My wife, Ashley Mortenson, will graduate from VCU Medical College on May 16th.
What an amazingly challenging and fun four years have passed for the both of us here in Richmond, Virginia. In 2004 we got off to a crazy start, went through some times that would break marriages that weren’t as strong. We had some sorry days, but kept talking and listening and have grown a lot. Medical school is not kind to married couples, but I think if a marriage doesn’t survive med school then there are probably a number of other events that would extinguish it - meaning medical school doesn’t need to be blamed for ending anyone’s marriage, but I digress.
I stayed with Ashley because I see the best in her and feel that she brings out the best in me. As Jack Nicholson said to Helen Hunt in As Good as It Gets, “[She] make[s] me want to be a better man.” I also see in her absolute commitment to her chosen field and to the people who she will serve. Take a look at this beautiful essay. I’m very fortunate to have this gal in my life.
And now, word-traveled Southerner that I am (I’ve lived all around the world, but always in the South - southern Japan (Okinawa), south Spain, south Germany, Florida), my lovely wife is dragging me to Newark, New Jersey. Granted she didn’t plan it that way, but she is really good at pulling me out of my comfort zone when she needs to do so.
So, we are heading north after all these years. I’m excited, nervous, anxious, reluctant-one-minute ready-to-go-tomorrow the next. I know that there will be bigger challenges, but I believe I said in a recent email to friends “obstacles are opportunities for the optimistic.” So, I am remaining optimistic. We’re heading into more amazing experiences. I’ll be sure to post here frequently so you can read all about them.
I’ll admit to being a tool geek (not a tool, but a took geek). Whether it be a Muck Truck, or an awesome web blog management system on steroids (like Word Press) I love discovering and working with new tools and seeing how they can help me or someone else with a task.
I heard the buzz about Twitter for a while (http://twitter.com//) and thought “holy smokes, who would want to log every little thing they do so that other folks can see?” So I ignored it, but I kept asking myself “could that be useful for anything?” And then I realized what I was missing, it can be an awesome communication tool because it takes advantage of RSS. Meaning I can feed it to my site, friends and family can subscribe however they want (Yahoo or Google personalized pages). I can control who sees what and of course, I don’t have to log everything (yes, there are folks that let the world know when they are going to the bathroom). What I can log is last minute rides or party details or running late, etc. - blurbs that might be useful for some. It can be a very useful communication tool indeed.
Another cool tool I discovered that happens to work well with Word Press (and other blogs) and Twitter, is a tool called Jott. (http://jott.com/default.aspx) Jott converts text to speech, in a surprisingly accurate format, and it’s based on cell phone call! Meaning, I can call from anywhere and get what I am saying converted to text (no cumbersome software on the PC!) and I can configure Jott (quite easily actually) to send that Text to my blog or to Twitter (and many other applications - simplest being email). So I could call Jott and tell it to tell Word Press that I just got back from a great ride, or even I AM ON a great ride and a few other things about the ride and it will post it to my site. I can call Jott and tell it to tell Twitter that I just rode 10 miles and then later use those Twitters to calculate my mileage.
And on my job I am thinking of all sorts of ways that I can use both of these tools.
Anyone using them? If so, how? If not, give them a try and let me know.
At some point in my second year in Richmond (2005) someone turned me on to Jay deBellonia’s excellent mountain biking forum site. Through his site I learned about Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts Richmond chapter (MORE) and opportunities to help build and maintain the trails we ride.
MORE works with Nathan Burrell, Richmond Parks and Recreation’s number one asset, to build and maintain some of the finest mountain biking and foot trails a city could hope for. There’s a great article on the trails and the people that build them here.
When we leave Richmond this summer we will truly miss the Richmond trails and the people that build them.
There is a part of me that finds the news about terrorist groups in Iraq seeking mentally ill patients to serve as suicide bombers very disturbing. But, I take some comfort in the fact that to me this signifies “sane” people are starting to question the authority that tells them, “go blow yourself up in the name of Allah.” Could this be another sign that things aren’t going so well for the insurgents?
You pathetic cowards, using the helpless to do your dirty work. And you say America fights without honor?
Some photos from the last day of football this year. If Ashley lands residency here in Richmond then I will be back out next year. Otherwise I will have to find a new crew in the new location.
On his decision to remain neutral in the 1960 Presidential campaign. . .
I feel that someone must remain in the position of nonalignment, so that we can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both — not the servant or master of either.
I am watching the Presidential wannabes on both sides and I am getting the sinking feeling that we are going to have to settle for the same old crap again - where we have to choose between between donkey poop or elephant poop.
I cannot give my endorsement to any of them at his point.
Then again I think our entire government structure needs to change - start by abolishing the Senate.
