Post Number One

I have been thinking about ways to say this for a while. Clever little hooks and openers pop into my head, and I file them away to be typed out later. Upon reexamination, what I previously thought to sound introspective and meaningful begins to sound rehearsed and inauthentic. So how to open up the story of the rest of my life? Obviously this isn't the first post of this blog, but it's been quite some time since it has been touched. It is the first post of what I really want to see this become: a source of memory in which to indulge myself, and more importantly, a public source of accountability.

The best way to definitively articulate an idea is to write it down. When describing something to another person by speaking to them, you can supplement your definition with hand motions, vocal inflection, and examples based on your common core of experience. When you are forced to write down that idea, you are forced to think about the actual meaning of the words, and succinctly and concretely establish what you are trying to communicate. For example, if someone was asked what the word 'car' meant, they could define it pretty easily. Something to the effect of 'a motorized, wheeled vehicle that carries people inside'. When asked to define something more complex, like an emotion or a concept, they will struggle. How would you define integrity?

"Well, it's a combination of honesty, and morality, but in a way that has more to do with a persons own being as well as other people. Kind of like, being true to other people because you're true to yourself."

Our common experience causes us to tie honesty, morality and selflessness together. With a little hand waving and shrugging of the shoulders, we call that integrity. But that is a far cry from the distinct definition we so easily decide on for a car. Webster defines integrity as a "firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values". Reading that, I can sit back in my chair, shrug my shoulders, and think 'yeah that's what we meant to say'. But Webster goes on to say "an unimpaired condition". Now we're talking. That sounds better. But "an unimpaired condition" without the context of a "firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values" could mean something completely different. Such are the pitfalls of the English language, and why learning from a book will never trump going out and getting experience.

I will attempt to write here an adequate definition of my journeys, the reasons behind them, and the lessons I learn from them. The reason why I say the journeys recorded here are for my own indulgence is because I will never be able to properly describe to you in words the feelings of washboards underneath an aired down rear tire flying through South American badlands. I know this because I have read the works of those who have been there, done that, and am consistently disappointed by my inability to feel what they felt and know what they know. I don't flatter myself into thinking I am a better writer than them. I choose to think that these experiences can not be communicated with words alone, and much like the convoluted and complex ideas of human concepts like integrity, a little bit of shoulder shrugging and hand motions are necessary to help understand the point that is coming across. These memories are for me, but if you want to really understand my stories, I'd love to sit down with you and talk them through.

The second reason for this blog is for accountability. Like being forced to define a word makes us think about the intricacies and emotional connotations of that word, writing down my plans makes me work out the details. So here it is, and edit to the first post I made on this blog.
 
My name is James Miller. I am now 22 years old rounding out my final year at the University of Washington. There I spent four short years learning, and most of what I've figured out is how much there is I don't know.
I like adventures. Going new places excites me. Those places could be physical, where political borders are crossed and new sights seen. Those places could also be mental. Learning math, music, physics, and philosophy all take you to a different place.
In order to feed that thirst for adventure, I want to get on a motorcycle and travel the world. First South America, then reevaluate from there. Meet people that don't speak my language, and learn how their different perspective has shaped the world they know. See if what I have been taught of other cultures rings true, or if I once again uncover more piles of knowledge too deep for me to ever comprehend. Maybe I'll discover that people are all similar, and really the things we don't know are what bind us together. Or maybe I'm so lost at the beginning of this journey that I'll throw out any mildly philosophical sounding phrases because it sounds like a good excuse for an adventure.

Hopefully I'll figure it out.


JM

Orionid Meteor Shower

A quick  recap of my Saturday night.

For those of you that aren't aware, this weekend the rock we call home flew through the debris trail of Halley's comet, as it does every year around this time. Circumstances called for a particularly good show this year; not only was the moon out of sight reducing ambient light and increasing star visibility, but Venus and Mars were also out. What a show!

With the hook of adventure set deep in my mind, the planning phase began. I knew we had to get out of the city, and I knew we needed some cloud free viewing space. So the first step was to find an area clear of clouds at the peak viewing times, around 2-4am:

Credit to NOAA for the forecast. It was apparent that my usual stomping ground of Monroe was definitely out of the question due to the cloud cover. So we looked at our options, and hoped for the best in Yakima. Unfortunately  that's a 3.5 hour drive from Seattle. Fortunately, distance isn't much of an issue for us.

After a quick stop in Ellensberg to try and pick up some more adventurers and a grill, we headed out to a random hill on the way to Yakima. the idea was to stay on the opposite side of the peak from the city to avoid the light pollution, but get as high up to give us the clearest panoramic view possible. Here's where we landed:


The road marked going up was severely eroded, and we eventually decided to abandon it. So we pulled a hard left, dropped the transfer case into low range, pointed the nose in the direction of 'up' and started driving till we were satisfied.

There turned out to be more clouds than anticipated, but we definitely saw some good streaks. When we tried to fire up the grill and cook some breakfast up there, the temperature was too low and the valve iced over as the propane came through it. After a while we abandoned ship, electing for the most direct route back to the visible road rather than trying to located the path on the way down. After a quick nap break for the drivers back in Ellensberg, we pushed home.