Living a Dream

In 2012 I had the chance to visit Europe with my friend Graham. We spent a couple weeks going to a few different areas - one of which was Milan, my future home. We planned to go there for a soccer game, see the famous Duomo, and use the train station as a launch-pad for the Lake Como area. In our time in the city we wanted to browse a little bit of the local art scene but unfortunately couldn't get a time to see the Last Supper (Jenna and I were able to see it during our time there. It was awesome). We walked the city streets though, and not surprisingly there was a lot to see. Statues abound in Italy - guys you've never heard of and extremely famous people alike. There are buildings older than the USA, there are fascinating shops, and there are restaurants that offer burgers named after Native American tribes in a vaguely offensive atmosphere . So one day we were walking from our hotel to a random corner of the city. We started by passing a shop that offered pens - the w

We Americans have a bit of a reputation. We're loud, we're ignorant, and we often make sure everyone around us knows that we're loud and ignorant. On a beautiful April day, a group of family and I visited Pompeii. Like many, we were excited to see the ruins, impossibly preserved areas, and the casts of people who were perpetually stuck in their final moments. It was a very cool place. We did see all that and more, because Pompeii is huge. Most people head to the main points on the tourist map, but there are places where you could easily get lost and not see anyone for 10-15 minute on this particular day. At one point, near one of the main squares of Pompeii, an American woman stopped us and asked us to take a photo. She asked that we take it of her and her...boyfriend? Son? She appeared to be in her 40s and he appeared to be in his 20s, but they certainly didn't give off a mother-and-son vibe. After the photo - they posed in a way that gave no hint of their

I've been looking at this photo a lot lately. I put it on Instagram with the caption "sometimes you just gotta jump" because I think that's a lesson that could be taken away from it, but I admit it's also because I like to pretend I'm a photographer on Instagram and that's what a photographer might say.  I've been looking at a lot though, and I guess there could be several reasons.  Maybe I look because I think it's a cool photo of me. Maybe I look because I wonder exactly how high that jump was. Maybe I look because I remember how cold the water was.  Maybe I look because jumping off of something is freedom. Maybe I look because that moment of anticipation before hitting the cold water is the clearest moment of thought that a human can experience. Maybe I look because Oregon, and specifically Crater Lake, is beautiful. Maybe I look because I used to be more comfortable with heights than I am now, and I remember how I was mor