The Myth & The Majesty

... A planner and preparer. ... A social manager. ... An engineer. ... Prone to "Auntie A" activities. ... Terribly behind on my projects at home. ... Unsure why my back hurts again. ... Not quite ready for August. ... Feeling uncreative. ... Generally tired. ... Ready for a weekend.

From my parents' front porch, you can see a storm coming for miles. It's one of the distinct advantages to their location -- crystal clear sunsets uninhibited by hills or trees ... and foresight. The particularly cool thing about their location is that you can also see what's termed the Big Sioux Divide. There's a strange effect right there that seems to make most of the major storms go either north or south of Sioux Falls, or more impressively, split in the middle and go both directions. I've seen that very phenomenon from that porch. But I digress. Growing up, thunderstorms were just a part of the summer. Two or three a week, some of which produced rain and a lot of which didn't. It's the prairie thing, seemingly there just to keep farmers on their toes -- will this help or should they be ready to extinguish a lightning-sparked fire? The true fear-inspiring facet of these storms, however, is the wind that comes with so many of them. When I wa...

My car has that lived-in look. My apartment, that lived-out look. My desk looks like I might be using the paper as a mattress at night. It's been a great summer, and all the signs are there, including the daily yawn attack between nine and eleven every morning (and again between two and three in the afternoon). I've added two thousand miles to my car and a thousand to my frequent flier miles. I've spent time at rock concerts, a couple of weddings, and now a bachelorette party. I've even put a dent in my summer reading list. But the best part is that it's only half over. In a state where summer starts around early- to mid-May and ends in mid- to late-September, there's still time for the kayaking I haven't done and the rest of that reading list. And two more weddings. And hopefully a camping trip or two. It's possible I'll be trying to cram in too much for the next two months.

I'm not totally sure what spurred this memory, but this is a story that needs to be told. Over the years, I've had a lot of random jobs. It started when I was young and glued pictures for bridge reports (my family's version of "working with the family business). I had a job at Subway one summer (easily my least-favorite job), was a bridge inspection field technician with the family business, worked in a church camp kitchen, and was a lab assistant. The summer I started this blog, I was working at the school's day care. It was my second summer there. The job was certainly not what I was hoping to do the rest of my life -- but for a nineteen-year-old it was decent money and okay hours. And hey, a couple times a week I got to hang out at the pool and get paid for it. Not a bad gig. [My dad also referred to it as the "world's best birth control" and he may have been right.] I don't remember a lot of the ins and outs of that summer -- most ...

It's raining again, I didn't get enough sleep last night, and my old reliable fluid mechanics book has finally managed to liberate itself from its binding. In other words, it's a pretty normal day.

It's easiest to judge a movie by the effect it's having on you hours -- or days -- later. "Brokeback Mountain" put me in a contemplative funk for a couple of days. "The Dark Knight" made me jumpy and uneasy for almost a week. "Casino Royale" gave me an adrenaline rush that woke me up several times that first night. "Inception" has me in a daze and I don't see an end to it anytime soon. If you haven't seen it yet (it's only been out a week, after all), then you need to know two things: 1) it's an incredible movie best seen in a theater (particularly if you're well-rested already so you have the necessary energy) and 2) you must pay attention for the first half hour if you want to understand the rest of it. [If you're living in a foreign country at the moment, I recommend waiting for an opportunity to see it in English. I can't imagine a more frustrating experience than having to read subtitles ... Or ...

This post was inspired by my whole "Inception" experience, which I may write about all by itself if I can wrap my brain around it long enough. Not tonight, though -- no way in heck. *** I love movies. I know, I know. This has been stated before. No one is surprised to hear that. But please, bear with me. I love movies on a similar level to my love for books. Both transport you to a different place; both re-create reality for you, if only for a little while. But where books are absorbing for you and you alone (well, unless you're reading to someone) and employ your brain to fill in the blanks, to create the world they inhabit, movies are intended first as group experiences and second to provide that world. Both have their merits, and as a bibliophile as well I will not argue for one over the other. For now, I'm here to talk movies. I love the whole experience of a genuinely good movie. I love being sucked into an alternate reality for a couple hours, letting...

The first two hours of my day were unnecessarily eventful thanks to unsubstantiated project rumors. (Seriously, if I could have found the source there would be one coworker with a bruised shin and a more damaged ego. I know violence isn't the answer but sometimes it seems to fit so well...) That being said, I'm in no mood to deal with a) people that don't know what they're talking about, b) people that insist on taking themselves too seriously, or c) people that just plain aren't paying attention to what's going on around them. I'm a real peach to be around today. Kind of too bad -- yesterday's release party at Red Eye was fun and I woke up in a great mood (probably because I was still dreaming about the ribs they served with the new brew -- yum). And then I came here. Blaaaarrrrggghh. Yeah. You heard me.

I'm trying to get an equipment estimate off to our sales guys this afternoon. Trying valiantly, I might add. However, there are plenty of things to distract me, from Emma Jean's bachelorette party next weekend to the now-empty cubicle next door now that Moonie's left the building to work from Waukesha instead. Not to mention the tests they're doing of our building's emergency broadcast system. That's a wee tad distracting, too. (At least today it's pretty clear that it's not actually an emergency. Yesterday's tornado drill was rather ill-timed.) I swear, I can post something of substance sometime. At least, I don’t think I've completely lost the ability ... although it appears there's reason to doubt ...

It's 1:45 and it looks like the sun has set. Thunder, lightning, pouring rain ... Twelve years ago I would have been jumping out of my skin. Today I think I'll just try to enjoy this from the dry confines of my cubicle.

I've been back in town for under 36 hours and already I’m dead tired. Of course, that has something to do with the fact that I had to take Sophie in this morning to have her brakes checked. This last trek was a little rough on the girl. In the last three days, I've gotten caught up with a couple of old friends, made a reservation for a hotel in Madison for an upcoming bachelorette party, driven almost 1000 miles, and put in a regular day of work. Not one of those things makes for an interesting blog topic. So here I am. I'm back ... but I have nothing to talk about. I need to get some pictures downloaded from last week. That's at least a starting point.

I seem to have had this song stuck in my head all week... "Yet" by Switchfoot All attempts have failed All my heads are tails She's got teary eyes I've got reasons why I'm losing ground and gaining speed I've lost myself or most of me I'm headed for the final precipice But you haven't lost me yet No, you haven't lost me yet I'll sing until my heart caves in No, you haven't lost me yet, yet These day pass me by I dream with open eyes Nightmares haunt my days Visions blur my nights I'm so confused What's true or false What's fact or fiction after all I feel like I'm an apparition's pet But you haven't lost me yet No, you haven't lost me yet I'll run until my heart caves in No, you haven't lost me yet If it doesn't break, if it doesn't break, if it doesn't break If it doesn't break your heart, it isn't love No, if it doesn't break your heart, it's ...

The sky is starting to clear. Not so far off, I can hear a coyote. And some horses. And maybe some cattle. No traffic, no trains, no people. It is still out there, unspoiled by humans, and it is glorious. Times like these I wonder why I ever left. Yesterday was a shindig at the 'rents filled with incredible food and amazing people. Today was a day of driving, some quality time with my (awesome) dad, and a relaxing dinner with my (equally awesome) grandparents. Tomorrow, I head into the Hills. Really, I can't imagine a better way to spend the weekend -- or the upcoming week, really. Happy Independence Day, folks. Hope it was grand.

The entirety of my college career, July was the most uncomfortable time to be in Rapid City. The first two weeks especially ... This was when it would hit 100°, up to 110°, almost without effort. These were the scorching days, the extreme fire danger days, the let's-go-hide-in-a-basement days. Imagine my surprise, then, when I checked the weather forecast for next week and found ... Seventies. Rain. Chilly nights. I'm not sure what to do with this. This weekend is expected to be hot and thunder-y, but the week? Not so much. Don't get me wrong. There's no real downside to the temperature NOT reaching 100° ... Just utter confusion on my part, and, well, I'm used to utter confusion.