Rapids

So it's been a while. My journalism internship sort of kicked itself into high gear very suddenly and has only just started to wind down recently. ArtPrize struck Grand Rapids and out of nowhere it seemed like that was the only thing in this city. Certainly it will merit its own post (or series thereof), but I don't have the things

I need for that compiled yet.

And this is one I've been planning for a while anyway- it's a river post. I tend to forget about the fact that a river divides this city... despite the fact that it's named for it. 

So one day back before the chaos started I took a quick walk along the river, just taking some pictures of it.

It's actually quite a nice river. I should forget about it less.

 

And here's a little one from ArtPrize- it's one of two pieces that used the river.

Eliot's birthday

So last week Eliot turned 27, and to celebrate we partook in one of his favorite activities: mini golf.

We found this sort of run-down, but perfectly functional facility out in Wyoming called Craig's Cruisers, and had a grand ole time.

Here are the pictures to prove it!

 Lauren checking out her putter.

 Spencer putting his game face on.

 Kelsey kept bumping her ball off the course.

I think this was the third or fourth time it happened. She just couldn't contain herself.

All in all, I think it was a very satisfactory birthday party. We laser-tagged after this, but that's obviously much less practical to document photographically.

Puppy Beach Day

About a week ago Eliot, Lauren, and I took Lauren's newly adopted dog, Armour to the beach. She's obsessed with water and spent most of the summer sitting in a kiddie pool in the driveway. So we figured she'd freak out over Lake Michigan.

She did.

 It turns out she really, really liked rolling around in the sand.

Chicago Playtime

A couple weeks ago my buddy Hannah visited our friend Matteo in Chicago, and since Hannah is one of my best friends, Eliot and I piled into the car and spent the weekend with them.

Today I finally got the film from that trip developed.

 

 Left to Right: Eliot, Matt, and Banana

 

 

I'm super pleased with them. My analogue camera has really interesting light quality. It's well worth the hassle of lugging it around and paying to get the film developed.

Missing Santa Cruz

I've been riding a wave of nostalgia for Santa Cruz for a while. It's remarkable how easy it is to take the things you adore for granted. Having the beach be a ten minute walk from my house, having amazing hiking and mountain scenery be no more than a twenty minute drive, and all the weird and amazing little quirks in between. While it's true that I've been missing just about everything lately, what I'm really pining for is the environment and how we used it (and wishing we had used it much more while we could).

Like flying Eliot's pirate kite at the beach in the middle of January.

Or going on river walks along the San Lorenzo river.

Or hiking at the Pogonip.

Just been thinking about these places more than usual lately, and how neat it would be to go to them.

It's the little things

Like watching the dinosaurs on your coffee mug slowly go extinct

Until only the top of the T-Rex's head remains  :)

Or like finding Aero using your running shoes as a pillow

 

Dreams of Burning Man

It's finally here. Burning Man is once again upon us. Were I still in Cali, we'd have left late last night and driven straight through to see the sun rise in Nevada. But getting there from Michigan is much less practical than getting there from Santa Cruz was. So I shan't be spending the week running around the desert partially clothed, playing and adventuring and meeting amazing new people. 

In fact, in many ways this week will resemble a lot of the other weeks I've seen since moving to Grand Rapids last November. But I'm surprised (and a little stoked) to report that after today I'm not nearly as distressed as I thought I'd be. Of course I'd rather spend my week running around Black Rock City than selling books to elderly people who more often than not seem bothered just by my very existence, but I can't help but feel like there's still some potential for this week in this place. I was offered an internship with the Rapidian earlier (quite possibly a paid internship, no less), and today was the most beautiful fall day I've seen since I was a kid. So I can't help but think this week can't be too bad after all.

Despite that, I think for now I'll put the week on hold and take a bike ride down memory lane to last year's Burning Man.

With that, I bid you a good evening. Let's see if this blogging experiment can become a regular thing. In this past it hasn't quite worked out, but let's see how it goes this time.