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

I can't think of a more perfect way to say goodbye to this wonderful city than spending the weekend surrounded by what I love most, at the biggest triathlon party of the year: Ironman Wisconsin.



Although living in Madison has made this extraordinary experience seem almost commonplace (throw a rock into a crowd anywhere in this town, and you're bound to hit someone's M-dot tattoo), this is a day when hundreds see their dreams come true.

Even locals who have zero interest in endurance sports know that it's worth getting downtown to spend a little time watching the finish line for a healthy dose of motivation and raw emotion. There is nothing else like it.

Since this is my career and my passion, naturally I didn't want to miss a minute of it.


Posted by Kimberly 09/09/2014

In December 2001, Nik graduated with honors from Universal Technical Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, with a degree in Automotive and Truck Technology. He made the Director's Honor List 13 times and was named Student of the Phase three times. His final GPA was 3.95.

Nik now works for a boat repair shop on the SF-Bay waterfront in Alameda. He performs maintenance and repairs on all manner of recreational watercraft, including fishing, power and sailboats.

Posted by Dan 01/07/2002

If you're reading these entries chronologically, this one is directly linked from the Folk Festival: I arrived back in Townsville Monday morning only to turn right around again and head out for a 3-day camping trip with the ultimate frisbee crowd. And what a fun, fantastic crowd they are!

Monday morning, a group of 11 of us left for Keel Bottom Creek, about 45 minutes northwest of Townsville. We found a great place to set up camp along the creek, complete with a fan-mazing rope swing!! Most of our time was spent on this rope swing - it was perfect. We enjoyed 3 days of just relaxing in the PERfect sunny weather, playing in the creek, lying in the hammock, listening to music and running one of the car batteries dead, sitting by the campfire, and cooking up fantastic campfire-food (i had kangaroo for the first time! roo stew... SO tasty!).

A lot of the people that play ultimate frisbee are study-abroad students, so a number of them are leaving after exams these next 2 weeks. The camping trip was sort of an end-of-term, goodbye celebration for those of us that won't be around anymore, and it was a perfect way to conclude a great semester of fun and friends. We all had the time of our lives, and every moment of the trip was enjoyed to the fullest.

Our group of friends, hanging out on the rope swing tree ...Mom, I know you're squinting your eyes, thinking, "Which one's my daughter?" I'm the one at the very top.

Here again, I don't have my own pictures from the trip, but I've linked one of the other people's photo albums so you can get a look at this amazing trip. But yet again, not many captions, so you'll just have to look and enjoy.

Photo album - Ultimate camping: https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2495651&l=fe685&id=13930813

Posted by Whitney 06/15/2008, revised 06/15/2008