Take a peek at my CD collection and you'll notice Jack White -- in his many forms -- makes quite a few appearances. And one more will arrive on May 11 when The Dead Weather's new album hits shelves.
It's funny, I picked up a Raconteurs album a couple of years ago. That wasn't enough.
Got a few White Stripes albums. That wasn't enough.
Picked up the first Raconteurs album, then the first Dead Weather album. Still not enough.
Yes, my appreciation for Jack White's prolific and unusual nature is not unlike the theme in the White Stripes' "Take, Take, Take" from Get Behind Me Satan, where an obsessive fan just can't get enough from a celebrity encounter:
In preparation for my upcoming storm chasing adventure in -- count 'em -- 10 days, I figured it's probably about time I started learning how to use my recently acquired Nikon D40. And by "learn", I don't mean poring through instruction manuals. I mean taking it straight out of the bubble wrap, venturing to Turtle Creek in Dallas on a gorgeous Saturday, pushing all the buttons, spinning all the dials, and otherwise probably breaking this modern marvel of photographic technology...
Perhaps I embellish. I did have my amateur photographer buddy with me to make sure I didn't accidentally toss it into Turtle Creek.
I still have miles to go, but I at least learned how to use the camera in "Auto" mode. Baby steps. The top 4 results of Nikon D40 Training Camp:
At the beginning of Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella recounts his life up to age 36. Pretty ordinary, in the scheme of things: grew up playing baseball, got mad and stopped speaking to his dad, moved to California, then got married and had a kid.
I haven’t done any of those things, and I’ve got a dozen years until I will share his age. But then Ray sums his life’s story, “Until I heard ‘the voice’, I’d never done a crazy thing in my whole life.” Then, the fantastical movie kicks into motion: Ray hears a voice that tells him to build a baseball field, baseballers from the twenties show up for some reason, everyone has a few laughs, yada yada yada.
Now you’ll probably be relieved to hear that, unlike Ray, I don’t hear voices. But about six months ago, out of nowhere, I was overcome with the feeling that, like Ray, I hadn’t done a crazy thing in my whole life, and that needed to change very soon.
Cue the crazy YouTube video that will demonstrate (sort of) what I’ll be doing in two-and-a-half weeks:
OK, so I won't actually be intercepting a tornado (on purpose), but I am going storm chasing. Essentially, I follow behind these guys (yes, these very guys in the above video) in an SUV a "safe distance" back -- but not so safe that I didn't have to sign a waiver confirming that I might die. Close enough to see a tornado from a few hundred feet, far enough to not get tossed into the air like a cow in Twister.
I head to Oklahoma City on May 5. Then, we pile in an SUV and go wherever the action is for six days. Could be eastern New Mexico, could be northwest Wisconsin...who knows? Back to OKC May 12, hopefully with a renewed passion for the science and an SD card full of ridiculous pictures.
Ever since I was little, I've had this passion for meteorology. Tornadoes, hurricanes, you name it. I was fascinated by their well-defined structure, massive size, and complex inner-workings. Had I listened to my less practical side, I very well could have ended up studying/working in the field (although it's still not too late). But alas, I ended up a computer science major, thus forcing my hobby to remain just that: a hobby.
But now that I'm going on this trip, I can call it more than just a hobby. It's a bad-ass hobby.
I just hope something interesting happens in the heartland sometime between May 6 and 11. Some evidence suggests that this may not happen. From TornadoVideos.net (the organization affiliated with my upcoming quest): "This time of the year, there is often great anticipation associated with the massive troughs crashing the Plains nearly every week, but there are usually one or two critical elements that are not quite adequate for a large-scale event to transpire. ... The big hurdle during these potential events will usually be warmer temperatures aloft, which can lead to convective inhibition despite the plentiful moisture and high instability."
Lots of meteorological jargon that I hope to better understand a month from today. Even if I don't see a tornado from up-close, at the least this will be a REALLY educational venture. And if I do see a tornado, so much the better. Or even just an awesome cloud formation...anything related to supercell activity, like this:
I did recently buy a netbook AND a refurbed Nikon D40 to document the journey. Posts will be upcoming. As John Hodgman would say, you're welcome.
A philosopher I know back home in northeast Texas, who lives amongst the trees at the end of a dirt road 5 miles from the nearest grain of asphalt or slab of concrete, imparted to me (through my dad) a nugget of wisdom which I often ponder but which I almost certainly will butcher:
If you keep your expectations lower than high, then (1) you won’t be disappointed when the best outcomes don’t happen and (2) you’ll be pleasantly surprised when they do.
I struggle with this idea sometimes. I like to consider myself a positive person for the most part, so it’s my tendency to expect good things to happen given the right effort. That's what being an optimist is all about, right? Well, there are times when negative outcomes, due to circumstances out of your control (or often times within your control), happen.
Letdown follows. Because you were expecting something better to happen. That sucks. But follow the above principle, and experiencing that fall off the emotional cliff may be less likely.
Careful application of this adage results in stability and even-headedness, and I would argue that it leads to a pretty healthy way to approach life. Contrary to my natural tendency, it’s actually not pessimistic to predict the worst and “brace yourself”. It’s being REALISTIC.
Notice I said “careful application”. It’s a delicate balance, and I think this approach can be taken too far. If you prepare for the worst to happen ALL the time, that’s approaching cynicism: a quality which neither I nor Conan O’Brien cherishes. Maybe if you rush to prepare for the worst case scenario, you subconsciously will steer the outcome towards the negative (even if not the worst case). This isn’t being realistic; it’s being PESSIMISTIC. And once the stink of pessimism invades your mind, it’s awfully tough to shake it off.
But back to being realistic for a moment. One cool corollary is that you can be realistic while remaining OPTIMISTIC on the whole. True, life doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to all the time. However, when it does happen to work out the way you think it’s supposed to, you appreciate it all the more, simply because you have the presence of mind to realize that something not-so-great COULD have happened, but didn’t. Maybe that positive realization reinforces a positive outlook on life.
Take a peek at my CD collection and you'll notice Jack White -- in his many forms -- makes quite a few appearances. And one more will arrive on May 11 when The Dead Weather's new album hits shelves.
