academic... the definition says it all

As I'm studying vocab in a feeble attempt to feel like I haven't wasted six weeks of unemployment I came across a familiar word - academic.

I thought it was very appropriate when the alternate definition for ACADEMIC is, and I quote:

not practical or directly useful

Wow I haven't figured that out job hunting. I really needed the vocab book to teach me that one. That's why after earning a $120,000 degree and spending six weeks looking for work my best job opportunity is being a vacuum salesman.

By the way, anyone want a Kirby?

Book Review #7: Amber Room

The Amber Room is another non-fiction book written by a pair of British journalists who go to a new part of the world to solve a great mystery. This makes the book very similar to the one I read about the Australian journalists who went to Nepal but this book was much more focused on the history of the mystery rather than the culture surrounding the mystery.

Anyone who saw the first Indiana Jones movie (Raiders of the Lost Ark) knows that during the Second World War one of the great atrocities committed by the Nazis was the ransacking and pillaging of palaces and museums all across Europe. While the Ark of the Covenant (featured in the Indiana Jones movie) was not one of these treasures, the Amber Room of Catherine the Great's Palace in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) was.

The Amber Room must have been amazing to see. It was a room completely covered by intricately carved amber panels, and amber was worth more than gold at the time. When Leningrad fell in 1941 in Operation Barbossa the Nazis took the Amber Room and it has never been seen since.


"Amber Room" - don't sue me for using this picture

The authors traverse Eastern Europe from Russia to Germany to Liechtenstein to Kaliningrad in search of the greatest treasure the Nazis stole and their discovery is somewhat of a surprise. I enjoyed the story about the fate of the Amber Room, but my favorite part about this book was what I learned along the way about the theft of culture that occured during WWII. It is obviously overshadowed by greater atrocities like the deaths and the Holocaust, so it was nice to gain perspective on the theft that left so many great works unaccounted for.

I'd recommend this book to those interested in WWII but want to read about it from a different angle. The end of the book is kind of a let down but that is the way history played out. I liked it but "Journey from the Land of No" is still my favorite book out of my summer reads

Jobless and Pissed: Day 44

That's right folks. 44 days since graduation. Looking for jobs each of those 44 days. Turned in at least one application all but a couple of those 44 days. Nothing to show for it.

Don't worry, I'm not completely wasting my time. I'm about to finish my seventh book in the last 44 days. I got a GRE test book and I'm working on vocab. I'm still in the A's but there are lots of A's! Maybe I'll try to use some in my blog so they are better drilled into my head. The most ABERRANT of my words thusfar is ACCOUTRE, which means equip. For example, despite being ADMONISHED by locals about the snow and ice on top of Pikes Peak, as I ascended the ACCLIVITY to the ACME I did not find it necessary to be ACCOUTRED with snow gear.

I apologize if my tone while refering to my job hunt has been ACRIMONIOUS. I will try to write with AGGRANDIZED ALACRITY despite being ADDLED by prospective employers (whom I both ABHOR and ABOMINATE) who disregard my stunning and ADROIT ACUMEN.

And one quick ADDENDUM - I appreciate your continued ADJURATION to keep my chin up. I ACCEDE and as my applications around this town ACCRUE, I will be ACTUATED to ABNEGATE self-ABASEMENT and ACERBITY.

Until then, I'm going to go learn some B words...

ps. for an english translation of my ranting: www.dictionary.com

Book #6: Journey from the Land of No

It took me a little longer than the last few but I finished by sixth book of the month. This book is a little different than most of the books I read but I really enjoyed it and I feel like I learned a lot from it. Journey from the Land of No was written by an Iranian-American journalist who immigrated to the United States during the 1980s. She writes about what it was like to grow up in Tehran, Iran's capital, as an Iranian Jew during the turbulent Iranian Revolution in which the more liberal shah was replaced by conservative Muslim clerics.


Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakian
Once again, don't sue me barnesandnoble.com

Like the other books I've read this summer this book documents life in a distant part of the world from a subjective perspective rather than an overall objective analysis of what happened. This writer does a great job and I found this book interesting not because it was the memoirs of an Iranian, and not just a Jewish Iranian, but also a female Jewish Iranian. These different layers of identity come out in different parts of the book to highlight the hardship the author faced as she grew up and became less and less accepted in Iranian society.

I definitely recommend this book, especially as things get hotter with Iranian/US relations. This was the best read of the summer so far.

And while we're on the topic of Iran...

Yesterday they had presidential elections and the more conservative of the candidates soundly defeated his opponents. There are lots of media perspectives on this, and since it is easy to get the western one from turning on the TV, here is another perspective as presented by al-Jazeera.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/91109A0C-83F4-438F-9CC1-52DF6936CC6B.htm

Either way, this can't be a good thing if you don't want to see war between the United States and Iran. I mean, this new president was part of the group that planned the attack that led to the Iranian hostage crisis but he was more extreme than the others and wanted to also attack the Soviet embassy. As Iran's nuclear program comes closer to fruition and as European diplomatic efforts continue to fail, things between the United States and Iran will only get more tense. It is awful that American troops are still dying in Iraq on a daily basis, but the prolonged insurgency in Iraq may keep our military's hands too full to do anything major in Iran. I don't know what Bush's plans are regarding Iran, but I think this Iraq experience will make him try diplomacy with the Iranians a little harder than he did in the months leading up to the invasion in Iraq. Having an extremely conservative anti-Western president under the control and influence of an extremely rigid inflexible Ayatollah isn't going to help talks and that makes war a much more feasible solution to Iran's perceived nuclear proliferation.

okay back to looking for a job.

My thoughts on Rumsfeld and Iraq

A lot of times we hear about things second hand from the media and doing so we pick up their slants and biases. If I based my thoughts on what CNN or the BBC said about an event, then I'm seeing it through their lens, just like if your opinion was swayed with what I said about what CNN or BBC said about an event then you are wearing bifocals of some sort. Anyways, my point is that sometimes it is good to just go straight to the source and the internet gives us all the opportunity to do that every once and a while.

That being said, today Rumsfeld issued a statement on why the government is refusing to release a timeline for bringing troops back to the United States. CNN didn't have the best spin on this and brought up plenty of negative things and the BBC had even worse to say. If I went to FOX News they'd probably be on the other end of the spectrum praising Rumsfeld and cursing democrats and critics.

All events, especially those as sensitive as war, are subject to the opinions of the media, but during this war we have the opportunity, and perhaps even the responsibility, to go directly to the source before it has been filtered by the opinions of others. This wasn't this easy in the past before the internet and before so many resources were placed on the internet so as voting Americans with the power to decide the fate of the world we should be willing to take the five minutes it takes to read a biased news story and commit that time towards looking at the primary source. That's my humble opinion.

That being said, here is the link to what Rumsfeld said today about the troop timeline. It is shorter than most of the printed media coverage and it is definitley shorter than all the partisan banter we will listen to on all the cable networks about it. Read it and bypass the media biases if you choose.

http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2005/June/Rumsfeld%2006-23-05.pdf

I know we are all used to just reading the news, but this has never been easier. For this reason I endorse BBC World Service as a great place to find out what is going on in the world; not because I think British media is any less biased than American media (it is often more liberal), but because on the right side of the page for EVERY story they have links to all the primary sources as well as coverage by other media organizations. Check it out if you like at
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice.

and one more thing - if you do want the media's input on what you think, please don't get it from Lou Dobbs. He annoys the hell out of me. Guess what Lou, somewhere in your past YOU ARE AN IMMIGRANT TOO.

The Official cbell News Item of the Day...

In Ethiopia 70% of marriages occur when girls are kidnapped and forced into marriage, but not this one.

Click on this link for my official news story of the day; a story of a girl abducted by three men and then rescued by a few Ethiopian lions who mistook the girl's cries for the whimpers of a baby lion cub.

Here is the link.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/06/21/ethiopia.lions.ap/index.html

I deem these lions the coolest lions since The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince John's good brother in Robin Hood.

Yes, I have too much free time.

Book Review #5 - Love and Death in Kathmandu

"Love and Death in Kathmandu." Was written by an Australian couple who quit their jobs as journalists to explore the mystery surrounding the events of June 1, 2001, when the Crown Prince of Nepal went on a rampage, killing most of the royal family before turning the gun on himself.


thanks for the picture barnesandnoble.com. don't sue me.

What I liked most about this book was that it took a spiral-like format. Before getting into details about the royals and their lives they backed up and examined Nepal and the culture and religion surrounding things that may have affected the Crown Prince including Nepalese thoughts on death and the royals, Hindu beliefs about life, and the social mores of inter-caste marriage. They examine the history of Nepal and recount past royal murders or murders regarding inter-caste marriages and the failures of arranged marriages. In this way I learned a lot about the country and its people and was able to think about the assassination in context by the time I got to that part of the book.

The bloody rampage was a tragedy for the country, but I was far more interested in the first half of the book and its broader look at the culture in Nepal than I was on the focused look at the Crown Prince and what may have been in his mind when he murdered almost his entire family.

I'll give it a 4/5.

World Cup Qualifying - Africa

I'm glad to announce that after yesterday's four games I improved my record from 3-3-3 (.500) to 6-3-4 (.677). Hell yeah. Maybe I should put money on these things.

I guess that requires money...

which requires a job...

so...

maybe not.

Scottish Games

What to do on a Saturday...

I guess we might as well go down to the Scottish and Gaelic Festival! Here are some pictures of children forced to dance, annoying clowns, and of course, cabertossing...

I really wanted to beat this guy with one of his legs all day, but not as much as Danny did...

Mom stopped to watch children forced to dance in front of their grandmas - outfits courtesy of their grandmas. Cute right? Well, let's move on to CABERTOSSING

After the caber starts on the ground sticking straight up you have to lift it, brace it, and chuck it without popping your guts out your butt.

And the throw - you are scored by how straight the caber lands if it goes over. They score it like a clock, so the perfect score is 12 but you can range from 9 to 3. If it doesn't go all the way over, no score. This one might go over but who knows. Distance doesn't matter in this game, it's all about how straight you can throw it. Learn something new everyday...

A fine throw and what would be a fine picture if it wasn't for the kilt-wearing metallica loving McBadass clan in front of me.

World Cup Qualifying - Africa

Just for the record, here were my pics for Africa's World Cup qualifiers this weekend. My pic is in italics. the winning team is in bold. Blue games are my wins. Red games are my losses. Green games are ties...

After this weekend maybe I should stick to analyzing African politics and leave soccer alone. There were some upsets here!

Uganda - Cape Verde
Senegal - Togo
Burkina Faso - Congo DR
Kenya - Morocco
Nigeria - Angola
Malawi - Botswana
South Africa - Ghana
Gabon - Rwanda
Zambia - Mali
Algeria - Zimbabwe
Liberia - Congo
Cameroon - Libya
Cote D'Ivoire - Egypt

So thusfar I am 3-3-3. However, it was a complete upset for Ghana to beat South Africa and for Kenya and Angola to tie their superior opponents. Oh well. Glad I didn't put money on it.
For more info on the World Cup Qualifiers - fifaworldcup.com

Book Review #4 - Financial Peace Revisited

Gotta love being unemployed AND nerdy. Four books in about ten days. I had another library book about the British exploring the Sahara but it really wasn't catching my attention. After about fifty pages I had to put it down and turn towards a different book. Being unemployed makes you think about money, so I thought I'd try out this one that Kelly's dad loaned me - Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey.


(thanks for the photo barnesandnoble.com - don't sue me.)

This book probably made me feel a little better about my financial situation because I'm reading it before getting into all the problems he talks about in the book. I wish I knew more about this stuff and this book helped, but I definitely don't know enough about money! I don't know what the hell a Roth IRA is but debt is bad. I got that for sure. So what I'm saying is, good book but it also made me realize I have a lot more to learn about money.

Don't worry, I'm going back to the random political/historical books soon. I went to the library today. What did I get? You are going to have to wait and see...

Evening at Garden of the Gods

It is almost a shame to bump the epic Pikes Peak hike down the webpage, but life goes on and so does the blog. Last night we decided to go down to Garden of the Gods to take some evening pictures and to hike around on some of the trails. Sunset is not the best time to be at Garden of the Gods because the sun ducks behind the mountains and the rocks get shady pretty quick, but I still managed to get a few that I found worthy of being posted...

Garden of the Gods with Colorado Springs in the background.

Garden of the Gods

Evening at Garden of the Gods

Our First 14er - Pikes Peak

Because this site won't let me post multiple photos in the same post this entry is broken into many parts so don't think I'm done just because the entry is over. If there is more to climb, there is more to read. With that, I'll see you at the top.

Looking for jobs is boring and stressful so Kelly and I decided we’d take a break by camping at the Crags Campground on the backside of Pikes Peak. At 10,000 feet we thought it would be a chance for us to start to get our lungs acclimated to the high elevation. Colorado Springs sits at about 6400! The Crags Trailhead has at least two trails, one of which is in a valley and is relatively easy and the other leads 4,200 vertical feet up the northwest ridge of Pikes Peak. We had a great time but we are both pretty tired today. We didn’t know if we could do it, but by the end of the day we had climbed our first 14,000-foot peak.

Enjoy the photos and feel free to post comments or click on pictures to make them larger.

Pikes Peak (14,100) as seen from Palmer Park in Colorado Springs.

We got to Crags campground Monday night, set up camp, and begin to hike along the flat Crags trail. We walked about two miles down the valley, which was adorned with evergreens and strange rock formations all in a perfect almost sunset light. I didn’t bring my camera because we didn’t think we’d be gone for too long but we were both pretty captivated by the unexpected scenery. We went back to camp and played some cards. Kelly won of course.

Our campsite was about to get very cold as the sun went down...

When the sun went down so did the temperature. Luckily we brought extra blankets and thick sleeping bags. I knew it was going to get cold, but I had no idea how cold it was going to get. We were fine inside and we slept fine but we woke up in the morning to find that there was a sheet of ice on the rain fly of the tent and a little ice in the water bottle we had at the end of the tent. I got up and went to the car to get toothpaste and it was definitely a little solid. When you emerge from your down sleeping bag and are freezing your ass off there is nothing worse than brushing your teeth with frozen toothpaste. In fact, it was so cold my camera wouldn’t turn on until about half an hour into the hike. We packed up camp and decided the best way to warm up would be to hit the trail. We began at 10,100 feet just before 8AM.

It was pretty brisk but the trail climbed steeply so layers started to peel off pretty fast. We crossed a stream and headed through an evergreen forest with the morning sun and strange rock formations on the ridge above us. Hiking through the forest wasn’t too steep, which was nice, and we gained some confidence that the high elevation wouldn’t be a problem. We were a little optimistic at that point but once we got above tree line that faded completely.

A stream we crossed in the forest in the early part of our hike (10,700)

I wasn't joking when I said it was cold...

Rock formations high on the ridge above us

We climbed through the forest as the high ridge of the bowl on the west side of Pikes Peak came into view high above us. The comfortable feeling we had hiking through the forest dissipated. At this point we caught up to two men hiking on the trail in front of us, one of whom was 76 years old, and he encouraged us to keep going. We were not about to be shown up by someone beyond his life expectancy so we pressed on. At about 11,700 feet we finally reached tree line. Our dread of the long climb to come was eased by spectacular views of the mountains west of Pikes Peak that had thus far been obstructed by the forest. We later found out that the number of “fourteeners” that came into view as we entered the alpine tundra was nearly thirty.

Pikes Peak is the easternmost 14er. As we left the forest at 11,700 we got a great view of many others.

The fourteeners of western Colorado as seen from treeline (11,700)

The next part was surely the most difficult part of the climb. Without streams or trees to dodge the trail went straight up the slope to the ridge high above us. It was completely unforgiving. We crossed our first patches of snow and climbed, taking many breaks in between. Kelly and I pushed each other up the mountain to at least make it to the ridge so we could eat some breakfast and decide how much we had left in us. After a grueling eternity of a 1000-foot vertical rise we reached the top of the ridge in a high saddle on the bowl west of Pikes Peak. Our elevation was 12,700 feet, higher than I believe I have ever been in my life.

Kelly near the ridgeline on the hardest section of the hike (12,200).

When we got to the top of the ridge and entered the bowl we were amazed by the views before us. Straight ahead of the saddle we saw Devil’s Playground, an area of odd rock formations that gained the name because of the way lightning jumps from rock to rock in thunderstorms. To the east we caught our first glimpse of Pikes Peak, which seemed to be an impossible distance ahead of us. Behind us we temporarily departed from our views of the impressive fourteeners to the west and continued along the ridgeline of the bowl. We stopped in an area near Devil’s Playground to eat some cereal and dried banana while we enjoyed the views off of the steep north face.

Kelly with the Pikes Peak road and the plains to the east (12,800)

Our first view of the summit. Can it really be this far??

Kelly applies sunscreen and enjoys an impressive view

Kelly and I look north at the top of the ridge (12,800).

As we headed east along the ridgeline we encountered so interesting rock formations and the summit didn’t seem to get any closer. We hiked through larger banks of snow and neared the dirt road that takes tourists up “America’s Mountain.”

Pikes peak near a gap in the rock. Through this gap is the area known as "Devil's Playground"

Rock, snow, and blue skies along the ridge (12,900)

Rock formations looking south in the bowl on the west of Pikes Peak.

We crossed the road at about 13,000 feet and hiked upwards and onwards, treasuring the views to the north. I believe this area is called the bottomless pit, but I may be mixed up a little bit. As we turned southeast we got our first views of Denver and Colorado Springs...

Looking north at the top of what may be the bottomless pit. (I don't know for sure)

Looking north towards Denver on one of many breathing breaks (13,600)

Getting Closer and Looking East to Colorado Springs (13,600)

After weaving between smaller 13,000-foot peaks along the bowl we reached the base of the summit, the final rocky ascent to the top. At this point I was dying. Hike up a steep hill while holding your breath. That’s what it feels like to climb this steep this high. Luckily, bouldering offers a nice reprieve because you aren’t going as fast or working as hard when you are navigating your way through rocks instead of climbing a steep cleared trail. Once I hit the base of the rocks, I was home free. The biggest challenge now would be to watch our steps in the snow because as it got later in the day the snow was softer and couldn’t always hold our wait. With 500 feet to go and no oxygen in the air, we pressed on...

The last 500 feet. The visitors center can be seen on the left.

The rocky slope to the summit (13,800)

After a rocky climb we reached the summit with wet feet and burning lungs. Of course, Pikes Peak is the only fourteener with a road to the top so there were a bunch of tourists up there who couldn’t fathom what we’d accomplished, but as the old man on the trail said, it is good for them to see what hikers accomplish because it challenges them to see what they themselves are capable of. Maybe a few of them will even hike to the top next time. We enjoyed our view of “purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain” and even managed to bum a ride all the way back to the trailhead...

Kelly and I reach the summit of Pikes Peak, just like all the tourists (yeah, right).

Colorado Springs and even Kansas - Looking East from the Summit of Pikes Peak (14,110)

Book #3: Comrades and Strangers

Well believe it or not but I just finished another book. Go get a job right? Well, I'm trying. That's almost 800 pages in 72 hours. Wowza.

Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea


This last book was pretty interesting. It wasn't a page turner, but it had an interesting perspective on a very isolated and misunderstood country. The author of this book was the first Brit to ever live in North Korea. He was there to translate the works of the dictator into English. We see North Korea from the outside and we think of psychos with bad hair and worse outfits, nuclear-armed renegades, commies, and, of course, [insert dramatic tempani roll here] THE AXIS OF EEEEEEEEEVIIIIIILLL. DUN DUN DUN...

Like I said, this book wasn't a page turner and it wasn't even a story as much as it was a collection of memories of his seven years there that say a lot about the place and the people. Even cooler, these aren't the last seven years. He arrived in the late 80's so his book gives a really fascinating look at North Korea when things went from bad to worse. At the end of the Cold War North Korea lost a lot of its allies and trading partners, becoming more desparate and more isolated. I really enjoyed being able to look at the North Korea situation from its perspective, backed into a corner with the rug pulled out from under it. It is no wonder they resorted to nuclear weapons. Its all they have.

This book will definitely be more interesting for the more political-minded, but I think as North Korea becomes a more important international actor it would be good for more people to try to learn more about the place and the people, and not just from the United States media.

Some of the little stories are pretty funny. Here is my favorite.

At one point the British guy wanted to know what life was like outside the capital city so he went and tried to learn how to farm rice out in the country. He came back after all the hard work wanting a beer but no one would serve him one. "You're drunk," they told him. "No I'm not I haven't had one all day!" "Liar, your face is bright red."

The Korean at the bar had never heard of sunburn - he thought he had the infamous Asian glow.

Anyways, this book gets a 3/5. Off to start the next...

random pics of clouds I took tonight. pics should be more interesting on tuesday...

and some more clouds...

Three Weeks In...

Well today is Friday which means it has been three weeks since I drove here all day from Montana. So far I've been pretty happy and I've gotten a lot done that I needed to do, but not having a job is pretty discouraging. It is starting to eat away at my morale and its driving me crazy. Now that the apartment is set up and we've bought and built all of the furniture, unpacked the boxes, and even decorated, there isn't a whole lot to do except wait to hear back while trying to find more jobs that we haven't applied for yet. Without a job it is hard to justify taking a day to go do something fun because we have such a weight on our shoulders right now. We've gone and done fun things in the evenings like visiting with family, walking in parks, and going to the library, but the days just get longer and longer taking turns on line filling out, emailing, and faxing job applications. However, I've had lots of time to read and I just finished a couple of pretty good books.

"Mystery of the Nile" was my first read after going to the library last night and once I started it I couldn't put it back down. I don't know if that is because the book was that good or because I am unemployed - probably a little bit of both. I really enjoyed this book about the first ever trip from the source of the Nile all the way to the Mediterranean. That seems pretty insane but it is even more insane after reading the book. The cool thing about this book is that it tells the story of the trip but also includes the author's reflections on trips up Everest, in Chile, and even in Alaska. The book does a good job of mixing the story of the adventure with a commentary on the local politics and culture of the Nile countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt.

Great read - go to your library and see if they have it yet. It is a fun story that gives insight to a part of the world that we don't think about enough.

Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" is a great book that I would recommend to anybody interested in human history or geography. The cover is a picture of Pizzaro's famous conquest of the Inca empire and the book questions why it was the Europeans that conquered the rest of the world rather than the Incas, Australian Aborigines, or any other civilization. From this question he works backwards juxtaposing the environments of different areas around the world and comes up with an answer entirely explained by geography and biology. It is a fascinating read, but I felt like he laid out his theory clearly in the beginning and then talked too much through much of the book. The first half of the book is great, but then once you understand what he is arguing he goes on for another 200 pages and the rest can be dull. But, I'd recommend the first half to everyone.

We have a nest above our door and today some chicks were born...

...and here is the mom...

...and sometimes she flies up to the nest to check on the chicks...

...she sits on the rail by the stairs to protect the nest and keep an eye on me, an annoying photographer...

...and here are the little baby chicks born today that she protects.

Vanilla Sky at Sunset near Bear Creek Park

Twilight off the deck of our apartment last night...

Almost moved in...

Well after a week of living here this place is finally starting to look like a place to live rather than a pile of boxes. I'll put up some pics of the place once we get done!

SOMEBODY HIRE ME!!!!!!!

Our new home

Well Kelly was looking at some of the pictures of the Springs I took a couple weeks ago and we realized we could see our place. I wanted to share it because it shows where we are located in relation to the rest of the city and the mountains. holy shit lightening just hit about 100 yards away...

peace out i'm watching the storm

Here is roughly where our place is located as seen from Palmer Park. You can tell it is near downtown without being in town. it is also close to the mountains and manitou springs.

Our place is in the red circle overlooking a big field and close to some big parks and the mountains. As you can see it is conveniently close to downtown but it is surrounded by fields and you hear birds instead of traffic. pic taken from cheyenne mountain.

Garden of the Gods

The following pics are from this morning when Kelly and I and our friend Jonny went to Garden of the Gods for a morning walk. It was a nice day with lots of rock climbers. After our walk we went to Manitou Springs to walk around and have lunch. It was a pretty good day and good time spent with a college buddy I won't see for a long time.

As for now, we are off to buy furniture. Maybe then the apartment won't look so ridiculous...

Rock formations at Garden of the Gods

Rock Climbers at Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods