Starting with Self-sacrifice?

I started with the idea of devotion, but when that idea seemed, by Google search, to lead me to an exclusively Christian concept, I decided to reach a little further. The etymology of the word devotion led to concepts of self-sacrifice, loyalty, and vow and promise making. I started with self-sacrifice and after a bit of reading an athiest's viewpoints on the matter, realized that the real crux, or a better beginning point is aiming at what you value. What is that we desire? And how much do we desire it? Last question, and an all important one, how do you increase desire?

As I often do, I started from an endpoint that I'd like to see more of in my life and I neglected to see the healthful steps at arriving at the manifestation of something good in my life. 

God, please help me get there. I'm needing something deeper, something that makes more sense. And if I am searching for too much sense then I ask that You derail me from this track, but if I'm onto something that I need to be onto, something beneficial to more than just myself, then please give me the courage and strength to pursue. 

Thanks.

http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=11429

http://www.authorama.com/nature-of-goodness-7.html

http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/lbh24/MJAASS.PDF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrifice

Where I Landed, Day 2

This is memorable. I was supposed to push forward to Ratzman Access in
Jersey, but I spent too much time at the library using the Internet
and such. It was 90 degrees today, and subconciously I new I needed a
break, even if it meant pushing until dusk. Round about Harmony, in
Jersey, I knew that I wasn't going to make it to my destination. I was
exhausted, thanks in particular to a seemingly neverending uphill
climb. It had to be a mile long, and steep--I may be exagerating, but
can't I this once?

I searched my map for a "green spot," meaning public park space. I
found some, but right in the middle of some houses. There was a big
hill going down to the Delaware River. You had to see this place.
Right on the river. Gorgeous... and too good to be true. A man by the
name of Randy informed me that where I stood was American holy ground.
In other words, private property.

He told me to gather my things and push up the road or he'd be calling
America's defenders of holy ground, the police. I guess he felt bad. I
must have looked terrible. I wouldn't know though, I found my mirror
broken this morning. He turned around and told me that the property
belonged to his father in-law, and if I were to ask him to stay the
night he'd be alright with it. I did, went up and asked the old man.

After him and his family got done laughing about my predicament they
told me I could make a fire and go for a swim. The wood was in a rock
bound fire pit, and the river, like I already said, was right in front
of me. I went for a swim, naked as a peeled banana, then I set up to
eat some food.

Started a fire, assisted by gasoline I purchased for my liquid fuel
stove. Fired up the liquid fuel stove, which I just learned to operate
this morning. Ate some tuna fish and peas and carrots. All canned. May
not sound tempting to you home bodies, but after the day I had and the
setting I was in, it tasted like Mom's tacos (sorry, inside thing). I
drank hot tea and let the fire die. And I listened to the water roll
by. And my last thought before I lay to sleep was how I might pay it
forward to a wanderer in need.

Datum: World Geodetic System 1984,
Latitude: 40° 47' 24.2726" N, Longitude: 75° 10' 59.8157" W,
MGRS: 18T VL 84537 15470,
UTM: 18T 0484537 4515470
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40.790076,-75.183282

Sent from my iPhone

Day 2, 90 Degrees in Easton

OMG, I just want today's ride to be over. It's hot as hell and I think none of the good thoughts I thought yesterday. My head hurts, my body aches, and I still have 14 miles to go. The hills are what weary a body. Add the temperature and you have a recipe for someone happy he's sitting in an air conditioned library. I will try to get some kind of legitimate post...

Easton is an historic city. On the way up I found a closed bar, but a gentleman, Glen, who lived next to the bar was kindly and chatted me up. I discovered that Easton was one of the original cities of the U.S. and that George Washington drank a beer in a local pub. I believe it was called the George Washington Pub, but my memory could be doing me disservice. Now the city basically looks like every other city, a combination of well off and poor, which in this case appears to be a combination of blacks and whites. I am worried about my bike and trailer sitting outside and so I check on it every so often.

I wish I had more time to talk about Glen but I don't. I'll say that he's had two strokes, was born in Newark, raised in Carney, worked as a shop steward in Brooklyn, and once punched a guy in the nose for punching him in the shoulder. There is so much more that I could write. Glen was what motor mouths would call a talker. He also gave me a beer seeing that the bar was closed when I got there and for that I am much obliged.

I'm going to try to deposit a check from Cablevision (they actually returned money to me) and get some fruit before I take off for the last 14 miles before Ratzman Access. I'm not even sure how to access the Access but I'll leave it up to good 'ole Providence and be on my way. How could someone do this before GPS?

Where I Landed, Day 1

Wow. What a ride. I'm in Nockamixon State Park, pretty close to Mt.
Haycock. I think I'll investigate tomorrow. For now I'm worn out from
the steady gain in elevation when I rode inland after riding along the
flat and easy to cruise against Delaware River. The bike paths along
the river, on the Jersey and Pennsylvania sides were lovely, cool and
covered. I still managed to get sunburned, but I got to a store in New
Hope before I purpled.

I'm dog tired now and I'm going to try to figure out something to eat.
Probably tuna fish and canned corn. I don't think I'm going to attempt
to use the stove, though I'm dying for a hot cup of tea. Also, I'm
buggin' out because I'm not used to hearing woods noises... my knife
is in my pocket. It has begun.

Love you,
Matt

Datum: World Geodetic System 1984,
Latitude: 40° 29' 22.7365" N, Longitude: 75° 11' 39.8717" W,
MGRS: 18T VK 83524 82124,
UTM: 18T 0483524 4482124
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40.489649,-75.194409

Sent from my iPhone

Day 1: New Hope

I'll take a moment to re-imagine a planned journey for anyone checking in who may not know what awaits me (God, blogging is so self-centered). I started out from my Mom's house in Newtown, PA. I'll end in my new apartment in Brooklyn sometime in the beginning of July. The middle portion is jaw dropping, on purpose of course. 9 states. 1000+ miles. 1 month. The question following those three short statements is, will I make it? I'm carrying about 100 pounds of gear split between a trailer and large pannier, all held in place with lots of bungee cord. I'm right on the brink of stability. I can see myself flying off of the bike because all of the weight on the trailer shifts to one side because of some bump on our well kept roads. It's hard to explain just what this feels like. An overly dramatic scene that comes to mind would be that of a trapeze artist lugging a trailer in tow across a gorge. The artist can control himself, but he also needs to take care that the weight behind him does not shift or else the vessel will go plummeting and the tower becomes the towed. Thus, I move slowly (those who know my riding know how much I hate this), with a bit of anxiety about every bump hit. Hopefully I'll increase in skill as a few days pass. For now all I can say to those planning a similar trip is get a two wheel trailer. One wheel is not good for the kind of weight you need to harness for a month long bike trip.

Did I say bike trip? Oh yeah. About that. This is Day 1, and it's been quite a beautiful ride. I don't expect the entire ride to be quite so picturesque. I am grateful for what I have gotten to take in already. First off, the route I am taking follows the Delaware River until I cut north for Vermont. This portion I actually do expect to be a biker's dream. Dirt road riding overlooking the river, cool dense tree cover sprinkled with wild flowers, and the smells of spring's unashamed fertility make the Delaware River Towpath a definite return visit for me.

As I write I sit in Starbucks in New Hope, utilizing free internet, making sure everything is in order. I have two online summer classes to take and my new partnership with Starbucks' internet has me appreciating more than ever the push for greater access to WiFi everywhere. Which city will be the first one to have city-wide wireless internet? New Hope? This is great little town, which I don't have the time to stop and investigate now. It kind of reminds me of Woodstock. Lots of incense, lots of vintage clothing, questionable art, as well as good art, and the looming idealism of marijuana smoking. I asked at the visitor center why New Hope is the way it is. The attendant reasoned that it was locale. She said, "It's directly between New York and Philadelphia." There's more to it than that and I intend to find out that more someday... maybe later tonight. But not now.

I have to wrap things up. It's rolling on 2:15 and I still have 25 "slow" miles to go. I've got to make it to Nockamixon State Park, find a sleeping position and settle in for the night, before nightfall. This will be my daily taskmaster, where are you going to sleep and keep your gear? When you wish to sleep free on God's green Earth you must pay the price of the search for God's free green Earth. One goal of all of this will be to promote such free sites where a tent can be thrown and anyone may re-center themselves between a city's demand for ever upward and the night sky which so quietly speaks eternity with the twinkling of a billion distant brothers.

G Train iPhone Heist

A facebook post I left for a friend:

"Dean, I haven't left yet. I've been delayed by cold weather and
seeing family and friends. The only good story I have for you was this:

On my way to see a friend I discovered that the MTA had shut down the
G-train for the weekend. No big deal, I'll take the shuttle. The
shuttle, somehow, is filled with seedier characters than the train and
my phone was promptly stolen while I was on the shuttle. Oh, did I
mention that the phone was in my hand when it was stolen? Well, it was.

I was awakened to action by the, "Oh shit!" chorus from the witnesses,
and I chased this guy off the bus. He was younger, he was faster, he
may have even had better hair, but he lacked detrmination. I chased
that man down like a starving cheetah. After three blocks, hurdled
snow mounds, and a near this-is-bullshit aneurysm the young man
tripped and fell.

While he lay on the ground, helpless and plaintively I wanted to kick
his core body region, goodfellas style. But being the bigger man, both
literally and figuritively, I told him, "give me my fucking phone and
I won't kick your ass." The end of the story should be me walking away
amidst imagined angels singing, "halelujah." Instead, I get the guy's
sister chasing me down the street with a cane in her hand (you know
I'm in the hood).

I catch one of her cane swings to my head and assure her that her brother
is fine and that he stole my phone (and "what planet are you from,
lady?") She let up, and I walked down the street back to where I came
from. What a world, what a world. The moral of the story is that if
something is in your hand, it's up for grabs."

Sent from my iPhone

The Wonderful Blunderful iPhone

It's not perfect but I've finally come up with a way to post from iPhone via my computer. Briefly I'll explain. In the woods I won't have an internet connection, unless there are some unwilling, unknowing wireless Samaritans. Since I can't depend on that I had to devise a way of sending text to my blog site. Yes, I could write a message on my iPhone, but the thought of my thumbs churning out an intelligible, well thought out blog makes me wonder how video gamers can do it. What I do instead, and this comes after much research--though you might think that coming to this solution quite obvious--is to use Outlook to write my blogs. 

This enables me to use a big boy keyboard, where ten digits can be used for key depressions as opposed to two big oafy fingers. I then sync the iPhone with my Outlook using iTunes. I didn't think of this earlier because I was thinking the solution would come from a different angle. It didn't. Now I do this. Why I can't drag and drop a text file over to my iPhone is to me like an itch I can't reach when all I have to think about is the itch. I still have the itch, and the iPhone. 

The following is a bit of html code (tags?) that enables me to pretty up the text after it goes from Outlook, to the iPhone, through email to my blog site. I shall keep it here to commemorate this waste of time (and because I have to use it every time I post, so I'll just copy and paste it from this blog). Good day, good people.

<div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; ">

(don't forget to close the <div> and <span> tags) = </div> & </span>