I hate my iphone

I probably should hate my computer just as much, but my iphone won't connect to my computer; it is "unrecognized" by my itunes. So I can't get the software update; I can't update my pictures or my music; and I can't update my twitter and facebook feeds, which I totally manage on my phone. I've gone to the AT&T store where I bought the phone, and it was immediately recognized on the itunes account set up in the store, but when I brought it home I got nothing. I'm ready to through the thing against the wall. It's the most expensive phone, and most useless mini-computer, ever. My blood is seriously boiling right now, as I type it.

In an effort to ease my blood pressure, and give my faithful readers more than my angered thoughts, I've got a funny picture from the morning I left Ohio.

Mike and I have always taken great photos on our travels, and I knew, when I got to his house, exactly where I wanted the picture for this episode. Nothing says Americana like an American flag hanging above the steps entering your home, or me and Mike standing below it.

I'll be leaving tomorrow for Tulsa, for the next two days. Then off to Monticello, UT and Canyonlands. The high in Tulsa tomorrow is supposed to be 101. It will be pretty hot driving without any air conditioning. And now, with Kendall living situation (he's staying with his parents while his house is being built), I think I am going to get to stay with Matt Watson. I'm really excited about seeing everyone. Until next time.

A 2 on the Analytic Scoring Continuum in the trait of Structure

I was in Chicago for the National Writing Project 2009 National Scoring Conference, during which we, in the middle school room, completed 3076 readings/scorings of essays. So, after 3 solid days of that, every event turns into an opportunity to practice scoring on the Analytic Scoring Continuum, their "rubric" for scoring. There is also a Holistic Scoring Guide, but that just isn't as fun, and you're not really able to break down the meal (if eating) or the road (if driving) or the music (if listening) or the preaching (if in church) in all of its subtleties. So, I’ve now announced my topic – using the Analytic Scoring Continuum, but because it will be more like a list, and less developed, it won’t be on the high end. Just wanted to prepare you.

1. I’ve got a few pictures of fellow scorers as they do their work. Since I’m working on the MWPN website, I need pictures of Missouri Writing Project people doing their thing. It’s not exciting, since we basically spend about 10 hours learning how to use the Scoring Guides, and then spend 12-15 hours scoring papers, but it is important, and through the findings of this research we (the NWP) are able to gain funding to live another day.

Frank from Idaho and Darrian from New York scoring at the perfect table #7.

Missouri scorers in the high school room work hard to finish up on Saturday.

All of the Missouri scorers, after the reflection and response time during Saturday's lunch.

2. Chicago is a wonderful town. I didn’t walk around like a tourist with my camera though, so I will have to return to take pictures. I’m really coming to like big cities, and the idea of living in one. The fact that they are planned and built up rather than out, allowing for an organized and fairly efficient, if not always clean, public transportation grid, is something that I consider with great respect. Chicago probably profited from the fire for this element, to a certain extent.

3. Things I would like to do in the city of Chicago: (1) go to the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge for Slam Poetry; (2) go to the beach on Lake Michigan to see if it is really worth calling a beach, or if those crazy northerners just call it a beach because their winters are so terrible that the idea of a beach is necessary for their existence; (3) hit the Field Museum, Grant Park down through Millennium Park – maybe catch a concert there, and then Navy Pier; (4) go to another Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and since this is a wish list, add a White Sox game at U.S. Cellular and a Bulls game at the United Center.

4. Driving from Chicago to Ohio, I passed through South Bend, Indiana, home of Notre Dame University. That sentence is fairly simple and not quite full of the excitement suitable to my reaction. It was a fun 30 minutes of driving around the campus, sometimes the wrong way because I just wanted to take pictures and didn’t quite know where I was going. I drove around with a huge smile on my face, just happy to be on the grounds that I had dreamed of for so many years as a young kid at Holy Cross. Honestly, it didn’t live up to my imagination, or to the glory and splendor that NBC affords it every college football season, but it still was really cool. I’m sure, like Holy Cross’ Gazebo and the bell and the oaks, the history is in being there and sharing experiences there. I’ve got some pictures that I know my family will enjoy at least.

Entrance to a magical land.

Need I say more?

Even the wind and the flags were cooperating for this fantasy trip to the glory land.

The Golden Dome. Beautiful drive up through a tree lined street to reach this point.

Gate C at the stadium. It's not as big as I expected it to be, but things are always bigger in your mind when they exist in a fantasy land far, far away.

Touchdown Jesus was huge! Not larger than life; larger than expected.

5. Driving from Chicago to Canton, I took I-90 through the city, connected to I-80 and took that all the way to south of Cleveland. I estimate that it cost me $30-35 to drive that stretch of highway. That sentence is also fairly simple and not quite indicative of my absolute distaste for the almost everyone in the state of Indiana and Ohio. Quite frankly, the roads were terrible, comparable to those in Louisiana. When I entered Indiana, I immediately had to pay $3.50 to cross a bridge – which I miraculously made it across. When I got to the bottom of the bridge, I had to pay $2.50 to get onto I-80. When I got to South Bend I had to pay, and then grab a ticket when I got back on the interstate. When I got to the Indiana state line I had to pay double digits, I think it was $11.50. When I got into Ohio I had to grab a ticket, for which I paid when I exited in Toledo for gas. When I got back on I had to grab another ticket, for which I had to pay when I got off I-80 to get onto I-77 south to Canton.

To the government and the people of the states of Indiana and Ohio: I hope every single one of you lose your jobs. If your road systems are so bad that you must charge ridiculous amounts just to travel the roads, I hope all tourism to your states ends. I hope the federal government stops sending money to your states; money that other states receive and manage in their Transportation Departments, and put to good use. I hope that you don’t learn how to use the resources provided to you, and I hope that you still maintain the idea that you must keep up with the Joneses.

Indiana: you will never be Illinois and you will never have a population center comparable to that of Chicago, so you will always be the little, stinky brother, always attempting to survive off of access to those better than you. You are a doormat, and I’m quite convinced that you know it.

Ohio: you may think that, because of presidential elections and the corruption of the college football BCS toward THE Ohio State University, you are important, but really you are not. Saying that your economy is in the trenches would be generous. You have stopped being relevant or necessary in the Midwest so long ago that you aren’t even claimed by states like Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, or Oklahoma. That’s pretty sad. Like Indiana, you also are a doormat to bigger and better places; stop trying to squeeze every bit of good out of those who attempt to quickly pass through or by.

To any friends I have in Indiana or Ohio, I love you very much. Get out as fast as you can.

Chicago

Wednesday afternoon: taking it easy and doing some work at the Naperville library. Check in for the Scoring Conference starts at 3, so I’ll be leaving in a bit.

Yesterday, my first full day in Chicago was really nice. The drive up was pretty much uneventful, other than the invested sports stories – USA giving up the lead to Italy in the Confederations Cup and finally losing 3-1, and LSU hammering Arkansas in the College World Series, neither of which I was able to see (I followed on my phone).

After spending 8 hours behind the wheel, seeing all that central Missouri and Illinois have to offer, I’m ever more convinced that America = excess. I passed the World’s Largest Gift Shop and Candy Store, along with directions to the World’s Largest Rocking Chair. The World’s Largest Gift Shop wasn’t near any large population center at all, nor was the Rocking Chair functional. So why were they necessary? They weren’t. But some dumb American was convinced that if he/she built the biggest then it would be the best, and that would then transfer to them as individuals. Well, guess what: whoever built and works at the World’s Largest Gift Shop is still just as cool and important and interesting and intelligent (or not) as if they worked at Chili’s or Wal-Mart or Wired. Biggest does not equal best, just ask the German Nazi Military or the British Empire or, more recently, General Motors or Washington Mutual.

And in a completely unrelated note, I passed an exit (179) for Newburg-Doolittle on I-44 in Missouri. Now this got me thinking:
1. Most certainly these are two different towns, but what if they weren’t? What if the town’s name was actually Newburg-Doolittle?
2. Have the people recently moved to the vicinity and it’s just so God-blessed nice that they lost all drive and focus and did nothing – or do nothing? If so, how did they establish the town names?
3. Do the people in Doolittle look on the people of Newburg with contempt because the newcomers are encroaching on their space, and actually doing something?
4. Have the people of Newburg caught on to the fact that they live next to a town called Doolittle, where the people do absolutely nothing all day and all night?

To continue the theme of unrelated notes, I’ve got pictures!

It was absolutely pouring in St. Louis. The people there drive like they don’t know that people die from car wrecks on the interstate.
Check out this old farm house. I thought it was pretty neat.

When I finally made it to Chicago, we just took it easy most of the evening. Brian tried to teach me Dr. Mario on the NES, but I couldn’t get into it, so Amy showed me what was up. I figured it would be a great time to try out the new tri-pod, and I think the pictures came out pretty good.
The next morning, when Brian and Amy went to pick up the truck for their move, I got to play my second favorite game of all time - Mike Tyson's Punch Out.

The view into their building.

The view out their window. Nice!

This morning I watched Spain vs. Iraq in the Confederations Cup and was thoroughly let down by Spain’s attacking, but impressed by Iraq’s ability to defend, and even have a few powerful shots in transition. After Spain’s thrashing of New Zealand I was looking forward to some more fireworks, but with the substitutions from the last game, I guess I should have expected this.

There you have it.

the Drive Time playlist

I'm sure it will change from day to day, but this is what I've got set for tomorrow.

June 14

It is the morning before I leave for Chicago, and I have several updates.

1. On Wednesday, I took my Jeep to Graham Automotive, who always seem to be reliable guys when it comes to mechanics, and again they have left me befuddled. Most mechanics look for opportunities to fix something on a car, to make sure they get their money out of the customer; these guys look for reasons not to do work. My engine light was on when I brought it to them, I needed an oil change, it has been 40,000 miles since I last had my transmission serviced, and I am about to embark on an ambitious adventure during which I will drive 6,000 miles over the course of a little more than a month. I told the guy at the front that I wanted it checked head to toe because I didn’t want anything going wrong on the road. I returned 4 hours later and all they had done was change the oil. They checked the transmission and said it was good. The belts are in good condition as well. The engine light is on because of a previously diagnosed misfire code, which seems to be essentially irreparable. They did remind me that my air conditioning was not working, but I knew that already, and did not plan on fixing it. (Yes, that’s right – 4 years and counting without air conditioning. It can be done. I approach it as a luxury rather than a right, and it puts things in perspective.) Thank you Graham Automotive, for your impeccable honesty, but why?

2. Mostly, the way I’ve been “training” for the hikes is by walking on the treadmill – 3 mph at a 10.0 or 12.0 incline. I usually just walk for an hour or so, which leaves me tons of time to think. And that has led me to the conclusion that I am so blessed. I’m pretty sure I’m probably going to run out of money some time in California on this trip, but I’m intent on enjoying myself, and I’m not going to worry about it, because I know that even if I don’t have money, God will still be with me, and I will still be immensely blessed. I’m healthy, regardless of the broken wrist thing, I have some great friends that I’m finally getting to visit, and my family is really cool too. Thank you God! There’s nothing greater in my mind, there’s nothing that makes me truly satisfied deep down inside, more than knowing that heaven exists and sometime relatively soon I will begin eternity with God there. Last summer I got to go to New York for the first time, and it was a life changing experience. Over Spring Break I was able to go to the Grand Canyon-an amazing sight, and hike to the top of a huge sand dune in the Mojave Desert-a spiritual event. This summer I will get to reconnect with old friends, see some very cool places, and celebrate life along the way. But really, none of it compares to knowing Christ. Philippians 3 is probably my favorite chapter in the whole Bible, and every time I reflect on my short life, I think, there’s nothing more than I want people to say about me other than I lived that chapter.

3. Through a pretty sizeable grant, Pleasant View will be building and maintaining a greenhouse. It’s tied closely to the elementary Science curriculum, but somehow there were some middle school teachers involved in the process too. Yesterday we began building the greenhouse – by “we” I mean PV employees, parents and students. It had been a while since I’d done any yard work, and the weather was great, so it turned out to be a fun time. Below are some pictures. As progress continues I’m sure I’ll be taking more pictures, but I imagine they will be posted to the PV website.

Building the raised beds.

The cinder block crew.

Close to finished. Hauling soil like the good old times in NOLA.

4. I’ll probably be updating my adventure on my phone quite a bit, using my Twitter account, so if you want to follow me on that to see what happen, as it happens, please feel free.

wrist update

That's my wrist.
The big curved bone is apparently the scaphoid bone, and it was broken clean through, just about right in the middle. The doc said it looked so good that he had to make sure the x-ray tech took the picture of the correct hand. He says that I could still re-injure it if I am too rough on it though, so I still have to wear my splint, but I can begin doing "range of motion" exercises, which amounts to moving my wrist around as I normally would. Newsflash: I've been doing whatever "range of motion" exercises I could, dealing with the pain - that's probably why it healed so well.
Anyway, I'm taking this as good news. I'm supposed to go back in three weeks, but I'm not doing that! So he says I should give them a call in three weeks, then plan on going back for a check-up when I return from my trip. I personally think he just wants more money from me, so we'll see if I return.

Mapped Itinerary

Check this out. When I first figured everything out, I never combined all of the miles or even the time, but I think I'm going to try to keep track of that stuff as I travel.

And since my car has 114,000 miles on it, it will be receiving a full physical before beginning the trek. Thank you Graham Automotive!

June 6

I spent a while this morning cleaning the car. It's not pristine, but it is considerably cleaner than it was. I eat so much in the car, and use it like a closet - leaving clothes, soccer stuff, and church stuff in it - that it really was filthy. Now, no more french fries under the seats, or crumbs from my peanut butter and jelly sandwich breakfasts left on the floorboards or in the cupholders. And all the other clutter is gone. Only 9 more days until I fill it back up and set out.

$3.75 to clean the exterior. I used Rain-X on the windows - that added bit of so-called "safety". Somehow, on a trip back from St. Louis from Matt and Maureen Simpson's wedding, the front fender trim flew off. I remember watching it get run over by an 18-wheeler and shattering into pieces.

$3.25 to vacuum the interior. It was nasty. Somehow, I guess from Buffalo River, I had leaves and tree limbs in the very back. Windex Auto Glass and Interior = money. In the immortal words of Outkast: "so fresh and so clean clean".

June 5/6

It's after midnight, so technically it is the 6th, but I am still thinking of it as the 5th. It was a great day: beautiful weather, a little work around school along with a bit more connecting with friends (something I don't do enough of during the school year), sorting through USPS delivery issues and unpaid bills because of it, working on the MWPN website, then finally enjoying the beautiful weather in downtown Springfield at the First Friday Art Walk.

I've been making tons of changes to the blog in anticipation for using it this summer. I hope this isn't some stupid idea that fizzles.

If there is anyone out there reading, please feel free to share your uninhibited thoughts.