The reason it looks so similar to this website has nothing to do with both websites running the same software, it’s just that I haven’t had time to refine the style of Mykala’s page. We’ll get around to that… but in the meantime both pages are rather obviously cut from the same cloth, so to speak.
Oh, also: Mykala’s Unicorndog.com has the same commenting and “new stuff” notification system that you’ve come to know (and hopefully not hate) here on the new tumbledry.
Mykala and I have been dating for a bit over 4 years now. We’ve shared successes and failures, satisfaction and disappointment, snow days and beach days. (Some of it is recorded here on tumbledry, which I am rather happy about.) I am, however, getting ahead of myself. You see, it all began when Caley introduced us — don’t forget to click on that link, because it’s a wonderfully kind and well-written account of When Mykala Met Alex. Ahh, nostalgia!
Mykala brings out the best in me — and I certainly hope I bring out the best in her. While phrasing things in such a way risks me stumbling down the slippery slope of Platitude Hill, I really do believe that it is true. (Take a second to think about it — the idea demands more time than the words used to express it.) And that brings me to the first unexpected turn in this story: the beginning of relationships aren’t the best part.
Don’t get me wrong, the times Mykala and I spent getting to know one another and the adventures we had will joyously live forever in my memory. It was a magical, carefree time. Traipsing around the St. Thomas campus, enjoying the people, seasons, sights, sounds… doing things like eating with good company, experiencing different music, and marvelling at the annual Christmas lights. It was all great fun (seriously, it was a blast). But past all that is a secret: it gets better. In some ways, though, I got in my own way. I so thoroughly enjoyed our early years that I couldn’t imagine things could be better, that two people could feel closer. Of course, I was mistaken.
During those times we began to really talk: religion, sociology, theology, scientific theory, music, art… and then combining all those cerebral exercises to do something silly like critique the latest reality TV. What began with my eyes leapt beyond those shallows to the deep passions stirred up when two minds meet. And so we grew. (The picture below is Mykala dressing up as me, to make me laugh while I was studying. One of my favorites.)
Here’s the part where I say “these 4 years have been so easy!” And the truth is, of course, that isn’t true at all. I can’t mislead myself or anyone else by glossing over the pits and valleys we encountered. But the journey, ahh the journey — it makes two people strong. Now, at this waypoint we find ourselves ready to walk the path of life together, and in that feeling is where magic lies.
This past Labor Day, thinking of all this, I knelt down on one knee and asked Mykala Lind to marry me. Below is not a picture of that.
See, my plan failed. Mykala and I take walks around Saint Paul; so I intended to surreptitiously sneak some photographic equipment along for the ride. This is not unusual for me, but I made the mistake of taking a tripod along with. Carrying it slowed the walk down so much that Mykala and I had to turn back, drop off the tripod, and continue on our way. By the time we reached the river, the sunset I had so carefully timed was past, and we strolled back home. This is not a picture from that walk either:
But in a simple way later that night, without any cameras looking on, I nervously asked Mykala to be my wife. She smiled through her tears and said “yes.”
I love you, bun. And I am excited for the future. So excited that sometimes I feel I may burst.
Sigur Rós’s song “Festival” makes a pretty darn good soundtrack for a Friday afternoon. I’ve survived my first oral anatomy assessment and there’s nothing like listening to great music to unwind on this beautiful afternoon. If you listen to the (admittedly low-fi) link to the song, I think you’ll find the male falsetto to be nearly unearthly-beautiful.
I’ve an image file on my computer that says “Life is beautiful.” I was going to print it out and hang it up until I realized this: I don’t think the word “beauty” is enough to capture this life. (“Life is many things, including beautiful” probably wouldn’t read well on the wall.) The shortcomings of this adjective make me think there’s one problem with intense, focused training: it reveals the world to the participant in one dimension, from one angle, in one color, from one perspective. Yet the glory of living pushes out from the uncountable, myriad aspects of reality.
I hope I don’t miss it all because I was attempting to write about it.
Today marks my first day of dental school classes, a day that I am sure will be indelibly imprinted on my memory for the rest of my life. I’ve been prepping for today for the past 5 years and suddenly, as if from nowhere… here I am. In anticipation of The First Day, I have worked on:
a biochemistry degree
study skills
paperwork juggling
being less dumb (in a broad sense)
housing location
finding a quiet area to study
finding a table for that quiet area (thanks, grandpa Bup!)
figuring out how to get to the U
being less dumb (in a narrow sense)
getting a job in my “year-off”… which is what you call it when you don’t quite get in the first time
calculating my loan totals (and payments when I’m done)
…and even coding a durable version of this website to last through school
I thought I had anticipated everything, and yet I didn’t count on the incredible level of apprehensiveness and nerves. I wasn’t tired at night, and then exhausted when it was time to get up. I was concentrating in class, but feeling like I couldn’t absorb a thing. A day full of dichotomy, yet straightforward and not over-scheduled.
Once these first-month jitters die down, I hope all the preparation pays off.
One luxury of working for a year instead of coming straight from undergrad: perspective. The isolation from the real world in higher education is a double-edged sword — it is both a shield from the harsh light of reality but also a roadblock preventing one from enjoying the benefits of being part of the workforce. For me, imagining that light of a 9-5 (not 7-sleep) job at the end of the tunnel helps pull me through.
A few notes: I’ll post a bunch of recent State Fair photographs and then daily photos will cease here at tumbledry. After 3+ years and well over 1100 photos, I will only have time to post but a few snaps per month; I hope to show only the best/most memorable pictures. I will miss you, daily photos.
Text updates both short and long will absolutely continue — this is my life journal and it only ends when my life does.
I was planning on ending there… but gosh that sounded rather morbid, no? Here, I’ll fix it:
Here are some of the lyrics to Joshua Radin’s song “Everything’ll Be Alright (Will’s Lullaby).”
But I look at you
Warm in your dream
While your mobile dances above
And I think to myself
It’s a beautiful night
And I know everything is gonna be alright
Yes, now I know it’ll be alright
You can listen to the full song at Last.fm. It’s a great song and every time I hear it, I’m taken back to August of 2007, driving to the Kaplan course in Minneapolis to prepare for my DAT.
Axel Peemoeller designed the signs for a parking garage in Melbourne. What’s so special about that? Well, he won multiple international design awards. This was his solution:
I love the idea of the latest Improv Everywhere project. The idea is this: get a bunch of identical twins together, dress them the same, and put them on a subway train to form a human mirror. Surreptitiously film the reactions of innocent bystanders and then post the pictures and videos to the internet.
According to the article, some twins matched their accessories, others coordinated the song of their iPods, and all perfectly matched their clothing.
Last night, I finally finished writing a script to automatically resize images. That way, if I see a picture on the internet that I like, there are very few steps between viewing and putting it on tumbledry — this is nice because the hassle of processing random online images has kept me from posting many. As an example, take a look at this wonderful picture by David Iliff of Canary Wharf in London:
Left center to right center: 8 Canada Square, One Canada Square, and Citigroup Centre. I particularly like the center building. Anyhow, it’s great to now be able to share interesting and/or beautiful photos in this main content area. Plus, I quite like this photograph — it’s a really good panoramic stitch!
