Back Online

I am sitting in Somerville on the internet finally. I am now wired and updating the LJ from home again, which will certainly make for more positive entries. Its tough trying to make nice sounding entries when I write from work. So this evening Kate and I went to Kendall Square and ate pizza at Emma's. It was a cool place, the pizza was yummy and the atmosphere was also very chill and hip. We got a spinach, mushroom, olive and chicken pizza. It was my attempt at being a healthy grown up and not just getting a pepperoni pizza. Afterwards we went over to the Kendall Square cinema and saw Garden State. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it to those of you who like decent indie films. The acting was great, story was air tight and dramatic with perfect accents of dark and light humor. Zach Braff is fantastic as Andrew and Natalie Portman is hilarious as the lying and twitchy Samantha. I returned home after the movie to find that my internet was actually worked without any extra coaching by me. Woo-hoo!!! It's good to be online.

BoCaNO at the Alley Pictures. I also want to send a shout out to Amy. I hope everything went well with your appointment today. Feel better soon.

The Perseid Meteor Shower

It's mid August again and that means the Perseid meteor shower is occurring. The Perseids occur at this time every year as the earth passes throught the ice and dust left behind from the comet Swift-Tuttle. The comet takes about 134 years to orbit the sun, last passing by Earth in 1992. It will be back around in 2126 so mark your calendars. As our green and life filled planet makes its way around the sun the ice particles hit our atmosphere causing streaks of light in the sky. The Perseids got there name from the constellation where they seem to emanate from, Perseus. It is very difficult to forecast these storms, but most astronomers are estimating a good show, in part this is due to the extremely small crescent moon tonight. Less moon light makes it easier to spot the meteors. It will be nearing its peak this afternoon and unfortunately in North America we will miss the peak. However meteors can will still be visible tonight, assuming it isn't cloudy. So tonight on your way home look into the Eastern portion of the sky

Some Informative Links
Perseids 2001 Meteor Gallery
A Perseid Guide from Space.com
A NASA Document on the 2004 Meteor Shower
More Meter Shower Information

Pottery Pictures

Pottery Zip file
Please right click and save as.

No TV = More Reading = Smarter Keegan

I left work yesterday at 4 and then got a haircut and by 4:45 I was sitting in my bedroom wondering what to do for the next six hours before bed. I looked over at my bureau and saw a nice book sitting there, but instead grabbed my guitar for some much needed practice. I played through a half of a song and broke a string and since I don't have any extra strings I had no idea what to do. Once back in my room I noticed the book again and decided to do laundry. Finally I did jump on my bed and start reading. It was so nice just reading in the peace and quiet of my apartment.

I think of all the people I know who read all the time and realized they are the smartest people I know, could there be a correlation. Maybe me getting cable isn't the best idea and instead I should focus on reading, so perhaps the next time people are having interesting and intelligent discussion I can actually partake instead of sitting there like an idiot trying to squeeze a one-liner in here and there. I wish I could just tell people really I am smart, just because I am unable to have a good intelligent discussion about internal medicine or the history of ancient Macedonia doesn't mean I am dumb. I have been frustrated lately trying to convince myself that I am actually knowledgeable of things. I know it is silly because you can't just write down a list of things you know it is also a matter of analytical skills, which I feel is one of my stronger suits. Okay this is just babbling now you all get the point though. In the end I wish I just had better social skills, because sometimes I feel so uncomfortable in situations where thoughtful discussion is going on.

It's annoying and I can't but help feel it is in some part due to how I grew up. We mostly just stuck to the family and I don't really recall ever going out in situations where we had to deal with lots of people. Not that I am complaining because I am close to my family and wouldn't want it any other way. It probably didn't help that I never went to parties in high school and in so doing fell out of the in crowd. Come to think of it most of my trouble these days probably comes from the erratic social life I had in college. Freshman and sophomore years I had a strong group of friends and we were all very close, but as I began to work more weekends I began to distance myself from them. Junior year inolved less friends because of my first college girlfriend and so I fell out of any good social circles I had been involved in. Now moving on to my senior year, what is supposed to be my most socially connected year due to a huge network of friends and comfort with the campus, started out as the most isolated year of all. I ended up being more like a freshman and missing out on what is a prime year for social development. Of course at work I had a great group of people I was very close with, actually they were more like a family to me. Finally at the end of my senior year I actually started to make friends again, but I think it was too late at this point and my social skills were never properly honed. Thankfully two years ago I met the people from BoCaNO and have made leaps and bounds trying to catch up to where I should be at the ripe old age of twenty seven. Rome wasn't built in a day though.

Yeah I don't know why I decided to write this emo entry. In other news Keegan's BBQ is turning out to be more like Keegan's BoCaNO get together due to several cancellations. On the bright side I won't have to buy more than a dozen burgers, five hot dogs and a couple veggie burgers. The low turn out will also let us do some water skiing on the lake, which will be fun.

Have an excellent day,
Keegan

Full Weekend

Wow it was a full weekend and I don't know if I am going to fit it all on this one page. I will give it a try though.

The last time I wrote it was a few short hours before my widsom tooth was supposed to come out. I met my mom in the park and we went to the dentist's office. I went in and sat in the chair and the assistant asked if I was ready for my filling. I laughed and said, "Ah no I am getting my wisdom tooth out. She was confused and said that the doctor I was seeing couldn't possibly be doing an extraction. She left and came back to tell me I was right and that he would be taking my tooth out. The dentist finally came in and told me usually an oral surgeon would do the procedure, but since I needed it out sooner than later he would take care of it. He said he used to work in a prison and had done several extractions in his time. I smiled and said, "Well at least you will get some practice." At this point I was super nervous, but just kept breathing. The novacaine shots were fine and after waiting for that to settle in he came back to take the tooth out. It was painless. He just stuck this device in my mouth to twist the tooth around and applied pressure to the side of my face to counter the tool. After about ten minutes of pushing and twisting he put it on the little table next to me. That was it, all of my whining and complaining about nothing. He stuck gauze in my mouth to stop the bleeding and I thanked him and walked out to the waiting room. I was a little dizzy out there, but after a minute regained my balance and left with my wisdom tooth now out of my mouth and in a little bag in my hand. My mom drove me home to Somerville where I spent the rest of the day lying in bed listening to music. It was such a boring day. The tooth hole never became sore once over the entire weekend. I had trouble eating, but that was because I tried to avoid that side of my mouth so I didn't re-open the wound. Overall it was a piece of cake. To see a picture take a look at the end of the Sunday in Plymouth slideshow. It was a nasty and rotten tooth, I think I really need to get the other three out, because I assume they look the same.

I woke up on Friday morning feeling fairly well, and I probably could have gone to work, but instead I took the day off. Jen and I decided at the last minute to go for a ride up north to the White Mountains for a scenic trip of the area. It would have been nice to hike, but I certainly wasn't up for that. We left Somerville at 8:30 on Friday morning and shot up 93 to the Kancamagnus Highway. We stopped at an overlook and took some pictures. It was a very cool day, but the temperature was just right for a sweater. Who would have thought a sweater in August? We stopped at a couple of spots along the highway before eating lunch in North Conway. Unfortunately due to my tooth, I had to eat a big bowl of chili for lunch. Now don't get me wrong I love chili, but the menu at this place was gigantic. Ahhhhh, all I wanted was to eat some french fries. The original plan was to drive up Mount Washington, but it was cloudy and I figured it would be a waste of time to drive up into a cloud. Next stop Bethel. We stopped at the ski house, but Noelle wasn't home, so we just looked around and went back towards Massachusetts. It was so nice to be back in Maine again after such a long hiatus, the back roads were so much fun to drive down. I miss doing that every weekend. Since the triathlon was the next day I needed to go to 39R for my bike. We picked that up and on the way to Salem (yes I moved just wait a minute) we stopped at Hodgies. Jen had never been there so it was funny to see her face when the guy handed her a 1/4 kiddie on a cone. Haha, it was huge all two and a half scoops of it piled high. I laughed as he handed me my 1/4 kiddie packed as a to go order. Oh boy that Hodgies it gets them every time. Now I had to go to Salem to pick up my deposit from Jesse. It was a quick stop, but we didn't get there until around 9PM. Haha, talk about a long drive, in 12 hours you can drive to North Carolina or Ohio. Overall it was a long exhausting day, but not being at work was such a great feeling.
Tour De New England Photos

Saturday was the Long Pond Triathlon. I woke up early to be down in Plymouth by 8:00. Yes I know more driving, can't get enough. It was my third LPT, but second that I was not competing in due to injury. I did chicken out again and used my recent oral surgery as an excuse, but I really didn't want to be running and then start bleeding out of my mouth. Everybody was at Kate's house when we got there and of course confusion ensued as we tried to logistically move bikes, people, clothes and the other stuff involved with the race. It went smoothly and around nine twenty everybody was at the shore ready to swim. Once again I was on boat duty, which was fine with me, especially now that I am much better at handling the boat. Those outboards are very strange, I definitely prefer steering wheels. The race went well with Dr. Mark winning the BoCaNO division. To pass time during the race I was coerced into going swimming, which turned out to be relaxing and not as cold as I thought it would be. We hung out at the Wilson's for a little while and then went back to Kate's house for lunch. Everybody was just chilling relaxing and talking out by the water. It was great. The food was pretty good, it was nice to eat solid foods again. Andy and Mark left to get ready for the races and eventually we all drove over to see them. We piled into the Tippy Tin Boat with Chippy Red Paint. The name is very descriptive, but does not justice to about how tippy the boat really was. Dr. Mark, Kate, Jen, Clemence and I all climbed in and the boat dropped a half foot deeper into the water. At one point Clemence decided to switch seats and I was certain we were going over, it was crazy. Andy finished third in the Sunfish race which meant he would be getting a flag at the meeting that night. After the race, Clemence went sailing with Andy, while Dr. Mark grabbed a kayak and tore off to explore the pond. A half hour later he returned and we went back to Kate's. I was exhausted at this point and we went back to Somerville, after another full day. Thanks Kate for arranging another great Long Pond Triathlon. Next year I have to compete, regardless of my physical health.
Long Pond Triathlon Photos


I woke up early on Sunday and decided to go back down to Plymouth. Last night they tried to convince me to go down there, but instead I went to the North End for some pizza, and mocha with the collage girls. I had never really sat in one of those cafe's before and it was great. Thanks for letting me hang with you girls. You Rock!! I got to Plymouth at 8:00 AM and instead of waking people up I just sat down by the water and enjoyed the perfect weather. I finally called Kate to let her know I was there. Eventually everybody (Clemence, Andy, Mark and Kate) were sitting on the dock. We were like a bunch of turtles sunning ourselves on the dock. It was getting late in the morning so we went out for breakfast. Wow I ate so much food. I hadn't eaten a decent breakfast in ages so I had to make up for it. Afterwards we went to the ocean for a bit. Then it was back to the ponds for the afternoon races. Finally I went to dinner with Mark, Kate and Sam. It was so relaxing and the perfect way to end a busy weekend.
Sunday In Plymouth Photos

T-Day

It has finally come the day I have my wisdom tooth extracted at the dentist. I woke up this morning and thanks to the rain it was finally a reasonable temperature in my room. It then hit me that in less than eight hours I was going to have to sit in the dentist's chair wide awake while he pulled my tooth out of my skull. Since remembering this I haven't had an appetite for anything, my breathing has been quickened and the cold sweats have come and gone throughout the day. I wonder why I am such a wuss. Its not like my tooth is impacted, so it should be fairly quick and not as painful as most people have it. I wish I could go back to my childhood and see the one experience that caused me to have such trepidation when it comes to the dentist. While I am in that time machine I am also going to go back and find my first bad thunderstorm event and hopefully remove that fear too.

Its just annoying that at 27 years old I am scared to have a dentist poke and prod in my mouth. I do riskier things that could certainly result in more pain, like skiing down Excalibur at over 55 MPH, jumping off seven foot jumps and completely turning around in the air or rollerblading down Powow Hill withouth brakes. How is it that sitting in a relatively comfortable chair and having somebody stick a small metal tool in my mouth is ten times scarier to me than those other activities. If somebody has any tips on how I could possibly grow up, just let me know. On the bright side instead of wasting one hundred dollars on a bungee jump for an adrenaline rush, I can just go to the dentist for a cleaning and insurance will pay for it.

Okay I need to get my mind off of that subject and on to something more fun like BoCaNO last night. We went to Made-By-Me a potter painting place. You pick a piece of pottery and then paint it however you want. They take it afterwards and fire it up in the kiln for pick up a few days later. It was tough coming up with ideas at first I wanted to do an arctic scene on my bowls with penguins and seals, but new that would involve lots of drawing, which I am not good at. See My Art Show I finally came up with an okay idea for my cereal bowl and after an hour and fifteen minutes had finished painting. Afterwards we went out for Mexican food across the street which was fun, especially because the BoSox were on and they were defeated by my Devil Rays

Pottery Slide Show Sorry for the poor picture quality. I either need a new camera or it is time for a cleaning.

I went home and read another essay in my book. Fun fact I learned last night. The Dutch traded a little place they called New Amsterdam, you know it better as Manhattan, for a small Nutmeg producing island called Run in the Pacific. Why would you do that? Well to create a monopoly in the Nutmeg trade. Silly Dutch!!!

Did you ever?

Did you ever sit down to write your livejournal and you couldn't put all of your thoughts together into something cohesive, so instead you just kept typing whatever came to your mind. I have been so busy lately and my head is kind of spinning from all of the wonderful thigns that have happened over the last few days. For some reason I keep waking up early which only compounds my exhaustion problem. Last night I did laundry for the first time in a couple weeks, because well I was pretty much out of clean undies. The laundry room at my new place is kind of sketchy and dirty, its very important to make sure you don't drop things on the ground when moving from washer to dryer. While my laundry was doing its thing downstairs I finished organizing more of my things. My bookcase is now full of books again, however there are way too many books and it might be time for a new bookcase. I also unpacked my videos and DVDs, but decided to leave most of them in the box with my CD's. It decided to leave the CD's packed because I never use them since they are all in my iPod. Finally I finished organizing all of my crap and sat down to read my new book, I was tired and only made it through the first essay, but so far so good. It is so hot in my room, but thanks to being so exhausted I have been falling right to sleep every night. Last night was no exception to this new rule.

So why would you care
To get out of this place
You and me and all our friends
Such a happy human race

Eat, drink and be merry
For tomorrow we die
-David John Matthews - Tripping Billies

More lyrics
One time she thinks it was easy and
Like breezing through the world was just all I wanted to do
But no now its more like my feet are locked down
Like my eyes are blind and I just can't see the light
Yeah yeah yeah I reach for hope but
Come up with nothing but sand in my hand
-David John Matthews - Crazy-Easy