WEMT Course

I am currently taking a WEMT Course, which is in an internetless location in Leavenworth, WA, and takes an astonishing amount of my time every day.  In addition to the time constraints, it has been pretty exhausting.  Never underestimate the energy required to lie mostly naked in the woods, at night, at 30 degrees, pretending to have a sucking chest wound for six hours.  I will endeavor to find the time to put something up by next Monday, and I think I should be able to do it.

The course is interesting, and some stories from this month will surely make it on to Faux Social in the coming months, but right now it is a little too overwhelming to discuss with anyone not in the course.  Some how talking about how a pretend trauma patient physically battered you during a pretend vehicle extraction doesn't sound like a major event to people who are not also in the car, wrestling a combative patient from the driver's seat.  Trust me, after doing that all afternoon, there is not much energy left to think of what to write.  Maybe I will write about a few scenarios for the next post, or maybe it will be about Christmas again... From my mind, not even I can predict.

My fingers are starting to get cold from writing in my mountaintop office (I have to walk up a significant ridge to make phone calls or use the internet), and dinner has been served down in the lodge.  With that, I wish all of you dear readers the very best, and encourage you to check out Matchbox Childhood, a post that was greatly overshadowed by the shooting at Sandyhook Elementary if you are in need of your Faux Social fix for the week.

Sarah's Dancing

In my previous post, "What is your Dance," I state that some Greek wedding guests stated that Sarah's dancing was good for her spirit.  After brief chastisement, I feel that I need to clarify this.  First, it was the professional dancers who told her that.  Second, Sarah is the best dance partner I have ever had the pleasure to dance with time and time again.

Dancing has always been important in my relationships.  I still feel nostalgic affection for Heidi when I remember dancing in my dorm room at UAF.  In the first weeks I spent with Sarah after separating with Corinne, we would dance in a Vancouver condo until the upstairs neighbor would pound on the floor, then collapse in sheepish giggles.  Whether it is talent or spirit, there are few memories I treasure more than dancing with her.

"Damn Right I Support It"

To buy from Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Same-Love-feat-Mary-Lambert/dp/B009GQ5A2M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351992476&sr=8-1&keywords=Macklemore+Same+Love

Tickets to Greece

Sarah and I bought tickets to go to Greece leaving 3 September for about three weeks.  Much of that time will be spent working in one of her PhD Field Areas, trying to get her a publication out of it.  Her field area is essentially a beach in the Cyclades, so it won't be the worst field area.  We will also attend a wedding of a friend of hers, and possibly see another friend, time and funds permitting.

I am interested in being her field assistant, as I have never done the detailed work that she was/is doing on these rocks.  If it turns out I am not capable of this type of work for long hours, I will probably wander off, and try to justify my time by doing some slightly less detailed work that I will pretend will be useful. It really all hinges on my ability/inability to spend all day, counting the number of crystals in a given area of rock, or some such nonsense that does actually tell one quite a lot about the magmatic processes and eruptions.

Also in the planning stages are a running trip on the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) in October, and a trip to the Southwest in November, with the hopes of some long runs before Sarah gets too lost in a Minnesota winter. We have talked about the SHT since we first discussed run-packing.  My Dad was concerned that the weather may not be good during our window to do it, and if his knowledge of weather patterns proves accurate, we may come up with an alternative destination.  We are shooting for post-bugs, with fall colors.  I think it may be after the peak of fall colors, but hopefully there will still be some.  This will be our first foray in run-packing, and the trail has enough infrastructure to make it a reasonable choice.

The trip to the Southwest is even more tentative at this point.  It is something we definitely want to do.  However, Sarah has been of no fixed address for years, and I have been off and on since about 2010.  Both of us are getting tired of this lifestyle, and are interested in the idea of living somewhere.  Thus, at some point we will be trying to find "the right place."  Sarah's sister asked me recently if I could live anywhere, where would I live?  That question that has been on my mind, and Sarah's, for years now.

There are two opposing forces in choosing a place to live.  The livability of the place, and the jobs that are available to one living there.  For example, Portland, OR ranks high in livability, but has little to offer in the jobs category.  Of course, we could live in Portland, and continue to work exploration contracts, but since Oregon has a state income tax, it actually becomes less attractive, as short-term contracts in many states and countries complicates state taxes.  Thus, Portland is most attractive to live in if one works in Oregon.  On the flip side, Vancouver, BC has a great job scene, but owing to visa issues ranks low for me on livability (without the visa issue, it ranks very high for livability, as a note).  It seems that one can make an argument to stay in purgatory until a job comes along, letting the place choose you, or one can choose a place and try to make it work.

If the place is to choose, then it is likely that the November trip will happen.  Employers are painfully slow at hiring, and there are not many jobs right now (that are "ideal" jobs).  In this scenario, the November trip will likely happen, as will a December trip, a January trip, and a February/March trip.  In which case, I need to spend some solid hours getting fit for some good desert running.

If we are to choose a place, than October and November will probably be spent trying to answer the unanswerable question, "where would you live if you could live anywhere"?  Then the "trip" would be moving to that place, and I can spend my days leisurely ignoring fitness.

Regardless, it seems that I will no longer have excuses for not posting more regularly to this blog.  While there may be some instances during travel that I do not have time for writing, it should provide something to write about when I return to a place I can sit with Penelope (my netbook), and write.


A note on photographs:  I still have some photos from New Zealand, and a handful from Ontario and Quebec to post.  However, I am using a smartphone hotspot for internet, and the cost of uploading photos would be prohibitive.  This means that there will probably be a flood of photos once I get into a position to upload them all.  As such, I will try to provide links in old posts to relevant Picasa albums so it is easy to find.  Conversely, by going to picasaweb.google.com/aillaud, one can see photographs dating back to 2007.

Larder Lake

I moved from New Zealand, but have not really moved to anywhere.  I am currently working in Larder Lake, Ontario.  In many ways, this is the most isolated place I have ever been, which I often find is true of the remote places on the road system.  Villages are physically more remote, but somehow when flying is a luxury because you can drive, it makes the place very lonely and remote.

Faux Social has suffered, with the move, and now with work, but be patient, it will be back.  It will probably be slow and sporadic at first, as I am currently spending 11-14 hours a day at a computer, and only sneaking away to check something that I have to report back to the computer about.  Once that madness ends, and I start spending my time in the field, or logging core, I will probably have motivation to sit at a computer, and write in the evenings.  After writing a workplace violence policy today, more hours at the computer is a low priority in my time off.  When I do start writing again, I may be tempted to reinvent the blog (again).  Faux Social turns one soon (or may already have), and I still have not figured out exactly what I want out of this experience.

I have been thinking a lot about how employers exploit workers.  I started thinking about it in New Zealand, because I was contractually obligated to take an unpaid lunch.  In the end, no matter how strong the union, or how long the unions have been fighting for the employee, the employer always seems to find a way to exploit them.  There is probably a post in there somewhere.

Tomorrow is supposed to be about 90 degrees and raining, so I am sure the bugs will come inside to my desk.  They always do, but they don't call it Onterrible for nothing.

Follow by Email and Travel

I am doing a bit of touring around the North Island right now, so posting has been on the back burner.  I will be adding photos and a few trip details with time.  Instant gratification can be found on my Google+ page, or by following my SPOT (for real time location updates when I am in the woods - owing to battery consumption, I won't be using it while driving).  Lastly, in the right side bar is a new gadget that, I think, will email you new posts, or notifications of new posts, which may make it easier to consume my mind grapes.

Travels thus far have included Rotorua, Tauranga, Waihi, New Plymouth, Taranaki (cloudy summit), Ruapehu (cloudy summit), and Napier.  Napier has earned itself the best small city in New Zealand ranking in my experience, and New Plymouth might edge it out for car owners who could easily escape to Egmont National Park.  Of course, both cities shut down for the day at about 16:00, so Minot probably edges them both out in terms of exciting cities to reside in.  The trip has largely been about walking to the top of Volcanoes.  Yet to come are Ngarahoe and Tongariro, but hopefully they will have clear summits, unlike the top of Taranaki, where it took a good bit of effort to find the summit owing to the cloud cover.

Happy Solstice

All bundled up and ready for summer.  Happy solstice from Faux Social!

The Sedaris Conundrum

One of the most frightening things about writing is sharing it with others.  Yet, writing not shared often seems pointless.  I have a journal, and sometimes I write in it, but I cannot seem to make a regular habit of it.  At the end of the day, if no one reads what I am writing, I do not care so much to write.  This, in addition to taking the burden of my rants off of people who spend time with me, was one of the reasons to share my writing via a blog.  I had hoped that I would become more comfortable with sharing my writing, and develop an audience to share my writing with.

My audience is slowly growing, which is encouraging.  Gradually, people are leaving more comments (commenting should now be easier to leave as well).  All this, is highly encouraging.  Yet, I feel that I have encountered a conundrum that I imagine every writer faces.  I am calling this conundrum the Sedaris Conundrum.

Anyone who has read David Sedaris probably needs no further explanation.  Just to make sure everyone is on the same page, I will try to paint the picture.  David Sedaris writes wicked funny, autobiographical satire.  Much of it is self-deprecating.  That self-deprecation often incriminates strangers, friends and family.  At some point Sedaris had to think to himself, "I do not really care who reads it, this is damn funny," and went ahead and told a story that may have hurt someone's feelings.  Or been shocking to people who felt close to him.  Or, any number of negative reactions.  This, if I recall an interview correctly, caused tension in the Sedaris Family.  Regardless, Sedaris keeps telling stories.

I post blogs.  Usually, they have a low risk of offending readers.  Some have elevated risk.  Those with high risk are often censored, stashed away for another project, or never make it past the loose ideas, scribbles in a note book, or a rough couple of paragraphs.  Some of these subjects are easy to guess, and can be pretty easily worked around.  Parents and siblings are easy targets for humor, as are ex-partners.  While Corinne may not always be painted in the best light, I love her, her frustrating and often hurtful faults and all.  So, I use material that teases these people because I know that they know me well enough that if they did not want to be part of my occasionally cynical view of the world, they would have gotten out long before now (or when they did).

The other is much more difficult in open forums.  How does one avoid hurting feels based on exclusion?  Most people will find out new information about me when they read my blog.  I find out new things about myself when I write.  My previous blog post was mentally outlined to be funny and light from start to finish.  Something happened, and I revealed information about myself that I had not intended to when I started.  When I edited it, I liked what it said.  So I posted it.  The content was a surprise, even for me.  Albeit, a small surprise.

When writing about the big surprises, difficult topics, or personal information, how does an author not hurt people?  This, is the essence of the Sedaris Conundrum.  I have spoken with other people who write, and they have the same concerns.  We all worry about hurting people, and therefore censor ourselves.  My issue with this is that one of the reasons my marriage ended was that I was tired of censoring myself.  I was tired of presenting the person that I felt like other people wanted me to be.  So, I stopped.  I started telling Corinne who I was.  I started being honest with people close to me.  I started being honest with people I was just meeting.  For the first time, I was living a life where the big surprises, difficult topics and personal information were not hurting me.

One of the ways I was able to do this was remove myself from the people and places that made me censor myself.  I have never been great at keeping in touch, so it is pretty easy for me to walk away and start fresh.  When old people pop back into my life, they may stay for a while, but usually fade out pretty quickly.  This way of living seems pretty common among my peers (to the baby boomers reading, fear not, this is just a different way of living).

Unfortunately, I have begun to build myself a life where anything goes, and I realize that when I sit down to write about it, I must be mindful of my audience.  I imagine some people come to this line and shy away forever.  Others probably vault across it consequences be damned.  I am shooting for something in the middle. I will do my best to ease people into an unapologetic Faux Social, but I imagine that one of the draws of Faux Social is the crazy and unconventional thinking of brian.

Minutiae

More pictures have been posted to my Picasa site, and the new Faux Social page is nearly set (I'm still debating a few things, we'll call it a beta version).  Preview it if you are interested, and comment on the new format if you like or dislike it.  Check it out at fauxsocial.blogspot.com.

Some folks have apparently been wondering what has been happening in my life, and, well, I think a recent xkcd captures what I go through when I try to work with most people.  This, is a stick-figure drawn glimpse of my life:  http://www.xkcd.com/974/.  In my defense, I usually can access my "fuck it, and get it done" response when it counts, but I hate going back through shoddy work, so I take the time to try to make the work being done at present good enough that I will not want to hurl feces at myself in a year or two.

Upcoming posts will probably include random topics such as balancing on exercise balls, the merits of high-vis clothing, and identifying hazards, but I may grow tired of those topics before I finish writing anything of consequence.

Faux Social Update

Faux Social's URL is currently brian-aillaud.blogspot.com.  In the coming weeks the blog will migrate to fauxsocial.blogspot.com, and will get a new look.  The content of Faux Social will likely shift a bit with this change, but since Faux Social lacks focus, that may not be entirely noticeable to anyone but me.

For anyone out there with lots of time on their hands, and in need of focus, fo.sci is a new blog by Sean Mulcahy (fosci.blogspot.com).  His one post is nerdy and fun, and I recommend it.  Hopefully more will follow.

Comments

In listening to All Songs Consideredpodcasts (I have very nearly listened to every episode), I havenoticed that they ask for listener comments, frequently. I getoccasional comments on photos, but not many. I essentially never getcomments on my blog posts. I have come to realize that I also rarelyask for reader comments. So, here it is, a shameless request forcomments.

If you enjoy Faux Social, comment on myposts. Agree or disagree? Have your own thoughts about a subject? I want to hear them! Want more of a certain kind of post, or less ofa kind of post, let me know. I will try to oblige. Obviously, Ihave to travel to have more travel posts. Once I get home internet,a plethora of pictures will be posted, which seems to generate themost interest. Regardless, let me know you are out there, otherwiseit becomes simply anti-social for me to sit at home writing.

Updates from the Field

I don't have a lot of time these days to write.  I will keep trying to, but working, posting photos and sleeping all take priority.  In lieu of posts, you can see my latest photos, and stalk my SPOT.  Photos are updated via Picasa, and can be viewed by following the link on the right of the page.  My SPOT can be checked here:  http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0vpsC1MvORVjAFZFUtqLifYlem5FjIWl5.  I will see if I can get a gadget that posts it directly to blogger, but no promises that I will do that soon.