The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

Kim (and about 6,000 other athletes) participated in the Accenture Chicago Triathlon in August. She finished 103 of 6149 overall, 8th of 2078 women, and 2nd in her age group!

In June she competed in the 2007 USAT National Age Group Championship held in Oregon. Despite being out most of the past year rehabbing from a broken ankle, and this being only her second race ever at the Olympic distance, she finished an impressive 25th in the highly competive 25-29 age group! Here are some photos of her at the race.

Way to go, Kim!!

Posted by Dan 08/27/2007, revised 01/27/2008

After only two days in Indonesia I am in love.

Shanks ponies into the jungle

Indonesia was apparently a very popular destination for tourists before Thailand took over and began drawing people to Southeast Asia. Because of this the tourist infrastructure is there but the islands are blissfully devoid of other tourists. From Malaysia we took a local ferry and made our way overnight by bus to Bukittinggi. For whatever reason it was decided that everyone on the bus should feel like it would be a white Christmas after all and the AC was on full blast all night. Quite ironically we crossed the equator on this stretch making the equator officially the coldest part of my trip. At one point Bukittinggi may have been overrun with tourists using it as a jump off for various treks and tours or just visiting the scenic town, but these days it has settled back into its own quiet existence.

Posted by nik 12/27/2008, revised 02/08/2009

Alright, so time to get back into the blogging groove o' things, ey?... This is going to be a fairly disheveled mash of info and observations here - there's a lot to say, and no organized way to do so.

Well, the years have passed since my last round of international adventures, and now I'm out again, in a whole new part of the world - Latin America! It has been my destination for some time now, and I have finally managed to make it happen. I have found a beautiful opportunity in which I can combine travel with work experience. I am currently in Quito, Ecuador, assisting a Marine Ecology masters student with his field work (out on the coast).

So I will be spending one week of every month splashing around tide-pools and collecting data, and the other three weeks of the month will be spent in a nice suburb outside of Quito. I have yet to find out what the three weeks will be filled with, but right now it's looking like: some analysis/ processing of the field data, playing with the university women's soccer team (sports are not so much a women's thing here, I'll just say that), taking Spanish classes at the university (I have some learning to do!), and hopefully visiting nearby mountains, hiking around the highlands.

Posted by Whitney 01/13/2011, revised 01/14/2011