tripsofar

2008-03-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about teaching science as opposed to other subjects is the limitless potential for real world applications. My students will frequently find some strange things around their homes or hear a story on the news about some astronomical event and will bring it in to share with me and the class. I've received some incredible and absolutely random things. Last year some of the highlights were a couple geodes, some fossils of shells, a birds nest, a praying mantis's egg sack (which hatched after a couple weeks) and a cooler containing ice and a recently harvested sheep's heart and brain. The cooler was left in my mailbox with no note or explanation; I initially thought it was some sort of threat.
This year, I've started taking pictures of some of the things that were brought in so I can share the experience. So far, I've received a mushroom,

An X-ray of a broken leg,

A bee's nest,

and even the bees that formerly resided there.

The next thing I'd like to share needs a little bit of explaining. During the science fair I was speaking to a podiatrist who is the father of one of my fifth graders. The fifth grade was studying the skeletal system at the time and he said that he had a foot he could send in so the students could see some of the bones, tendons and ligaments. I said it sounded perfect and asked what kind of foot it was; whether it was a model or preserved. he said it was preserved and that it was found in the desert. He warned me that it might be a little gross and that I should check it out first and decide whether or not it was appropriate for my class. I said I would look forward to seeing it.
The following Monday, I walked into my classroom and there was a shoe box on my desk....

There are very few professions where you get to start your morning looking at a mummified severed foot in a box and deciding whether or not it would give 10 year olds nightmares.
I ended up showing it to the and they loved it. The best part was that the class found it just as ironic as I did that the foot was brought to me in a shoe box.

2007-08-23T21:36:00.001-07:00

I've developed a morbid sense of humor...

B.D. Spongebob

IKEA; IKEELYA

2007-08-21T23:34:00.001-07:00

I had been planning on posting these pictures of my drive from Chicago to San Francisco with hilarious commentary for each one; but it took me so damn long to upload the pictures that I'm too tired to write anything. As a result, this post is long, boring and not funny at all; Just like the drive from Chicago to San Francisco.

These are the pictures I took in their original order. Maybe I'll write some comments some day.

I had started the trip by drawing a map on my car. The dotted line was the path I was taking, the solid red line where I had been and the states that were filled in were the ones I had already passed through. I did it to try to remember where the pictures were taken.

2007-06-18T21:48:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow morning I'm going to begin my long drive from SF back to Chicago. I'm going to be doing it solo this time so in order to keep myself sane, I'm hoping to make lots of stops and take lots of pictures. I'm bringing my computer and will try to update the site daily with things that happen on the trip.
In the 9 months I've had this blog, I've only updated it 6 times. Hopefully by the end of the trip I'll be up to 9 posts so I'll at least be averaging one post a month. I know that's pretty pathetic but it's still better than Jared's rate over at fockers07.blogspot.com.
Oh, and I just came back from a trip to mexico. I'm planning on writing about that a little bit but it will have to wait a little while. I'm still packing. Here's a picture of the house we built. More pictures soon.

2007-04-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

This conversation actually happened:

Me: Damnit…. Good evening officer. How are you doing?

Meterman: Oh… Uh.... Pretty good. How are you? This your car?

Me: Yeah. Shoot. I just ran in for a little bit.

Meterman: Yeah. Had you been a few minutes sooner, I could have let you off with a warning.

Me: Shoot. I had been on my way out then something had caught my eye. I didn’t even realize I still needed to pay the meter this late. What time does it go until?

Meterman: Yeah. It’s until 10. What state is your license plate from?

Me: Illinois. How bad is the ticket going to be?

Meterman: Illinois? What are you doing out here? Are you visiting family?

Me: No. I just moved out here to teach.

Meterman: Really? What school?

Me: St. Peter’s. So how bad is the ticket?

Meterman: It’s only 25 bucks. So are you married?

Me: Um… No. I moved out here on a whim. I really don’t know anyone here.

Meterman: So what do you think of it out here?

Me: Well, you guys are a lot tougher with parking tickets.

Meterman: What?... oh right. well I mean, how do you like the girls compared to those in Illinois.

Me: Well. I guess they’re different.

Meterman: How so?

Me: Hmm. I think the girls in Illinois are a little cuter than the girls out here. The girls out here are….

Meterman: Sluttier?

Me: Um. No. I guess I was trying to say they’re…

Meterman: They’re pretty slutty.

Me: Yeah. I guess.

Meterman: I just trying to figure out if that beach boys song is true. You know what I’m talking about?

Me: Yeah. I know the song.

Meterman: You know. About California girls.

Me: Yeah.

Meterman: I think girls on the east coast are totally hot.

Me: Yeah. I guess they are.

Meterman: Much hotter than California girls.

Me: Yup.

Meterman: So what’s your name?

Me: Dan

Meterman: I’m Chris. So I guess I’ll be seeing you around.

Me: Yeah.

Meterman: And I know your car now so….

Me: Yeah, you sure do.

Meterman: If you see me around, don’t be a stranger. Be sure to say 'Hi'.

Me: Alright Chris, I'll do that.

Meterman: See ya! (hands me the ticket).

The "officers notes" sections reads (Land of Lincoln.

2007-03-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

Student Art:

One of my favorite things about my job is receiving student artwork. I encourage students to draw pictures on the back of their quizzes and tests when they're done with them and waiting for other students to finish. It helps relieve stress, allows me to see what their interested in and often helps lighten the mood when I have to sit down and grade their assignments. I've decided that this art is far too precious to keep to myself and I'm going to try to start sharing it. Here are a few pictures I received on the backs of some quizzes on facts about the 9 planets. My favorite is the last one.

Chimps in Space:

A fantasy piece depicting a future in which humans are no longer the only primates to have conquered the moon.

Pimp My Unidentified Flying Ride:

Initially a smiling, sunglassed sun in a staring contest with Saturn; the artist decided to go for a far more realistic piece showing an alien showing off his new set of wheels.

Dolphin-Penguin Mind-Meld:

?

This piece speaks for itself:

(highlighter reads: "I am a pig lover Mr. Myers!")

2007-03-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I snapped at the Chinese New Year Parade. Though I enjoyed the parade, I'm not entirely sure that celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Pig was the only reason for the event. At first glance, it was pretty much what I expected to see. The streets were decorated with Chinese lanterns...

There were some absolutely gorgeous floats...

There were kids practicing martial arts...

And some kids just being cute....

The boy scouts made an appearance...

And of course there were Dragons...

After a little while, I began to notice the advertisements. At first they were fairly subtle. Ford was a sponsor and threw a couple of cars and trucks into the parade...

Soon the ads were less subtle , but consistent with the parade decor...

Some parts of the parade were just a stream of billboards...

It would be naive to think that this parade could be possible without help from sponsors. As the old adage goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. But you would think that after choking down so many ads, the sponsors could at least throw in some free dessert at the end. As it turns out, Fortune was not so kind...
I initially thought that all the advertisements cheapened the parade and that culture was being replaced by rampant commercialism. Having very limited foreign travel experience, I assumed that turning cultural events into advertisements was a uniquely American custom. After finding the following picture of downtown Shanghai I realized that commerce is a big part of all cultures and that my experience was probably very close to what it would be like to be at a New Year parade in a major city in China....Though there was definitely something about it that was uniquely San Franciscan.

2007-01-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted. I'd like to say that I've been too busy to post but that's not really true. The fact of the matter is, I just haven't been inspired to write anything lately. I'm worried that it's because I'm becoming a little bit Californian. The fact that there are 6 volkswagen bugs circa 1963 on my block alone (pictures soon!) no longer phases me. Today however, I was finally shaken.
I was feeling under the weather today and decided that a warm cup of tea would be just the thing I needed to get better. My roommate had told me a little while ago that she had been in the mood for tea and had been buying it lately and that I could help myself if I liked. I decided to indulge and went to pick out a good blend. As we saw with the great salt collection (which has since grown by two varieties), my roommate enjoys having a few different selections of all her comestibles just to keep things interesting.

I pulled out one of the 5 cans of tea that I saw on the shelf to discover another can hidden behind it.
I took that can out to find yet another.

And after that another.....

14 tea containers later, when I thought I was finished, I decided that this discovery would be the type of thing my loyal blog readers would enjoy hearing about and grabbed my camera to snap the picture below.
(editors note: These are not cans of liquid tea. Each one of these tins contains a unique blend of tea leaves and usually some dried flowers, fruits and nuts and many other things you'd find on the forest floor. There aren't any repeat cans. They're about 16 oz. and most are filled to the top.)

After taking the picture and pictures of the reenactment of the discovery, I found two more tea containers and was certain I could find more elsewhere if I kept looking but I was suddenly struck with a more pressing issue. In my search for more tea, I found hot chocolate and a hot chocolate maker.

I suppose I'll have to explain the hot chocolate maker for my less sophisticated readers. A hot chocolate maker, is a plaster container too large to fit in the microwave and too heavy to hold with one hand, with a plastic top that conveniently holds a beverage frother.

The process for using the hot chocolate maker is very similar to the traditional method of making hot chocolate:
1. poor milk into a mug
2. heat the mug for 3 minutes in the microwave
3. add powdered hot chocolate mix
4. stir
5. try to break up the little nuggets of powdered hot chocolate floating on the top that simply won't mix in
6. give up on breaking up the choco-nuggets
7. poor hot chocolate into hot chocolate maker
8. froth
9. poor hot chocolate back into mug
10. reheat the now tempid hot choccolate
11. enjoy!!!! ;)

One would think that the hot chocolate maker would take care of the choco-nugget problem but it doesn't. It just makes them dizzy.

The reason I'm concerned with the hot chocolate and maker is because the whole salt obsession started with a salt cellar and the tea had started with a new teapot. A new hot chocolate maker means that we'll be getting 3 new varieties of top shelf hot chocolate every 4 days for the next month when the obsession finally subsides. We currently are housing enough warm beverages to serve 300+ people. We don't have room for any more unless we do something drastic.

2006-10-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

I’d like to introduce all of you to my roommate “Cheyenne”. Her name has quotes around it because the name I’m using is fake to protect her identity. Her real name is Charlotte.

My roommate and I have so much in common that it’s almost eerie. We both have kitties named Frank. We both like to buy organic foods. We both put a potentially unsafe amount of faith in online roommate matching programs. Heck, we even have the same last name. Our neighbors think we’re married!

Like most married people, we also have some major disagreements. Our primary disagreement is over what sort of salt we should have in our apartment. When it comes to salt, I’m more of a “quantity” type of guy but my roommate is more a “quality” type of girl. I’ve included a picture of our salt collection so you can see what I mean.

I prefer my salt to be iodized in order to avoid catching Iodine Deficiency Disorder. My roommate prefers gourmet organic salts from remote Mediterranean islands due to their appealing colors and to avoid the harsh “bite” that comes with using iodized table salt.
I think it’s ecologically and economically irresponsible to spend time, money and fossil fuels to ship salt halfway around the world when we live within a few miles (a few more kilometers) of one of Morton’s salt refineries ...

My roommate likes the fact that she found salt to match the pink kitchen utensils she picked out and that having a well coordinated kitchen gives you a peace of mind that money can't buy... unless you've got $3o per pound to spend on salt.

2006-10-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to “The Trip so Far”, a Midwesterner’s perspective on living in Northern California. I’ve been living in the San Francisco Bay area for nearly two months and decided to start this blog to share my experience with all of the folks back home. This first entry includes pictures I’ve taken so far on my trip. This will probably be the longest entry since it has pictures taken over the last two months. I’ll hopefully have new entries weekly

We’ll begin with the drive out here. I drove out here with my brother and on the way we took about 250 pictures but we only needed this one to capture the entire experience. This was taken about 200 miles outside of Reno, NV and between the bare, brown hills, gas station, and myself, the picture shows everything there was to see between Illinois and Reno.

The trip was pretty uneventful and we only stopped for food, gas and sleep with the exception of the stop we made in Sparks, NV. In Sparks, NV gambling is legal EVERYWHERE making it impossible to avoid. These next two pictures were taken in a gas station/casino/gun museum, across the street from a grocery store/casino, laundromat/casino and post office/casino.

Sparks was exciting for some….

Disappointing for others…

These next three pictures were taken on Mt. Diablo, just Northeast of San Francisco. Here's a couple I took on the road to the top.

Since I was there by myself, I had to use the timer on my camera. To get a picture of me on the side of this big rock, I needed to run 50 feet then shimmy across that ledge all in 30 seconds. It was very difficult to get this shot and it was definitely as dangerous as it looks.

I had to retake this shot four times. Sometimes I wasn’t quick enough to get into the frame….
Three weeks ago, I decided to venture down to San Jose to check out their Jazz Fest. It was incredible. Unlike the Chicago jazz fest where there's only a descent sized crowd and everyone spends the day sitting and picnicking, the San Jose fest was packed and everyone was dancing. I really like how my inability to choose the correct setting for my camera helped capture all the movement from the people dancing in the second shot.

I live about 25 minutes from the ocean and occasionally I like to go there and take pictures of the rock formations and wildlife.

On this day I wasn’t able to get quite as many shots and I would have liked. After taking the picture below, I realized that the couple you can see in the distance (on the left side, just above that big rock) wasn’t wearing any clothes. It’s not wise to be by yourself on a gay nude beach with a camera. People question your motives. I decided it would be best to put my camera away and find a clothed beach.

This weekend I decided to take a road trip to visit the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods and Napa Valley. As you can see, I’m getting much better at getting myself into the frame when use the camera’s timer.

In Napa I went to a few wine tastings. I had forgotten I had my camera with me until after I had already done a couple. At that point I decided to forgo trying to get myself into the shots since I'm not quite as photogenic when my lips are stained purple and my eyes are half closed. The next few pictures I took at Peju. I would highly recommend stopping there when in Napa. The wines were great and the grounds were gorgeous...

A Californian who had been to a few more tastings than I had, pointed out that the sculptor of this fountain depicting a woman emerging from a waterfall had “F***ing totally ripped off, F***ing Star Wars… with that dude in the ice ‘n’ s***” . I think he was probably right.

I really liked this sculpture of the young girl being pulled along by her mother. I was told that most people don’t see her for some reason.