Wagon-train & housekeeping...

Howdy howdy!

The wagon train officially left Syracuse, New York headed south/southwest on 12 July 2010 after a wee run to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada and a couple other central New York outings. More on those and eastern Pennsylvania this evening (fingers crossed!).

'Nome is also undergoing a bit of a modernization with the addition of tabs at the top for: Flickr (dailies from the road); Tweets (an update of where the wagon wheels have landed that evening); and GPS via GoogleMaps (for those curious where exactly that off the beat track local is). As always, there is the subscription service if you are keen to know when I've got news for ya, quick 'vote on the story' boxes now appear at the bottom of every post, and a link to e-mail me if you have a personal question/comment/observation/nutty advice!

With that, I'll leave you with the first official picture for the 2010 adventure:

CNY Waterfalls.

Update! Update! - 'Nome has been undergoing some long overdue housekeeping! I've got a new look but the content is the same. Still ironing out the kinks and working on new bells and whistles. If you have any suggestions, both positive and negative, drop me a note. Cheers!

On with the story...

A little over a year ago, I boarded yet another mode of transportation, this time an aeroplane, for what was rapidly becoming a new routine – tailor job applications to highlight transferable skills, visit a new city and university, come home, repeat. This time I negotiated 8 days on the ground to explore once the interviews, both formal and otherwise, were concluded.

This gnome knows very little about the East Coast of the US – its home to NYC and Washington DC and Ivy League halls, right? With the spring snowdrops just pushing through I headed south and west to discover “The Finger Lakes.”

Central/Upstate New York was underwater nearly 400 million years ago. As local mountains eroded and silt accumulated, the foundations of the Finger Lakes were laid. Ice age glaciers came and went leaving the lakes and waterfalls to be carved by melt-water creeks cascading into the basins left behind. Today, although slightly less violent, these creeks (and copious winter snows/melts) actively shape the region. I toddled around to see a few and walk still frozen trails one overcast Saturday last March.

Buttermilk Falls borrows it name from a local creek as it flows into Cayuga Lake (the longest of the Finger Lakes). I often have a giggle, as nature is conveniently fenced-in due to the litigation prone citizenry.


Watkins Glen is one of the most famous state parks in the area located on Seneca Lake (the deepest of the Finger Lakes). Owned by industrialist George Watkins, the falls were originally dammed to power millstones and a sawmill. Upon Watkins death, the glen was opened as a resort in 1863 prior to becoming the regions first state park in 1906.



Winding my way back up the western shores of Cayuga Lake, I stopped at Taughannock (Algonquin for “in the trees”) Falls – the tallest free-falling waterfall, at 215 feet, in the northeast. Not as voluminous as Niagara, but pretty in an industrial shale mining sort of way.

On a personal note: In my experience, there is no shortage of gray days in Upstate New York, or snow in the winter, for that matter. It makes photography challenging on its best days and wastes hours on colour correction manipulations post shoot. I hope you enjoy these taster images. There are about half a dozen more languishing on my desktop. I just can’t bring myself to correct at the moment but will get them into a Flickr album soon. =)

Roaming the Wilds Of...

… domestication?

It recently occurred to me that my little, sanity-saving, project got a wee bit lost with all the ‘life changes’ of the past year. Well, as a means of a very very very brief update of the past 12 months:

- Interviewed and got (Hooray!) a job in upstate New York;
- Traveled: upstate New York, Outer Hebrides & Edinburgh surrounds (Scotland), and a doosey of a trip to Egypt (more on that in May);
- Interned as a production manager for a non-profit magazine;
- Had 7 photographs published in a BOOK!;
- Oh, and moved across a BIG BLUE OCEAN and bought a car.

Alas it wasn’t meant to be. Boxes, tape, and removals men are at the ready once again. More on that another day.

I’ll leave you with a couple quickie snappies…

Icicles in upstate New York on the day my possessions arrived after 4 months in transit. Yes, we unloaded in the snow! 2.5 hours later, I couldn't feel my fingers or feet. Seriously!

My wee Honda. She's a manual and handles great - peppy with tight turns. (Gotta keep those shifting skills in practice until I get my porsche!)

Stay tuned… a few pictures from around the state then adventures in Egypt coming soon.

Welcome Alyssa Leona!

On 28 August 2009, at 0804 PST our family welcomed into the world baby Alyssa Leona (meaning: of noble kind; lion)! Yes, I'm an auntie x2 now!

Vitals: 18", 6lb9oz, potential ginger with green-blue eyes. Watch out!

Here are a few of the overnight pics with now 'big brother' Donovan and baby sister Alyssa.

A Visitor.

Howdy howdy.

Been working hard on several projects at home these past few weeks but yesterday I had company:



Poor little guy took advantage of the cool breeze landing in my lounge to admire the view. Trouble was, he got stuck between the panes and nearly exhausted himself fluttering. A half-hour later he relinquished and was rescued. Sometimes, we do "get by with a little help from our friends."

Winds of Change

Wow! Where does the time go? Does it speed-up as we get older? Or, do we simply find more ways to fill the space?

I was recently reminded that it appears I have been ‘off-the-radar’ since late-February due to the vast numbers of e-mails from friends and family wondering if I was still alive. Just to clarify, yes, I am indeed alive! But, it seems the winds of change are upon the horizon.

As means of a brief recap – when last I left you, I had just applied for the Queensland job in addition to traditional research positions. Shortly thereafter my teaching load reappeared and our student magazine, EuSci, entered production mode. This time around, I volunteered to be photographic editor. For those of you curious, this requires having an overall vision of the final magazine we will produce and commissioning artwork to illustrate the articles.(Lets face it – most of us are drawn to stories by interesting images.) I was surprised by the effort required to coordinate this mammoth job and can only toast our outgoing Editor-In-Chief for her commitment to starting this project while finishing her PhD. I had the opportunity to work with some absolutely fantastic student-artists who generated cracking images. When we came up short, I got to dust off my camera and fill the gap. The end product looks fantastic! After all of the production team holding our breath about fundraising, we recently went to press. You can check out our latest efforts at:
www.eusci.org

In the midst of all that ‘chaos’, the wheels of change have started rolling for The Roaming ‘Nome. I was in New York in March for a job interview the outcome of which is still pending. I took a couple of weeks off to explore the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Mull, both in Scotland, and have some great pictures and stories on the horizon. On the photography front, I’ve been commissioned to produce 10 photographs for a new publication about Darwin’s time in Edinburgh. (This should been on the shelves in mid-August so watch this space for publication details.)

But as new opportunities appear, old ones slip away. I recently turned 30 and marked the transition into ‘adulthood’ (I’ve been a grown-up since I was 5) with a new dress and a meal at the Michelin-star restaurant The Kitchin. And, my contract(s) with the University of Edinburgh have ended. Despite the lovely summery weather this weekend, I’m cleaning my office. Its time to be moving onwards and upwards, I suppose.

With that, I’ll leave you with the lyrics to a particularly relevant song that continues to run through my head as I adjust to life without a working week and officially becoming a 30-something:

I think Ill take a moment, celebrate my age;
The ending of an era and the turning of a page;
Now its time to focus in on where I go from here;
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years…

My next thirty years I’m gonna settle all the scores;
Cry a little less, laugh a little more;
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear;
Figure out just what I’m doing here;
In my next thirty years.

The Genesis of Ideas.

Edinburgh is a beautiful city, even on the dampest and mistiest of days. I fully understand why it is called The Athens of the North and fostered the Scottish Enlightenment (and a vast number of inventions which shaped our modern world). But, these days it is packed with politicians, students, financiers, and a steady stream of tourists. For those of us who are creative souls, the place comes alive in the quiet of midnight - the congestion of the day melts away into solitude and thoughts with a backdrop of historic buildings lit up for show. Those of you who know this 'nome well, know I get a little cranky without my walks. It is when I clear my head, let my subconscious work on problems, and create ideas. I tend to walk home, down the Royal Mile, with the company of a fox most evenings...

So, a few months ago when Queensland Tourism advertised what they billed as the "Best Job in the World: Island Caretaker for the Great Barrier Reef" it seemed like a great idea to apply. Only catch, unlike the traditional job applications I can complete in my sleep, this one required a 60-second video spot with a six week application window.

Daunted by the challenge at first, I thought, why not give it a go... Worst that could happen, I don't get it. And so, a personal gauntlet was thrown down. Over the course of the past 4 weeks, I have had an amazing journey of growth and creativity. I started with a simple goal, create something that is ME and was determined not to talk to the computer like the majority of the applicants I sampled.

Along the way I've learned technical skills - how to run a video camera, performed tape to digital transfers, and played with sophisticated editing software (a la iMovie '09 and Adobe Premier Pro). On the creative front, the idea has matured - first it was something like Jerry Maguire, then Forrest Gump, then old Travelocity ads and a memorable piece of music, arriving ultimately at the brand I have been developing for myself since 2006 "The Roaming 'Nome" and a little help from my friend's answers to the following question, "If you had to describe me in 10 words, what would you say?" I learned about the Great Barrier Reef, explored my vast library of photographs (both print and digital), listened to hours of random music on the Internet until I found a track I loved, and developed a renewed awe at the wacky world I choose to inhabit.

In the end, Queensland Tourism either received 22 copies of my application, or zero, depending on how the server was feeling; it was jammed from the over 34,684 entries they received. To be honest, I'm actually not that bothered if they didn't get it, or rejected it because their content monitor decided it was 61 seconds long. (Although, if they did, and I got the job, that would be fantastic and you are all invited to share the pool!) I had the most amazing experience putting the piece together that I wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China.

Below find my endeavor in its entirety (the application is slightly shorter on the 'credits'). To those who provided support and inspiration over this past month, I am sincerely in your debt. To the wider world, I challenge you to put yourself out there every day - it doesn't have to be something grand and earth shattering, but it should stretch your limits and broaden your horizons.

Living the adventure, The Roaming 'Nome