tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358935332024-03-14T09:56:17.564-04:00tatteredatlasRyan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-15503757550851608642010-12-22T12:55:00.002-05:002010-12-22T13:02:07.158-05:00WritingSince I seem to enjoy constantly starting new blogs more than updating the ones I already have, I started a NEW & IMPROVED <a href="http://looseleafcollection.blogspot.com">repository</a> for drafts of poems.<br /><br />And since it's easier to copy and paste verse than it is to write whole new blog posts, I have hopes that this little endeavor will persist a bit longer than previous tangents.<br /><br />(I'll still use this site when/if I have more prose and images to broadcast along the optical fibers.)Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-28339022184732629932010-08-25T19:41:00.003-04:002010-08-25T20:03:12.018-04:00Welcome to BuffaloI made it!<br /><br />I'm nesting, connecting, etc. Trying to.<br /><br />Some snapshots from the first few days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmMxNeVIbiETDYJg47JRqGc9OuKO54Xd3tRTrLAmTSlByh6XroCvB89HmnKMChaFNue3bKq6ArxVvlpbHzN_AUMgDVhQlgg_tU2RxOFF_G9oiA2-45D26Ia6nWQbs-juZnjMcJw/s1600/44732_719512219742_16116336_39771251_2882925_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmMxNeVIbiETDYJg47JRqGc9OuKO54Xd3tRTrLAmTSlByh6XroCvB89HmnKMChaFNue3bKq6ArxVvlpbHzN_AUMgDVhQlgg_tU2RxOFF_G9oiA2-45D26Ia6nWQbs-juZnjMcJw/s400/44732_719512219742_16116336_39771251_2882925_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509497774728231538" /></a><br /><br />Tofurkey welcome dinner! Thanks, <a href="http://brendanandlynne.blogspot.com/">Lynne and Brendan</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCQuV4yveuTz5uxdd9WSXwoW0l-sUbs_DPV6bxCAjCCtZK3oQl5ckCAgfCgKr320BGZfgVfhz3jRghoPEq8ynz5Km72aYLmbvdwX4Nn9Q78UfS2avGeUMXX8iz8KE1CCqj0-XYQ/s1600/IMG_1283.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCQuV4yveuTz5uxdd9WSXwoW0l-sUbs_DPV6bxCAjCCtZK3oQl5ckCAgfCgKr320BGZfgVfhz3jRghoPEq8ynz5Km72aYLmbvdwX4Nn9Q78UfS2avGeUMXX8iz8KE1CCqj0-XYQ/s400/IMG_1283.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509497781163659026" /></a><br /><br />Rebecca and her roommate, Jeanna.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_OLUOLR2Mif-7_p2n38hubWGVldAJDPb50WKpkcIvtLxjzU_niR4RERKhm8wig61K5-BFd0q_CClcIgRcpc6w78L4MCFqsWEF2eyjAcs4Wxb4eEVapyn3Xm3-_1ecBEkqm8fLg/s1600/IMG_1281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_OLUOLR2Mif-7_p2n38hubWGVldAJDPb50WKpkcIvtLxjzU_niR4RERKhm8wig61K5-BFd0q_CClcIgRcpc6w78L4MCFqsWEF2eyjAcs4Wxb4eEVapyn3Xm3-_1ecBEkqm8fLg/s400/IMG_1281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509497787791611186" /></a><br /><br />Rebecca in her room with a visiting youngster.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmhRDaciOyOD2UK21hnpkNrioW2JWCN6NE8teQInqV3RgsOp4kjdCfUCRyd8WWUQlHAzeQu-9TsdgF624J27dv5lJ1-PsdM8iue3xsAJRXl4CTvq0OWX-hj9AxVgmPpKEIwscDg/s1600/Photo+on+2010-08-25+at+20.01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmhRDaciOyOD2UK21hnpkNrioW2JWCN6NE8teQInqV3RgsOp4kjdCfUCRyd8WWUQlHAzeQu-9TsdgF624J27dv5lJ1-PsdM8iue3xsAJRXl4CTvq0OWX-hj9AxVgmPpKEIwscDg/s400/Photo+on+2010-08-25+at+20.01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509502180882718946" /></a><br /><br />The new room. (Or, at least, one corner of it.)Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-64128914151596201662010-07-05T14:12:00.004-04:002010-07-05T14:37:04.202-04:00PostcardI've made <a href="http://tatteredatlas.blogspot.com/search/label/artifacts">several posts</a> in the past archiving some of the letters and postcards that turn up in my purchases from used bookstores. I found a nice postcard while in Buffalo a few weeks ago. Unlike some of my past finds, this seems to be a less dated artifact (sometime between 1996 and 2000, judging from the 26-pence postcard stamp).<br /><br />Note the imprinted "K2" and the fainter "00" on the front image.<br /><br />The circled, upside-down text in pencil reads "ATTRACTION TO THe ePHemeral." Maybe it's a coded message of some sort?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhufeeGg3jBz4i-_yyAGlARBl7nWI1Vc2mC1FkN9geSkmznEiP6fkHQlTXkbXZANjBXjxZfre9hvGO415PnGLtLKJKfeR7VzIxjfuHq6SmtFbJQvnSs4_rSd42S4kJYklcvZRXC9w/s1600/Ireland+postcard-front.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 287px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhufeeGg3jBz4i-_yyAGlARBl7nWI1Vc2mC1FkN9geSkmznEiP6fkHQlTXkbXZANjBXjxZfre9hvGO415PnGLtLKJKfeR7VzIxjfuHq6SmtFbJQvnSs4_rSd42S4kJYklcvZRXC9w/s400/Ireland+postcard-front.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490489615709671746" /></a><br /><br />Dear Jo,<br /><br />What a great vacation. Golf at the finest course in Ireland; great friends in Scotland; Waterford glass factory; sitting outside B & B's just watching the clouds roll by, and eating lots of great food. We did a little searching for our roots but couldn't find too much. You'll get this after I return—but I thought the scene would remind you a little of the Wild West.<br /><br />See you soon!<br /><br />Dan<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3IDfRCrOUwfaOztFHdp3aoU1E4TwHiLIgex1IbYdamEcy-7ntmeE9-EfIFjK8lwcKyN0RiE3p_90nLs8bPX9ir7lLjPZ4xkGUZ-CBvH_Fu3KgKIIO_AY6TO4zQEeAKcynMJyRA/s1600/Ireland+postcard-back.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3IDfRCrOUwfaOztFHdp3aoU1E4TwHiLIgex1IbYdamEcy-7ntmeE9-EfIFjK8lwcKyN0RiE3p_90nLs8bPX9ir7lLjPZ4xkGUZ-CBvH_Fu3KgKIIO_AY6TO4zQEeAKcynMJyRA/s400/Ireland+postcard-back.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490489608623210706" /></a>Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-47550816957398258712010-05-01T19:36:00.007-04:002010-05-02T02:43:50.889-04:00Plaster Creek Spring Clean-Up<a href="http://www.wmeac.org/">West Michigan Environmental Action Council</a> and <a href="http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/pcw/">Plaster Creek Watershed Working Group</a> are teaming up on May 15 to cloak different parts of the creek with some much-needed care and attention.<br /><br />Join a group of us for a fun afternoon in Marquette Park along an urban/mixed-industrial portion of the creek. There will be relaxed portions near the park as well as some tricky sections that the more sprightly among us can tackle with hip boots and maybe even waders!<br /><br />We'll pick up trash and get to know a bit of the creek in all it's spring energy. The afternoon will end with a modest feast of tacos from a nearby local restaurant.<br /><br />See below for a map of the area we'll be visiting, or check out some pictures from the clean-up last fall: http://tatteredatlas.blogspot.com/2009/11/plaster-creek-clean-up-photos.html<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQhRDCX_YfyoOHmLpEKDaZJXqL9CHwIJmGgd6uwjXZ7ftlb-iDQMEZZfYRMTuBEO2WHyg4nG4kEN99s0XNRZjIALNvTzn88c6JG5EusYxcHbeORVh6UGmzwttbiVZWb7YfsV3Sg/s1600/MapPlasterFreeman2Godfrey.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQhRDCX_YfyoOHmLpEKDaZJXqL9CHwIJmGgd6uwjXZ7ftlb-iDQMEZZfYRMTuBEO2WHyg4nG4kEN99s0XNRZjIALNvTzn88c6JG5EusYxcHbeORVh6UGmzwttbiVZWb7YfsV3Sg/s320/MapPlasterFreeman2Godfrey.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466559691260236802" /></a><br /><br />There are two options for meeting up with the group:<br /><br />1) Meet at my house (352 College Ave SE) at 2:30 and carpool to the site.<br /><br />2) Meet at Kimball Stadium of Marquette park at 3:00:<br /><br />1352 Nagel Ave SW<br />Wyoming, MI 49509<br />[<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=marquette+park+wyoming+mi&fb=1&gl=us&hq=Marquette+Park&hnear=Marquette+Park&cid=13614016465437507345">see Google map</a>]<br /><br />Email me at rweberling[at]gmail.com if you have any questions or suggestions. Hope to see you here or there!Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-38687921251000661392009-11-21T18:44:00.005-05:002009-11-21T19:21:09.855-05:00Plaster Creek Clean-Up: PhotosSome of the best photos from our afternoon on the creek are stuck on an uncooperative digital camera, but here's what was left over:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEi8TN4pRpyFQFBA293Qh1O1TELRQJ8CthHztpQJQ-5Sbl3w9bt5RO9F6ZIFjXXC1Yt_3jmNNeA9PpAzgJOm0T2be_wgpU_1VVJDYC19q_pFugGDTRI3yVciaRBq06Vl2bcGn8tA/s1600/IMG_0753.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEi8TN4pRpyFQFBA293Qh1O1TELRQJ8CthHztpQJQ-5Sbl3w9bt5RO9F6ZIFjXXC1Yt_3jmNNeA9PpAzgJOm0T2be_wgpU_1VVJDYC19q_pFugGDTRI3yVciaRBq06Vl2bcGn8tA/s320/IMG_0753.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708095546048658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_D6ZASZD8_g4HRftbHL0vm9mR2CuX0tRc7Mw-MTzS_HXJzAS9Emzvo7SYI6u-meXB9Et-W3YDbcGIdchWVyEJ6LF3kAAeTUNCDwv4FRHjpkRBi4-rqWGucj6HdmROsSt_zuBnA/s1600/IMG_0754.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_D6ZASZD8_g4HRftbHL0vm9mR2CuX0tRc7Mw-MTzS_HXJzAS9Emzvo7SYI6u-meXB9Et-W3YDbcGIdchWVyEJ6LF3kAAeTUNCDwv4FRHjpkRBi4-rqWGucj6HdmROsSt_zuBnA/s320/IMG_0754.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708096585214930" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineihgh2zKPstyOEVlKJwt3chz3PoixNsqTEc_-hxmxp_VSWZyauz9rkUdcmPph4tVshAZMPiDbW_Cs5zloetz_fjXiMCIlDV-pAVTzrT29DIc8HMLi-ysjfXYCljs_4pOQM_ZQA/s1600/IMG_0758.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineihgh2zKPstyOEVlKJwt3chz3PoixNsqTEc_-hxmxp_VSWZyauz9rkUdcmPph4tVshAZMPiDbW_Cs5zloetz_fjXiMCIlDV-pAVTzrT29DIc8HMLi-ysjfXYCljs_4pOQM_ZQA/s320/IMG_0758.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708108301406018" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqb3yCXpD5uk61Ggo0uFKfiHCar5lVCzaS72MywYoxBkU15zMe2owBFyadZiibiiuJzMy3io5a3R9Pn3E5tbNtiPMUe573rlR1xCBoQ8V2dE4PJKIeHs-pdfgyUAqM4S0PrGmRfg/s1600/IMG_0760.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqb3yCXpD5uk61Ggo0uFKfiHCar5lVCzaS72MywYoxBkU15zMe2owBFyadZiibiiuJzMy3io5a3R9Pn3E5tbNtiPMUe573rlR1xCBoQ8V2dE4PJKIeHs-pdfgyUAqM4S0PrGmRfg/s320/IMG_0760.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708109797134322" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXawA5_tvnCXMC70B5Q32hjy5HCxsWqdWLluRhdM8ZfS9xRvyHOupHzNQF1aDd690mf8ubVnny1ZPHBHMgiIFuLndK8ARVbaoGzueM3fUdsiuk3Xes0uoaqBF1vUSkRKOkn-8mA/s1600/IMG_0779.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXawA5_tvnCXMC70B5Q32hjy5HCxsWqdWLluRhdM8ZfS9xRvyHOupHzNQF1aDd690mf8ubVnny1ZPHBHMgiIFuLndK8ARVbaoGzueM3fUdsiuk3Xes0uoaqBF1vUSkRKOkn-8mA/s320/IMG_0779.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708874196406674" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyOV8dLIwRZ0FV0j9ALVtyMTJduNFgyNCSYFhefSBb0D4LrZNMEZaU0rOClvEvTnC6WOwh3RpqWq9zhTWqU4K1k7SfUsLdeRhiFn996x6O3q8u8DjICL8rAcIDkVa1NequJJsWA/s1600/IMG_0777.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyOV8dLIwRZ0FV0j9ALVtyMTJduNFgyNCSYFhefSBb0D4LrZNMEZaU0rOClvEvTnC6WOwh3RpqWq9zhTWqU4K1k7SfUsLdeRhiFn996x6O3q8u8DjICL8rAcIDkVa1NequJJsWA/s320/IMG_0777.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708859574386658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFG1kMyo5VprC_dJy1xTMl7u0Z5SD_s_NXSg4JVN_LOBb7XS9vxp0Q8PA9xnPBjwfis1JFaL9IXsCjhD6kQc5YA6eaa-XFofEq8FiAJ5f7Y38ftYlhNU_0hs60km-9ZwBFXBGhHg/s1600/IMG_0770.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFG1kMyo5VprC_dJy1xTMl7u0Z5SD_s_NXSg4JVN_LOBb7XS9vxp0Q8PA9xnPBjwfis1JFaL9IXsCjhD6kQc5YA6eaa-XFofEq8FiAJ5f7Y38ftYlhNU_0hs60km-9ZwBFXBGhHg/s320/IMG_0770.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708852654535810" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJVi-5NT2sa6MyoYtkhcL7-SVfya070JZ_uv6j1yLUgHTxu9fE62RxLClLcYJwHEGdaOx9slLtZscDgpxEGoX4aWwycUhYi6_9mzSMS36R7ZavExvHEW8rzV4Qjg3a9RTWOa7Vg/s1600/IMG_0780.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJVi-5NT2sa6MyoYtkhcL7-SVfya070JZ_uv6j1yLUgHTxu9fE62RxLClLcYJwHEGdaOx9slLtZscDgpxEGoX4aWwycUhYi6_9mzSMS36R7ZavExvHEW8rzV4Qjg3a9RTWOa7Vg/s320/IMG_0780.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708866863750482" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3z06uNJQgGWX4pmRCVop9jo8KBzjKoF6byVqBGFT9Q-auq22Cbw-si0YzqGxVdvB_9rHGs5AuBH1tklmcDxXP_ZACqbe5gj-KqHAqRTMfpVMVonDQ7wNC1roWuWpQCAWArZJzQ/s1600/IMG_0767.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3z06uNJQgGWX4pmRCVop9jo8KBzjKoF6byVqBGFT9Q-auq22Cbw-si0YzqGxVdvB_9rHGs5AuBH1tklmcDxXP_ZACqbe5gj-KqHAqRTMfpVMVonDQ7wNC1roWuWpQCAWArZJzQ/s320/IMG_0767.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406708115726153714" /></a><br /><br />When I get the chance, I'll update this post with some thoughts and reflections on our experience.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-8434111691624968292009-11-19T21:11:00.003-05:002010-07-10T11:56:06.885-04:00ConnectingOne of the first lessons that has been reinforced by what I've been learning is the depth of connections that flow between people and places in our various natural, built, and modified environments. I remember one experience I had almost four years ago, right after the conclusion of my first year at college: the dorms had shut down for the summer, and I had chosen to spend a week on my own, wandering between friends' houses by whatever means that presented themselves (I had left my trusty Chrysler at home for that school year). After a few days of drifting, I found myself sun-napping in the sand on the beach in Holland, MI, right along the confluence of the Grand River as it flows past the quaint and gaudy tourist spots out into the Lake Michigan blue. I read and slept and pondered how deep the waters might be, and whether those sorts of hidden, deep things even mattered: "What beauty and life is caught up down there in the flux of change, decay, and growth?"<br /><br />Resting and, eventually, standing on the beach that day ended up being one of the more bright and clear experiences I had during that sometimes rough "first-year" transition, and it has stuck with me——although, until recently, it seemed a sort of far-removed, otherworldly sort of memory. With what I've begun to discover, though, I now see the patterns that connect me where I am now with that distant day. And it's not just my own memory that circulates between then and now, but an actual body of water that runs between that watershed moment in my past and my current place in this world. Just a mile or so south of me, in fact, is the current that continues to pass from outside of the city to the confluence in Lake Michigan, where the sediment and trash and industrial waste-waters flow out towards the blue horizon of the lake.<br /><br />A few weeks ago, I had the chance to get together with some friends and do an introductory clean-up project along a small stretch of Plaster Creek. Although our numbers were modest, the half-dozen of us that could make it out our gorgeous Saturday afternoon received a warm, autumnal introduction to the creek and, as was our intention, managed to harvest a fair bit of trash: about 8 trash bags of general litter and waste, some empty buckets, a hose, shopping carts, and a few other more bizarre items. We found that .<br /><br />Another huge problem was the abundance of plastic bags that we found strung through the roots and grasses and branches along the banks, sometimes at knee-level or higher because of 1) the wind and 2) the creek's unhealthy propensity to flood with agricultural run-off (i.e., that E. coli stuff) and urban drainage. Nearly impossible to untangle, these synthetic pouches collect all sorts of secondary debris, disintegrate into even messier shreds, and stand out like tattered surrender flags where there should be plentiful riparian growth.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYzfgr9m32tidNah1mVmduDOkd_-A8zPqGNiFu1JQLbl9fDby5X6RX2r75H__sHOwTZyAze7rWy7STpMNU59n5ZVynYC1W8KX_aARErwKXRhulwZt0KUJ1poTjugIzki0Ve6JVA/s1600/IMG_0767.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYzfgr9m32tidNah1mVmduDOkd_-A8zPqGNiFu1JQLbl9fDby5X6RX2r75H__sHOwTZyAze7rWy7STpMNU59n5ZVynYC1W8KX_aARErwKXRhulwZt0KUJ1poTjugIzki0Ve6JVA/s320/IMG_0767.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405976711427828546" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7S-Z-fikW7dhk4jctGyctFOF3n4iFz9buIxwZ4-uNH-Q1YwBDB4itf2GmyDg8AZbBsqD2hjIEwFlW_xxJhX8gbbzrgqxynMfR7mxJbNIwq-JtMNTW_nyoBCcNyDqBplGsuz9yMw/s1600/IMG_0780.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7S-Z-fikW7dhk4jctGyctFOF3n4iFz9buIxwZ4-uNH-Q1YwBDB4itf2GmyDg8AZbBsqD2hjIEwFlW_xxJhX8gbbzrgqxynMfR7mxJbNIwq-JtMNTW_nyoBCcNyDqBplGsuz9yMw/s320/IMG_0780.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405976708738071602" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirI6ZZ7MLJhTy40iW7Jvpe4vzhYGtS0U3k2mjPHTk2gHZ6qrHHi1JS5aIxoHXX8OUDxIiznXju2Go9pwpnSNnN-F3HFJZLC6SIH6vm5Ch9yZ-w5UrXRTI2nokYzN8REcgNNuDeZg/s1600/IMG_0758.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirI6ZZ7MLJhTy40iW7Jvpe4vzhYGtS0U3k2mjPHTk2gHZ6qrHHi1JS5aIxoHXX8OUDxIiznXju2Go9pwpnSNnN-F3HFJZLC6SIH6vm5Ch9yZ-w5UrXRTI2nokYzN8REcgNNuDeZg/s320/IMG_0758.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405976704656437506" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZmXRTDFjENGL45CRk07FXncKiRpoSNuhwcoS35ERPB4IwSJbI1LeBn6oEI3TRA1STZnCDnjZvxaC10byjv1ygqbS-1rmBpVt_QP-d8bYA2TrL7Pjowmn0gFeCY-ccpmkKmrdmg/s1600/IMG_0754.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZmXRTDFjENGL45CRk07FXncKiRpoSNuhwcoS35ERPB4IwSJbI1LeBn6oEI3TRA1STZnCDnjZvxaC10byjv1ygqbS-1rmBpVt_QP-d8bYA2TrL7Pjowmn0gFeCY-ccpmkKmrdmg/s320/IMG_0754.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405976694374074706" /></a>Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-78529909980141704852009-11-16T23:32:00.006-05:002009-11-21T18:44:31.163-05:00Plaster Creek: A Portentous Portrait<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1H9Vaqq3wguoDGA3cSBlEsjyF2oprgmWaU6GQRx9eWGqi8EHBL2VcqOKmv36XSajv7KgF0fHuo154sSH85SC5W10GDvGFtfREwungmhy62osoeyF0tKb8cKjwx86YbHQmlkX3fw/s1600/IMG_0755.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1H9Vaqq3wguoDGA3cSBlEsjyF2oprgmWaU6GQRx9eWGqi8EHBL2VcqOKmv36XSajv7KgF0fHuo154sSH85SC5W10GDvGFtfREwungmhy62osoeyF0tKb8cKjwx86YbHQmlkX3fw/s320/IMG_0755.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405976698345313314" /></a><br /><br />As part of my increased attempts at "doing things," I've begun to take advantage of some of the resources and opportunities on offer from the <a href="http://wmeac.org/index.php/programs/protecting-water/stream-search/">stream projects</a> sponsored by the West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) and Calvin College's own <a href="http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/pcw/">Plater Creek Watershed Working Group</a>. I've been learning some basics about the life of the stream and its interesting mesh of contexts (environmental, cultural, political, etc.). I've also been trying to get my feet wet, so to speak, in watershed issues as (I hope) a form of involvement that can continue and expand in the years to come, wherever I happen to be living.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/pcw/images/maps/plastercreekwatershed.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/pcw/images/maps/plastercreekwatershed.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />---> click <a href="http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/pcw/resources/maps.html">here</a> for more maps<br /><br />Plaster Creek is a more relatively minor part of the <a href="http://www.grandlearningnetwork.org/about-the-grand-river-watershed.html">Grand River watershed</a>, which is itself a more major player (about 13%) in the Lake Michigan drainage basin, draining approximately 5,572 square miles of west and central Michigan. The creek is considered one of the unhealthiest in the region, a title that is not hard to believe after a few brief encounters with its sudsy, odorous water and its often ill-used banks. Due to high E. coli levels from agricultural run-off outside of the city, Plaster Creek has been labeled unsafe for even partial immersion or casual contact, although this is unbeknownst to the many kids who play in its waters in summertime (as kids are supposed to do). Passing on through suburban housing developments and their strip malls, run-off from the expansive green- and blacktop of lawns and parking lots further pollutes and also destabilizes the flow of the creek (contributing to its unhealthy flood cycles). Finally, in urban residential and industrial areas, more run-off, excessive amounts of litter, and industrial pollutants make their contributions before the creek merges with the Grand River and the rest of the Great Lakes Region's water supply.<br /><br />Wading through or walking along part of it, it stinks of all of the stuff about us and our so-called prosperity that we try to hide from ourselves. Many of the decisions that have effected the creek, dumping into it wherever convenient or adjusting it (with a backhoe) where it happens to be an inconvenience, make it a destructive force rather than a healthy source of dynamic creative and destruction. Piles of dead lawn topple into the mud as it undercuts its own reseeded and thus rootless banks. The water rises and falls at an unhealthy pace. The transformations that take place now lead to decreased carrying capacity and biodiversity. The Plaster Creek watershed, which includes both human and non-human forces, increasingly erodes and pollutes and degrades itself, which no one seems to mind as long as it stays hidden——tucked away from the subdivision by a landscaped barrier mound or behind a chain-link fence where only the homeless spend time. <br /><br />I'll admit that this a rather bleak description of things and fails to mention some of the most positive and exciting parts of Plaster Creek's life. But that other side of things will have to wait for another post. I recognize the potential for rhetoric such as I've just offered to become part of an unhealthy and potentially dishonest "discourse of catastrophe." There is the chance that I might be playing into the sort of ideological recuperation that is at work in some mainstream Green propaganda. And yet, I have yet to see other approaches that avoid either apathy or elitism (related to what Timothy Morton has been calling <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQgQjqG8KQ8&feature=player_embedded">"Beautiful Soul Syndrome"</a>). I would like to imagine a strategic contribution——a contamination, if you will——that we can make to the sleight-of-hand environmental initiatives and policy adjustments championed by corporate publicity stunts or those public officials with vested interests. Riffing on Morton's thesis about Hegel and environmentalism, I wonder if the attitudes that we encode in our ideas and social movements——humility and care, for example——could be part of the change that is happening, even if they are bound up in beliefs and methods and systems (self-righteously jumping around, waving our hands to get the attention of the rich and powerful) that seem less than ideal. After all, it is this sort of emergency-portrait which I think most needs to be disclosed, both personally and collectively, as the vision which demands our hasty and wide-ranging response.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-83812328189900145912009-10-30T13:55:00.005-04:002009-11-19T23:02:18.552-05:00A Time For...<a href='http://ilovemountains.org/coalriver/' target='_blank'> <img src='http://ilovemountains.org/coalriver/widgets/180x180.jpg' style='padding: 5px ;' border=0></a><br /><br />I've never extended my domain in the blogosphere beyond the realm of personal anecdotes, travel updates, creative writing, or, occasionally, a brief review or two. I've certainly never used it to advocate for any sort of political or social cause, especially not with tacky, pre-fabricated slogans or images.<br /><br />This post is an experiment otherwise.<br /><br />I'm learning that, out of the many issues in this world that obviously call for our attention, it's sometimes necessary to pick and choose the ones that speak most clearly to our current experience and then to do what we can, even if that action is not what we would ideally prefer. The options that are available to us in regards to any issue, however shabby or incomplete, are nonetheless available to us as horizons of action and further learning. Perhaps more than I've realized in the past, virtue demands (along with truth, beauty, and our neighbors) an attention that is capable and willing to surpass just "looking" and engage our world with various forms of movement, whether this means speaking, making, sharing, destroying, or other modes of doing. So with that in mind, there's a chance I might be "doing some more things" with this blog in the future.<br /><br /><iframe src='http://ilovemountains.org/webbadges/badge1.php' height=440 width=320 scrolling=no frameborder=0></iframe>Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-39960046594631133222009-08-13T15:44:00.004-04:002009-11-19T23:12:20.301-05:00Open EndsPeople of the South Wind (Section 1 and 2)<br /><br />1<br />One day Sun found a new canyon.<br />It hid for miles and ran far away,<br />then it went under a mountain. Now Sun<br />goes over but knows it is there. And that<br />is why Sun shines—it is always looking.<br />Be like the sun.<br /><br />2<br />Your breath has a little shape—<br />you can see it cold days. Well,<br />every day it is like that, even in summer.<br />Well, your breath goes, a whole<br />army of little shapes. They are living<br />in the woods now and are your friends.<br />When you die—well, you go with<br />your last breath and find the others.<br />And in open places in the woods<br />all of you are together and happy.<br /><br />- William Stafford<br /><br />*<br /><br />My 3-day Greyhound adventure with Rebecca turned out to be a slow and moderately enjoyable stretch of time and country. We played cards (I lost horribly) and ate PB & J and watched Freaks and Geeks and, the next thing I knew, we parted ways all the way "back east" in Cleveland, Ohio—farewell eastern Oregon, Salt Lake City, Denver, Omaha, and Chicago! Upon arrival, I ate lots of treats and slept for about 12 hours before beginning the just-as-strenuous adventure of sorting through all of my boxes of books (some of which received some water damage just 2 weeks before my return! poor cookbooks...) and helping my parents to clean and revamp sections of their crumbly house. It's nice to feel useful after so much indulgent time doing my own thing, drifting connectionless 'cross the continent. Plus, in a week or two, I should have earned enough moolah to cover my first month's rent! So (I'm telling myself), things seem to be looking up, or at least horizontal, for the time being. A normal pace and some everyday concerns will be good for me in the weeks and months to come. Living is living—sounds good to me!Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-17311172038940776512009-07-18T15:54:00.005-04:002009-11-19T23:11:34.537-05:00Long RoadsYes. <br />Here we are.<br />The road ended, literally.<br />The sun set, then rose a little while later.<br />Music, quiet, water, and trees.<br />Staying the same place for more than 24 hours--strange?<br /><br />I really wanted to make another post sometime before we reached our final destination... or, for all practical purposes, our ALMOST final destination. Amidst the mountains and the bike repairs and the final push, that obviously didn't happen.<br /><br />I wanted to try to describe more fully all the wild and caring characters we met throughout the eastern half of North Dakota, the vast expanse of Montana, the Idaho panhandle, and, finally, Washington. I wanted to try to describe all of the scenery and landscape and environment we experienced, the varieties of trees and mountains and dirt, each conglomeration slightly different than the last. And, mostly, I wanted to try to hint at the connection between people and landscape that seemed so obvious while pedaling longitudinally, one mile at a time. There were the Spirit Lake, Fort Peck, and Blackfeet nations, the sudden change from dry plain to lush mountain valley, or the subtler changes that occur when you cross a seemingly arbitrary state border. There were the watershed moments, when the water literally flowed out from under our feet in opposite directions, toward the Pacific Ocean and the Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, all at the same time. Slugs littered the roadside west of the Northern Cascades. Tourists littered the roadsides (figuratively and literally) outside of Glacier National Park on America's Independence Day. Radically different forms of living dotted the highways and backroads we followed, even though what we mostly saw were the nests of one species, human beings (and only a rather homogenuous, unbelievably monochrome sample of that population!).<br /><br />After approximately 7 weeks on the road, or nearby it, I have a much bigger picture of this land in which I and many other folks are attempting to dwell. We didn't get to cross any national walls into Canada, as we decided not to bring our passports, and there's an almost overwhelming mass of country that remains in this country, beyond just our narrow "Northern Tier" strip along Highway 2, Highway 20, and the Empire Builder railroad--let alone the rest of this continent, and the rest of this planet (we met one guy who is planning to cover most of this world on his bicycle over the course of the next 5 to 6 years). But since graduting from college back in May, I feel even more fully educated (and rested and resolved and piqued and restless) after being briefly immersed a little more fully in this land and its people. It was splendid, reassuring, and appalling, sometimes simultaneously. I felt more sure of my self, my body, and my identity than ever before, while at the same time I felt myself dissolving into the places, the histories, and the dreams of all that we passed over on our two spinning, threadbare tires. Needless to say, I still have a lot to process.<br /><br />*<br /><br />The sun sets for a long time here in Anacortes. It passes slowly behind the mountainous islands across Guemes Channel, and the whole sky is a wash of pink, blue, orange, green, and grey for hours, until nearly 11:00pm or so. We're staying with a bunch of other campers here for the music festival, scattered throughout the large and winding yard of some new friends. They are renting a sort of luxurious beach house built in 1970, with wood paneling and funky tile and some groovy porches looking out over all of downtown Anacortes to Cap Sante Overlook, and then across Fidalgo Bay to the snow-capped Mount Baker and, somewhere off in the distance, the Canadian border. With all the festival attendees gathered in the living room, snacking, exchanging stories, and what not, we feel a bit like the Brady Bunch on spring break. Other than that, we've been trying to see some of the scenic parts of town and nature without spending money. And, we've been trying to relax and read books and take care of practical things (laundry, etc.) without spending money. And, we're trying to find food without spending money. It's been fun. Last night, we saw 5 bands play in an old port warehouse right along the water. You could see the water rising and falling and sloshing through the gaps in the floorboards underneath our feet. Mirah played some beautiful songs, and then Phil Elverum led some friends througha boisterous and profound set of Mount Eerie songs (mostly new ones that I'd never heard before). This guy has an interesting relationship to his community and surroundings here in Anacortes, whether it be the birds or the rocks or the water or his friends. I've been thinking a lot lately about how his insights fit into what I want to write about in the future.<br /><br />We've got the festival left today and tomorrow, and then, assuming we won't be able to hitch a ride down to Seattle (not everyone has pick-up trucks here, like they do in North Dakota!), we've decided to bicycle 55 miles down Whidbey Island (which means we get to see some scenic destinations, such as Deception Pass) and then take the ferry across to somewhere near Seattle, where Nate's friend will pick us up in her vehicle. Then, it will be on to Oregon and some dear people there. I'm excited to continue this wonderful time of quiet and excitement now that we're done bicycling... as long as the money keeps stretching or I find some way to earn a little cash.<br /><br />I hope to use this digital space for some further contemplation in weeks and destinations ahead, now that we've quit our full-time job of bicycling and I'm, according to the money-lenders of this world, OFFICIALLY UNEMPLOYED.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-27234333245037137112009-06-22T20:50:00.002-04:002009-11-19T23:11:34.537-05:00On the Road AgainOkay, okay, I guess that last post was kind of jumping the gun. It was the panicked preemption. But, the genius mechanic over at <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/stores/vals-cyclery-inc">Val's Cyclery</a> combined some old parts and found a way to fix up Nate's bike! And, they hardly charged him a thing, in spite of the rush job. Very nice.<br /><br />Plus, we just met some folks at the <a href="http://pangeahouse.org/blog/">Pangea House Community Collective</a>, and they fed us grilled potatoes and corn on the cob and are letting us stay in their community center/music venue tonight. I just finished up playing some old favorites on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) they have here and I toasted some bread. Ah, toasters... what a luxury.<br /><br />In a strange way, since we managed to hitch our way more than 150 mi. in less than 24 hours (thankfully, nearly 2/3 of the population of North Dakota drives a truck of some sort) and got the bike fixed in less then a few hours, we are actually a day ahead of schedule now. Praise the Lord. We leave Minot tomorrow morning, and then we should cross over into Montana in a couple of days. It seems that the landscape will only continue to flatten out and dry out up until we get to the Rockies in about 700 mi. We'll have to keep our canteens filled to the brim...Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-2609164885848795052009-06-22T15:21:00.002-04:002009-11-19T23:11:34.538-05:00We are here, in Minot, ND.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=minot,+ND&sll=37.370157,-95.712891&sspn=31.672689,55.458984&ie=UTF8&ll=48.284564,-101.26236&spn=0.208512,0.433273&z=11&iwloc=A&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=minot,+ND&sll=37.370157,-95.712891&sspn=31.672689,55.458984&ie=UTF8&ll=48.284564,-101.26236&spn=0.208512,0.433273&z=11&iwloc=A" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small><br /><br />A few days ago we passed our 1000-mile point, and now (with a little hitchiking), we are about halfway across the country. Yes, hitchiking... Nate's crank fell out of his bottom bracket about 150 miles back. We are currently waiting for the bike shop to get back to us about the fate of Nate's ride. Needless, to say, we're a bit nervous!<br /><br />I guess to kill the time, here are a few more random photos (I'll try to get the rest up later) from my time in Minneapolis with Tory and Joke and up at the beautiful north shore of Lake Superior:<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/tatteredatlas/MinneapolisAndTheNorthShore#">The Twin Cities and Tettegouche State Park</a><br /><br />(At Silver Bay, we witnessed a world record attempt for the longest ATV parade, but Tory has those pictures.)Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-2305351732346329982009-06-12T14:53:00.004-04:002009-11-19T23:12:31.159-05:00Okay, so images:<br /><br />The majority of the photos are cycling through in the little box to the right of this post. If you put your mouse over the box, you can scroll back or forward through the pictures. If you click on one of them, it will take you to Flickr where you can see bigger versions and perhaps a caption or description.<br /><br />I guess the only problem is that not all of my photos are up there yet, and I can't get them to upload to Facebook. Blah blah blah. Technology wins again. Maybe I'll figure out how to make these things work better somewhere along the way.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi361z_Kp2UJfco9JoZltStqxKDNCXhOH4I_mZud4RBpvAm7L7Wc_ilqNm42u1NXiwE9L961wmuQoUjmQasJbBA5ErSC6NvL_ghe98ql8rcWMU-OY53iKxvYceZVzOtK5G3Lev8vg/s1600-h/IMG_0095.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi361z_Kp2UJfco9JoZltStqxKDNCXhOH4I_mZud4RBpvAm7L7Wc_ilqNm42u1NXiwE9L961wmuQoUjmQasJbBA5ErSC6NvL_ghe98ql8rcWMU-OY53iKxvYceZVzOtK5G3Lev8vg/s320/IMG_0095.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346518114522578018" /></a><br /><br />more houseboats!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoH0kzpkJYOEuFPPRQzsdcaPy4SGxt0Y-eYOmwkJYoFWAn7LPe_neZXcszHXevsKdJ1kE4rcQWvAfA-OcWuDaZq_YSOh2Ir9unM4S7wvl69oqyKgTQQB8bSZ5TcCegK1mdFN18w/s1600-h/IMG_0106.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoH0kzpkJYOEuFPPRQzsdcaPy4SGxt0Y-eYOmwkJYoFWAn7LPe_neZXcszHXevsKdJ1kE4rcQWvAfA-OcWuDaZq_YSOh2Ir9unM4S7wvl69oqyKgTQQB8bSZ5TcCegK1mdFN18w/s320/IMG_0106.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346518108055035554" /></a><br /><br />on the way down into Saint Paul<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2P80m1xTkynPqC3z0m3UmXhrlhNqZUTAv7uBVEYlYhR85gIbtyG8rlIQZOUhKsahBu4fQfFBLQiKWZ0Mdk8WSmnlUw6IqCb00sM5Q7vYybdIlsQkbANDC5YBLFpV2l-y-B4ZaDg/s1600-h/IMG_0109.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2P80m1xTkynPqC3z0m3UmXhrlhNqZUTAv7uBVEYlYhR85gIbtyG8rlIQZOUhKsahBu4fQfFBLQiKWZ0Mdk8WSmnlUw6IqCb00sM5Q7vYybdIlsQkbANDC5YBLFpV2l-y-B4ZaDg/s320/IMG_0109.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346518119048641074" /></a><br /><br />a building in the backgroundRyan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-16269432064118491182009-06-11T01:28:00.002-04:002009-11-19T23:11:34.538-05:00Week 1: Joliet/Chicago to MinneapolisOkay, so it was technically almost two weeks. But we could've done it just one. I swear.<br /><br />The first few days were mostly spent learning the ropes, how to carry our stuff, pack and unpack, find camping spots, and interact with the people we'd meet. We started with enough food to last two weeks, but then realized that we were cycling past several grocery stores a day. We also were worried about where and how and when to camp each night, but that has turned out to be about the easiest part of the trip: so far (in the Midwest, at least), we've just been able to roll into about any town, meet some folks at the diner or pub or grocer, and then, if nothing else turns up, just set up our tent in the city park or on the outskirts. And once we started tracking up through the bluff and wetlands along the Mississippi, especially, we've had some lovely spots for camping. However, we have yet to deal with any significant precipitation. So far, whenever it's rained, we pull into a coffee shop or call it quits and hang out for the rest of the day in whatever little town we happen to find ourselves.<br /><br />Oh, and getting into shape, too. That's been a big one. My legs strangely feel a bit muscular, and the wind and sun are gradually having effects on our skin and hair. For the first week or so, before turning north in Iowa, we'd get tan on only one side of our body (the left side, which faced the sun as we biked west). After our big haul last night, I'm starting to think we might be ready for trek westward. I guess the trip up to Minneapolis was a kind of trial run for this next leg of the journey. The same thing as we've been doing, only about 3.5 times as far and with a few mountain ranges thrown in. It's very exciting, but still a little bit terrifying to think about. Nate and I are going to put our heads together and figure out a lot of the the concrete details and practical stuff. We think we'll be able to lighten our load and plan our timeline a little bit better than stage one of the trip, since now we have some idea of how these things will all work out.<br /><br />Anyways, Day 1 in Minneapolis was really nice. I slept in, did some laundry, then hung out with Joke and Tory for the rest of the day. I drank coffee and ate lots of food while catching up with Joke. Then we met up with Tory and sat on the beach of Lake Calhoun (I think?) for the rest of the evening. Oh, and then Tory and I made eggplant parmigiana and ate some mango sorbet from Trader Joe's. Yeah, lots of food. I guess that's not much different from when we're on the road, which usually involves either cycling while thinking about food and sleep or eating and sleeping while thinking about cycling. If I have any time the over the next couple of days, I'll try to post more details or describe some highlights from the first, introductory part of our expedition. Oh, and pictures from my new digital camera, too!<br /><br />Until next time...Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-20465685298561054162009-05-09T16:47:00.003-04:002009-11-19T23:12:04.393-05:00Breaking Away?So I'm headed away from both of my homes, at least for a little while. Bye-bye for now, Mansfield and Grand Rapids!<br /><br />If I have time next week (after finals) or in Chicago, I might try to make a post that officially inaugurates Nate and my bike trip westward, provides some details, etc. For now, though, I'm setting things up to potentially update this blog via mobile phone while on the road. Maybe some pictures, too? Technology is crazy, and it sure has changed a lot even since a year or two ago, when I last paid attention to it.<br /><br />Stay tuned!Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-22310376156995921732008-08-13T15:19:00.005-04:002009-11-19T23:14:45.908-05:00PhotogeneticsWell, I developed the film from my semester in England and my Easter Break travels at the beginning of the summer, and now I am finally getting around to uploading these to the internet. It's a pretty messy collection, for now, but I hope to eventually arrange and edit them up to be a little bit nicer looking. Until then, you can check out the hodgepodge here:<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/tatteredatlas/York2008">http://picasaweb.google.com/tatteredatlas/York2008</a>Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-24707248837403063672008-05-13T10:36:00.006-04:002009-11-19T23:13:36.340-05:00Edinburgh RocksI finally got around to scanning and editing the Polaroids from our trip to Scotland a couple of weekends back. We were only there for a Friday night, but that gave us enough opportunity to explore and get a taste of Edinburgh, which is perhaps one of my favorite cities in the UK. I was a bit biased, I'll admit, by the warm sunshine and blossoming of spring, but the city itself has a great vibe. The buildings and city layout have a unique mix of classical, Gothic, and post-modern elements, and with golden gorse-covered hills and cliffs on one side and the Firth of Forth on the other, it feels like an epic place to be a student or even just a tourist-pedestrian.<br /><br />A highlight of the trip was our walk along the Salisbury cliffs outside the city and our scaling to the the top of Arthur's Seat on Friday evening. Likewise, the next morning, we took an enjoyable "philosophical walking tour" of Edinburgh, which pretty much meant tracking down the grave of David Hume (Scotland's most well-known philosopher) and the building named after him on the University of Edinburgh campus. Hume Tower, where the Edinburgh philosophy department is located, was empty due to it being Saturday morning, but we did a sort of non-hostile break-in (walking past reception and riding the elevator up) to the academic offices. We checked out their billboards, their course offerings, and I appropriated some information on the philosophy Honours program, just in case.<br /><br />We finished things up with a tour of the unique new Scottish Parlaiment building, designed by Enric Miralles. The Scottish Parliament was reestablished in 1998, after nearly 300 years of unification with the English Parliament. The relationship between this two bodies is still in the process of being evaluated and provides, I think, a unique model of nation-statehood, especially with the Scottish Parliament's international outlook on things. And besides, the building is wicked cool--although at first I thought it was a bit tacky, as we walked through its asymmetrical, abstractly-modeled hallways and conference halls, I came to love it and almost felt like moving in. I never thought I'd say something so positive about anything related to politics.<br /><br />THE PHOTOS:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xJOjUhNaCNisSOdAlv3spF_3Rp7eYX0aPw2qKJqA9-XMy2vybxx9z2KP3TYfosiAJZd97KgW_TU7obOYXatM6LBnPagJk_I0uomuEkJzVfa-Q8nb-D_56vzn5lC5btYpJdlI7w/s1600-h/polaroid16.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xJOjUhNaCNisSOdAlv3spF_3Rp7eYX0aPw2qKJqA9-XMy2vybxx9z2KP3TYfosiAJZd97KgW_TU7obOYXatM6LBnPagJk_I0uomuEkJzVfa-Q8nb-D_56vzn5lC5btYpJdlI7w/s200/polaroid16.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199934775197484034" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZOd_T5_bHNaXlKbB1YjCmEoNfOrdm8OS3C5zrreIEyJt9mIYCJNd7jxCjt18Todf0bt9Z1sB-ibyDFO5-G5X6haL4RLkjoGDWJ7YoEMzE8a3ADSALAmFkhOUe-8iw48uf3SBdw/s1600-h/polaroid17.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZOd_T5_bHNaXlKbB1YjCmEoNfOrdm8OS3C5zrreIEyJt9mIYCJNd7jxCjt18Todf0bt9Z1sB-ibyDFO5-G5X6haL4RLkjoGDWJ7YoEMzE8a3ADSALAmFkhOUe-8iw48uf3SBdw/s200/polaroid17.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199934779492451346" /></a><br /><br />| left: John's umbrella couldn't handle the wind atop Arthur's Seat<br />| right: re-enacting Creed music videos on the hike upRyan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-39213380064908954192008-04-21T17:14:00.009-04:002009-11-19T23:13:36.340-05:00Spring Break in PolaroidsI thought, now that one of my essays is done, that it was about time to post the first fruits of film from our travels. It's too expensive here to develop all the rolls of 35mm film I used, but maybe this week I'll get one done, you know, just to make sure they worked. Without further ado, then, 20 Polaroids in chronological order (click to expand):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5g4uxOw1sZHNaHu4SHDgZI9Qp0QoqBXBflWQ8BsvH1bX__y1fizjDh8QtETZs0gTlUSztc5YU6bsgvbmPRxsziWQDbhgTGj9Jcdol81c2HuoRCaVriQfbFVDUQkL1vANkTtnZA/s1600-h/SB-polaroid01.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5g4uxOw1sZHNaHu4SHDgZI9Qp0QoqBXBflWQ8BsvH1bX__y1fizjDh8QtETZs0gTlUSztc5YU6bsgvbmPRxsziWQDbhgTGj9Jcdol81c2HuoRCaVriQfbFVDUQkL1vANkTtnZA/s200/SB-polaroid01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191811200335116210" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaCH2xPGiQ49Ff5bysSoNJF9GgvS5U2urCj2wXKMFe3JNv4BaA12dUZhP4-o1oq36v-Pp4De6_LNvB28oN12SiS-B-4x-3fOSpiqNaIZN3D7ETNwCQ5xRorEEiVXgp-lt1M4AE9A/s1600-h/SB-polaroid02.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaCH2xPGiQ49Ff5bysSoNJF9GgvS5U2urCj2wXKMFe3JNv4BaA12dUZhP4-o1oq36v-Pp4De6_LNvB28oN12SiS-B-4x-3fOSpiqNaIZN3D7ETNwCQ5xRorEEiVXgp-lt1M4AE9A/s200/SB-polaroid02.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191811204630083522" /></a><br /><br />| left: literary walk--near Charles Dickens' house (and T.S. Eliot's office and Virginia Woolf's house, etc.)<br />| right: St. Paul's Cathedral, looking foreboding<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenErAr-yfUTW0AlXb40PRpGED5C2yxKjRQSyL2vUl_hWRJaFKdJUHdV5oz0cHCX4DqPCbs_jU-kaJ_kUmnr9pqpvuh04_-ka098L4Fqy-UjL9AlFPcrsYENaRMMYyTd1GvC7uWg/s1600-h/SB-polaroid03.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenErAr-yfUTW0AlXb40PRpGED5C2yxKjRQSyL2vUl_hWRJaFKdJUHdV5oz0cHCX4DqPCbs_jU-kaJ_kUmnr9pqpvuh04_-ka098L4Fqy-UjL9AlFPcrsYENaRMMYyTd1GvC7uWg/s200/SB-polaroid03.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191811208925050834" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6LQgj8XqdwBuTRlPVWVHxv1LMqHH7LvnR9IV36Bm6eIAFzaR33A1njCZkWsPP05_SjIV8_iodYAzV2Z7lYErgOAOmsi2o7IwFyUH7O-viI70asJ6ZEL95IycqwgTL5r3TOoMHw/s1600-h/SB-polaroid04.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6LQgj8XqdwBuTRlPVWVHxv1LMqHH7LvnR9IV36Bm6eIAFzaR33A1njCZkWsPP05_SjIV8_iodYAzV2Z7lYErgOAOmsi2o7IwFyUH7O-viI70asJ6ZEL95IycqwgTL5r3TOoMHw/s200/SB-polaroid04.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191811213220018146" /></a><br /><br />| left: sleet in Paris, in front of this tower thing<br />| right: Glamour Portrait #1: musical in front of some important building<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrx5PLFXo_0D1P_QKQGAb18sOsbG9GJswMRGi87CzrGDXfkMV0pJTWGa1FZFQ-GnrbEDWLV4QIPZuf3Stv6QnxLKFOLrbQe2S1R15jGOPs_tQ61PHLzVLUGAU0MxPJP1z5mtvfQ/s1600-h/SB-polaroid05.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrx5PLFXo_0D1P_QKQGAb18sOsbG9GJswMRGi87CzrGDXfkMV0pJTWGa1FZFQ-GnrbEDWLV4QIPZuf3Stv6QnxLKFOLrbQe2S1R15jGOPs_tQ61PHLzVLUGAU0MxPJP1z5mtvfQ/s200/SB-polaroid05.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191811217514985458" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmqj1tdRSTfAEjMs5tUwDUHt7wnS_72na9EsNK42HcKyvAhmxC_5Pxd1Uitr31xs6MsxnpUr102jFWxvTPZU9JPPzjHe1GStiE4gSz5KPoGUI035Jdk43xa7GPIMQIVr5LudWCg/s1600-h/SB-polaroid06.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmqj1tdRSTfAEjMs5tUwDUHt7wnS_72na9EsNK42HcKyvAhmxC_5Pxd1Uitr31xs6MsxnpUr102jFWxvTPZU9JPPzjHe1GStiE4gSz5KPoGUI035Jdk43xa7GPIMQIVr5LudWCg/s200/SB-polaroid06.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815057215748098" /></a><br /><br />| left: Glamour Portrait #2: John and Mallarmé at the book vendors along the Seine<br />| right: Glamour Portrait #3: Melody doing it Italian style<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTkMukfWOWPAVmxlE9WchmJCoApMYTquth1sWX2Wgk3ETKajfKFfVIOZJvRRx8UBPAtxUJ-T6TSM32CNXiBSl8Rl9UTKVtQeeyy8_Z2mjD_o4p4WhqCMkKyy17_inXlumpY3q5Q/s1600-h/SB-polaroid07.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTkMukfWOWPAVmxlE9WchmJCoApMYTquth1sWX2Wgk3ETKajfKFfVIOZJvRRx8UBPAtxUJ-T6TSM32CNXiBSl8Rl9UTKVtQeeyy8_Z2mjD_o4p4WhqCMkKyy17_inXlumpY3q5Q/s200/SB-polaroid07.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815057215748114" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0t-6FyUFvbohAtOWPf0otTzRN8Pkqm0LK3vfhoPFshJzOuicjsVYDMhmMggUYFzTdidqmWoPli6PZAID_fDfT69uEzl12pgln_oCIayTE_s6wLUIAQFmpF1u_UN4I14Q7oymfQ/s1600-h/SB-polaroid08.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0t-6FyUFvbohAtOWPf0otTzRN8Pkqm0LK3vfhoPFshJzOuicjsVYDMhmMggUYFzTdidqmWoPli6PZAID_fDfT69uEzl12pgln_oCIayTE_s6wLUIAQFmpF1u_UN4I14Q7oymfQ/s200/SB-polaroid08.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815061510715426" /></a><br /><br />| left: group performance art at Centre Pompidou (choreography by Jenn and Mel)<br />| right: letter-writing and book-reading in Hotel Altona<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWK31lmE-WDmxN5V5qL0682Zm8U-XaDU7Wg4i7KolJS9yI9TTEqDH5XbV1agtH8vZIWKXJyQ7M-vbrJuLLAWsCemt6JeFAT9JCGWbyZnc6fU_HKCEyoZSuPZ7Hgrz5oLEplWjWVg/s1600-h/SB-polaroid09.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWK31lmE-WDmxN5V5qL0682Zm8U-XaDU7Wg4i7KolJS9yI9TTEqDH5XbV1agtH8vZIWKXJyQ7M-vbrJuLLAWsCemt6JeFAT9JCGWbyZnc6fU_HKCEyoZSuPZ7Hgrz5oLEplWjWVg/s200/SB-polaroid09.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815061510715442" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3yFtNpaGLgiLmPh36ur369d0eAg2BRUnLQmmt5jvyhJGBYZCTv0lBc30lPSpQ2bdsmyNOA3og8-8KIxMMFkSu-TZkibZSIWucXpe0G8uTEhogdf1FSz1GzWi3EDhyphenhyphenQR4hYSR7Q/s1600-h/SB-polaroid10.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3yFtNpaGLgiLmPh36ur369d0eAg2BRUnLQmmt5jvyhJGBYZCTv0lBc30lPSpQ2bdsmyNOA3og8-8KIxMMFkSu-TZkibZSIWucXpe0G8uTEhogdf1FSz1GzWi3EDhyphenhyphenQR4hYSR7Q/s200/SB-polaroid10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815065805682754" /></a><br /><br />| left: Glamour Portrait #4: Brad at Versailles<br />| right: last night in Paris: bad hotel, sleep deprivation, poor humour<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM0xFqeqJ3k9R5c6GFOXAeOWaifltMdsf7fVG7fDf24lZ6AHEcNCMJM6VcJOtfZWYISxuMMgxfy7fNmjSBiBHqUYcoLFqK84f7sOyX2tF7ICPPpv8xc3CX0XJiV0oZVYOU4J4Ig/s1600-h/SB-polaroid11.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM0xFqeqJ3k9R5c6GFOXAeOWaifltMdsf7fVG7fDf24lZ6AHEcNCMJM6VcJOtfZWYISxuMMgxfy7fNmjSBiBHqUYcoLFqK84f7sOyX2tF7ICPPpv8xc3CX0XJiV0oZVYOU4J4Ig/s200/SB-polaroid11.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815757295417426" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh981sG96Pr6Om8_1bzsItuAhKeiDO5I3XrsX7b6U4rn_kCE7tg-i1Du00pSu_I7-TaYpMOx7TBr8tZq8u8RqiiPwNhKv2XVvp5hZdiX37x7-8zxXBA1F5Ke64Wb_z057AqlPrgqA/s1600-h/SB-polaroid12.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh981sG96Pr6Om8_1bzsItuAhKeiDO5I3XrsX7b6U4rn_kCE7tg-i1Du00pSu_I7-TaYpMOx7TBr8tZq8u8RqiiPwNhKv2XVvp5hZdiX37x7-8zxXBA1F5Ke64Wb_z057AqlPrgqA/s200/SB-polaroid12.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815761590384738" /></a><br /><br />| left: Hans-Morten's miniature guest loft in Sandefjord<br />| right: group shot in Bergen with Trine, Anne-Marte, and part of a stone admiral<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNu9tFafJJQvKvdU36oVWgcnlKb_Ub4wkJUKPJswor0htrmIbflq5kghTe3BCN5JQBd28x9PlP-5xvcmBof3vxo4kxBKBNTxWTxOM4SemS5kLFtweoaDSj_79oZxfEPjbI0Vb7w/s1600-h/SB-polaroid13.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNu9tFafJJQvKvdU36oVWgcnlKb_Ub4wkJUKPJswor0htrmIbflq5kghTe3BCN5JQBd28x9PlP-5xvcmBof3vxo4kxBKBNTxWTxOM4SemS5kLFtweoaDSj_79oZxfEPjbI0Vb7w/s200/SB-polaroid13.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815761590384754" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqnCh_RdOQMdd1ZqY8YdCej13qALel54Ck9WeZPYQ51FvhxDzM8kAEOwonhGM9GDtHi_VOpkYGLUC0r5z0onnOdXBbaYMyXnlqQDry-oW-g-nK0rCnWJKftLbyWkKAgtbGwXLuA/s1600-h/SB-polaroid14.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqnCh_RdOQMdd1ZqY8YdCej13qALel54Ck9WeZPYQ51FvhxDzM8kAEOwonhGM9GDtHi_VOpkYGLUC0r5z0onnOdXBbaYMyXnlqQDry-oW-g-nK0rCnWJKftLbyWkKAgtbGwXLuA/s200/SB-polaroid14.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815765885352066" /></a><br /><br />| left: mid-hike, cold hands, overlooking foggy/rainy Bergen<br />| right: first morning in Reykjavik: ducks, ducks, ducks!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-8Kqb6He0o01eloQf4pCieQRlTEXyOor79syqjH-1TFruIazqlfkR_ZxQZvEr4FcXsVDLFNZMCfBiXvWl05vPaxMPVGeNELABmqpWOR6Rxe0hqnCr2u9ZtQTp0s5zQIcy2Q0dw/s1600-h/SB-polaroid15.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-8Kqb6He0o01eloQf4pCieQRlTEXyOor79syqjH-1TFruIazqlfkR_ZxQZvEr4FcXsVDLFNZMCfBiXvWl05vPaxMPVGeNELABmqpWOR6Rxe0hqnCr2u9ZtQTp0s5zQIcy2Q0dw/s200/SB-polaroid15.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191815770180319378" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuId55TJM7h484Lxx6pJSRgkyMah9hJQVIbmGgpUzqL1T_QbkgRMMsiNE1LTLQIs3ZJeGVFNHyDdc1bPYxJnZ4iEwpYsLw-tm0c2AVTKQPspkJrTYbZIoHwat-vaQVkBX34X_fbw/s1600-h/SB-polaroid16.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuId55TJM7h484Lxx6pJSRgkyMah9hJQVIbmGgpUzqL1T_QbkgRMMsiNE1LTLQIs3ZJeGVFNHyDdc1bPYxJnZ4iEwpYsLw-tm0c2AVTKQPspkJrTYbZIoHwat-vaQVkBX34X_fbw/s200/SB-polaroid16.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191816139547506850" /></a><br /><br />| left: Glamour Portrait #5: Sean, John, and Leif Ericson in front of Hallgrimskirkja ("Hallgrimur's Church")<br />| right: wind in the bell-tower of Hallgrimskirkja (I look like a troll from Norway) with Ana's apartment in the background<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ydflw2QxCOA5VfZBqbEC5wI4rdEz72FIFqZp0qdRtEnomgLFfDeTQWr84lQ7Ga8OdKqOMZQC3FI0T1qw2sV4UGq3TehoPNoJfaV5zzK1xVUXeW9LU_V9ZDsLs5lPCbBaY1Zt6g/s1600-h/SB-polaroid17.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ydflw2QxCOA5VfZBqbEC5wI4rdEz72FIFqZp0qdRtEnomgLFfDeTQWr84lQ7Ga8OdKqOMZQC3FI0T1qw2sV4UGq3TehoPNoJfaV5zzK1xVUXeW9LU_V9ZDsLs5lPCbBaY1Zt6g/s200/SB-polaroid17.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191816143842474162" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRYgtruVeibg9YsUh6F5MW78yjhLCkuN7GTlDn1knopVRiqzlZKdicnTD5CiUIkfErRg7uZLDEb_qqymECsIV0Brtlb-U-ws0kegPYcOAa1Unz5e0CirKK0RUbmh0-P_8j6M4QQ/s1600-h/SB-polaroid18.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRYgtruVeibg9YsUh6F5MW78yjhLCkuN7GTlDn1knopVRiqzlZKdicnTD5CiUIkfErRg7uZLDEb_qqymECsIV0Brtlb-U-ws0kegPYcOAa1Unz5e0CirKK0RUbmh0-P_8j6M4QQ/s200/SB-polaroid18.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191816143842474178" /></a><br /><br />| left: John at Geysir hot springs<br />| right: my personal favorite--lounging in the moss beside boiling springs<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhq86kdBk7IrWFCJIIWldJ576BL_y36mPNbEPOS2ynkGW3PkHhZxQucQrwfDREySHFSgFZxhMMpznAucZ6Hibc6l3SuuHIGUEuT-G-fFxM042AbTacY7c39bRRJeANX6tbiAN-nA/s1600-h/SB-polaroid19.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhq86kdBk7IrWFCJIIWldJ576BL_y36mPNbEPOS2ynkGW3PkHhZxQucQrwfDREySHFSgFZxhMMpznAucZ6Hibc6l3SuuHIGUEuT-G-fFxM042AbTacY7c39bRRJeANX6tbiAN-nA/s200/SB-polaroid19.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191816148137441490" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB7bVE0GrIXrmwJg12Hx9upp2-YGmU7riFyLGAUBKYq3D9P9M_niOj9sb0vHInzrr84uVL31HrPT7AqsE4DC_VntoEW3YVADalUrp_ZR2DRkA4aGtARz3qnP2XZbDw16DJ7GxFAw/s1600-h/SB-polaroid20.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB7bVE0GrIXrmwJg12Hx9upp2-YGmU7riFyLGAUBKYq3D9P9M_niOj9sb0vHInzrr84uVL31HrPT7AqsE4DC_VntoEW3YVADalUrp_ZR2DRkA4aGtARz3qnP2XZbDw16DJ7GxFAw/s200/SB-polaroid20.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191816152432408802" /></a><br /><br />| left: Sean peering over the ledge at Gullfoss<br />| right: first annual rock toss at a random craterRyan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-24285823680204322322008-04-08T14:13:00.007-04:002009-11-19T23:14:45.909-05:00Goodbye Lava Fields, Hello Minster BellsIt feels strange that a few hours ago (I guess 14 is more like it), John and I were wandering the pre-dawn streets of Reykjavik, lost on our quest to find the bus terminal and somehow led astray into some sort of shipyard. As the time of our flight drew nearer and we only seemed to be getting loster and loster, I flagged down a car for directions. In a wonderful turn of events, the driver of this car, a bouncer at a local club who was just getting off work, offered to give us a ride to the airport. He was very friendly, spoke excellent English, and even has a friend from Michigan. Without him, who knows where we'd be right now...<br /><br />Our last two days in Iceland were tip-top, and progressed a little bit as follows: we ended up borrowing Sean's neighbors car for a trip through... the countryside? Well, whatever you call the brown grass and dramatic mountains with intermittent lava fields and craters, that's what we drove through. Our first stop was *ingvellir (I'm not sure how to make my Latin type the write characters), the site of Iceland's first legal and government meetings around 900 AD. There we walked through a rift valley along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the American and Eurasian tectonic plates converge. It was interesting to stand in a no-man's-land, not technically on either, or any, continent. After that it was off for Geysir and its surrounding field of boiling hot springs and bubbling cave-pools. Geysir itself, the second highest geyser and the namesake of all geysers, only actually functions during or immediately after volcanic eruptions, and so we had to settle for its smaller sibling, Strokkur.<br /><br />After that, Sean let me take over driving for a while, and I had the pleasure of cruising past mountains and lava fields and farm houses in a snazzy little European auto. Or maybe it was an American model? I wasn't really paying attention to that, I guess; I just got a rush from driving for the first time since January. Our next stop was Gullfoss ("Golden Falls") on the river Hvitá. The falls are actually at a right angle from the turn of the river and disappear behind the cliff walls (especially with banks of snow and ice jutting out over the edges of the rock), making it seem as if the river simply disappears into a crack. But when we got up close, it felt a bit dizzying to be literally face-to-face with such a huge torrent of water. Away from the coast in Reykjavik, winter was still just beginning to recede, and so the mist and spray from the falls were a bit freezing. We scrambled around on some rocks and grass to take pictures, and then headed back to the car for our ride home. However, we passed a crater on the way--a collapsed magma chamber, as the sign explained it--and we felt compelled to stop and toss some igneous rocks towards the pond at the bottom of the pit. On the ride home, we listened to various Icelandic music to match the scenery and I balanced on the edge between rapt appreciation of the landscape and napping.<br /><br />For our last day with Sean and Reykjavik, we took things easy, strolling around town, visiting shops but not buying things, and chatting in coffeeshops and restaurants. At one especially hip coffee shop, the ladies from the musical group Amiina stopped by. But they didn't seem to recognize us. I guess that's okay. We spent the majority of the evening post-dinner at another public pool, relaxing in the seawater pool or spring water or the steam room or the graduated hot tubs or the plain ol'... pool--whatever we fancied. After a few days of such leisurely evenings, I can see why a lot of Iceland people seem healthy and fresh, and why the city feels so safe. Maybe hot tubs are the best deterrents of violence? At any rate, I wouldn't mind if these sorts of public pools caught on in York or Grand Rapids.<br /><br />I'll admit, I've done a little bit of splurging on food since getting back into the UK. I never thought England would feel cheap, but it's nice to buy a sandwich or a coffee without guilt (with less guilt, at least...). After nearly a month of being away from York, it was familiar but strange to return. We navigated around town effortlessly for a change, with the church bells ringing in our arrival. It felt, of course, like we had just left the day before, but I could see the passage of time in the daffodils blooming along the city walls or the progress of construction sites around the college here. It's nice to feel a little permanence and security again, and although I'm exhausted I got motivated with the help of a little coffee, unpacked my luggage, rearranged my room, and nested myself in for the next 5 weeks or so. Life would be great if it were not for the surplus of academic work waiting for me here. I calculated the amount of words I need to write in the next month but stopped from fear and anxiety at about 10,000. For now though, sleep-sleep-sleep.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-31578677425398796662008-04-05T20:40:00.004-04:002009-11-19T23:13:36.341-05:00Reykjavik, Clear and BlueAfter withering away for two days in a horrible but cheap hostel in London, John and I discovered (really, it was my fault) a ridiculous and by far the most expensive mistake of our travel experiences thus far. We showed up at the airport a day after our scheduled flight, and had to pay a small fortune to make it to our rendezvous with Sean. But, we're here, and we are enjoying the city, the language, the people, but not so much the high prices. Thankfully, it's a bit more affordable than Norway, but that's not saying much. We've been eating cheap food from 7-11, 10-11, and 11-11, and Sean's been getting us cheap Skyr and bread from his friends that work at bakeries. We try to enjoy the free and affordable experiences, like browsing the records at 12 Tonar, sitting on coffee shop porches, and looking through galleries, boutiques, and of course, tourist shops.<br /><br />We've spent our first two days here wandering the shops of Laugavegur, the pedestrian paths around city hall and the University of Iceland, and the walkways along the harbor. Yesterday, we climbed the windy bell tower of Hallgrimskirkja, the highest man-made point in Iceland, and looked out over the city and ocean and natural scenery, and then at night went out to watch the drunk people wandering out of the clubs and bars just before sunrise. We've been trying to keep up our authentic Icelandic experience by spending substantial amounts of each day in the hot-spring heated public pools. Tonight, we progressed through the graduated hot tubs and ended up soaking in a small pool of sea water until the sun had set and the pool closed (around 10:OO PM now that spring is under way here). On the walk home, the Northern Lights were especially visible, and I had a bit of a stumbly walk home looking up at the sky and still feeling light-headed from our time at the pool.<br /><br />Tomorrow, we're borrowing Sean's neighbors car and doing a driving tour to see a waterfall, the Geysir, the Blue Lagoon, the Continental Rift, etc. etc. Hopefully, there will be some lava fields and bubbling mud puddles along the way. The weather so far has been uncannily beautiful: relatively warm and sunny, sunny, sunny. Sean says the wind has even taken a break since we arrived. We've probably gotten more sun the past few days then the entire semester in England. Maybe this won't be the coldest, grayest, and rainiest spring break ever after all.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-55178183334878395192008-03-30T17:02:00.004-04:002009-11-19T23:13:36.341-05:00In A Nutshell: Sunny Sandefjord, Bergen Rain, A Waterfall!My commitment to blogging seems to have completely lapsed while in Norway. I guess we just had too beautiful and busy a time in Bergen to make time for the internet; or, more truthfully, I was just too lazy to keep up with things. But, we have now returned to what John calls "the hustle and bustle" of London for a brief spell before we go on to our final spring break destination, Iceland, and so I should be in the mood to do some posting. What follows is a revisit to our time in Norway. Hopefully, it will help me forget about my horrible surroundings here at the cheapest hostel in London. We've so far spent most of our time here sleeping.<br /><br />Our first evening in Norway was spent with Hans-Morten and his wife and family in Sandefjord, which turned out to be an all-round wonderful experience. They made us dinner and coffee and gave us rides to our various transportation destinations. I think we got more sunshine in those few hours of walking around the harbor than we had gotten since Easter break began. We stayed up late talking to Hans-Morten and his wife about their kids and their boating adventures and politics and other things. The next morning, we left early for our cross-country train trip, which was to say the least, absolutely wonderful. I hadn't seen good stretches of mountains since last spring break, and I must say that Colorado has nothing on the snowy Norwegian peaks. I was tempted to jump out and join all the skiers that were taking the train ride with us, if only I had more than my sweater and hat to stay warm.<br /><br />We made it to Bergen in time for supper, and Trine and Anne-Marte kindly met us at the station. It turns out that, along with Mari and Susanne, they had the whole evening planned out for us, with dinner and a concert to attend. We all ate together, and it felt like a reunion for us YSJ exchange students. It started snowing soon after our arrival, and a bit had accumulated by the time we left for our concert in a literally cave-like venue. The opening act wasn't all that enjoyable, but Truls and the Trees was definitely a step up. The venue itself was gorgeous, and walking home through the snow I felt a bit wet and cold but also a bit in love with Norway.<br /><br />The rest of the weekend was a blur of coffee cups, sleeping in later than intended, and sporadic trips around town. Like in Paris, we mostly gave up the tourism game and just walked around, enjoying woolen products, markets, parks, old buildings and churches, and of course, the surrounding mountains and fjords. Especially since it was so expensive for us Americans, we tried to live cheaply. As a cup of coffee cost us about $5 and a pizza about $50, we decided to eat as much cheap cheese and bread as possible. Shopping in second-hand stores, though, we found some good deals, and I left Norway with nearly a complete outfit.<br /><br />The day before Trine and Anne-Marte left for Ireland, we decided to hike up one of the seven surrounding mountains. As could be expected, it was freezing and rained the whole time. We got to the top too cold and wet to enjoy our picnic, but the sights were wonderful, and I guess our experience would qualify as an authentic Bergen hike. The next day, our last full 24 hours in Norway, we took the train to meet Susanne. She drove us through the mountains, which may have been even better than the train ride, and I got a bit carried away taking pictures. John and I were supposed to buy these awesome green jumpsuits from the farm-supply store, but they were a bit expensive, and so I decided to buy a t-shirt with the same logos attached along with wool socks and a hand-woven sweater from the second-hand shop. She then took us to visit her home village, which was beautiful. The sun came out again, and we stopped on bridges and back roads to enjoy the sites. Eventually, she pulled off next to a waterfall, and John and I scampered up over the rocks and moss like little boys, smiling and yelling and taking pictures while dusk just began to set in. It was a wonderful last evening experience! Susanne fed us porridge and put us up for the night, and we finally got to meet her fiancé, perhaps our first male Norwegian friend. The next, John and I showed up at the airport 6 hours too early (thanks to a type of mine), but after a rather boring afternoon, we made it back to our hub city of London to get some sleep before Iceland. We leave tomorrow! (Some guy just told us that Iceland is even more expensive than Norway... great...)Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-85991484920054192692008-03-26T09:26:00.004-04:002009-11-19T23:13:36.342-05:00Snow AgainI'm sitting in the airport at Torp Sandefjord eating Läkerol lemon candies from the duty-free shop. We managed to make our shoe-string of connections this morning (even the Ryanair flight was great--I believe the nicest plane people I've met yet) and made it from the streets of northern Paris at dawn to London for breakfast and now are in Norway for Lunch and the next few days. Our host Hans-Morten picks us up here in about an hour, after he gets off work, and then tomorrow morning we take the train cross-country to Bergen. Flying in, we got a glimpse of the coast scattered with islands and ice, and now the grass outside the terminal has a nice white blanket. It's the first snow I've seen since leaving GR in January. Lucky me, you say? I think I'm going to go build a snowman.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-84843105759011574552008-03-24T20:39:00.001-04:002009-11-19T23:13:36.342-05:00Vivez bien! (a day in reverse)We just checked into the Hotel Altona, near Gare du Nord. It's a bit of an "informal" racket they're running here, with overbooking rooms and shuffling people around. For tonight, a least, we have a new room with a gorgeous, clean, newly-remodeled bathroom, TV, and a balcony overlooking the street--I would say it's almost a suite. We'll have to see how the room we get transfered to tomorrow compares. We've spent the evening here since dinner relaxing on the balcony, writing letters, and brushing up on our French via a strange movie about French colonies (this instead of spending more money we don't have on a trip to the cinema). Tomorrow morning we're off for Versailles, La Basilique du Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, and already our last night in Paris. So soon! It's strange to think, though, that we're not even halfway through with our Easter break. It feels as if we've already experienced so much.<br /><br />Earlier tonight was the decadent climax of our hedonistic time with Mel and Jenny, on the floor of Katherine's apartment. I believe the final summary of our meal included 5 types of cheese, 4 types of bread, 3 types of grapes, a gigantic deluxe salad, 2 kinds of fruit juice, and a desert of tea and 5 varieties of chocolate with sweet bread and caramel confiture. We all became somewhat euphoric by the end, and wine wasn't even needed for us to writhe on the floor. Mel and Jenny left to catch their train back to Rouens, so we cleaned up our mess and washed the dishes, which isn't such a chore when you pretend that you're living in a flat in Paris.<br /><br />Our time the past few days at Josh and Katherine's was wonderful. Katherine seems to us the quintessential French woman, a journalist (perhaps?), a bit saucy but kind, intellectual, and a bit of a smoker. She lives with two black cats and her apartment is lined with books and potted plants, and our conversations were smattered with stories of her travels travels to the United States and Poland and her friends in Morocco. Before our feast on the floor, after we gave her our goodbye gift of flowers and a group Polaroid, she sat us down with peanuts and white wine for a final chat. Having this sort of laid-back inside glimpse into everyday life here makes it seem so feasible and reasonable to live here. It's been a much different experience than our time as tourists in London.<br /><br />After all of our failed efforts to get into museums this weekend, we were finally met with success. Our afternoon was spent at Le Pompidou, the museum of modern art here in Paris, looking at paintings by Miro, Kandinsky, and Picasso, and an interesting collection of sculpture and videos. The building itself was great, too. J'aime l'art moderne et d'avant-garde. C'est très intérresante.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-38727172255440891312008-03-24T06:10:00.005-04:002009-11-19T23:13:36.342-05:00Paris, Je T'aimeIt's Monday morning after our first weekend in Paris. It's been a bit of a round-a-bout adventure (we keep showing up to museums and restaurants and monuments right as they are closing), but we've managed to see some of the sights so far. So far it's been cold and rainy, even hailing respectably-large chunks our first night. It seems that we're here for one of the last cold spells in France before spring sets in. Really, for all the bad wrap/rap(?) that England and London get for bad weather, Paris doesn't seem to be any better. This weekend in Paris felt a lot like cloudy GR, except the temperature and precipitation shift drastically every half hour.<br /><br />Saturday morning we headed straight to the Eiffel Tower and then walked through the gardens there toward the military school. We criss-crossed back and forth across the Seine to see some of the more impressive buildings and then walked up the gardens to the Louvre. The rest of the evening we circled Notre Dame cathedral, browsed the shops on Ilse De Louis, and then wandered through the Latin quarter until getting a late sushi dinner.<br /><br />Yesterday (Sunday), we slept in late and had an extended, deluxe breakfast of fruit, potatoes, toast, pastries, herring, and other treats thanks to our hosts Josh and Cathrine. We headed off to the Musee D-Orsay, but it was closed, so we scurried on over to attend evening Easter mass at Notre Dame. It was a beautiful service, but was strangely a bit of a spectacle with tourists crowding in and out of the building mid-service and snapping pictures during Communion. We then had more failed activities as we arrived at the Pompidou museum of modern art (it was closed) and then to a jazz club (the band played while we were eating dinner next door), but all in all it was a nice evening out. Josh, Melody, and our new friend Jen have been kind and parental tour guides, translating for us and navigating our underground journeys on the Metro.<br /><br />Brad, John, and I are trying to decide how this compares to our time in London. I'm honestly kind of crazy about the place so far. I'm sure it's still my imagination running wild, but I feel somewhat at home here. At least, I'm drawn to the cafes and good food, the lines of gorgeous books lined up for sale along the river, the streets and buildings and overall vibe of the place. It's more my stle than the posh, refined, and clean haven that is London, and I think maybe London has more to offer to me than even London. We're heading off for some museums this morning. Hopefully, we will fare better than last night. Eventually, our tour guides will leave us, we will check into our own hotel room for a few nights, and it will be interesting to see how we survive on our own in sweet Pair-ee.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35893533.post-64292893610623682392008-03-19T20:42:00.004-04:002009-11-19T23:14:45.909-05:00London in Summary: New Jerusalem or Whited Sepulchre?Just as yesterday I described the Westminster Abbey as a collage of British culture into a possibly religious image or icon, so the city of London is a very cosmopolitan medley, a microcosm of world culture, admittedly disproportionate but well-represented nonetheless.<br /><br />I've kept snapping a steady ration of pictures, but not for this blog. Who knows when I'll get them developed, maybe sometime next summer?<br /><br />The Cabinet War Rooms, a themed museum which visited yesterday, were dramaticized and made British-family-friendly enough to gloss over any horrors or questions concerning warfare. For instance, the attached bookstore featured play tanks and trinkets, as could be expected, but I saw no representation of what I would consider the reality of the situation, the reality of our world being at war. You would never see Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" in a gift shop like this.<br /><br />Likewise, a good deal of monuments around the city, ornate and ancient, imply the story of British imperialism and what came (and continues to come) with it.<br /><br />It's in no way a clear choice between William Blake's <a href="http://www.newi.ac.uk/rdover/blake/jersalem.htm">nationalistic utopian vision</a> of Christ's England or Joseph Conrad's indictment of the darkness surrounding the Thames in <span style="font-style:italic;">Heart of Darkness</span>, but perhaps some sort of reminder of the potential of both extremes in city and national life, in historic monuments and ecclesial stuctures, in all things of this world.Ryan Weberlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328284260583504932noreply@blogger.com0