Prayer

Prayer is extremely important. The bible calls us to "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." -Eph 6:18. If you're anything like me, prayer is hard. Real hard. I don't know what to pray for, I don't have time to pray, when I do pray, my mind wanders all over the place, I don't know what to say to the Almighty, and it seems like I'm constantly just asking for stuff for myself.

Brennan Manning wrote a passage about prayer in his book, Ragamuffin Gospel, which I found extremely helpful. He describes when a small child draws a picture. Many times the colors don't make since. The sky is purple and the grass is blue. Us "grownups" don't reject the picture because the colors are wrong, instead we rejoice in the fact that the child is trying to express their creativity.

A little child cannot do a bad coloring, nor can a child of God do bad prayer.

So even if you don't know what to pray, its important to try! Whats cool is if we try earnestly, God will help us:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. -Ro 8:26

I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Mark Driscol, and he states that how you pray shows a lot about how you view God. Either you have a very high view of yourself and a low view of God or a very low view of yourself and a very high view of God. The former is paganism, and is exhibited by prayers trying to manipulate God. The latter of the two is repentance, and is exhibited by prayers that worship God and are honest about our nature.

Something else that I wonder about sometimes is about the posture of prayer. If you struggle falling asleep, or your mind wandering when you pray, maybe its simply your physical position when you pray. Once I prayed while stretching and it was some of the most focused prayer i ever had. I also know if i pray laying down in bed, i'm lucky to make it to amen. Sometimes I find that praying with my eyes wide open, or out loud helps me.

Give to me, O Lord My God,
understanding of You,
diligence in seeking You,
wisdom in finding You,
discourse ever pleasing to You,
perseverance in waiting for You,
and confidence in finally embracing You
Amen
-St. Thomas Aquinas

A final tool that has been incredibly helpful to me is reading the prayers of men wiser than myself, including those in the bible (throughout the new and old testament), and those of great men of the church (such as Thomas Aquinas).

So pray on brothers,
-love
mike

The dissemination of wisdom

In our short time here on Earth, we spend our lifetimes struggling and squirming out of the darkness towards the Light. Then we die, and anything we've learned, any progress we've made, is gone. Maybe what got me thinking about this is Thomas Merton's "No Man Is an Island" In his introduction he states:

The meaning of of my life is not to be looked on merely in the sum total of my own achievements. It is seen only in the complete integration of my achievements and failures with the achievements and failures of my own generation, and society, and time. It is seen, above all, in my integration in the mystery of Christ... Every other man is a piece of myself, for I am a part and a member of mankind... What I do is also done for them and with them and by them. What they do is done in me and by me and for me. But each one of us remains responsible for his own share in the life of the whole body.

So, I believe strongly that in order to truly believe something you must make it your own. That is why most people go through a dark period of doubt and sorrow, and somehow come out stronger. But during and after these struggles, if I don't do something to remember it, how quickly do I forget all that the Lord has done for me? The nation of Israel had the same constant struggle, and because of this, the Lord commanded Joshua (their leader) to place monuments to his glory (usually as alters or piles of large stones) so they would not forget what he had done for them.
I mentioned before that I'd like for my blog to have a purpose and this is going to be somewhat it. I plan on every 2 or so weeks to post something about something, so that by the end of a year I have 25 posts about 25 topics. Do consider myself wise and all knowing at 24? No, but its ok because I can edit past blogs when i learn new things. I hope you enjoy, and I hope that you comment and give me suggestions and disseminate wisdom back towards me. Until that time...
peace, and love,
mike

cabin hike

YoYo!
So I'm sorry i haven't posted in a while. Grad school has been REALLY busy. Anyhow, I've been reading blogs and I'd like for mine to have a little more purpose than it has right now (just telling about my boring life). So, I'll be thinking about that and look forward to it in future posts! In this post, this weekend I went hiking to this cool cabin. I've also decided to attend this church called All Souls. I could put a link here but I'm too lazy, so just Google "All Souls Boulder." I really like it and I'm excited about whats in store.

I've been reading 2 books lately (when i have time.) One is called east of eden, by John Steinbeck, I really enjoy his writing style. The other is called "No Man Is an Island" by Thomas Merton. The latter of the two will rock your world if you read it. He knew things about community before community was the cool thing to talk about.

Hmm... Oh yeah, if you like reading blogs and you have a Google account you should check out Google reader. It loads everything you read into a single page so you don't have to check individual blogs.

anyhow, I don't have much more to talk about. I hope everybody that reads this, and even those who don't are doing well!
Peace, Hope and Love,
Mike

another weekend another 14er

Hey guys,
Just wanted to throw a few pics of you of Grays peak. I didn't Climb the one next to it, torries, but Next time I'll climb both. These are compliments of william, and you can view all his great pics at his photo site

Labor Day Weekend!

Yo Hommies!
1 week of school down, 1 three day weekend, and 1 14er climbed.

We'll start with school. It's going to be fun but rough, I feel smarter already. In addition to reading about fluid mechanics, oceanography, and numerical methods, I've been reading a book "no man is an island" by Thomas Merton. I'd highly recommend it!

Labor day weekend I played ultimate with some freshmen, which was fun, and then Monday i climbed mt bierstat (elev. 14060 ft) with a group called "the annex". It was loads of fun. I'll give you some pictures complements of William surles.






(bierstat is the one on the right)

Boulder, CO

YOYO!

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, but it's been kind of crazy trying to move into my new place. I'm doing it though, I've got a bed and a dresser and a desk now, so i'm almost all set.

Right now there are a tonne of people staying in our house! Bill drove up to look for a job, but right now i think he's falling in love with the idea of graduate school. Chas and amy are living with us until they get their new place on the 1st of September. Kerry, Mary Jane, and Andrew are all staying with us till the end of the week on their road trip.

Boulder is awesome. I love riding my bike all over the bike lanes and green ways, there is a tonne of local brewery's so there's a huge selection of really good beer. The mountains are amazing! The main downside is everything here is more expensive.

Anyhow, I'm sorry this is short, i just wanted to touch base with the world! I'll put pictures of our apt up once we get settled down and there's not mattresses covering every inch of floor.
love you all,
mike

Goodbye old friend

Driving through the Appalachians on my way towards Colorado was kind of a sad experience. It was kind of like saying goodbye to an old friend, and not knowing when I'll see them again. I'll miss the Mountains of the east coast and their rustic beauty. The mountains in Colorado might have grandeur, but these mountains have a quieter beauty, less startling and surer.


I listened to a sermon on the drive back about repetition by Nathan and Winn at DCF. Downloading podcasts is really a great way to pass the time during a drive: they help focus your thoughts from useless and self glorifying daydreams to practical musings. I was thinking about the Church and how when it formed it was Christians gathering together, encouraging and strengthening each other and praising God with whatever means they had necessary. Now many church gatherings are no more than a “seeker friendly” rock concert with an alter call. People go once a week for their good music and hopefully entertaining 45 minute message and go on their way. I hope in our effort for Sunday services to be applicable to the Christian and the Non Christian we aren’t preparing wimpy Christians because seriously, who wants to give their life to Christ if all they see is wimpy Christians?


On another note, I’ve been thinking a lot about alternative energy after hanging out with my roommate Bill for a bit. While alternative energy sources are a GREAT idea, I think they’re a bit of a radical first step. Instead of jumping straight to installing solar panels on our houses I think we need distance ourselves from our addiction and dependence to electricity. I’ll start with the why, and then the how:

In order to live sustainable you are going to have to make sacrifices. A current solar panel will max out at 175 watts during peak sun. Assuming 12 hours of daylight and that you put 5 of these panels on your roof, that’s 10,500 watt hours/day or 10.5 kilowatt hours/day. Compare that to the average American household usage of 600 kilowatt hours/day and you’ll see that it looks nearly impossible to go completely solar without making life changes.

So what kind of changes am I talking about? There are easy ones and harder ones! First! Turn of the lights! Check your weather stripping on your doors, windows and outlets! Use energy efficient light bulbs! Use a clothes line instead of a dryer! Use a fan instead of the AC! Keep the door closed on your refrigerator! Manually open and close your garage door! I think before anybody drops $20k on a solar system for their house, they should try to see if they can drop their electric bill to at least 300 kilowatt hours/day.

I think that’s enough rambling for one blog post. Sorry!
-mike

The Buffalo Wilderness and Mr Ghadi

I'm sorry for being slack at updating. I guess I'm still on Ghana time. Anyhow, upon my return from Africa My dad and me set out on a 3 day canoe trip through the buffalo wilderness in norther Arkansas. It was really beautiful, and we saw all sorts of wildlife including a bald eagle, otters, mink, deer, and raccoons. Unfortunately, my camera is broken after a spill it took, but you can check out some of the pictures from my dad's camera here!

Since then, I've been at home for the past 2 weeks. It's been great hanging out with my family and just relaxing. I also got to meet our neighbor, Mr Ghadi. He's Hindu, and a little hard to understand. But, he has a temple in his house, and he allowed me to see it. I had to wash my feet before going in to look at all his Gods. He tried explaining it all to me but like I said, He's a little hard to understand. The real amazing thing to me is that he prays 3 hours every day. It makes me feel like a real slacker when I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but have trouble staying focused more than 5 minutes and other people around the world dedicate 3 hours to a statue of a lady with 9 arms and an elephant head.

Whats next? Well, Be praying that Rob finds a place to live for us in Colorado. He's been working hard and I know he's busy. I wish i could have gone and helped him. I'm headed to SC next for a couple of weddings, I'm really excited about seeing a lot of my friends. After that, i think its time for me to head west!

Peace and Love
mike

Oh, p.s., check out this website called GasBuddy.com You can use the map to go to your city, and find gas prices all around you! amazing!

Africa

I just left Africa and I already missed it. Ghana is an amazing country with beautiful people. One thing that saddens me about Africa is how little hope its people have for Africa's future. Instead of being proud of their country and dreaming of greatness, they dream of leaving to America. Anybody that gets an education, instead of staying and improving their country, leaves to another country where the pay is higher.

It's important not to confuse blessings with possessions. Africans are so blessed, their land is beautiful, their fruit is delicious, and the people vibrant and friendly.

Another thing about Africa is that nothing ever runs on time. When working construction this can get a little annoying and definitely isn't my style. When I come back I'm bringing Kevin, the efficiency expert, with me and we're going to show them how to get things done. On the other hand working side by side with African construction workers was a lot of fun. Some them have never used power tools before and that really increased productivity. I hope that they continue to use them after we leave.

Anyhow, I'm in london airport now and I would like to post again when i get some sleep and can further compile some thoughts. I'm going to try also to put a photo album up soon.

Much love,
Mike

p.s. photos are up!

Heading to Africa

Hey world!
So I leave for africa on Sunday. I've been trying to get ready as much as possible. Today I had the fun experience of taking apart a table saw to fit in a suitcase. I'm super pumped about this opportunity to go to Ghana.



I really appreciate all your prayers and will try to post if I can find internet in our small village. (Don't hold your breath)



See you on the other side!
-Mike

Mississippi: Reflection

So, I'm back in Illinois now. I've been working on a few home improvement projects here and there, and i found an ultimate club that plays 3 times a week.

Anyhow, the other day I drove my grandma to the nursing home because one of her friends is sick there. Nursing home's are awfully depressing places with people in wheel chairs slumped over with blank looks on their faces waiting for death. It's hard to imagine behind all these people there are family's, loves come and gone, adventures, and stories. It's easy to pass the people there off as sub-human or already dead.

Getting old scares me, but working with the bro's in Mississippi was a really great experience. Most of the people i worked with on a day to day basis were older than 70. They were still happy and hard working. Many of them i could picture dying doing what they love. I guess General MacArthur said it best:

"Youth is not a period of time. It is a state of mind, a result of the will, a quality of the imagination, a victory of courage over timidity, of the taste for adventure over the love of comfort. A man doesn't grow old because he has lived a certain number of years. A man grows old when he deserts his ideal. The years may wrinkle his skin, but deserting his ideal wrinkles his soul. Preoccupations, fears, doubts, and despair are the enemies which slowly bow us toward earth and turn us into dust before death. You will remain young as long as you are open to was is beautiful, good, and great; receptive to the messages of other men and women, of nature, and of God. If one day you should become bitter, pessimistic, and gnawed by despair, may God have mercy on your old man's soul."

So here's to the bro's in Mississippi, my grandfather, and everybody else who may never grow old! I salute you!
-mike

The Deep South

Holler ya'll.

I've lived in south carolina for 10 years, and clemson is about as rural as you can get So you think that i'd be accustomed to southern culture, but man: Mississippi. It feels good sitting in a gas station-cafe talking about nascar or sitting in a tralior talking about problems with rattlers and coon's.

But seriously, It's done me good to be submersed in this southern baptist thing. I feel like I got snobby in clemson, thinking our sophisticated christianity with our books and fancy praise somehow got us a better grace than rednecks in mississippi got. But these people, they love Jesus, and they're not snobby about it. And God loves them back.

I'm currently reading this book called "the ragamuffin Gospel". I am enjoying it so far. It is all about christ's grace for people who don't have it together. and then showing us that we don't have it together. I just finished reading george orwells 1984, a weird book about the future and kurt vonneguts book "cats cradel" a weird (but very funny book) about the end of the world.

Anyhow, I'm in Mississippi till thursday. I wish I could stay longer, I've been really blessed here. But, thursday its on to Tennissee, then Illinois, then who knows, maybe back to colorado?

Joyfully yours
-mike

(p.s. gas prices are really crampin' my style)

(p.p.s. Does ANYBODY want to bike the whole blue ridge parkway or go on a 3 day sea kayaking adventure in flordia in late july? I'm game)

Clemson and Mississippi

I apologize for not updating this in more than almost a month. my bad.

As many of you know I came to Clemson for 2.5 weeks. That was really a good thing, I had a ton of fun mountain biking, Night Hiking (see the pictures!), floating in the ridge pool, and seeing everybody before we scatter our various directions for summer.

After about 2 weeks at Clemson, I got antsy and tired of feeling like a bum so I decided to make the move down to Mississippi to see if i could lend a hand to Katrina victims. You may not know that people are still living in FEMA camps, which are just rows of trailers in the parking lot of some destroyed store. The devastation here is still evident with mobile homes and trailers sitting on the foundations of what used to be middle class subdivisions. The big fear down here is that if another hurricane were to hit Mississippi all of the people still living in mobile homes would be, once again, homeless.

Its been good for the 2 days I've been here to work. I've been working mudding and painting a house for a father with 6 children that is still living in a very crowded 3 bedroom trailer. One of the really interesting things about being here is hanging out with southern baptist. It's a culture shock for sure. First off, I'm not baptist. The second big difference can be best summed up by Jay from GA: "I don't much care for 'em democrats' but I guess I'd better watch my mouth because you're probably one of em', bein' one of em' environmental types."

Well, I hope to get some pictures from down here up as soon as I get some.
Peace,
Mike

Kurt Died... So it goes.

So an update from Illinois. For some reason this is the second time this spring I've gotten sick, luckily it seems to have passed in 48 hrs.

I finished the TV stand that i put aside long ago. Or maybe not. Admittedly, it'd look better if it were stained but i just don't have the patience.



I've taken on a new task that i hope to finish before heading to S.C. on Monday. That task is to pick out my favorites of the 1,500 pictures that Kyle, Matt, and Myself took last summer (I'm aiming for 250 which seems impossible) and get them printed online. The idea is to have a photo album of our trip as kind of a coffee-table book. If it goes well i might pick out my favorites of other hiking trips and adventures.



Right now I'm looking at using snapfish.com because its cheep and the quality seems good enough. If anybody knows of some awful reason i should not use snapfish, please let me know before i spend 30 bucks ordering these prints.

Well, i think that's it. Other things on my to-do list before i head south are plan my Mississippi adventure, get 400$ worth of shots, write official letters of acceptance, and do my laundry!

-Mike

(p.s. I'm really excited about this, and i thought a few others that read my blog might be as well)

Its Offical

In the fall I will attend University of Colorado at Boulder studying Environmental Fluid Mechanics. You can get info about the lab I will probably be working at here. I'm glad to have decided and I'm really excited about heading out!
-Mike

A Tough Choice...

Well, I just got back from Seattle and I'm going to tell you that this is going to be a tough choice. Right now i'm stuck on the fence if I'm going to move to Seattle, WA or Boulder, CO. Both have strong programs. Both are cool citys.

what to do... what to do...

The Dark Side of Oz

So I had some extra time today, and being surrounded by corn fields I thought it'd be appropriate to check out the great urban legend: The Dark side of oz (which I'm posting below.) The theory is if you play pink Floyd's "The dark side of the moon" with the motion picture "The wizard of oz" they go together hand in hand. The amazing thing is, they do! At first, it's just trippy, but it gets crazy at the following points:
-When the witch lady first comes into the scene
-When toto is being taken away
-When the house is being taken by the tornado
-When Dorthy arrives in Oz

Anyhow, if you got some time, Check it out for yourself:



-mike

Notre Dame and CSU

So over the past week i went back out to colorado to visit colorado state university. Colorado state is in Ft. Collins, about 1.5 hrs north of denver. It is beautiful there, a little bit further back from the mountains though (than in boulder). The hydrology department there is HUGE! They have like 30 flumes that can get up to 230 cfs (a ton of water). Some of them are large enough to do full scale river simulations. Anyhow, Although all that is cool, the staff was very impersonal and it sounded like I would be one amongst 200 grad students. The one professor I was able to get ahold of is leaving next semester, and overall I don't think the fit was right for me.

On my way back I got on standby for an earlier flight from denver to chicago. It was the bomb because somehow i got a first class seat, and as I drank my wine and lounged with my footrest, i got stock tips from the investment broker next to me. There were times where I litterly started laughing out loud.

Anyhow, after less than 24 hours in springfield I was back to the airport to go to the University of Notre Dame, in indiana. If you think of a private school being a place where there is tonnes of money floating around and everybody wears sweater vests... well you're right. Every building is constructed like a catherdral (its a catholic school) and even the civil engineering building has stained glass windows (with math equations in them...) Anyhow, they really treated us nice, took us to nice restaruants and put us up in a really fancy hotel (do I really need 2 rooms and a bathroom in my hotel? I guess so). The department there focues on enviromental work, more than fluids. One cool thing was they have research going in conjuction with the anthropology department to help clean up water in africa and explain the importance of clean water and sanitary pratices in developing african countrys! Thats cool. Anyhow, I dont think i'll end up there either.

I'm here for a couple days and then i'm off to seattle to check out my last grad school. I'm excited about going out there, they have a really awsome program and seattle is cool, but it rains a lot.

Oh, and I read Obamas book "The Audacity of Hope". It really kinda gets you into his head, but i hear the first one is even better. He's extreamly likeable.

peaceout!
-mike

I love Google

I, much like Kevin, Think Google is great. If you aren't in the know, Google runs this site along with Google calender, Gmail, Google earth, Google sketchup, and pretty much the rest of the world.

You'll be thrilled to know that I have combined my blog with Google calender so you can get a snapshot of what I have coming up (an answer to my new blog title? Perhaps.) Simply scroll all the way to the bottom of my blog, and my calender will be there!

So if you're my dad, or a crazed Internet stalker, or just curious as to when I'll be in Clemson next, you should be thrilled!
-Mike
(p.s. Google spell check made sure that "Google" and "Gmail" were capitolized in this e-mail.)

Boulder, CO

So pretty much right after I got back to the U.S.A I was in a plane again headed to Boulder, Colorado to check out University of Colorado. Boulder is a really happenin' town, so if you've never been there I'd recommend you check it out. It's a huge skiing community, but I don't ski. Anyhow, as far as the university goes, their campus seemed Huge, but is very bike friendly and supposedly has great public transportation. All of the profs I met with were very friendly and after the tour and interviews we all went out to a local brewery (the mountain sun brewery on Pearl st.) for some brews. All and all, it was a lovely time but I really can't say what my decision is until I visit other schools?


(that tall pointy building in the middle of this webcam image would become my home if I went to CU-Boulder)

Whats next on the agenda? Well I guess you could call this week my "spring break" but instead of leaving I get to stop traveling, sit down, and do my taxes. I heard MTV might come and do some filming of the craziness, so keep your eyes open. Then next week its off to Colorado State (i hope, they're hard to make plans with), and Notre Dame. The following week it is University of Washington (in Seattle) and then its DECISION time.

For anybody that was wondering, following Seattle I'm going to Southern Illinois with my parents for a little family vacation, and then headed to CLEMSON! So, look for me there around the second week in April!

-Mike

(p.s. Ed, I'd say my favorite place in all of Australia was Tasmania. I would have liked to spend some more time there, there's a smaller town on the north end of the island named Launceston which is supposedly quite nice, and many more national parks to romp in. Hobart was also a cool town, but take this with a grain of salt. This is coming from a guy who'd rather be in the woods than in a big city. If your a big city type of person, Sydney really is worth checking out.)

America

Holler,
I'm back in the states. The return trip was rather uneventful. I got labled as a Vegan when trying to tell the airline I was lactose intolerant... so i had vegan meals, but they wern't bad. It's weird that I can spend sunday at the beach, live monday twice, and tuesday be here in Illinois where there is snow on the grown. When you live one day twice, it gives you a lot of time so I finished reading "Brave New World" which was really good.

I have pictures up on my album now, including one or two from tazmania and i'm working on putting up my panoramas from the trip, so check them out!



It's funny if you stand at the back of a trans-pacific flight in the back of an airplane. Hundreds of people all sitting there, with their headphones on, staring at their individual screen each playing their individual movie at the individual time they choose. Mass-individualizim.
-mike

Sydney Oprea House

I went and saw a show at the Opera house last night. I have to say, its quite the experience. I saw Brahm's 2end and 4th symphonies played by the Sydney Symphony. You go in and there are all these fancy well-to-do people drinking expensive cocktails, and guys with fancy (free) horse-devours walking around. Then in intermission you can go out and sit and enjoy the harbor. Man did his absolute best to try and light up his masterpieces (namely the harbor bridge and the opera house) but God one-upped him with a full moon and a star lit sky illuminating the whole harbor.

Today i went to Bondi Beach, and had a good swim in the huge surf there. It was crowded but very refreshing! Tomorrow i go home! (Australia has been excellent, i miss home but this trip wasn't long enough)

An interesting note about Brahm. He always felt inferior to Beethoven and because of that he had a lot of trouble ever finishing his symphonies. His first took him 20 years, and he still was afraid to release it because he knew what a genius Beethoven was.

(oh, i FINISHED catcher in the rye. I've picked up Huxley's Brave new world and its quite good so far.)

-peace out,
Mike

-P.S. in response to ED's comment: No this is NOT the end of the "planned" adventures of Mike Soltys. Upon returning to the states I have a itinerary taking me in the month of march from South bend, Indiana; Boulder, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; and hopefully Clemson, SC. April and May include working in Mississippi (i hope) and also a hopefully multi day canoeing trip on the beautiful Buffalo river (which may get post phoned to later in the summer). June I'll be in Ghana, Africa. July, there is the possibility still, that I will be in Honduras.

Then in august, its Adventures in CIVL ENGINEERING masters wooo (don't get too excited)

-mike

Sydney

Sydney Is Huge! Who knew? For some reason I'm really confused with the time. They're doing all sorts of Mardi Gras celibrations this weekend, and the Gay people are out in numbers. But i thought Ash wednesday was a while ago, so I really don't know whats going on. I ment to do something for Lent, but oh well!

I've done some extensive "urban hiking" and feel like I've seen a good bit of Sydney. I also got a rail/bus/ferry pass that will take me anywhere in the "red" zone for 1 week. I don't really know where the red zone starts or ends, but so far I've been golden.

Tonight I'm going to the Oprah House to see Brahms 2end and 4th. Having a student ID is the bomb, it makes everything a lot cheaper. I got a 100 dollar seat for 25 dollars.

The guy I'm staying with in Sydney is a retired physicist. He lives in a very "proper" and "quiet" section of town. It's kind of nice to wake up and see books like "Nuclear Reactor Engineering Basics" and "Quantum photo chemistry" and to know that I'll never have to read anything in those.

I'll be back in the states on monday! Give me a call!
-mike

Books

I think this post is ment for english majors. Will somebody tell me who decides what books are worth reading and what books arn't? I got through highschool and college without reading very much for classes, and so now i'm trying to catch up with "the classics". I picked up a copy of catcher in the rye today and I have got to say that it's horrible. It seems to be similar to "a clockwork orange" but not as good. It's kind of like the movie "babel", which was nominated for all kinds of awards, and the only reason you sit through it is trying to find out when its going to get as good as it's acclaimed to be.
Anyhow, i'm on chapter 19 of the book, more than halfway through, and i'm about to quit. I've taken it off the list.

After a little research, i'm going to go ahead and tell you other books that i've read in the "top 100" list that are (in my opinion) not worth reading:
Catcher in the Rye
Lolita
A clockwork Orange

But while we're talking, i will say that I noticed Kurt Vonneguts "slaughterhouse-five" on the list and that is one of the best books i've read in a very long time.

Also, some lists include "the lord of the rings" which, if i'm not mistaken, are three books instead of one. And I have to tell you that while the hobbit was worth reading, The other ones put me to sleep. I really didn't even enjoy the movies that much (i think i lost some friends just now).

well. thats enough ramble for now. Off to sydney in the morning!
-mike

Lake St. Claire NP

So, i just got back from hiking in Tasmania. Today has been the first bit of Tasmania's famous rain that i've seen yet. Backpacking in Lake St. Claire was amazing. I hiked up to this lake called "shadow lake" in the shadow of a couple mountains, set up camp, and then climbed a nearby mt. rufus. (funny name for a mountain). It was more difficult that I anticipated, but the 360 panarama of tazmania's rocky crags all around was amazing.
Also, if I was ever told that hiking through a bog would be enjoyable, i would have probally laugh at you. But it was absoulty astounding! Imagin hiking on a surface similar to that of a putt-putt course, and everywhere around there are holes of diffrent sizes and shapes, some full of water, some with little creeks down in them. And all around you: mountains. Amazing.
At the top of the mountain i thought of a quote: "
These mountains, which have seen untold sunrises, long to thunder praise but stand reverent, silent so that mans weak praise should be given God's attention." -Miller
The newsboys had the same idea: "If we keep silent... these very rocks will scream"

Also, hostel life is really fun. I've met people from all over the world, had some beers with some english guys, cooked dinner with a german and a guy from the neatherlands, Met people from france and italy. It's great!

Anyhow, i fly to sydney tommorow which means today (its raining) i will clean my gear from the hike and get packed up for the trip!

I'll be back in the U.S. on monday!
Peace,
Mike

Lake St. Claire NP

So, i just got back from hiking in Tasmania. Today has been the first bit of Tasmania's famous rain that i've seen yet. Backpacking in Lake St. Claire was amazing. I hiked up to this lake called "shadow lake" in the shadow of a couple mountains, set up camp, and then climbed a nearby mt. rufus. (funny name for a mountain). It was more difficult that I anticipated, but the 360 panarama of tazmania's rocky crags all around was amazing.
Also, if I was ever told that hiking through a bog would be enjoyable, i would have probally laugh at you. But it was absoulty astounding! Imagin hiking on a surface similar to that of a putt-putt course, and everywhere around there are holes of diffrent sizes and shapes, some full of water, some with little creeks down in them. And all around you: mountains. Amazing.
At the top of the mountain i thought of a quote: "
These mountains, which have seen untold sunrises, long to thunder praise but stand reverent, silent so that mans weak praise should be given God's attention." -Miller
The newsboys had the same idea: "If we keep silent... these very rocks will scream"

Also, hostel life is really fun. I've met people from all over the world, had some beers with some english guys, cooked dinner with a german and a guy from the neatherlands, Met people from france and italy. It's great!

Anyhow, i fly to sydney tommorow which means today (its raining) i will clean my gear from the hike and get packed up for the trip!

I'll be back in the U.S. on monday!
Peace,
Mike

Hobart, Tasmania

I was praying for somebody to kind of guide me on my entry into Tasmania, show me how to get to my hotel, tell me some good places to go backpacking, etc. Anyhow, I sit down on the plane and then next to me sit down this older couple in their 40's. Let me paint the picture for you:
Matching hiking outfits from the Columbia sportswear hats, matching hiking shirts, straight down to the same boots. I imagine they even had the same wool socks and capilean undies on. These are the kind of people who judge you based on what kind of gear you have.

Anyhow, they gave me some great advice on some trails to check out, and took me to where you catch the bus that takes you to the hostel! Answer to prayer? Check.

This is my first hostel experience, and its kind of fun. Let me tell you a little bit about Hobart:
Hobart is kind of similar to Portland. I say that because there are a tonne (yes, metric) of coffee shops and trendy stores, its very walkable, and it rains a good bit. everybody dresses like they're in an indy rock band. Its really pretty, there are a lot of gardens with roses and all sorts of flowers, a really cool market place, and street performers performing all kinds of music. There area lot of old houses, and churches here, and being on the hillside on the bay you feel like you're in the Mediterranean. I'd put some pictures up but I can't from this terminal. When i can, I will! An interesting note about Hobart is that the original Candbury Chocolate factory is here. I might go for a visit later, but right now I'm enjoying just walking the city.

Anyhow, tomorrow i catch a bus to lake st. Claire to do some hiking. I've bought fuel and i need to get some matches (things you can't bring on an airplane).

Oh, and i finished "through painted deserts" and have picked up a hilarious book "A walk in the woods" by Bill Bryson. If you've ever backpacked any part of the AT, or maybe just backpacked at all, you should enjoy this book.

anyhow, take care!
-Mike

The List

I forgot to mention, for those that keep up with my lists, that I have had my first few experiences driving stick. I can't cross it off the list yet, because:
a) The stick is on the wrong side
b) I stall out EVERY time i get going
3) I almost put the car in a creek trying to shift gears and go over a bridge at the same time
d) I can't shift gears and remember which side of the road i'm supposed to be on at the same time
v) I almost hit another car because i was focusing on switching

but someday, it'll be off the list. (or on the other list... depending on which way you look at it)

Back to Brisbane

My tour of queensland is comming to an end. There were some things that I did forget to post about though.

I wanted to tell anybody going to townsville to stop by "the brewery" and have a "Neds Red"... quite possibly one of the most outstanding brew's i've had to date. Imagine a guiness texture with an irish red flavor. For those true blue guiness fans, they also had a stout that was comprable. Talking about brews, I havn't had a fosters here yet, much less been to a bar that serves it. Stetson Draught is brewed by the same company and is very popular, but the most popular is "XXXX gold". Other common brews are Toothy's new (and the darker version, Toothy's old). Also bundaburg rum (i toured the distillary) is very delcious, and you can buy pre canned rum and cokes!

Parts of Australia doesn't get rain very much, and because of that they are very water concious. Many houses have rainwater collection systems, and some are plummed to use "grey water" (recycled water from showers, sinks, and laundry... not toilets) tu water their lawns. Solar water heaters are also very common, but the thing that will catch you most of gaurd is that their toilets here have 2 flushers. One's a half flush and ones a full flush. I guess its up for you to decide which one needs to be used.

Magnetic Island might need som clairification as well. Its an island, mostly covered by national park and home to the largest colony of koalas in Australia. For the lost fans out there, it is indeed magnetic to the point where compasses don't work right on the island, there are old WWII bunkers and gun stations on the island, and most of the island is mysterisouly innaccessable (no roads or trails going to that half of the island). But as for the other half, it is very over developed with lots of propertys to be rented or bought, sandy beaches, shops, and you get there by ferry. Its quite nice, and if you want to go there for cheep it has FOUR backpacker resorts on the island (yes, not hostels, resorts)

also, just for your information, there's not a whole lot in the outback... unless you like cattle.

Also, an update on graduate schools for those who are intrested. I have been accepted to University of Colorado (boulder), Colorado State University, University of Notre Dame, and Clemson (I think?). Colorado State and Notre Dame are offering me very nice finicial packages, clemson is offering me an ok one, and boulder is working on it. University of seattle must be sleepy due to all the rain, because i havn't heard from them.

Anyhow, peaceout. Pray for me while i'm in Tassie (starting Friday), I'd appricate it!
-Mike

The road to townsville (and back)

Sorry its been a long time since I last posted. A lot has happened but i will try to sum it up!

Over the past week or so we've been driving up to townsville. Roads in Australia are diffrent than in America. They're pretty much just 2 lane highways with long stretches of nothingness. The towns remind me of the old west, with a few shops and restaruants pulled right up to the highway. We stopped in one town to grab a bite to eat and the local grocer walked next door so he could be the postman for me as well. He was eager to have somebody new to talk to, and he had a really thick Aussie accent.

anyhow, we arrived in townsville after stoping for 2 days in the small town of bowen. where my cousin john lives. I havn't seen him since i was 9 so it was a good time. We went to magnetic island, fished, hiked, and had good times. I also went to a few australian pubs. People at pubs here are very friendly and willing to talk, as long as you take turns to "shout" drinks. I met a guy named tomo (a long haired brick layer) and his talktive girlfriend lucy. Also lockland, a kiwi that moved to Australia to do landscaping, and a guy named TC, also a kiwi who moved to Australia to work in the mines.

Anyhow, we're on our way back to brisbane now... be sure to check out the photo's on facebook and i'm sorry i dont have more time to write!

I'll be back soon!
-mike

Rockhampton

"Everybody, every person, has to leave, has to change like seasons; they have to or they die... Everybody has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons"
-Donald Miller

So i've been on the road over the past few days driving up to Rockhampton to visit some more relatives. Australian roads are quite different than those in America, they still remind me something of the old west. There are no interstates, just 2 lane highways, and when you come to a town there are a few shops and restaurants and a police station, all nestled up to the road and people stop, and rest. That's another thing about Australia, they don't have as many parking lots. These small towns, you just park on the side of the road. Big stores are build raised up from the grown and you park underneath them.



anyhow, on the way up we camped on the beach... What i wouldn't have given for a surf board, the surf was beautiful. I need to surf while I'm here. It was pretty cushy camping, my uncle spent 10 weeks in the outback so he has this setup with beds and everything. At night we saw baby sea turtles hatching. The photos are on my photo page but they really don't do the feet justice. The things are tiny, they fit in your palm. They hatch and spend a few days, about a hundred or so of them in each nest, crawling to the surface. When they break to the surface they crawl out to the ocean, following the brightest light they can find. They say only 1 in 1000 makes it to adulthood.

Changing subjects: i'm reading through painted deserts by donald miller. Its really a good book about traveling and finding yourself. A lot of people have asked me How i can afford to travel, and i guess my response would be how can I afford not to? Since when has the bottom line in our lives been dollars. If you're interested in seeing Australia, and you have no money, you can travel through the country as a fruit picker for a few months to a year. What you can do is rent a camper van or stay in hostels, and you pretty much make all the money you need. There are free books here about doing that sort of thing and I'll bring them home for anybody that's interested.

Upon arriving to Rockhampton we went to a football match. Football is really confusing here because it means one of 3 things: Aussie rules football, soccer, or Rugby league (which is different than rugby union played in the states). We went to a rugby league match and saw the highly acclaimed brisbane broncos stomp the locals. I'm also learning the rules to cricket because it too is a big deal here.

A little shout out to Matt Barry (and anybody reading this, make sure he gets to see it) I went to a rum distillery on the drive up and saw how they make Aussie rum. It is actually quite good. A new drink to try: the dark and stormy, is composed of rum and sarsaparilla (aka Root beer here in the states). Also, at sporting events you can buy rum and cola ready mixed in a can!

Some more Australian words: Boot means Trunk, Pokies means slot machines.

"I want to repeat one word for you:
Leave
Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed."
-Miller


Peace, love, and rock and roll
-mike

Lamington National Park

Today we planned on going off roading in my uncles modified subaru, but bush fires impeaded our journey. So instead, we went into lamington national park for a hike. I hiked to a few very nice waterfalls and saw a number of tropical birds. The rainforest was beautiful.


here's me covered in tropical birds.


Also, i thought this was kind of cool. It's the bower of a bowerbird. A male bowerbird takes great care to build his bower with two sets of sticks stuck in the ground. All around the sticks he collectes blue things, and places them around his bower. The idea is, a female will find the bower, and if she thinks the male has done a good job, she walks through the rows of sticks, meaning she accepts the male. The male then flys down, gets the girl, and takes her to the nest. You know the rest of the story... they buy an SUV and a nice house in the suburbs... I guess like the bower birds, human males try to build an impressive "bower" to attract females. I like metaphores!

Australian Word for the day: Chemist is what we would call a Pharmisist as in "I need to stop by the chemists to pick up my drugs"

Note of the day: Australia has fast food restaurants including McDonnalds, Burgerking (which is called Hungry Jacks here), and even KFC, but whats really big here for a quick meal are pies and quiches. (by pie, i mean like chicken pot pie). How bought that!

Oh, i've started a photo album, you can look at it here

Brisbane

Holler,
so i'm in Australia after a long plane flight. The nice thing though is the australian airline has on-demand movies and free sprits with the meals (which are served on real plates and things).

anyhow, on arrival, monday:
-I was singled out by customs (Long hair?)
-took a moped tour of brisbane (How fast is 60 km/hrs, and how do traffic circles work? and why is everybody on the LEFT!)
-tea with my 91 yr-old great uncle val.
-Headed to Coochiemudlo island in the brisbane bay after gathering supplies (beer, bait, and fishing gear)
Australian word for the day: Esky means Cooler as in "throw some drinks in the esky to keep them cold!"
Note about australia for the day: they have churches and their signs are just as cheesy as ours.

tuesday
-fishing (caught snapper, stingrays, and mackrel)
-swimming
-saw the set of a matthew mcconehay film, "fools gold" (my uncle is an extra in the film).
Australian word for the day: Petrol means Gas as in "i need to stop by the petrol station and fill up before we drive to rockey"
Note about Aussie for the day: I feel like the girls here are all taller than in America.

wednesday
-Spent the day walking around Brisbane. Adventures in public transit included.
-Brisbane is a nice city, very modern and very easy to get around in. It's the 3rd largest city in the country, and its built on a river. I spent most of the day walking around, taking buses and ferrys to and fro. Here are some pictures from the city:


Brisbane from the riverwalk. Brisbane is a VERY walkable city


brisbane at dusk


Kyle, this one is for you, brisbane also has some cliffs in the city which are popular for climbing. They light them at night for night climbing, and keep the grass trimmed under the cliffs.

Australian word for the day: Pom means Englishman as in "this beer would knock the block off a pom"
Note for the day: Australian accents usually seem "sexy" in the states, but when they're everywhere they're really not so much.

Side Note: my uncle has a mac, and because mac's dont work right ever (see list to right), I can't bullets or spell check to work right. I'll re-update this post when i can get to a decent PC. He also has cats, but they're actually pretty cool.

peaceout!
-mike

Leavin' on a jet plane

So I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Australia. If you call me before noon you might still have a chance to get in touch with me before I spend more than 24 hours in airplanes and ports. Jet lag, here I come!!

I'm a little bummed because i didn't get to finish my TV-stand before I left, but here's a picture of what i did get done so far.

Also, here is something you can make at home and add to your "survival resume". A stove made out of soda cans!

Anyhow! Don't forget to write me! My e-mail address is mrsoltys@hotmail.com !!

Clemson, SC

So I'm in clemson now, and its been nice to relax, see friends. I'm going to play frisbee in a couple hours, go to house chruch tonight, and go mountain biking tommorow (all very missed activities). While its been great to see everybody, I really dont know what to do about graduate school. On one hand it'd be great to go to clemson, i already know people, I could go here on scholership, and I could probally get some really awsome roommates. On the flip side of that, I am taken back to the bible verse in Luke where Jesus says "woe to you when men speek well of you" (its in luke 6). I feel like clemson may be too comfortable, and although it might be spiritually good (or easy, i dont know if thats really good) for me, i dont know how much impact i would make on the community around me. On the other side of that I don't know how diffrent it would be if i went to a place where I didn't have a firm foothold in a church and community of believers.

In the mean time the best way to get ahold of me while i'm in clemson is not by e-mail but by phone, the numbers on my facebook thing.

Africa

As some of you may or may not have known, i was considering going to Africa through an organization called eMI. I wasn't too confident how that was going to work out, but at the church i tryed last Sunday they mentioned they had a team going to Africa this summer to build a hospital and if anybody was interested i could talk to the pastor after the service or find the info on the website.

well today i e-mailed the doctor that will be starting the hospital. He called me and verified that i was interested in going and I was a christian and that sort of thing.

anyhow, i just got an e-mail with my plane ticket, so i guess that means that there's a good chance I'm going to Africa this summer!

Life comes at you just that quick sometimes. Oh, and Honduras, for now, has fallen through but the power of the Internet may be reviving the trip.
-mike

(p.s. you can check out the orginization on their not so flashy website www.ihdn.org)

Illinois

Holler,
So I'm still in Illinois. Its flat, and its cold. I thought I'd fill blog world in on what I've been up to over the past couple of weeks. I've been reading this book: the irresistible revolution and its good. It definitely makes you want to move to India and live in a leper colony.

I also have been trying out churches here in Springfield. A good church is hard to find. The first church I went to was the first church of the brethren, the church my parents go to. A lot of old people go there, and to be honest it felt like I was listening to one of those cheesy e-mail forwards the whole church service. The next Sunday I went to this church called E-Free! It felt like christian radio doped up on happy pills. I feel like its a big masquerade when people go out of their way to cheese up church. the second church even said that they try to make church an experience that you can remember throughout the week. Get your single serving dose of happy feel-good religion (now in quick release tabs)! People want real, Or at least I do... and I don't think real looks like that.

I've been dilly-dallying in the workshop, I'm working on a TV stand for our TV downstairs. I think it should turn out rather nice, but its going slowly. I'm hoping to have it ready for staining this weekend. I'll put pictures up when that happens.

Also, my brother loves media, and has a 42" plasma TV downstairs (the one I'm building the stand for) and all sorts of game systems. I hate it, but i throw away a lot of time on that stuff. I've been up to date with the TV show 24 this season and I don't know how pumped I am about it...

anyhow, I'll be in Clemson next week, hopefully starting Monday. I'm really excited about that!

Hawaii

So, I'm back from Hawaii!

Hawaii is a really great state. I couldn't live there though, i always felt so trapped on the islands. Some things I did:

• Our hotel on the island of Hawai'i was on the edge of the crater of Kilauea (an active volcano). The crater really doesn't have any lava in it but it does have steam, and it is way to big to take a picture of. It was way cool hiking down to the ocean on the old lava to see the new lava entering into the ocean.

• I didn't get to do this, but I'd recommend checking out the north part of the big island, apparently very rugged and and untouched.

• On Maui, my personal favorite was hiking in the Haleakala Crater: it was ridiculous. At 10,000 feet, you were above the clouds and could see the peaks of other volcano-islands nearby.
• I would also really recommend snorkeling, we saw two 7' reef sharks mating from about 5 feet away. We also swam with giant sea turtles and kayaked with humpback wales.

• Also, Hula dancing is way hot.
  

Whats next? Well for January all I've got going on is planning more trips and hopefully headed to Clemson for a short visit. Check out a couple more Hawaii photos at: http://clemson.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075614&l=9909a&id=12702301