Two years ago, I went on a hiking trip with my friend Ben Stafford out in Rocky Mountain National Park. I knew about the trip for about 3 months, and I was worried that my legs wouldn’t be able to handle the long hikes (16 miles some days) over the rocky terrain. So, I started taking the stairs as often as I could. I noticed that I wasn’t actually building my legs up, though. Taking the stairs was easy. So, I resolved to take them two hat a time for the next three months. It was difficult for the first week, I’ll admit. You’d be surprised how much easier it became after that, though. It quickly became a habit and it is now it feels unnatural and tedious to take one stair at a time. In fact, after about a month, I stopped noticing that I was doubling up on the stairs. (Two years later, it is still a habit!) As a consequence, my legs are stronger and I now get up the stairs with speed and ease. (In the short term, my hikes were much easier!)

I didn’t take a gym subscription, changes to my schedule for more workouts, no time on a leg press, and no aching muscles to build up my legs. Just a very minor change to my daily routine that took no additional time (but a little additional effort, at least at the beginning.)

What minor change could you make to your daily routine that will add up over time and help your achieve a significant result?

I don’t care how you walk up the stairs, but I do care about you making small positive changes that accumulate over time to something much bigger.

Back in high school, I remember a few people recommended that I listen to audiobooks. I tried, but never got into it on a regular basis. Audiobooks were something that my family listened to in the car on long road trips, but nothing more.

That changed last summer. A post by Sebastian Marshall pushed me over the tipping point, but recommendations from multiple friends led me that far. I must have read the post at the right time. At first, I tried finding free audiobooks, but most were classic novels with low quality narrators. I listened to a few, but only on long drives. I couldn’t seem to get into them otherwise. On my quest for contemporary non-fiction books, I signed up for an Audible account. They seemed to have the best selection and had a deal going on for new subscribers.

That was June 2011. Since then, I’ve purchased about 30 audiobooks and so far I’ve listened to more than 20 of them. Most of them were non-fiction (on a wide variety of subjects), though a few were fiction. I’ve learned quite a bit and I have made many changes to the way I live my life due to what I read (er.. listened to..) in the audiobooks.

I do not use audiobooks as a replacement for reading. I still read physical books that I have to hold in my hands, as well as digital books on my Kindle and iPad. (I am currently reading Brothers Karamazov, Deleting the State, and It Starts With Food the old-fashioned way. I can read multiple books concurrently as long as they aren’t the same genre.) I use audiobooks for when I would otherwise have dead time, such as walking to work, cooking, washing the dishes, or generally doing menial tasks that do not require my full attention. Without changing my schedule, I consumed an extra 20+ books in the past year. I’ve learned a little bit about neuroscience, exercise, diet, philosophy, economics, the founding of Google, the lives of people who have accomplished great things, self-discipline, productivity, travel, and more. I’ve also listened to some excellent literature and bought a physical copy of a few of the titles so I can spend some more time with them.

The majority of the books I listen to are informational books. This isn’t a coincidence: I can listen to informational books in 20 minute chunks without getting lost since most of the information does not rely heavily on what came immediately before it. I save the philosophical books and novels for long drives, plane rides, etc.

This year, I am on track to listen to 50+ audiobooks, again without changing my schedule. I am not pushing off tasks or projects to listen to audio, nor am I cutting into my regular reading time. I am simply being more diligent about listening to audio while I am doing menial tasks. For the past 3 weeks, I’ve gone through a book and a half a week.

A few times a year, Audible runs a $4.95 sale. For a few days they list 200+ titles, mostly popular titles that people actually want to listen to, at $4.95 each. At that price, you can grab 5 great books for $25, which is an insanely good price, considering that the books usually go for between $13-$25 a piece. Each time this sale comes around, I stock up on great titles.

Another way I can listen to so many books is that I play them at 1.5x speed. I think most of the narrators are fairly slow compared to how my friends speak, so listening to the books at 1.5x sounds fine to me. This allows me to listen to an hour of recorded audio in 40 minutes.

A note on podcasts: I haven’t explored them. I know there are many excellent ones that my friends listen to, but audiobooks have been more than adequate for me this past year. I will look into podcasts again soon. I am sure there are a few that I would enjoy listening to each week.

My number one complaint with listening to audiobooks is that my headphones are always tangled. I am currently looking into bluetooth headphones to solve this problem. I think not having to deal with wires will be a significant improvement. (Have any recommendations?–Let me know in the comments.)

What could you learn if you consumed an extra 20 books a year without changing your schedule? More importantly, what are you missing out on? Give audiobooks a try and let me know how it goes.

The photo I took at Hillsdale to illustrate a story on medical marijuana was picked up by The Daily Caller to illustrate a story on Chicago’s decriminalization decision.

See the original photo.

For a month and a half at the beginning of the summer, no one took me up on my offer. I would get uneasy looks, then the person would decline and walk away. Two examples:
1. A man told me a story about how he had AIDS and how he was in a shelter, and he stands in front of the post office (where he and I both were) opening doors for people so that he can get money to go to Publix and buy juice to drink. It just so happened that I was going to Publix (directly across the street), so I made him my normal offer: “I don’t carry cash, but go across the street with me and I will buy you juice at Publix.” Unsurprisingly to me, he did not take me up on my offer. He said, “Oh, I can’t go to Publix. I’ll manage.” It was obvious to me that he didn’t want to get juice… he just wanted money for other things. (By the look of him, it was likely drugs.) So, I walked away, and he continued asking people for money. (I wonder if he changed his story?)
2. I work in downtown Atlanta right now. I walk down the street multiple times a day, and get asked for money at least once a day, usually more. This story is true (and typical of what usually happens): As I was walking between my office and Georgia Pacific, a man approached me and asked me if I could spare a dollar for a sandwich. I told him that I do not carry cash, but I would walk one block down the street with him to the food court and buy him a meal. He looked kind of worried and said, “No, that’s okay,” and walked away. This happens most of the time. I can only assume these people want something other than a sandwich, but don’t want to admit it. It is strange to me that they do not take me up on my offers, though. [EDIT: It was pointed out to me that it does not necessarily follow that people want this money for other things. See the comments.]

After a month and a half, I actually had two people take me up on the offer, just a day apart. One was a woman, the other a man. The woman took me up on buying her a MARTA (Atlanta’s metro system) ticket to somewhere on the other side of town so she could get to a women’s shelter. The man wanted soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant so he could be clean for an interview. I have no idea whether the stories they told me were true or not, but that does not matter to me. I made an offer, and I held up my end of it once they accepted. I can only pray that these individuals use what I bought them to help alleviate their situation.

Some people have asked me why I do this. Here are my reasons:
-Offering to buy someone food or basic necessities instead of immediately rejecting them and walking away acknowledges that person’s human dignity. These people get treated as less them human all day, so the least I can do is acknowledge their dignity and offer to help them out.
-Offering to buy someone food or basic necessities weeds out most people who want money for something else, such as drugs or alcohol. I’ve made the over dozens of times with only two people taking me up on it so far. This way, I can help people who really need it. I know this isn’t a perfect system, but I think it is better than just giving out cash. If people actually need help, I feel an obligation to help them.
-In 2008, when I attended my first FEE seminar, Dr. Anthony Carilli finished out the week by telling the attendees that, besides being a professor, speaker around the US, and an umpire for minor league baseball, he is a volunteer fireman. Why? In his words, “If you believe in the free market, you have to be willing to do your part to support it.” I’ve thought about that statement a lot in the last four years. If I advocate abolishing government welfare programs, I have to be willing to help people out with my own time and money. I am trying to do that.

Some people I know have objected to my practice. One guy said that I am just providing temporary relief to their problem and it doesn’t really help them. So, when I asked him what he recommends, he cited a privately run homeless shelter that has strict rules about work, but actively helps people get jobs and is surprisingly good at doing so. But the guy who told me this does not donate to such shelters or individuals, and isn’t actively trying to start one. That is fine with me. It is his time and his money, which he can do what he wants with it.

One of my favorite professors at Hillsdale always says, “Once you confront a situation or possibility, you have to own it.” The situation I am confronted with on a daily basis is people asking me for help. This is my way of owning it. I know it is not perfect, but I am trying to do what I can.

You can check out the original photo in this post or read the article over at the Huffington Post.

Check out Amanda’s blog, The Ring Diaries, to see the ring and for more info.

I had the great fortune of being able to listen to a lecture by professional caveman John Durant at Hillsdale College last night. I also got to hang out and chat with him for the evening and he graciously agreed to do an interview for The Primal Challenge! Click on the link below to listen to the interview.

Interview with John Durant (approximately 13 minutes in length)

Topics: The gourmet hot dog party that started it all, the role of community in keeping you with your new identity, advice for people who want to start blogging or doing something in health, why so many libertarians are attracted to paleo, and advice for people just starting out with paleo.

For those of you who don’t know him, John is a barefoot runner who started the NYC Barefoot Run,  a health entrepreneur, and a libertarian who runs a popular blog on the paleo lifestyle, Hunter-Gatherer.com.

I had a great time chatting with him and learning from him. Thanks, John!

Here is a photo of John at the Hillsdale Lecture:

Gretchen
Whenever the Collegian runs profiles on people, we almost always have some sort of portrait and an action shot. Sometimes portraits can be pretty bland, such as a regular mugshot against a white background, so I decided to go the extra step on this one. I used the pool and diving board as the backdrop and used two strobes to light Gretchen. I used a shoot through umbrella from camera left as my main light, then set up another strobe with a spot grid behind Gretchen on camera right to open up the shadows on that side of her face.

Timelapse
This timelapse was the main art for the story. It ran pretty large in full color and I got a lot of compliments on it. The photo was pretty easy to do: I set up three strobes on 1/2 power across the pool from the diving board and fired my camera in burst mode to get Gretchen in 10 different frames as she dove into the water. I then chose 6 of the frames and masked them together in Photoshop.

Hesitation and Anticipation
When we were finished with the portraits and the diving shots, I asked Gretchen if she wanted to do one more shot, a fun one this time. She enthusiastically said, “Sure!”, so I came up with this. I had her carry an umbrella up the diving board and clamp it on to one of the rails. I then had her go to the edge of the board and act like the was afraid to jump off. It didn’t run in the paper, but it was still fun.

Strobist info: Gridded LP160 to fill the face in and a bare LP160 at a higher power as a rim/smoke light, shot from behind the subject’s right side. I also used a snooted 430EX to light the hand with the cigarette in it. Cactus V5 triggers.

Strobist info: Gridded LP160 to fill the face in and a bare LP160 at a higher power as a rim light, shot from behind the subject’s right side. Cactus V5 triggers.

The photo was of the recently dedicated statue of Former President Reagan that was dedicated here at Hillsdale College last week. The Reagan statue is Hillsdale’s most recent addition to the Liberty Walk.

Here is a larger version:

Above: Chicken Stuffed with Spinach, Feta, and Bacon – my latest recipe at The Primal Challenge.

I’ve been posting frequently over at The Primal Challenge. Check out some of my recent posts:
Welcome Two New People to the 30 Day Challenge!
Mass Production, Restaurants, and Food Quality
Primal Apple Crumble (a recipe from my parents!)

Also, here is the recipe for the delicious dish in the photo above:

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach, Feta, and Bacon
Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
1 bag of fresh spinach
Feta cheese
1/2 lb of bacon, dice all but 3 pieces
1/4 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Black pepper
Olive oil

1. 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. 2. Heat your favorite fat (I used olive oil) in a skillet and start cooking the diced bacon along with the diced onion and the spinach. Saute it all together. Don’t worry, the spinach will cook down quickly.
3. 3. Butterfly the chicken breasts.
4. 4. In a bowl, mix the sautéed spinach, onions, and bacon with however much feta cheese you prefer.
5. 5. Spread the minced garlic inside the butterflied chicken.
6. 6. Put the spinach, onion, bacon, and feta mixture on 1/2 of each butterflied chicken breast and fold the other side back on top of it.
7. 7. Top each stuffed chicken with the pieces of bacon you set aside earlier.
8. 8. Place on a pan and bake at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Turn the broiler on for the last 2-3 minutes to brown the top of the chicken and crisp the bacon.

I posted about three of my favorite primal breakfast smoothies over at The Primal Challenge today. Click over and check it out!

I know I have been linking to my posts over at The Primal Challenge quite a bit. I will post some original stuff (photography, thoughts, recommendations) on here soon. Stay tuned.

I don’t know about you, but the “no glowing rectangles an hour before bed” rule is difficult for me. At Hillsdale I am usually so busy that I can’t avoid using my laptop before bed, lest work go unfinished. That used to affect my sleep a great deal, but then I came across a tip in Matt Madiero’s book, Roots.

Matt recommends a great piece of freeware called F.lux. Made by Stereopsis, F.lux is a free, cross-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) piece of software that changes the color temperature of the screen on your computer at night to the ambient light around you. Normally, screens are set around 6500 K, roughly the temperature of sunlight, which is great for waking you up, but not for allowing you to fall asleep. Some CRTs go all the way up to 9300 K. F.lux changes your screen temperature at sunset to around 3400 K, which is roughly the temperature of halogen light.

When I first installed the software, I didn’t think it made a noticeable difference until I turned it off a few hours later in order to edit some photos. When I turned F.lux off, the screen hurt my eyes! I can’t definitively say it has improved my ability to fall asleep since I’ve used it because I am getting more exercise during the day and I am usually exhausted by the time I go to bed, anyway. Since turning it off hurts my eyes so much, though, I suspect that f.lux is at least not hindering my brain from making melatonin to make me sleepy.

Stereopsis cites a lot of research which deals with the effects of color temperature. Here is an excerpt:

“…we surmise that the effect of color temperature is greater than that of illuminance in an ordinary residential bedroom or similar environment where a lowering of physiological activity is desirable, and we therefore find the use of low color temperature illumination more important than the reduction of illuminance. Subjective drowsiness results also indicate that reduction of illuminance without reduction of color temperature should be avoided.”
- from the paper: “Effect of Illuminance and Color Temperature on Lowering of Physiological Activity”

So, does this mean it is okay to use your computer all of the time before you go to bed? No. It is still best to keep things pretty low-key and dim before you go to bed. You should also avoid having lights in your room at night. (I covered up all of the lights on my gadgets.) When you must use your laptop at night though, lower the color temperature with F.lux. Also, if you are the type of person who reads for an hour before bed, use a bulb with a lower color temperature. Wikipedia has a good chart of common bulb color temperatures.

Want to know something interesting? Those most of those curly florescent bulbs that Congress is trying to get you to buy are around 5500 K. So not only do they contain mercury and are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but they are also ruining your ability to fall asleep. As Bastiat noted so long ago, government intervention has unintended consequences.

I had my first post today over at the Primal Challenge. I met Bob and Antonie, two of the people who started the site, at the FEE mansion this summer. After they graciously linked to a few of my posts, they invited me to contribute! I will post recipes and thoughts on living primally in college. Head on over to the Primal Challenge blog and check out my first post!

A few days after I started the primal challenge, I was on the look-out for a quick snack idea that could double as a light lunch. I saw that a few websites recommend Paleo Kits from Steve’s Original, so I ordered a sample pack of Steve’s products to give them a try. I was a huge fan of the Original Paleo Kit and the Coconut Paleo Kit. I almost ordered more, then I thought, “Why can’t I make this myself?”. I went home for a week between my internship at the Foundation for Economic Education and heading back to Hillsdale, so I teamed up with my parents and made some goodies of my own. Since they are a mix between Paleo Kits and Primal Pacs, I am dubbing them Primal Kits for the time being.

Though we used some specialized equipment, there are some alternative ways of making these, so try it out!

What are in the kits:
Beef Jerky
Almonds
Pecans
Dried Blueberries
Dried Cherries
Dried Strawberries
Dried Coconut
A few dried Apricots

The Grimmett Household is no stranger to making jerky, so we marinated some beef in our favorite batch of seasonings, put it in the smoker for a few hours, then finished it in the dehydrator. If you don’t have a smoker, you can make it entirely in a dehydrator, but it takes much longer. If you have neither of these things, an oven or a grill works just as well. Search Google for methods. Also, search Google for jerky recipes…there are thousands. Like I’ve mentioned before, I am not a big fan of measuring things out, so I just mixed together a few different sauces and spices for the marinade. That is what I’ve always done and it always turns out to be delicious. Don’t fret over exact recipes.

We also dried the strawberries in the dehydrator. I store-bought the rest. I bought the dried berries with the least amount of added sugar and preservatives in the store. If I could do this over again, I would have dried everything myself, but I simply did not have enough time. I was leaving for Hillsdale in two days and needed to finish these up. I figured this would be okay, given the 80/20 rule and the fact that a tiny bit of extra sugar is still better than the massive amounts of bread, pasta, and candy I was eating earlier this summer. I know this is less than ideal, but again, I was short on time. The next batch will all be dried at home and preservative/added sugar-free.

To finish things up, we Seal-a-Meal’d everything in convenient portions. If you don’t have one of these nifty machines, use zip-loc bags. (The shelf-life might not be as long as their vacuum-sealed twins’, though.) We didn’t measure anything out…we just put in what we thought was a good relative ratio of nuts, berries, and jerky and didn’t lose sleep over it.

These are quite tasty and keep me going throughout the day. Try your hand at making some!

Lora, Allen, Ed, and me (I am at the bottom of the photos) making our way across the Narrows.

The group at the Boulderfield around 7 a.m. (after 3.5 hours of hiking already)

Me on the Ledges

At the summit!

More photos to come soon! Stay tuned!

I am home for a week and my Mom has some Canna plants in both our back and front yards. The leaves look absolutely brilliant when the sun shines through them.

ISO 100; f/13; 1/60. Only natural light on this shot.

I am going to experiment with some strobist tricks on the leaves soon. Stay tuned.

Strobist info: Canon 430EX in a shoot-through umbrella camera right on 1/4 power. Fired via a Cactus V5 trigger.

Inspired by the delicious food I ate in Turkey and the primal challenge, I made an eggplant and meat dish for dinner last week. I took a stroll through the Irvington Farmer’s Market that meets every Wednesday and saw the eggplant a local farmer had at his booth. I’ve never cooked eggplant before, but I thought, why not? So I bought some. It turns out to be pretty simple to prepare.

Ingredients:
Eggplant
Steak
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Olive Oil
Hot Peppers
Spices

First, I cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and soaked it in cold salt water for 30 minutes to take away the bitterness. Our fabulous Turkish tour guide Mehmet told me to do this. As I let the eggplant soak, I cut up some steak into small pieces and browned it with some onions. I also cut up a few large tomatoes and finely chopped some garlic and one of the hot peppers. I mixed this all together in a casserole dish with the browned meat and onions, and put the eggplant in the dish flesh-side up. I cut some slits in the eggplant and put in chopped garlic, then drizzled quite a bit of olive oil over the whole dish. I also cut the remaining pepper in half and put it in the dish as well. I baked everything (with the casserole dish covered!) on 400 for an hour.

Here is a shot of the dish when it came out of the oven:

I have two other ways I’d like to prepare eggplant, including stuffing one, so check back!

First off, I apologize for the low quality cell phone photo. I was pressed for time tonight and didn’t bring my rig out like I usually do. As I wrote about in the last post, I am taking the 30-day Primal Challenge, so no grains or processed sugars for me for the rest of the month. This includes one of my favorite foods: Pasta.

A few weeks ago I came across an article somewhere on the internet about zucchini “pasta” so I decided to give it a try.

Let me tell you, it was simple to make and delicious. I used to be quite the skeptic when it comes to foods outside of my comfort zone (I am getting better though, right Mom?) but this was so delicious I would eat it even if I was not taking the Primal Challenge.

To make it, all I did was take two slightly larger than medium zucchini, make “noodles” using a vegetable peeler (a julienne peeler would have worked great for this, but I do not have one), and throw them in the microwave for two minutes. (If you boil them, watch them closely. They will turn brown and soft quickly, which is not what you want. You want them still translucent and al dente. When I took them out of the microwave, I drained the excess liquid out of the bowl, lightly seasoned them with salt and pepper, then put half on a plate and kept the other half in the bowl. I put the marinara sauce I had left over from the last post on that half and I put garlic and olive oil on the half still in the bowl.

I personally enjoyed the half with garlic and olive oil more than the half with marinara, but that is merely because of my personal preferences. I enjoyed both quite a bit, though.

If you have a ton of zucchini from your garden this summer that you don’t know what to do with, give this a try! Or, if you are just looking for a change from the same old, same old, try it!

Let me know what you think. Post a comment if you make it!

Strobist info: I tried the Strobist method of using the ceiling as a light mod in this shot. Canon 430EX at 1/2 power bounced off of the ceiling. Fired via a Cactus V5 trigger.

I’ve been doing quite a bit on diet and nutrition this summer and last Sunday I decided to take the 30 Day Primal Challenge. (Learn about the primal lifestyle at Mark’s Daily Apple.) For those of you unfamiliar with this, at the most basic level, I am not consuming any grains or refined sugar for the next thirty days. I am tracking my weight and measurements, as well as writing down everything I eat, how much I exercise, and my sleep patterns, so I will post about my experience with the challenge and the results at the end of the 30 days.

I love to cook, so here is the primal-compatible (also gluten-free!) dinner I made tonight:

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Serving size: 3 stuffed mushrooms

• 3 medium portobello mushrooms
• 1 chicken breast, butterflied, grilled, and diced up into small pieces
• ¼-⅓ lb cooked spinach
• ¼ medium onion
• 1 14.5oz can of plain diced tomatoes
• 1 egg
• 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Dried Basil
• Dried Oregano
• Dried Parsley
• Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
Butterfly and grill the chicken breast, then dice it up into small pieces. (Spice it however you like. I prefer salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.)

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the portobello mushrooms by washing them and scooping out the gills and discarding them along with the stem. Brush the outsides of the portobellos with olive oil and put some of the chopped garlic on the inside of each one, but leave some to saute the spinach with. Then line a casserole dish with aluminum foil, put the mushrooms in it, and roast them for 10-15 minutes on each side.

While the mushrooms are roasting, open the can of tomatoes and cook them in a small saucepan on high until 4/5 of the original liquid is gone. Be sure to add the parsley, oregano, basil, and a little bit of garlic to the sauce while it is cooking. I like spicy sauces, so I also added crushed red pepper. Once 4/5 of the liquid is gone, put the tomato mixture into a blender or food processor and puree it to your desired consistency. I suppose you could go out and buy your favorite marinara sauce, but what fun is that? This is a cheap, easy way to make your own. I hesitate to call this a real marinara sauce…my wonderful Italian girlfriend Amanda might object. Regardless, this was delicious, so I suggest you give it a try.

Next, the spinach mixture. If you have frozen spinach, heat it up in a pan and saute the diced onions with it. Or, if you have fresh spinach like I did, put 1/4-1/2 cup of water into a pan and add the fresh spinach and diced onions, turn the heat on medium, cover the pan, and wait until it looks like something Popeye would eat. (Or, in other words, it looks done.)

Digression: Notice I have been putting ranges for the measurements and cooking times. I eyeball measurements and estimate the cooking times. Meticulously measuring and setting timers is a waste of my time. If I cut into it and it looks done, I call it done.

(Go check on the chicken! You don’t want it to burn!)

When your chicken and spinach are done and your mushrooms have been sufficiently roasted, pull the mushrooms out of the oven. Mix the chicken with the spinach and onions, then crack the egg over top. Mix everything thoroughly. Divide the mixture into thirds, then mound it on top of the portobellos. I found my hands worked best for this (though I am a little biased because I like to do the least amount of dishes possible.) Turn on the broiler and put the stuffed mushrooms back in the oven for 5 minutes, or until evenly browned. The industrial stove I was using does not have a broiler, so I just turned the oven up as high as it would go, left the mushrooms in for 10 minutes, and called it good.

After the stuffed mushrooms are done, pull them out of the oven, plate them, and spoon some of the “marinara sauce” on top. This is where the aluminum foil will help quite a bit. You can pull the foil out of the pan with the mushrooms still on it, making them much easier to move onto a plate with a spatula. They don’t stick to aluminum foil as well as they would stick to the pan. Furthermore, it makes for easy clean up!

I suggest enjoying this dish with friends and a good red wine of your choice. (It is primal!) I had a Malbec on hand, so that is what I enjoyed it with.

Other suggestions: You can try this recipe with a variety of other things, depending on your preferences and dietary requirements. Other combinations I recommend trying are sausage and spinach, sausage and broccoli, chicken and cheese, steak and blue cheese or goat cheese, or chicken, red peppers, and spinach.

Here is a shot of the stuffed portobellos without the sauce on top:

Strobist info: Same as above

If you try this recipe, leave a comment with your results! I am always open to recommendations. Also, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. I love hearing from people!

I shot these portraits of Trevor Freudenburg for his acting portfolio shortly after I shot Ryan’s. Trevor didn’t want his photos taken in a studio like everyone else’s, so we went up on the cat walk above the auditorium where all of Trevor’s theatre performances take place. This fun challenge forced me to think outside the box in terms of light placement. I used clamps, boom-arms, weights, and ball bungees to get my flashes where I wanted them. Most of the time that meant the ground was 40 feet below them.

Strobist info: shoot through umbrella on a boom arm camera right (430EX), a bare flash clamped to a pipe camera left (SB-24), and a bare flash behind Trevor lighting up some of the background (235 HV). All three flashes fired via Cactus V5 triggers.

Strobist info: shoot-through umbrella on a boom arm with a 430EX camera right and a bare SB-24 right over his shoulder. Both fired via Cactus V5 triggers.

Strobist info: Two studio strobes in umbrella softboxes at 45 degrees from Ryan’s nose on both sides. Both on 1/8 power. There is also a Canon 430EX behind Ryan on camera left giving an accent to his face on that side.

Strobist info: Studio strobe in an umbrella softbox camera right right about 3ft away from Ryan at a 30 degree angle from his nose for a key light and another studio strobe in an umbrella softbox camera left for fill. Fired via pc port on my camera.

Strobist info: Key: Studio strobe in umbrella softbox on camera right about 50-60 degrees up and 45 degrees to the right. approximately 3ft away. Fill light is from another studio strobe in an umbrella softbox about 6ft away on camera left.

Strobist info (above): Softbox camera left with a Canon 430EX fired through it and a SB24 camera right lighting up her zebra-striped umbrella from behind.

Strobist info (above): Softbox camera left with a Canon 430EX fired via a Cactus V5.

Strobist info (above): Softbox above camera left with a Canon 430EX and a SB24 directly behind Meghan lighting up her purple highlights. Fired via Cactus V5 triggers.

Coming up next: Portraits of Actor Ryan Black. Check back!

This shot (above) ran on A1 in the March 31 edition.

Coming up next: Photos of Meghan Haines, Rocker Chic. Check back soon!

Strobist info for above: SB-24 in a white shoot through umbrella camera right (behind the piano) to light Josh’s right side and a bare Canon 430EX camera left to light the strings and Josh’s left side. Fired via Cactus V5 triggers. (H/T: The idea for this shot comes from William Clayton.)

Strobist info: Canon 430EX in a white shoot through umbrella camera left fired via Cactus V5 trigger.

Strobist info: Canon 430EX in a silver bounce umbrella camera left 6ft away to get Josh’s left side and the piano and SB-24 in a white shoot through umbrella camera right. (Left side is +1 stop from right side.) Fired via Cactus V5 triggers.

Coming up next: Photos of the Hillsdale Tower Dancers performance. Check back soon!

Here is my entry for the first assignment.

Strobist info: Canon 430EX fired through a softbox camera right about 3 feet away on 1/32. Vivitar 285HV gobo’d and fired at 1/4 into the ceiling behind Jenifer on camera left to light up the background. Both flashes fired via Cactus V5 triggers.

I chose Jenifer for the first assignment of Strobist Boot Camp III because she is a pillar of Tarrytown, NY, a small Hudson river community north of NYC. She started a community event, Third Friday, a few years ago and it grew into a large event which locals all look forward to each month. She is also involved in just about every aspect of the community, from hosting art shows and organizing library programs to helping preserve local architecture. Jenifer can hardly walk down the street without someone recognizing her friendly smile.

Here is one of the test shots I took. I ended up not being as satisfied with the logo in the background as I thought I would be, so I moved to she shot above. I still like this one, though.

I took both photos at W@tercooler, Jenifer’s new business venture in Tarrytown.

Strobist info: softbox camera right with Canon 430EX on 1/8 power. Vivitar 285HV on 1/4 snooted to light up the background. Both flashes fired via Cactus V5 triggers.

I am currently working on the next assignment. I will post all five here over the next few weeks. Check back!

NYC Pier 16

Above: Jen and Chris silhouetted while spinning poi together.

I had the opportunity ten days ago to travel up to Connecticut to go to a party and photograph some people spinning fire. I really enjoyed photographing John Walsh spinning fire for the Collegian last winter, so I immediately jumped on this opportunity and headed north. I had a great time meeting new people, hanging out, relaxing, and making photos. (By the way, the people featured in these photos made a version of Guitar Hero called Rock Inferno that shoots fire whenever the correct notes are hit. Check it out!)

Due to some unforeseen events, the fire spinners only did one burn, so I only got one set of photos that night. The ones in this post are my favorites from the shoot. After shooting I sat down with the spinners and we looked at my photos on the TV. I got some great feedback from them on what to look for, how to direct them, the duration of some of the shapes, etc.

Here is what I learned:
First, the settings:
-Low ISO, 100-200. A little higher if the flame is not that bright.
-Relatively closed down aperture, 8-16 was the range I used. You need to open it up depending on how much ambient light you want in the shot and how bright the flame is
-1/2 second to 2.5 seconds shutter speed for most moves is plenty. Any longer and the trails will start looking messy.

Next, the lighting:
-Get your flash off-camera.
-I used between 1/4 power and 1/2 power depending on the distance the flash was fired and what aperture I was using. Lower power is better, though. If you can manage it, stay in the 1/8-1/4 range. It is much easier on your recycle times and your flash has less of a chance of overheating.
-Diffuse the light. I used a softbox. You want to light the performer up, but just enough to see them, not make them look like a ghost.
-Gel your flash with a 1/4 or 1/2 cut CTO to preserve the skin tones. The white (and slightly blue) light the flash puts out looks unnatural when there is orange fire around.
-Don’t light the ground like I did. Aim your light source up and blow most of the light out above the fire spinner if you are using a softbox. If you are using a bare flash or just a cap diffuser, you can also use a gobo or a snoot to prevent light from flooding the ground. I didn’t notice this until reviewing afterwards.
-Trigger the flash(es) manually instead of letting them automatically fire at the beginning or end of the frame. This way you can watch when the spinner is facing your direction, striking a pose, or generally looking awesome and light them up then. Some of these photos were fired in the middle of the exposure, some at the end. I had a VALS (voice-activated light stand) holding my softbox and I fired the flash using a Cactus V5, which I held in my hand.

General tips:
-Use a tripod. Some people say you can hand-hold the camera when shooting fire spinners, but trust me, you will be disappointed.
-The fire starts out very bright when it is first lit. Your aperture should be pretty shut down because of this. Gradually open it up as the fuel on the wick starts to burn out and the flame gets gradually dimmer.
-Be mindful of the background. Anything reflective WILL show up. Crank down the aperture to control the ambient if that is an issue. Try to shoot somewhere where the background is dark and far off.
-Talk to the spinners and see how long the rotation for each design lasts. They will know. Set your shutter speed accordingly.
-Give the spinners directions if there is something else you want. They are generally receptive to feedback. They want good photos, too!
-Orange power cords are visually distracting. We were pretty confined as to where they spinning could occur and I didn’t have time to move it, so it is in most of my photos. Oh well. I will keep it in mind for next time.
-Turn the flashes off and crank down the aperture if you want to get silhouettes like in my top photo
-Try to capture people’s expressions. It will add another feel to your photos. My general rule is that people make photos more interesting.
-Keep your frame in mind. If you get in too tight, sometimes the throws or full revolutions that the performers do go will go out of your frame. Again, work with the performer.
-If the spinner is moving around a lot, especially towards or away from the camera, close your aperture down to keep most of the shot in focus. If you need more light from the fire when you do this, compensate with the ISO, but don’t push it through the roof. Keep the ISO as low as possible.

If you have any questions, email me at: cagrimmett [at] gmail [dot] com

Ray spinning a double fire staff:

Jen doing an outward spiral:

Dennis with nunchucks:

Chris and Jen spinning poi together:

Ray:

Chris with the staff. Click on the photo to view it larger. I love the way the fire looks in this one!

More to come. I plan to do at least one more shoot later this summer, hopefully more.

All of this info is brought to you by FEE.tv and the Foundation for Economic Education. View FEE.tv’s inaugural post for more information on the war on drugs.

A protest started up while we were in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, so I took some photos. I was lucky enough to find a local who spoke english and he translated the signs and chants for me.

These women were protesting honor killings. The UN estimates that as many as 5000 women around the world are killed by their families in the name of “honor.”

My translator told me that in the southeast region of Turkey, women who are targeted for honor killings and seek help and protection from the local police and are often ignored and refused protection. How utterly horrible!

This terrible practice is not confined to the middle east, either. This happens in America, England, and Canada, too.

I am glad these women were protesting and bringing awareness to this tragic issue.

Photo by Anna Saewert.

See more of my photos from Mount Nemrut.

Pide is a Turkish/middle-eastern spin on pizza, baked in a wood-fired oven.

Check out an approximate recipe over at Mansurovs.

The delicious finished product:

The travertines:

Read more about this amazing place.

Roman ruins:

Read more about this great structure.

The Tetrapylon, the monumental gate

The Stadium, the largest and best preserved Roman stadium in Turkey

The very top of Mount Nemrut

The statues with Persian hats

Sartorialist style shot:

Traditional beehive houses made of mud

Hand-painted pottery

Wine decanters

While driving down the highway on the way back to our hotel in Cappadocia, we saw a beautiful rainbow. The bus stopped so we could shoot a few photos.

This was the first full rainbow I’ve seen from end to end. We were in the perfect spot. While we were standing there taking photos, a second rainbow appeared! I’ve never seen a double rainbow before, so I was thrilled. I promptly grabbed by 11mm wide angle lens and snapped this photo.

Read my favorite quote about rainbows from Ian Stewart’s Letters to a Young Mathematician, pages 7 and 8.

More photos from Cappadocia and Sanliurfa are coming soon!

The famed hill with a single tree:

From the top we had quite a view. We got to watch the sun reach over the hilltops and spread its warmth over the countryside. Here are a few shots of the view. The tree in the first one is the single tree whose company we so eagerly sought.

Five of the eight made their way down the hill and back to the hotel after sunrise while three of us stayed on the top to take photos. Aaron Mortier (my Alaskan friend), Barbara (my Slovakian friend) and I were the three who stayed behind. Soon, Barbara followed along the path the others took back to the hotel. I snapped a few more photos, then made my way down as well. I looked back after I made it down the hill and saw Aaron on top looking like the Little Prince standing by his baobab tree. Naturally, I snapped another photo, then went on my way. I eventually caught up to Barbara who also stopped to take various photos, then we went on our way.

We happened upon a Turkish farmer who must have just finished his morning chores in the barn. It was only 5:45 in the morning. I said “merhaba!” (Turkish for Hello) and went over to him, motioning to my camera and to him, which is how I ask to take someone’s photo if I do not know their language. He smiled and nodded, so I took a portrait of him. He then motioned like he wanted to show Barbara and me something. He took us in to his barn and showed us his two milk cows and his two precious calves, who were suckling their breakfast from their mothers. He also showed us his chicken with its little chicks. He was very proud to show us what he has. Even though this is a small, poor village, the people are kind, genuine, humble, and proud of what they have. It is refreshing. This village and this farmer have a special place in my heart now.

While the farmer was showing Barbara and I around his barn, his wife came out. I took a nice portait of the two of them, got ready to say goodbye, but he held his finger up and asked us to wait a moment. He pulled a branch down from his tree and started picking something it. I didn’t exactly know what he was doing, so I took photos of him and snapped a few photos of his wife taking to Barbara. She knows a few Turkish phrases, so she asked the farmer’s wife the names of each of the animals in Turkish. By this time, the man finished picking little green fuzzy things out of the tree and gave Barbara and I each a handful. He motioned for us to eat. He ate one, too. We bit in and they tasted like a cross between a pea and an unripe plum. A little sour, but sweet as well. I thought they were delicious. He called them “badem.” It turns out they were green almonds! Delicious! It warms my heart to know that this poor man in a small village generously shared what he had with us. He is a very kind man. I will remember his kindness and hospitality forever.

Here is a photo of the farmer’s wife:

Picking green almonds (badem)

the kind, humble farmer

badem

This little village has charmed me. I got many offers to come in and have tea with people and each shop owner I photographed proudly showed me around his small shop and posed for a photo in it. The children were playful and wanted to play “futbol” with my friends. The old men sitting around outside happily spoke to us with the few English phrases they knew and smiled as we stumbled our way around the few Turkish phrases we knew. I saw two of these men while walking back from our hiking adventure and they both smiled, waved, and shouted, “Merhaba!” Even the police of the town stopped their vehicle by us and asked us to pose for a photo with them. Their kindness is refreshing and they all hold a special place in my heart. I’d love to go back and visit some day.

I spent some time wandering through the village, which consists of just one street of shops and some homes scattered around the countryside. I saw many wonderful people. Even though there is a language barrier, I feel like we were able to understand each other and connect. We are all people and we have more in common than it seems; the struggles, smiles, emotions, etc.

Here are some of the wonderful people I saw.

Click on the photos to view them larger.

Mosaics and great ancient artwork

Political flags waving in the streets

Bazaars

Roman era underground cistern

Rain blowing in over the ruins in Hittusas

Food

Charming, small hotel in the countryside

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Click on the photos to view them larger.

Test image that I really like:

I learned about this story at the last minute, so I only had one chance to photograph the brothers: a 10-minute time slot during intermission at the play’s final dress rehearsal. I didn’t have time to communicate with them beforehand, so I sent someone in to the orchestra pit during a lull in their playing to let them know I had to shoot a few photos during intermission. As soon as it was intermission, I had the theatre lighting crew to turn the house lights up a little but to give me a bit of light on the background. I got Cory and Toby to come upstairs out of the orchestra pit with their original score and cello, then I threw on a wide angle lens and had Alex Cothran to hold a softbox just out of frame (one shot left, the other right) to light the musical duo. I then hurriedly got everyone back down in the pit and shot a few shots of everyone playing, lit from above camera right. The 10 minutes went by very quickly. I had to find my way out of the dark theatre as things started back up as soon as I finished shooting.

Click on the photos to view them larger.

I shot this photo as a headliner for the Arts & Style section’s focus on food in the January 27 edition. You can read the accompanying article, Food & Mood, over at the Collegian site.
Click on the photo to view it larger:

Lighting setup:

Alex Cothran and Marieke van der Vaart assisted me on this shot. I placed the veggies and medicine bottles on a cutting board, lit then from the right with a flash shot into a silver bounce umbrella, and created the purple background by shooting a purple-gelled flash through a translucent white backdrop (in my case the middle part of a reflector). I was short on time and made a mistake in the shot by using too large an aperture (4.5) and you can tell if you look at the pomegranate seeds. If I were to reshoot this, I would use at least f/8.

Note: I put what I should have done in the lighting diagram, not what I actually did. That said, the only difference is that I would have closed down the aperture and then adjusted the shutter speed and ISO accordingly. The lighting setup and flash powers are the same.

Gear used:
Canon 40D, Tamron 17-50, 2 flashes, purple Roscolux filter, Cactus V4 triggers

“Today I got up before sunrise, breathed in the scent of pines as I traversed the mountainside, walked through clouds above the tree line, ate lunch next to a marmot on a mountain summit, gazed upon secluded mountain lakes, and was reminded how volatile Colorado weather is as I got caught in a hail storm at 12,880 ft. Today I remembered how beautiful and complex Earth is.”

On the 23rd the Staffords and I woke up at 4:45 a.m., left the cabin at 6, and began hiking at 7 a.m. We started from Poudre Lake at Milner Pass. Our destination was the top of Mount Ida. We quickly made our way up the mountainside and emerged out of the pines and above the tree line. This was my first experience hiking in the alpine tundra. The air was a cool 40 degrees and the wind whipped by at 35 mph. The sky looked ominous and threatened rain. I knew the weather changes quickly above the tree line, so I was not terribly worried. As we hiked along the Continental Divide trail, clouds rolled in all around us. Click on the photo to see it larger. You can see Ben and Mrs. Stafford in the cloud:

Gradually the clouds and light rain drifted off. For a while it seemed like it was clearing out just ahead of us. Then the sun broke through the ominous clouds and lit up the hillside:

Visibility improved significantly once the sun broke through. We could the snowfields, Lake Granby of in the distance to the south, the Never Summer mountains to the west, and small lakes in the gorge to the east. Looking back on ground we already covered, I could see small unimproved trails winding across the hillside:

The weather as we approached the summer was wonderful. The wind died down, blue skies raised our spirits, and marmots came out of their rocky dens. Here you can see the tundra in the foreground, the Never Summer mountains to the left, and the North Ridge to the right:

We kept good pace and ascended the rocky incline to the summit in the sun with the occasional rolling cloud. We ate lunch on the summit–for me, peanut butter on flatbread, a dried fruit bar, a clif bar, and water. A marmot came out of his summit den and ate lunch near us––a nearby tuft of grass for him. Mr. Stafford took a photo of me on the summit just before lunch:

From the summit we could see Inkwell, Azure, Highest, and Arrowhead lakes. This was a special experience for me because I realized these were the lakes I saw in 2007 with my parents from Trail Ridge Road. I told myself I would one day hike to them. I realized that I was just above them!

As we sat peacefully eating our lunch and gazing upon Forest Canyon and the aforementioned lakes, Mrs. Stafford turned around to look off to the south and saw a huge storm where there was previously blue skies. It was heading our way. Not wanting to get caught in it, we scrambled to pack up our stuff. Then a problem arose. Mrs. Stafford could not find her camera. We search around for a few minutes, then I got my flashlight out and spotted it between some rocks. As I laid down and reached for it, the camera slid further down. Not wanting to waste time trying to fish it out, Ben, Mr. Stafford, and I worked together to move a few big rocks so that Mrs. Stafford could grab the camera.

By this time the wind was whipping again and it started hailing on us for a few minutes. The weather is quite unpredictable at 12,880 ft. I quickly did my 10 summit pushups as per Dr. Steele’s request, then we quickly scrambled down from the summit and began the 5 mile treck back to the trailhead in the rain. I am very thankful that I brought my rain jacket. I was freezing in the fierce wind!

After about 45minutes, the sun came back out. I shed my rain jacked and warmed up in the sun. The Staffords went on ahead while I took my time coming down to marvel at the beautiful scenery and take photos. There were still ominous clouds in the sky, but the weather stayed clear for the rest of the hike. Here is a shot looking at the North Ridge and the Continental Divide Trail:

After a while I feared I was lagging too far behind, so I jogged for about 20 minutes to catch up with the Staffords. I caught up to Mr. and Mrs. Stafford, but Benjamin was nowhere to be found. He is a pretty fast hiker and was far ahead of everyone. I snapped a photo as I caught up with them:

As we came back down into the tree line, we caught a glimpse of a bull elk with six points per antler. What a majestic creature!

This was great hike. We experienced a 40 degree range of temperatures, multiple elements, and a few different terrains. The views were amazing. Besides for Longs Peak a few days later, this was my favorite hike of the trip.

Note: Click each photo to view it at a larger size.

The Glacier Gorge region, shot from Blue Lake shelf on the upper east wall of Glacier Gorge:

Ben and I took the regular trail to see Alberta Falls while Mr. and Mrs. Stafford took the shorter, less known fire trail and we met just before Mills Lake. (Mills is the large lake farther away in the photo above.) Ben and I weren’t very inspired by the falls and quickly hiked past it, making up time in order to meet his parents. We all stopped for a short rest and snack break around 2.5 miles in at Mills Lake.
Across Mills Lake you can see the north west side of Longs Peak illuminated in the morning sun.

I zoomed in with my telephoto lens and could see people at the top of Longs…that was us just a few days later!

We continued along and hit Jewel Lake about 3.1 miles in. (Jewel is the closer, smaller lake in the Glacier Gorge photo above.) Across the lake on the south west side of Jewel Lake we saw a few elk soaking up the sun:

We kept pushing along in order to reach Black Lake by lunch. Most of this time I had my camera in my pack (a nice Kelty Tornado which I found for $10 at a rummage sale the week before…a total steal!) I brought my camera back out around 4.7 miles in at Ribbon Falls. Here is a shot of the beautiful scenery we saw as we hiked up the rocks by a cascade from Black Lake:

We ate our lunch at Black Lake. Above to the left is McHenry’s Peak and to the right is Arrowhead:

We had approximately another mile of hiking and about 1000 feet in elevation gain to go in order to reach Blue Lake. The problem was that there is no path to it. It is not even on most maps. Most of the lakes above Black Lake require you to hike in their general direction and find them. This was definitely the case with Blue Lake. We followed a creek above Black Lake and then cut sharply left and in order to find Blue.

Halfway up the creek I turned around and snapped a few photos of Black Lake, Arrowhead, and McHenry’s again:

The beautiful area above Black Lake (Longs Peak is the flat one in the center):

The Staffords, taken while we were trying to figure out where Blue Lake was:

After much bushwhacking through krummholz and climbing up steep rocks, we finally made it to Blue Lake. The view from up there was worth the 5.5 mile, 2000 feet elevation gain one-way hike. The lake was beautiful and we could see almost the entire Glacier Gorge area (photo at the top).

Ben scouts ahead and finds a good route to get down to the lake:

Blue Lake!

The south west edge of Blue Lake with the Spearhead in the distance:

Here is a photo I forgot to post last time. After the Odessa Loop hike we went over to Sheep Lakes and got to see some Bighorn ewes come down the mountain to get some of the minerals in the lakes:

Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.

The Staffords (Ben, Mrs. Stafford, and Mr. Stafford) near Lake Helene:

The Stafford family was very gracious in inviting me to join them for a week-long hiking trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. We all stayed in a cabin just outside of Estes Park proper and drove in to the park early each morning.

The first day we started at the Bear Lake trailhead around 7:30 a.m. We caught the Fern Lake Trail off of the Bear Lake Trail just north of Bear Lake and made our way west and north towards Odessa Lake.

I paused shortly after Bear Lake as the trail climbed quickly upward to snap a photo of the morning light illuminating some leaves (click the photo for a larger view):

We climbed up a little ways to Lake Helene. Here is the edge of Helene with Notchtop Mountain in the distance:

Continuing on past Helene, we went through a pass on the north side of Joe Mills Mountain. This was our highest altitude of that day, at around 10,500 ft. Once while looking down over the valley I saw a massive bull elk making his way through the pines! Thankfully I did not experience any altitude sickness of any kind. I had plenty of water and I kept well hydrated.

Here are the Staffords looking down on Odessa Lake from the trail on the north side of Joe Mills Mountain:

Looking back at Notchtop from the same place:

Once we got down to Odessa Lake we ate lunch. It was a little chilly, but the sun felt wonderful. I hiked in an athletic polo and hiking shorts most of the day.

Odessa Lake:

After lunch, we continued down to Fern Lake and rested there for a little while. We didn’t want to push ourselves too hard on the first day. I kicked back and watched some trout swim around in the cold mountain lake water.

A glacial deposit just above Fern Lake:

Afterwards we went on to Marguerite Falls, Fern Falls, and The Pool. Throughout the day we saw ptarmigan, marmot, pika, and elk! It was a great hike. I think it was approximately 7±1 miles, but I am not 100% sure. (I have it written down in my hiking journal up in Hillsdale.)

Next: Glacier Gorge area

Amanda and I made shortbread together yesterday night. It was very simple and it came out great! We had lots of fun combining the ingredients, kneading the dough, and decorating the cookies together.
We used a recipe from AllRecipes.com:

Shortbread

2 cups butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Cream butter and brown sugar. Add 3 to 3 3/4 cups flour. Mix well.
Sprinkle board with the remaining flour. Knead for 5 minutes, adding enough flour to make a soft dough. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into 3×1 inch strips. Prick with fork and place on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.

We used dark brown sugar instead of regular brown sugar, which gave it a wonderful flavor.

Thank you to my Dad for taking the photo of Amanda and me!

On a side note, being home is wonderful. I’ve been working a little bit, visiting friends and family, reading, and relaxing.

To see more about the summer, check out the Summer In Review book I put together for FEE (3.6mb pdf). It is full of my photos from the summer!

Or, for a condensed version, check out the insert I made for The Freeman (1.8mb pdf):

Today my Mom and I made cookies together. We made Chocolate Mint Thumbprints and Lemon Meltaways.

I found the mint thumbprint recipe over at Serious Eats. We didn’t roll the sugar on the outside, but they turned out great. (By the way, if you enjoy both food and science, particularly together, I suggest you start reading Serious Eats if you don’t already.)

We used a recipe from my grandmother for the lemon meltaways. Email me if you want it.

Side note: This past semester started rather quickly for me. I climbed (and summited!) Longs Peak with the Staffords on a Friday, flew home Saturday afternoon, then drove to Hillsdale on Sunday morning and promptly started with photography and meetings Sunday night. I didn’t give myself much of a chance to relax or even go through my photos from hiking in RMNP. The semester has been pretty busy overall, so I still have not edited those photos. Now that I have some time where I don’t have to worry about papers, math problems, reading old/middle english, or taking photographs for a newspaper, I intend to catch up on my blogging. I have photos from various ventures during the summer, the semester, and even a wedding to post. Stay tuned.

Today I got up before sunrise, breathed in the scent of pines as I traversed the mountainside, walked through clouds above the tree line, ate lunch next to a marmot on a mountain summit, gazed upon secluded mountain lakes, and was reminded how volatile Colorado weather is as I got caught in a hail storm at 12,880 ft. Today I remembered how beautiful and complex Earth is.

[Photos coming in a week when I get more reliable internet access.]

Below are some of my photos from the hike. The Rockies are gorgeous! They are teeming with life and beauty. The hike was excellent- beautiful weather up until the last leg of the hike, cool temperatures, sun, and in one instance in the higher elevation, snow on the ground. I even saw wild cutthroat trout in a few of the mountain streams and lakes! I am coming back here in a month for a hiking trip with a friend of mine and his family. I can’t wait!

Click on the photos to view them at a larger size. Enjoy!

Bear Lake:

Looking down on Bear Lake:

Hallett Peak over Dream Lake:

Water Lily on Bear Lake:

Hallet Peak:

Reflections on Bear Lake:

Mountain Stream:

Storms rolling in over Flattop Mountain and Emerald Lake:

Here are a few shots of me taking two of the above photos. The shots of me were taken by Jason Hughey.

Though I was only there a few days, below are a few of the photos I snapped. Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.

Only through a proper understanding of these ideas can one know what it truly means to be a patriot.

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

I got to the apartment I am staying at for the summer in Sandy Springs, GA this afternoon. It is just north of Atlanta. The apartment is new and spacious, and in a very good location! I am living there with two other FEE guys- one intern and one full time employee (a Hillsdale grad). I am really looking forward to this summer!

I hope you enjoy the photos! Click on them to see them at a larger size.

The Promenade des Anglais and the Mediterranean Sea:

Natural rock formations that I climbed out on many times (with a kayaker!)

The harbor and the hillside:

Arches – possibly an old aquaduct?

A small lighthouse/beacon at the edge of the harbor:

Lit walkway on the edge of the sea

Rocky beach, the sea, and the sun: (click to view large!)

Me sitting on the rocks on the edge of the sea (Photo by David):

Rough waters as a storm rolls in:

Entrance to the harbor on a cloudy day:

Thank you for checking out my photos from spring break! I hope you enjoyed them.

Here are my photos from Bordeaux, where I spent the most time. There I did lots of things like exploring alone, spending a day in a French high school (not pictured), and going to a small funeral at a small village in wine country (long story, and not pictured), and ate lunch with some British folk (also not pictured). Here are my favorite photos from my wanderings in Bordeaux. I hope you enjoy them! Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.

I got caught in a downpour, but afterwards this rainbow over Garonne River and Pont de Pierre bridge appeared. Definitely worth standing in the rain to see:

The riverwalk and quays along the Garonne River:

Pont de Pierre bridge at night:

The general chaos that is a French street. Trams, bikes, motorcycles, cars, and pedestrians walking any which way:

Place du Palais:

Silhouettes:

Delightful pastries in a cafe:

The riverwalk again:

I was amazed at how much French men pee in public. It seems like they go wherever they feel like. When I looked though my photos, I was surprised to find this. I didn’t notice this guy when I took the photo!

Statues:

Cathedral St. Andres:

Behind St. Bruno church:

Check back in a few days for photos from Nice!

More France photos will come soon, I promise. I am through 1.5/2 papers, so I still have half a paper and a take-home probability exam to finish in the next day and a half, then finals start immediately. I’m just a little busy…

(One paper is over the above book, so this post is entirely justified!)

Arcachon Bay:

The summer village:

Down in the summer village:

Down in the summer village (again):

The breakwater and oceanfront:

Two beautiful houses in the afternoon sun:

Me! (Photo taken by David Wagner)

Next up, Bordeaux! (Check back in a few days!)

I will post some of my favorite photos from the trip in a series of posts, one for each place I visited. This post, Paris, will start it out. Coming soon will be Arcachon, Bordeaux, and Nice. Keep checking back throughout the week! Keep in mind that these are just my favorites. If you want to see more of my photos, let me know! (I can show you them at the same time I tell you my stories!)

Click on each photo to see it at a larger size.

Luxemburg Gardens:

A typical Parisian street:

The Seine river at night with Notre Dame in the distance:

A closer view in the daytime:

Notre Dame at night:

Carvings above the Notre Dame doors:

Inside Notre Dame

Sacre Coeur:

Sacre Coeur (closer)

Two metros passing each other (long exposure, handheld)

Eiffel Tower at night from Hannah Stone’s window:

Stairway in the Hotel Herse d’Or that David and I stayed at:

Hotel de Ville from across the Seine at night:

Check back soon for more photos!

First off, the weather has been crazy here. It has gone from the teens to the upper sixties in temperature, and everywhere from snow to rain to sunshine.

Here are a few photos of the campus:
(Click on the photos to view them larger)

March, for me at least, was filled with exams, deadlines, presentations, meetings, photography, and occasional illness. I am happy to report that all turned out for the best.

During the fourth CCA, director Peter Bogdanovich showed up on campus to give an informative and entertaining lecture:

There was a week and a half span where the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The temperature was in the 50s and 60s, and the skies were clear and blue. I did a lot of studying outside those days. There were also a lot of frisbee games and guitars bring played on the quad during those days.

One evening, the classics honorary decided to put on a Virgil Vigil. They read all twelve books of the Aeneid on the quad late into the night:

Also, the Charger Baseball season started!

Last night, instrumental guitarist Trace Bundy did a concert at Hillsdale, which was excellent. I did not take any photos, but I am sure William Clayton will post some soon.

I am leaving a lot of things out, but it is for the best. These things are just a quick glimpse of my past month.

Now, it is finally spring break. I am home in Amherst for the evening, then tomorrow (Friday) I will be on a plane to France to spend spring break traveling around France with my friend David Wagner. I am visiting Paris, Bordeaux, Arcachon, and Nice. I am very excited! I will post about it when I get back.

Amity Shlaes:

Bradley C.S. Watson:

Dr. Burt Folsom, giving one of FDR’s famous gestures of dissatisfaction (ironically to FDR’s New Deal policies):

The original statement took the form “If p, then q” where p: “the red car is broken” and q: “John drives the blue car.”

The only statement in a)-g) which is equivalent to that is statement c, which is the contrapositive of the original statement. The contrapositive takes the form “If not q, then not p.”

Reason: The original statement means exactly what it says: If the red car is broken, then John drives the blue car. Think if this as two circles, a smaller one inside a larger one. The larger outer circle is statement q: John drives the blue car. The smaller inner circle is p: the red car is broken. Whenever you are inside the circle p, then you are automatically inside circle q. There is no way out of this. You can, however, be inside circle q without being inside circle p. (Draw it out if you can’t visualize it.) What we can conclude from this is that if you are not inside circle q, then there is no way you can be inside circle p. Thus, if John is not driving the blue car, the red car is not broken.

There are other reasons why a, b, d, e, f, and g are false. If you can’t figure it out, post your question to the comments and I will be happy to answer it for you.

Given this statement, which of the following is correct?
List your answer in the comments. (The answer can be any combination of the statements.)

Statement: If the red car is broken, then John drives the blue car.

a) John drives the blue car only if the red car is broken.
b) If the red car is not broken, then John does not drive the blue car.
c) If John does not drive the blue car, then the red car is not broken.
d) If John drives the blue car, then the red car must be broken.
e) The red car is broken only if John drives the blue car.
f) John drives the blue car if and only if the red car is broken.
g) If John drives the red car, the blue car is broken.

Above: Freshman Samantha Gilman volunteers for “Arts for Creative Minds, a volunteer program where college students work with area youth in arts-related activities.” Read the article. (From the February 11 edition of the Collegian.)

Professor Matt Fuerst, part of Hillsdale’s excellent music faculty, is a composer who has had his compositions performed on three continents. In the picture above, he explains his composition method to the Hillsdale Collegian. Read the full story.

Click on the photo to view it at a larger size.

I took this photo for today’s Collegian. This is one of Hillsdale’s art professors, Sam Knecht, “painting a large-scale scene of the Founding Fathers signing the American Constitution. The painting is part of the September opening of the Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship.” Read the article.

The last time I updated (about palindromes) I was in Tennessee for a funeral. My family and I got back home from that trip just fine, and I drove myself to Chicago two days later to visit with/drop some things off to my cousin. Though I only stayed one night and turned around and drove back home the next day, I had a nice visit. I ate some tasty deep dish pizza, got to experience driving a vehicle through the Michigan Ave. traffic, and I ate at Hot Doug’s Sausage Emporium. What an excellent place. A whole restaurant devoted to sausage! I can’t wait to go there again. Anyway, the drive back home from Chicago took much longer than normal, since a huge snowstorm hit the midwest the night before and dumped a lot of snow everywhere. It also did not stop snowing the whole time I was driving home, so once it got dark, the last 150 miles across Ohio with slick roads, 45 mph traffic, and lots of semis made for a lot of fun.

Three days after I got home from that trip, it was time for me to go back to Hillsdale and start a new semester. (Here is my schedule.) My classes are going very well. They are a lot of work, but I enjoy it and would not have it any other way. Besides a lot of classwork, I’ve been tutoring a local home schooled student in geometry, specifically proof writing. I’ve also been taking a fair amount of photos for Hillsdale and the Collegian. I will post a sample of photos sometime over the next week.

Two weeks into the semester, I went to Chicago again for the weekend with some friends to hang out and do some exploring. On the way there, the tread flew off the back right tire. Changing the tire, filling it up, and finding an auto parts store to replace the broken tail light (from the tread) was an adventure in itself. We had fun, though, and we got back to school safely. Sadly, we did not get to eat at Hot Doug’s, though. Next time.

I finalized my spring break plans–I am going to France to visit David Wagner! I figured that this may be the only opportunity I will have to visit a friend in France who I can stay with and who actually speaks French, so I decided to take it. I am flying in to Paris on a Saturday morning, taking a train to Bordeaux on Monday, visiting the Atlantic ocean Wednesday during the day and back to Bordeaux that evening, taking an overnight train to Nice on the Mediterranean Thursday night, back to Paris Saturday, and flying back home Easter Sunday. I will then drive back to Hillsdale on Monday. It will be a busy trip, but I am very excited!

Also, big news for the summer. I was offered an internship at the Foundation for Economic Education! I will be in Atlanta for all of June, then in Estes Park, CO (right outside Rocky Mountain National Park) for most of July, back in Atlanta for a week, then Irvington, NY for a week. I will be taking photos, helping run FEE’s summer seminars, and any other miscellaneous jobs they need me to do. I will have a couple weeks at home after this semester is over before I leave, and a couple weeks before I have to start the fall semester. I am looking forward to a great summer!

I will do my best to post more often. Check back over the next week for a sample of my photos from the last month!

Though palindrome dates are pretty rare, there will be 12 in the 21st century. When there is a new millennia, it turns out there are usually 12 palindrome dates each century–one for each month–for the first two centuries. The exception to this was in the 1300s, which only had 7 and was the third century of that millennium.

Anyway, while I was waiting for my food at a restaurant last night, I took a moment and figured out the 12 palindrome dates of this century. Two have already passed, so 10 remain.
Here are the ones for the 21st century:

10/02/2001
01/02/2010
11/02/2011
02/02/2020
12/02/2021
03/02/2030
04/02/2040
05/02/2050
06/02/2060
07/02/2070
08/02/2080
09/02/2090

I did my best to make the posts interesting, and I hope you enjoyed them. I know some days were better than others. Those ‘better’ days were usually days I had time to go out and take photos specifically with the intent of posting them or write up some of my thoughts on various subjects. My girlfriend Amanda does a wonderful job writing down the ideas I have when we are together so I don’t forget them, as is too often the case with some ideas I come up with. Many of the things she wrote down for me this year turned into posts in one form or another. Other ‘better’ days were times when I travelled and posted photos/wrote about that day’s adventures. The not-so-good days were usually busy days when I didn’t have a lot of time to put into a post. I apologize for those days.

My immediate and near-future plans:
On this New Year’s eve, my parents and I are driving to Tennessee–a short, unexpected trip for a funeral. We plan on being back Monday, then I am driving by myself to Chicago for a quick visit with my cousin on Wednesday. I will be back Thursday night, then I am headed back to Hillsdale on Sunday, January 10. Somewhere in that time I plan on finishing Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer, a few Platonic dialogues (probably the Meno and Gorgias). As for my blog, I am beginning a redesign. I am not going to continue posting every day, but only when I have something interesting. I will definitely continue to post, though.

Whether you’ve been reading my blog all year or you just started, thank you for reading! Have a safe, wonderful New Year!

Read cagrimmett.com’s Google Analytics report for the 2009 year.

Back in October, when the weather first turned cold in Hillsdale, I walked out of my dorm, felt the cold air biting at my face, and breathed in deeply through my nostrils. Almost instantly I stopped in my tracks and smiled. The old familiar smell of a wood fire was in the air and it comforted me with thoughts of home.

I am taking advantage of the fire as much as I can over this Christmas break. Soon I will return to Hillsdale and it will be gone when I return later in the spring when the weather is warmer.

The only reason I see to wait until January 1 to start a resolution is if the new calendar year offers some strategic advantage not available beforehand. Examples include a discount on a gym membership, daily Bible reading plans that go in order and start on January 1, or something similar. Keep in mind, however, that there are two sides to resolutions–the overarching ideas and the specific details. Waiting until January 1 because of a discount on a gym membership falls on the details side. If your resolutions are detail-specific, find the idea behind those details and implement other complementary details now that help you stay true to the idea behind the resolution.

A loophole I see to this is if you are a type of person who absolutely needs structured dates to start something and thrives on that. In that case, waiting to start resolutions until January 1 might help you. For everyone else, I suggest you start now. If your resolution is so unimportant that you can wait until January 1, why even start it then? If it will really make a difference, start immediately.

(I believe it happens when January starts on a Sunday or a Thursday, though I am not 100% on this.)

It happened this year (2009). March and November, with February, March, and November having Friday the 13ths.

January and July in 2012 – January, April, and July have Friday the 13ths.

March and November in 2015 – February, March, and November have Friday the 13ths.

January and October in 2017. Those are the only two months that year that have a Friday the 13th.

The miscellaneous:
I’ve really been enjoying being home, spending time with family and friends, and relaxing. I’ve been able to get things done that I did not have time for during finals, like cleaning off and organizing files on my computer, fixing my external drive and backup situation, and turning in schedules for the spring semester. I plan to write a few letters and come up with a website redesign this week. Also, I have time for reading now! I am rereading The Hobbit so that I can start the LOTR set I got for Christmas. I am very excited!

A few things to reflect upon today:
“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

As promised, I made hummus today. (Among other things, that is. I slept in, went out to lunch and shopping with Amanda, visited the Amherst Schools tech guys, ate dinner with my parents, made hummus, then wrapped presents with the help of my Dad.)

My friend Dom came over to make hummus with me, as he as made it many times before. We made two batches of the following recipe:

30 oz. Chickpeas
1/2 cup sesame seeds
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 red bell pepper, chunked
2 cloves garlic
1 package of pita bread (approx. 6-8 pitas)
A pinch of salt
A drizzle of olive oil
As much hot sauce (I prefer Frank’s) as you want

Preparation:
Get out your blender or food processor of choice. Puree the sesame seeds with the lemon juice and garlic first. When it is sufficiently pureed, add and blend the first 15 oz of chickpeas, salt, and olive oil. Then, add and blend the red bell pepper, the hot sauce, and the remaining chickpeas. If it is all too thick, add a little bit of juice from the chickpeas (provided that they are canned–if not, use a little water) to thin it out.

Next, cut the pita bread into 8ths, lightly brush the pieces with olive oil, sprinkle a touch of salt on the pieces, then put them in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees to toast them.

(The photo above is the hummus and pita chips Dom and I made. In the background is my family’s Christmas tree.)

After we finished making biscotti, I went home to cook dinner. I told my parents I would make dinner tonight, so I made the spicy chicken stir fry that I made this summer (with a few changes to the ingredients.) My idea for dessert was to have yogurt with blueberries and raspberries, so I went to the store and bought both. As I started cooking, though, Dad had a better idea–make parfait out of it! I didn’t know how to work such a wonder, so I let him do it. It turns out that all you have to do is whip yogurt, heavy whipping cream, sour cream, and sugar together. It was great! After Dad made it, he and I layered tall glasses with the mixture, blueberries, raspberries, and granola. It was a wonderful tasting (and wonderfully easy) dessert!

Tomorrow: Hummus! I am craving hummus, so I am going to figure out how to make it tomorrow. If you have a good recipe for it, please email it to me at cagrimmett@gmail.com – I would greatly appreciate it! All I know as of right now is that I am going to have to get some chickpeas, red bell peppers, and then pitas to bake into chips. Looks like I have some research to do! (Hmm… and that just reminds me that I have done zero present wrapping…. I should get on that, too.)

Anyway, after reading the Blue Eyes logic puzzle question, he posed a calendar question to me. He is fascinated with the intricacies of calendars, so this is a question he has already solved and he wants to see if I can figure it out. If you figure it out, please don’t post the answer in the comments. I want to figure it out. I just wanted to post it so other people can work on it, too. Here it is:

In our lifetime, every 28 years there is a year with two 31-day months each having a Friday the 13th. Find the next year when all of this will occur and list all months in that year with a Friday the 13th.

Good luck!

Kirzner’s best work, in my opinion, is in characterizing the role and actions of the entrepreneur in the marketplace, a place which he viewed as in a constant state of disequilibrium. Entrepreneurs, by staying alert, learning, and discovering profit opportunities, tend to systematically move the market closer to equilibrium and erode ignorance that exists.

How does this relate to shopping?

I went shopping on Saturday not knowing what I was going to buy. I didn’t even have an idea. I was sheerly ignorant of all of the potential profit opportunities around me. All I needed was to stay alert to those opportunities the best I could and hope to stumble upon a profit opportunity and take advantage of it. I was, at least in my mind, a Kirznerian shopping entrepreneur, stumbling upon unexploited gains, reap the benefits, and add value to them as Christmas gifts to my loved ones. While shopping, I experienced first-hand the inherent “surprise element” (as Kirzner calls it) in the discovery process. I never knew the specific items I purchased existed, and there was no way I could search for them. I was in a state of sheer ignorance regarding their existence. Yet, due to the awareness of my cousin and me, I noticed the “$20 bills on the sidewalk” and “picked them up.” In the process, I was not only able to clear up a fraction of my ignorance and learn about shopping profit opportunities, but I had a good time engaging in it. If you aren’t all that keen on shopping and you are economically inclined, try thinking about it like this. It made my day a lot more enjoyable. (Okay, I know I am a little odd, but whatever works, you know?)

I am glad the market is in disequilibrium and that individuals do not have perfect knowledge of all possible trade opportunities. It allows for all sorts of interesting things to happen.

I encourage you to read a paper by Kirzner on entrepreneurial discovery and competition. You won’t regret it.

When I got home, the house was beautifully decorated!

I took my linear algebra exam this morning, and I am very, very grateful to God that it went well. I was very worried about it. I finally got a grasp of it and I think it came out well.

My U.S. Constitution exam is in the morning. I studied all evening with my classmates for it. I feel better about it than I have for some of the other exams.

After that exam is over, I am finished for the semester and I will be on my way home! I loaded my iPod with Christmas music, which I will be playing the entire way home. I can’t wait.

Side note:
You should read Richard Wagner’s 1980 article Boom and Bust: The Political Economy of Economic Disorder.

On the plus side, my two exams today went well, or at least I felt like I did well. The results won’t be out for a week or so.

I apologize for the lame posts this week. I’ve been devoting a lot of energy to studying, and not much is left for creativity. I’ve been economizing on brain power.