Launchpoint − 30 March, 2007
March 30, 2007, was the last day of school before our spring break. As I've mentioned here before, my wife is currently assigned to a two month detail in Washington, D.C. I've been holding up the fort here by myself -- well, me and my two dogs, Neri and Nora.
Hannah came back for a visit the weekend before, but had already returned to D.C. Now it was my turn to visit her.
I spent all week preparing for the trip. See, since 9/11, I don't fly, I drive. So I was going to have to make the 13 hour drive to D.C. on my own.
One of the consistent aggravations of travel, for me, is the crappy radio stations along the way. Although I like NPR, it's only on during the morning and afternoon; the rest of the time, you're at the mercy of the mediocracy.
Well, fortunately, this time was different, because I had DMusic and Jamendo. Since I discovered them last summer, I have left commercially produced music behind entirely -- everything I listen to now is freely available, and most likely Creative Commons licensed.
In the weeks leading up to the trip, I burned dozens of CDs of my favorite online artists. When the actual journey began, I had a thick folder of around 100 albums prepared (including a few French CDs, since I'm still learning the language -- I know a lot of vocabulary, but my pronunciation is terrible.)
Over the next few days, I'm going to take you with me on this trip North. We'll see the cherry blossoms in bloom, the Marine Corps Museum, and even a "Pirate" Mine (ahr, matey). To get to the next stories in this series, just hit the "Next story" tag above when you see it lit. I predict it will take me four days to get this one out, since it's a long one.
Hannah came back for a visit the weekend before, but had already returned to D.C. Now it was my turn to visit her.
I spent all week preparing for the trip. See, since 9/11, I don't fly, I drive. So I was going to have to make the 13 hour drive to D.C. on my own.
One of the consistent aggravations of travel, for me, is the crappy radio stations along the way. Although I like NPR, it's only on during the morning and afternoon; the rest of the time, you're at the mercy of the mediocracy.
Well, fortunately, this time was different, because I had DMusic and Jamendo. Since I discovered them last summer, I have left commercially produced music behind entirely -- everything I listen to now is freely available, and most likely Creative Commons licensed.
In the weeks leading up to the trip, I burned dozens of CDs of my favorite online artists. When the actual journey began, I had a thick folder of around 100 albums prepared (including a few French CDs, since I'm still learning the language -- I know a lot of vocabulary, but my pronunciation is terrible.)
Over the next few days, I'm going to take you with me on this trip North. We'll see the cherry blossoms in bloom, the Marine Corps Museum, and even a "Pirate" Mine (ahr, matey). To get to the next stories in this series, just hit the "Next story" tag above when you see it lit. I predict it will take me four days to get this one out, since it's a long one.
