To Germany

As of today, my wife and I (and our 2 cats, Weber and Alonso) have been living in Cologne, Germany for 6 weeks.  That time has gone incredibly fast, in part because we have managed to enjoy plenty of weekend activities.  Here are 5 fun ways we've spent our time on the weekends.

Utrit (Fantasy short story concept)

The drink in Utrit's glass didn't resemble the human "whiskey" in any way, but he always figured it must be close.  They talked about whiskey "burning" and being "smoky," which were both accurate statements about ashmead.  It was originally made by pouring alcohol over still-glowing embers, which would reignite if they were still too hot and the drink maker didn't pour quickly enough.  These days everything just came from packets you could mix in, though.

He took a drink.  Mornings were hopeless if he didn't get a couple glasses of the stuff.

"I could just go," he sighed to himself.  "Two more days til the next City Boat leaves.  I could just go, and then..." What?  This town wasn't great, but would the city be better?  There was more opportunity, but there were more people, too, and Utrit didn't have a craft to practice if he left the quarry.

Another drink, and the cup was empty.  If he lived out in the country, he could make his ashmead the old fashioned way.  At the moment, he was stuck with the packets.  It was quicker, which was a good thing since he only had a few more minutes before he had to leave.  The sun was peaking above the road already.

The quarry supplied good work for much of the town, but nobody felt good about it except the humans that managed it.  Their kind loved the consistency, the way the Plan never changed, and especially the control.  For over forty years, the quarry ran 9 days on, 1 day off.  It went deeper, then wider, always working one side at a time and moving clockwise to the next.  But what the humans loved most was that they ran the only quarry of its kind for hundreds of miles.

It was good work.  But it was terrible.

Utrit gulped the rest of his drink and walked out the door.

Self-expression, showing off, and social media gig

In high school, I thought it would be fun to make a blog site (not that I knew the term "blog" at the time).  This journal started as an effort to build short content and practice writing.  And when I visit places, learn about self-improvement, learn about history, or just want to share information, I generally feel like it would be fun, interesting, and helpful to others if I shared in a format that lets me dig in when I feel like it.  Most people do this in small bits on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, whatever, but I'm not particularly fond of those.  They simply aren't good for telling stories, backing up your point, or holding someone's attention for more than 10 seconds.  So I'm interested in writing, interactive web apps, audio, video, and photography.  I think these all work together pretty well if you have time and do them consistently.  Each interacts with the consumer differently and can more easily focus on different aspects of the story.  Each exercises a different creative muscle.  And I do feel the need for creative exercise to help keep me engaged in life and drive away anxiety and depression.

So, first, writing.  Well, here I am, that's what I'm doing.  But if I grab a platform, the writing needs to be semi-consistent and frequent.  Plus nobody gets excited about reading somebody's ramblings or personal adventure.  People want to learn, or be entertained, or bond with people they known.  So posting this style of writing would mostly be interesting for people who know me.

Next, video.  We have a nice camera that's capable of taking nice video.  I'm interested in the technical process of using the right camera settings, and working with an editing software to compile an appealing story.  Plus, our adventures in Germany and the rest of Europe will have a massive visual component to them, and audio / video formats make it easier to convey my sense of excitement when I find something amazing.

Decade

[Written January 2019, updated with current info November 2019]

Ten years ago [almost 11 now] I was entering my final semester of school.  It doesn't feel that long, and I still often think of myself as inexperienced, like I'm still getting my bearings after school.  So I wanted to remind myself of how much has happened in the past 10 years.  I'll call graduation my starting point.

Where I've been
I stayed in Brookings for about 6 months, moved to Cedar Rapids for about 6 months, then back to Brookings for another 2 years.  I was living in Sioux Falls area for 7 years, but now have moved to Cologne, Germany.

Friends and family
Gabb and I got married August 20th, 2011, so we have now been married 8 years.  We've been to many friends' and family weddings, including Luke and Lindsay, Travis and Katie, Joe and Tina, Molly and Ryan, Theresa, Paige and Al, Caroline, Mark and Tessa, and recently Mike and Sam. 

My oldest niece graduated high school, the next oldest is hot on her tracks, my sister and my sister in law got Master's degrees, lots of people have had kids and lots of people have bought their first houses.

Travel
I've been to a ton of national parks including Badlands, Wind Cave, Teddy Roosevelt, Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Yosemite, Lassen, Redwoods, Crater Lake, Olympic, Mount Rainier, and Cuyahoga.

I've been to a lot of foreign countries, too.  Canada, Italy, U.K., Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, China, Japan, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Burkina Faso.

I've also been able to take advantage of conferences and remote work to visit San Diego, San Francisco, Eugene, Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington DC, Huntsville, Auburn, and others.

I've been to Universal Studios them park twice, Disney once, and the gulf coast of Florida twice.  I've visited friends in Rapid City, Denver, Fort Collins, Des Moines, Minneapolis, and Madison.

Other stuff I've done
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, LAZERFest, Barenaked Ladies, season tickets to SD Symphony Orchestra, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Lion King, clay studio, board gaming, bought a house, worked everything in it, sold it, adopted (and lost) Fezzik, adopted Weber, adopted Alonso, started Christmas crab legs dinner tradition, visited so many breweries, saw Nightmare Before Christmas cabaret show, Carmen opera, read a ton of leadership / self-improvement / business / entrepreneurship / psychology / economics books, listened to a ton of similar podcasts, began learning German, led 2 teams at work, became regarded as a general technical expert, ran a 26:35 5k once, ran other 5k's and trail runs, started kayaking, snow-shoeing, and cross-country skiing.

I've volunteered at BRHS, visited lots of museums, tried any interesting food I can, grew garden fruits and vegetables, built a shed, built a fire pit, demoed and installed a corner shower.

I am

Make yourself what you want to be.  Become the change you wish to see.

I am kind
I am compassionate
I am honest
I am hard-working
I am confident
I am persistent
I am selfless
I am considerate
I am dedicated
I am helpful
I am resilient
I am caring
I am loving
I am careful
I am respectful
I am tolerant

...Planning a healthy habit

I don't know how to start today.  My mind feels like a swirling vortex, bringing in more and more thoughts, goals, stressors, feelings, desires, plans, questions... just round and round from one to the next til they blend and morph into dark storm clouds spewing lightning.

I am going to begin a deliberate habit tomorrow.  My alarm will go off at 6:30, I'll roll out of bed, grab the shorts, shirt, and socks sitting out, grab my keys, put on my shoes, chug some water, go downstairs, and use the elliptical for 20 minutes.  I will keep resistance low, just striving for activity.  If the elliptical is occupied, I'll use one of the other machines.  When I finish, I'll go back upstairs, drink a glass of orange juice, and take a shower.  This will be a daily routine, including when I travel.  20 minutes of low-intensity cardio daily is a reasonable amount of exercise to start with, and once the habit is established, I can increase intensity, life weights instead, or add more activity.

Seemed So Real

[An idea for a short story I seem to have gotten very excited about...]

Everyone has moments when they struggle to remember, was that detail real, or did I dream it?  The main character of this short story would start with a similar experience, but then continue going through a series of surreal dreamscapes that lend more and more confusion to what details and memories are real, and which come from dreams.

The story can draw on situations where memory is typically a little fuzzy (drinking, fights) and on behavioral routines, where an action is taken with barely any thought.  Perhaps cues occur in unusual contexts or unexpected times, maybe the main character said something automatically but doesn't remember.  These habits could be triggered within the dreamscape, easily confusing memories of the action that really happened in the real-life habit loop.

By the end of the book, the reader, too, could be left wondering what was a dream and what was really the character's experience.