Meeting Jay

Ok, warning: this is going to sound very obsessive. Some background:

On January 29th, 2013, Rival Sons came to Seattle. Which means Jay Buchanan came to Seattle. We bought tickets a couple of months in advance, and I had to skip a class for it, which my professor was not very happy about. Exchanging emails, he said that "going to a concert was not a valid excuse for missing class." I wasn't going to try to explain how this was so much more than a concert.

We've loved Jay's music since about 2004. Tyler got a free copy of Buchanan's album "All Understood" and fell in love with it, which he then shared with me, while he was falling in love with me. :) It was like the soundtrack to our love story. Really, we listened to it all the time in his dorm room at WSU. So to us it's more than just a fantastic album; it represents that time in our lives, in music.

So since then, here & there I've made comments on Jay's Myspace (ha) or Facebook page, saying how we'd love for Buchanan to come to Seattle. We bought "All Understood Advance" when it came out, and the the "True Love" EP, and shared his music with all of our friends. One friend, Jordan, ended up moving to LA and has seen Jay perform solo several times (which I kind of hate him for).

At some point, Buchanan broke up, I think Jay played solo for a while, which we still loved (we heard songs via YouTube) and then he joined Rival Sons. We didn't even buy their first album. It wasn't the same, this was ROCK & ROLL. Not that it wasn't good music, it's amazing, but it was totally different, and definitely not my kind of genre. I was honestly disappointed when I heard he had joined the band.

But as time went on it grew on me. I think Tyler liked it from the beginning, but even he didn't really get into it. So when we heard they were coming to Seattle, we bought a couple of albums and started to get really excited.

They were going to play at the Tractor Tavern, which I hadn't heard of, but our friend Stephanie, who loved Buchanan & wanted to go, said it was a small venue. I couldn't believe that we might actually meet Jay, 8 years later. This is different than meeting a celebrity (I'd imagine), because as amazing as that may be, with a famous actor, there's 1,000s of photos online and you can watch them in a movie for 2 hours. With Jay, we had listened to 1,000s of hours of his music, but really didn't know what he was like. For example, after we met him Tyler said, "he's not as tall as I imagined." ha! When Jay posted a Facebook status the day of saying "In Seattle," I wrote something like, "You have no idea how long I've waited to see this status Jay!" Since we're "friends" I had also tagged him in some posts leading up to the show, but I wasn't sure if he noticed or not (they didn't show up on his page).

So back to January 29th: 

I dismissed my anxiety about missing class, put on fake eyelashes and 4 inch heels, and was ready to meet Jay. Trying too hard? Maybe haha. We picked up Steph and met Krisi there, who we introduced to Buchanan back in college and she really liked Rival Sons too. We had to fight a little for the front row, and at one point I really thought Tyler was going to fight a guy, which is not like him. But when we told him we'd been essentially waiting for this for almost a decade he suddenly became a nice guy and we chatted about our love for Rival Sons. I brought my "nice camera" so as not to depend on crappy iPhone photos, and here's what I captured:

Tyler had an awful time, as you can see:

So yeah, we had a good time. At one point Tyler even caught a drum stick that Mike threw into the crowd (which he had to fight for). We had brought along the original "All Understood" Buchanan album, and not knowing whether or not they would come out after the show, Tyler handed it to Jay while he was on stag when they had just a few songs left. Looking back, that was a little weird to have him sign it on stage, but we couldn't chance it! When he grabbed it he said, "wow." He signed it quick and went back to rocking for a few more songs. And we said to each other, "he said wow!" ha ha. I was so happy that Krisi asked to take a picture of me with it:

Of course, they did come out after the show, and were rushed by a bunch of big tattooed Rival Sons fans. We patiently waited, and when it was our turn he immediately hugged all three of us (Krisi had left by then). I think at the same time, Tyler & I just gushed about how much we loved his music and how much it meant to us. We told him the whole story, and to our surprise, he said that he was there at WSU when Tyler had picked up the free CD. I said, "no, you were in Pullman?!" and he said yeah, but I'm still wondering if he was. Anyway, we talked for a while, and I think it was probably nice for him to get to talk about more than just Rival Sons. At one point he stopped us and said, "wait, I knew you guys were coming, I have something for you. I've got a copy of my unreleased solo album coming out later this year, let me go get it. But don't burn it for anyone besides the three of you, and buy it when it comes out, ok?" He left to go backstage, and I'm kind of surprised I didn't faint or something. SERIOUSLY? Your unreleased album? It's like, GOLD. We've been limited to crappy recordings on YouTube for most of his solo stuff, or a little bit on Myspace, with only "Feel Better" available to buy on iTunes. Had we just got the Buchanan CD signed and his autograph on our Rival Sons album, and the chance to talk with him for 5 minutes, we would have left delighted. Instead we were getting this album that's not even out yet? I still can't believe it.

So he came back, handed it to me, and we took a few pictures. I was totally sober, but I still was so nervous that I'm not very happy with how they turned out. But whatever, it's Jay Buchanan!

This one's ok

Then he said, "let's get closer" and this is the face I make. 

So after taking up his time, we move on to the other guys in the band and chat with them, getting their autographs as well (Steph got one of the set lists for them to sign). At some point Jay went backstage, and we were about to leave, but Tyler (who was a little intoxicated) couldn't just leave, so he walked backstage to say goodbye. He came back out and finished his beer, and we were going to go, but then Jay came back out and started talking to us more! He talked about making music, and how he does it to make people feel good. He was so cool, I couldn't ever have imagined. It sounds cheesy but he just has a beautiful soul, and it shows. He mentioned how he was homeless for a while, which made us feel pretty shitty because we had burned All Understood for ALL of our friends. In fact I think we even said that in front of him. Woops. So we all got hugs again, he thanked us for the love, and we went on our way. Well first we bought tee-shirts and Steph got a CD. 

So since then, especially for the rest of that week, we've had our heads in the clouds. I had a test that Thursday and it was so hard to concentrate on it! They've continued to tour through Canada and are on their way overseas soon. I'm really hoping that we can plan a trip to Cali around one of his solo shows. As fantastic as the Rival Sons are, and as amazing as it was to meet him, I don't think I'll be complete until I can hear "Internal Dialogue," "Three Times Colleen" or "Corpse" live. Speaking of, the album he gave us "Locust & Wild Honey & others"is fantastic. We already knew quite a few of the songs, but the ones that are new are so amazing as well. 

So that's the story. Yes, I'm obsessed. I'm glad when he signed our stuff he didn't write, "you guys are crazy!" That night was surreal. We couldn't have asked for more. Well I guess he could have played us some solo stuff backstage afterwards...

It's been a long time!

I apparently was too busy in all of 2012 to write a single blog post! Obviously, a lot has happened. But this isn't going to be much because I'm writing this on my iPad (I got an iPad!) and I need to get back to studying (I'm getting my Masters!). I just thought to check my blog to see my 30 before 30 post, because I'm seeing Jay Buchanan tonight and I thought it might be on there. It wasn't, but I have done a few things in the last year that I can mark off.

So, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll write something again before 2014, but probably not until these next two quarters are over!

November 20th

Well its been a while so here's another post. It's Sunday before Thanksgiving, so I'm excited to work 3 days and then head to Monte to spend a few days with Tyler's family. Then up to Seattle to watch the Cougars beat the Huskies at Apple Cup!

I'm looking forward to lots of fun things in the near future, here's a countdown:

* Christmas in Republic / Wenatchee (I REALLY missed being home on Christmas last year when we were in Mexico)
* New Years in Yosemite with the Fischback cousins. So happy to have fun plans for New Years' Eve!
* Baby Sophia Grace due 1/16/2012! I'm excited to have a niece and hold her for the first time. And... learn how to change my first diaper? ha ha
* Mid-February - THAILAND with Holly & Justin!

But back to the present. I recently was "promoted" at my job. I've been on overload lately so we're hiring someone else to be a receptionist so I can focus on marketing and public relations. It will be so nice to be doing something more related to my degree! I've decided my new title will be Administrative Coordinator.

Tyler's still enjoying his job at the hospital. He's been covering the evening shift for Misty who's on maternity leave, so the 7 on, 7 off schedule from 12-10:30pm has been interesting. I know Kirk's enjoying having dad home in the mornings, and for whole weeks at a time. Once Misty comes back in January (and when the hospital and clinic merge) we'll find out more about the changes that could happen in his department.

I took a photography class with Mary Collier recently and am excited to a part of her "Momtography" Facebook group where we get weekly challenges and can show off our photos to get some constructive criticism. With only Kirky and Tyler as subjects (well Jen's belly too I guess!) I have to force myself to practice.

Here's a shot I took today for the depth of field or "blurry goodness" challenge:

Photography

Happy birthday to me! Tyler got me a new polarizing filter for my prime lens that I'm excited to try out. Sounds like I know what I'm talking about, huh? Not really. I just bought Photoshop Elements so I'm really excited to start taking more pictures and fixing them up, once I get it figured out. Here's a few shots I've taken recently. 

Updates

Looks like I haven't posted since we bought our house! We closed on April 7th and have really enjoyed living here so far. It's got a beautiful deck and backyard. The previous owner was a master gardener so it's great to have all these perennials pop up unexpectedly. Kirkland loves it because he's got a doggy door now. Though there's not much to see from the backyard and no good windows to look to the front, so he's stuck with barking at the neighbors cats.

The house was turn-key ready so we didn't have to do much to improve it. We replaced the carpet in the upstairs bedrooms & hall, and Tyler & my dad built a small portion of fence so it'd be completely fenced in for Kirky. Other than that, the only other change was Tyler's raised boxes for our veggie garden in the "greenhouse." We got a late start and with our weird spring, we'll have to see how they do. We're definitely no master gardeners!

 The little circle window is in the shower of the main bathroom, and it rotates around to open!

 He got a hang of it pretty fast after using the Pickens' doggy door.

 Using our breakfast nook on the side of the deck for the first time.

 Still a little chilly in April.

 Kirky's only vantage point of the kitties next door.

 "Greenhouse" before...

... and after!

African Animals Getting Drunk From Ripe Marula Fruit

Next big step...?

We put in our counter-counter offer for a house today. We'll hear back Monday (Valentine's Day!) from the seller. Exciting!

And, we (I) decided to sponsor another child through World Vision. She shares Tyler's birthday, like Jhonxary shares mine. She's also from the Dominican Republic. Her name is Raisa, and she's 4 years old, and super cute. :-)

Only a few more weeks before Erica & I fly down to Cali to visit Neub & meet up with Han & Aim! Should be pretty amazing.

Also, I just realized a HUGE addition to my 30 before 30 list. See a Jay Buchanan show. Seriously, very very important.

Listen to Jay's music here

Valentines Day

Hugs All Over Valentine's Day Card

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2010

We started off the year with a surprise party for Tyler's 25th birthday. Tyler had interviews for his first "real" job in January as well. He was offered the job in Wenatchee and accepted. A few weeks later, I got my acceptance letter from Evergreen and had to decline. In February we went to a Super Bowl party at big-time Saints fans Scott & Tina's.  In March we saw two great concerts, Jamie Cullum and then John Mayer. Easter was the first time we used our fine China, and we had both parents, Jen & Geoff over for dinner in Tacoma. In April I went to Washington, D.C. for the first time to spend time with my EHS girls. On Earth Day, we bought the Prius. We ran our first 5K at the Tacoma City Marathon in May. Mom and I went to see James Taylor & Carole King on Mother's Day. We went to Marc & Erin's wedding on the 15th of May. May also held the final episode of our favorite TV show, "Lost." In June we went to California to celebrate the life of Grandpa Fischback. Then we moved to Wenatchee, to "The Bat House." Jennifer also moved home in June, which we were all very happy about. We spent an interesting week in Minnesota for the 4th of July. We came back to Wenatchee and had a fun summer spending time with Hannah, and Tyler began his job at CWH. August meant Kacie & Travis' wedding and my 25th birthday all in one weekend. We also went to Priest Lake with Manoah & Connie and saw John Mayer and Keith Urban at the Gorge. In September we moved into the Mayer's house and I began my job with Wenatchee Pediatric Dentistry. We had a packed house for our house warming party / Oktoberfest in October. November 15th was Kirkland's 2nd birthday, which we celebrated with some wet dog food and doggie party hats. We had Thanksgiving in Wenatchee and later went down to Pullman to watch the Apple Cup, which sadly, we lost. December was a countdown until the 18th, when we left for a week in Mexico with Grandma Martin and 28 family members. It was my first Christmas with no snow. We enjoyed the slow paced life down there so much now Tyler & I are talking about moving down there for a year.

My New Years resolution was no shots of hard alcohol, and for the most part I was successful (you could probably get me on a technicality like a drop shot Jaeger bomb or sipping nice Tequila in Mexico). I'm actually considering continuing it on into 2011. As for a new resolution, I've still got a few hours to think about it.

Happy New Year!

2010 Christmas Card

Family Snowfall Red Christmas

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The song I can't get enough of, right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EIeUlvHAiM

It makes me sad to really love a song, overplay it, and then not be able to listen to it. But I do it again and again.

It wouldn't be a true amateur blog if...

...I didn't go several months without posting anything. It's funny to look back at my 30 before 30 only 6 months after I came up with it. There are things on there I'm definitely not interested in now. I attempted War & Peace (its a free download on my Kindle) and I just couldn't do it. So I'll have to come up with some other huge novel to tackle. I've also discovered that I'm not a long-distance runner and have no desire to run a half marathon. I'm also pretty much over the fish tattoo... so I guess I have some editing to do!

Since I posted last we've moved to Wenatchee. We started out in the "Bat House," which was an old fruit warehouse turned into a home up Squilchuck. We had bats in the attic, ants in the kitchen, the occasional mouse in the house and we watched Kitty, the owner's cat. Quite the zoo. We were there until Labor Day when we moved into the Mayer's house next to my parents. I've found the worst part of living next to my parents is telling people that's where I live. Other than that its actually not bad at all. They don't bug us, we can bug them, borrow whatever we need.... Of course I wouldn't want to be here forever but its pretty nice paying $1,100 rent for a 3200 square foot house on the Country Club! The exact same we paid for our 1,000 square foot house in Tacoma. Kirk loves living next to Woobie & Grandma Brenda, and its nice to have Auntie Jen dog sit while I'm at work.

I'm really enjoying my job at Wenatchee Pediatric Dentistry, and Tyler loves Wenatchee and working at the hospital. The plan is still to move to Olympia so I can get my Master's, if I can ever get him to leave. He's tried to talk me into commuting since its only 3 days a week but I don't think its realistic.

So there's the update. Maybe I'll learn my lesson and blog more often so I don't have to write so much. Probably not though. :-)

First 5K

Tyler & I ran our first 5k today in the Tacoma City Marathon. We were originally planning on running the half marathon, but after we started training (read: I started training, Tyler played basketball at the Y) we decided to just do the 5k. After running it we agreed we'd like to do it again, but aren't really interested in pursuing a 1/2 marathon. Maybe a 10k eventually. But it felt good to complete it, even if it's only a little over three miles. My time was was 34 minutes which put me at 14th in my division (women 20-24). Tyler ran a 23 which made him 4th in his division (men 25-29). Not bad! We're hoping to do it again this fall and beat our times.

Penny Prius!!!!

I can't believe it! I've been wanting a Prius really bad lately, Maxine is only getting older, so last week Tyler & I went looking for cars (what he called a "shopping spree" ha ha) and we bought one! I love love love it.

Kirkland Signature

Here's some recent pictures of our dog Kirkland! I think he's the cutest dog in the world, but I guess everyone thinks that about their dog. :-)

He won't stop biting and licking his paws. So I bought him some socks.

After a cloudy / rainy winter, he likes to sit outside & enjoy the sunshine.

He got a haircut and looks like a fancy Westie now. :-)

Kirk loves his momma. 

Jen got him a "Laker Bunny" for Easter. He now has no ears and a lot less stuffing. :-)

This is my reason for wanting a king size bed. ;-)

Things I'll miss about living in Tacoma

When I found out Tyler and I would be moving to Tacoma, I had a very different picture of it than I do now. It doesn't have such a metropolitan feel as I imagined it would (Spokane's population is actually bigger) and living in the Proctor district has been really great. Here's some things I think I'll miss when we move to Wenatchee this summer.

1. Pastor Dean Curry's sermons at Life Center Church. They're always impacting, funny, and scripture-based. I still really miss New Community in Spokane, and it's weird going to a "mega church," but I'll definitely miss his great talks. Hopefully we can find a church we really like in Wenatchee.

2. Walks on Owen beach with Tyler and Kirkland on the weekends. It was really fun to see Kirkland experience waves for the first time (he started out barking at them, but got used to them pretty fast). I guess before we moved here I didn't realize how cool Puget Sound was and how beautiful Commencement Bay can be on a nice day.

3. The "urban village" feel of the Proctor District. North Tacoma is really pretty cool. I always pictured a crowded city with lots of crime, but we live on safe, tree-lined streets with 100 year old houses and lots of kids in the neighborhood. The coolest thing is the walkability from our house. The Safeway and Metropolitan Market are just around the corner. There's the Blue Mouse Theater that shows movies for $4 a few blocks away, and of course, a Starbucks just down from that. There's a little place where we rent movies, and lots of restaurants and bars. It's got such a great small town feel. Oh, and the Farmer's Market on Saturdays is wonderful too. I can't wait till spring really gets here and we can go again.

4. Parties with friends in our little old house. After living in Pullman, where there are always a ton of friends to hang out with, I was sad to move to Spokane where I had just a few. Then we moved here, where I pretty much have none. Most of the friends around here are Tyler's, except for Krisi, Erica and now, Kacie & Travis (yay!). But we've been able to get everyone together quite a few different times, for our housewarming / my b-day party, Halloween, and Tyler's surprise 25th birthday party. We might be having another for St. Patrick's day and I'm sure we'll have a "going away" party. Since most people are coming from a ways away (Montesano, Seattle, Shelton and Burien) we normally have quite a few who stay here for the night and have a big breakfast in the morning, which I think is Tyler's favorite part.

Something that you'd think I'd miss but I won't? The shopping - there's really not a lot of places that I shop here that Wenatchee doesn't have. REI is the only one we've gone to a lot that I can think of, and really, how often do you go to REI? As long as I've got a Costco & a Target I'm good. :-) If you know me well you know I'm not much of a shopper anyway.

Things I won't miss? The cloudy days, the traffic (especially I-5 and by the mall), Tyler working 60+ hours in a week, my "blah" job, etc. But in general, I know I'll have pretty fond memories of living in Tacoma and our first year of marriage here. :-)

30 before 30

I can't promise this won't be edited, but here's my list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30. I've got about 5.5 years... eesh. My 30th birthday will be on 8/16/2015. In no particular order:

1. Read "War and Peace" - Attempted & failed! 
2. Enroll in a Master's of Environmental Studies program Check! Started Fall 2012
3. Visit Mt. St. Helens
4. Buy a house - Done! April 2011
5. Plan a surprise romantic weekend getaway for Tyler
6. See my sister get married to a wonderful man
7. Learn Spanish
8. Learn how to make a great pie Check! Maybe not great, but I made a few for Thanksgiving 2012
9. Become a mentor for teenagers at my church
10. Get a job I really enjoy - Check! I didn't think I'd do this before I got my Master's, but I really enjoy working at WPD. 9/17/10
11. Go on a tour of America's national parks (Yosemite, Yellowstone & Glacier at least)
12. Sell Maxine - Check! sold Maxine on 5/4/10! Sad but we love the new car :-)
13. Buy a hybrid or electric car (Nissan Leaf!) - Check! Bought a Prius on 4/22/10 - Earth Day!
14. Go for a day hike I've done this a few times, most memorable was Yosemite Falls, which I only made half-way up.
15. Ride a train
16. Get Kirkland a friend, whether that be another dog, a potbellied pig or an outside cat
17. Learn to play the bongos
18. Rent a condo or cabin for a week somewhere Big White at Kelowna, but only 4 days 1/14
19. Get a fancy camera and become an amateur photographer - Camera, check! Got a Canon Rebel t2i for Christmas. 12/25/10
20. Do a boudoir photo shoot Check! April 2012 with Nicole Conner
21. Drive the old Cascade highway - Done! We took the highway on our way to the San Juans for our 2nd anniversary
22. Snowboard in Colorado Substituted CO for BC, Big White! 1/14
23. Run a 1/2 marathon Ran a couple 5Ks...
24. Go on an Alaskan cruise
25. Go back to the resort we stayed at for our honeymoon to celebrate an anniversary
26. Eat at a fancy fondue restaurant Check! Valentine's 2014
27. Learn how to mow the yard
28. Get a Jesus fish tattoo on my back/shoulder blade - Done! October 2011
29. Go on a mission trip
30. Have a baby, but not until I've done most of the things on this list :-)

Bittersweet

Well a couple of weeks ago Tyler was offered a job at the hospital in Wenatchee. It's pretty crazy that the only two advertised clinical pharmacist positions (which is what he wants to do) were in Wenatchee and Olympia. He interviewed at both, but Olympia was going to take about a month and a half to get back to him, and Wenatchee had their decision within two weeks. Meanwhile, I was STILL waiting to hear back from Evergreen about grad school, whose website said it should take 6-8 weeks and it had been about 12.

So the hospital wanted a decision from Tyler right away. He was going to ask if they could wait till he would know about the Olympia job (and I would know about grad school), but they pretty much gave him 24 hours to decide. It is the perfect job and he said he wanted it more than the one in Olympia anyway, which had a worse schedule and would be doing more "boring" stuff. Since we didn't know if I had got in to Evergreen or not (and wouldn't know about Oregon or Colorado for another month at least), he decided to accept.

Fast forward to this week, when I got my acceptance letter from Evergreen. Tyler had said he knew I would get it, and I was obviously hoping so as well, but every week I waited past week #8 I figured they were just taking their time on rejection letters. I had joked that if I got accepted I would cry, but that's the first thing I did, I sat on the couch and it all came out. I realize there are a lot bigger problems out there than not being able to go to grad school, but this was such a obvious family-over-work choice for me, and it was really hard. I've always said Tyler's job would be the most important, because you can't have two leaders and two people always getting what they want, but when push came to shove, it was really really hard on me. It would be different if this wasn't something I was passionate about, and I just wanted to go back to school because I couldn't find a job I liked. I can't imagine not working in the clean energy field and I don't know how I'll really get into if I don't get a Master's in Environmental Studies. I've always really wanted a Master's anyway.

So it's been a few days since I found out, and I posted it on Facebook that I got in. The really crappy part is that I'll I'm getting is sympathy (which is of course what I want...) but it's like, hey, only 40 people get into this program a year, this is a big accomplishment! Be excited for me! But they can't, and neither can I. Now I wonder if I should have called Evergreen when Tyler got the job to let them know I was no longer interested. But I had to know if I'd get in.

So the "plan" now is to move to Wenatchee, live there 2-3 years max, and then re-apply (which hopefully will be easy to do) and move to Olympia. Tyler keeps trying to get me to think about commuting, since classes are only Tues through Thursday, but I really don't want to drive 4 hours twice a week. Or live with his parents, or have him live with mine. It just doesn't make sense, plus it's not very environmentally friendly to commute across the state all the time. :-) I think he keeps suggesting it because he doesn't want me to think going is out of the question, but it really is. I also think he's worried that he'll love this job and love Wenatchee and won't want to move so quickly, which is what I'm worried about too. Not for me though - you would think I'd be really excited but I'm not - I just didn't plan on ever moving back, at least not before we had kids...

Anyway, through all of this I'm trying to be supportive of him because he's so excited about this job, and about Wenatchee. The one exciting part is that we're going to buy a house, so that's really fun. I just need to be thankful and remember that we're lucky that he could get a job so quickly and that it's exactly what he was looking for. Maybe I'll find something great in Wenatchee too... at the PUD? :-P

***UPDATE***

I talked with the director of the program and they are going to defer my acceptance up to five years! So whenever we can move back over to Olympia I've got a spot saved! I feel SOOOO much better. God is good.

Half Marathon, here we come...

Tyler and I (well it was my idea) have decided to run a half marathon this spring. I'm not very good about exercising unless I have a good "reason" to, and with the wedding over and no tropical vacations planned for the future, I needed some motivation! After starting to train, I realized we probably should have started out with a 5k. At this point I can only run about a half of a mile before stopping to walk, and we've got until May 2nd (about three months) until the big 13.1 miles. I've never been too athletic - I can remember the mile we'd have to run to warm up for soccer practice killing me - but I figure it can't be too terrible if lots of people run double that amount! Tyler hasn't done much as far as "training" goes. We go to the YMCA ever Monday & Wednesday, but he mostly plays basketball. Still, with his track background (400 hurdles on the WSU track team!) I'm sure he'll beat me to the finish line with a couple of hours to spare! Sheesh. 

Sustainable Energy: WWS

It has been over FOUR months since I've posted. Sheesh. But I just read this article in Scientific American magazine (of which I have a subscription - dorky!) and even though I already posted in on Facebook, I want to post it here too cause it's so cool. I really hope I come back to this post years from now and see that we've actually taken steps toward clean energy.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=powering-a-green-planet

Key Concepts
Supplies of wind and solar energy on accessible land dwarf the energy consumed by people around the globe.
The authors’ plan calls for 3.8 million large wind turbines, 90,000 solar plants, and numerous geothermal, tidal and rooftop photovoltaic installations worldwide.
The cost of generating and transmitting power would be less than the projected cost per kilowatt-hour for fossil-fuel and nuclear power.