2300 Miles After

Back to school. The roadtrip was uneventful. Neither of us became too sick of driving. We had to change two light bulbs on the car, we stopped at the Omaha Zoo and had some great Mexican food in Laramie, Wyoming. The weather was in our favor, we did not acquire any tickets, dents or deaths on the journey. The trip did require us to put our heads together to survive as their was much reading and scheduling for Alison to do and much driving and protecting Alison for Brandon to do.

A poem for the road

I Hear America Singing

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it would be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The woodcutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day--at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Walt Whitman (1860)

The journey of two thousand miles begins with...garbage bags full of clothes in the trunk of my car. Tomorrow: Brandon and Alison Take America.

Road Trip

August 23 Provo to Salt Lake City/24th New York City, to Bridgewater, NJ 2171 miles
August 24 Bridgewater, New Jersey to Clearfield, Pennsylvania 244 miles
August 25 Clearfield, Pennsylvania to Portage, Indiana 490 miles
August 26 Portage, Indiana to Omaha, Nebraska 493 miles
August 27 Omaha, Nebraska to Laramie, Wyoming 547 miles
August 28 Laramie, Wyoming to Provo, Utah 408 miles
August 29 First day of Fall Semester 2005 0.5 miles

Is she or isn't she?

Who is this?

Mesh Lining

Today my friend Chanson and I ventured down the river above bridal falls. The water was cold and we saw trout and some sort of water rat. We floated down the river for almost two hours and each of use fell in once. When I went to get back in my truck my old and only pair of cool red swim-shorts ripped right up the middle. All I can say is, thank goodness for mesh lining.

Party at my house

Last night was a rare event for my house: it was full of people. Our bishop is moving so we had a goodybye/open house at our house and LOTS of people came. There was way too much food, which was funny--like a million brownies and cookies were left over. It was only supposed to be for an hour and a half but people stayed for two and a half hours...my face hurt really bad after from smiling the whole time. I talked to a lot of people that I hadn't talked to much before, which was nice (and I saw two babies--really). It was a good night because I really liked everybody. And we all have lots of issues but everybody is just trying to do okay in life and maybe be a little better than they were before. Yay. Sometimes I feel good about humanity. And I should probably have people over to my house more.

Hotness

1. Gather your produce and purchase a blender. Pasteurize ingredients by heating in the microwave to kill pesty would be surprises. 2. Retrieve from microwave and blend to desired texture. 3. Don't forget to photograph the specialist pepper in step one. 4. Eat after the salsa has cooled and aged in the refrigerator for a few hours.

A Squishable Feast

Step 1: Take a long bus trip from Scotland to the Lake District
Step 2: Stop at a Moto rest stop
Step 3: Become insane
Step 4: Purchase these:
and a lot more.
Step 5: Admire the psychedelic (and possibly hallucenogenic?) properties of the starfish and be suitably awestruck at the existence of gummy fried eggs
Step 6: Gummy feast!
Step 7: Feel momentarily sick, but
Step 8: Realize that your life will never be the same again

Two Liquids; Two Cups

In the past 72 hours I have found it necessary to take many pictures of liquid in a cup. Here are two of my favorites. I will not say which is which, but, one of the above pictures was my attempt to win the cover design of a new psychology journal of which I am an assistant editor. The other picture was sent to the customer service office of a prominent beverage provider.

Grace

Wearing these shoes is kind of like this:One time my friend ****e was kissed in her kitchen by a boy who was holding a slice of apple pie on a saucer, and he never dropped the plate.

Man Found

After nearly a week of missing in action status, local stud "Brandon" was recovered by police Saturday near the town of Bridgewater NJ. Brandon, a psychology student at Brigham Young University is researching women who mutate during certain seasons into monster like she bears similar to those of the Old Testament. While conducting a case study of "Albearison" (pictured above) Brandon was attacked and drug by the she bear to a ditch just West of the Interstate I-287. He remained in the ditch for several days being kept alive by cheeseburgers thrown into the ditch by Albearison. A chain-gang clearing trash of the Interstate discovered Brandon early Saturday morning and alerted authorities. No word on the whereabouts of Albearison.

Missing in action

Have you seen this man?

Fender Benders

On the first day of August 2005, I returned to my vehicle to find the following: