gthouger

I was brushing my teeth and was seized with the longing to sit in a living room and have a quiet conversation with my witty wife. I guess that's what I get when I start reading Pride and Prejudice, and listen to classical music instead of the punk/metal the other guys play.
I am now living at Ecola Bible School, in Cannon Beach Oregon. Four Bible classes each week day, one less on Wednesday. Two topics per week of one week duration. I like the classes.
This is a vacation town and I overheard the school's nickname: Ecola Bridal School. It is the end of the second week, and it is apparent to even an unsocial geek like me that people are starting to date. I don't know how to date. Over the last few years I have been thinking about marriage and consider myself unready for such an endeavor. I'm getting closer though, and listening to Ride of the Valkyries right now adds a nice touch. Marriage is much more than the happy-blissy-sexy part that gets entirely overemphasized. I learned back in my teens that finding a girl who will stand with you through thick and thin was of utmost importance. The resulting question has taken much longer to answer: How do I develop a likewise steadfast character? There are many other similarly hard elements to be considered.
How to approach the matter with the right motives in the first place. How to earn a living to support a family. How to prepare to care for and support another individual, and before long, some number of untaught smaller individuals. I see in myself numerous habits and attitudes that are not congruent with a loving husband. And lastly, the big two: getting the theology of the whole matter right, and overcoming the fact I am a computer geek with communication deficiencies.
Marriage is something to puzzle over and work towards, but there are more fundamental considerations here. What to do with my life? Learning to grow more Christlike and follow his leading instead of my own efforts, which are obviously lacking to get me anywhere worthwhile.
I can hear people talking and laughing outside, I can hear a symphony play Liszt's Hungarian rhapsody #1 in F minor on my headphones.
I wish I knew how to converse with somebody. I'd better try again.

On Board the Pirate ship Lulliby

The realization hit me like a load of sodden casks. The ship was doomed to sink. Rocks where everywhere, scraps of vessels between them and mines had already damaged ours. An explosion sounded behind me, I whorled to see a ploomb of white smoke jetting off into the sky, lofting a star. My eyes swept from the scorch mark on the deck to the recieding point. Yes, the rats had launched their space shuttle. They knew when a ship was doomed. And now I was without any technically skilled crew.
"Hai Priest, show ye present!"
"Wha, how it be?" The man of the cloth came out of the forecastle, where he was given to laying in his hammock all day.
"We're done for truely, the ship be fated to sink here."
"Ah will ye tell what cargo we be holding now at last?"
"Tis no matter if I do; It's metal floor plates, union made, for the Banzii Spider Company, to be delivered to Prince Dust, at the destination I failed to reach."
"Ah Captain, now you wish to talk. What's the value of the gold you would have received? Is it no the same as the value of the cargo you carry? And now what's it worth?"
"I know the dogs all taste the same, what be your point?"
"There is value in things beside the things you might trade or steal."
"Agreed, although I wouldn't have before; yet I knew."
"What's the value of prayer?"
"Well if my gold, my cargo and my hull when empty be all worth the same, how about your prayer, when mirrored by a magic spell, or any of the warm fuzzies ye feel during the happy moments of life?"
"Fair, but you know, there's one that lasts no matter where it lies."
An explosion cut our conversation short, and cut the Priest off entirely, the blast from the mine cut straight up through the deck and there wasn't any left of my sole passenger. I heard the sound of water filling the hold, the end was a sooner one. I peeked in the hole.
"Whell God, my ship has a hole in it. This be a prayer I be making. A captain's soul is his ship tis said. I understand yer name be Jesus and ye be after souls. So here be one for ye."
From my pocket I drew a gold piece, smelt it and tossed it in the hole.
"First Mate!"
"ya" he answered faintly from the aft cabin. I found him seated in my chair.
"We be sinking. Not much to do. I've a suggestion, though, as yer Captain, you could make your peace with God. Tis worth it I find."
First Mate Dragon Waste was not the type to do much. As far as slackers go he can give Falannigan a run for his money. Yet now he pulled out his heavy pistol and shot me. I looked up from the floor as the smoke cleared.
"Sorry Captain. T'wasn't as enjoyable as I thought it would be."
The ship was starting to tilt, and quickly it slid into the water, front first and hit the shallow bottom. I had fell on the wall, I looked up at Dragon Waste climbing above me through the rear window. My chest leaked as the ship did as I climbed after him. We sat on the windows. Stuck. "Gold is money, but have ye ever thought about the value of gold?" I rasped.

I went to bed early because I was at a loss for a worthwhile passtime. I woke at a quarter to two, feeling cold physically, mentally and emotionally. My dreams had been filled with vague computer repair that was non-existent, pointless when I woke up. I walked outside to try to think. I don't know what to do with my life and I'm at a loss for motivation. It was cold outside. I had gotten used to escaping the air conditioned chill by going out into the hot humid climate, but not tonight. Nore was it dark, there are enough lights to see where you walk. I didn't like it. Its supposed to be dark at night.
So I walked anyway, across the parking lot into the road. Three shadows stretched out from my body. A few more steps and then there where only two. And then I saw something, glowing eyes, a shadowy creature looked at me from 50 ft away. I was seeing a fox for the first time in my life. It walked to and fro, looking at me and something else; a worried cat was watching it from the apartment sidewalk. The fox walked away down the road, disappearing into the low shadows. I walked back into my apartment.
I don't believe in totemic animals, but foxes are a big part of the fiction I write and I think things do happen for a reason. Why did I get to see a fox and a cat concerned about who's turf they where on? I don't know. But the fox has work to do. It may not be able to think about its place in the world like I can, but for a 20 lb creature it has a lifetime of considerations doing what it does. My life would be no simpler if my concerns where to pee on stuff to show that its my area, and find some frogs to eat.
I remember a story from long ago, "All God's creatures have work to do." I hope to find my work before long.

Cool thought:
Humans are wireless. We don't need telepathy. We are wireless already. Mind to mind. I was stunned to realize I was listening to the emotions of an international hip-hop group. These people are across the world from me. But with this computer and the internet, I can connect to anyone who has the skill to communicate with something; music, words, pictures, a smile. Telepathy, that's silly. We have it already, it's just so normal we don't recognize that it is the fact we can understand each other. So go work hard, master your communication medium.

In other news:
I reached a noteworthy point today, I'm pretty sure I've now watched more foreign music videos than American ones. I estimate both categories together equal four hours, or less. I wonder why I can so easily understand and be interested by the styles and media forms of my generation, when I grew up with hardly any exposure to them. I grew up without TV, video games, comic books, rock music, and friends my age. Correction; I did experience all those things, just a little bit, mostly an hour here, or five minutes there, at other people's houses. What I did have was great, I like my childhood. I didn't have anything to rebel against, so I never did.
Most of those 'normal' things I never wanted anyway. When I saw a few music video's here and there growing up I recognized the appeal of the form, but I didn't want to hear that morally degenerate secular music. It took me a while to accept Christian rock, and I have yet to see a Christian music video that is cool (I'm sure they exist, I'm not interested in seeking them). Today I found a bunch of Japanese music video's playing on the internet. I really enjoyed them for the look into their culture and what they think is cool. And then I already listen to lots of Japanese music. They have string insteruments right next to rock and roll gear, is that cool or what? Is it? I don't know why. I don't like not knowing the origine of the interests and influences I collect. I never wanted to like things just because peers did, actually I've went through times of actively dislikeing things because they where popular. Which just transferred that openness to 'cool stuff' to things that where obscure and foreign.
I don't have an answer to my musings today. I'm going to get up from the computer and hang out with some normal people. It should provide some interesting data.

It’s the fifth of July (when I wrote this note that I forgot to post) and I'm running the help desk all by my inexperienced and slightly sleep deprived self. An experienced missionary was in with her late husband’s laptop. While my assistance was mainly finding someone who knew what they where doing, I did have a nice conversation with her. She encouraged me in seeking Gods will and considering JAARS as a place to serve. She had some practical advice as well, make a list of everyone you know, and send them a letter after my summer here is over. Just to let them know what I'm doing, in preparation for building a support base. She also said that "When you get married" the guest list will be an invaluable tool.

Work is going fine, it is rewarding to help people with their problems. Everythings fine, blah, blah blah.
I don't have the skills/inspiration/motivation to communicate what this is like. Being here, being in a funk, trying to change, grow and find a direction.
In the big picture this is all normal, boring even. Everyone grows up and makes a life for themselves.
Yet for me experiencing this, it's big, important, filling all of my vision. It's hard to remember to smile.
The new lenses came in the mail, the mail comes to the breakroom at work. I put the new lenses in my frames right away, cleaning the frames and loosing one of the screws. The wire from a twist tie works. I have been happy to see without scratches. Sometime I will get around to finding some cheap frames to put my old lenses in, so I can use those for incautious work.
There was a big thunder storm, it has been raining about once a week or more, light, quick rains for here, we would have counted them as significant back home. The thunderstorm was big, but mostly passed us by. At evening and late into the night you could see it off in the distance, a bank of thunderheads sparking with lightning. I stood outside in the dark and watched with a roommate. It was a marvelous display; I got some good pictures once I figured out the settings on my new camera.
I have been interacting with people more, it has been good. I should not have remained so isolated during college. I get to do things with my coworkers, particularly Eric who is I share the same job with and is near my age, my two room mates both named Kyle, and the young adults Bible study group. Things like eating lunch, shopping, Bible study and going places for fun, to watch fireworks and browse a bookstore so far. The Kyles and I are going to try and invite some people over for a meal some time.
One slow afternoon at work a coworker said we should check out Google Earth. It's an awesome satellite imaging program that lets you view anywhere on earth. Many of the populated areas and some national parks have high resolution pictures where you can see cars and even guess at what model they are. It's great fun looking up places you have been, or have heard of, or would like to go and seeing them from space. It's a free download from google. Since I'm working at a mission's organization browsing Google Earth made me think of all the people living in those satellite photos. There are missionaries in all sorts of places all over the world, and you can view those places with Google Earth.
Going from the surface of our earth to my inner world, my writing has not stopped; I don't think it could anymore. But it sure feels slow, especially when I see how much work and revision is a head for my main story. I've been focusing on it the most because it's the best progressing plot I have, and I have a definite ending in sight. The story to be put down is definitely hampered by my writing skills. I thought I almost had a rough draft finished, but I'm realizing what I have is more of a plot outline covered chunks of scene and dialogue. I'm looking at polishing dialogue and describing action, and realizing to make characters act and react with any sort of realism, I need to rework the plot itself. This is not the suggested method of writing novels. Generally authors write semi-finished product from the start of the story, not knowing what's going to happen next. Others make a tight plot then fill it in with finished product story. I started with half a plot and an attempt at writing finished product into it, and the result is like microwaving a marshmallow for too long. I'm doing this from the inside out. The actual problem is lack of data. The stories action is caused by the main characters romantic relationship. My only knowledge of such things is comes from reading fiction, watching families interact, and listening to 'how to fix your marriage' sermons. I'm not at a place of wanting a romantic relationship or knowing what to do if I had one, but I do want some analysis of how relationships develop. What I need is to observe some married and dating couples conversing. I wonder where I could find such a thing.
In closing, I am once again resolving to get more sleep. I found some info online that indicates long term sleep deprivation can cause effects similar to those of psychotropic drugs. In my case that would be seeing geometric patterns when I close my eyes. It's not bothersome, I was just curious to know why. While I haven't taken drugs I have gotten 6-8 hours of sleep for years instead of 8-10. Should be interesting to see what happens if I get more sleep. (Note to worried mom: Don't worry! I've always seen weird stuff, I have astigmatism, any solid colored surface crawls with TV static 'snow'. It's normal.) The only problem with trying to get more sleep is the whole doing stuff with people thing. Too bad I didn't see what lots of good sleep did back when I was a full time college hermit.
Oh well!
Grady

And today I got a call from the Blood Drive people, letting me know about their upcoming donation event. I had to tell them I had moved to North Carolina for the summer. That was funny.

4th day of work here at JAARS.
I woke when I heard a room mate speak my name in a questioning voice.Instantly I was up and headed to the shower, my cell phone alarm clock had been set on "silent". In a blur of toiletries, clothes and fingernail clipping, I was ready. My breakfast minute found a cream filed chochlot frosted doughnut that I ate on the drive to work. The drive and the doughnut where the same duration. Although I was a couple munutes late the building door was still locked. I don't have a keycode for the side door, but shorty someone was along who did.
My job is to answer the phone "JAARS Computer Support desk, this is Grady, how may I help you?" I then transfer questions I cannot answer. Today I only had a couple calls, Then I was asked to fill in at the front desk. So for now, I get to be a receptionist. Things happen in flurries, calls to be routed, people talking to me about this and that and how to access my email on other computers, and the wireless network. I also get to "Good morning!" people who walk through. And I got to unlock the doors. Now things are getting interesting!

Tuesday has been long and hot. But first I had breakfast with Mr. & Mrs K, fine folks, and the first actual meal I'd eaten this trip. I am getting sick of eating candy. Why don't more quickmarts have fruit? I saw one that did. But before I got to that quickmart I drove through Iowa and half of Illinois. Iowa is nice green farm country, at least the part I drove through, I left the interstate and on 2 and 4 lane blacktop. Strangely, I seemed to make just as many miles even though the speeds where slower. Illinois is greener still, the roads I was on where corridors walled with thick trees. The headliner in my cab started to fall down around my head, because of wind through a tear, and age. I pulled over in Pella Iowa, wished for some tacks, but bought some superglue at a gas station. I didn't believe the warnings on the package about being VERY CAREFUL opening the glue. Quickly (Bonds Instantly!) I had two fingers glued to the tube, glue on my other hand and on my shirt. I was cutting my fingers off the glue tube with mt free hand when a guy with a car full of teenagers pulls up. He had to say hi, he had gone to collage in Wa, and was very friendly in giving me directions to an auto parts store where I could buy some proper headliner repair fasteners. Pella is a beautiful town, very clean and the buildings have a uniform Dutch sort of building code, the way Leavenworth is Bavarian, but not that gaudy. The Pella window factory is there, we have Pella windows in our house back home, so that was cool to see. I found the parts store, the fasteners worked great, and my fingers weren't damaged. I drove away happy. I drove past lots of manufacturing towns; the (a?) Caterpillar plant, The Mitsubishi auto plant, and some others I don't remember. Also the Cabelas headquarters. I got lost a couple times, but it works to drive in circles, choose bigger streets to turn onto, and follow the signs.

I was very hot and tired in Illinois, I took a siesta on a rest stop park bench, then drove some more. Between that and a nice meal (hamburger & milkshake) I am feeling better. Driving at night is nice, cooler and some what less traffic, I am staying at a rest stop again. They are really safe feeling, lit up, surveillance cameras, and 911 call buttons in various locations. A row of semi trucks idling their engines (20 or so) makes a nice sound, and it is obvious the other cars are tired vacationers. (all that to say, I'm safe mom!)

Tomorrow: Mammoth cave?

Good morning me. I slept in the cab of my truck. It wasn't as comfortable as laying out flat, but it was ok, anything not air conditioned would be really hot. Why have I been driving so hard? Because there's nothing else to do. I don't have anyone with me to be concerned with. My destination had been far away (although I may get there today). I haven't needed to stop unless I had to, just get to the next destination. In other words, the reasons to stop; food lodging and most tourist attractions haven't been great enough reasons to stop moving. I figure I'll have time to stop and enjoy something I find, or time to break down. But I sure wouldn't do this every trip.

Since sleeping in my cab ment I woke up in the drivers seat, I could have just drove away. No, I'm not that hardcore, I went to the bathroom and changed my socks (among other things). But I realized I forgot to lock my cab! Ha, the only reason I slept there. So it is safe here. Really there's only a few types of people who would be bothersome. Crazy murderer types (statistically very rare), vandals, and illicit business persons. But between the security and the truckers and travelers wondering traveling to the bathroom, there isnt much likelihood of problems.


I have not been looking at the whole-US map very much, mainly a travel atlas. So this morning I looked at the whole trip. I am 2/3rds the way there, By the map it looks like a part of a days drive to mammoth cave from here, then one day to Waxhaw. I have three days. I had planned to stay a day at mammoth caves anyway. So at least on the map, everything looks on schedule.

Still a the rest stop, a lady with a leaf blower went by, not even waking up the people sleeping in their mini van.

Tonight: stay somewhere with a shower!

Today was the most frustrating so far. I drove through the bottom left corner of Indiana; hopefully all of Indiana isn't that cruddy. I headed into Kentucky on the wrong road, and was lost or confused most of the time. Kentucky is beautiful, their roads and people are nice, but their road signs where the worse of any state I've seen yet. Some things just aren't marked, destinations and distances where missing, speed limit signs weren't around. I would recommend a high detail state map if you ever plan on going through. Without meaning to, I came across the Jefferson Davis memorial in his home town. It is a normal little farm town with a huge (300ft+?) stone obelisk. There was a park and gift shop where good confederates could buy knickknacks and books about why they where right and should continue keeping the wonderful Civil war memories alive. Standing in the shade of such a huge monument was amazing, but I really don't like the civil war. The north was morally right, and the south was right as far as state rights was concerned, but the whole thing shows a failure of our parliamentary system, the conflict should have been settled in the house and senate, not on battlefields.
Being lost I got to see a lot of nice farm country, corn, soybeans, tobacco, and they have wheat here to.

I finally asked for directions and got to mammoth cave after a few more wrong turns.

Mammoth Cave Park is a beautiful area; the caves are covered in a nice forest. There is a hotel, restaurant, store and campground right on the spot. I got information and ate at the kinda expensive restaurant and took a shower before going to bed.

I spent a whole day at Mammoth cave, in the late morning I went on a cave tour. It was a fascinating glimpse of the longest cave in the world. I think that one day people will live in it, It is so huge. After all the book of Revelations prophecies:
006:015 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
006:016 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
006:017 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

After looking at stone, I looked at trees. There are many walking and hiking trails in the park; I walked one near the main center then one further out in the woods. The second trail I picked was 8 miles long, I should have picked a shorter one, and not so late in the day. But it started at a church and went through beautiful green woods, over hills and streams. I saw some whitetail deer, birds, a toad dust batheing, and one other hiker. Towards the end it became a forced march, I was footsore and the sun had set. But I got back to my truck and back to camp before the ferry closed. Hurrying through the woods no doubt the wildlife heard me, so one species was glad to catch the express. By the next day I had picked ten ticks off me, only one was attached, it was one of the 'smaller than a pinhead' variety. I have wishful feelings about not getting lyme disease.
It was late by the time I left Mammoth Cave Park; I had showered and wasn't going to fast. After finding the freeway I drove to Nashville, where I pulled off for a meal and a trip to a computer store. But instead got lost. No doubt there are plenty of fast food restaurants and computer stores there, but what I found was thrift stores and liquor stores and businesses surrounded by chain link and razor wire. I also went through a downtown district filled with many nice tall buildings but apparently the coffee shops are hidden in corners where I couldn't see them. After wandering through a decent residential area, I grabbed a snack at a snack-mart and found the freeway again.

In Knoxville I got stuck in a traffic jam.

Driving through the Smoky Mountains was fun, they where windy and fast and cool, it seemed that my truck had more power going up hill in cooler areas (like back in Montana). I was just pressing through, but it looked like a nice place to visit.

With an early start and without the delays it would have bean an easy drive to Waxhaw from Mammoth cave. But instead it got plenty dark before I reached Charlotte, and since it is a huge city, I had to miss the exit get lost, find another one and miss it too. Why did I have to be totally lost in city I had just read was home to one of the most violent new gangs in the US? Despite driving into dead ends, construction zones, through business parking lots and neighborhoods with people standing around their cars "talking", I was alright. It took a couple hours but I found my way back to where my directions fit the road signs. I got out into the rural area my destination was in and talked to the first police officer on my trip in Waxhaw. We talked about driving directions.
At midnight I had arrived at my destination, I didn't immediately find my apartment but i had been here before; I recognized the building I would be working at this summer so I slept in the parking lot.

I woke at 6:00, there was a nice sunrise to photograph. I drove around a while; found the mail center and possibly the apartment I will be in. I would have knocked on the door to meet my roommates, but the apartment naming system do not match exactly the apt number I was given, so I didn't want to get the wrong door. Instead I sat in the parking lot and typed this. And saw a cardinal, but it was too fast to photograph.

I waited until people started moving around at 8:00. Then I knew what to do, drive around the buildings and parking lots looking lost until I met someone who could help me out. It worked, I soon met the very coordinator I had been emailing. Someone else invited me to their meeting that included breakfast, and so on. I got moved in. The trip is over. I spent $350. I used around 93 gallons of diesel to go 3090 miles.
Now to start my summer job doing computer repair configuration and tech support - maybe, and taking my last college class via the internet. That class is "First Aid". Will I need to know first aid to survive a summer in North Carolina?

I am near Yellowstone now. The first days's drive was good, one I had made brfore. I saw a dead skunk, three gloves, a boot and several unidentified furry roadkills. I have yet to spot a hybrid car, another VW pickup, and as usual, hardly any sports cars. My truck is healthy so far, 9 hours from home. The drive was uneventful and beautiful. I left unsure of where I would stay the night, but there are lots of camp grounds around yelowstone, or; I called a friend, and he graciously let me stay at his cabin.

Next stop: Can I get past Chyanne WY?

I left Mr. M's beautiful cabin around 10 or so. Got desel, 12.5 gal, 488 miles, 39mpg! While at the gas station a biker looking dude asked me for a quarter to buy ciggaretts, which he was very happy to recieve, giving me strange benediction ending with "You are the emperor."

Yellowstone cost $20, too bad I couldn't stay for a week like its good for. Even just driving through it was worth the price. The literature handed out when entering mentioned the dangerous wild life, but forgot the dangerous tourists! There is mini traffic jams at every elk, buffalo and beautiful watered meddow. Which is ok, thats what everyone came to see. I stopped to take pictures along the way and toured some mineral gisers and Old Faithful.

As I was leaving Yellowstone, the trip really started. The traffic cleared up, I was past everything I had ever been to. It was just me, my wheels and the road. It was awesome, even though betwen the high elevation and the rocky mountain terrain I wasnt able to go very fast. I's sunday so I tried to find a preacher on the radio, but all I got was a Mormon. There eas some lots of country music, which fit the landscape, and country is really almost listenable,once and a while anywhay. I took a couple wrong turns,and decided this road would get me there just as well as the other. It got flat coming sown off the rocky mountain foothills, I drove out of the sunset into the encrouching darkness. Isaw oil wells for the first time this trip. no cell phone coverage, it took me a while to get to a grocery store. I was in a small city after the sun set, but I really wanted to get further on. On the map was a thin state road, it looked like the most direct route. I turned onto it, noticing the hovels and the "road closed when flashing" warning lights that wherent on today. But there was a nice ambiant flavored instrumental radio station nearby. It was a nice night time drive, at the end of the road was a safe looking rest area, so I rested.

I woke up alive, this is really a nice rest stop, not crowded, just a few rvs and truckers. Sleeping in the back of mu truck was a scuess, it was comfortable enough to want to roll over and sleep somemore. I left after sunrise, can I get to Omaha Nebraska today?
But wait, as I was about to leave, I noticed flies on my window, licking (eating, sucking, engesting?) the bug splats on the glass. Interesting.

I see now that lots of Wyoming roads have road closed signs and gates. Along with the drift fences, It looks like winter is the big event for the highway department. The part of Wyoming I went through today was empty but senic. Amazing rock formations, rolling hills, lots of pasture land.I saw antilope and prarie dogs, and some that hadn't been ran over yet. Nebraska was flatter and even more empty. It had prarie, farm land, and lots more wildlife I didn't get to see any living animals other than live stock, but ther where racoons, rabbits, opossoms, I think a woodchuck and lots of horribly fragged deer. I kept thinking of the Calvin and Hobbes jokes where Calvin tries to win the poster contest with an entry reading "Be careful or be roadkill!" I almost got to Omaha, Its an hour away, I went around 750 miles in 12 hours but I got tired. Nebraska was hot and things are starting to get humid. Thats the ride I signed up for, may as well get used to it. I stayed the night at the first hotel I came to, Its nice, has wireless internet!

Tomorrow: make it to breakfast to meet someone I haven't met in person before, and see how close I can get to St. Lewis.

It is time to get on the road, finally moving away from home. I had planned to write about what a great change it is to leave behind everything I know so well, but I don't have time. I should have left two hours ago. It's so fitting to leave with things undone, unsaid and in a hurried rush. Everything has been that way. I was going to graduate from community college yesterday, but I forgot the one more class I have to take, I forgot to pick up the cap and gown for the ceremony, so instead of walking with honors I drove around town doing last minute shopping.
But I did get a new camera, so I will post a some pictures as soon as I photograph something interesting.

Next stop: Yellowstone

Just a few changes
It's a busy time of life for me, I realized that it's good to be so very busy right now, it keeps me from comprehending that I'm graduating from college and now need to consider/plan what I'm going to do with my life! But at least I have a website now, http://www.gradyhouger.com
Yay! Now to figure out how to connect to it and actually put my webpage there.

[Edit] Ok, I bought webhosting, actually my domain name is still being processed, it maybe will be ready tomorrow.

I lost the recent entries in my personal journal. Remember to back up your files! I should know better than accidentally deleting folders and overwriting recent things with old versions, but it happens. Oh well. I'm still alive, I can remember. If I forget something it's either unimportant or its really important homework.


So this is the beginning of my website. Maybe it will just be a school project that gets abandoned, but what I want it to be is the beginning of my web presence, and my journey into content creation. I want to be a successful writer, success for me is people viewing my work and finding it some combination of enjoyable, useful and meaningful.


My goal is to usefully display fiction and nonfiction writings. My growing feeling is that I've got to make something, produce something. I'm 22, what I've been doing is learning, consuming and freeloading off of established relatives. I consume so much media. I listen to music, watch movies and read massive amounts of news and fiction online. Just today I woke up during a session of web content consumption and realized how much like TV my experience was. 5 hours I sat in front of an electronic device, staring, listening. It so happens I greatly detest television, on three counts: TV has a very limited selection which is of questionable value, TV is a low resolution video picture, and when in control of a TV, I can't stop watching it. I have the internet instead. While online content has great selection, high resolution and can be high quality information, it still has the propensity of being another place to sit and mindlessly consume. The redeeming feature of the internet is it's not closed. Want to be on TV? Good luck. You might get on the local news if you do something extraordinary, or if you commit a horrible crime. Online I can participate and provide. I can make something. Here is my something!