Some Transcendental God-Word, Have Mercy!

Nope, we had no idea what panic was, until now. Losing my passport was a sunny day in Happyland with cute animals and pretty people and no right-wingers. Realizing that our flight is this Wednesday morning and not this Thursday morning... that is floor-dropping-from-my-feet-holy-shit-I-have-twelve-hours-to-pack-and-do-
everything-to-prepare-for-a-two-month-trip-to-a-developing-country.
That's panic.

-- The Journagraphist

Suitcases, Passports, and Weddings

There is so much to do before we leave this Thursday for Bangladesh. That's right, this Thursday the 29th of May, 2008. We've barely begun packing. In fact, everything we need to take is in Clear Lake, strewn across our downstairs floor waiting to be stuffed into their suitcases.

My mom, who is going with me, can't really do anything to help matters because she cracked her ribs two weeks ago. I really hope you never have to experience this, because it is basically living with the constant threat of excruciating pain. She can't breath deep, she can't cough, she can't even laugh (as I found out the hard way last week) without ending up in tears. Despite all that, she managed to throw an open house and dinner for 200 people to celebrate my sister's graduation. Of course packing suitcases is where she draws the line. I can't do anything to help until Tuesday night because I'm stuck in Iowa City, taking care of business until then. Can you imagine the chaos that will reign on Wednesday? We need to pack all the gifts, all the necessary clothes, all the first aid stuff (we are going to a third world country after all), water bottles, electronics, adapters for the electronics, etc., etc. And make sure that everything is still within the weight limit. In one day.

To top that off, my passport was lost for 24 hours. For those in the know, passports are kind of crucial for any chance in hell of getting into a foreign country. PANIC. That is the only word that can describe how we were frantically tearing apart our respective abodes trying find this silly little blue book. Let me frame the gravity of the matter. My family had just spent almost 1700 dollars on each ticket, non-refundable, non-transferable. And, that is, no joke, a bargain deal. But without a passport, it would have been down the crapper. Luckily I did find it, so the trip (and all attendant packing) is still on.

And to top all of that off, today was my good friends', Andrew and Lindsay's, wedding. I had to take an entire day off from all of my errands to be present at a culture shock of a wedding. I don't mean to be negative: the couple was lovely, the ceremony was pleasant, the food was tasty, the beverages were free... But when you have so much hanging over your head in the next five days, it can be hard to forget the stress. Not to mention the stress of buying a wedding gift. Not only did I wait to the last minute, but at this time of year (the end of the school year), I invariably find myself in a financial hole. Nevertheless, I scraped together a few bucks, joined forces with friend, Mike, went to Target, got the wedding registry and bought some of the last unfulfilled gifts on the list. They were blue Rubbermaid 25 gal storage bins, five of them. Plus a fine mesh metal strainer. And a bow. Classy, right? We didn't even have the money to buy wrapping paper to hide our shame. But I'm being too hard on myself. Everything we got was on the registry, it was practical, and affordable. The happy couple can't complain (and if they do, tough shit).

Next post: Some wedding photos and anecdotal evidence of culture shock.

--The Journagraphist

Preliminary Picture Post

In pursuit of journagraphical excellence, I am figuring out how the photo system works in Blogger. In the mean time please enjoy these photos from my residence of five years, Iowa City:

This picture was a complete surprise. I decided to take a shot of my backyard at sunrise, without flash, and it turned out purrty.

Classic shot of Iowa's Old Capitol, now a historic and integral part of the University of Iowa campus.

This is the recently completed Medical Education and Research Facility at night. It looks like something about ready to rocket into space; I guess that's all the better to impress on people that this medical school is on the cutting edge. Rest assured, there is both style and substance here.

My First Blog Ever

I guess I'm a late comer to this internet phenomenon, but it's not for lack of know-how! More like an abundance of laziness. We've all got to start somewhere, and one of my self-prescribed remedial steps is to start this blog.

Really, this is just a test run to see how committed I can be to this. I have a lot of respect for bloggers and I hope that I can become a positive addition to this vibrant community. Here is what I expect you should expect from this blog:

• Travel photographs - The inspiration for this blog was my upcoming trip to South Asia, specifically Bangladesh and hopefully India. Months ago I gave into temptation and bought an absurd camera, and I'm determined to make the purchase worthwhile! I also need to thank two friends, Margaret and Phoebe, for encouraging me to take the blogger leap.
• Medical School - Pictures may have been the beginning, but they don't have to be the end. I've graduated. Finally. Now the next chapter begins. I want to share this next stage in my life. College was typical, nothing to really write home about. But med school is a bigger, scarier, disgustinger bag of bodies (Oooh, was that tasteless? You'll survive). I have a feeling adventures will ensue.
• Self Reflection - Confessions are good for the soul, but they are hard to do in person, one-on-one. Don't think that's dramatic. Everyone has issues. Some are inconsequential, some are earth-shattering ball busters that are fit for any good prime-time drama cliffhanger. No worries, mine are never the latter -- knock on wood.
  
• Evolution - Like most people, I want to grow as a person. I think it will be a fascinating journey to use this blog as an expression of that.

Because of all this, I decided to call my blog Journography. You can parse it however you like but I thought of it as a portmanteau of 'journey' or 'journal' and 'photography'. You know, 'journey of life' and all that + a liberal sprinkling of pictures taken (usually) by my own hands. I guess it could also just be the Greek base '-graph', meaning 'to write', tacked onto 'journey', in which case this would literally be 'travel writing', but that's so bourgeois. Actually, using bourgeois is bourgeois so I hereby declare a moratorium on its use until... I don't know... September 24, 2011.

BTW, can you tell I'm a card-carrying, cord-bearing member of Nerds International, University of Iowa Honors Chapter?

Well I guess there's no real point in drawing this out. I mean, who's going to even read this blog? It's not like anyone in cyberspace is going to google "Journography" on a whim. Oh well, I'll just pretend this blog is an exclusive club and I'm only inviting my close friends to see it.

Leave comments! Be Merry! Make friends!

-- The Journagraphist