Bowling

Its been a great week and iv been enjoying everything that im doing. Class was very interesting and we turned in a mid-quarter portfolio yesterday. Im starting to enjoy and get to know the teachers way better and have had some great conversations with them. Im also still compiling massive amounts of scientific journals and studies for my video project and am slowly making progress. Iv been getting lots of work in at the rec center and covered an additional two shifts this week. This week has been pretty warm and the sun has even shown itself a few times. Yesterday after class my friend Curtis and me went biking on some trails down to the beach and around campus. Later a large group of 15 or so friends rode the bus out to the bowling ally and played a few games. Im currently at work and will be off in an hour, im planning on ridding downtown today and depositing paychecks and picking up food. I met with my academic advisor this week and am trying to figure out plans to study abroad!

PICTURES!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144810&id=631538370&l=45e7c9eddc
Thats all for tonight but i will update more once im rested

Olympic National Forest!!!!!!

So i know its been a while, but man this week has been super busy and iv had too catch up on some work due to an amazing weekend of BACKPACKING!!!! So i left with my good friend, Anna, on Saturday morning(my roommate zeph let us borrow his car) and we headed up towards the Olympic National Forest. Unfortunately that morning i woke up and went to turn off my alarm and spilled water all over my phone....(however it turned on again after 5 days of not working...). We had some vague plans set but ended up figuring out most of it at the ranger station in Port Angeles. Most of the park is snowed out/flooded, but we found one of the few places which was still accessible. We had a short 3 mile hike to boulder creek campground and had to cross and few streams. Once there we rushed to the Olympic hot springs which were a minute away and ate lunch while soaking our feet. Later we found a great campsite unpacked and started dinner. It was a rainy night and luckily we were prepared with a tent and heavy tarp. The next morning we took down our food(we had to put it in a bear box and hang it in a tree) and cooked some oatmeal and tea. We then went and relaxed in the most amazing hot springs pool. There were about 10 pools and the one we went to was at the top of a hill and had a sulfur waterfall flowing into it. Many birds came and joined us and literally walked around a foot away from us... Later that day we went hiking up Appleton pass and ended up ascending around 4000 feet. We eventually stopped on a snowy mountain side, snaked for a bit, and then had to turn back to beat the night. At night we cooked up some delicious kinwa and veggies and also decided to pack up all our gear and hike back that night(to beat the storm and have time to readjust to school). After packing everything we proceeded to trek back to the amazing springs and soaked there for at least an hour. Once we absorbed all the heat and sulfur we could went loaded up and hiked back while carrying lots of light. We made it back around midnight and then drove back to Olympia. This is a very short story of the trip and it really helped to put many things in perspective. It was somewhat depressing to have to leave the incredible temperate rain forest with thousand year old trees. This week of class has been good and i have also been working a lot at the rec center. Today i had a FERPA training about releasing personal info.... it was pretty redundant but i got paid for it so wooop. I have sooo many pictures to post and once i have the time i will share them. Well thats all for now, i must get back to reading, In Defense of Food, now(awesome so far) and have an early class/seminar tomorrow. Night

Backpacking!!!

Its been a great week and despite the business im really enjoying what im doing currently. Class has been very interesting and im starting to compile sources for my video project. Our books have also been very enjoyable and i find myself very drawn into all the texts. The book, Betwixt and Between, talks about lack of initiations and sense of self in the current generation and how it relates to depression and suicide. During long newspaper strikes a drop in suicide rates occur and the media is a large factor of the current depression. Our current book, Weapons of Mass Instruction, talks about the corruption of the school system and how we are conditioned in many subtle ways to become consumers, without creativity or the ability to question. It also talks about how not that long ago people did not need forced education and were much more active in the community as producers. I have a new work schedule now and am working monday, tuesday, and wednesday, which is nice because it somewhat correlates with my classes so i can get school work done right after class... Its been pretty gray here, but not too cold or rainy. I had my first successful brew of water kefir. Water kefir is a culture of various strains of healthy bacteria and yeasts which are held together in a polysaccharide matrix created by the bacteria. Some of the benefits are for nervous disorders, internal ulcers, bronchial catarrh, sclerosis,myocardial infarction, liver and gall bladder disorders, kidney problems, stomach and intestinal diseases, diarrhea or constipation, anemia, allergies, dermatitis and other skin problems such as eczema. It also tastes great and is slightly sweet and carbonated. I have been working out almost daily and still play lots of racket ball and sauna. This weekend i will be going backpacking with a good friend into the olympic national forest. we will probably also drive to the coast and see some cool sights over the weekend. I have monday off so i intend on having some fun and hiking in some thousand year old temperate rain forests!!!

Back

Im back at school now and am still adjusting to this fast paced place. I had a surprisingly relaxing and fast, yet cramped, ride to Washington and celebrated my birthday with a group of close friends up here. There are many birthdays this month and my roommate, Ed, had his yesterday. Iv had two classes so far and am really looking forward to this quarter. We switched seminar leaders so im with the other teacher now who is very interesting. This quarter we are doing another health project and i decided im going to make a comprehensive educational health video dealing with the precautionary principle. Im going to be focusing on muscular/bone structure, diet, existing hazardous materials/ingredients, and radiation. These are the topics iv chosen so far and the video will most likely be around 10 minutes which should be enough length to convey lots of information. My goal is to promote longevity because are current generation needs a wake up call. The leading cause of deaths in the U.S. is from cardiac arrest and factors such as unhealthy diets are killing us and heavily taxing the medical system. I have also picked up a few shifts at the rec center this week and will be starting a new permanent schedule next week. I have also been working on some painting and lots of reading. Hope everyone is well... off to more work now