The Way is a movie starring Martin Sheen written and directed by his son Emilo Estevez. It tells the story of a man who must travel to France to obtain the remains of his only son who died hiking the El camino de Santiago or The Way of Saint James. Once in Spain it is an 800Km (nearly 500 miles) journey that ends in the city of Santiago de Compostela. The movie is heartfelt as the father takes up the son's journey and walks the path his son had planned to walk spreading his ashes along the way.
If you have even the slightest hint of wanderlust within you this movie is sure to ignite it. These types of movies always set me on a precarious path. Movies about travel spark the imagination and make me long to strap on my hiking boots and just go. They make me wish to be anything other than I am. They make me want to be the person who can do that who can put aside the burden placed by society to act a certain way, to be a certain thing, to contribute a certain amount.
Yet I am who I am. Bound all the more fiercely because I'm aware of the ties that hold me to this place, to this job, to this corporate 5 year program. To the idea of a house and a husband and a white picket fence. Must I choose one or the other though?
So it goes round and round always asking the questions of myself and hoping, yearning for a different answer. Maybe one day the wanderlust will be freed and I will spend days or weeks or months or years with nothing holding me back and only the sound of the soft tread of my feet on the earth and the quiet of woods or the whisper of the wind or the murmur of a stream.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Gotta Have Some Goals...
Every year there are resolutions and commitments and goals. And pretty much every year like clockwork come the end of January they've fallen by the wayside. I've never once held on to one of these things longer than a three or four week stretch.
That being said there's always another one to be had. 12 runs in 12 months. A build up to a 2012 1/2 marathon. A good friend and I have decided to sit down and start to decide about our runs for the first six months of the year then come May figure out the next six. The races will hopefully be a buildup to the ever-imposing 13 miler that is the 1/2 marathon. That being said tomorrow I'm running in a 5K. We'll see how it goes.
EDIT: Race Time 33:39 which equals a 10:50 pace
That being said there's always another one to be had. 12 runs in 12 months. A build up to a 2012 1/2 marathon. A good friend and I have decided to sit down and start to decide about our runs for the first six months of the year then come May figure out the next six. The races will hopefully be a buildup to the ever-imposing 13 miler that is the 1/2 marathon. That being said tomorrow I'm running in a 5K. We'll see how it goes.
EDIT: Race Time 33:39 which equals a 10:50 pace
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
21st Century... I'm sad you're back :-(
Let there be light! God may have said it first but CL&P (Connecticut Light & Power) just said it again. After an awesome early winter storm where the Northeast US got pummeled by super heavy snow prior to the trees loosing their leaves CT was left with only 40 percent of its residents with power Saturday. It's Tuesday and only 45 percent of us have power. I am now among them. I'm probably the only one who's bummed about it. Most people are having flashbacks to Irene which paralyzed parts of CT with darkness for more than a week. This time they're predicting it'll take even longer to get everyone up and running again.
The dark wasn't so bad. I spent Sunday reading one and a half books. I went to bed at 715 and woke up at 630. I haven't gotten 11 hours of sleep on a work night in who knows how long. Last night I stayed at a friend's place with another friend. The three of us watched bad TV and got pizza from one of the few places in the area with power. Maybe it's stupid or sappy or whatever but I enjoyed hanging out with friends and the cold and dark sort of forced everyone together.
Yes I have to toss about 50 dollars worth of stuff from the fridge/freezer. Yes my commute was longer. In the end, though it was nice to spend time with people I don't normally see during the week and spend time sleeping and reading without being deemed boring or lame. So mother nature... Bring it on. I'm excited about the next outage!
The dark wasn't so bad. I spent Sunday reading one and a half books. I went to bed at 715 and woke up at 630. I haven't gotten 11 hours of sleep on a work night in who knows how long. Last night I stayed at a friend's place with another friend. The three of us watched bad TV and got pizza from one of the few places in the area with power. Maybe it's stupid or sappy or whatever but I enjoyed hanging out with friends and the cold and dark sort of forced everyone together.
Yes I have to toss about 50 dollars worth of stuff from the fridge/freezer. Yes my commute was longer. In the end, though it was nice to spend time with people I don't normally see during the week and spend time sleeping and reading without being deemed boring or lame. So mother nature... Bring it on. I'm excited about the next outage!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Seeing Stars
What I do for a living can sometimes make for odd situations. I'm an assembly engineer for an airplane engine manufacturer. Basically what my job boils down to is writing instructions for final assembly of jet engines then fine tuning the instructions for cost reduction or time savings. It's actually pretty interesting. It has also afforded me a lot of opportunity. One of those is being able to randomly bump into two star Air Force Generals. Not something most people do every day. So it was a bit odd when it happened to me today. I ended up just wandering past and sort of smiling and waving. I'm sure the general, his four full bird colonels and the one Lt. Colonel thought I was crazy.
Another cool opportunity is the ability to see other facilities. I saw our Canadian facility three years ago and our Maine facility two years ago. This time I'm getting to go to the customer and I'm super excited! I'm headed to Eglin AFB about 2.5 hours west of Tallahassee FL. About 30 minutes from Pensacola. I'm SO excited.
Hopefully I'll get to see one of the airframes our engines sit in! If nothing else I'll get to enjoy the view of the Air Force guys.
Another cool opportunity is the ability to see other facilities. I saw our Canadian facility three years ago and our Maine facility two years ago. This time I'm getting to go to the customer and I'm super excited! I'm headed to Eglin AFB about 2.5 hours west of Tallahassee FL. About 30 minutes from Pensacola. I'm SO excited.
Hopefully I'll get to see one of the airframes our engines sit in! If nothing else I'll get to enjoy the view of the Air Force guys.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Dear Tiny People... You are rediculous
I recently began my first foray into coaching. As a long time participant in the global phenomenon that is soccer I've had a lot of coaches over the years, both good and bad. Like it or not those people had a big influence on me during the years I was under their tutelage.
From my father, who was my very first soccer coach, to Cornell who I worked with for four years in high school all the men and women who have coached me have made an impact. Granted, the impact from some was more apparent than others. Some are clear as day in my memory while others are just hazy impressions in the back of my mind but all of them changed who I was, if only to make me a better soccer player.
So with that in mind I decided to start coaching. I ended up with the dribblers, the name for the parks and recs kindergarteners, 4-5 year olds. Never a more merry band of misfits has been grouped together. It's like any classic underdog sports move, except they never get better. That's not to say it isn't fun. They're great. They're entertaining and they drive me absolutely nuts.
It's entirely possible that I was an even bigger spaz than they were at that age. In fact, it's likely but man did I have completely different expectations. 14 tiny people running around the field in bright yellow shirts. There's Lilly who likes to pretend she's glued to the ground. Landon who, if I had to pick a kid to run head long into a tree for no apparent reason he would be the one. Jackson who tackles people football style during scrimmages. Emily who tried to show me her karate moves by attempting to kick me in the head. And the twins Cole and Peyton who won't let go of their mother's hand and thus I have a random adult in the middle of the field the whole time. In the end all that has made it fun. If nothing else it provides me with good stories on Thursdays.
They've taught me a lot about patience and conserving my voice and that maybe next year I should get a whistle. But they've also taught me that coaching is something I want to do more of.
From my father, who was my very first soccer coach, to Cornell who I worked with for four years in high school all the men and women who have coached me have made an impact. Granted, the impact from some was more apparent than others. Some are clear as day in my memory while others are just hazy impressions in the back of my mind but all of them changed who I was, if only to make me a better soccer player.
So with that in mind I decided to start coaching. I ended up with the dribblers, the name for the parks and recs kindergarteners, 4-5 year olds. Never a more merry band of misfits has been grouped together. It's like any classic underdog sports move, except they never get better. That's not to say it isn't fun. They're great. They're entertaining and they drive me absolutely nuts.
It's entirely possible that I was an even bigger spaz than they were at that age. In fact, it's likely but man did I have completely different expectations. 14 tiny people running around the field in bright yellow shirts. There's Lilly who likes to pretend she's glued to the ground. Landon who, if I had to pick a kid to run head long into a tree for no apparent reason he would be the one. Jackson who tackles people football style during scrimmages. Emily who tried to show me her karate moves by attempting to kick me in the head. And the twins Cole and Peyton who won't let go of their mother's hand and thus I have a random adult in the middle of the field the whole time. In the end all that has made it fun. If nothing else it provides me with good stories on Thursdays.
They've taught me a lot about patience and conserving my voice and that maybe next year I should get a whistle. But they've also taught me that coaching is something I want to do more of.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Empire by Orson Scott Card
"Being young is an eighteen-year prison sentence for a crime your parents committed. But you do get time off for good behavior."
Empire intersperses humor with a rather frightening and horribly realistic future world view of what could happen to the United States. It revolves around two main characters Major Ruben "Rube" Malich and Captain Bartholomew "Cole" Coleman both officers in the United States Army. It follows them through the twists and turns of a conspiracy that starts with the assassination of the President and ends in the possibility of a second civil war that may tear the country apart.
What makes the book so horrifying is the believability of the situation. The country is divided not along lines of race or religion but politics. Turning on the news on any given night it's easy to see the animosity between the U.S's two major political parties and understand where the crazies from both sides of the room could throw the country into turmoil rather than help it. The book also postulates on the fall of the democratic nation due to the weight of our own government and an eventual stalemate due to the constraints of the system it labors under. That particular theory is in evidence on any given day of the week.
"Our short-term politics trump long-term national interest every time. Can't fix Social security, can't fix the tax structure, can't fix the trade deficit, can't fix outsourcing, can't fix anything because there's always campaign money involved, or demagoguery that blocks the way. Between the NRA and the AARP, you can't even do the things that vast majorities already agree need to be done."
In the end it is what Card does best that makes the book such a good read. He makes characters you can sympathize with. The reader feels for their successes as much as the failures and it is the cracks in each person that make them interesting and relate-able. Good people trying to do good things and being manipulated by the system and people who only want power, what's not to sympathize with.
"So he can use his powers for good as well as evil."
"We all can, it's telling the difference that gets so hard"
Empire intersperses humor with a rather frightening and horribly realistic future world view of what could happen to the United States. It revolves around two main characters Major Ruben "Rube" Malich and Captain Bartholomew "Cole" Coleman both officers in the United States Army. It follows them through the twists and turns of a conspiracy that starts with the assassination of the President and ends in the possibility of a second civil war that may tear the country apart.
What makes the book so horrifying is the believability of the situation. The country is divided not along lines of race or religion but politics. Turning on the news on any given night it's easy to see the animosity between the U.S's two major political parties and understand where the crazies from both sides of the room could throw the country into turmoil rather than help it. The book also postulates on the fall of the democratic nation due to the weight of our own government and an eventual stalemate due to the constraints of the system it labors under. That particular theory is in evidence on any given day of the week.
"Our short-term politics trump long-term national interest every time. Can't fix Social security, can't fix the tax structure, can't fix the trade deficit, can't fix outsourcing, can't fix anything because there's always campaign money involved, or demagoguery that blocks the way. Between the NRA and the AARP, you can't even do the things that vast majorities already agree need to be done."
In the end it is what Card does best that makes the book such a good read. He makes characters you can sympathize with. The reader feels for their successes as much as the failures and it is the cracks in each person that make them interesting and relate-able. Good people trying to do good things and being manipulated by the system and people who only want power, what's not to sympathize with.
"So he can use his powers for good as well as evil."
"We all can, it's telling the difference that gets so hard"
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Oh the Places We'll Go
I got this link from a friend: http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited?region=usa
It's a fun little website where you can go to create maps of the places you've been. You can make maps of the United States:
visited 34 states (68%)
Or of the World:
visited 9 states (4%)
It's hard to see some of the smaller countries on this map but the 9 are The Untied States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, Honduras, Peru, France, Israel and Morocco.
The website also has maps of Brazil and India and their various provinces/states. All of which have me itching to plan the next great adventure! And when I say plan what I really mean is to tag along while my friend and travel buddy makes arrangements to go to New Years in Florippa, Brazil!
In the mean time I'll be going hunting in North Dakota as well as making minor trips to visit both friends and family. It's going to make for an interesting end of the year but it is going to be well worth it. I'm so excited about the prospect of traveling again. I can't wait to see what adventure lies around the next corner.
It's a fun little website where you can go to create maps of the places you've been. You can make maps of the United States:
visited 34 states (68%)
Or of the World:
visited 9 states (4%)
It's hard to see some of the smaller countries on this map but the 9 are The Untied States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, Honduras, Peru, France, Israel and Morocco.
The website also has maps of Brazil and India and their various provinces/states. All of which have me itching to plan the next great adventure! And when I say plan what I really mean is to tag along while my friend and travel buddy makes arrangements to go to New Years in Florippa, Brazil!
In the mean time I'll be going hunting in North Dakota as well as making minor trips to visit both friends and family. It's going to make for an interesting end of the year but it is going to be well worth it. I'm so excited about the prospect of traveling again. I can't wait to see what adventure lies around the next corner.
Monday, September 5, 2011
A Wonderful Thing
Parents are amazing people and I don't necessarily think that I spend enough time telling mine that. I know how many people in the world aren't supported by families as caring and accepting as mine and I'm using this as a reminder to remember to let them know that more often.
I'm very much aware of needing to make my own way in the world and trying to see and do things that are separate from my parents and outside their realm of control. However, it is beyond comforting to know that no matter how hard I fall they'll always scrape me up and put a Power Rangers band-aid on it.
I was at home this past weekned and had a wonderful time. My amazing friend and travel buddy came to visit and we got to talking about our families. I said something akin to "barring murder I'm pretty sure my parents would take me back in no matter what." to which her response was "I'm pretty sure my mother would hide me even if I did kill someone".
Families are a wonderful thing.
I'm very much aware of needing to make my own way in the world and trying to see and do things that are separate from my parents and outside their realm of control. However, it is beyond comforting to know that no matter how hard I fall they'll always scrape me up and put a Power Rangers band-aid on it.
I was at home this past weekned and had a wonderful time. My amazing friend and travel buddy came to visit and we got to talking about our families. I said something akin to "barring murder I'm pretty sure my parents would take me back in no matter what." to which her response was "I'm pretty sure my mother would hide me even if I did kill someone".
Families are a wonderful thing.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Give Credit Where Credit is Due
While my thoughts on a recent movie I saw inspired me to share with others, the inspiration for my blog's title and description came from a show I like very much. And while some may wonder at being inspired by a jaded, bitter, angry make-believe doctor I remain undaunted by the prospect.
This is because, while the character may be all of those things he is, above all else, logical and funny and honest. In the end he uses all of these attributes, both good and bad, as a shield to mask his vulnerabilities. It is the most honest thing the writers have done with the character. Everyone uses smoke and mirrors to distract people away from the things we don't like about ourselves and don't want others to see and if a person tries to claim otherwise they're lying, because, well... Everybody Lies.
Dr. Gregory House: They're out there, doctors, lawyers postal workers some of them doing great some of them doing lousy. Are you going to base your whole life on who you got stuck in a room with?
Eve: I'm going to base this moment on who I'm stuck in a room with. It's what life is. It's a series of rooms and who we get stuck in those rooms with adds up to what our lives are.
-- House M.D. "One Day One Room"
Dr. Gregory House: Personally, I choose to believe that the white-light people sometimes see, visions this patient saw. They're all just chemical reactions that take place when the brain shuts down.
Dr. Eric Foreman: You choose to believe that?
Dr. Gregory House: There's no conclusive science. My choice has no practical relevance to my life, I choose the outcome I find more comforting.
Dr. Cameron: You find it more comforting to believe that this is it?
Dr. Gregory House: I find it more comforting to believe that all *this* isn't simply a test.
--House M.D. "Three Stories"
This is because, while the character may be all of those things he is, above all else, logical and funny and honest. In the end he uses all of these attributes, both good and bad, as a shield to mask his vulnerabilities. It is the most honest thing the writers have done with the character. Everyone uses smoke and mirrors to distract people away from the things we don't like about ourselves and don't want others to see and if a person tries to claim otherwise they're lying, because, well... Everybody Lies.
Dr. Gregory House: They're out there, doctors, lawyers postal workers some of them doing great some of them doing lousy. Are you going to base your whole life on who you got stuck in a room with?
Eve: I'm going to base this moment on who I'm stuck in a room with. It's what life is. It's a series of rooms and who we get stuck in those rooms with adds up to what our lives are.
-- House M.D. "One Day One Room"
Dr. Gregory House: Personally, I choose to believe that the white-light people sometimes see, visions this patient saw. They're all just chemical reactions that take place when the brain shuts down.
Dr. Eric Foreman: You choose to believe that?
Dr. Gregory House: There's no conclusive science. My choice has no practical relevance to my life, I choose the outcome I find more comforting.
Dr. Cameron: You find it more comforting to believe that this is it?
Dr. Gregory House: I find it more comforting to believe that all *this* isn't simply a test.
--House M.D. "Three Stories"
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
180 Degrees South
I just watched a documentary detailing the trip one man took to Patagonia. The documentary was more about the discoveries he made along the way about our planet, what we are doing to it and learning to love the beauty of the wild places that remain to us.
http://www.conservacionpatagonica.org/index.htm
It definitely struck a chord with me. I make jet engines for a living. Something that feeds consumerism and war. I'm not saying that it's inherently wrong, because I feel that's going too far to the other end of the spectrum, but I think it isn't necessarily what I want with my life.
I love the people I work for and with and what we make is interesting and displays the raw ingenuity of the human race. However, I want to be able to see those wild places and experience them before they're gone.
I'm making it a 7 year goal: I want to thru-hike the Appalachian trail. 2180 miles of North American East coast. It takes the average thru-hiker nearly 6 months to complete the journey.
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about-t
In 7 years I want to be in a place where I can leave my job, store everything for 7 or 8 months and start walking. In the mean time I want to get out more. See more wilderness that the U.S and the World have to offer. I want to make life a journey and not just the monotonous keeping of a routine.
I know that it's easy to say these things and hard to do them but hopefully it will give me something to shoot for. Something worth trying, something to let me know that if all this isn't simply a test I passed anyway because I did what I set out to do.
http://www.conservacionpatagonica.org/index.htm
It definitely struck a chord with me. I make jet engines for a living. Something that feeds consumerism and war. I'm not saying that it's inherently wrong, because I feel that's going too far to the other end of the spectrum, but I think it isn't necessarily what I want with my life.
I love the people I work for and with and what we make is interesting and displays the raw ingenuity of the human race. However, I want to be able to see those wild places and experience them before they're gone.
I'm making it a 7 year goal: I want to thru-hike the Appalachian trail. 2180 miles of North American East coast. It takes the average thru-hiker nearly 6 months to complete the journey.
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about-t
In 7 years I want to be in a place where I can leave my job, store everything for 7 or 8 months and start walking. In the mean time I want to get out more. See more wilderness that the U.S and the World have to offer. I want to make life a journey and not just the monotonous keeping of a routine.
I know that it's easy to say these things and hard to do them but hopefully it will give me something to shoot for. Something worth trying, something to let me know that if all this isn't simply a test I passed anyway because I did what I set out to do.
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