California Dreamin'

While the majority of my lab is down partying and getting appendectomies in Bolivia, I decided to plan out a week long vacation to visit the family up in Portland followed by the rekindling of the friendship with a long lost pal of mine, Scott Moll. Scott and I were friends throughout our Freshman year in the dorms (until he decided to transfer away from Oregon), however we've done a surprisingly good job at remaining close through social media and text message. As recently as July 2nd, Scott sent a text asking me to come down California, to which I responded "For how long?" I hadn't much better to do, and escaping the work place for a few days to spend some time in Santa Barbara sounded like a perfect idea. We both decided that 5 days would be enough (Wednesday through Sunday), and I booked the tickets a month in advance.


Fast forward to the day of the flight; I arrive at the Burbank Airport at 9:20 am. Scott, however, arrives at the Burbank Airport at 10:50 am. So we're off to a rough start (turns out he slept in) but that's ok, I was just glad to see a close friend of mine for the first time in 3 years. 

"What's the plan?" I ask Scott. Scott shrugs his shoulders; turns out we don't really have one. 

"Well, alright then, I'm good with whatever." 

We get on the freeway headed north in the direction of Santa Barbara, only to take a (rather surprising) exit to head to Simi Valley, California; a suburban sprawl of a city with very little if anything entertaining to do. It turns out that this is where Scott is currently living (not Santa Barbara as I had previously thought), and this is where I'd be staying for my trip. Another minor miscommunication, but I thought  "that's ok, we're only 40 minutes away from the beach. This can still be fun." Scott drops me off at his house only to have to leave for work for the rest of the day (until 7 pm)... kind of lame, but I remain cautiously optimistic. As the day wore on and I was trapped alone in his house, optimism turned in to boredom which turned in to a little annoyance. But I figured Thursday would be better, as we've had a month to plan this out. 

Turns out I was wrong. Once Scott returned that night, I asked what the plan for Thursday was; working between 8 am and 7 pm, and leave me in his house without a car or anyway to get anywhere. This was the plan for Friday too. I don't have anyway or how to get to eat lunch, and the plan is to leave me in a house for almost 12 hours by myself. This is when I realize I have to leave, and leave I did.
The Thursday morning sun rose, and with it came a plan to escape Simi Valley (mind you with no car or anything but clothes in my backpack). I walked around the neighborhood and asked an old woman how to get to the coast if I had nothing but my feet for transportation. Turns out there was an Amtrak Station only 2 miles from where I was staying, so I packed my bags and walked through the California Valley; determined to restore the adventurous vacation I previously thought I was going to have. I boarded a train to Ventura, California with no idea or care of where I was staying that night, but it was better than being in a vegetative state in a house that felt more like a prison than anything. Scott also failed to mention how or what I was supposed to have for breakfast/lunch, he had 3 other roommates of which I didn't want to steal any of their food. I survived solely on delicious Milano cookies until 2 pm; my arrival in Ventura. 

Breakfast and Lunch

Leaving turned out to be the greatest decision of the trip, as Ventura was actually a magnificent town. Great coffee, great views, a hotel for relatively cheap being 2 blocks away from the coast (109 a night), and everyone was friendly. The weather was lovely, I walked around the entire town and had nothing to complain about. I probably walked upwards of 13 miles on Thursday; all in the spirit of adventure. 

My surprisingly cheap hotel room

The entire town

Filming for some tv show was happening on the beach

But no, the adventure didn't stop there. I originally set out on this trip to intending to see Santa Barbara, and by golly I was going to see it. The next day, I packed up my backpack and did the whole thing over again; this time boarding the train for Santa Barbara. I called around for a hotel while I was on the train, and booked a super crappy one for cheap in Goleta, CA, which was only 5 miles away from SB by public bus.

My savior

Friday night accomidations

Friday was spent nearly all day out and about along the streets and coast of Santa Barbara, ending with dinner and a movie (Brave, I'd give it a B-). Santa Barbara is also a great town, although much more touristy than Ventura, with more spoiled 17-year-olds than I've ever seen in my life. The sun, coast and atmosphere sure was welcoming. 

I called my Aunt on Friday (she's located in Pasadena) and asked her what she was up to ; turns out she was not only free, but also that she was going to the same airport at the same time that my flight was to fly out of to head home. This was a beautiful coincidence. I spent another half day in SB before boarding the train down to Los Angeles and taking the metro over to Pasadena, where I spent a day and a half relaxing with my Aunt.

Overall, it was one of the most adventurous trips I have ever taken, mostly because I had no idea where I was going to sleep the night I was traveling. And I must say, Scott really had a shit plan for me to come in... I'm still not quite sure why he told me to stay for 5 days when there was clearly nothing to do and nearly no way to entertain myself. Because of this, I was able to spend a significant amount of time being completely independent of everything and realize how well off I'm doing on my own. I would not have been able to do this even a year ago with as much confidence as I had. Living in the real world has really affected the way I look at things, and it showed on this trip.

I definitely don't regret making the trip out. It was fun, unique, and beautiful at the same time. I wish I could have spent more time with Scott, but he really dropped the ball on this one. I have no hard feelings, and I'd still say hi to him in the future, but odds of me visiting again are 0. 

A weekend away from it all

I decided to take a break this past weekend from the monotony of gmailing Dan and riding bikes to go on a 2 day backpacking trip to Waldo Lake, situated in Central Oregon. Don't get me wrong, I like gmailing Dan and going on bike rides, but every so I feel as if I should change it up. The plan was simple; do nothing but enjoy the great outdoors, poop in holes that I was to dig out with a shovel, and possibly get some sun on parts of my body that otherwise have been obstructed by cycling clothing. We (3 girls and myself) drove up Friday afternoon to Waldo lake, which prides itself as one of the clearest lakes in the nation, with over 100 feet of depth visibility due to pure snow run off.  A group of 4 was to join us later that night, which consisted of 3 guys I didn't know as well as one other girl that I had briefly met before, bringing our total to 8 people. We were to backpack in the Friday night (not terribly far away from the car), hike quite a bit away on Saturday, spend the night as far away from civilization as possible, and return on Sunday. That was the plan, and it went mostly according to schedule, but of course there were many things unaccounted for.

For example, did you know that Waldo lake has one of the highest concentrations of mosquitoes in the Oregon? I didn't. And I found this out the hard way. Pulling in to the campground, Ashlin (my Alaskan friend) opened the door and immediately let in over 15 mosquitoes in to the car. Within maybe 8 seconds we shut the door and realized the amount of trouble that these insects would cause. Luckily, I recently went to REI and purchased 98% deet spray (in comparison, OFF! is approximately 8% deet), to ward off the bugs, but I could not apply that carcinogen fast enough before I suffered ~10 bites. Balls. And it's not that I was conservative with this spray either; I applied it everywhere that I could reach, but there were so many mosquitoes that they would end up in the smallest of spots that I missed;  their main target being my shoulder blades and sides of feet. 

Once we had coped with the skeetos and set up camp the first night, it was finally time to appreciate the view and enormity of the landscape we were in. It sure was beautiful, and virtually no one else near us the first night (mostly due to people knowing about the bug issue)  made it all that much more pretty. 

The other group of 4 joined us just before sundown. Smores were made, beers were had, and we were all feeling pretty excited to go hike the next day. Quite a bit of that icky sticky stuff was smoked that night as well (I was the only one that didn't partake), but we'll get to more of that later.

Waking up for day 2, we were instantly greeted by mosquitoes hanging on the edge of our tent. The 8% OFF spray had absolutely no effect on them, and many of them seized the opportunity before I could get more of the real deet on myself. Once packed, we planned our route and took off for what seemed to be somewhere between a 7-9 mile backpack. The other 7 partook in some more Mary J that morning, and we were off by 10:00 am.

The hike was a quick pace, until we reached the first of many hills. The percent grade was somewhere around 20% if I were to guess, which caused some mild discomfort, but allowed us to take a break while grabbing some food and smoking some more (count up to 3). We were at ~6000 feet elevation, which surprisingly still had some snow on the ground, and quite a bit on the trail we were on. 
After about 6 miles and some decent pitches and one more smoke break (4), we reached a sign that indicated we were going the right direction, but the trail was extremely difficult. No problem for us 8 athletic 20-something-year-olds.

Just kidding. I failed to get any pictures of how steep this pitch was due to my intent focus on not falling down it. The trail was covered in approximately 85% snow and somewhere in the 30-35% pitch range for maybe a mile. Downed trees provided a false sense of solid footing, as if you were to step inches to the side of one, your foot would sink through the top layer of snow and you would fall flat on your face.

This was on the easier section. No pictures were taken during the 30-35% portion of the hike. 

Isn't it mid July?

We eventually reached Island Lakes in total isolation. No one or thing is anywhere near us, and we decide this is where we were camping for the night. We drop off our stuff, threw our food in the snow to cool it, and the group decides to smoke quite a bit more (#'s 5/6/7). We soak up the rays, swam in the 2°C water, and relaxed for the rest of the day. The evening was filled with wieners on sticks, more smoking (#s 8/9/10?) and some good ol fashioned game of cards. No computers, no cell phones, no Dan. 

Final location

Fun place for a swim

Logistical wiener spiral cutting. Able to cook thoroughly.

It also holds your condiments (in this case, avocado) in place

We went to bed with a false presumption of solitude. However, it turned out a little critter decided to pay Carrie a visit that night (she slept under the stars), and took a nice little chunk out of her foam sleeping pad. 

That couldn't have tasted too good

After a solid nights sleep, the dawn of the third day rose and the adventurous tone had slightly dimmed down, but moral remained high. Not as high as half of the people on the trip, but still pretty high (they had #'s 11 and 12 in the morning). Everyone remained friendly throughout the trip, regardless of bugs, chaffage of many sorts and locations, and the wear and tear from the weight of the backpacks. We hiked down the 35% slopes at a record pace, and covered the 8 miles back in approximately 3 hours.

The entire group

Once back in the car,  we analyzed the damage of the mosquitoes and sun, had a good laugh and were ready to head off.  Our last visit on the trip was to the Oregon Lava Fields, which occured ~6000 years ago (dangerously close to around the time the Earth was created, but it checked out). 

Life uh, finds a way

Lava overwhelmed a tree 6000 years ago, leaving this hollow shell once it crusted around it.

The trip ended with a beer from a local brewery, an Elk burger, and a content smile, knowing that I would return soon to my monotonous life of research, bike riding, and gmail chat. 

Oregon Volleyball Posters: Off To A Bad Start

Last year (2011), Oregon Volleyball decided to make what might have been the worst volleyball poster in the history of the sport. In summary, the overlying message of the poster was that distinct and unique characteristics (no matter how positive or negative they may be) do not define the players on our team. Height truly does not define Haley, who is ~5'3. Long legs do not define Alaina, who is 6'3. Swagger doesn't define Lauren Plum, although she has an awful lot of it. And certainly a 4.0 doesn't define Katherine Fisher, who's a First-Team All Academic American. No, rather it is victory that defines these tremendous individuals. Let us now take a step back and disregard that the poster is essentially one half of someone's face with a photoshopped O for an iris, and that you can't actually read the wording on the left side of the poster with the dark gray on black writing, and definitely don't pay attention to the fact that you can hardly tell that the poster is for volleyball. Put all of those things aside, and realize that the poster is still essentially stating that a 4.0 GPA is a less defining characteristic of an athlete than winning the game she plays. Why knowledge and hard work off the court can't co-exist with victory, I'm not quite sure. Overall, it sent a pretty terrible message to the fans (especially the children, to whom most of the posters go to) while leaving out the main point of any athletic poster: that the sport that they're promoting is awesome.

However, this is all old news to almost all of my readers, and you've all certainly been thinking the same thing as I have; there's no way that this years poster could be worse than lasts. At least, that's what I was thinking, until the Oregon Duck's Facebook page let out a preview of one of our 2012 posters. Have a look. 

Alright, so let's see what we're working with. First off, there are two Alaina's, immediately capturing the attention of anyone who glances at the poster. She's Miss Oregon USA and Volleyball Player; the poster is already doing a better job than last year's by telling us what sport she actually plays. Now hmmm... what's this in the middle? With these two Alaina's on one poster, I'm pretty sure you don't need anything else , but let's take a closer look.

"If you think that the world's a stage,

And all the men and women are merely players, 

you haven't met my team"

I'm going to let you go back up and read that again. Have you read it twice yet? If so, your face should have the same kind of inquisitive look on it as if one of your best friends just told you that their favorite band was Nickelback. I've read that  quote perhaps 20 times and haven't quite made sense of it yet, but I will interpret it to the best of my ability: the poster is implying that our volleyball players aren't merely players, they're other things as well, for example, Miss Oregon. Oh, and fuck Shakespeare. (I can't make any other sense of it than that). Why couldn't the poster just stop at 2 pictures of Alaina??? It had everything I needed until I read that quote!

Of course, the most ironic part of it all is that the poster is stating that Alaina is more than just an athlete. She's someone outside of the realm of the world's stage: she does beauty pageants. Yes, the same pageants where the women are put up on a stage for the world to see. I don't think the marketing team really quite knew what the metaphor of "the world's stage" and "players" meant... and even if they didn't, even if they stopped to think for one second in the case of Alaina (the athlete they're highlighting), SHE'S STILL LITERALLY PUT ON THE STAGE AS A PLAYER FOR THE WORLD TO SEE. In Shakespeare's original quote, "players" doesn't mean that they're literally athletes playing a game. And even if it did, even if it meant they were always competing, in the case of Alaina's two pictures (volleyball and pageantry), she literally is a player. I know reading Shakespeare is hard to interpret when you're a freshman in high school, but marketing truly did a terrible job at this one.

Kurt, from Facebook, put it best: "I'm not following the Shakespeare reference. Athletes (and pageant contestants) are certainly players on a stage for our entertainment. What else do they think they are?"

To which the Duck's page replied: @kurt:  Winners.

Kurt: Win or lose, they play. So they're players. And the volleyball court is their stage. Still don't get it, but not going to worry about it. Oh, well.

Kurt certainly is a bigger man than I, as his argument is quite logical (and he understands the metaphor), yet he is still willing to drop the subject. Hat's off to you, Kurt.

I realized that I left out the most critical question; why is this poster attacking the quote of a man that wrote it over 400 years ago? What was going through the mind of the person who thought of this? Why did they chose a well known, well loved Shakespeare quote?  They could have as easily gone with:

"If you think a rose by any other name,
would smell as sweet,
you haven't met my team"

It still would have made just as much sense. 

Overall, I'd say this poster is better than last years; we can appreciate all of Alaina (rather than half of her face), know what sport she plays, and it doesn't dismiss the academic success of #12. Still, I'd give it a solid F, especially since they had the potential to make it so much better.