Manicouagan Crater Lake

Buzzing around Google Maps today, I noticed an almost perfectly circular lake in far north in Quebec. A Wikipedia later, and it turns out that the lake is actually a reservoir. As for the shape? The reservoir fills the impact crater left by a meteorite believed to be 5km across that hit the earth approximately 214 million years ago. Scientists believe that the strike may have been one of three that occurred all around the same time.

Were it not for the completion of the Daniel-Johnson Dam in 1970, this crater would remain as illegible as the other two. With the filling of the reservoir, the topography of the crater was written clearly on the face of the Earth, visible from space and called the Eye of Quebec. Looks pretty cool from the ground too.

Photo by Martin Schmieder.

The Chicago Landmarks Quest: A Postmortem

As mentioned previously, in April 2009, I successfully identified an obsession that appealed to my admittedly quirky definition of enjoyable ways to spend a day. Looking back now, I was already well into this effort by the time I posted about it here. The first of my little landmark treks was all the way back on March 21st. Sadly, like so many of my 'great' ideas, this one never quite came all the way through to completion. Of course, I kept obscenely detailed records of the walks that I did take. As such, I can report lots of fun facts and statistics, such as:

• I made 13 dedicated trips to see landmarks. All told, I covered 151.8 miles of Chicago streets.
• I walked 92.6 miles and biked 59.2 miles.
• On these walks, I found $1.23 in lost change, a random key, and an Indianapolis restroom token.
• On these walks, I made it to exactly 100 of the 277 landmarks (36.1%!)
• I made this cool Google map of all the landmarks, including those I didn't make it to.

View Chicago's Historic Landmark Structures in a larger map


Beyond the numbers, I got to see a lot of interesting buildings. The variety of buildings that at landmarked in Chicago really astounds. Some sites were the location of historic events or homes of important figures, while others were selected solely for their contribution to the field of Architecture. Every time I went out with a list of landmarks in my Moleskine, I knew that I could expect to see something new in the same old city. The list took me to great neighborhoods and awful ones. It led me to places I certainly never would have visited otherwise, and gave my days a structure and goal.

A typical walk. 10.2 miles, eight landmarks, and I found 26 cents along the way.

I'd take a look at a map, pick a general direction to go in, make a list of landmarks I thought I could get to and go. Never a set route, never a timeline. The only goal was to see as many as I could and snap a picture of each, and a couple along the way. Once home I'd cross them off the map and record the route I ended up taking on Gmaps-Pedometer. In retrospect, I wish that I'd taken more note of each trip, beyond the routes and the pictures. Some stories from those trips I'll remember forever, but some I'm sure I've lost.

Reboot

Well. Judging from the time between postings, this blogging thing never really got off the ground last year. The intervening months saw plenty of changes - new jobs, old jobs, hirings, firings, cohabitations, moves, trips, and all the trials and delights that come with living life. Biggest of all changes is one of scenery. My great manifest destiny, go-west-young man experiment in Chicago has come to an end. It is most certainly a change of circumstance, not a reaction to the people and the place. I loved each of the 760 days that I lived in Chicago. Each brought something new and engaging and wonderful.

So. Goodbye, Chicago. Hello again, Philadelphia. Back to the city of my birth and education. As I tell people (likely too often) I'm back in Philadelphia mostly because I wanted to see if my girlfriend was as smart as me. I suggested that she apply to my beloved alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, mainly to see if she could get in. Of course, it turns out that she is far smarter than me and coasted right on in. Sadly, my choice to join her in Philadelphia resulted in another bout of the Unemployment. So, back to the blogs, I suppose.

I am happy to be back here. All of the things that I loved about Philly the first time around remain, including many of my friends. And, with the blessing and curse of time on my hands, I'm getting to explore plenty of new things that I missed at the first go. So, we'll give this another shot. I'm hoping to do a better service to my interests this time around. I need an outlet to record and share the things that I enjoy and find wonder in. So this time, more photos, more walks, more city, more maps, more lectures, more books, more real estate, and most - importantly - more posts. Hopefully the next one will take less than 18 months to germinate.

The Chicago Landmarks Quest, An Introduction

About a week after the Unemployment came, I was in the Loop killing some time between a trip to the dentist and lunch with a few friends. I took a walk through the Chicago Cultural Center and passed through one gallery, which featured "Chicago Landmarks Before the Lens," a collection of simple photographs of some of Chicago's landmark buildings. At the end of the gallery, there was a stack of maps of the 277 Chicago Landmark structures. I took one, opened it up, and I immediately knew what to do.

I would visit each of the 277 landmarks. Preferably by foot. It is a project that suits me perfectly. I like buildings. I like exploring. I like Chicago. And more than anything, I love creating a check-list and checking things off of it. Here was a ready-made list of 277 to-do's.

At the time, I was reading City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America, about Chicago in the 1800's. The book discusses the lives of a number of early prominent settlers. I was struck that many of them shared the hobby of walking the city, especially during periods when business was slow. It seemed to be an act that allowed them to learn the geography and people of city intimately, something that bonded each of them to Chicago. While I'd been in Chicago for about 7 months, I had not seen much of the city, outside of my daily commuting. Here was the impetus to get out and see the city, and see the parts and points of it that one might miss.

Introductions...

A blog is essentially an exercise in boredom. Bored people create blogs, then bored people read them. Having recently achieved that nirvana state of boredom that we call Unemployment, there was no choice but for me to channel my boredom into creating a chronicle of my boredom.

So. What does one do when one has nothing to do? (Other than start a blog, of course) We so often pine for the freedom to do whatever we want, yet now that I am in a position nearing true freedom, I struggle to find things to fill my day. I read, I philosophize, I bike and walk and do errands. But much of the clarity of purpose is missing. Before, I was Architect. What to do with my days was simple. Go to office. Build buildings. Eat. Sleep. While I miss the structure and simplicity that employment offered in retrospect, I have stumbled upon a real challenge: what do I want to do? Not in a big, overarching sense. In time, the economy will improve and I will resume my career.

The question of what to do is of a more immediate nature. I have, relatively speaking, complete freedom. I am compelled to do virtually nothing. My basic needs are covered. I have financial security (a byproduct of a lifetime of cheapness), but I don't have the budget for big undertakings. So, with the city of Chicago utterly accessible to me with my feet, bicycle, and CTA Card, I ask myself, "Self, what shall we do?"

As I answer this question, each day, I hope to find answers that alleviate my boredom. With any luck the answers I find will be of enrichment and interest to me and, by extension, the readers of this blog. Hopefully, my quest to alleviate my boredom will alleviate yours.