Imagine, being told to evacuate the city you live in and later finding out your home, your possessions and your job are all gone because of the destruction. Worse yet, imagine being one of those who were unable, or chose not to heed the evacuation warnings who are without drinking water, food, shelter or means of communicating to the outside world. Seeing the scenes left in Hurricane Katrina’s wake, I can’t begin to understand what the people there are going through.
All posts by Jonathan
Edgewood Library website
Today the new website for the Oscar Rennebohm Library at Edgewood College was officially unveiled. It’s been a big project for me, one that had its beginning back when I was hired as the Web Services Librarian this past November.

A great deal of the design of the site was inspired by architectural elements of the library building. I created the header logo to mimic the window and roof lines of the building facade and the graphic at the footer on each page was inspired by the shape of the building. The official Edgewood colors were used (red and black) along with some shades of gray.
Jonathan’s camping tips
Avoiding Crowds
Don’t camp on major summer holidays. I’ve had very good luck camping right after holidays. For example, arrive at your camping destination on Memorial Day (when everyone else is leaving) and then stay that week.
Getting Good Campsites
To get a good site it is most helpful to do your research. This is especially true of campgrounds you plan on visiting often. If I’m in a campground where I think I might be coming back, I’ll go through the park and make note of the best campsites. Then, the next time I go there I’ll know which sites to ask for. If you do this regularly, in a few years you’ll have a nice database of the best campsites from your favorite parks.
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad
On August 5th, my parents (Lee and Wil Bloy) celebrated their 55th Wedding Anniversary. About a week before that, we took a few pictures to commemorate the occasion. I intended to post this sooner, but with the whole broken wrist incident, I completely forgot.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!
A broken camping trip
This past week I headed up to Northern Wisconsin to camp at one of my favorite places, the Northern Highland – American Legion State Forest.

Not so shocking after all
The stereotypical view of car mechanics (lying to your face so they can get their next boat payment out of your wallet) is probably fueled by ignorance — not ignorance of mechanics, but ignorance of automobiles. I’ve been in situations where mechanics try and use my ignorance to scare me into getting things done. It’s especially difficult when you’re pulling into the garage of a mechanic that you’ve never had a prior relationship with. I speak from experience, having moved seven months ago (has it been seven months already?).
First time kayaking
Yesterday for the first time in my life, I went kayaking. After I got out of work, I went over to Lake Wingra (a small lake, not too far from work), stopped at the boathouse and rented a kayak. I was out on the water for about an hour and I am hooked.
Summerfest 2005
I wasn’t about to miss going to Summerfest this year, just because I moved 80 miles to the west this past December. However, geography did have an influence on the number of days I went (two compared to my annual average of six days while living in the Milwaukee area).
Now using WordPress
I’ve just completed a major overhaul of this website and am now running WordPress as my blogging software. While the design of the site may not look a whole lot different, the change to WordPress brings a lot more flexibility for me and more features for you.
Effigy Mounds National Monument
My favorite part of my camping trip last week, was a visit to Effigy Mounds National Monument. Located across the Mississippi River (in Iowa) and about 15 miles north of Wyalusing, Effigy Mounds National Monument has over 195 mounds built by native peoples between 750 and 1,600 years ago. These earthen mounds probably had a strong religious significance for those who built them. Probably a means of connecting the people to the land, the spirit world, and their ancestors. In fact, some were used for burial purposes.
