It's been a decent week of class so far. I've discovered I prefer a brick and mortar classroom to online instruction. Luckily both of my online classes will be doable in their medium. My bio professor seems like an easy going guy who has mastery of the spoken English language. Nothing worse than a stuffy dude who mutters his lectures into his podium.
Ck has been dragging me out to concerts every Sunday night. Two weeks ago it was the Casualties, last Sunday it was Flogging Molly. Next weekend is Pennywise on Sunday (who I think we'll skip) and Dropkick Murphys on Monday.
Flogging Molly almost got fired for Sunday's fiasco. First off, what kind of punk show has a corporate sponsor (don't get me started on the Warped Tour). The corporate sponsor was Fuse, which could explain the overall Canadian suckiness of the first two thirds of the show. Strike one was their first opener ZOX, who seemed to be a bunch of east coast college boys on tour before going into their dads' law practices. Strike two was the second opener Bedouin Soundclash, who did a U2 cover medley in between attempts to pull at yuppie heartstrings with Canadian Reggae. Neither of these bands got me warmed up and, moreover, left me wanting to self mutilate due to boredom. Strike 2.5 was the corporate sponsor of the show wheeling out a giant screen on which to broadcast advertisements in between sets. This only gets .5 strikes due to the unobjectionable content of said advertisements (sketch comedy clips from some new show).
Luckily Bridget Regan is still a goddess, otherwise they'd be hella fired.

Fall Has Arrived

The rain has started here in the Pac NW. I am trying to finish my greenhouse before the rain hampers my efforts too much. I 've only been able to work about half the day the past couple of days, which is a sure way to let the project drag out forever. I should have worked on it before I left for my trip to Chicago and Mobile, but hindsight is 20/20 isn't it.
Autumn is usually a good time of year for me. My physiology is better suited to cooler weather, and I dig hiking through the woods when the colors change. Unfortunately there are too few deciduous trees and too much percipitation in this part of the country to have a good fall hiking season.
Class starts next Monday, and I'm feeling slightly apprehensive. Last time I was in a proper classroom was 8 years ago, and I'm afraid I've forgotten more than I ever learned in the first place. What worries me mostly is the complete change in job field. Hopefully the challenges will keep me interested and focused.
I paid my tuition and bought my books. Community college is cheap but still not free, and on top of that I had to cut the IRS a check for two grand in back taxes. Even though my cash reserves are shrinking, I plan on looking for work after the first week of classes. I'm already getting acid reflux from the thought of school, I'll wait to add on the stress of the job hunt until next week.

 

City of New Orleans

I flew south yesterday. When I got to N.O. we stopped at cafe Dumond and walk on the Moonwalk by the river. This guy was syphoning some of the Mississippi into a Gatorade bottle. When asked why he replied 'I am headed to Maryland tomorrow, and I want to take some of it with me'. He seemed heartbroken to leave the Quarter, and said he felt as though he was abandoning his city. He related his tale of how he had stayed during and after the hurricane to assist his elderly neighbors. When the looters came for his house he dropped a flowerpot on their head, and they promptly left. His friend had left him a firearm, but he said he couldn't pull the trigger. He didn't seem to be the guy who could shoot another person, and I'm glad he didn't have that to weigh on his soul.
They seem to be having a trash collection problem in the city. The piles on Canal street are 8 feet high. Rue Bourbon seems somehow skeezier than when I was last there. I was informed that the sewers where all broken, adding the smell of shit to the normal urine and booze smell. Great swaths of the eastern parts of the city are still abandoned, the brick shells of ranch houses empty and dark. They say 9 out of ten people had no flood insurance. Faced with the prospect of trying to capitalize a repair on a house in a neighborhood without civic services, especially if the mortgage is higher than the house is now worth, people have been abandoning the city. I'm not about to question that move. People are rational.

ooohhhh shiny

 

The Bean

I've been in Chicago for past few days. Ma shanghaied me for garage painting duty while the sun was shining, but we went downtown to the Art Institute on Saturday. Daley has torn down the rail switching yard on the north end of Grant Park and put up some god awful Frank Gehry concert pavillion. Project Mayhem has some serious work to do.
I was impressed with Cloud Gate. Modern statuary often fails its task of enhancing public space, but the design and implementation of this piece works well. Crown Fountain, on the other hand, fails the enhancing public space metric. Its design clashes with the the rest of Millenium Park and 50 foot faces of Chicagoans spitting on the crowds really doesn't float my boat.
Ben and I had some brew friday night at the Bierstube. It seemed as though it was built and owned by old German dudes, but Daley has succesfully purged the city of anything but twentysomething Cornhuskers and Hawkeyes, therefore it was overrun by yuppies. Daley can't be all bad, he did have the sack to unilaterly close down Meigs field, for which he'll always have a spot in my anti-Federalist heart.

If you where any further Northwest you'd be wet by now.

 

Mt. Muller Death March

Ck and I spent the weekend on the Olympic Peninsula. We visited Cape Flattery, where my camera promptly killed it's battery. My theory is that the switch was stuck in an intermediate postition that drained the battery on the drive up. Good news, I didn't have to carry it the remainder of the weekend. Steph and Flint showed up and we went to Lake Crescent and had a great afternoon swim.
On Sunday CK forced us on a death march up Mount Muller. It was 13 miles of muscle burning death. I failed to bring enough water, expecting to filter some on the hike. It is dry this time of year up there and when we finally came across a stream at the 10 mile point I was so happy I darn near cried. Steph was in wicked pain by this time and I think we were all ready for this hike to end. All said it was about 7 hours worth.
I'm flying to Chicago this week to see me ma. I hope my toe blisters heal by then.