Mini Roadtrip!

Hot on the heels of our minivacation to Chincoteague island is our miniature roadtrip!

The journey begins in Virginia on Saturday morning, from which we will travel (with dog, via rental car) to Chicago. From there, we go around noble Lake Michigan to Frankenmuth where a wedding will be attended (by us, not the dog) on Sunday.
Then we turn south, and spend the evening in the bosom of my family (Troy, MI). Early monday afternoon, we return to Chicago where I will take a flight directly back to Washington.

A circuitous route, to be sure, but one that accomplishes many goals:

1. A WEDDING will be attended
2. CLAIRE will be returned to CHICAGO, where she will spend two months (with DOG) conserving an ASSYRIAN FRIEZE for the University of Chicago Oriental Institute (awesome)
3. My family will be VISITED

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Pictures and reflections on Chincoteague and this road trip to be posted after my return!
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I am going to miss her; and the dog.
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Fabled Aunt and beloved blog-reader Barbara commented on the previous pony-related post:

I too wanted to go to Chincoteague to commune with the ponies. Settled for (long story) sister island, Assateague, home of massive herds of mosquitos, which are driven up and down the beach each night by Park Service sprayers.

A clarification: the Chincoteague ponies actually live on Assateague island, and are herded across to Chincoteague only once a year. Perhaps Barb was closer to her goal than she realized?

A spoiler for the upcoming post: WE SAW PONIES (3)!

Miniature Vacation

Claire and I are hitting the road for a long weekend at Chincoteague; a small island off the coast of Virginia. Famed for it's wild ponies and general awesomeness, Chincoteague will provide us with several days worth of diversion and enjoyment.

More upon our return!

(Map)

The Other Website

In January of 2008 I registered the domain www.wmeddy.com

I didn't really have much of a goal in mind, but decided that I should have some space that I could play around on. I built the beginnings of a website by hand, using the HTML4 that I had learned in 8th grade and some bits stolen from around the internet.

There are some people that can teach themselves anything; I am not one of those people.

The site languished for while partly because I didn't have the technical skill to expand it, but mostly because it had to purpose. That changed when graduation came closer and the prospect of being yet another unemployed English Major loomed ahead of me. In a feverish few hours spent on the futon bed on the floor, I threw together a website that had the express purpose of advertising myself.

With the goal of employment now well accomplished, the site once again lacked purpose. I tried a number of Content Management Systems (most notably: wordpress), but nothing really took.

That changed when nearly all of my friends installed the MovableType content management system and made completely awesome websites almost overnight. Not to be left behind, I joined in and The Front of the End was born.

I am telling you this not because Is Max Alive is ending; it has a purpose and people seem to like it. I am bringing you all up to speed because I have some projects going on over there that I'll be linking to from time to time. I hope you enjoy them, and enjoy wmeddy.com
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Speaking of, please enjoy Passable Adventures, my short story in comic-strip form. Updates on Tuesday.

Passable Adventures #1
Passable Adventures #2
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Tomorrow I will be on the National Mall manning a display booth featuring a variety of Army stuff. More on this as it develops.

I Did Something Good Today

The rain has finally come back to Virginia. April had been a month of near constant dryness, of pollen so thick that it left a disgusting yellow patina on all the cars, and of nearly 100º F temperatures.

But this weekend, the skies opened and washed the dust and dry away.

Along with some baby birds from their nests.
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Claire and I were walking to Mancini's, our Misplaced Breakfast location of choice, when I noticed two baby birds on the street. They were new borns, about the size of a chicken's egg. They had no feathers, and their eyes were closed. We were having a collective moment of, 'awww, how tragic' when one of them gasped.

We couldn't just leave it there. Not with it wiggling around like that.
"This is stupid," I said. "I know we can't take care of this thing."
"We're human," Claire said.
"Do you know what it says in the dictionary under 'Human?'"
"Stupid?"
"Exactly."

We quickly spirited the little creature out of the cold rain and into a warm towel. Claire started to feed it some warm milk and honey from a straw, but quickly stopped after I read online that milk isn't good for birdies. The warm fluid seemed to revive him a bit, though. We wrapped him up in towels, and put him in a drawer with a warm water bottle.

Following the advice of the Internet I sought out the bird's nest, which I found 9 feet above where he had fallen in a small tree. Having no ladder of my own, I had the awkward task of wandering around and knocking on people's doors until I found someone willing to lend me one. I eventually found the right door, which I knew was the right door when I noticed that the gentleman owned a tree trimming business.

Within short order, we returned the bird -- whom Claire named Sydney as soon as she knew he could be safely returned to his nest -- and finally met some neighbors. All around, a winning day.
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Beyond all this avian excitement, Claire is working hard to finish her papers. This semester has been, as I've said, very tough on her. We're both looking forward to having it behind us.

I continue to just work; still at the Fort, still workin' for the Army. The big news for me is that I'll be doing one of the events that our team is famous for, showing off Army gear and delivering The Message.

Apparently it's an outdoor event, open to the public. My co-worker brought up the subject of my participation by asking, "have you ever been protested?" Without missing a beat I said, "Yes. Yes I have." GARGOYLE HUMOR MAGAZINE: the perfect preparation for a job in defense contracting!