Receiving mail on the Appalachian Trail

5.20.2009

I've been wondering about how to keep in touch and get mail from people while I'm on the trail, and I just found out one way. The post office offers a service called general delivery.

This means that if someone writes me a letter addressed like this:

Addy*

c/o General Delivery

Small town near the AT, State, Zip code

Unfortunately, I have yet to officially change my name to Adelaide, so, unless I get my stuff together and change my name before I leave, letters will have to be addressed to Shelly. I have to take a picture ID to the specified post office to pick up my mail. Handy, eh? I've also heard that some businesses along the way offer the same service.

I'll be e-mailing out a list of what post offices I'll be using and when.

Excommunicating the wrong person

5.19.2009

I just heard about this story from Brazil. Here's what happened: a nine year old girl was raped by her stepfather and became pregnant with twins. Her mother took her to the hospital and the doctors, who were afraid that the pregnancy would kill the little girl, performed an abortion.

A horrible situation, and it gets worse. From CBC:
"Upon learning of the abortion, the regional archbishop excommunicated the doctors, as well as the girl's mother. He did not excommunicate the step-father, saying the crime he is alleged to have committed, although deplorable, was not as bad as ending a fetus's life."

I don't know how to say strongly enough that this decision by the Catholic church is crazy, that the cruelty of excommunicating the doctors that saved this girl's life, but not the man who raped her is astounding. And I am disgusted and infuriated that the Vatican would support that decision.

Come hike part of the Appalachian trail with me!

5.18.2009

Hello friends,

Here is a map of the trail. I'll be headed North to South, starting in Maine in July. If you have time and you're interested, come hike part of it with me! E-mail me if you want rough guesses of where I'll be at different places.

Look buff for the camera

5.07.2009

I recently began training with Nikki Becker from Missfit Adventures. My reasoning: if I am going to tell everyone I know that I’m trying to backpack the Appalachian Trail, I better not come home a month after I started. Nikki trains clients in her “all women’s adventure club.”

If you want to read more about my preparations for the AT, I've started a separate blog for the trip. (Because you can't have too many blogs, right?)

Here's me trying to look buff for the camera. I'm not sure it's working.

Argyle Reserve--my Ultimate team

Scottsmen! from CrossFit Portland on Vimeo.

Reserve! Preserve! Prevail!

Backpacking the Appalachian Trail

5.06.2009

It’s no secret that I have commitment problems. Not with romantic partners, that is. When it comes to life plans I tend to get nervous and say the equivalent of “let’s just be friends.”

But not today. It’s official, as of Tuesday, April 28th, I have decided to backpack the Appalachian Trail.

I will be blogging about my preparations for the trip and my adventures on the trail. Any advice would be appreciated!

Pic o' the day

5.01.2009

I don't think you can have a "pic of the day" if you only post pictures once or twice a month.

Susan Boyle

4.27.2009

If you haven't seen this yet, it's worth checking out. The judges' comments at the end are pretty snarky, but Boyle herself is impressive.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Pic of the day: Boots

4.20.2009

Messing around with my camera as I was reconditioning the leather on my boots.

O-klahoma

My little brother, one Griffin Brown, just got into a PhD program at the University of Oklahoma. He battled off fierce competition ranking #2 out of 40 applicants.

Bonus: his tuition will be covered by the school, plus a monthly living stipend!

Back from Gandy Goose

4.15.2009

The Natural 20's are back from Bend having achieved the record of 1-6. Not bad. Next tournament we are aiming for 2 wins.

Here are some photos:

It's not me, it's you

4.08.2009

I've been feeling frustrated for a bit about the loss of saturation in the photos I upload to the web. I've tried all kinds of things, even boosting the saturation to unrealistic amounts. Today in my photoshop class I hit upon the real answer: Facebook and Blogspot have been squeezing the life blood out of my pictures.

Check out this web gallery I just made for class: http://sws.pcc.edu/student/CAS208_bgleason_24707/shellybrown53/project2/

A lot of the pictures are oversaturated because I was trying to compensate for any loss. But loaded directly onto a server, they actually look pretty vivid. I may actually go back in an desaturate some of them.

Victory!

Apartment garden

4.05.2009

I am mourning the loss of a yard as I prepare for this year's planting. Cross your fingers, I might be able to get a community garden plot.


In the meantime, here are my poor overcrowded starts. Mini-cucumbers, kale, basil, rosemary, and I have two flowering plants next to my other window. I have been trying to figure out how to give them more space when today I hit upon a brilliant idea.


A brilliant idea involving sunflower butter.

I save all of my leftover plastic jars because the grocery co-ops let you bring them in for bulk goods. Unfortunately, I don't live close to one anymore, and my plastic jars have been piling up a bit. Today I pierced holes in the bottom of a few of them to make mini planters. Then I put them on casserole dishes so that the water that drains through doesn't go anywhere.


Voila! A sunflower butter pot:

Google newsfeed: one of these things is not like the other

4.02.2009

Kind of ironic, no?

Burns Dogs

4.01.2009

Ted Tellefson in Burns, OR was recently arrested for 100 counts of animal neglect. Apparently, he was a breeder and things got out of control, and when the sheriff investigated, these dogs were cramped together in filthy cages. I think that "things got out of control" is a generous way of describing the situation, but the man has agreed to surrender the dogs. Usually, animals are kept in isolation pending investigation, but because Tellefson has admitted guilt, the dogs are now being socialized and given an opportunity to learn to trust humans again.

At least, this is my understanding of the situation. I recently started to volunteer at the Oregon Humane Society, where they are currently housing 90 of the Burns dogs. Very few volunteers are allowed to work with these animals because they have been so badly traumatized, and the people at the Humane Society want to establish an environment where they can feel safe an comfortable. I am feeling both angry at the way this man treated these dogs and grateful that Oregon has such a wonderful Humane Society.

The Oregon Humane society adopts out 98% of their dogs and 95% of their cats, which is pretty incredible. They are recognized nationally for excelance. It's a community effort; they have over 1,000 volunteers. During the orientation, I sat next to a woman who was recently laid off. She told me that she she has been struggling to get a new job, but because she has more time now, she's spending some of it volunteering. Apparently, one upside of the recession is that there are now more volunteers than ever helping out with non-profits. So, while these organizations are having trouble raising money, the investment of human capital is at an all time high. I think its wonderful that so many people, who are themselves suffering, have made the effort to give to those in need.

Video Application

3.26.2009

Backpacker magazine is holding open auditions for gear testers. One part is a written review and the other part is a 5 minute video. Here's mine. The quality is a little bit low, but it's my first try at making a movie, and I'm going to use a nice camera next time. Also, it's a bit cheesy, but it was really fun to do. My friends Jade, Steph, and Phil helped me out.

I think that the number of people who watch it will affect how likely they are to choose you. Also, if you have a youtube account, I'd really appreciate it if you rated the video or made a comment. If you don't have a youtube account, don't worry, we can still be friends.

Walk it off

3.09.2009

Some subjects shouldn't be made into A Complete Idiot's Guide. They may as well entitle it: Anxiety, It's All in Your Head.

Even better:

Failed Trip to Mount Jefferson: A story in three acts

2.23.2009

Prelude

The winter weather in Portland is pretty dreary and I had begun to get restless. I thought, Central Oregon gets 300 days of sun a year, odds are it'll be bright and warm there. I actually thought that. You might say, Adelaide, that logic doesn't really follow. It's still winter and you are going to the mountains, how could you delude yourself into thinking you could backpack there?

You might say that, and I would tell you to kindly keep your opinions to yourself.


Act One: Big Plans

Place Adelaide wanted to stay:


Well, not exactly. This photo is of Mount Washington, a volcano that last erupted over 1,000 years ago. I took this picture from the side of the road, after I climbed up a 4 foot snow bank created by the plows.

This is as close to nature as I would come on the trip.

It turns out that the trail I wanted to hike was impassable without snowshoes. I had anticipated some snow, but I thought I could park my car, hike to a covering, set up camp and enjoy the sunshine. No such luck. It wasn't just that there was snow on the trail, the entire parking place was snowed over and then the road had been plowed so that all you could see was the sign: Pacific Crest Trail.


Act Two: Reality hits

Place Adelaide ended up staying:



It's ok, I said to myself. So things aren't going to go as I planned, that's alright, I'll make new plans. So I drove through the city Bend and out into the Badlands.

About two hours into the middle of nowhere, I pulled my car over and got out. With no light pollution, the stars were amazing. I got my sleeping bag out of the trunk, opened the sun roof of the car, leaned back and watched the sky. I saw three shooting stars before I fell asleep.

Midnight: I awoke with the feeling of something falling on my face. It had started sleeting in the night. I turned on the car and shut the sun roof. I was wet and cold, and there were no stars. Suddenly, the idea of sleeping on the side of the road stopped being a romantic idea.


Act Three: Reality hits harder

Place Adelaide ended up staying the rest of the night:


In my mind's eye, I had at least expected that, if I couldn't hike, I could stay in a quaint country inn. However, there are no inns in the badlands, in fact, the only structure I saw was for A-1 Antelope taxidermy: Free Salt! And, as I was unsure how long things would go on like this, I drove back through the freezing rain hoping to not slip on any forming ice patches. I found this hotel late at night, and sleep-deprived and shivering, asked for a room.


Ah, well. It was a noble effort nonetheless. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for sunshine so that I can get outside again.

1.28.2009

Ian was hit recently by a car on his walk home, and it's made me a bit paranoid about being seen on the road when I'm biking. On the upside, you'd be surprised how often I hear, "Look at that hot chick with the glasses and the giant reflective vest."

When it was bad, it was oh, so bad, and when it was good...

1.25.2009

This past week we've had a break from the cold and wet winter here, and I realized something profound: Portland is like that bad boyfriend you can't help loving.

Think of it. You start out in the summer. The landscape is amazing. The skies are blue, everything is green, and there are more wild berries than you can possibly eat. It's all better than you ever knew it could be.

But then the Fall comes, and things start fading. In the back of your mind, you have a sense of foreboding that you don't want to acknowledge. You say to yourself, things were so wonderful this summer, I can handle a little bad weather.

But you know in your heart that it isn't going to be a little bad weather. There will be months of unending rain, soaking into everything you own. You will buy waterproof pants and a waterproof jacket, a waterproof cap to put over your bike helmet and waterproof gaiters over your shoes. You will get used to ringing out your socks, and you will keep a steady supply of hangers in your bathroom so that your clothes can drip dry. And if the rain wasn't enough, you will be cold and shivering all this time. You will grow accustomed to your fingers being blue and pruney. The days will be always overcast, and you will start popping vitamin D pills and anti-depressants. You will say to yourself, in your moments of despair, I will never be dry and warm again.

And just when you're ready to quit this relationship, just when things have gotten so bad that you've threatened to pack your bags and leave, he will dangle one beautiful day in front of you. One crystal clear, warm, sun-filled day. You will take a blanket to the park and read a book there. Or go on a hike in the Gorge. Maybe you will even take the day off work or skip school so that you can make a trip to the coast. At the end of the day, wrapped in your covers and drifting off to sleep, you will sigh contentedly and think, now I remember why I love this city so much.

It will rain the next day without fail.

You will wake up that morning with a groan. And, as you are putting on your waterproof pants and zipping up your waterproof jacket, you will say to your city, in Brokeback Mountain style, "Why can't I quit you?"

Photo of the day: Michelle in Oak's Bottom

1.17.2009

I had stopped posting pictures here because I was frustrated with the loss of saturation in my photos. I haven't really learned how to fix it, but I have some good leads. In the meantime, here is a picture of Michelle making a plaster cast of an animal track in Oaks Bottom.

St. Peter's: We're Open

1.10.2009

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.

Limbo

12.22.2008

The Catholic church has done away with the doctrine of limbo. Unfortunately, it still exists for me. Limbo, that is. I’m not talking about the unbaptized here; I’m talking about my lack of clarity over what I should be doing with my life.

It seems that every step I take is in the wrong direction. That’s not totally true. I am ruling things out things that I don’t want to do, but working one by one is pretty inefficient. At this rate, I will have settled on something by the time I’m eighty.

I went to wilderness school this past semester and learned about primitive skills. I really thought I would be into all of that, but it turns out that I am firmly entrenched in the 21st century. One activity we did was making fire with a bowdrill. It goes like this: you gather four pieces of wood from the forest. One piece needs to be wide and flat, this will be your baseboard. Another piece needs to be long and have some flex in it, this will be your bow. Another piece of wood you will carve down to make a spindle. And the final piece of wood needs to fit into your hand so that you can bear down with it on the spindle. You have to be careful about which types of wood you choose, because, if you don’t, making a fire will be almost impossible. At least, it will feel this way. You then carve out a notch into your baseboard, tie a piece of cordage onto both ends of the bow, flex the bow so that you can wrap the spindle in the cordage, and place one end of the spindle in the baseboard and the other in the piece of wood in your hand. Bear down, turn the bow rapidly until you get a coal.

The problem is that in the time it took me to write the previous paragraph, I could have made a fire with matches. And believe me, after grinding on the bowdrill for over an hour, sweating, getting blisters, having the spindle snap out of place and hit me repeatedly, matches were all I was thinking about.

So it turns out that I will not be a primitive skills guru. Part of this is because I can’t see myself convincing sane adults to make a bowdrill. At least, not enough to make a living. It’s not that everything is about the money, but I want a career now. And I can’t seem to focus my energy right now on things that won’t provide some kind of financial return.

Except writing, that is.

But I find that even writing is hard to do consistently. Ian asked me the other day why, if I’m passionate about writing, is it hard for me to motivate myself on a consistent basis. I told him that great writers throughout time have struggled with this. Margaret Atwood said, “Blank pages inspire me with terror.” Unfortunately, the truth for me is less flattering--I’m actually just lazy. It’s much easier to watch a TV show than to sit at my desk and wrestle with words.

It’s not just that. Sometimes it feels so sad to me to pour out my heart into something other people won’t read. At least, no one but the four people who read my blog (you know who you are). The Japanese philosopher (whose name I cannot remember) writes that when we do something for fame or money, we love results and not actually the activity itself, thus robbing ourselves of the joy of the process. Perhaps I should post that on the wall in my office.

I don’t mean to have self-pity. I do live a blessed life, and I have the luxury of exploring my options. I just hate being between things. I want to run at something with all my heart. I want to break out of limbo.

Christmas lottery

12.08.2008

The Oregon lottery is advertising the idea of giving scratch cards for Christmas. This sends the message: your chance of actually getting a gift this year is astronomically low.

Terrorism against women

12.03.2008

I know this image is very intense, but I think it's worth showing. The New York Times just published an article about acid attacks on women in parts of Asia and Afghanistan.


"Terrorism in this part of the world usually means bombs exploding or hotels burning, as the latest horrific scenes from Mumbai attest. Yet alongside the brutal public terrorism that fills the television screens, there is an equally cruel form of terrorism that gets almost no attention and thrives as a result: flinging acid on a woman’s face to leave her hideously deformed."

Read more.