Currently reading: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller 📚

Finished reading: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 📚

Finally finished this book. It was ok. There are some weird tangents that sort of explain some of the ideas in the book. Unfortunately it’s sort of like the author came up with this great concept, began to develop it in a story, and then midway through explained himself so you would get it, and then rambled on for a bit with a mish mash of scenes that are difficult to follow and finally wrapped everything up with epic explosions.

I’ve only read one other Stephenson book, Seveneves. I had a similar reaction to the end of that book. It felt rushed and almost like the publisher just had a different writer finish the book because the first got so caught up in explaining the finest of details.

A day late, but this guy has made two trips around the sun. As far as I can tell he’s hated most of that time, but he’s starting to warm up a little bit.

Last weekend we spent a couple of days in Charleston, SC for a wedding. On the way home we took a little detour to Roan Mountain, TN for a day in the mountains. We love Smoky Mountains National Park, but I figured that during this time of the year the area would be packed with people trying to make up for lost vacation time. Roan Mountain is about one and a half hours to the north and a bit more remote.

I took a bunch of photos with my Pentax K1000 but that film hasn’t come back from the lab yet. Since it’s been such a long time since I’ve shared anything I figured I would post a few photos I captured with my Ricoh GRiii.

Round Bald looking north towards Jane Bald.

Sarah and I made our way up to Carvers Gap, a mountain pass at around 5500 ft above sea level. It’s also the location of a parking lot with short hikes to Roan High Knob (to the south) and Round Bald, Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge Bald (to the north). We set off for Round Bald in hopes of making it to Grassy Ridge Bald, a relatively short 2.6 mile hike one way. But my wife is not much of a hiker and is also not very tolerant of heat. There is a nice breeze across the open mountain tops but there is not a lot of shade. We managed to get to Jane Bald but she was starting to feel pretty worn out because of the sun. So we sat for a bit, ate a snack, and marveled at the surrounding area before heading back to the car. At one point during our hike I mentioned that it would take me forever to hike this section. My wife got a little upset thinking that she was slowing me down. Of course, that wasn’t the case (I don’t have any problem hiking slower) but I was simply in awe of the views.

Flowers along the AT.

Once we got back to our bed and breakfast we found out that the food truck would be open for dinner that evening so that eliminated any traveling for dinner. My wife opted for a shower and rest while I opted for more hiking. Our B&B was about a quarter mile from the AT and even though there were some ominous clouds I decided to check out the nearest scenic view. It was about 2.5 miles one way and 900 feet up. It took a little over an hour for me to climb up to what was yet another stunning view. This time it was enhanced because of the ominous clouds and light to moderate rain with occasional thunder and a bad ass looking dead tree.

The coolest tree I’ve seen on the AT, with storm clouds for dramatic effect.

The area surrounding Roan Mountain is part of the Cherokee National Forest and also home to Roan Mountain State Park. It is an area that is considered to be among the most scenic along the entire Appalachian Trail (according to our host at the B&B). I haven’t seen all of the AT but I’m working on it and I can’t wait to get back to Roan Mountain.

I’ve been slacking on my micro.blogging. I still need to post some more thoughts on Storm of Steel I just haven’t been able to force myself to write lately. I have been doing a fair amount of photography.

I’ve finally run through what I think is the first roll of film that I’ve ever taken with a 35mm SLR. Sure, I’ve used the disposable film cameras but never a legit analog SLR. So, I picked up a Pentax K1000 and 50mm lens about two months ago and have patiently worked my way through 36 frames of Ilford Delta 400 film. I went with a black and white film for my first because it seems to suit the dreary days we have during the winter and early spring.

It took me so long because I was worried about how they would turn out, would they be in focus, what if the framing is wrong, etc. Well, most of the roll turned out pretty well, I think. I got a few good shots of the animal friends, some nature shots, and some more urban shots.

Shelter along the Rachel Carson Trail in North Park

Old water tower at the site of the US Steel mill in Homestead, PA

Waffles taking a quick break from birdwatching to pose for a photo

Pseudo-selfie taken along the Great Allegheny Passage rail trail

This is photograph 136 of my 365 Project.

I’ve been trying to post a photo a day since some time last November. If you’re interested, the full album is on flickr… here. But that’s not why I’m posting this photo.

I’m exposed to a dazzling array of graffiti almost every day. Most of the time I’m told who was there, who to call for a good time, who sucks, who rules, who is in love… in other words, the graffiti is terrible and nothing more than an eyesore. There’s little effort, no creativity, and - in most cases - no one is ever going to see it. Best case, very few people see it. The locations are generally easy to access culverts and bridge abutments in populated areas. But most people have the good sense to not go wandering into culverts. I like to and I get paid to do it.

I’m posting this graffiti because it is uncommon in that it appears to have taken some effort on the part of the artist. It’s not the most profound thought, but in a sea of garbage graffiti it stands out. The arrows around the words point to the standard graffiti and to one of the most graphic graffiti depictions of sex that I’ve ever encoutered. It was no masterpiece, it still looked like is was painted by someone with the sense of humor of a 15 year old and the art skills of a 5 year old. So the bar was set low, but this graphic cleared it with ease.

Work selfie… sort of. :-D

Finished reading: Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger 📚

This book lives up to its reputation. I enjoyed, as much as one can, this book because it got me more interested in World War I. WWI is a subject that I never spent much time learning about. I have always been more interested in WWII and the American Civil War. This book gave me a much better glimpse of the daily life and experiences of not only combat in WWI, but it is given from the perspective of - to an American - the enemy.

I’ll work on a little more of a write up in the coming days.

Happy 10th birthday to this guy!

Currently reading: Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, Michael Hofmann (translator) 📚

This is a continuation on the war theme that I started a couple months ago by reading Slaughterhouse-Five. It also serves as a contrast to learning about the life and work of Gandhi.

Currently reading: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (kindle version) 📚

Finished reading: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 📚

It’s been a little while since I posted a photo. Here’s an old abandoned building with an interesting front. I found out that as of 2018 this building is supposed to be renovated and host a distillery. That would make for another great stop during my bike rides.

I got on the bike for 30 minuites today. It was just an easy indoor trainer session, but it’s the first time I’ve been on a bike in about 2 or 3 months. Felt good… and bad. But in a good way. 🚲

I became aware of this book via this video by Sean Tucker. The book presents the relatively mundane and repetitive daily activities of peregrine falcons in a beautifully poetic story. It’s a testament to what one can accomplish through creativity but more importantly what they can see by focusing with great intent on their task. Over the course of the book the author sees himself transforming in to a peregrine and translating the world of the peregrine to something humans can appreciate.

The writing is among the most vivid and eloquent that I think I’ve ever read, but I couldn’t help thinking that everything was being repeated. But that repetitive variety kept drawing me back. Baker’s relentless pursuit of the birds emphasized his dedication to knowing the birds. The result of this intense focus is a wonderfully crafted journal of the daily activities of a wild hunter that operates with unapologetic intent and efficiency.

I have actually had the opportunity to see peregrine falcons in flight on a couple of occasions. These have all been at work. Throughout our region there are a few peregrine nesting sites. The birds tend to occupy one nest for a long time and actually form couples that will stay together throughout their lives. Some of the sites are high atop bridge piers. In the spring our state conservation department tags the baby birds and we offer assistance with our bridge crane. They are fiercely defensive of their territory and their young and cause quite a ruckus with frequent swoops at the rangers performing the tagging. I’m not much of a birdwatcher, but I have found great deal of interest, respect and awe for the peregrine falcon.

Link to the book: The Peregrine by J.A. Baker

Winter Haiku:

The dead of winter

brings bitter cold. The frozen

time of shortened days.

Pittsburgh at sunset.

Something unexpected happend at work. I got a hole in the boot of my chest waders. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but I’m glad it wasn’t a few minutes earlier when I was standing in near freezing water up to mid-thigh.

I got out hiking for the first time this year. It was just a casual 3 mile out-and-back along the Rachel Carson Trail, but it was nice. It was cold and muddy, but still nice.

I’m glad I took today off. This morning was the nicest weather we’ve had in weeks.

Of course, it’s raining now.

January isn’t a great month to be a bridge inspector. It seems like every morning it’s been around 23F and doesn’t seem to go up to more that 35ish. The exposure can be mitigated for the most part, but streams aren’t frozen. So falling in is a much more serious concern. Even if they did freeze, the risk of falling through is still a problem.

I still wouldn’t trade it to go back to a desk job.

Missouri woman believed to be last Civil War widow dies

This is a pretty amazing story. I wonder how much a Civil War soldiers pension was worth in the year 2020. 🤔

Earth, wind (ok it’s sky), and water from my walk yesterday.

📷 Photographers, I’m primarily using Luminar 4 for editing, occasionally Affinity (for HDR). I’ve also tried out DarkTable and CaptureOne for Sony (since I have an a6000).

Am I really missing out on anything big by not going with a Photoshop/Lightroom subscription?

Today I tried something a little bit different with my 365 photo project. I made a “photo” of a Rifter (a spaceship in the game EVE Online) by just scanning the model as a jpeg and editing it in Luminar. I got the idea from a book I recently bought: 52 Assignments: Experimental Photography by Chris Gatcum. It was nice to do something a little bit different on a day that I didn’t really feel like heading out to take any photos but didn’t want to just take a snapshot of my keyboard - I’m looking at you day 22.

That being said, I’m going to be suspending the posting of my 365 days of photos here on micro.blog. I will continue to post a daily photo on a flickr album. The point of this is for me to practice and try to experiment with different techniques and subjects. While I am learning through this process, I’m not posting any context for an outside viewer. So I would rather just file them in a flickr album and post more meaningful groups or individual images with more context.