Denmark and Baking soda

          I finally got my book, titled "Travels in Alaska" by John Muir, in which I am excited to read and bore you with the details in the weeks to come.  The book itself only cost me $0.99, which I bought from a place called Half Price Books(http://www.hpb.com/).  Unfortunately the three locations that are around me didn’t have it available so they had to ship it to me from Washington, the state, which cost me more then the book.  However, I still didn’t spend more than five bucks.  Just thought I would share that because not only when you buy a secondhand book are you paying less for a book that was probably read once then tossed to the side, but you are saving trees and the planet.  Actually that really isn’t true because they probably already chopped down the tree to make the paper.  But you still pay less for it, still an upside.

          Last week the weather was good from Tuesday on, but my car, which has multiple issues, decided it was time to have the radio stop working.  The fact of getting into a blazing hot car with no air and the drivers side window has issues rolling down isn’t enough for the fifteen minute ride home, but now I have to deal with all that while listening to the sound of the road.  Sigh.  When I bought the car for 500 clams I knew it had issues but I didn’t care because the motor ran great and it gets 30+ miles to the gallon and the radio worked then.  Now that there is no radio I realized how many bad noises it makes.  It almost scares me to drive the thing now. 

          So Denmark is becoming my new favorite country.  As you remember I did a ramble on a picture that was taken in Denmark (April Fools post) which is one of my favorite pictures.  Well the other day I read an article stating that Denmark is “the happiest place on Earth.”  Take that Disney world.  A recent poll/study showed that despite the high taxes and dreary weather the people are among the happiest in the world.   Who’d thought when I was looking at the pissed off youth in front of the fake subway car, cursing his mom with some Danish words, that they are the happiest people.  Shows how little you can tell about a country just by looking at a picture.   
          I also have to add my new favorite state to this post, New Hampshire, and only for this reason;

What says American like "live free or die." 
             My challenges seem to have fallen by the waist side so I decide to come up with something good.  So after searching I stumbled on “Seven Surprising Uses for Baking Soda”.  Yes that’s right, baking soda. The article gives seven ways to use baking soda which include brushing teeth, washing hair, face, and body with, use on acne, use as a deoderant, and mixing with water then drinking for an upset stomach, I may not do that one, unless i get an upset stomach. So by next week my teeth should be whiter, skin softer and acne free, stomach calm, hair cleaned, and fridge be odorless.    

          Well I am on my way to fix a car, read a book, and buy some baking soda.  So until next week, don’t hold someone back, they may honor you the same respect someday.

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”                                                                 -Groucho Marx

Dracula

    well im dry.   Yes it rained, but it seems to be raining less, around 4 out of the 7 days a week now, and when its not raining it is sunny and beautiful.  Now I can finally start talking about something other than the weather. I have talked about food, arts, fitness, politics, and the weather, so enough with the small talk.
      For those that don’t know I work in the medical field and I have for almost ten years now.  I have worked on a squad, at a family doctor’s office, a general ophthalmologist, and now I work as an ophthalmic photographer and teach CPR.  I have had the chance, nay, a privelege to meet the most intriguing people with the most interesting stories.  One of my favorites was a woman who was born in Transylvania.  Yes the home of Dracula. Naturally I asked about draculas castle, she simply replied, “Scary.”  All the documentaries you see and the ghost stories you here, the over played acting of Dracula is all commercialized anymore. But for someone who grew up just over fifty miles from the real home of Dracula still has fear in hear voice when she talks about it.  Though not overbearing fear, now that she is well into her seventies and has lived in the states for quite sometime, but stil a slight hint of fear.  I could only imagine what is was like as a kid, hearing the stories from the old town folk.  I asked if she had ever been to the castle and without hesitation, “no,” it wasn’t a tourist trap then but a real place where death and carnage took place. At the time primary mode of transportation was still horse and buggy even though cars had been around for over forty years they still lived the old style and told the horrifying stories. Even though she’d never gone I could tell it was not because of lack of transportation but fear.
    Dracula, whose real name was Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler, ruled  in years 1448, again from 1456 to 1462, and again in 1476.  He was considered the impaler due to his revenge against the Ottoman Empire(they killed his father and brother) where he impaled his enemies.  Not only did he just impale his enemies but their families too.  Now Wiki doesn’t refer to him drinking blood or biting his victims, but he did torture those in his way.
    Doesn’t seem to scary when you hear the true story unless of course you lived then and was part of the Ottoman Empire but to a young girl in Transylvania in the time of World War II I could only imagine the ghost stories she was told.
    Well this week I was planning on reading another book but since it still hasn’t come in the mail I’ll just have to put it off until next week.  You may suggest I should just go to the library, but as slow as I read I would go broke from late fees.  So until next week, learn something new like I did, the truth might surprise you. 


“ To draw you must close your eyes and sing.”    -Pablo Picasso

Rain

Well it has certainly been a long week.  So much to talk about that has gone on in the past week but I promise to keep my rant short.  I could talk about the devastation of my home state Alabama, my prayers and thoughts got out to my southern friends and family, or I could talk about Donald Trump being put in his place about President Obama being born in Hawaii, but I wont bore you with that one either.  I’m not even going to talk about the death of Bin Laden(finally). No, no, I’ll keep it simple.
    Yes I have mentioned that it has rained here for the past month but I wasn’t sure how much it had really rained until today. Curious until I couldn’t stand it anymore I decided to dig up some numbers and this is what I came up with. Let me first touch on the subject the major cities with the most rainy days versus the cities with the most rainfall. Obviously most rainy days is just that.  Out of the year how many days is there precipitation(rain and snow). Out of the major cities in the USA  the top of the list is Buffalo, New York raining an average of 166 days out of the year.  I assumed it would have been a west coast city like Seattle which ranked number four with 154 days, still a lot.  Columbus, Ohio ranked a little lower at number seven averaging 138 days out of the year.  In the month of April, Columbus sees an average of 14-15 days of rain. But for 2011 it brought much more raining a total of 25 days out of 30.  Needless to say, I didn’t get out much.
    Now what major cities see the most precipitation.  Well, New Orleans toped that list with 64.2 inches averaged yearly and Birmingham, Alabama see an average of 54 inches yearly, ranked at number four, Miami, Florida and Memphis, Tennessee in the second and third spot of major cities.  Again, I was surprised a west cost city wasn’t at number one.  With Columbus averaging at 38.5 inches yearly and only 3.3 inches in April, we totaled 7.14 inches this April, double the average and a new record.  The previous being set in 1893 at 7.08 inches.  That’s a lot of rain in one month.
    Again this is data from major cities alone, but what is truly the wettest area in the United States. MT. Washington, New Hampshire takes the cake averaging 101.9 inches yearly and 209 days of rain/snow. They also averaged the most cloudy days at 244 days with thick cloud cover. Wow, still surprised not a west coaster took that one.  A little more weather records;  Prospect, Alaska dipped down to a brisk -80 degrees Fahrenheit in 1971 to take the coldest and Greenland Ranch, California took the hottest at 134 degrees in 1913.  Driest is Las Vegas with 4.5 inches of rainfall a year and sunniest is Yuma, Arizona with 90% of sunshine a year.  Georgetown, Colorado takes the snowiest  with 63 inches.  A bit of information that is both useless and interesting(at least to me) at the same time. So, for my challenge this week, stay dry.
    People say that weather affects the mood, I hope it gets sunny and warm in the south soon because they need it more than I do.  Until next week, whether your in the south, north, east, or west, keep your hope strong because there are sunnier skies yet to come, literally and figuratively.
  

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”                                                           -Helen Keller

Easter, Trump, and pink toenails

         Well it’s been another week and again it was filled with rain and very little sunshine. Can’t say I did much. And as a kicker it is suppose to rain all this week. Yoo-hoo. I feel like I need to build an arc and gather two of every animal.

On a dryer note, with Easter being this past weekend I definitely got my sugar buzz, actually it was more like a drunken stupor after ingesting all the Reese’s pieces, skittles, gummy bears, and sour patch kids. Mmmmmmm, there’s nothing like a pound of candy and a cold beer to get your heart racing. Another fine holiday that gives us a chance to spend time with family and become diabetic for a day. Walking into a store you are overloaded with thousands of bags of candy, little plastic eggs, giant chocolate bunnies, and premade baskets filled with candy and little toys. You feel moved to spend a little money to help someone’s sweet tooth get that extra cavity and of course helping yourself to a little at the same time. I just hope everyone had an Easter as enjoyable as mine. I know the dentist love this time of year.

Now with everything going on in the world, I’m just glad there are people out there that are concerned with the smaller things in life, like where the president was born. I mean why not spend $3 million to reveal something that someone spent $2 million covering up. Awe, Donald trump you are a figure of never-ending marvel. Even Sarah Palin calls his efforts, to find out where Obama was born, “a distraction from the bigger issues.” Nothing like a real estate mogul to run for presidency( I think he will run). Why not have a trump tower with the address 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Trump who has been in and out of bankruptcy three times is definitely some one who could bring this country out of debt. Well, let’s look at the big picture. A guy who has over twenty properties world wide with his name on it plus multiple other properties with out his name and on top of that developers pay him to market their properties. A man who has been married three times, a loving grandfather, and has successfully had the same come-over style for thirty plus years. Nothing says American like Donald trump. Making promises like “America will be respected again” and “ending the health care law,” he has his eyes on the major issues. Not everyone is as optimistic about him as me though. David Plouffe, senior advisor to President Obama, says, “Mainstream Americans thinks it’s a side show and they want our leaders to focus on the issues right in front of us like how we keep the economy growing.” If anyone knows how to get out of debt I think it would be trump. In five years from 1989 to 1994 he went from having over $900 million in personal debt and $3.5 billion in business debt to having over three-quarters of that paid off and he is now valued over $2.7 billion personally. I think if you can go from being $900 million in the hole to being $2.7 billion over, he knows a little about getting out of debt and economic growth.

Trump isn’t the only one concerned about small affairs though. Apparently there was an email sent out from J. Crew to customers with a picture ad that showed the president and creative director, Jenna Lyons, with her son, who is 5, painting his toe nails pink, innocent enough. Well per Erin brown, from the media research center, “its blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children.” Really? And she isn’t the only one voicing out against the picture; comments have come from FOX, ABC, NBC, and CNN, stating basically the same thing. Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist, said, “It may be fun and games now, Jenna, but at least put some money aside for psychotherapy for the kid.” He then went on to state, “the message she was sending was that this was an attack on masculinity.” And he proudly attacked her while wearing a pink tie. What a man. Mrs. Lyons simply took the high road and said, “It is his favorite color which changes daily.” The truth about kids, yes they have short attention spans when they are five. They enjoy time with their mother. They don’t know what having their toenails painted means to the rest of society and better yet they don’t care. They just want to have fun. A reader of the Erin brown’s statement wrote back, “A small child, with no secondary sexual characteristics, cannot be considered transgendered. On the other hand, a fully grown person as yourself can definitely be considered a small minded asshole.” Thank you, now I don’t have to say it.

What a world. Usually I have a weekly challenge that helps strengthen my mind or body but recently I have been a little lax blaming it on the rain and work. So this week I’m just going to be honest and tell you I have no plans to challenge my self but if I get a little exercise, read a little, or eat a little healthier then I’m happy, and if I don’t, I’m still happy. So until next week, do what ever makes you happy.

“If women ran the world we wouldn't have wars, just intense negotiations every 28 days.” -Robin Williams

Livin' the High Life...

    Well, it was another dull week filled with rain and cold weather except for Wednesday and Thursday, which was a spring teaser with its sunshine and warm weather.  Saturday was another dreary day but exciting with our engagement photos.  Yes!  Nothing more awkward then being told to act natural when you are molded into a pose in the middle of Newark so a guy can take pictures of you while people walk by and stare at you.  On top of that it was cold and windy.  Hope the photographer  can edit my awkward expressions off my face and replace it with a better one.
    Although wasn’t much going on this week, I did receive my sponsorship contract from Miller High Life. That’s right kids I am officially sponsored by Miller High Life.  Leave it to the “Champaign of beers” to sponsor someone like me.  No, no, I don’t get free beer(damn it), but I do get a check for one dollar and an official sponsorship.  It was as easy as becoming an internet minister, just go online and sign up. A few weeks later they send you a contract stating that you will live the high life, use common sense, and don’t embarrass other high lifers.  Let me just read(or type) some of the high life rules I must abide by per my contract;

1. 1.Do not embarrass fellow high lifers with non-highlife wardrobe choices.  Examples: footwear designed for weight loss, green denim anything, button-down shirts with detachable hoods.
2. 2.Never participate in a fishing trip where people are paid to reel the fish in for you.  That’s not fishing that’s poling. Never pole. (my favorite)
3. 3.Camp. But not in a luxury RV.  That’s not camping.  And that’s not living the high life.

 These are just a few but my favorites and I agree with them. It also urges me to convert others to the high life, so go to the website millerhighlife.com  and get your sponsorship and start living the high life.
    Other then a few photos I’m going to post, that is it for this week, (don’t want to bore you like last week).  So whether your high life is being at the park taking pictures, sitting on the patio drinking a cold one, being with loved ones, or camping in the woods don’t forget to live your high life to the fullest.

my sponsorship contract.

beer...plus...

match in make shift candle holder while sitting on the patio drinking beer equals living the high life.

“Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”                -Mark Twain

It's a long story...

    I am really excited to tell you about my weekend, so bare with me and I’ll explain the week in a few short sentences so I can talk about the weekend.
    Read a book, it was boring.   “Roads” by Larry McMurtry, is a book about him driving some American highways and he writes about what he sees.  I thought I would like it since I recently found out I like travel writings. It wasn’t for me.  Didn’t ride my bicycle everyday due to work, rain, and a cold.  That was the week.
    Ok, now the weekend. Well it started on Friday, I was going climbing after work with my fiancée, I was feeling better from my cold, but when we got there it was closed due to a climbing competition.  Didn’t bother me too much. So we then went to get fish tacos. We went to a tiny authentic Mexican restaurant called La Casita. While waiting for forty minutes I noticed the occupancy sign said “80,” there was clearly more then 80 people there but that was a good sign, means the food is good and it was. Well, the fajitas we had were,  the fish taco, only ok.  The fajita was a trio of fish, shrimp, and scallops on top of a bed of peppers, onions, and tomatoes, tortilla shells and all the fixens to top it off.  She drank a strawberry margarita, which was tasty, and I stuck to water due to mountain biking trip the next day. After dinner, we watched a movie and I was early to bed with a good weather report for the next day.
    6:45 am came quick, but was good because I hardly slept anyway.  Packed up the car and put the bike on top, a few stops for gas, cash and some travel snacks, and I was on the road.  Now, I realize I didn’t get into the book about a guy driving a highway and then writing about it, but I have to tell you about some thing I saw on the way because I was amazed by  it. It’s only a few sentences not a whole book.  So the morning had a fog that  you couldn’t see but maybe a half mile. That may seem like quite a bit of distance but not when your on a flat, straight road, and I was. 70 westbound is a straight shot to Indianapolis with just a handful of tiny hills and slight turns for 140 plus miles. West of Dayton I passed a group of more than fifty motorcycles. I thought to myself, “that’s cool, must be a clubs first ride of the year.”  Less then a mile a few more bikes.  Then a few more.  Then out of the fog another huge group and they kept coming after that. One or two bikes here, a few there, a big group, a small group. It was never ending. There were Harleys, Hondas, Suzuki’s, all brands.  Single riders, couples, men, women, old, young.  They road cruisers, crotch rockets, touring bikes, trikes, side cars, bobbers, choppers, there was even an enduro bike(on/off road bike). I even saw a group of twenty riders with the same bike, uniform , and helmets, I assumed they were a group of cops. It was AMAZING!  I wondered all day yesterday and today what they were riding for and were they were going or coming from so early in the morning.  So, obviously, when I got home I jumped on the internet to find out( after a shower, dinner, and frozen yogurt).  Apparently, there was two internal support beams from one of the trade center buildings from the 9/11 attacks traveling from Richmond, Indiana to Indianapolis, and the respectful riders were their escorts. That’s right, riders from all over came to escort the twin 22 foot beams to their final resting place, erected as a memorial in Indianapolis.  I didn’t see the trucks or the beams( wish I could have) because they were still in Richmond waiting for there army of  riders.
When I read that I was even more amazed.  So a few minutes on You Tube and here they are;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HH4SKSEymc
    After passing through Indianapolis it started to rain.  Ugh, can’t mountain bike in the rain. So for the last hour plus I watched the windshield wipers slap back and forth.  Arriving at Kickapoo State Park (named after the Kickapoo Indians) a few minutes after eleven, the rain had stopped and  I met up with Nick. We walked down the trail a little, or should I say swam down the trail, and realized it was way to wet to ride.  We checked the weather again, thanks to the Iphone of his, and it looked grim. Rain until 11am then thunderstorms until 5pm and cloudy until Sunday.  In less then 12 hours the weather went from partly cloudy to rain all day.  Damn you mid-west weather.  So we walked back to the cars and decided we could at least do a little hiking while we were here. So we headed into town grabbed a pair of Payless special hiking shoes  called Rugged Outbacks, a few tacos at the bell, and headed back.  When we walked out of Taco Bell, the sun was beaming down hard and the temp was climbing.  We went back hiked a couple of miles in the warm sunshine then headed to camp.
    Moving on.   We went to dinner at a gem of a place called the Little Nugget.  Great food and cheap, but lacks in a sense that, for lack of not having the right words to describe it, a shit-hole place. While feasting on some  delicious frisco melts, we politely asked for some silverware from a young employee that simply replied, “What kind?”  Uhhh… We were stumped. Not sure if that was a trick question or she was toying with our minds, we just sat there and stared at her with a dumbfounded look on our face for what felt like hours.  Finally, after the long seconds of blank staring she went and got us silverware.  A fork and knife to be specific, in case you were wondering what kind.
    The rest of the evening was filled with crystal clear skies, bright stars,a good campfire, and a 12 pack of Bud Light.  After breakfast this morning,  we  added a couple more miles to our hiking shoes under more clear skies before heading home. And that brings us to now, again, after a shower, dinner, frozen yogurt, and a little research on the computer.
    Wow that was a lot to tell. don’t worry I won’t be upset if you had to take breaks during my story, I did. This week I don’t have a challenge,  I have to clean up the yard and patio, which if you saw my yard and patio would look like a challenge.  So that’s it for now, until next week, if you knew that you couldn’t fail, what would you attempt?  Think about it.

Art and Fish Tacos

    It has been a busy week.  Painting, drawing, taking pictures, eating healthy, working out, practical jokes from Denmark, and what have I learned?  Well, I am no Michelangelo or Margaret Burkwhite that’s for sure. But I did the best that I can.
    First, lets talk about photography and who I admire as a photographer. Who else then Ansel Adams.  A pioneer in the photography field taking famous pictures of the west.  Mostly spending time in the national parks such as Yosemite  and the Grand Tetons taking pictures of mountain scenes that are as aw inspiring as being there in person and seeing the massive giants themselves.  He also took pictures of southwest Indians and some pictures for research done by scientist.  His work is different from anyone else of that era not just because he hiked to remote locations carrying heavy camera equipment  and sat for hours waiting to get that one amazing shot but because he developed a zone system as a way to determine proper exposure and contrast of the final print.  Of course the reason I like him isn’t just because his pictures are of mountains or because he is an environmentalist( at least he was before he died in 1984) but also because he had a beard and looked like a mountain man.
    Painting. Well since I was inspired by a photographer of mountains why not be inspired by someone who painted them. I looked towards none other then the afro wearing, beard having, happy little tree painting Bob Ross.   His inspiration came from the mountains of Alaska which he got to look at plenty when he was stationed there in the air force.  Yes that’s right he was service man.  Just like his neighbor on PBS, Mr. Rogers, who also spent time with the armed forces.   Bob actually quit the AF when he realized he made more money selling his paintings than being in the AF.  He used a quick technique called wet-on-wet oil technique which allowed him to keep painting without having to wait for anything to dry.  Sadly the gentle man died in 1995 from lymphoma.
    Then there is drawing. I didn’t necessarily find someone who drew mountains or nature scenes to inspire me although I very could have, no I chose to simply take some advice and start with a sharpie and white piece of paper. Thanks again Fleegan.  But I did however stick to a nature theme.
    So without further a due, here is what I did this week;



My drawings.

Not sure where this idea came from just a doodle. Only non-nature art I did.

 

Just a nature design with the bear prints, rain drops, feathers, flower and stars.

Definitely no Bob Ross but a first time attempt at painting.  Yes it is a lone mountain in the woods.

Well I didn’t have mountains to take photos of  but I did have a lot of birds and squirrels.
        With the photos and even the drawings I was able to simply put them on the computer and tweak them so that they look even better.  Adams and Ross however, didn’t have this capability or even needed it to make there art so detailed and incredible.
    Lastly my challenge or should I say challenges for next week.  First one is going to more of a long term challenge.  Fish tacos.  I am setting my sights on finding the best fish tacos in Columbus because my dear fiance needs some good fish tacos. So if you have a suggestion or idea where to go let me know. Along with finding fish tacos I’ll keep up with healthy eating and working out.  I’m heading to Kickapoo State Park(there really is a place called Kickapoo) on Saturday to mountain bike, so my workout plan is to ride everyday this week.  Also, I’m gong to read a book. Yep, you got it, I’m going to read a book. A whole book. Not a twenty page kids book but a real book. I’ll let you know how it goes.  So until next week, take care and have a happy little day.


“True photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.”

                                    -Ansel Adams