Wildcat Mountain camping trip

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Yesterday I returned home from a camping trip to Wildcat Mountain State Park. Because I was so involved with moving to my condo last fall, I haven’t been camping since last August. It was great to finally spend some time in out in nature recharging my batteries.

Wildcat Mountain State Park

I ended up doing a lot of hiking. Saw quite a few animals (including deer, wild turkeys, hawks and a lot of migrating songbirds) and some pretty nice scenic vistas.

One interesting thing I discovered is there are a lot of Amish people living in the area surrounding the park. After I saw a number of their horse and buggies driving along the rural highway, I really started to think about modern life. Here I am going to the country to recharge my batteries and get away from it all, while they’re living the simple life there all the time. Oh, I’m sure the Amish have their difficult and stressful times, but I doubt any of them are complaining about not having enough time for things.

Time may change me

Lately I’ve been very aware of the passage of time — both in small and large amounts. In this age of modern conveniences, why do we often run out of time? Not enough time to get the house chores done before bedtime, not enough time to write a blog entry (wink), not enough time to finish reading that magazine before next month’s issue arrives…

As I get older, time seems to move much faster for me than it did when I was younger. Is your perception of the passage of time inversely related to the amount of memories in your brain? I remember summers when I was a kid that seemed to go on forever. Now the seasons (summer especially) seem to just fly by.

As David Bowie once sang, “Time may change me, but I can’t change time.”

Those obnoxious starlings

By now you’ve probably figured out that I enjoy nature and the outdoors. Because of that I also like having a couple of bird feeders on my deck and watching them. About a month ago I was happy that goldfinches (one of my favorite birds) discovered my feeders and were regularly coming over to have snacks. Recently I’ve been getting some new visitors. Starlings have figured out how to perch themselves on the finch feeders (which are designed to feed the smaller birds) so they can eat. Being the bigger and more aggressive bird, the starlings chase all of the other birds away and end up hogging all of the food. For those of you that don’t know, starlings are an invasive species from Europe. Mother Nature never intended for them to be in North America.

This morning I found about ten starlings all perched on my deck rail, waiting for their turn to eat all of the finches’ food. “This means war,” I thought to myself. Tomorrow I’m planning a trip to the garden center to purchase a starling proof bird feeder. Stay tuned…

Update: After talking with a very helpful person at Wild Birds Unlimited (a great place to buy bird stuff by the way), I changed the feed I was putting out to safflower seeds, which the starlings don’t like. So far it seems to be doing the trick. Keep your fingers crossed.

Closing time dream

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I had the “closing time dream” again last night.

I’m at work (in the library) and it’s closing time. So we lock all the doors, but somehow people are still able to come in. They keep walking through the locked doors in droves. We tell them that the library is closed and they have to leave but they don’t. Of course since all the library patrons keep coming in, that means I am unable to go home (and getting a bit irritated about the whole situation).

Around 14 years ago I had earned my masters degree and was searching for a job in the library field for several months. I was working in a retail store at the time and every so often I would have a dream similar to the one above. It was closing time. They doors of the store were locked. I wanted to leave, but customers kept coming in.

About a year ago I started having the same dream every couple of months or so. The only difference is, it takes place in the library. When I thought about the dream today an important question that I had not considered before, popped into my head. Why don’t I just leave?

Bloy Designs, Couch Commander

Couch Commander screenshot

I’ve got a pretty good excuse why I haven’t posted anything here in a while. I’ve been busy working on a couple of web sites, which were just unveiled over the past few days. The first, www.BloyDesigns.com, is a site I set up to showcase my web design work. I created the other site, CouchCommander.com, for a stand up comedian I know.

In other news, today is Earth Day. Remember Mother Earth as you go about your life. Please do everything you can to keep her healthy and beautiful.

Update: February 9, 2007
As of today, the domain BloyDesigns.com no longer exists.
Information about my web development work can be found on my resume.

The Last Broadcast

Last December I listed what I considered the best albums of 2002, but I definately missed one. I recently discovered a delicious CD that was released last year: The Last Broadcast by Doves.

The album starts with guitars ringing like a carillon of bells and follows with the band’s beautiful harmonies. Song after song the music continues to sweep you off your feet with haunting melodies, soulful rhythms and musical textures that have almost an epic quality reminiscent of U2 or Radiohead. After listening to The Last Broadcast, the musical soundscapes will hang around in your head making you want to play it over immediately.

An excellent CD and one which will help you get your mind off of any nasty April snow storms you might be experiencing (like I did here in Wisconsin today).

Shades of grey

Like many others, my thoughts have been with the people in Iraq lately (with the innocent civilians and the soldiers that are there). During a lunchtime discussion at work one of my coworkers raised an excellent point. Why must most things that are said or reported on be cast in such absolutes? Issues are not all black and white. Just because someone is against the war, does not make them anti-American or against the troops. I might disagree with someone’s opinion on the war, but does that automatically mean their reasons are invalid?

A person who blatantly disregards someone’s ideas just because they don’t happen to share that opinion can tell me a lot more about them than what their opinions actually are. I only hope our leaders share this philosophy and can see the many shades of grey.

First bike ride of 2003

Yesterday I went on my first bike ride of 2003 (and it’s still officially winter here in Wisconsin). Temperatures this weekend were in the balmy mid-60’s which forced me to dust off my bike and head outside. I rode for about an hour yesterday and about an hour and a half today. I’m sure my leg muscles will be feeling it tomorrow — not to mention my bum.

As I was riding along the Milwaukee County Parks Oak Leaf Bike Trail I was thinking about how fortunate I was to live close to such a nice trail. I hear a lot of people complain about paying property taxes, but what about the benefits that come from tax revenue? I’m happy to pay my share in taxes if I also have access to a beautiful parks system and other things that enhance the quality of life in my community. That’s money well spent in this biker’s opinion.

Big Ten Champs!

Wow, what a basketball game! Last night the Wisconsin Badgers defeated Illinois and became champions of the Big Ten this year. With 0.4 seconds remaining, Devon Harris sank the second of two free throws (he missed the first) to give the Badgers a 1 point lead and the victory. After the game I had so much adrenaline in my system that getting to sleep last night was not an easy task.

For my money, there is nothing like college basketball. The intensity of the players, the passion and loyalty of the fans and just overall excitement is unmatched in any other sport. I was fortunate enough to see the Big Ten Champion Badgers play three games in Madison this year and each time was a blast. Just thinking about what it must have been like to be in the Kohl Center last night gives me goose bumps.

First sign of Spring

I saw one of the first signs of Spring today. I opened up my mailbox to see the L.L. Bean outdoor gear catalog waiting for me. Unfortunately it was accompanied by a big sign of winter — a snowstorm. Right now there’s about two inches on the ground and we’re supposed to get another four inches. I guess I won’t be camping anytime soon. At least looking at all that cool stuff and daydreaming about the outdoors will make the winter night seem a little warmer.