teenage knife who lives in a two-story fire on Mars. I will put this letter in a burned bottle and salivate it into space and hope that it gets to Earth. Of course, on Mars we call your slow planet Dawson. We know that it is inhabited by happy little pink men and women, but I would like to hear from you anyway. Tell me, how do people cheer your food? We do it by jerking rapidly. I hope you will be able to visit me someday. You could stay in our squirrel and eat just like we do, and you could play with my pet pony.

Yeah, we were tired.

Not the natural blues

September 30, 2002

I just biked to the other side of campus and back to cash some checks at the credit union – and it felt great.

I’ve come to the realization that I can’t be bored. If I get bored, I just sit in front of the computer and waste away my time. That’s good to a point, but I’m actually getting hard evidence now that getting outside is a lot better. Here’s what I’m proposing for myself: instead of just slumping in front of the computer when I know I’ll have a couple hours of free time, I go out and bike. It’s great exercise and it’s fun. Either that or I’ll hop in my car and go exploring. That’s a lot of fun, too; I can’t wait ’til next weekend when I go on a trip throughout the Western mountains.

So that’s my plan for now. Whether I go through with it or not, I’m not sure. I hope I can remember how good I feel right now, though.

Reason number 511 why I’m insane

September 27, 2002

I’m seriously considering a 6600-mile road trip next summer.

I really liked doing my trips around Maine last summer (and into this fall and winter). Sometimes I’d drive around 400 miles in a day – and that’s through towns and other slower roads. Probably on Interstates I could do more. What’s the next step? Taking on America?

I’ve never been one who likes to travel. I’ve always been satisifed sitting in my little dorm room or bedroom working at my computer. But this summer’s trips convinced me that there’s a lot out there that I’d like to see. On the list:

  • Silicon Valley and San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • The Grand Canyon
  • The Mississippi
  • Chicago
  • The Great Lakes
  • The Midwest
  • The Rockies

I think a trip like this could be very educational, interesting, and fun. It’d expose me to new places and give me a chance to work on photography, videography, and even social skills. I’d even try to get hotels with wireless or high-speed access so I could upload pictures easily.

I don’t know; it’s still all in its planning stages. But you know me – once I get an idea in my head, I have to go through with it. 6600 miles is a long way; maybe there’s a compromise in there somewhere.

I still don’t have much interest in international travel, but maybe that will be for 2004. Who knows. 🙂