Fall of Rome?

There is a chapter in Catch 22 when Nately is trying to track down his whore, Nately's Whore, as she is called. After weeks of fruitless searches while on leave in Rome he finally finds her and the two head back to the brothel. As he enters the brothel he is greeted by an old man, who claims to be over 100 years old, sitting in an arm chair as if he is some sort evil deity. He was making jokes about America, much to the dismay of Nately. "America will lose the war and Italy will win it," said the old man. Nately, left almost speechless by such a preposterous statement, quipped "America is the strongest and most prosperous nation on earth and the American fighting man is second to none." The old man told Nately that it was Italy that was in fact winning the war, not by its military success (it was occupied by America) but rather the fact that no more Italian soldiers were dying; Germans and Americans were now dying in this war. Italy was occupied. It surrendered. Italy had fallen to the wayside and was no longer a threat to the global stage. "I call that doing extremely well," the old man said. The old man claimed Italy's diminished role in the world would benefit its longevity.

"Yes, I am quite certain that Italy will survive this war and still be in existence long after your own country has been destroyed."

Nately sure didn't like to hear that. "America is never going to be destroyed!" he shouted passionately. The old man answered "Never?"

"Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you really think your own country will last? Forever?"

"Well, forever is a long time, I guess," Nately conceded.

"A million years? A half million? The frog is almost five hundred million years old. Could you really say with much certainty that America, with all its strength and prosperity, with its fighting man that is second to none, and with its standard of living that is the highest in the world, will last as long as...the frog?"

I thought of this passage when I recalled a history teacher of mine in high school bringing up something similar to what Heller was trying to demonstrate in Catch 22: We will fall someday. Now is an interesting time to dwell on Joseph Heller's words. Nothing seems to be going in the right direction here. The buckling of our economy and our waning global influence certainly entertain this idea.



Even if Barack Obama is elected president how much can one man do to reverse the scarring effects of the past eight years? What is even more scary is the thought of electing somebody like this:





The 20th century was America's century. It now looks like we will soon bow out. We were no match for the frog.

Why I don't write on here very much

I feel like I need to defend myself here. I know, I don't write much on here. Do you want to know why?

I work in Bellevue for the engineering consultant CH2M HILL. During the summer I worked 8 hour days. I stare at a computer all day working on transportation planning projects for Issaquah. At the end of the day I get on this for an hour and a half:



The Sound Transit Express route 550 from Downtown Bellevue to Downtown Seattle. I ride this bus from terminal to terminal, meaning I get on at the first stop and off at the last. It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes in the morning and anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours (including my connection to a short-haul bus up Capitol Hill) in the evening. (If anybody wants to suggest moving to Bellevue to be closer to work, save it. I will never move to any kind of uninspiring suburban prison such as Bellevue.) By the time I'm home all I want to do is have dinner and read a book; the last thing I want to see is my laptop or computer monitor.

I hope you understand. But now it is fall and school has started. I'm only going to work 10 hours or so a week. Maybe now I will feel more inclined to write on here. The one problem is what? I don't really have anything of particular interest to write about. Anyway, sorry for the delay. We will be moving shortly.

Welcome Back

My most vehement apologies for never updating this thing. It's been over four months since a meaningful post. (If those were even considered meaningful.) Coming soon: more stuff! I promise! For now, a picture from Cupcake Royale in West Seattle from March.

Nights like this...

...make me never want to leave Seattle.

Resolutions

I have been feeling quite lackadaisical lately. I think it is because I've been neglecting to do certain things. I have a photo essay of things I hope to accomplish this month.

Make better use of my time:

I feel like a lot of the time I'm just moping around, not really doing anything (hey, like now!). I did land a job with the city of Bellevue, which I started last week. Instead of sleeping in Wednesdays and snoozing all Monday afternoon, I'll be on the eastside playing with maps and GIS all while earning a decent dime. My maps job appears to have been resurrected, which will mean more work for docwong. Next month is also the ITE competition, which my partner and I placed second in last year. School will also keep me quite busy; 17 credits featuring Environmental Chemistry, Foundation Design, Water Resources, Surveying, Surveying Lab, and Fluids Lab. It just comes down to how I manage my time.

Read more books!

I have yet to finish a book this year. I read something like twenty books in 2007 and here we are, three months into 2008 and I have yet to finish one. I'm almost done reading a history of the Bronx and I've started Love in the Time of Cholera, but just haven't had the motivation to read. I feel like my writing suffers as a result. I apologize for the simplicity of my blog.

Exercise more.

I really don't do anything besides walk to school or walk from the grocery store. Last summer I actually tried to jog two miles every weeknight, a habit I've been trying to establish for years. Biking around Capitol Hill doesn't really count; it's less effort than walking. Once the weather gets warmer I'll start to ride to Lake Washington and maybe on Mondays I'll bike all the way to downtown Bellevue for work. That's ambitious though.

Write more letters.

I'm usually really good at getting back to Hollie (within a week or so. Her, not so much; within the month, at best). This photo is of my ubiquitous legal paper. The letter is to Annie, my cousin in Lenox. She wrote me right after Christmas day and I am just now getting back to her. I'm sending her two CDs and a bunch of junk from London and Paris. I need to write my grandmother, Nate Dittman, and my mom. It's been too long for them.

Research more music. Be diverse.

I feel like I'm stuck in a rut with music. This happens every so often. It always happens when I don't listen to KEXP or Sirius very often. I need to check out Atlas Sound and make the rounds on my music blogs more instead of just browsing for tours.

Eat better.

Tonight I bought two apples and two oranges. This is a step in the right direction for me. I'm going to cut down on soda (one can per day, if that) and eat more fruits. I also bought turkey breast and wheat bread for lunches. This will also save me money instead of always going out. I have to save for New York!

London, quiet down

I suppose it is time to show some of my photos to my audience (which is who? Emie?). The weather wasn't very nice, my health was pretty poor, yet nevertheless, it was quite the experience to visit Europe for the first time in nine years (Germany in 1999). The age, the soot coated buildings, the tube, the war museums. London was like no other place I have ever seen. It had a distinct feel to it; this town has been through a lot and not only still on its feet, but prospering, economically and culturally. More photos from my short jaunt to Paris soon.

The ubiquitous London photo


From the steps of the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square.

On the South Bank of the Thames.

The British Museum


The Battersea Power Station.

Great Britain

I spent six days in England, two of which were travel days (in from Phoenix, out to Paris) so really only four. My dad and I hit as many museums as possible. Yet we couldn't make the most of our time because we were both sick for most of the time there, struggling to get up some days. The highlight of the trip? Well, there was no real defining event or moment. I wish I wasn't so sick so I could have enjoyed it a little more. The weather was also similar to Seattle; not freezing cold, but cold and wet. That isn't very comfortable to schelp around in.

Final Approach over Scotland

Boeing 747

Arrival at Heathrow

Okay, so this post is only going to feature the journey to London. Enjoy!

Stateside

So I have about 700 photos to upload from Europe, which I do not have the patience to do right now. I do have photos from the two and a half days I spent in Arizona. Not much happened there. I mostly healed from playing dodgeball, watched movies, ate Mexican food, hung out with my parents, and went to a spring training baseball game. As luck would have it, the game I went to was between Colorado and Chicago at Chicago's park. It was almost 80 degrees that afternoon while Seattle was shivering at around 40, but our seats, which were free from a friend of my dad's, were right behind home plate. The photo doesn't illustrate that because my dad and I got up to see if my grandfather was still there in his first baseline seats, but he just left without telling us, so we watched the end of the game from there. The Rockies lost by one run, but does it really matter? In the end the Cubs will blow it in August and the Rockies will do the same in September. Nonetheless, I love baseball. Today is opening day!

Hell Yeah

Friday night I'll be on this, flying out of Phoenix for my first North Atlantic run in almost 9 years. I haven't even thought about what I want to do in London. In fact, I haven't even thought much about going there lately. I've been so concerned with this quarter ending strong that I don't even feel like I'm going on a huge vacation like this. I know once I get to Sky Harbor Airport Friday afternoon it'll hit me, and that will be exciting.

Local Tourist

Today I went to West Seattle with Emie. West Seattle is strange. It's connected to the mainland but the Duwamish Ship Canal divides it from SoDo and effectively the rest of the city. Similar to Michigan's anatomical representation of the right hand, West Seattle resembles the thumb of your left hand, with Downtown Seattle just below your index finger. From points east, West Seattle is only connected to the city by the Spokane Street Bridge (or West Seattle Bridge) and is surrounded by the Puget Sound to the north and west. It's difficult to reach if you don't have a car, but I found out today the No. 11 bus that runs past my apartment connects to West Seattle. I've stressed the isolation of the neighborhood enough. I take great pleasure in exploring the unique neighborhoods of my adopted town.

Superlatives

Bands of the Week:

Cut Copy
Melbourne, Australia

Deerhunter
Atlanta, Georgia

Fleet Foxes
Seattle, Washington

Photo of the Week:

This photo was taken in Denver, Colorado. I was back visiting my uncle with my parents and sister before going to a family reunion at Rocky Mountain National Park. This day, my dad and I went to downtown Denver to watch the Colorado State-University of Colorado football game at a bar, The Falling Rock Tavern. We refused to stay in hideous suburban Denver, where we had a selection of the finest chain restaurants surrounding by 10 acres of parking lots. Instead of driving downtown, we took the light rail (something surprisingly Denver is ahead of Seattle in, wayyyyyy ahead).


On the way back we had to transfer to a different train at the 10th/Osage station. In Denver, one of the light rail's lines parallels the freight tracks. At this station, directly across from the light rail tracks were what must have been 100 Union Pacific Locomotives laid up, all coupled together. It's a site I'll never forget, and hope to see again someday.

Stand Clear

I'm taking a break from studying for my strength of materials final that is on Monday. I'm currently trying to utilize the cable television I pay so much for (and I'm watching network TV). What a waste. Why do I even have this? I think I'm on pace to be ready for my test Monday. Basically it's three topics: beam deflection equations using integration, singularity methods, and superposition. That I need to brush up on a little. Then there's column failure, something I feel very comfortable with. Lastly, failure theories, beam columns, and impact loading. I feel like I've learned a lot from this class last year. Dr. Kuder is definitely my favorite professor here. It's amazing how difficult these topics appear and she explains them in such a way that they're not so hard anymore (she's only 28). My strength of materials professor at my old school shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Dr. Kuder. It wasn't entirely his fault, but that class was awful. It was in this 300 person lecture room containing a class for about 50. He stood up at the front wearing a microphone and deriving God knows what on a dry erase board that I needed a telescope to read. Back then I didn't know the difference between stress and strain (a really really big deal, to say the least, in structural engineering) and just assumed all my boundary conditions would result in integration constants equaling zero (a huge huge no-no). I feel like if I graduated from Colorado State with a Civil Engineering degree I would be so inadequately prepared for the professional world. Everything about this school has given me so much confidence in myself and my future. I'm really glad to be here.

Bands of the week:

Dirty Projectors
Brooklyn, New York

The National
Brooklyn, New York

Yeasayer
Brooklyn, New York

The Helio Sequence
Portland, Oregon

Photo of the week:

It's strange to think that a little less than a year and a half ago I lived in Colorado. So what has happened since December 13 2006? I don't drive nearly as much as I used to. I live in a terrific neighborhood that has everything I need within walking distance. I think only once I drove to the grocery store and only because I was already out. I also bike much more often than in Colorado. Back then, I only biked to and from school, which was 6 miles a day. Now I do it for everything and the weather is becoming better each day. I'm also doing better in school; more confident in myself than I was back then.

Below is a photo of my side view mirror as I drove my car out of Denver for the last time in June of 2007. Things are good now. Really good.

In only two weeks...

That's not true; two weeks and one day from now I'll be flying over the Atlantic on my first 747 to London. What I'm most excited for is the age of the city. I can barely remember much about Germany when I went there over 8 years ago. To me, the photo below of Brooklyn represents age and antiquity. Won't I be in for a surprise?

This is New York City?

Is this what we've come to?

I don't think this New York Times writer could have put it any better. How can we blatantly disregard the past and history for a banal New York? When we build, let us think that we build forever.

Day One

I've never had a blog before in my life. I guess because I'm afraid of being criticized, as I am with everything. In any event, I've made a leap of faith to go ahead with this and my seemingly odd address. ComatoseOnPine. Do I feel comatose or does the word just have a nice, albeit morbid, ring to it?

Below is a photo of Seattle taken as a 30 second exposure. The interstate has become a river; the cars its water; the city the guardian.