between now and then

There always seems to be a lot of time between posts, and I am not patient enough to give much detail. My last post was the start of an intense few weeks of school. Its over now and I faired pretty well. New Orleans was a big highlight, as was the Halloween party. I was looking forward to some extra free time once school slowed down, but I am surprised that I have actually been bored on occasion. I gave myself a 4 day weekend by skipping school on Thursday and Friday. I felt happy that I got to spend more time sailing and back to sleeping on it. I am sad that I will have to pull the boat out of the water in a couple weeks and it will have to sit in my driveway. The boat is out of place in my driveway, and i feel out of place here. A plus side to the changing seasons is hockey. I saw the new KC hockey team, the Mavericks, play at the brand new Independence Events Center. I enjoyed the game and am excited to play this year. I also am working on a project to build an iceboat. Most of my free time has been dedicated to planning a sailing trip in the pacific northwest. I have been studying charts, and planning the equipment necessary to make it happen.

iPanchos!

I have been sitting at Panchos for the last hour and a half, eating and organizing my to do lists. I am a big fan of lists, but they are usually too long or not realistic. The list I made just now is for the month of October. I have a lot of things to do, and not very much time to do it. I already know that this month will fly by, which I am not very happy about. Most of the things on my list are school projects and assignments that have to get done. It bleeds into November for a few days, but next month will be pretty empty compared to now. A few more interesting things going on in October include a big Halloween party, which I plan on being quite an event. Next week, I am leaving for New Orleans for a community pharmacy convention....but it is more like a nice vacation with some of my fellow classmates.

Interuption: Police just swarmed Panchos and have handcuffed two employees for alleged illegal immigration. I got a pic so maybe I will post it later. Looks like they are closed for business so I better get going. Bike polo tonight!

a pain that i enjoy

So what's new lately? I've found a routine that i enjoy. And though not completely satisfied with my living conditions, I could not imagine a better place to live while being in pharmacy school at UMKC. That seems like a stretch to make the best, and in some ways it is. The pain that I enjoy includes the pain of still living far away from the city. I haven't lived "near" where I play/work/school/have friends for most of my life. The drive takes its toll on me, by depriving me of an extra hour of sleep, the stress that comes from being in traffic, the uneasiness that my own polluting gives me, or the distance (both literal and figurative) between my friends and I. The city is definitely where the action is, but I have still chosen to stay away. Instead I made my home far from people, in the most isolated, but habitable place that I know to exist. It seems that I have adopted two lifestyles; one in which I drive far away, walk an empty dock, row out from land, and get to my spot where no one could hear a scream and the stars are brighter than ever. The other life includes coming to school, talking with classmates, playing bike polo at night, going to parties, seeing shows, plugging in to outlets to charge my electronics, using the internet, eating out, and all kinds of other modern and normal activities. I don't know if I could do one without the other, but at different times I feel certain that I could. A part of me wants to move into the city, gain touch with friends, get an iphone, ride my bike everywhere, hangout late, wake up 20 minutes before class, and have all the modern conveniences in close reach. The other part wants to set sail, and leave everything I dont need on shore. I could be self-sufficient, leaving no carbon footprint behind, not relying on others for company or comfort, and not give anything to society nor take anything away. I am doing neither and staying in between the two options for now, which is sometimes a difficult task.

The night before last was possibly the worst night on the boat thus far. I have had light rains, and had to row out very late at night, and been kept up slightly by cold nights or not the most comfortable bed....but there was quite a wind storm the other night that kept me up due to worrying about my anchor line breaking, being rocked constantly back and forth, and the loud sounds from the waves breaking, the clanking of the halyards slapping the mast, or the wind whipping around my boat making sounds like when you blow in a bottle. That is part of the experience though, and from it I now know atleast how much wind it can take, and that I won't get seasick if I am rocked similarly again, which I will.

I was initially going to make a post about being somewhat lonely, but it is not such a depressing thing, and it is something that I take comfort in. I would be a lot more likely to go with the "set sail" option if I had someone to go it with me though. And as I sit here waiting for class to start, with cords across my lap and earphones in my ears, looking out the window at brick buildings, or the metered street with cars packed tightly, after making sure to check my email and facebook....I wanna go home!

This morning I had to put my dog, Tucker, to sleep. He got ran over last night, and could not walk. I stayed with him through the night, and this morning the doctor said there was nothing that could be done and it would only get worse. 13 years is a long time for a beagle to live, and he had a pretty sweet life protecting the yard from squirrels, boats, and cars. It had to happen sometime. It is the first time in quite a while that I have really cried, which is kind of a relief to know that I am not numb to that kind of emotion. I will probably have another dog one day, and I will probably outlive it as I did Tucker. That's the way it goes, and there are lessons to be learned by it. I loved him.

College

I was looking back at my last post, and saw that it was 2 weeks before school started. It has been over a month since then, which is too long between posts for me to recall everything. I would like to include more day to day thoughts, but instead I will jot down the highlights to the best of my memory. The biggest change has been living on my sailboat. It started out with my 3 day outing with my friends Jeremy and Aaron, and I came to realize how comfortable and relaxing it was. Aside from a few more trips and traveling, I have made it my home since. After us three stayed on the boat for a few days, we made a roadtrip north to Minneapolis. I had never been there before, so I was excited to check it out. We stayed with a rad dude, had a good time visiting Minneapolis’ finest, and I found a giant trunk near a dumpster which occupied the entire backseat for the remainder of the trip. From there, we headed to Fargo, North Dakota. I have always had a fascination with Fargo; partially from the movie, partially because North Dakota is one of the last states I have yet to visit, and also due to my fascination with the isolated, and the eerie small town feel that I imagined. I would have to say it was the highlight of the trip, but it would be difficult for me to explain why while making sense to most. After Fargo we made a stop in Omaha, where we visited the zoo, and Ally Q, and played Keno too. I returned home on a Friday and left the same day towards Arkansas for some rock climbing at a place called ‘Horseshoe Canyone’. Austin had been working with a guy on a documentary film about rock climbing, and since they were headed out there to do some filming, I jumped on the chance to camp and rock climb a bit before school started on Monday. We got home late Sunday night, and school began the next day. It was a pretty usual first week of school….it was nice seeing some of my peers but slightly sad reminding myself that I live a semi-normal life with deadlines and time frames in place. Even though it is hard to believe, I really have a love for being in school and expanding my knowledge in that area. It already seems like the end of my college career is coming close….but I wouldn’t mind staying longer. During the school year I am amongst kids my own age, and I still manage to do more traveling than most, and enjoy my days…and also the 3 or 4 months out of the year that I don’t have school I wear myself out with every possibility I can imagine. All of this seems fairly dull in comparison to my excitement for moving onto my sailboat. It is the best beginning and end to any day I could have. I love the eerie feeling of walking down the dock at night, slowly rowing a dinghy across the smooth water, stepping aboard and lighting my candles and lantern, and opening up the hatch and watching stars, or watching a movie while being rocked to sleep. On other nights, I pull my sailboat up to the dock where I can use electricity, and listen to my record player. It is really something special to me, and it makes me happy even when I am discouraged by other things around me. I plan on staying on it until the end of November, when I have to take it out of the water until next season. On another note, I have been playing a lot of bicycle polo on Sunday and Wednesday nights which has been a lot of fun, and a good source of exercise. I have also made a couple trips to Columbia since school has started, including this weekend which was the first “Hustle Dance Party” which Austin has been working on putting together at a coffee shop/venue in downtown Columbia. I have been helping him with it a bit and manned the door on Friday night. It wasn’t as great of a turnout as we were hoping, but it was still a fun time and we hope to have one again. We also threw another, slightly tamer, boat party at Lotawana with a generator running Austin’s DJ equipment. We woke the neighbors, did some night swimming, and kept the boat barely afloat so it was an all around good time. Up and coming events include throwing another theme party sometime in the hangar, another “Hustle dance party” in a couple weeks, my white coat ceremony for pharmacy this Friday, plans to go to New Orleans in October, and my 24^th birthday October 1^st with Girl Talk playing in Lawrence or Passion Pit in KC. More frequent updates I promise.

These posts seem to become more and more of a desperate attempt to keep up with the things in my life.  The same happens when I run into a friend, or try to answer "what have you been up to", or "how's your summer going".  I could try to spit out a brief synopsis, or just give a few short words....but I have not found the best way to do this.  I have often been answering by saying travelling around mostly, and if I say it in just the right tone, they understand that it is not the time nor place where I am willing to elaborate.  I feel somewhat awkward asking other people what they have been up to, because I know the question will return to me.  Atleast there are few to none people that read this, so it is a convenient place to remind myself of what I have been doing, or keep a history that I may look back on one day to pull out forgotten memories.  I hope my memory does not fail me anytime soon, but I am having a more difficult time trying to pack things in and remember good details.  Since last post, I got my sailboat in the water, hosted three German couchsurfers, went to my friends 80s themed wedding, and started wakeboarding again after a year of knee problems.  I have a little over 2 weeks until school starts again.  I considered going with my Germans to Denver to visit a friend and climb Long's Peak....but I have many things to do, and I have been very exhausted and sunburned, so it is probably better that I stay.  I have my sailboat in the water, ready to be sailed.  I will probably go it alone mostly, which is a slight disappointment to what I envisioned.  I have a lot to do today, so I better get going. Bye.

East Coast/STL/Lotawana Day/Missouri River/nowwhat

Last post was coming from South Carolina.  From there I made my way further south, stopping in the first gated community of america, Hilton Head Island.  Saw a nice harbor, lighthouse, America's Cup winning sailboat, and lots of yuppies.  I also stopped in a small fishing town called Beaufort, which I really liked to see and was how I imagined many southern coastal towns.  Last stop on the east coast was in Savannah, Georgia.  I was able to line up a couch surfing host who was helpful showing me around and getting to know the I-95 culture that exists.  The town had a really nice feeling with old buildings, lots of parks, great art museum, riverfront, and full of moss draped trees.  From there, I left at midnight to drive through the night to make it back to St Louis for a free Sonic Youth show under the arch.  I met up with a couple friends there who I enjoyed the show with and stayed at another sweet couchsurfers house who had a little party.  By the time I made it to sleep I had almost stayed awake for 48 hours, and I probably smelled the worst I ever have...until later on in this post.  The following day in St Louis was my friend Trevor's bachelor party at the City Museum.  A group of nine of them drove from KC to STL and we had a fun time at the museum. It is a difficult place to describe, but it is my favorite place in STL and can only be described as Willy Wonka big kids playground meets Alice in Wonderland, but must be seen to understand it.  Since returning home from STL, I cleaned up my sailboat, practiced for the ski show, played bike polo, and halfway unpacked some bags.  Lotawana Day was this last Saturday, and well as keg kickball on Friday.  Both were a really good time.  Keg kickball is a pretty epic annual event, complete with a giant slip and slide in to home plate.  Lotawana Day started off at 7 am where a friend and I rollerbladed the mile run wearing hockey gear, sticks, and ball.  We had waterballoon fights, ski show, and the usual massive boat party @ goat hill.  It was an exhausting day, and my friend Dylan and I had planned to kayak the Missouri River all the way to STL the following morning.  So Sunday morning came around, and we packed up our gear and dropped in the river at City Market area in KC.  A few hours later, we realized that STL might not be in the cards, but we would still be able to make it to Columbia, MO and get back in time for my friend Trevor's wedding on August 1st.  I had had the idea to paddle down the Missouri River for quite a while, so I am really glad that I have conquered it now.  It was a long, slow, wet, and tiring process... but we finally made it and had my friend Austin come pick us up in Columbia.  We had been on the river from Sunday afternoon until 10pm on Tuesday night.  We slept on a barge one night, and paddled/floated through the night another night.  It was a long time to stay and sleep in a kayak, and we were fully exhausted by the time we stopped.  This brings me up to tonight!  After Austin came and picked us and our boats up in Columbia, I went with him to a hip hop show that he was going to DJ at in Lawrence.  It didn't pan out to be a big crowd or awesome time, but what else was I going to do on this Wednesday night?  Anyhow, it's now past 4am and I need to get some sleep for what tomorrow brings. Things have been pretty busy, and I like it. August will hopefully include some sailing, bicycling, parties, longs peak? I don't know what to expect, but expect more.

Here it is

It is pretty difficult to keep up with a blog.  And as I write this I am in a hurry once again, so this will be a short update.  In my last post I had just arrived home from europe.  I left a day or two after on my way to Dodge City, Kansas.  I spent about 8 days out there harvesting wheat and driving the combine, breaking up silo concrete pads, moving dirt, painting a chicken house, and miscellaneous other farm work.  By the end I was thoroughly worn out and ready for a nice 4th of July.  I spent it how I always do, at Lotawana on the boat with friends.  We had grilling, swimming, pontoon boat, and fireworks... the all american dream.  After the 4th, I drove my grandfather back out to Dodge City, and once again back home.  I was only home for a few more days before departing for Virginia and the east coast.  Before leaving however, my friend Austin and I threw a hell of a boat dance party.  I got a generator to run Austin's DJ equipment, we hooked up some xmas lights around a blank pontoon boat which we tied alongside ours as a floating dance floor, and we jammed out.  With good music, dancing, shaving cream, and skinny dipping...I think it was one of the best boat parties I have had.  Anyhow, I am writing this post from South Carolina.  After dropping the boat off in Virginia, and going out on a nice lake there, I made my way through Asheville, NC, Charlotte, and now Myrtle Beach, SC.  I am planning on hitting up Charleston SC, Hilton Head Island, and Savannah, Georgia.  I dont know what other stops I will make after that, or if I will start to head home.  There is a free outdoor concert tonight and a karaoke bar named the Sand Wagon that I might meet up with some people I met earlier today.  I am going to sleep in the truck tonight, but I have couchsurfing lined up for tomorrow and the next night.  That is all.

the "i made it" post

Its been quite some time since my last post, and my excuse involves a lack of internet, different languages, and no time.  It has been a pretty intense month, and I will sum it up in the briefest sense.  The last post was from Manchester.  From there I took a flight to Amsterdam.  We rode from Schipol airport in Amsterdam to a small town called Haarlem, and then visited Amsterdam.  We camped in a park just outside of the city, and met Joe, the German foreign exchange student, who drove from Dusseldorf to meet us.  After a night out in Amsterdam, and sleeping in the car, we drove on the autobahn at around 250km per hour back to Dusseldorf where his family lives.  Dusseldorf was really nice, and we were fortunate to have a bed to sleep in, his mom cooked for us, and Joe's brother acted as our tour guide.  We visited Cologne as well which was right on the Rhine and a very nice place.  I flew out of Weeze to Ciampino, which is just south of Rome.  I rode through Rome, to a place called Lago Di Bracciano, which is a really nice lake surrounded by mountains.  It was a very nice area, and i slept under a gazebo/pier on the beach and woke up for every sunrise as the fisherman loaded their nets in the morning.  From there i rode to the western coast of Civitavecchia, and then made a long haul north along the coastline over 270 km to Pisa.  I also visited the nearby Florence, where i ran into some familiar faces, and then took the train back down south to catch a boat across the mediterranean towards Barcelona, making a stop on the island of Corsica.  Once in Barcelona, I met up with my friend Taylor, as well as met some new friends.  Barcelona was a beautiful city, and on the last day i hitched a ride to Montserrat with a mountain climber named Sergio, who took me to a beautiful peak. Montserrat is this monteserry in the mountains.  I hitched back to Barcelona with a girl named Emma who didnt speak any english, but we managed a good conversation with her Catalan and my Spanish. After spending some nights in airports, with long layovers and flights, I made my way home.  The weather is hot here and the lake is a nice place to come home to.  I am ready to drive my 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit with the top down, rig up my sailboat and take it to Stockton, and ride my bicycle to Denver.  I am going to go to Ski Club practice tonight and see how some local lake people are doing.  In a couple more days I will be off to Dodge City to drive a combine tractor and semi-truck for wheat harvest.  I have a lot to look forward to and a lot to look back on, which is the way I like it.  I enjoy all forms of travel, and on this last trip I was able to travel by airplane, bicycle, autobahn, walking, hitching, and boat!  Im in a hurry so I will try to update more later.  

the cycle post

Well here I am in Manchester, UK. We made the bicycle trip from London to here in three days of riding....or 48 hours from departure to arrival. It was a lot easier than i thought it would be. I remember riding to Columbia a long time ago and my butt hurting a lot and being totally exhausted....but this time was not so bad. We had a few flats, chains fell off, backpacks were difficult to keep strapped tight, and a brake adjustment or two....but all in all no problems. We headed in a decently straight direction and then entire trip covered over 200 miles. Before meeting with Aaron in London, Jon and I saw all of the sights and road towards Brighton. We got separated which was a confusingly long story involving waiting for 7 hours at a gas station, sleeping at a police station, and riding quite a few miles...but everything worked out good, like it tends to do. We have rode atleast 50 miles every day since we arrived here, and our legs are holding out good! We also have been spending less money than we expected, which leaves more money to go towards transportation funds later on in the trip. Food has been our only expense...but I have probably spent less than 30 american dollars in the last week. We found really cheap grocery stores where you can get entire large meals for close to a pound per meal. We splurged a little on some Thai food and a portugese restaraunt last night which included sandwhich, chips, and bottomless soda for around 6 pounds or 9 u.s. dollars. Jon went to an all you can eat buffet for 6 pounds. All you can eat buffets and free refills....europe is catching on i guess. The bike ride was epic and now we are going to tour around manchester with our tour guide aaron hand. It was nice sleeping under a roof for the first time last night...but the comfort makes us lazy and we have slept in till 10:30. We will have a good night of fun tonight though.

Its wedding season and im not impressed

Ive done pretty well making posts...but this may be my last for a little while.  My sister's wedding reception is this evening, and I am leaving for europe tomorrow morning.  As much as I enjoy not saying anything, and simply packing up and leaving...this is somewhat of a goodbye post.  I tried to find a good word to describe the way I have been feeling lately, but I have yet to find the one.  The most basic way I could put it, is that I don't feel like I belong here.  Everytime I leave I come home to a less familiar place.  I know the feeling of coming home to the familiar sights, smells, culture, and people...but despite all of these familiar things...somewhat always seems quite different.  I think what really changes is myself.  

I hate to write such a pessimistic post, but this outlet is rarely read and not much time goes into it.  Scratch that...I will avoid that. Instead, let me say how excited I am to really start my summer.  It has been over two weeks since school ended, and all that has really happened was Florida, some bike riding, and packing.  It has been fairly relaxed, I have gone out, Ive stayed up late and slept in.  Preparing for my sisters wedding reception has been a task, but the party tonight should be fun....even though I have one thing on my mind (leaving).  I am really not in the mood to be around a lot of people...all asking the same questions about how school is going, how long I have left, what I will be up to this summer.  I feel like I should just make a card. When they approach to ask me all of the usual questions, I will just hand them a card which can be a synopsis of my life and future. The card would read: I am in pharmacy school at UMKC, it is a 5 year program, I have 3 years left before I am finished; 2 years of classes, and then the last year is rotations.  This semester went pretty good, its kind of hard but not that bad.  I still live at the lake and commute there....yeah it takes a while.  What am I going to be doing this summer? Well, tomorrow I am leaving for europe.  Where? All over.  Ill be there for 4 weeks.  Then, I am coming home for wheat harvest, to drive a combine out in Dodge City, KS. Ill be home for the 4th of July, maybe I will see you out on the lake.  I am leaving July 6th on a bicycle trip to Denver. Yeah it is far, yeah im estimating that the mountains will be hard. It should take 9 days, give or take 10.  No, I havent gotten a chance to put my sailboat in the water.  No it won't fit on Lake Lotawana.  I want to take it to Stockton, and then either to Florida and the Bahamas, or the Great Lakes...I will have to see how well it works out on Stockton.  The End

Is that what they really want to hear? For some reason I feel like that kind of synopsis just goes over peoples heads.  They ask all the questions, and act legitimately interested... but I feel like I am just giving monkeys bananas.  Ah well... I dont intend on loosing touch with reality.  That is just the way things are.  A standard routine of meet and greet.  

I started this post with the title "its wedding season and im not impressed".  That isn't really what this post turned out to be...but I am always a little scatter brained like that. I thought I was going to write more about all of the people I have been around lately.  I am glad to see my sister found a great guy and all, and they will surely be very happy together, like all of the other couples getting married this summer...but it is just not me.  The gift registry, intricate planning, competitiveness, houses, dishware, napkins, preachers for Gods blessing, or for the unreligious still to apease their families or for tradition.  I would rather not be involved...and I am satisfied that I was able to minimally participate in much of the planning and events.  To me, weddings are a symbol for a normal life together.  The traditions involved, and the points in the bride and grooms life, all lead to a lifestyle not suited for me.  Maybe I am just young still...or maybe I am just different than 99% of the people around me, but I do not work towards a normal lifestyle.  I do not want to shop for a house in a suburban grid with a big back yard, 3 br, 2 1/2 bath, with an interest rate I can afford as long as I keep pluggin away at my job I dont want, and my wife pitches in, just to live. To live for what? If you aren't living to do something with your life then you are dead to me. And when others think of "do something with your life" I don't mean get a degree and a job and make lots of money.  I mean DO SOMETHING, because as of right now I am not impressed.  Apologies for how difficult to follow this one was, Ive got too much on my mind to write in one direction.  If I don't update in the next month or longer...it means that internet was a pain to get in europe, or I successfully fell off of the face of the earth. Either way, I am happy.

Back from Florida, need sleep, ready to leave

Returned from Florida yesterday evening.  It was an overnight drive. I met up with a friend in Jacksonville who has been living on a boat for the last few years.  He gave me the rundown and thinks I am on the right track.  He is old but has not compromised his life.  He used to do things that I am doing, and gives me ideas.  He and his wife made chili.  Florida was a decent little trip....the highlight would probably be a cabin that we stayed at northeast of Orlando.  The cabin was on an island on the St Johns River.  We took a ferry (pontoon boat) out to the island, where we were left to ourselves.  The only other person staying the night on the island was a volunteer ranger that we never saw.  It would have been a good setting for a horror film.  It was very tropical-jungle-like, and we were surrounded by alligator infested waters.  The rain felt good.  I ran across a few armadillos and alligators.  I would go back.  I have two more days to get everything together for europe.  We packaged up our bicycles today and I unpacked things from Florida to wash and repack for europe.  Last night a group of us camped out at Blue and Gray Park.  We cooked hotdogs, smores, made rotell dip, played music on the guitar, and slept in tents.  I was ready for a good night of sleep after driving through the night to make it home from Florida, but I couldnt turn down a good fire with good friends.  Tonight I am sleeping in my own bed.  Comfortable beds are nice, but very unnecessary.  People do not realize how little they need to survive.  Gandhi once said "The world supplies enough to meet everyone's needs, but not everyone's greed." This makes me want to live more minimal.  Hopefully I will update once more before I leave, but I have a lot to do before leaving and for my sisters wedding reception. 

Quickie

Im in Florida right now. Returned to St Georges Island for some camping, nostalgia, and a long walk in the sand last night.  I wouldnt expect it to be as good as the first time.  It never is.  I have a really bad sunburn. Im looking forward to my sisters wedding reception, the wedding stuff being over, and leaving this country. 

2nd try

So i wrote out a decent post, but got sidetracked and somehow it got deleted.  Here is an update of my life: First off, school is now over.  The last week or so really drained me of energy as I was having all nighters quite frequently.  I think I made it 42 hours with no sleep in the last days.  From my last post I was expressing my excitement about kayaking the Missouri River.  That did not happen because I could not find anyone to go with me due to school, work, girlfriends, or lack of interest.  I was slightly bummed but I have had a lot to get done before I leave for Florida, then europe, then wheat harvest, then Denver...etc etc.  Lately my time has been consumed by preparing for my europe trip.  I am leaving on May 24th, the morning after my sister's wedding reception.  I have been busy packing up bicycles for my friend John and I, which is quite a puzzle with the more restrictive airline luggage restrictions.  They are pretty much done now, and I have a list of many minor things to get done before I leave.  One big thing is deciding on what route I expect to take through europe.  What is for sure is that I will be flying in to London where I will meet my friend Aaron, and we will all ride across the uk 230+ miles to Manchester.  I am trying to figure out a way to attend the Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling festival which will be just west of London beginning the day that we arrive.  From Manchester however...I have no definite plans.  I would like to visit Amsterdam again for the bicycling, Dusseldorf to visit a foreign exchange student who can provide us with a place to stay, L'Aquila and Pescara Italy where I will visit my friend Margherita whom I met the last time I was travelling europe, and Barcelona.  I am not certain the best way to go about it.  I am sure there will be flying, biking, hitching, and train involved....but I have yet to nail that down.  Aside from europe, I am leaving in a few days to go to Florida with Tyler.  I will only have two days when I return to get ready for my sisters wedding reception and departing for europe, so I really need to finish everything up before I leave for Florida.  I am somewhat excited for Florida...but I almost feel tired of exploring the united states when there are so many other countries out there.  Sailing will see a different side of things I suppose.  I ran into a deal today for Australia.  Evidently, they are doing a special plane ticket price of $500 to fly from here to Australia round trip during my winter break.  Enough about travelling though.  It has been lovely weather here and I have enjoyed going out on the boat a few times, fishing, and hitting golf balls out here at my house.  I might go to Columbia tonight since a couple of my friends are going to a show there.  I will probably skip the show and meet up with some friends that I do not see very often.  It is too nice of weather to be inside updating a blog however....so that is all for now. 

7 days and counting

I feel a huge build up to this countdown.  I do not think there has ever been a summer that I have been excited for as this one.  It has become very difficult to keep my mind on school when there are so many things that lie ahead of me. A damper in my plan may be the maiden voyage of the sailboat since I am waiting on the necessary info to get it registered.  I wish our society was a little bit simpler, and if a man wanted to go sailing, he could just get a boat and put it in the water.  I did suspect that this may be an issue, so my alternate plan of kayaking the Missouri River from here to St. Louis might be in the cards.  You do not have to register kayaks to paddle the river, so it will be a simple task of dropping them in and following the course.  I have never kayaked for such a distance, nor spent much time on a river of its size, nor have much of an idea of what to expect; but I like it that way.  I am not much of a fan of intense preparation, training, or any sort of build up.  I like the idea of dropping in the water and seeing where it takes us.  I did look at a map however. Some sort of preparation is always important if you want to get somewhere.  I think it will be about 360 river miles, and my guess is that it will take 8 days maybe. We might surprise ourselves and make it in 4, or it could take like two weeks...but only time will tell.  My buddy Tyler has said that he is in, so we will be able to watch eachothers backs. We will bring our two kayaks, fishing poles, camp supplies and tent, rough map, and life jackets.  We will paddle during the day, camp on shore at night, and hitch a ride back home when we get there (most likely without the boats, so we will have to hide them or find someone to hold them for us unless we could find a truck willing to take us and the boats on).  

Changing subjects now, I am still in school for 7 more days.  This means cram time for all of the finals.  It always gets difficult this time of year when the weather is nice and i have to read biochemistry...but looking back, school doesn't take up as much as one would think.  I've been able to use my time well, especially summer and winter breaks.  In the past year, I traveled to the four corners of the U.S., totaling somewhere around 42 states.  I aspire for more however, and i can't imagine a reason to stop.  I have been into many different hobbies and activities over my life...but have never stuck solely to one because there were so many options.  As I have evolved, I have found that I am beginning to focus on one priority. Travelling.  From bicycling to sailing to more conventional methods, this is what i am into.  I want to see and I want to learn.  I will not be happy unless one thing is consistent; Progress.

10 days till lift off

In ten more days, I will feel free.  May 5th is the last day of finals, and the beginning of summer.  During the school year, no matter how fun and exciting things are, i always have a sense of urgency due to school.  There is always a project, test, studying, classes to go to...etc in the back of my mind. Lately however, I have had different things in the back of my mind.  While being busy with school, i have had plans in the back of my mind for this summer.  Many things I have planned out and other things i will take as they come.  May 5th is the day that it all starts, so i will summarize my plans from my head to here. This might be a long post.

May 5th is my last final, finished at 12:30 pm.  The next day I will be heading to Stockton Lake to put my sailboat in the water for the first time.  I have been doing a lot of work with the boat trying to get it ready to go, so it is going to feel extra nice when the sails are up and the wind is in my face.  I am unsure who will be joining me for this maiden voyage, but i am hoping that Austin will make it for atleast the first day, since he is my partner in crime who came with me all the way to Maryland to pick the boat up over winter.  Also, my buddy Tyler has been helping me quite a bit with the boat, and he is going to be free to join me as well.  Everyone seems to have a big interest in coming...but it seems like people are more excited about the idea of going instead of actually making it happen.  I still have some details to work out with the boat, so my backup plan if i cant get the boat ready in time is to kayak the missouri river, from kansas city to st louis.  The kayak trip will most likely be pushed to a later time to make room for other trips.  After sailing for 9 days or so, I am going to join Tyler on a trip to Florida where he is looking at a marine tech school that he is applying to. He is wanting to leave around May 15th and stay for 5 days or so; we will be staying at this really neat house on the river and i might be able to convince Austin's uncle to take me out sailing if that can work out.  When i get back from Florida I will be attending my sister's wedding reception on May 23rd.  The following day I am leaving for Europe! So far my plan is to fly into London and then ride my bicycle 2oo miles across england to Manchester where my friend Aaron Hand is studying.  I might travel around with him a bit and i might try to go visit another friend of mine who might be in Italy around that time.  I am super excited for the bike ride and to visit my friend Macy in London, Aaron (who will be riding with me from London to Manchester), and Margherita who lives in L'Aquila, Italy whom I met while traveling in Venice and Prague the summer before last.  I am kind of squeezing as much time as i can out of Europe because i will have to make it home in time for wheat harvest. I am planning on flying home June 22nd and then i will drive out to Dodge City, KS.  During harvest every year i drive the combine tractor and semi-truck on my grandpa's farm.  It is an awesome experience and a great way to make some cash by working hard.  Harvest should be done before the 4th of July which i would like to spend at my home in Lake Lotawana, Mo.  It wont be too much of a break however because I am planning on leaving July 5th for Denver, CO....by way of bicycle. It will be a 600 mile trip and take atleast 8 or 9 days if everyone is in shape and we have no problems.  Lots of people are invited to ride on this trip...but more certain will be Aaron Hand and Austin Goldberg.  I am hoping to get a group of 5 or so......but i will be just as happy with one or two..or none at all. Its another one of those things where you never know who will go until we are on the road riding.  From Denver...I might try to make my third attempt at climbing Longs Peak, I might continue riding my bike all the way to the west coast, I might hitch around and try to make my way up to the northwest and even Alaska, or i might come home and prepare my next move.  This point in time will really depend on the previous couple months.  I really want to kayak the Missouri river this summer, so if i havent accomplished this yet, now would be the best time.  If sailing went well at the beginning of summer, I hope to take my sailboat to Chicago and sail across Lake Michigan, to Mackinaw Island, into Lake Superior, and visit a little bit of Canadian boundry waters.  By this time...the summer should be close to over and the first day of school will be August 24th. If there is time, I will take some smaller trips to Bennett Springs or Omaha.  If there is a decent amount of time, I will take a trip down to Louisiana or up to North Dakota to mark off the last few remaining states that i have still yet to visit. If i run out of time...i can't be too bitter, because getting my doctorate and being able to make a real difference in people's lives is also something i've always dreamed of doing.  So there you have it, if there are any readers of this blog, my summer plans 09'.  I will feel pretty accomplished if i can fit all of that in somehow, and i will feel pretty lucky if I am fortunate enough to experience everything that i want to.  The world is a pretty big place...but it feels smaller and smaller with every experience and adventure.

On another note....aside from trying to stay up on school....i have been bicycling, working on my sailboat, fishing, gardening, and welding.  There are too many things i could write about right now. I'll wait until a later post.

post-script: a quote got stuck in my head that i stumbled across in my biochemistry book.  It is from a guy named Albert Szent-Gyorgyi who received a Nobel prize in physiology for his work on the citric acid cycle and discovering how muscle contraction works. He said, "Discovery consists of seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought."

I knew it would be a long one.

Me and the internet

The internet and i dont really mesh so well.  I wish I could use it to it's full potential sometimes, and i wish i could stay up on things like a blog, or return emails, or buy and sell on craigslist more efficiently, or respond to facebook messages.  I havent been able to do it yet, and in some ways I like it that way.  Falling behind with technology is not something that i am ashamed of.  I dont want to rely on the internet for my connection to the rest of the world. However...i think that couchsurfing, craigslist, facebook, myspace, twitter, floatplan, ebay, ichat, and many different blogs are useful tools.  By avoiding them, i would miss out. It is a real love-hate relationship. 

So anyhow, this is my attempt at staying with it...despite my grudge against the internet junky era. I started this blog months ago...but never felt a need to say anything to the rest of my internet peers. I always felt like the people who talk the most are usually the ones that dont have anything important to say. Hopefully I can share things that are meaningful or inspiring.  I feel like many people put too much thought into these things, or are trying to emit an image of themselves that they want others to see.  Optimistically, this won't be the case. From here on, i will try to describe my life, aspirations, thoughts, and views.  If not...maybe i will give it another go in a few months.