Blargh!
So, after not posting for... good lord, what has it been... 2 months now? I suppose I should probably put up something here to verify that I do indeed still have a pulse. That last couple of months have been interesting, to say the least. I'll try to spare the details, and merely make a quick update. Awhile back after FWA I swung by northern Michigan to say hi to my dog, and to a lesser degree, my parents (they understand why they take a backseat to the grand dog, no worries). That was definitely a nice breather that I needed. After that, things have been a blur of moving my stuff into storage, getting out of the house in Lombard, and generally trying to figure out where to go next.
For all the people who have asked about the Wolf Hybrid book... our literary agent has apparently (with no surprise to us) had some difficulty pitching a niche market technical book written by first time authors to large publishers. In an effort to push things up a bit, we may have some smaller, or possibly even self-publication opportunities available, so there is hope! The book is not dead, I'll try to keep posts coming as I learn more about where that is going.
As for other career opportunities, I'm moving out Colorado-ward, where they seem to be some good potentials for... well, lots of things. More on that when I get it figured out. The first is the potential to go back to school. Unfortunately graduate programs only start in the fall....with an early deadline. So with the applications heading in soon, hopefully we will be finding out what will be going on next year. In the meantime *works on cooking up some business plans*. The second is another book (yes, Jes, I have outlines, yes, I will get them to you, now that my laptop is no longer in the hands of the wondrous hotel in Lexington that thought you could send a package without a house address on it).
On a more pleasant, less frazzled note, this last weekend was spent exploring Colorado, of which, I must admit, I had seen very little of outside of the high plains, the mega churches of Colorado Springs, and the most prime ski real estate the Rockies have to offer. With Tek and Dire AWOL for the weekend while we were in Ft. Collins taking care of fun things like paperwork, we decided to slip out for a couple of days. I quick scan with google earth presented a few different options for weekend destinations, but eventually vinnywest and I decided on Mesa Verde National Park since neither of us had ever been there, much less heard of it in recent memory. As it turns out, it is not only an amazing archeological site where there are ruins from native cliff dwellings, but the area itself, not to mention the drive to it, is just phenomenally beautiful. Colorado Highway 141 south of Grand Junction down to Naturita was possibly the most visually stunning stretch of highway I have ever driven on. The pictures we got don't nearly do some of the wide expanses and breathtaking views any justice. Were it not for the fact that the entire corner of the state is conveniently located in the middle of nowhere, HOURS upon hours from any significant location, it would almost be tempting to move there for how beautiful it was.
Most of the pictures that we did grab from the trip can be found here, but I did link to a few particular ones to narrate behind the cut. Bottom line, if you ever have the opportunity to go visit the four corners area but are thinking twice about it because there's 'nothing there'... you're mostly right, but you might want to rethink a decision to overlook it entirely, because there were definitely no regrets from going to check out this moderately hidden treasure.
Being a big fan of scenic roads, and not being able to pass up a giant 'green spot' on google maps, we had to check out the Colorado National Monument on our way out of Grand Junction, as it was right nearby. For a quick scenic drive, the payout was huge, as there were amazing views over just amazing scenery to be had at every turn. Despite driving a crappy 300 as a rental, the views more than made up for the sponge-like handling of the rental, which I have to admit, got us across the state and back in one piece.
After that was the stunning drive down 141. I wish I had taken opportunities to get photos, as the gradual BLM land canyons turned rapidly into winding red rock and deep canyons, green valleys, and cobalt rivers that were just too incredible to describe in words. Gateway Colorado, as it turns out, was also the destination of choice for every motorcycle within a 200 mile radius. There was quite an impressive collection of them in town, and I saw many enjoying the well cared for roads and their smooth sweeping turns through the canyons, finding myself craving my own set of wheels out there. Some day.
We managed to get out of the Monument fairly early, despite wanting to stay and take pictures all day, and we got on the road in plenty of time to arrive at Mesa Verde and take in some of the sites that could be seen through self guided means. Between seeing lots of very interesting exhibits in the museum and seeing the actual ruins themselves, I realized I knew very, very little about the region and the indigenous people there. There was something really amazing about seeing 1000+ year old structures. In the United States.
As luck would have it, there were far more things to see than merely the ruins. The views from the whole park were absolutely ridiculous.
And as usual, I found the perfect place to go see them from
When we had first arrived, a huge windstorm had kicked up a bunch of dust and sediment and had nearly blocked out the sky, making visibility somewhat of a luxury. However, by the time we were leaving, visibility much improved, and we were treated to a much more impressive view heading out of the park to go home than we had been when we came in. Mesa Verde could pretty much be summed up in its entirety with this:
For all the people who have asked about the Wolf Hybrid book... our literary agent has apparently (with no surprise to us) had some difficulty pitching a niche market technical book written by first time authors to large publishers. In an effort to push things up a bit, we may have some smaller, or possibly even self-publication opportunities available, so there is hope! The book is not dead, I'll try to keep posts coming as I learn more about where that is going.
As for other career opportunities, I'm moving out Colorado-ward, where they seem to be some good potentials for... well, lots of things. More on that when I get it figured out. The first is the potential to go back to school. Unfortunately graduate programs only start in the fall....with an early deadline. So with the applications heading in soon, hopefully we will be finding out what will be going on next year. In the meantime *works on cooking up some business plans*. The second is another book (yes, Jes, I have outlines, yes, I will get them to you, now that my laptop is no longer in the hands of the wondrous hotel in Lexington that thought you could send a package without a house address on it).
On a more pleasant, less frazzled note, this last weekend was spent exploring Colorado, of which, I must admit, I had seen very little of outside of the high plains, the mega churches of Colorado Springs, and the most prime ski real estate the Rockies have to offer. With Tek and Dire AWOL for the weekend while we were in Ft. Collins taking care of fun things like paperwork, we decided to slip out for a couple of days. I quick scan with google earth presented a few different options for weekend destinations, but eventually vinnywest and I decided on Mesa Verde National Park since neither of us had ever been there, much less heard of it in recent memory. As it turns out, it is not only an amazing archeological site where there are ruins from native cliff dwellings, but the area itself, not to mention the drive to it, is just phenomenally beautiful. Colorado Highway 141 south of Grand Junction down to Naturita was possibly the most visually stunning stretch of highway I have ever driven on. The pictures we got don't nearly do some of the wide expanses and breathtaking views any justice. Were it not for the fact that the entire corner of the state is conveniently located in the middle of nowhere, HOURS upon hours from any significant location, it would almost be tempting to move there for how beautiful it was.
Most of the pictures that we did grab from the trip can be found here, but I did link to a few particular ones to narrate behind the cut. Bottom line, if you ever have the opportunity to go visit the four corners area but are thinking twice about it because there's 'nothing there'... you're mostly right, but you might want to rethink a decision to overlook it entirely, because there were definitely no regrets from going to check out this moderately hidden treasure.
Being a big fan of scenic roads, and not being able to pass up a giant 'green spot' on google maps, we had to check out the Colorado National Monument on our way out of Grand Junction, as it was right nearby. For a quick scenic drive, the payout was huge, as there were amazing views over just amazing scenery to be had at every turn. Despite driving a crappy 300 as a rental, the views more than made up for the sponge-like handling of the rental, which I have to admit, got us across the state and back in one piece.
After that was the stunning drive down 141. I wish I had taken opportunities to get photos, as the gradual BLM land canyons turned rapidly into winding red rock and deep canyons, green valleys, and cobalt rivers that were just too incredible to describe in words. Gateway Colorado, as it turns out, was also the destination of choice for every motorcycle within a 200 mile radius. There was quite an impressive collection of them in town, and I saw many enjoying the well cared for roads and their smooth sweeping turns through the canyons, finding myself craving my own set of wheels out there. Some day.
We managed to get out of the Monument fairly early, despite wanting to stay and take pictures all day, and we got on the road in plenty of time to arrive at Mesa Verde and take in some of the sites that could be seen through self guided means. Between seeing lots of very interesting exhibits in the museum and seeing the actual ruins themselves, I realized I knew very, very little about the region and the indigenous people there. There was something really amazing about seeing 1000+ year old structures. In the United States.
As luck would have it, there were far more things to see than merely the ruins. The views from the whole park were absolutely ridiculous.
And as usual, I found the perfect place to go see them from
When we had first arrived, a huge windstorm had kicked up a bunch of dust and sediment and had nearly blocked out the sky, making visibility somewhat of a luxury. However, by the time we were leaving, visibility much improved, and we were treated to a much more impressive view heading out of the park to go home than we had been when we came in. Mesa Verde could pretty much be summed up in its entirety with this: