New post... finally!

After almost two months of neglecting my blog, I am getting back to it.. but not quite yet. This is a teaser. I'm going to write tomorrow, well actually later today because it's way past my bedtime.

Summer of '09

I remembered yesterday a statement I made at the very beginning of the summer. It was something along the lines of "Summer of '09, the summer that changed the world." It was a play off of the whole summer of '69 thing. I figured since it's been 50 years since then, we're about due for another awesometastic summer. Well as it turns out, unless something drastic happens in the next month, I don't think this will be the world changing summer I hoped for. At any rate, it has affected me pretty well.

This summer was my first summer not living at home. I think it has ruined me as far as living at

home goes. I never intended to move back home after school. After visiting in mid July, however, I know I can never move back home. That's not to say that Pennsylvania is out of the picture for me. I love Pa. It was beautiful when I was home. I just can't move back home. I now know I'm on my own. I'm looking forward to getting a job after I graduate. Financial freedom is very important to me. The idea that I am constantly tied down because of financial obligations really peeves me.

I was so thankful for the chance to be in Charleston for the summer. The guys I lived with were amazing. They're gone now, except for Mark, who is here for another week. It's like the end of an era in my life relationally. I know I haven't graduated yet and am not moving somewhere, but they have. Harrison is about to leave to live the dream and teach in Roatan, Honduras, Tyler is working and getting married in Norfolk, Bear is going out to Jesus school in Cali, and Mark is about to go to Jesus school in Columbia. These men of God have impacted me more than I know. God has worked through them in my life and the lives of others beyond any expectations. Since Harry, Tyler, and Bear left, Mark and I have been going through withdrawal. Symptoms include boredom, a sense of emptiness/longing, feelings that three fifths of you is absent, and lack of pull-up competitions. That said, I'm incredibly excited for them and where they're going. God is going to use them in amazing ways.

Now comes the time for adjustment. As I enter into a new school year, new roommates, new relationships, I find myself somewhat melancholic about the whole situation. I'm ready to get into my classes. I know this year will be great, I'm just not quite there yet.

All of that said, I have a great soundtrack for my life right now:

Kaki King - I recommend "dreaming of revenge" to get you started. It's mostly instrumental. She's a very gifted guitarist.

Alexi Murdoch - Acoustic folkish kinda stuff. He has experienced some recent fame for his heavy involvement in the soundtrack for "Away we go," a melodrama out this summer featuring John Krasinski (or Jim Halpert for all of you Office fans). Anyway, I recommend "Time Without Consequence."

Also good are Angus and Julia Stone, The Whitest Boy Alive, and Young Galaxy.

I recommend these artists to everyone feeling similar emotions... or not feeling them, it's just good music.

bicycles, bicycles, bicycles

I know it seems as though I'm always talking about bicycles. Forgive me but they're tons of fun. I don't know anyone who dislikes bicycles... other than when those bicycles have crazy people on them who disregard traffic laws and do things like ride against traffic on a one way street. Moving on...

We all know the current bicycle culture consists of two main groups that actually care about biking. That is to ignore people who own old mountain bikes and beach cruisers and ride the wrong way on one way streets. These two groups would, in my terms, be the roadies (those guys going really fast in their spandex and cycle jerseys on their $2000 bikes) and the fixies (those hipsters with their own tight clothes - jeans or cut-off shorts - on fixed gear bikes with deep v rims and deep v-neck shirts). That said, I own both of those types of bikes and clothes, to some extent.

What excites me is a new third bicycle culture equally aware of their bikes and their clothing only this group focuses on being classy and chic. That would be the new Cycle Chic movement. Very fitting to Charleston and other more bike friendly and stylish cities, cycle chic movements are all about looking good. The bike are classic and vintage in appearance, whether they be nice beach cruisers, vintage 3 speed Schwinns, or a new $3420 Gucci bicycle (see below), and the clothing is generally chic (think Banana Republic for all of you non-fashionistas).

If you want to find out more about the Cycle Chic movement in Charleston and the rest of the world, check out Charleston Cycle Chic. They have a ride coming up June 24th @6:00. 

For ideas on being the chicest bicyclist on the road, check out The Sartorialist's bicycle section.

And if you ever want to go for a ride around town, let me know!

Alright.. time to get back to it

It's been almost two months now. I apologize for my delinquency. First came finals and then came summer. But those are just excuses. Anyway, a lot has happened since I last wrote. I passed my classes, went to pa via va, got a car, drove back to sc, went surfing, started my internship, and started my online class, which brings me up to this weekend.

For those of you who don't know, I thoroughly enjoy biking. Something I've always wanted to do with my biking is to participate in an alleycat race, which is basically a race within a city with a series of checkpoints. I've been wanting to do an alleycat for the past two years or so but have always managed to miss them. Well yesterday (sunday) happened to be my lucky day because the suicide king alleycat came to town. It wasn't until the race that I realized why it was called the suicide king.

The race was scheduled to start at 3:30 so I thought I would try to get to registration around 3:00. Registration was at Holy City Tattoo way up king street, further than I thought. By the time I got there I was already hot and sweaty. Only then was I told that the race started another half mile up the road. I proceeded to bike up to the start and get there in just enough time to turn around and start back to where I had just come from.

Having been late, I didn't bother to look at the map, I just figured I would follow whoever I could to the first check point and then figure out where I needed to go. This first leg happened to be a 6 mile sprint all the way down king street to the battery, which is on of my favorite rides in charleston, only I generally do a 2 mile version.

After the sprint, we the proceeded around Charleston, reaching every corner of the downtown peninsula crossing back and forth across the city. Highlights included the top of the bridge, the old jail, some graveyard way out in the middle of nowhere, waterfront park, queen street grocery, and other great scenery along the way, finally finishing with a slip-n-slide in hampton park.

All told the race totaled about 40 miles not including any allowance for getting lost along the way, which probably was about 3-5 miles... so 43ish miles, thus the "suicide." I came in 22nd out of 43. That said not everyone ahead of me went to all of the checkpoints because of how grueling the race was so I probably came in somewhere more like 17th, which I would say is pretty good for my first race and being late and not bringing a water bottle and all that. Next time I'll be a little more prepared.

Mr. Anderson

I've been extremely busy over the past week or two so I haven't had much time to devote to my blog.. I still don't so here's something interesting I found the other day. I'm a huge fan of movies and especially Wes Anderson. This a 5 part video series. Don't bother reading the article because it says everything in the video. Part 5 hasn't been published yet but that will keep you wanting if you're are at all interested in Wes.

Also for you fashion conscious readers, my friend Judah sent me this blog, which I've been enjoying.

Partay!

I'm sitting on the porch writing this and watching the party people depart from the house across the way to head to the bars. I wonder what the occasion is or if its just because it's wednesday. I wasn't invited so it must not have been very important.

I kinda want to write about more interesting things other than how I'm feeling about life. Perhaps interesting tidbits from my day/week/few days or whatever. I also want to start working photos into my blog. That simply means I need to get out there and start taking more photos. My digital camera has kinda been a little shifty lately so we'll see. But that's just an excuse. I continue to be inspired by things all over the place. I've been thoroughly enjoying the Sartorialist, which everyone should view every now and then in order to be reminded how nice one can look. Charleston never ceases to inspire me. Especially when I walk around at night. I think this calls for a night time photo adventure. I'm sure you'll be hearing the results of this soon enough. Most of all, people are a continued source of inspiration. I really feel that to further develop my work, I need a muse. In other words, I need someone who doesn't mind me taking their picture all of the time. If you know anyone, let me know. That said, I always thought it would just kinda happen and I would become friends with someone who is the a good muse. Oh well.

In the mean time, I'm going to go sit

and read Shakespeare's sonnets for british lit.

Jai Ho!

I know people have been raving about it and it's old news but I saw Slumdog Millionaire for the first time last night. I went into it with very high expectations due to all of the hype surrounding it so naturally, I was a little worried my high hopes would not be satisfied. In the end, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all night and all morning today. I'm not really going to go into detail about the movie itself other than telling you that if you have not seen it, you should.

Aside from immensely enjoying the movie for its story line, music, and excellent cinematography, watching Slumdog has fueled my continued desire to travel to the point of a growing anxiety about it. I just feel so strongly about being able to see so much of the world. In my current life plans, I just haven't figured out where it all fits in. I've always thought, the summer after I graduate. I feel like I want to be a teacher so I can just take my summers and travel the world. 

When I say I want to travel the world, I don't mean I want to go stay in nice hotels at the beach in different parts of the world. I want to experience so many different countries. I want to ride the underground in London. I want to sit at a cafe in Paris. I want to stroll through a market in Morocco. You get the idea.

Currently listening to:

Angus & Julia Stone