just a few brief highlights of the trip:
-Most beautiful location: tie between the Smith River NRA in Norcal and the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Look them up. You should go there.
-Proudest of their alcohol: Portland. These people are very serious about beer. Very serious. It was good, and a lot of people I met here were pretty intoxicated as a result of how good it was.
-Weird weather Award: San Francisco. They should take the "windy city" title away from Chicago because this place has wind gusts that will knock you off your feet. And it knocks the temperature down about 20 degrees as well.
-Healthiest food: San Fran. These people know their fruits and veggies like no other. I have never seen more tofu in my life.
-Most likely place to smell Marijuana: Anywhere in San Fran. Healthy food, unhealthy smoking habits.
-Most unusual law: The state of Oregon. You aren't allowed to pump your own gas anywhere in the state. In the good ol' state of Oregon, they have gas attendants to do it for you. We figured this out by attempting to do it ourselves and getting screamed at for a few minutes. If you are in a hurry to get gas, you are out of luck. Try another state.
-Most likely to get in trouble for throwing your water bottle in the wrong bin: Oregon. These people are serious about their recycling...most restaurants have several bins for garbage and various categories of recycling. Which is cool. And sometimes confusing.
-Most likely place for people to get high off the sun instead of their coffee: Seattle. I have never seen people more excited about a sunny day. People were going nuts. Of course, their excitement could have been exaggerated due to the fact that just about everyone is walking around with some form of caffeine in their hand 24 hours a day. And yes, there is a Starbucks on every corner.
-Black hole award: Eugene, Oregon. Although there is very little to do here, everyone we met apparently came to visit at some point and just never left. Now they work random jobs and hang out at bars and talk about what they would do if they ever did leave.
-State that is secretly populating the earth: Texas. Yep, everywhere I went I met people from Austin/San Antonio/Dallas/Denton/Houston Texas. Planes, restaurants, hostels...you people are everywhere- except for Texas.
-Most likely to get run over by a bike: Tie between Portland and Seattle. I think I saw more bikes than cars...and due to the very steep hills they definitely can go pretty fast. so you better move out of their way.
-Most likely to run into an activist (of any kind): Portland. In one afternoon I got stopped about 4 or 5 times by various people trying to get me to sign petitions. "Excuse me, would you like to help me save the ancient forests?" was probably my favorite. These people are serious about having causes. Cardboard cutouts of Obama were ducktaped around various historical statues around the city. Who needs Lewis and Clark anyway?
Monday, May 19, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
norcal and oregon...
cannot begin to express how beautiful it is here so far. i just can't. these pictures don't even come close.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
kierkegaard
recently I read some writings by Soren Kierkegaard. He definitely has some very strong opinions about the mediocrity of Christianity in the “modern age” (‘modern’ considering he wrote in 1800s Denmark ha)
some things I found interesting:
“how wretched and miserable it is to find in a person many good intentions but few good deeds.”
“it is only all too easy to understand the requirements contained in God’s Word (“Give all your goods to the poor.” “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the left.” “If anyone takes your coat, let him have your cloak also.” “Rejoice always.” “Count it as sheer joy when you meet various temptations” etc.) The most ignorant, poor creature cannot honestly deny being able to understand God’s requirements. But it is tough on the flesh to will to understand it and then to act accordingly. Herein lies the problem. It is not a question of interpretation, but action.”
“Nowadays we can become or live as Christians in the most pleasant way and without ever risking the slightest possibility of offense. All we have to do is start with the status quo and observe good virtues. We can continue to make our lives comfortable by scraping together the world’s goods, as long as we stir into the pot what is Christian as a seasoning, an ingredient that almost serves to refine our enjoyment of life. This kind of Christianity is but a religious variation of the world’s unbelief…”
“We could at least be truthful before God and admit our weakness instead of reducing the requirements.”
“A revolutionary age is an age of action; ours is the age of advertisement and publicity.”
“Our age is without passion. Everyone knows a great deal, we all know which way we ought to go and all the different ways we can go, but nobody is really willing to move.”
some things I found interesting:
“how wretched and miserable it is to find in a person many good intentions but few good deeds.”
“it is only all too easy to understand the requirements contained in God’s Word (“Give all your goods to the poor.” “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the left.” “If anyone takes your coat, let him have your cloak also.” “Rejoice always.” “Count it as sheer joy when you meet various temptations” etc.) The most ignorant, poor creature cannot honestly deny being able to understand God’s requirements. But it is tough on the flesh to will to understand it and then to act accordingly. Herein lies the problem. It is not a question of interpretation, but action.”
“Nowadays we can become or live as Christians in the most pleasant way and without ever risking the slightest possibility of offense. All we have to do is start with the status quo and observe good virtues. We can continue to make our lives comfortable by scraping together the world’s goods, as long as we stir into the pot what is Christian as a seasoning, an ingredient that almost serves to refine our enjoyment of life. This kind of Christianity is but a religious variation of the world’s unbelief…”
“We could at least be truthful before God and admit our weakness instead of reducing the requirements.”
“A revolutionary age is an age of action; ours is the age of advertisement and publicity.”
“Our age is without passion. Everyone knows a great deal, we all know which way we ought to go and all the different ways we can go, but nobody is really willing to move.”
Friday, May 02, 2008
"the gamecocks crippled kenny chesney!!"
so rock star friend melissa scored us some free tickets to the kenny chesney/brooks & dunn/leann rimes/gary allen/luke bryan/every other country star concert in cola last weekend. despite the nausea i got from the red and black everywhere, the only time i would set foot in williams brice (other then when clemson is killing carolina) would be a free concert.
now, country concerts are always an experience....but when you have a concert that is from 4pm until, and people start drinking when the sun comes up it always makes a memorable event.
despite the long walks to and from the car (we got up to the entrance where melissa got informed her camera was 'too big.' i had three strikes against me by trying to bring in a camera, an umbrella and an "oversized bag." (of course the bag was big! it had to fit my giant forbidden camera!). so we ditched everything except some cash and our sunglasses and tried again.
when we finally got inside to our seats, the show only got better as the night went on. and by show, i am not referring about the country singers but the drunk people sitting around us.
case in point:
2 rows down, drunken girl passes out and has to be carried out by the paramedics. i mean, she is GONE by 5:30pm. drunk lady next to me starts taking pictures and tells me, "i am going to put this in my scrapbook" in the most obnoxious drunk country accent possible. her friend leans over to me and says, "if she was my friend and she wasn't dead, i would kill her! those tickets were $90! ....but she might be dead already." i look at melissa, trying not to laugh because i am afraid that if i do they might try to kill ME and then i would be the next one taken out on a stretcher.
hours later, kenny chesney finally comes on, only to have his foot crushed by the rising platform he was supposed to enter on. half the stadium didn't know what happened because of the 10 coronas they each had consumed in the past few hours. he proceeded to hobble around for the rest of the night, taking breaks periodically to hide behind his guitarists keeled over in pain. despite a broken foot, he put on a pretty good show. leave it to the gamecocks to cripple a country star. maybe next time he'll play in death valley instead.
and then i found five dollars.
no, really i did.
now, country concerts are always an experience....but when you have a concert that is from 4pm until, and people start drinking when the sun comes up it always makes a memorable event.
despite the long walks to and from the car (we got up to the entrance where melissa got informed her camera was 'too big.' i had three strikes against me by trying to bring in a camera, an umbrella and an "oversized bag." (of course the bag was big! it had to fit my giant forbidden camera!). so we ditched everything except some cash and our sunglasses and tried again.
when we finally got inside to our seats, the show only got better as the night went on. and by show, i am not referring about the country singers but the drunk people sitting around us.
case in point:
2 rows down, drunken girl passes out and has to be carried out by the paramedics. i mean, she is GONE by 5:30pm. drunk lady next to me starts taking pictures and tells me, "i am going to put this in my scrapbook" in the most obnoxious drunk country accent possible. her friend leans over to me and says, "if she was my friend and she wasn't dead, i would kill her! those tickets were $90! ....but she might be dead already." i look at melissa, trying not to laugh because i am afraid that if i do they might try to kill ME and then i would be the next one taken out on a stretcher.
hours later, kenny chesney finally comes on, only to have his foot crushed by the rising platform he was supposed to enter on. half the stadium didn't know what happened because of the 10 coronas they each had consumed in the past few hours. he proceeded to hobble around for the rest of the night, taking breaks periodically to hide behind his guitarists keeled over in pain. despite a broken foot, he put on a pretty good show. leave it to the gamecocks to cripple a country star. maybe next time he'll play in death valley instead.
and then i found five dollars.
no, really i did.
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