Something in the Air

Spring has sprung in Atlanta and you'd know it from the greenery creeping back, the people outside and the thick yellow film of pine pollen that coats everything. Every car has some message scripted into it. Park your car on the street and you're sure to wind up with a "wash me" or a "Go $*@&! yourself." In Ben's neighborhood the good little kids of Decatur draw butterflies in the pollen, but other places they draw more obscene images. Anyway, yesterday was the first rain we'd received in a week or so and every puddle had swirls of yellow gracing their surfaces. One thing everyone seems to know everything about is the pollen count. The story comes out the same no matter who is telling it. "Above 100 is supposed to be very high and we've been up around 5,000" It sounds like the type of thing that can get blown out of proportion really fast. But if you heard it on WABE during the pledge drive last week, it must be true.

I decided to do some investigating. I went straight to the source: Google, and typed in 'Atlanta pollen count'. The brought me to the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic who perform the daily pollen count for the Atlanta Area. Below is a sample of their findings.

My allergies have not been horrific as of yet. A bit plugged up (in the nose) but that's about it. I also heard on the radio that the pollen you can't see (oak, sycamore, etc.) is what is gets people. C'est la vie, at least spring is here.

Planet Earth

If you were not tuned in to the American premiere of the series Planet Earth on Discovery Channel, you truly missed out. This series uses nature footage in HD collected over 5 years to convey the world's landscapes and ecosystems as you've never even imagined seeing them. They use high tech cameras and film to slow down the attacks, follow the hunts from above and transform months to minutes. The clip above is from the show and show a great white hunting (and capturing) a seal. The attack takes one second but is slowed down to 1/40th that speed. This article in Wired reports on some of the never-before-used techniques employed for this series.

The series originally aired on BBC and has been re-narrated for our American ears by Sigourney Weaver. The look this series provides at nature is truly awesome and breathtaking. It constantly challenges my presumed ideas of what is possible and how varied life is. It will make you want to go back and watch over and over until you finally overcome disbelief. In a time of high tech graphics and special effects, the use of technology to capture the realest of occurrences is the most stunning of all.

Marathon

Without Lauren around I find myself talking more. Often just to hear a voice. I'll talk to animals, repeat lyrics and just have no one to count on in carrying on the conversation like I do when she's here. Also, I've been participating in focus groups and interviews at school for classes. All this is to say that sometimes when you are forced to speak up and answer questions you wind up thinking things through for the first time and (especially with the focus groups) you wind up revealing things to yourself at the same time that you do to everyone around you.

The first focus group I was a part of dealt with stress at school and the second was about physical activity at Rollins. The second is the one I'm really here to talk about. In talking about my own activity patterns I described them as "opportunistic and utilitarian." I'll jump into a game if I have time and I'll ride my bike if it gets me somewhere, but I've known that I hate gyms and jogging for awhile now. This focus group was on Thursday, a timely discussion with the first-ever Georgia Marathon taking place this weekend.

A marathon is about as far from opportunistic as you can get. I have been talking a lot with Liza about her training for the marathon, which I witnessed today. And yesterday I had the opportunity to have dinner with the Ironman himself, Chuck. Chuck's done at least 8 full Ironman races and several other races, such as the Iceman Mountain Bike Race. The Ironman is something that baffles me. I may never have the capacity to understand how it is possible. I think I need to see it, and today I got a glimpse of it by following the marathoners around Atlanta on my bike.

Chuck's a good source for information and advice on how to keep going all the way to the finish line, in a figurative and literal sense. While watching the Tour de Georgia a few years ago at Brasstown Bald he gave non-race riders encouragement all the wat up the hill and told me that you just "gotta keep turnin' it over" in that situation. I keep that in mind when I ride today on my comparatively simple routes. For the prospective marathoners he says to take it easy early on, "once you take it out of the tank, you can't put it back in."

Well, Chuck & Liza, I gotta say that you make me think about my motivations and whether or not I can really do something like that. That's what inspiring people do. Maybe you can expect some calls from me about how to get into this stuff, what kind of bike to ride and maybe you'll even see me at the Iceman one year. And, Chuck, I'm always here to answer your questions and perhaps provide some inspiration if you're thinking about a blog.

And here's a pic of me and a probable future ironman; Chuck's grandson, Bodhi.

Spring Break '07

Spring break has always been a welcome respite from the life of homework and lectures that is school. What it has never been for me is a hedonistic romp on a remote Caribbean island.

One year I went to Italy with Paul to visit our girlfriends who were 'studying' in Spain. We made a whirlwind tour of it hitting up Venice for Carnival, Rome to see the Pope, Sienna and Florence with a Leaning Tower sighting, and back to Milan for what I will always remember as a wonderful Sunday walk through the city with crepuscular light shooting between the towers of a Gothic church and down the narrow streets. That last day was just Paul and I oddly.

My senior year I thought I was getting ready for law school. My friend Hilary was also looking at grad schools (for an MPH) and we decided to spend our spring break on a NorthEast Tour of schools. All my house mates went to Jamaica. We started in NYC where we stayed with Paul's cousin in a posh West side condo. Near 78th and Broadway. We ate in possibly the only bad Chinese restaurant in the city, but had an awesome time. This was not my first time to New York but really my first opportunity to spend a good amount of time there (more than a day trip) and get out and see some things (not bound to tours). I loved it. Took a look at Columbia, NYU, and made it up further north on the island than I've ever been since to see Columbia PH (@the Med school) with Hilary. I remember we noticed that a lot of people were sporting berets and Hilary bought one on the street, which I don't think she's worn since.

We also stopped by New Haven to look at Yale and stay with a friend, Darius. He is a really cool guy and we had a lot fun. Some students there seemed to have connection to politicians, and people of power that baffled me. It was amazing. You could tell Hil loved it there, she even picked up a sweatshirt before leaving. Ultimately she ended up going there and I think it was a great decision.

We also made a stop by Boston, still my only real visit. I don't count the pre-wedding trip to Malden for Lauren's threading appointment in Little India. We stayed with a friend of Hilary's at BC and visited BU well. Looks like areal fun in the sun kind of vacation, huh? We even took the tour of Harvard. Yale's was more impressive. I still remember little tidbits about the rare book library and the fitness center.

Still I think all of these were really great spring breaks. This year I have been thinking about what I did over spring break. You're probably sick of hearing about them but I built another fence on the west side of the house. Now the yard is finished. But, really I did all the stuff that needed done that wasn't getting enough attention with all the schoolwork flying around. And, I watched lot of basketball. It, too, was another great spring break spent on my own little island away from the hustle and bustle of school.

South(gate) Park

Now the adorable and easy-to-relate-to happenings of the quartet of children from a small town in Colorado can take on your own persona. Now you can relive the old, familiar stories of your youth in suburbia with the added outrageousness that you've come to expect from South Park. Relive your little league games, but this time have celebrities drop by or imagine a fight between a deity and a holiday icon.

Or take advantage of the technology to create your current self in SP form. Just like they do in the show to capitalize on the priceless events of the day, you can instantly create the SP image of what's going on with you today.

It's fun and easy and it's right HERE!

Props to Raul for finding this.

Houston Assembled Digitally

There are not too many people who I have run into that know of Google Earth and aren't amazed by it. One of my professors at Tech was notorious for bringing it up in class, and by that I mean opening the application on the computers and using it to teach. I have to admit that I think it was a great way to incorporate this new technology into the learning experience. Everyone seemed to pay attention during those interludes.

On a recent visit from Lauren's dad I decided to share with him a picture that had caught the attention of some friends and me. It was from a book called The City Assembled. The book cover the history of the urban form with great full page pictures from medieval times to present day. The picture of interest was one of Houston taken over 25 years ago. It shows multiple blocks completely paved over for parking lots. When I showed this to Peter, he came up with the idea to look up the same area 'today' on Google Earth and see what had progressed. A few minutes later we were looking down on Houston with a bird's eye view.
It is cool to see the area filling in, but there is still a tremendous amount of land devoted to parking cars. Matt summed it up best when he said, "That just looks hot."

Arabia, DeKalb, GA

I have not been on here in awhile because I have been busy with school: turning in assignment after assignment and puttin' in work.

Yesterday we took advantage of my first day of spring break and the beautiful weather here to get outside. We couldn't go too far because our mileage stinks lately. We need to replace the oxygen sensor (bank 1) but that's a story for another time. We decided to try Arabia Mountain and nature preserve just south of Lithonia. It is a great retreat from the city and you don't have to go far.

I wish I had some pictures to show you but the batteries were dead. It a great place to take the dog for a hike. We introduced her to water and the outdoors. She's still learning to get used to bicycles. They have plenty of trails for you bike and you can blaze your over huge exposed rocks. This is much better, and less crowded than Stone Mountain and not much further. Check it out if you haven't already.