July 7, 2014

It's been a very long time since I've updated this website. In the age of things like Facebook and Google+ there's a lot less need for a dedicated web log such as this, though even before I became a member of the various Social Media sites that are out there, I've been toying with the idea of taking Accipiter.org in a new direction - one that de-emphasizes the web log aspect and puts more focus on my creative endeavors. The archives will still be here and I expect that I'll probably yammer about something now and again, but I'm really looking toward modernizing the site and shifting its focus. It'll still be me and my bullshit, it'll just be a different kind of bullshit.

In the interim, I've added two long-overdue albums to the Photo Gallery: Hawaii, as well as last month's trip to Panama. Panama was an unexpected destination, chosen for its location, budget, and my desperate need for a proper vacation. Unfortunately neither my iPhone or my MacBook Pro fully survived the trip, but it was a nice time. (It was also pretty awesome to see the Canal.)

(12:30)

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December 12, 2012

It wasn't too long ago that I decided to take a road trip. I wasn't really sure where I was going, but I had mapped out a tentative route within the southeastern United States. That plan ended up changing after I left home, and I've ended up a lot farther west than I'd originally planned.

Day one was a lot of driving, really. Most of the areas where I was driving I'd seen plenty of times, so I took the route through Nashville (with a quick stop over at what I thought was Scott's old house but ended up being an identical house one house over; his had been painted a dark color) and kept on going until I reached Memphis where I stayed the night. The next morning is what began the actual trip which included seeing things, so I got up early and made a quick run up to Missouri to grab some GeoCaches before heading back to Memphis for a trip to the National Civil Rights Museum.

The museum itself is located at the site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination - the Lorraine Motel. While a lot of the museum focuses on Dr. King's life and legacy, it has a lot of information regarding human civil rights in general. It's worth a visit. I was actually given special access to the balcony where Dr. King was shot, as the museum is undergoing renovations.

I then left Memphis and headed over to Little Rock. The William J. Clinton Presidential Library is a really interesting place to visit, chronicling President Clinton's life pretty much from beginning to end with an obvious focus on his presidency. There's also few touches of Mrs. Clinton's life and role as First Lady, and a lot of information on government workings. In addition, there is a replica of both the West Wing's Cabinet Room as well as my future office, the Oval Office. Here I pose with Vice President Pleepleus:

After grabbing a few GeoCaches in Arkansas, I started heading west once again. After debating on whether to stop in Oklahoma City or push through to Amarillo Texas, I decided to stay in OKC for the night. I got up early the next morning and grabbed a few more GeoCaches to cap off Oklahoma while visiting some small towns. Clinton Oklahoma is one of those ridiculously small and cute towns you see every so often.

Not long thereafter found myself in the Lone Star State. Amarillo is a very flat and very grid-like city, but with some lines of the grid that really make no sense and with others not even being paved. It was a bumpy ride while exploring some areas of the town, but I didn't stay long and continued my westward journey until I hit Albuquerque and then finally Flagstaff Arizona, which is where I'd initially written this entry from a Starbucks at six in the morning.

(12:00)

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July 21, 2012

Riding in cars that have right-hand drive is not as strange as it should be. Every so often I'll get a split-second strangeness about sitting on the "wrong" side of the car, but it goes away rather quickly - faster than I'd expected it would. The first (and last) time I'd ridden in a right-hand drive car was in Dublin, but that was only for around five or ten minutes or so. This trip is seeing this happen daily, and experiencing a mirror image of traffic almost seems normal.

Driving, on the other hand... I can't even imagine what that's like. I really do want to give driving a right-hand drive car a shot and a colleague here offered to let me try it in his car, but the thought of having the pedals in the right place on the wrong side of the car and shifting a manual transmission with my left hand just blows my mind. I haven't decided if I'm actually going to do it yet, and I'm thinking that if I do, I'll rent a car for a day and blanket it with every insurance coverage available.

A week in Chennai was good to see the sights, and I saw quite a lot. At the aforementioned St. Thomas cathedral, I saw many interesting things in its museum - religious artifacts from long ago, latin bibles, stone carvings, and randomly placed among all of these relics was this guy:

...which pretty much meant it was time to get going. And get going I did, off to see some pretty impressive (and colorful) temples. There are a few examples of these peppering Chennai, and they're quite a sight once you get there. The camera has a hard time capturing the extent of the detail and colors.

With my Chennai visit coming to a close, it was time to move on to Hyderabad.

(02:45)

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