First year of grad school. Check!

Summer break is here!! I'm finished with graduate school until Fall, and I'm ready to rock. This school year was a long blur of late nights and early mornings, too much coffee, not enough sunshine.... Someone please remind me why I signed myself up for this.

No, but seriously. I definitely made the right decision coming to Ann Arbor. I'm surrounded by top quality inspiring classmates and able to take truly rewarding and engaging courses taught by some of the best professors in the field. It's hard work, but I really love it, and I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing with my life right now. Not only is landscape architecture interesting and useful, it's also fun and artistic and creative. I am completely in my element.

But now it's time for a much deserved break.
I started things off right with a trip to New Orleans, just in time for the Jazz & Heritage Festival. I grew up in New Orleans, and hadn't been back since sometime in the 90s. It was great to come back as an adult and get to experience what New Orleans is all about... seafood, booze, and late night music. I pretty much danced all day and all night from Railroad Earth to Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk to Bassnectar to Rebirth Brass Band, the music was all over the charts, blues, jazz, gospel, funk, ROCK & ROLL, baby! It was just what I needed to seriously Shake it Off.



New Orleans is a fabulous town. The road to recovery will be long and hard after this oil spill. They were still picking up the pieces from Katrina. It's a sad, sad situation over there right now. While the rest of the country homogenizes, New Orleans has remained unique and full of it's own culture and music and art and food. What a tragedy to lose something so special. The future looks bleak. And the oil continues to spill as our diminishing water supply disappears before our eyes.

The rest of my photos from New Orleans are here.

Now I'm back in Ann Arbor. I just bought a moped, so I can get myself out of Ann Arbor every once in awhile. This means Trouble. I've got all sorts of Trouble lined up for myself in Michigan. You better believe it. I've got wheels now, look out.

I'll be starting my summer job next week at my school, doing some work digitizing GIS data. Yes, it is as exciting as it sounds. I'll be working on a project with some people who are tracking land use over time in the Great Plains. It will actually be a good experience for me, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity, as mundane as it might end up being. Luckily I still have the job living and working at the Arboretum & Botanical Gardens to help me keep my sanity.

I'll also be making the trip to California for the High Sierra Music Festival again this year. I miss California like I can't describe. Michigan's great and all, and the changes of seasons are spectacular.... but nothing beats a sunny California day.
But it's not just California I miss, it's all the people I love. You know who you are out there. I miss you people. For real.

Burning Man is also in the plan for this summer. The man burns in 120 days. It will be four years since I've stepped foot on the playa. I can't wait any longer.

Overall, life is pretty damn good. I'm living it up the best way I know how. Spring is in the air. The flowers are blooming in the lovely Arboretum, the birds are singing. I'm stoked to be where I am in my life. Thanks for reading and being a part of it all.

Here are my photos from Spring in Ann Arbor.