1st day in Anchorage

Dear Blog,

I picked up a copy of 'Into the Wild' in Logan Airport and dutifully completed it by the time I reached Dallas. From Dallas to Anchorage my safety belt kept me strapped to a chair facing The Bucket List and 27 Dresses, two terrible movies...I had a window seat though, and two interesting Alaskan-ish seatmates, and we watched the Rockies/Cascades/Glaciers go by instead of the movies. So, it was a relatively painless 11-hr ordeal.

'Into the Wild' happened to be a pretty interesting reflection on the sort of romanticized Alaska we've talked about over the semester. Although Krakauer went way farther into McCainless's psyche than I needed to read, he offered so many views (including Alaskan) about 'Alex Supertramp's' solo sojourn into the Alaskan bush that it gave a pretty good idea of Alaskan sympathies toward people who go on spiritual journies in the backwoods...which is to say, they don't have much sympathy.

Today I've been running around trying to score a bike - tried out a bunch at various venues, but I think I'll go with the hundred dollar beater the man at the rental store downtown offered. I think my ears are sunburned because I didn't anticipate high-noon like sun at 8am. The people here are beyond friendly, I've already made a couple of connections and am looking forward to a week of exploring pre-internship. In addition, this Kaladi bros. internet cafe has excellent coffee...

It's all off to a good start.