California at the beginning of September

Pictures from my brief visit to the bay area and some other parts of Northern California:

On the beach we found all kinds of fun seaweed. So I did what any normal person would do when they happen on a big piece of seaweed- I swung it around my head and threw it.

Nic actually set the standard for seaweed throwing.

The beach that contained said seaweed.

Our drive down to said beach.

Our drive through the mountains.

If you only knew how many rocks were thrown over labor day weekend.

Great weather for hanging out by the river.


Walking along a huge fallen redwood.

A serious brother picture taken inside a redwood.

Looking up, Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

At this pizza place we stopped at we made sure to recount the early 90's by playing Cruisin' the World.

Argentina

I have been really slack about posting over the past year or so, but that is about to change due to upcoming relocation to Spain. But I am going to start the ball rolling again with some pictures from my recent trip Argentina. The pictures uploaded out of order but I will try to narrate the best of my ability.


A rear view of the farm where we lived at for the majority of our time in the country.


The farm is surrounded by cattle pastures. This is where all the cows that die naturally are left to rot.

One of many dogs I came to befriend while I was there. This is my favorite, and his name is Rocky. He loves raw rabbit meat.

A soft and furry Chinchilla friend.

Kathia is pretty cute too.

Close up taken in the boneyard.

The boneyard.

A cool tree on the property.


A little river with swans flying away.

The old lady and I riding gaucho style.

Guido was a blur on his surprisingly fast midget horse.

Our preferred rabbit hunting method. Not even kidding.

A line of trees at sunset.

The cows hanging out. We even got to see a live birth one day, it was pretty cool, especially watching the little guy stand and take his first steps.

Baby cause I'm a thug.

We were invited to a traditional Argentine barbecue at the simple home of el herrero ("the handyman"). The food was delicious and our hosts were very interesting. A truly unique cultural experience indeed.

The man who made it all possible. Our host and translator, Guido.
I got the Rhino stuck because I was watching sheep instead of what was ahead of me.

We watched this corny but entertaining dancing light show in the super cool city of Cordoba.

The Canal in the western part of Cordoba.

Theresa and I went to about 4 different art galleries and I tried to be artsy by taking this picture.
And this one.

Obligatory panorama of Buenos Aires.

The middle Sierras on the bus ride from Mendoza to Cordoba.

More middle Sierras.

And some more.

Brotime

These are my brothers.

Serve and Protect

Have I ever mentioned how much I respect cops? I mean, I especially love the special protection that our corrupt governments allow them when they violate human rights! Hell yeah, cops!

http://socialistworker.org/2009/01/08/anger-building-over-police-murder

I lost all my money that I didn't earn at the cockfights

I found a $50 dollar bill today. No lie.

By the end of the night I spent every last penny of it on other people. 1 lunch, 3 dinners, and drinks for 2 more. I like to think that I made 6 different people a little bit happier.

That is what I am talking about.

Pensive

Once again time finds me at a strange point in my life, this time as I cope with the stress of assimilating into a structured adult life. My creative energy quelled by the time and psychological constraints of school, I often feel overwhelmed with a desire to pursue an epic adventure. Thus, I have determined that I owe it to myself to embark on some sort of ridiculous journey this summer after I graduate. South America is in my sights, and I hope to make it the focus of my planning over the next 7 or so months.

Tomorrow I head to California to visit my brother in California. I'm absolutely excited to be skipping town since I have hopes of clearing my head, but I am more excited about seeing my brother, who also serves the role of my best friend. We have a brief plan of what to do over 5 days, but in any case I am sure we will entertain ourselves and anyone else who crosses our path. We may be going to Santa Cruz, for no other purpose than just to go and see something new.

I also decided that I am going to partake in my own weekend adventures. I want to revisit Charleston and Washington DC among other places, mainly for their nostalgic value. Plus, I have had dreams of storming DC on bike for 2 years now and instead of just talking about it I am going to up and do it by the end of the year (yes I am setting a personal goal). Then I am also hoping to go to Montreal in January simply because I have a hell of a lot of time for winter break and feel it would best be spent out of the country. Spring break should yield a ski trip in Colorado. The idea of being mobile enthralls me, as the reader probably already knows since it is all I talk about.

Perhaps one day I will write something more interesting and less involving my agenda. I feel motivated to write beautiful things, or at least to write about beautiful things, all of the time but it never materializes. Perhaps if I could escape my little Chapel Hill bubble more often...

How I will pursue happiness

Yes, my bicycle is complete and is begging to be ridden. How far will I go and where will I go? Who knows.

Summarizing Summer

"Finding a sleeping" in my driveway. For the months of June/July, we probably camped out about 60% of the time- sometimes with only one person and with the maximum being 12+. Great times underneath the stars.
Shirtless bros on the way to the beach.
A coaching session on the lake.
We pulled down our drawers and did handstands on the beach. Good people and good times.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/bioko-primates/morell-text


This expedition was what I did in January of this year. Cool stuff.

Weekend and Life: A photo essay

First of all: all of these photos courtesy of Ryan Sides.

The purpose of these photos, which were taken of the course of the last 4 days, is primarily to chronicle the summer of 2008. Lots of hanging out with bros doing ridiculous things.

I am fascinated with handstands these days and I am actually starting to improve my capabilities.
Slip and slide gathering with Stefan's dirty self in the foreground.
I rode Stefan down the slide a few times.
This is a popular picture and for good reasons.
My neighbor tried to throw this suitcase away. I claimed it and it has inspired traveling and laughter.
This scenes says a lot about our trip to the motains: shirtless bros, depants-ing, and scenery.
I true brotherhood picture.
A bro pic with a real life bro (see far right) whilst waterfall jumping.