I’ve started to play a little chess as of late. I’m no good, really. Anyways, I didn’t have a set at the house so I built one out of a record cover and a pizza box. It plays alright, just keep away from wind.

Once in a while I will jump off the computer and paint or craft something up. Here is something I finished last night.

One of my new favorite things is listening to archived radio broadcasts online. It all started when I discovered that NPR’s This American Life had put up there complete archive online, free to be streamed. It’s great nap or sleepy time listening. A couple other shows worth checking out online:

• Frontline - They have 43 full episodes of their tv show available online! It’s not quite radio, but you can close your eyes and follow the story, no problem. My favorite episodes: An Ordinary Crime, Burden of Innocence, and Son of Al Qaeda.
• Sound Portraits - Highly recommend: Ghetto Life 101, Remorse: The 14 Stories of Eric Morse, and The Execution Tapes.
• Studio 360
• Let the Good Times Roll

Here’s a list of all the places I stayed on my roadtrip last month, with the number of days in parentheses:

• Chicago, IL (1)
• Suix Falls, SD (1)
• Billings, MT (1)
• Seattle, WA (4)
• Portland, OR (4)
• San Fransisco, CA (4)
• Los Angeles, CA (3)
• Irvine, CA (2)
• Flagstaff, AZ (1)
• Oklahoma City, OK (1)
• Nashville, TE (1)
• Richmond, VA (2)

If you add it all up, the grand total comes to: 8700 miles over 25 days.

The view from a hill on the North (Marin Side) overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. You can see San Fransisco in the distance.

Cows in the midwest. I think I threw something at them to get there attention.

The Badlands in South Dakota. Miles and miles of jagged, striated rocks, amazing!

Hollywood at dusk viewed from top of the Capitol Records building. I need to thank Josh for sneaking us in the building.

A little shred of coastline looking down from the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Fransisco Bay, well shaded. hmm..

Couple of hills in the Badlands. I used a graduated filter to darken the sky a bit on this one.

Looking up from a sidewalk in Laguna Beach.

Another view of Laguna Beach in the OC. Pretty.

The Golden Gate Bridge from the South (San Fransisco Side).

A lone tree on a hill in San Fransisco Bay.

My friend Cyrus’s kitchen in Seattle. I like the open cabinets.

Another picture taken from the Golden Gate Bridge. A little boat hanging out in a nook.

I took a drive up to New Hampshire for the Deerfield Fair with two of my roommates. The rain came down and messed things up a bit. We still had a blast eating fried dough and watching the horse pull competition. Picture of Sierra and Dylan on a hill overlooking the gazillion cars that were in the lot: