Still enjoying Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton. I am going to read more of his work. It looks like I am going to be in TN, CA, NC, FL, and CO for Forever Labs these next few weeks. Maybe TX too. So much happening. I took my first foray into portraiture. It's about 1/3 done: I didn't know if I'd like it as much as landscapes, but I do. Different challenges. Mostly because our brains are so wired to detect the slightest differences between faces. I think I have my Hubski development issues settled. I have a few bugskis to settle. Then we are going to raise the bar for spammers somehow.
Dude. You're a talented mofo. See you in TN, CA, NC, FL, CO, TX. Quite the rollercoaster ride we are on.
I've got a B- in my IT class so if you're stuck with devski stuff let me know. I can open a CSS file 50% of the time.
Looks great! Who's the girl? I always find it odd how Americans use those abbreviations for state names. I can't even remember all of the Irish county license plate letters, and there are only 27. I guess you just know all of them off by heart. I'm guessing: TN: Tennessee CA: California NC: North Carolina FL: Florida CO: Colorado? TX: Texas Sounds like you have quite a trip ahead of you!
I want to explore. Next year I think I'm going to go to Machu Picchu. This year, I plan on two half-marathons, multiple 10K trail runs, and I want to spend as much time this Spring through Fall outdoors hiking and camping as possible. The world is beautiful, and I want to be taken in by it's beauty. The next REI garage sale is going to take a lot of my money... The aspect of fitness, of hiking, of camping, is the solitude and meditation that comes with it. There is nothing else that gives me such a feeling of confidence, but more importantly, of working within and against the limits of my own body and mental capacity. I'm kind of perpetually a malcontent with my relationships with others, and am still not as satisfied as I would like with my connections with others in my age range and it's funny - this past week I've heard similar complaints from multiple people. Maybe this is all just a form of escapism.Everything is flowing -- going somewhere, animals and so-called lifeless rocks as well as water. Thus the snow flows fast or slow in grand beauty-making glaciers and avalanches; the air in majestic floods carrying minerals, plant leaves, seeds, spores, with streams of music and fragrance; water streams carrying rocks... While the stars go streaming through space pulsed on and on forever like blood...in Nature's warm heart.
- John Muir
If you've been following my recent Pubski posts, you know I'm in the same boat. How old are you? Maybe it isn't just the youngsters thing. Come to Russia. Hike the Kamchatkan mountains; visit me smack dab in the middle of Siberia along the way. Hell, I'll show you some decent Russian forests right here in Tomsk!and am still not as satisfied as I would like with my connections with others in my age range and it's funny - this past week I've heard similar complaints from multiple people. Maybe this is all just a form of escapism.
I want to explore. Next year I think I'm going to go to Machu Picchu.
I'm 25! Yourself? The other folks who have been lodging their complaints have been anywhere from my age to ~32, which is interesting. They're also all from somewhere other than where we currently live. I would love to visit Russia at some point, maybe we could bring steve along, too!
The Russian Hubski Meetup is becoming more real every day! :) I'm 22. My guess - this is how I support my vision of things - is that you're more mature than your peers, and you're looking for someone similar, and you can't find them, which leads to frustration. Am I anywhere on the spot here?
You're not doing Machu Picchu are you? Also, yes please to all of the above on Lake Louise. Let's work this out!
Pretty sure I've settled on this one, I might stay longer but that all depends on money and my ability to learn Spanish since I would be on my own after that. I would offer you a place to stay but as I mentioned in my comment on the minamilism article my space is rather small.
Wow, that would be amazing. If your Spanish comes along might as well stay as long as you can and really immerse yourself. Anything works, really, would likely just have myself, my car and camping/hiking gear.
Machu Picchu is amazing. Prior to going, PM me and I'll put you in touch with the most amazing guide. Definitely do the 3 day hike. Don't just take the train. It's a great bucket list event.
Every time I listen to this lovely old tune I remember your post about it playing while you were on Machu Picchu.
It was an awesome moment! Thanks for remembering!
After a 10k? It's hard to explain. It feels...refreshing? I think that's a good way to put it. Especially after a run by yourself, there's something about being a small handful of people outside and running at any point in time, just you, and the road or trail in front of you. There's a goal, right? And you're going to meet that goal because otherwise you're walking. At the end you're tired, no doubt, but you feel strong, you feel ready for the next run. I'm not sure if that's a runners high, I do get that during some longer runs, but that's more a feeling of having no thoughts, not even really feeling the motions, but you're going, and going, and going.
I ran 5 miles today. It's the furthest I've run in a couple years. I felt amazing after. I still do. It's an amazing high.
It sure does! I only had 20 minutes yesterday, but still managed 2 miles. Just made myself run as fast as I could. Wanted to be in the 7 minute mile range but ended up at 8:04. Ah well. Still felt alive!
So, last friday I had a few hundred mcgs of Fentanyl (Among other things) dumped into my body and a camera shoved down my throat. While I was starting to go under, the doctor (late 30's female) said something about 'This next medication will relax your jaw and throat for better access' and my half-tranquilized ass replied 'I bet you say that to all the boys.' and one of the technicians had to excuse herself from the room because she was laughing so hard. Evidently my stomach produces like, way too much acid, and my esophagus and upper small intestine have some scarring as a result, which explains why I've had issues swallowing. The most common treatment for this is a proton pump inhibitor, which limits the stomachs ability to produce acid. I've been on a PPI before and really disliked the side effects, so when I go in for my next GI consult I'm going to ask what my non-pharmaceutical options are for acid control. My online research is really conflicting. Some people advocate a lot of pro-biotics and pro-biotic foods, some people advocate for avoiding them. I think I'm going to try a Very Low Carb diet for a while, see if that does anything. There's a lot of anecdata that reduced/low/no-carb diets have a lot of therapeutic effects for several gastrointestinal disorders, and can even reduce a diabetics dependence on insulin. Saturday is my first performance of the Missa Solemnis with the Ann Arbor Symphony. It's a challenging piece that continues to teach me more about my strengths and weaknesses as a singer/chorister. First joint rehearsal tonight, and then in a few weeks we take it on the road to perform with the Toledo Symphony.
My sister has a similar GI issue that results in her throat basically growing tighter and tighter until she can't breathe (stenosis), so she gets throat surgery every 2 years to open it back up again. 4-6 months to recover from throat surgery, a year of easy breathing, 6-12 months of gradually more restricted airway, and then surgery again. All because her stomach produces too much acid and can't keep it from entering the esophagus.
Sounds dreadful. Before they gave me any drugs I had to sign a consent form that included permission to let them open my airway if they found any stenosis, thankfully that wasn't needed. Still waiting to hear if they found anything in the biopsies they took, but the doctor was optimistic.
Did you have an endoscopy?! Also, would have lost my shit if I got that kind of a response, awesome.
How fun. I get to have that and a colonoscopy this Friday. Can't wait.
Eew. Best of luck. They dope you up enough that it's not uncomfortable. I don't remember a thing after the laughing technician. FWIW, I stopped eating at 9PM the night before my procedure, they stuck the camera in at about 8:30 AM. This was not enough time to completely clear my stomach of food, to the disappointment of the doc. I would suggest more than 12 hours of fasting before your procedure for best image quality.
- The Omnivore's Dilemma is definitely turning me on to local food. - Homemade Soy Milk is really good, but lacking stabilizers means it is prone to curdling in coffee. - Daffodils are popping up everywhere right now. Many of the trees also have tiny leafs, not buds. Too soon. - I've learned that the community owned grocery has some pretty spiffin' deals in their discount produce bins. _____________________ KU Field Station
What's the dealio, Hubski? I'm having my coffee and porridge, and afterward a cigarette; a well-rounded breakfast. I started typing out a paragraph about the weather just there. It's almost a reflex. Now that I'm back home, I have conversations about the weather about four hundred times a day. Weather probably dominates my conversations because I have no news whatsoever. I'm still working a day or two a week at the pub, which is nice, because I actually like it. But I've also started working with my dad on my sister's new house. Three weeks of labourious sanding, filling, dusting and painting have gone by - and we've only just managed to finish a second coat on the upstairs floor. The plasterer did an awful job, basically, which we've had to fix. My father is a perfectionist. I have learned that painting, or at least painting well, is something everyone thinks they can do, but it's actually much more difficult and time-consuming than simply putting paint on the wall. This has taken up most of my time. Other than that I've been watching a lot of movies over the past couple of months. Personal favourites would be Letter Never Sent (set in your neck of the woods, ThatFanficGuy), The Bridge on the River Kwai, Three Outlaw Samurai, M, and Koyaanisqaatsi. The latter is pretty mesmerising at points thanks to Philip Glass. Still very much wondering what on earth I'm going to do next. The thought of remaining in this town for too much longer fills me with dread. I feel like I kind of need to go off and do the whole "travel" thing before I get too old. I just need to, y'know, get an actual job so I have a few shillings. Then I'll buy some genie pants and dread my hair, and boom! Off to Nepal. I actually started writing a book about my walk from last year, which, come to think about it, I still haven't posted about here. Will do. Anyway I've written most of the first section out (just covering the first few days) and it's utter garbage. I've never really written anything like that before. It's just very dry and linear and boring. But it's just a first giraffe so I'll try not to dismay myself. Oh, on Thursday I got an email from the Guinness World Records saying I'd officially been recognised as breaking the record for longest barefoot journey! I'm waiting on the cert now. To be honest, I think I'm mostly thrilled that the waiting is over. I submitted the evidence to them back in October I think. That cigarette is calling!
Unfortunately, just a few weeks after the end of my journey, I lost the phone I'd taken with me. A lot of photos are now forever missing (I didn't have them backed up anywhere). The only ones at hand are from Facebook, compressed and of poor quality. Here's lefty: I do have an SD card with a lot more photos (I think around 2,000), I'll have to track it down. But that was mostly used for GWR videos photos of the landscape.
Yep. Central Siberia: the dick pic of the world. Long Pubski posts are my kind of writing. You write pretty good, by the way; I appreciate your style. They say in Russia that a man has to do three things in life: plant a tree, build a house and raise a son. Sounds like you're on your way to a third of the plan. Good on you! Longest barefoot walk sounds like a great achievement to be remembered for. Give me a shout-out when you post about it: it's something I want to read about. Then do it. Travel around for a while. If it's something you know you want and there's nothing holding you from it, then there's no reason not to do it. As for financing the journey: set up a business you can operate from anywhere with an Internet connection; if I recall correctly, this is what elizabeth did.Three weeks of labourious sanding, filling, dusting and painting
Still very much wondering what on earth I'm going to do next. The thought of remaining in this town for too much longer fills me with dread. I feel like I kind of need to go off and do the whole "travel" thing before I get too old.
I kind of lucked out with my beard oil project when Urban Outfitters bought some bottles, setting up an online business that makes enough money to travel is actually not that easy. It's my goal for this year tho. The youtubing/travel vlogging is not really bringing in any money yet, but I'm just getting to the level I can score free media passes to some events. Plus, word is getting around that I know my way around filming/editing so I mights get a couple freelance gigs in the meantime. It's a long game, but I think I can make it happen if I stick with it. Just gotta figure out the cashflow in the meantime :)
Ah, cool! It's nice to see another Hubski user on the right side of the Atlantic. Although, come to think of it, you're probably closer to the Pacific! Hold on, does a hedge count? A couple of weeks ago I went down to visit my friend way out in the sticks, and helped her mother out in the garden. She had me plant a few striplings which hopefully will take, and eventually make a hedge. I was delighted when she told me she'd call it Fál Éamain, which mean's 'Eamonn's Hedge'. So maybe I only need to raise a son? Piece of cake. In a lot of ways this is an excellent time for travel; I have no SO, no proper work situation, no mortgage, nothing really holding me to where I am. But I'm pretty scared, and that's sort of holding me in check. As for an online business, I'd have literally no idea what to do. But never say never! We'll see. I am not staying in Mayo forever!They say in Russia that a man has to do three things in life: plant a tree, build a house and raise a son. Sounds like you're on your way to a third of the plan. Good on you!
Then do it. Travel around for a while. If it's something you know you want and there's nothing holding you from it, then there's no reason not to do it. As for financing the journey: set up a business you can operate from anywhere with an Internet connection; if I recall correctly, this is what elizabeth did.
Only if you can climb it and not fall. :) Check out this guy. He's fine! He's telling ya. If you do decide to travel some time soon, feel free to visit Western Siberia. We can get a drink and I can show you around.Hold on, does a hedge count?
But I'm pretty scared, and that's sort of holding me in check.
A close friend of mine went off to India to learn how to sing a few months ago, and I recently came across a photo of him wearing a turban. Said friend has at least three pairs of genie pants. I was discussing a long time ago with another friend how odd it is that certain loosely-defined groups of people you'd normally associate with non-conformism basically have their own uniforms. Like metalheads with patched jackets and long hair, piercings and tattoos, or the aforementioned hippies. I've met a whole bunch of girls with a nose piercing, one long braid or dread somewhere in their hair, a leather bracelet or two, tattoos of ink, henna, or both, and those pants. Not ragging on the pants, mind. They're super comfy and I used to own three pairs of them. Then I gave them to turban guy.
Congrats on the Guinness World Record! That is amazing. Where would you want to travel? Why would you want to travel?
Thanks! Why is a difficult question to answer. I think everyone wants to get away from what they know and to see and explore different places. I remember when I was a kid I used to love looking at atlases and wanted to travel to all of those oddly-named and far-flung places. Now I'm nearing 25 and I've never been outside of Western Europe. There's nothing wrong with that, except that it makes me feel like I'm wasting something. There's also that peculiar sense of joy or tranquility even when on a fairly short journey. Just being out of the main loop, away from all of the problems you faced at home is very refreshing, even if you face others, and even if the old ones are still there on your return. The crappy times still make good stories - it doesn't matter, it's something different. Where? Good question. Mongolia - hang out on the steppes, y'know. I'd love to go to North America and walk around in some of those forested, mountainous places you see in photos and that we just don't have in Ireland, where our mountains are really hills and nowhere is still wild. I really want to do another giant walk, across America or Europe. Botswana has been in my head for years simply because it's one of the only places I can't remember every hearing anything about, and I want to see what's going on. Scottish highlands. Siberia. Brazil. The Faroes. Mexico. New Zealand. Perhaps part of the problem is that I don't have one particularly strong fixation.
The Appalachain Trail looks amazing, alright. I've met a few people who've done it and talking to them really made me want to go over and do that or one of the other big American trails.
Audition for early music program at U of T went well. My teacher was very happy. I am concerned that my masters degree grades hadn't shown up by the time of audition, but we'll see. I also have an early music concert in Toronto this Sunday. Maybe lil or someguyfromcanada or other toronto peeps want to come? It's by donation, and it's not too snobby - there are some amateur viola da gambists playing (including myself). The set of 12 Fantasias for viola da gamba by Telemann was only recently discovered, and I believe this is their Canadian premiere. could be fun, right? right?? just me, huh? Trying out Intermittent Fasting to get my weight more under control. Not looking to lose a ton of weight, just better control what I eat and when.
Ohhh.... that sounds great ... if I can make it. Please let me know the details and I will try to get there. Congrats on the audition.
the concert is at 7:30pm on sunday at the Victoria College Chapel - sort of across from the U of T Music school?
I appear to have torn/strained a calf muscle. In the two weeks since it first started acting up I've gained five pounds. Since I had to see the doctor anyway (to get a referral to PT, a fact that took an hour and a half on hold to discern), I got the blood tests done, six of them. To which my wife wanted to know if I could add two more. Sure. That's how it works when Lab Corps has an office in the building. "Hey, I know it's not on my chart but could you throw a couple more in for good measure?" Then I got to see the guy about the leg, and had to tell him that his about-to-graduate son shouldn't become a composer in LA because it's the only job I know of with shittier employment rates and reimbursement than screenwriting. We have occupancy and licensure. Have done for two weeks now. The woman that was oh-shit gonna drop any day so we gotta hurry hurry hurry hasn't yet. Meanwhile my caterer said "let's set a reception for three weeks from now so we have some time to get things arranged" and then delayed a week and a half on getting me a quote. I don't understand. "I would like to give you money." "No, thanks, we don't like money around here." All that to say, nobody is probing me, I don't have a list of six states I might be in in the next few weeks and I didn't post this on Facebook last night: Success is accidentally making a rusty nail with Laphroag and not being too upset about it. Now I gotta go mix a terrible movie by a very nice person, who was gobsmacked to hear I had to transfer 600GB of samples over to the new system. I haven't told him that's less than half of what I own.
I just got an email from a tattoo artist saying the day I want is still available! I think I'm going to do it. I'm think I'm going to get a stained glass feather. 
I just finished my first college essay, a 7-pager, since four years ago when I dropped out of college. I forgot just how terrible the format of the collegiate essay is for communicating anything interesting. The formality of the language is stultifying. Plus, the academic style we're supposed to emulate that appears in the scholarly journals requires a vocabulary (and jargon) that is beyond most college students this day and age, at least in my experience. I'm constantly thesaurus-ing. I try ruthlessly to edit out all the $10 words and flourishes that muddle my paper, but it still comes out as boring at best and completely underwhelming. And not to self-aggrandize, but I'm trying really hard whereas I know other students are not. I feel so sorry for the teachers that have to read these.
blackbootz, try Hemingway App. Not a recommendation, but it sounds like something you could use.
It was for a seminar class on masculinity. We read a sociologist's cultural history of manhood in America over the last two hundred years. He broadly identified three themes that popular conceptions of manhood have all shared, namely self-making (or self-control), escapism, and exclusion. Working with the last theme--exclusion as a basis for manhood--I identified historical and contemporary examples. Funny that I'm talking about the paper on Hubski: one of my contemporaneous examples of men grounding their identities by excluding others came to me based on the discussion on the site around Shane Bauer of MoJo joining a border militia.
You know, I keep reading some of the posts here, and it has occurred to me just how much people here know... and then I realized: I know some shit, too! Not this much, but I took my time accumulating all of the knowledge so that now I can shine in some topics and hold my own at many others. And the older folks here - it's just amazing how much they know. I'm sure they did the same thing I did, being curious persons themselves, and I'm quite certain they don't have a lot of advantage when collecting the data. Just saying that Hubski's full of great people. Hopefully, I'll be on par with that someday.
goin on vacation! tomorrow is the pre-travel aka 2 buses Pristina -> Skopje -> Sofia, airport hotel overnight, then Sofia -> Tel Aviv to hang out with my mom for a few days then -> Barcelona to see some friends from college then -> back to Sofia to connect to a flight for a few days in Budapest then -> meet Topher in Skopje and bus or taxi back to Sofia and actually get to visit it and then take Topher to Pristina :)
Skopje really is the ass-end of everywhere, but man ... there is a vibrancy there that is intoxicating. This is the post-apocalyptic wasteland humanity will rebuild itself from when it all falls apart. It won't be legal, but there's always a guy named Mirsad or Dejan or Ivan that "knows a guy" and can help you out...
I did a weekend trip to Skopje. It's so bizarre. I assume you haven't been back since they started pouring millions into "rehabbing" its image (read: statues... statues everywhere). it also has better flight options than kosovo obviously so it has a lot of cheap flights in/out of the region
That brick building in the back right is more of what I remember... with tall concrete Soviet-era towers... and it always seemed to have snowed a few weeks earlier, and the snow was all shitty with smog and road grime... But there were heavenly pastries!!
That would have to be one of the crappiest ways to die ever.
I just finished Hero on Netflix because I've been meaning to see it for years, but never got around to it due to the fact I'm not a huge fan of flowy, suspended by wires, fight scenes in WuXia films. Now that I've seen it, I kind of want to buy it. Yeah, the fight scenes weren't what I want, but it's an amazingly beautifully shot film with vibrant colors and amazing framing. Like Fury Road, it's like watching a series of moving paintings. It's honestly worth watching for that alone.
I went to Spain for a week - just got back yesterday. I had only ever visited the coast for summer holidays (Costa del Sol and Barcelona), but this time I only went to the inland part (Madrid and Navarra). The scenery away from the sea is beautiful and varied, from scrubland to snowy mountains to verdant rolling hills. Food is delicious, especially in the fertile north of the country. It was also great to try speaking/reading a little bit of Spanish, I hardly know the language at all but I love going to restaurants and trying to order in foreign languages. A comprehensive vocabulary is less important than self-confidence and a smile. That said, the holiday was not the relaxing retreat I really needed (we visited five cities in seven days). It didn't relieve my stress or anxiety at all. I'm hitting the gym. Starting... Monday? My birthday was on Tuesday so I am going to be busy all weekend seeing my family. Basically, I need to look after myself a bit more. Also I broke my Duolingo (47 days) and Memrise (16 days) streaks. To be honest I'm getting a bit tired of learning languages that way, I am going to start taking more responsibility for the way I do my studying instead of passively flipping flashcards. My housemate during my visit to Spain was Austrian and I managed to chat to her a little bit in German and I had forgot how fucking fun talking to people in a foreign language is.