An ode to the Templewood
In college, you tend to gravitate towards a social group based on mutual interests. In my case, the common denominator is a love of questionable decisions and the bad luck that inexplicably tends to...
View ArticleOn the subject of Anchorage housing
When you’re in your twenties, the places you live tend to be contingent upon low cost and little else. While I could summarize the growing disparity between the wages of Millennials and the growing...
View ArticleThe post college experience
As a freshman, I was often naively irritated by the non-traditional students in my classes. While everyone in my cohort was within a couple years of having graduated high school, the classes often had...
View ArticleMoving out: An ode to labor
I’ve never given much thought to moving. In my four years in the dorms, I never stayed long in any one place, preferring instead the ghostly nomad approach to campus life. Some years, I found myself...
View ArticleValentine’s Day: The annual struggle
“Love, sex, and Valentine’s day,” I read aloud to my girlfriend with mounting dismay. “It’s the same damn topic every year, no matter how much of a train wreck these columns turn out to be.” Laughing...
View ArticleEast Anchorage transplant: Life on the other side
I’m not new to Anchorage. In fact, in the five years I’ve lived here full time, I’d argue that I’ve managed to explore more of it than most. By way of the inter-city trail system, the Front Range...
View ArticleThe curse of the man flu
I write to you, dear reader, surrounded by a cluster of supplies that have become increasingly vital over the past few days. Namely, a mound of empty Powerade bottles, two separate heating blankets,...
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Between the frozen pines: Redemption in the backcountry
We left off last week, or at the very least I wrote a thing and emailed it off into the ether never to be seen again, discussing the wet conditions of the first two days of my backcountry class’...
View ArticleShake, sit, cry: The dark side of dog-sitting
As a broke college student, sometimes you have to do things you’re not proud of. The type of dirty, non-taxed, under the table type jobs that leave you exhausted, emotionally drained and reeking of...
View Article(Please don’t) Be my valentine
Valentine’s Day: that dreaded “holiday” which brings all the worst aspects of romance together in one soul-crushing day of chalky candy hearts and a rousing game of “guess what’s in the chocolate.”...
View ArticleA backcountry getaway
It’s been a rough year to be an outdoor enthusiast. Alyeska is a rock-ridden sheet of ice, the flu dashed my hopes of climbing Matanuska glacier, my winter camping class was dead on arrival due to low...
View ArticleOrange Rhymes With: The ‘green’ revolution and what it means for you
Well it finally happened. Much to the surprise of every cynic, including myself, marijuana legalization passed in Alaska and reefer madness quickly ensued, destabilizing any remaining morals in our...
View ArticleThe Walking Shred: an adventure in Alaska’s backcountry
My backcountry ski course met way too damn early the Friday before spring break, loading the bus with what seemed to be enough gear to summit K2. Eager to shred some decent snow and gain our level...
View ArticleBackcountry medicine and other ramblings
So over spring break I eschewed the normal range of college break activities, such as drinking (too poor), studying (too lazy) and vacationing at the beach (did I mention too poor?). Instead I made the...
View ArticleFour years of campus housing; a fond(ish) farewell
As I near the end of my stay at our high class campus housing, I feel the need to reminisce on my time here. Maybe its nostalgia, maybe it’s a complete lack of anything recent to write about this week,...
View ArticleMy final outdoor class (for now)
Friday marked the last field day of my backcountry ski course with one final trip to Sunburst, in Turnagain Pass, in hopes of a final spring run before the long summer wait. We weren’t disappointed...
View ArticlePowder runs and spring slush; an unexpected comeback for Alyeska
Halfway up the stairs to my bedroom I came to a grinding halt soaked in sweat, desperately trying to squeeze another couple of vertical inches out of my aching calves. Coming to the startling...
View ArticleIn search of employment, housing, and other milestones of adulthood.
It’s quickly becoming that time of year where I begin making the difficult decisions that shape my summer months. Who signs my paycheck? Do I stay in a tent, or is someone in an apartment kind enough...
View ArticleFinals stress; reflections of a weary senior
The last two weeks are always a chaotic mess for me. Even when the rest of the semester has run smoothly and fallen into a comfortable rhythm, those final couple days seem to spontaneously unravel in...
View ArticleNearing the end: A look back and nervous glance forward
13 weeks. By a rough estimate, that’s the imprecise remainder of time in which the excuse of being a college student is sufficient to explain my Netflix habits, granola appearance and the tendency to...
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