Real Haunted House

Video about a recent trip to a real haunted house in rural Georgia.

Floating Aliens

I went to the Georgia Aquarium with my mom the other day and had an enchanting time looking at all the creatures. We stand quietly watching fins flap through the water and unblinking eyes gaze back through the glass. The aquarium is the most scifi-like place you can go to…all those strange animals that are so different from what we see in our dry, land world. When I stand and stare at the fish or crabs swimming and creeping, I can’t help but think about outer space and aliens.

Here are some of my favorite photos of the jellyfish…voted "most alien-like" in a recent survey. Enjoy.

Unflushed blogs

I did something a bit disheartening today. I went down a rather long list of bookmarked blogs and cleared out all the ones that haven’t been updated in the last year. It was disheartening because I read through all this super outdated material on abandoned URLs and ended up feeling a terrible sense of loss. I deleted 10 blogs! That’s 10 people who just decided one day to stop writing and updating the faceless masses of the internet on their daily adventures. No more stories about wacky teaching experiences, no more diatribes on customer service at Sears, no more cherry pie reviews for out-of-the-way diners in the Midwest. Boom, all gone. And left to float in increasingly absurdity in the expanse of cyberspace.

At first it was kind of neat to see what friends were doing in early 2008…and then it was late 2007…and as I went along the ending dates got older…sometime in 2006…and after that I couldn’t see properly due to a welling up of tears in my eyes. What had happened to these people? What became of their virtual voice? And would it perhaps have been better if the blogs had been taken down instead of left to sit with unchanging pages?

In the past several years I’ve moved 5 times and each time I’ve taking fewer things to the next place than I original brought to the last. This is in part because every time I move I say, “I’m never packing up and moving this stuff again!” which translates to me actually not packing some things up and just giving them away to whoever is close by. I’ve also learned the value of traveling light in life. Honestly, most people have too much stuff. And the longer you live, the more stuff you get…until one day you die and then your loved ones have to sift through all your stuff and ask, “Why did he have so much stuff?”

My point being: you really only need a few** things in life (**”few” being defined by lots of factors that deserve their own blog entry).

This philosophy can be carried over to blogs. At this point in my life I’m working hard to move forward…moving to New York, getting a new job, starting a new life that will challenge and inspire me…so when it comes to stale blogs, I just wish they had been flushed away instead of sitting idle saying, This life has stopped and will not move forward anymore. March 2007 was the height of my life and there is no reason to regale you any further with commentary on my dare care for dogs.

Woohooshhhh! Outdated blogs and last week’s Wal-Mart goldfish down into the depths of the departed.

I wonder what I’ll eventually do with the JaBlog…

New Year, New Title…New York!

The JaBlog is taking on a new look and I’m setting a new course for my next big adventure in life: New York City. After readjusting back to life in America and doing some serious thinking about the future, I’m ready to take the next step and head to one of the most amazing cities in the world.

I have some big plans and big dreams for the Big Apple…and I’ll keep you updated on those as the weeks go by.

Photos of a quiet battlefield

Despite my first experience of getting ridiculously lost (the “ridiculous” referring to my navigational skills, not to my level of lostness), I persevered and went back to Nash Farm, the Civil War Historical Battlefield Park (see previous post). This time I found the wooded trail…that was actually mostly a gravel driveway and about 20 meters of dead leaves…and arrived within minutes.

Here are some photos I took of the area:

Close up of a tree overlooking the site of cavalry charge.

Same tree farther back (I really like this tree).

Gravel road for Confederate and Union ghosts to wander.

Big ol’ southern sky.

Me.

Old South and how I got lost in the woods

So my parents live near this totally awesome Civil War battlefield. I’ve never really been that interested in the American Civil War because growing up I always preferred ancient history with the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. BUT, since I did grow up southern, I did get a fair amount of southern history mixed with some Gone with the Wind movie watching. This southern epic gave me a strong impression of the Civil War as a really messy, bloody and horrible time with the starving, destitute Scarlet and hospital-leg-amputation scenes. Who wants to endure all that when you could instead read about Greek heroes with their orations and protector goddesses?

ANYWAY, it hasn’t been until recently when I was away from my southern home that I gained a new appreciation and interest in southern history. The south is a place you experience through its friendly people and delicious food. This can be said of many places perhaps, but the southern hospitality is unique in the world and mixed with the more enduring “red neck” qualities of the area, you get a relaxing and fun place to live.

All this said, the other day I found myself heading down the road to see the historic Civil War battlefield called Nash Farm. It’s a spacious and rolling green area with an old dirt road down the center and a lake at one end. They actually have reenactments there every year and I must say I’m really keen to see one (I love costume parties!).

After walking around a while I decided to head home…but I opted for the “wooded trail” option as opposed to the “dangerously along the side of the road” route that I had taken to get to Nash Farm (American drivers do not respect the pedestrian). This is where my real adventure began.

I called my parents asking for directions to the trail opening and was told things about roads and gravel driveways and small openings in the trees…you know, vague things that could be confusing and lead to wrong turns and doom.

I found a few gravel driveways and maybe an opening the trees…and decided to blaze ahead. The trail become less of a trail and eventually stopped all together. I looked around and didn’t feel like going back to find the right way…instead I used my supreme ranger skills to strike out deeper into the forest (I actually looked back and glimpsed the roof of a house just before it was lost to the shadows of the trees and thinking, “hmmm, perhaps this is not the best idea…”).

Trees become thorns and briars…these led to entanglement and blood! I panicked! Sharks are attracted by blood! Wait, I’m in the woods, not the sea. Stay calm. Oh no, the sun is setting.

I hiked on through the woods and was thankful for winter and dormant snakes since I was smashing through deep underbrush where snakes surly dwell. Eventually I found something that looked like an abandoned road and that lead to a trail (the same one I should have been on the whole time?). Then I found some people’s backyard and jumped their fence as discreetly as possible to escape the wild and return to suburban life. I emerged covered in leaves, scrapes, and a wild expression on my face (I imagined). I walked quickly past some lawn statues that seemed to snicker at my state (cause honestly, what was my problem?) but kept going until I reached the neighborhood road. It was a fun outing…and taught me that I’m not in tame Japan anymore. Here’s southern boy country.