Remapping

May Day Camping

With the fall semester winding down (and many of us done with our MFAs!) a bunch of friends went down to Turkey Run State Park on Thursday, May 1st to do some hiking and camping. The rain held off and the park was nearly empty and as beautiful as ever. Here's the photo album.

Hillary Clinton's Visit to Lafayette

With the Indiana Primary approaching, Hillary Clinton stopped here in Lafayette on Wednesday. She spoke at Riehle Plaza, at the foot of the pedestrian bridge over the Wabash, less than two blocks from my house. Even better, Laura is a big Hillary supporter and was already planning on coming down from Michigan on Wednesday for a camping trip. So I got in line early and we had great seats for Hillary's speech. It was a beautiful spring day in Lafayette and I got some good pictures.

While I'll be voting for Barack Obama on Tuesday, I was more impressed with Hillary than I expected to be. Lost in the collective liberal swoon over Obama's gift for oration is the fact that Hillary can handle a microphone and a crowd really well herself. She hit the standard liberal talking points, keeping/creating jobs, getting out of Iraq, renewable energy, and some shots at George Bush, all of which rang true to me. For me, the upshot of her talk was that I would have no problem supporting her for President should she come out of the convention with the nomination.

Spring Break Road Trip

The spring break road trip to Memphis, Oxford, Clarksdale, New Orleans, Tuscaloosa, Clemson and Asheville was a great success. Jon, Brian and I had delicious food (ribs, catfish, shrimp po-boys), enjoyed live music (jazz, blues, and dueling pianos), and stopped at literary landmarks related to some of our favorite authors (Faulkner, Williams, Sealy and Toole). Maybe I'll find the time soon to write a day-by-day summary, but for now this photo album will have to tell the story for me.

In other news, my thesis, a collection of short stories, is done and has been handed in to my committee. I defend on Wednesday, April 9th.

Me and My Buddies View the Eclipse

The Lafayette skies cleared up nicely last night, and allowed us a wonderful view of the lunar eclipse. Some friends and I stood in the cold on the pedestrian bridge over the Wabash and watched the moon slide into and out of our shadow. Here are some pictures.

Spring Break Road Trip Plans

My buddies Jon, Brian and I are getting excited about our Spring Break road trip, which begins on Friday, March 7th. We're going to Memphis for a night, stopping in Oxford, MS to see some William Faulkner sights, spending a night in Clarksdale, MS in a room upstairs from a blues club, driving down the Mississippi to New Orleans for two nights in a hostel in the Big Easy, then swinging through Tuscaloosa, Clemson, and Asheville before heading back to Indiana. We're looking forward to lots of great blues and jazz and plenty of barbeque. Since I'm graduating in May, this will probably be my last Spring Break, and it's shaping up to be a great one!

Leaf Peeping Camping Trip

I went back to Turkey Run State Park this weekend to do some camping and check out the Indiana foliage. Laura and I were accompanied by Anna and Ryan, friends from the Purdue English Department. We hiked, cooked over the campfire, and spent a cold night bundled up in the tent. Here's the photo album.

Now With Honey!

In order to avoid doing my grading today, I tried a new pizza sauce recipe which I found on the web. It's pretty standard -- tomato paste, water, and spices -- except that it's got a quarter cup of honey in it. It was sweet, which was strange, but it was very good. I used my usual dough recipe, which I got from my mom and is very good, and I splurged and made it with the King Arthur Flour instead of the Target brand stuff. Who knows if that made a difference, but it made me feel special.

Three pictures that take you through the magical process (yes, I know these look almost exactly like the pictures from my July 20th post, but trust me, the sauce is different):

Some day I want to tackle thin crust, gourmet style pizza, but I need to find a way to do it without becoming absolutely insane about it, like this guy. Enough procrastination for now, though; it's time to grade some papers.

Representing Gitche Gumee

I took the scenic route from Indiana to my cousin Carrie's wedding in Madison, WI, going north through Michigan, over the Mackinac Bridge into the Upper Penninsula, and up to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior. I spent three beautiful days by the shining Big-Sea-Water, camping for two nights and hiking thirty miles along sandstone cliffs two hundred feet above sapphire blue water. The best pictures are in this album.

When I came out of the woods, I drove to Milwaukee where my friends George and Jenn provided me with a shower, a beer, a delicious meal, and a comfortable bed, all of which I badly needed. Then a scenic drive through Wisconsin farmland and I was in the beautiful city of Madison. It was a great weekend there, partying with family, shopping on State Street, checking out the amazing farmers' market, and enjoying a beautiful wedding.

I'm now down to only three states that I haven't been in: Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Fair and Tractor Pull

The Hamilton County Fair was fun last night, with plenty of 4H livestock, four hours of continuous goat judging, antique tractors and a tractor pull. The pull featured Minis, Pro-Stocks, 4WD Trucks, and Modifieds with multiple engines. Here are some pictures from the evening in Noblesville, IN.

As an added treat, here are some movies:

• A turbine powered Mini blows flame for the crowd (11 MB).
• A 4WD Truck makes a nearly full pull (27 MB).

Pizza

It's been a nice morning of sleeping off the Optimator and watching Michael Jackson music videos on YouTube. I'll take this opportunity to post some pictures of my most recent gastronomic accomplishment.

There's a lot of exciting stuff coming soon to the Remapping blog:

• Photos from this evening's trip to the Hamilton County 4H Fair, including the "Come Walk A Llama" event and a tractor pull!
• Another road trip report: my cousin's upcoming wedding in Wisconsin, via Michigan's Upper Penninsula, featuring backcountry camping at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and bookstore browsing in Madison.
• My continued thesis summer search for an aesthetic vision, with help from Gary Lutz, Sam Lipsyte, Amy Hempel, Barry Hannah, Ben Marcus, and Matthew Derby!