Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Harrisburg


Harrisburg is a really cool town from what I can see of it. I'm excited to be moving there and exploring it. My dad thought some of my new neighborhood (uptown, north of Macclay, right on Front St.) looked a little shady. I thought it looked like a neighborhood in transition.

So, if any Harrisburgers (is that what we're called? If not please correct me) are reading, what's good in town? Where's the Weis/Giant/Acme/Food Lion (and can I get there on the bus? I don't really drive.)

Looking forward to this change in life, I am.

Sunday, June 26, 2005




More Banners

I don't like the banner I have up as much I as I did.

Here are some others I've drawn. I'll let all of you decide which ones you like best.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

noone likes karl

Poor Karl Rove. Noone likes him.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Evolution Rant also Lazy Parent Rant

So the PA House (AKA the Assembly) has decided to debate on whether Intelligent Design should be taught alongside evolution in the schools. This is due to the fact that the fundamentalists think evolution is evil and intelligent design is the best they'll get to creationism.

This bothers me.

For one thing, I think intelligent design is a very lazy theory. Very lazy. Instead of attempting to explain things, which science is supposed to do, it just says "Oh, a designer made it. That's the end of the story." Evolution, while imperfect in some ways, explains how things came to be and so on. I also don't like intelligent design because of its chief proponent in PA, that Behe guy. Having seen him attempt to debate his intelligent design theory he really comes off as an obnoxious toad. My personal dislike for him and his debating style also factors into my feelings on intelligent design.

At anyrate, I hope they don't do anything with this. I hope evolution remains where it should be : In the science books in the schools. If fundamentalist parents don't like it, they can teach the kids other things all they want instead of being lazy parents and plopping the kids in front of the TV/Computer/Video Game. Do that thing that you always say the gays are trying to destroy and have Family Time, where you all sit down and talk or discuss or teach new things. Turn your TVs off.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Dear Senator Biden

Please don't run.

Love,


Terry.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

banner.jpg

A Banner I'm testing out.

I am moving to Harrisburg, PA, where I was lucky enough to get a very nice job.

Monday, June 13, 2005

observation

I've recently discovered Craigslist . . . a bizarre collection of want ads, roommate ads, hookup ads(Generation Y terminology for "I want random, anonymous sex" and no, I don't do that) and more.

It is incredibly amusing.

However, I discovered that to my horror, the owner of craigslist is beaming the various postings into space.

Aliens will discover said postings. I think they will then come and vaporize the Earth.

Thursday, June 9, 2005

Why Geography

I've had this fascination with maps since an early age. I recall getting an old National Geographic World Atlas sometime in the mid-1980s. It was well read by the time it finally disappeared.

I also had a globe.

I collected maps all throughout childhood. At one point, I used to write to various states who would then send me a travel guide, and then a map. The travel guide usually went into the recycling bin. I kept the maps. To this day, I usually buy 2 to 3 atlases a year to replace the ones that go out of date. I'm about due for a new world atlas. With a new job coming very soon, I think I will upgrade to a really nice expensive one. And a globe too. I could use a new globe.


Eventually, I went off to high school (and decided I wanted to be meteorologist) and then college (where I discovered that multivariate calculus was the devil and decided not to be a meteorologist.) Instead, after talking to the department chair of the Geography Department and then taking some of his classes, I was hooked. I discovered that there was an entire tech industry surrounding the creation of maps (GIS, Cartography). I also discovered that people with skills in GIS whether it is AutoCAD, ESRI ArcView or GeoMedia are usually highly coveted by local , state and federal governments, construction companies, utilities, travel agencies, and more.

So what can I do with a geography degree? Lots. I can move into the more technical areas such as GIS and cartography. I can move into urban planning, transportation planning (which is the job I am currently hoping for). Or, at the government level and with a masters degree, I can move into research analyst positions including demographics, economics, and political analysis.

So, in short, a long personal interest and dollar signs helped me decide "why geography."