So hey, I finally took the plunge and made a reservation for Boston, just in time to see a forecast for a storm coming to New England Tuesday night, a forecast that was confirmed juuuuuust late enough to ensure I couldn’t cancel my reservation in time. Yaaay!

But whatever, I was born during violent weather, so this will be a mere walk in the park for me, even though my dear Mommy threw a fit about me traveling under such adverse conditions. If this is how she reacts to me being in mildly bad weather, then I probably shouldn’t tell her about my plans to go tornado chasing in a few months.

So this is how I’m gonna kick it: I’ll be spending a large part of the day driving the scenic byways in Rhode Island and geocaching along the way like a fanatic monkey who has no life whatsoever, mainly because I do in fact have no life whatsoever. In the course of doing so I may come across hot babes at rest stops and whatnot prior to my arrival at Boston, in which case I will walk up to them and use my world renowned pickup line: “I think you’re beeeooootiful! Will you be my love snuggles?”

After having been solidly rejected by the entire female population of Rhode Island (all 6 of them), I will spend a few minutes crying over hot cocoa at the border of Massachusetts, then continue on my journey until I arrive at long last at Beantown, for the first time evah! I will then check in, discreetly inquire about escort services, then decide I would never make enough money in this lifetime or the next to afford it, and opt for a slice of pizza at the North End instead.

Good times, baby, good times.

Wish me luck! I probably won’t blog at length until I’m safe and sound at my hotel tomorrow night.

Tags: Beantown, boston, geocaching, hot babes, hotel, journey, Massachusetts, New England, pizza, scenic byways, storm, travel, weather
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
(  Print This Post | | 29 views )

All this global warming resulting in subzero temperatures and mountains of snow is making it a tad difficult to figure out where to go for my next trip.

I have a week off coming up in February, but I have no idea where to go for this one. North, South, East, West? Somebody help me out here. The only condition I’ve set is to limit the journey to a radius of 300 miles, which covers everything from southern Maine to northern Virginia, to as far west as Pittsburgh.

One thing I might like is a coastline trip from Rhode Island to Portland, Maine, where I could visit Boston on the way and maybe parts of New Hampshire as well, although I’m not sure how fun such a trip would be in the dead of winter, especially if I get caught in a snowstorm.

Actually if that happened I’d probably a blast, but then my Mommy would worry about me.

So what do you all think? What’s a good place to visit during the wintertime for some fun and relaxation?

Tags: global warming, journey, suggestions, trip, vacation, wintertime
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
(  Print This Post | | 35 views )

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

One of the things that I got sucked into believing about dating was that it would be far easier for me to meet likeminded people online than in real life, because life was simply too random and chaotic for me to easily find the kind of people I could relate to and hang out with (especially hot looking wimmins.) I mean seriously, am I really gonna run into an avid fan of Sarah Palin (who also happens to look just like Jessica Alba) at the local supermarket, in NEW YORK? The odds simply don’t work like that in my favor.

Or does it?

One thing about pursuing this new hobby of geocaching, it’s definitely taken me to some interesting places. Last weekend I climbed to the top of a lighthouse, then drove to a Target and found a space right next to the door, shopped around and went to an empty checkout, all this only a day after Black Friday too. Then I ran into a tea party that was having a demonstration inside a Lowe’s parking lot of all places. It was amazing. I simply did not expect to see any Tea Party dudes in New York, but there they were, protesting against Obamacare and the corruption of Albany, with Derringer’s “I am a Real American” blasting in the background. It was a wild scene. And I never would have found them either had I not been out geocaching.

The day after that, each cache I hunted took me on a trip down memory lane, one at a park where I used to be a camp counselor, which also happened to be the same park where my grandfather used to maintain the grounds. Another took me to my old college, where I also took the LSAT exam that would start me on my failed journey to law school, and still another took me right past the house I was once evicted from so many years ago. So many memories, most of them painful too. And yet when I revisited all these places from my past, it was like I had never really been there. It all seemed only vaguely familiar to me now, like trying to remember an old dream, the faded memories of a distant life best left forgotten.

After I had wrapped up my cache hunting, I drove off and stopped by a 7-11 nearby for a drink. It was past midnight, yet even then I saw a cute girl behind me coming in as well. I held the door open for her and though she ignored me, I wondered: if I simply did this long enough and often enough, eventually the pieces would all fall together, and someday I’d be holding the door open for the girl of my dreams, and she certainly won’t ignore me then. Or maybe I would meet her at the top of a lighthouse. Or at a Target. Or at a tea party. The geocaching hunts that I’ve been doing all weekend were randomly put together, and yet they didn’t seem very random at all. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that the true value of things is often found in the journey itself, rather than the destination. I’ve been avoiding the journey too long, trying to live it out instead on the Internet. But I’m beginning to realize it should have been the other way around.

Tags: college, cute girl, demonstration, geocaching, girl of my dreams, internet, journey, life, lighthouse, memories, online, remember, tea party
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
(  Print This Post | | 63 views )

Yep, I finally got around to it, pictures from my 4 state vacation tour, beginning with a little place called Kent Falls in Connecticut:

Oh look! A tree! *click*

It also stands to reason that a state park called Kent Falls would have, well, falls in it right?

The sign said not to climb the rocks. So I climbed the rocks anyway to get this pic.

It had been pouring rain all morning, but the weather was finally clearing up some, providing me with lovely cloudy weather type pictures:

I like clouds.

After Connecticut, it was on to Massachusetts, where I made a hard right and a beeline towards:

OH YEAH.

The first thing that immediately seizes your attention when you enter this ridiculously MASSIVE store would be not candles, but this:

Oh my holy sweetness...

I’m totally loving the Christmas atmosphere too, starting with a long line of gift boxes that were moving along like a gondola around the store:

Why can't my apartment look like this?

Then things started getting a little nutty:

What up, cracka?

Eventually I came upon the Christmas village section, which literally went on and on endlessly, I honestly had never seen so many miniature villages in my life:

So purdy...

And then of course, the candles…

Oh Big Daddy YES!

And that was just the orchards/fruity section, after that I finally came upon the main area of the store:

Holy flaming wicks of external wax!!! O_O

And then, behold, the mother of all candles:

I WANTIE!

Ok, ok, that’s it for the candles. Yes I know I need help. Yes I know I’m a girlie whirly boy-boy for digging candles so much, but I gotta be me. Anyhoo, after that, it was off towards the Mohawk Trail (Route 2 in Massachusetts):

Screeched to a halt so I could get this shot off.

This is when I started to lose a signal. I was getting up there in the mountains and even Verizon was having trouble. I was pretty sure I was still on the right track though, until I saw this sign:

I KNEW I made a wrong turn somewhere...

Heh. After finally arriving in Williamstown, I spent the night and the next morning continued into Vermont on Route 7:

I could live here... well no, it's still Vermont.

Honestly, no camera in the world could truly capture how majestic the scenery was. Truly one of the best scenic drives I’ve ever taken. I finally got off Route 7 and headed east on Route 4 to Killington. After a while I finally pulled over when I saw this resort:

Autumn becomes Winter... Magnificent.

Man, I can only imagine what it must cost to spend a night there. But WOW, what a view.

After some thought, I finally decided I would spend the rest of my vacation time back in New York at Lake Placid, and turned around to head back to NY. I took Route 125, eventually leading me to the Crowns Point Bridge. This drive alone may have well been the highlight of my trip. I passed by a barn and the scene was so pretty that I immediately U-turned, parked the car and got out my camera and tripod so I could take a few pics.

No sooner than I got out of the car and started walking when I saw two dogs coming out of a backyard near me, the size of HORSES I tell you, and of course they immediately galloped in my direction.

OH BLEEEP!

I ran like a crazy man back towards my car, the tripod banging against my legs while I furiously got my keys out to open the door, banged my head on the roof, then leapt in and slammed the door. I was in a daze, and after a moment I collected myself and looked out the car.

The stupid dogs had already gotten bored and were actually YAWNING at me. Who keeps their dogs unchained in an unfenced yard anyway? Gads.

Rather than chance stepping out again, I simply took the pictures from my driver’s seat. The windows up of course. These dogs were HUGE after all.

If this photo had sound, you'd hear the barking of the dogs that chased after me.

I took a bunch of shots with different exposures and merged them all together to make the next image. Didn’t come out great, but oh well.

An enhanced view of the barn. Meh.

After that little escapade, I continued down and saw such a wondrous view of Lake Champlain that I had to stop one more time, and I’m glad I did:

It's hard to tell, but this was literally just a narrow street beset by water on all sides.

I had come at just the right moment, with the sun setting beyond the mountains and hitting the lake at the perfect angle:

Pretty beyond words.

Here’s another shot:

I saw this and never wanted to go home again.

I did the same thing here that I did with the barn, taking shots at different exposures and merging them together again:

An enhanced view of Lake Champlain.

Finally, here’s the Crowns Point Bridge itself, connecting Vermont to New York:

You can just make out the bridge, which literally closed the day after I went over it. I had nothing to do with that by the way.

I stayed the night at Ticonderoga at a GORGEOUS Best Western, then moved on at long last to Lake Placid:

Onward to Lake Placid!

Checked in at a hotel that offered a pretty lakeview room:

” title=”A view of Mirror Lake.” width=”300″ height=”400″ class=”size-medium wp-image-2421″ />

I did some exploring around town for a couple of days, including checking out Saranac Lake too, which was right next door:

Saranac Lake, small but pretty!

After two nights I moved on to another hotel, this one offering a lakeview AND a fireplace. Oh yeaaaah…

A view from my balcony at the last hotel I stayed at before going home. Wah.

Yes, I think I’ll live here… forever?

This is what makes it all worthwhile baby.

And the bear that attacked earlier? Well we decided to bury the hatchet:

Vicious, attacking bear and I reached an understanding.

After my last night there, I rose up in the morning, and took one looooong, last look at my beloved lake, before steeling myself for the agonizing journey home:

One last view before I go home... *sob*

I have more pictures by the way, but I uploaded the rest of them to my gallery. You can check them out there to ooooh and aaaaah my work if you’d like. (Or laugh at it instead. Either way, I dig the attention.)

Tags: autumn, camera, Christmas, Connecticut, fire, fireplace, journey, lake placid, laptop, Massachusetts, new york, Photos, teddy bear, ticonderoga, vacation, verizon, Vermont
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
(  Print This Post | | 70 views )

Today marks the third year anniversary since my first ever post on this blog!

It’s certainly been a weird ride too.   Originally I started out thinking I would be using this blog to chronicle my journey through law school and into the law profession, but unfortunately life has a tendency to poop all over my best laid plans, so instead of writing about adventures in law school and beyond, I found myself rambling about topics of no particular interest to anyone but me.  My blog went for weeks without any updates, and my traffic was virtually nil.  Then I started wrapping myself around the idea that I could turn my blog into a money making machine, getting my hands on whatever material I could find out there that could help me figure out how to turn this site into a magical land of milk and honey, from whence I could quit my job, retire, and live it up as a self made man with a pizza on one hand and a babe on the other.

Then I went from there to wailing about all my health problems, which really put a damper on my blogging spirits for a while.  Then I went on a streak where I raged and ranted about dating sites and women and why they all sucked and disgusted me to no end, and not just them but people too, and they sucked and everybody sucks and the whole world sucks and why doesn’t everyone just explode and DIE????

Come to think of it I think I’m still on that streak. 

Under normal circumstances I probably would have closed this blog by now and moved on.

Only the thing is… this is the first time I’ve ever created a blog that provided a solid income stream for me.  I won’t be retiring or quitting anytime soon of course, but then again, I don’t just throw away something that’s earning me $200 a month, even if I have nothing worth writing about these days.   My feed count also surpassed 200 readers for the first time ever the other day, and it seems apparent that as I keep this site going and keep blogging, my audience and traffic will continue to expand, slowly, but surely.  $200 a month might some day become $300 a month, then $500, and from there, who knows how high it could go.  Love it or hate it, me and my blog, we’re stuck together for the long haul.  And who knows, just because I haven’t been able to earn a living NOW doesn’t mean I can’t earn one down the road, even if that road turns out to be a long, winding one that takes years to cover.  I know of one person who ran a math site since 1997, and it took her over ten years before she finally saw the fruits of her labor and was able to earning a living from her website alone.  From what I learned about search engines like Google, the older your domain gets, the more trusted it becomes, resulting in higher rankings and more traffic.  Some say the tipping point is 4 years, so by this time next year, I could end up seeing a dramatic difference that will boost my earnings potential even more.

In the meantime, this blog is still searching for an identity, a clear purpose, something to help focus my writing and truly make it blossom.  It’s sad that I find myself in my early thirties and even after all these years, I still don’t know who I am or who I was meant to be, if I was meant to be anything at all.  Am I destined to be a drifter, living a small life where I have no impact on anything, or am I meant for something bigger?  Can I overcome my inner demons and become the man God wants me to be, and the man that a future wife could be worthy of, or will I slowly fade away into obscurity and failure?

The story continues…

Tags: anniversary, blog, blogging, dating sites, failure, God, income, income stream, job, journey, land of milk and honey, law school, life, purpose, search engines, traffic, website, writing
Categories: Blog Fog
 
(  Print This Post | | 57 views )

Now that it’s been two years since I created this blog, where do I go from here?

Looking back, it’s interesting to see how things played out.  When I first started out in 2006, I blogged under the assumption that I would be eventually be attending law school later that fall.  I thought the name “Habitation of Justice” was a suitable name then, and the blog would have basically been a chronicle of my adventures in law school, as well as my subsequent journey into the legal profession.  Since I was so focused on getting everything in place so I’d be ready in time for school, I rarely posted for the first year.

Eventually though I had to defer my enrollment when my hopes for a scholarship fell through.  The deferment lasted a year, but nothing had really changed by the time it ended, so I had no choice but to withdraw.  I made one more try by attempting to go to school part-time at a local university instead, but eventually those plans fell through as well.

When it seemed like my whole future had collapsed, I eventually became fixated on making money off my blog, and spent the rest of 2007 working towards that end.  I devoured everything I could find about making money online, getting more and more frustrated because most of what I read were actually tips that I had already read off dozens of other sites, so I ended up reading the same fricking material over and over again.  Yet this was an idea I wanted to work so bad because I hated my job, and the allure of being able to live off the Internet was a really strong one.  2007 was all about establishing my blogging identity and doing whatever I could to bring in the traffic I needed so I could turn my blog into a money making machine.

That of course also met with miserable failure.  I had a huge identity crisis to deal with in that I just didn’t know what my blog should be about, and I knew I had to find a niche I was passionate about but still could make good money in.  I dabbled in doing paid reviews and other gimmicks here and there, but nothing really met with success.   All I could do was burn with envy at those who had become wildly successful with their own blogs, and nothing I could do could even remotely come near to their level of success.  The kicker was reading about a 19 year old weenie punk of a teenager who was raking in tens of thousands of dollars a month by running fake review sites containing hidden affiliate links.  They seemed to make money without even trying, and they did it with impunity.

Eventually I just gave up.  2008 began with me resigning myself to the fact that I would never get anywhere in life, much less with my blog.  I had no skills, no talent, nothing I could offer that could make this whole endeavor worthwhile.  The initial hope I had during the beginning of the year quickly dissipated as my health started to deteriorate, and I sunk even lower in despair and loneliness, fearing that I would forever be trapped in a dead end job and a dead end life.

But then somewhere along the way, in the midst of all that self-pity and despair, hope once again began to spring eternal.  The more I thought about law school, the more I began to believe God was doing me a favor.  I was happy enough to accept that such was His will, but what I was NOT happy about was being strung along for over a year when I kept asking and begging for confirmation that I was going down the right path.  Yet when I think about it, maybe it took so long to get an answer because I was meant to learn something in all that, and who knows what kind of chain of events that whole experience set off too, which I may not ever truly realize the depths of until later on in life.  They say sometimes the journey itself is more important than the destination, and I think that wise proverb applies here as well.

I also started to realize that part of the reason I had such an identity crisis was because I was trying to mimic other people’s lives (and subsequently the successes they enjoyed.)  I was trying to fit the square peg that I was into the circle of life, and as long as I continued to do that I’d never be able to move forward.  When I finally began to accept that my life was being defined by a complete different set of standards apart from the world’s own, I started to feel much better.  And my blog at long last began to take coherent shape.  My journal here is ultimately, a personal one, a catalog of both my physical and spiritual journey through life.  And that is probably what it will always be.

It also occurred to me that the driving force of my personality was my humor.  It was both sardonic and sententious, expressing an outright disdain of life’s petty silliness and the world’s stupidity, especially those of Christians who should know better.  Laced in sarcasm and saltiness, my voice was a fire breathing one, crying out in the wilderness that is the Internet, and because of it I would alienate all, and yet somehow, I would also allure all.  My life was nothing else, if not a paradox.  Here the laws of physics come to an end, and the laws that only God can control begin to take hold.

I still dream of a life of self sufficiency, where I no longer have to be tied down to one place, but can travel freely and live freely, (writing about these experiences on my blog of course), and doing those things that never would have been possible had I had a wife, a family, and a house that surely would have kept me chained down with obligations I doubt I could ever fulfill.

That’s why I feel the road calling out to me.  It beckons, with its hidden dangers (as well as hidden promises.)  There may soon come a day when I will don my leather jacket, and ride my Black Stallion to wherever that highway takes me, hoping to find that spiritual and physical dwelling where true justice reigns supreme.

The Habitation of Justice.  

Tags: black stallion, blog, blogging, christian, confirmation, God, internet, journey, law, law school, leather jacket, legal profession, loneliness, making money, miserable failure, personal, success, writing
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
(  Print This Post | | 222 views )