St. Pattie's Journey Begins

So the journey begins...

I left my house my house thinking that my MegaBus was leaving at 9:45pm. Wrong! Sitting in my car just miles from my house, listening to something with an upbeat tempo - Benny Benassi, or maybe some Ghostland Observatory. Music that makes you rally none the less - I check my email to see where exactly my bus picks up. Shit! Departure time is 9:15pm! And I'm still Woodbridge, VA at 8:20pm. Fuck getting dinner, forget buying those reasonably priced suburban Virginia cigarettes, peddle to the metal up 95 to NW DC!

So I make it to Woodley Park, NW DC in record time. I park in my usual spot where I work, run with my full backpack for over a mile to Connecticut Ave, and hail a cab. Drive! Fast! I've got a bus to catch that leaves in 15 min! The cabby was cool, made it happen, and with enough time to spare for my last cigarette before my 9 1/2 hour trip.

The trip starts out well as we pass Baltimore. We stop somewhere for a second small pickup up excited travelers. But wait! Apparently we have to wait for a second bus to transfer to because unbeknownst to us, our bus had barely limped to where we stopped. Awesome! So we all sit for a little over an hour, waiting for this second bus. Cigarette break...

The second long leg of the bus trip was filled with sleep, being jolted awake, rinse and repeat. But I finally made it to South Station.

After walking into a town where no one's awake yet and I have no sense of bearing, I started heading East where I knew Faneuil Hall and the water was. So I walked in a bit of a drowsy state to the end of the pier and watched the sun rise over Boston Harbor.

After a bit of relaxation, I smiled with the rising sun and set off to find some breakfast.

After indulging in an awesome egg sandwich and coffee, made the trek to the edge of town on the T to check in at my hostel.

A basic room with four other roommates I have yet to meet, but their personal belongs were all about the room. But, this is all I'll need when I wander back tonight after an adult beverage soaked night out on the town.

Zen at the top of the world, kinda...

This past Tuesday my co-worker and friend, Bret, and I went to bag a little peak in the area known as Old Rag Mountain. It's one of the few mountains on the east coast that has an alpine feel to it as you near it's peak. What I mean by this is that the trees become sparse and whatever vegetation there is near the top is very short and mangey. Pretty much, it is a bald mountain near the top.

It was interesting how just under two hours East of where we live, it had been in the upper 50's and miserably raining, yet as we approached the Shenandoah mountains we kept asking each other if the white interspersed among the trees in the hills was snow. Sure enough, it was snow!
Before I continue, I have to explain that there is almost a mile of Class 3 climbing that is required to reach the summit. It's nothing too intense where ropes are needed, but this is a hike where you have to use your upper body strength as much as your lower body.

So back to this snow part. It made the scenery and the hike very scenic with the snow and ice slowly melting in the early spring sun. It was a beautiful sunny day in the mid to upper 50's with only wisps of clouds in a deep blue sky. Couldn't ask for better. But that damn ice! There were parts that seemed almost impassable. Parts where there was a steep incline/decline, with rock scrambling, all surrounded by this frozen in time ice flow. The ice was to the point in certain shaded areas that easy man made steps were not so easy at all!

Despite the "treacherous" conditions, it was a great hike! We spent about an hour and a half at the summit. I brought along my backpacker's stove and pot and had a hot beef stew, a plum, and the all too stereotypical granola bar. Eating in front of amazing scenery!

Life Frustrations

As I sit here in front of my "desk" at work fighting to keep my eyes open, many things have gone through my head. Things from disdain to euphoric anticipation.

So far I have worked 31 hours in the past two days with 2 1/2 hours of sleep between those two days. I'm half way through my 12 hour day today, but I have a bad feeling we'll be here past 6pm today... We here are doing a conference for diversity within the work place and academia. As interesting as the subject is to someone, I have no interest in it. At least not this detailed, long and drawn out.

So why post on here? Since the beginning of January I have been working long hours (50-60+ hours/week) with little to no sleep, and of course almost no sleep if I try to socialize. To add to this, I have put my free time into photography whether it be with the newspaper or stock photos. So to get to the point. It's amazing first of all how much stress the body can manage, but what's more peculiar are the affects of this stress on cognition, perception, and mood. It is absolutely amazing how lately I've quite literally floated through life.

With that rant out of the way, I truly feel that I am on the cusp of greatness! I had six newspaper assignments in the past two weeks (which is much more than I have ever been assigned in that time frame), another this weekend that I have to decline because I already have a different shoot lined up, a few more possible photography and video opportunities to come, and most importantly coming very close to some major changes.

Hopefully more to come with great news to share in about four weeks.