Month: August 2016

National Parks

On By JamisonIn Blog-o-rama 2016, General1 Comment

This past year my wife and I have had the opportunity to visit a couple of National Parks or National Monuments run by the National Park Service. This year is the 100th anniversary of the NPS, and there are celebrations all over the internet. Today, Google even devoted their doodle to it, plus if you used Google maps you’d notice that the streetview stick figure became a park ranger.

The National Park system is one of the treasures of this country. Land that has been set aside to be preserved and protected, yet accessible for people to experience. It’s a strange dichotomy that didn’t always work well, but in recent years both science and tourism were able to really work together. The New Yorker has an excellent article about the history of science in the parks, that I would encourage people to read.

As for my wife and I, we’re on a quest to continue to discover what these parks have to offer. We’re not just limited to actual parks, as the NPS maintains many sites around the country that don’t fall under the designation as a park. Our recent visit to Effigy Mounds Monument is an example of a site that is amazing, but not quite a full park. Even though Minnesota only has one National Park, there are plenty of places to visit in our State that the NPS maintains.

I would also encourage people to visit Minnesota State Parks. I worked for 8 years for the Department of Natural Resources, and our State Parks are jewels to cherish in our State. Many of them are in some of the most scenic areas of the state such as the North Shore, and south along the river bluffs. Even though they don’t have the name of “National” parks, they are well worth spending time in as well.

Happy anniversary NPS! May we continue to support you as a nation that loves our land and wants to see it preserved for future generations.

Beer, Bikes and Baseball

On By JamisonIn Blog-o-rama 2016, GeneralLeave a comment

My beer and bike group that I ride with decided to hit up a Twins game tonight. I have been to Target Field a few times, but tonight was actually the first time I went there for a baseball game. We had a good time, although by the eighth inning we left because we were losing 9-4. I did manage to get a couple cool photos. The one at the top was enhanced in Lightroom mobile, and the one below is a panorama.

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Trains (the game)

On By JamisonIn Blog-o-rama 2016, GeneralLeave a comment

The family hit Fantasy Flight Game Center on Tuesday night and we tried out a new game, called Trains. It’s a unique combination of a deck building game, and a board game. The goal of the game is to expand your rail lines across the map, building stations in various cities, to earn more victory points by the end of the game than your opponents. You achieve this by building a deck of cards with which to lay more track, build stations, and buy more cards (as in traditional deck building).

We had a fun time for our first time out with this game, and got the hang of it pretty quickly (we’re all experienced deck builders). Having a board added a very unique aspect to the game. Not only was the goal about collecting victory points, but there was a spatial element to contend with. As players built around the map it changed the cost of routes, meaning that strategies need to change part way through. There are also random sets of cards to purchase that change every game, meaning that what worked in one play-through, may not be as effective this time around.

We had a really fun time learning and playing Trains, and if you’re a deck building fan I think you’d really enjoy it. It’s familiar, but different enough to make it more engaging that just another set of artwork on the same old deck building concept.

A night of shoe shopping

On By JamisonIn Blog-o-rama 2016, GeneralLeave a comment

I recently purchased a new pair of Salomon Fellraiser’s online in a sale. I had used the 2015 version for quite a while and they fit really well on rugged trails like Superior Hiking Trail and Zumbro. However, when I received the 2016 version of the shoe it just didn’t fit right. It almost felt like a defect in how the right foot wrapped around my midfoot, squeezing harder than the left. I sent the shoes back and started looking around at a replacement.

Monday night I spent a good hour at Twin Cities Running Company trying on different shoes. I ended up trying on close to 9 pairs of different trail shoes as I searched for my next pair. I narrowed my search down to three: Saucony Xodus 6.0, Brooks Cascadia 11, and Salomon Speedcross 4. The Saucony Perigrine 6 was also a close runner up, but it was just a bit too soft on the side for rugged trails, and I felt my feet slip off the side a bit.

The Xodus were a nice rugged shoe, with a really comfortable sock-like fit. However, they didn’t feel very cushioned, especially compared to the Speedcross. The Salomon’s were by far the most cushioned of any of these, and they felt really good on my feet. In the end though, I decided on the Brooks Cascadia 11.

When I tried on the Books and the Salomon, one on each foot, I felt very comfortable in either shoe. They both had a fair amount of cushion, and the uppers were rugged, but flexible. What it came down to, for me, was that the Brooks just seemed to fit a slight bit better. In Salomon I have to wear a size larger than other shoes in order to accommodate my midfoot. This means that there is a bit of a gap in the toe, and although it probably wouldn’t be an issue, I decided that the Brooks were probably the safer choice.

What’s funny is that my very first pair of trail shoes were Brooks Cascadia 10’s. They saw me through two big trail races, and many, many training runs at Elm Creek. These new ones will hopefully serve me just as well as I head into my busy fall trail racing season.

The anatomy of a ‘like’

On By JamisonIn Blog-o-rama 2016, GeneralLeave a comment

The other day, when I opened up my Instagram, I proceeded to click the little heart/like button on all the photos in my feed. I then moved over to Facebook and started to click ‘like’ on a bunch of things that my friends had posted. Then I stopped and started to think. Did I actually “like” what these people had photographed or shared? Or was I simply exercising an internal behavior to acknowledge what others say?

It got me thinking about what the purpose of the “like” button really is. In many ways, I often treat the “like” button as an “acknowledgement” button. It’s a way to say, “Ok, thanks, I heard you.” But is that really what I should use it for? Shouldn’t I really be reserving my “likes” to those things that stand out as something worth giving kudos on? Am I contributing to a culture of self-aggrandizing social exhibitionism by simply using the like button as an acknowledgement?

Perhaps I would be better served to actually reward kudos to those things that are really something I “like”. Maybe I should stop pressing the heart button on every Instagram photo, unless it’s something that truly grabs me. As someone who blogs everyday, I’m not looking for acknowledgement when I post something. I’m looking for people to give feedback and only give praise when I do something worth praising. Writing a daily blog is about discipline, and I know that there are a good number of days when I post something that isn’t the best it could be, but I’m exercising my creative brain, so I post what I can. Should people ‘like’ something that isn’t that great?

I’m sure I’m overthinking all of this way too much, but it was a thought that crossed my mind today, and I decided it was worth sharing.