tracking my sleep with YawnLog

I’m a big fan of personal metrics and tracking tools. Recently I discovered YawnLog and have been using it to mark my bedtime and wake-up every day. My goal is to get 7.5 hours of sleep every night but YawnLog only supports setting goals at full integer hour numbers, so I have to choose 7 [...]

a particularly emotional dream

I’ve been using Journler on mac for the last few months to help me index my dreams. Whenever I remember my night-time adventures I type it all out in Journler the next morning. This is very similar to my approach in high school, where I kept a dream journal. Back then, over the course of [...]

how I’ll live my days from now on

I recently finished reading through Thom Hartmann’s Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight and have decided to design all my future days around an excerpt from the book,
A Cree Native American storyteller and teacher told me: “According to my tradition, from the beginning of creation, every morning, when the sun comes up, we are each [...]

porter sculpture park and the corn palace

On the way out of Sioux Falls we stopped off at the towns namesake. The falls were intriguing but underwhelming because we were used to the massive waterfalls from North Carolina. However, for people accustomed to the rolling prairie-land I’m sure this was quite a sight.

Perhaps the single most awesome (non-nature related) stop on [...]

driving through Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota

We left Chicago early in the morning, around 7:30am to allow plenty of time from driving through the rough traffic.

British Columbia rules

Flying into Charlotte-Douglas airport today was an emotional experience. My return home for the first time in five months was a great time to reflect on the beauty of all the amazing experiences I’ve had. However, I think I was mostly disappointed in the pristine landscape ruined by cookie cutter homes and cul-de-sacs cutting through [...]

welcome to the Midwest

Editors Note: The original intention was to post a description of my Summer 2009 roadtrip closer to the time that it occurred, but now 2010 is approaching and since I’m not even half-way through I need to get on this!
When we drove through Gary, IN fighting through the traffic and then seeing Chicago’s skyline [...]

on the road to Chicago

The drive from Nashville to Chicago tied for our longest drive of the road-trip. Rarely did we have a full day of driving that was as long as this one. We started out by heading to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. It is the longest cave system in the world! But unfortunately, the crowds [...]

a day in Nashville

After a solid rest in Nashville at the home of our CouchSurfing host, we departed for Fido on 21st Ave, a local coffee and breakfast joint. Delicious.
Next up we paid a visit to the Parthenon. Yes, the Parthenon. Because Nashville has so many universities, Fisk University, Saint Cecilia Academy, Montgomery Bell Academy, Meharry Medical College, [...]

leaving North Carolina

Starting Friday, June 26th 2009 my life changed dramatically. I left my job at Duke Energy, I spent a few weeks in western North Carolina at Lake Santeetlah with Jane and her family, I packed up, said goodbye, drove for a month across the US and Canada with my fianceé and @serdmanczyk (Erby), moved to [...]