Blogs from Virginia, United States, North America - page 123

I frequent occasional communities: the fast Monday night bike ride (a winter-only occurence), the slow Monday night bike ride (a summer-only occurence), the Saturday morning bike ride (used to be every week, but then the fair-weather friends dropped out when the temperature dropped), the monthly Taize services (every third Sunday for years now, plus an occasional feast day), North Carolina Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Conservative, and yearly), the Tuesday night vigils, (weekly after 9/11, then fortnightly, now monthly), and the Norfolk Catholic Worker soup line (Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday mornings). That’s not to mention the Virginia Beach Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (weekly, on “First Days”), the press corps at peace rallies (every 1-2 years), my mother’s extended family (Thanksgiving, Christmas & Independence Day), my father’s extended... read more

Somehow, the French make cycling sound beautiful- beautifully intense. After all, who else but a Frenchman would say, “Hey, Brest is only 600 kilometers (360 miles, for all good Englishmen) from Paris, let’s ride there and back!” And off they've gone “randonneuring,” or journeying, on a “brevet” called “Paris-Brest-Paris,” (PBP for short). Every four years for the better part of the past century hundreds of rider has attempted to complete the 1200 kilometer (720 miles, Queen’s subjects) within a time limit of 90 hours. It’s a crazy endeavor, but dang it, it sounds like fun! I must admit though that at an impressionably young age I read a story about a North American version of PBP, the BMB, or Boston-Montreal-Boston,. Perhaps it was Bicycling Magazine, or maybe it was in the pages of the slicker & ... read more

When I look back at it, my career path seems rather serendipitious. 9 years ago I was walking down a dripping wet pier in a blustery February thunderstorm, surrounded by the cold grimness of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. I endeavored then to take pictures that mattered, as opposed to the pictures that I was forced to take of award ceremonies and commissionings. I never imagined that I would find myself working for a Fortune 500 company as a photographic consultant. Last summer I went to see “What The Bleep Is It All About” at the Naro, our local arthouse cinema. At one point in the film a neurochemist discussed at length how thought patterns altered the brain’s neural network. Based upon his research this neurochemist resolved to alter his own brain’s neural network by thinking good ... read more

The ride to Danville was very wet. The rain was so heavy I could barely see the road markings. But I made it here safely. I ate a going away supper with my parents and grandmother. I also said goodbye to my aunts and uncle. I missed the red Love event of the night though. There was a little get together at Jerry Meadors place. Since I missed the event, I will try to get a picture of Jerry's creation, the North Theatre, on the way out of town tomorrow and post it on the site. It will definitely be a worthy future travel destination. Tomorrow, Bean and I will drive to northern Virginia. We are going to stay with Bean's old roomate, Sally, for the night and she is going to give us a ride ... read more

Well I'm all packed up and about ready to take off. I have packed fairly light, though if i find i need something down in SA i'll just get it then. Wildman, Chrissy and I meet at Dulles on Thursday afternoon for our long flight out. Jason meets us there. We'll get into Cuzco on Friday morning and from there we'll figure out what to do. Our Inca Trail hike doesn't begin until the 12th so we'll have a few days to get acclimated to the altitude and to the idea of being gringos in a foreign land once again. its going to be a great trip.... read more