The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

Since Day One, my relationship with my brother has been tumultuous. I was three years old and he was three days old when we went to pick him up from the adoption agency. My lower lip is jutting out in all the pictures, and I just remember being very upset that day. My parents later explained to me that this was because I thought they were trading me in for my brother. Andy has always had a wild streak. Even before he could walk, he earned himself the nickname Hurricane Bill. (His middle name is William.) When I was in preschool, my mom wouldn’t set an alarm for me. She would simply open my bedroom door and unleash my brother on me, who would come barreling in in his walker, making a racket that was impossible to sleep through. When he learned to walk, he had a very… enthusiastic way of greeting me. I remember coming home from my neighbor’s one day, and Andy appearing out of nowhere and tackling me to the floor. I regarded him as the world’s biggest pest, but I suppose this was his way

What can I really say about Bryce? It was so crazy looking. The rock formations are called hoodoos, and most of them are concentrated in the Bryce Amphitheater, which is aptly named because it feels like you're looking out at a group of aliens or monsters or something. My 8 mile hike on the Fairyland Loop was most uneventful, but breathtaking. It was the perfect hike in every way: perfect length, perfect weather (75 and sunny), perfect outfit (wearing real hiking clothes makes such a difference!), perfect music (Adele and Taylor Swift), perfect trail conditions (no sand!), perfect amount of people (enough that I wasn't completely isolated, so if I got hurt, someone would find me, but I'd go for long stretches without seeing anyone). There was an embarrassing moment where I was bopping along, singing along with Taylor Swift on my iPod because I hadn't seen anyone in a while, and went around a corner and came face to face with a group of hikers who were obviously laughin

I had never heard of slot canyons until Kristin told me about them. They’re basically just really narrow canyons. James Franco (who I am so in love with) played the guy who got stuck in a slot canyon and had to amputate his arm. (I just found out that canyon is near Canyonlands National Park, so I think Nancy and I may be doing a hike here on our road trip.) Chances are, if you Google “slot canyons,” the pictures you see will be from Upper Antelope Canyon near Page, which is the first one we went to. It’s the most photographed slot canyon in the world, supposedly. You have to go with a tour group which ended up being really cool. Our guide was this hilarious Navajo lady, Vera. (By the way, I heard on NPR the other day that there are 70,000 people in the Navajo Nation living without running water. Ridiculous, right? Also, did you know the Navajo have no gender words in their language? So you‘ll hear older people say, “This is my daugheter, he is a doctor.”) The ride there and back invol

This was my fourth trip to the Grand Canyon, three of which have occurred this year. Everyone raves about how spectacular the North Rim is, but it’s kind of a pain to get to. The road you take to get to it is the only paved road in 2.9 million acres of wilderness. I figured I better get up there to see it before I move back to Chicago. This is going to sound absolutely awful, but I was less than impressed. I’m familiar enough with the Grand Canyon that it no longer produces that sense of awe you get when you see it for the first time. And I felt like the views from the South Rim are much better; it looks much more vast. Honestly, the view from the North Rim looked a little like the scenery in Sedona. It was more forested. The view from where I hiked only showed a narrow portion of the canyon. I probably should’ve driven to the other lookout spots, but I was exhausted after the hike and was just kind of over the whole thing and not in the mood to deal with traffic and crowds. The oth

Rachel and I took a little day trip a few weeks ago. We drove out to Globe and stopped at a few of the shops, then grabbed lunch at this great cheap Mexican place. Then we took 288 north up towards Payson and saw some beautiful scenery. There was only one town on this whole route, a really interesting little town called Young. I read about a waterfall located off of 288 that we wanted to see, and it was quite an adventure getting there. The websites I looked at said the road would be fine for a sedan, but it was so bumpy we were afraid Carmen would get shaken-baby syndrome. Things got intense enough that we wanted to just turn around, but we were on the edge of a cliff. Finally, there was a turn-out where we paused to calm down. Rachel got out to look at the road up ahead and discovered that we’d made it to the waterfall. It was really pretty. Here’s the video: 　 Next, we headed up to Payson for a short hike along the Mogollan Rim. Carmen loved it; she grinned the whole way. It was co

Here are all the boring details of my situation. I got a job as a reading specialist in Elmhurst. Pretty cool. The raise is really sweet, so I'll finally be comfortable. I'll teach two sections of a reading strategies class and spend the rest of my time working with staff, training them in best practices. Kind of intimidating, but I think I'll enjoy it. I just feel a little like a sell out going to the suburbs. Also, it's exactly what my parents have always wanted for me, which, I have to be honest, irks me just a tiny bit. But the kids I'll be working with need help reading, too. It's not like it's only kids in bad neighborhoods who need help. I'm moving back to Chicago at the end of July. Nancy's going to fly out and visit for a few days, then we'll pack up a UHaul and head home. I'll probably stay with my parents for about a month, then move to Chicago. Not sure yet if Nancy and I are going to live together; it depends on whether or not sh

Disneyland was a dream come true!!! I know this sounds silly, but I mean it! I've been to Disney World a million times. We'd go to Florida almost every summer to visit my mom's family, and my dad would let my brother and I choose one theme park to visit. Of course, I always chose the Magic Kingdom. Disney World is pretty much my favorite place in the world, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to finally visit Disneyland! Amanda and I drove out last Friday night and stayed at my friend Tricia's for the weekend. Tricia and her fiance are from Chicago, but moved to Orange County last summer. They live in the town that's just inland from Laguna Beach. Beautiful! I never understood what the big fuss was about when it comes to southern California. Now I get it! We spent Saturday at California Adventure. The highlight of the park is defnitely Soarin'. Okay, here's how ridiculous I am- I actually teared up the first time we rode it. It's just so beautiful