Bays Mountain, Buffalo Mountain

Today was clear, apple-crisp, and full of interesting sensations: a squishy deer's nose on my palm, the smell of crushed sassafras, a flush of self-imposed vertigo stepping out on the edge of a precipice. It all served to temper that autumn feeling-you know the one; somewhere between introspection and nostalgia.
Today I saw a dog with an uncanny resemblance to a wolf and wolves who seemed like nothing more than dogs.
The woods we hiked were a sanctuary of mosses and fungi, spiders, berries, and panoramic views. Our private sunset settled purple and red on everything and we dawdled to soak it in before picking our way back in darkness.
It felt like home, and I wanted to take up residence and become one of the wild things.

Out with Spinoza, in with Mlodinow

Although I am up to my ears in reading assignments of the political variety, I am currently more interested in the news of Hawking's new book with Leonard Mlodinow. I have been reading Mlodinow's earlier work, Feynman's Rainbow, which I discovered at a shop in Gatlinburg. I'm fascinated by Richard Feynman and loved reading Surely You're Joking and Perfectly Reasonable Deviations, and my interest in Mlodinow's work has increased as I meander through this story of his experiences with Feynman as he struggled to find his place at Caltech and Feynman battled cancer in the late stages of his life. Between this and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, political theory may never leave the back seat. Which really seems the best place for it.

Any old day will do

As blogs go, the most effective tend to operate around a theme-for obvious reasons. After committing to one thus encumbered for a period I realized that I neither have the attention span nor the drive to dedicate myself to one subject ad nauseum...yet. The only purposes this one serves, therefore, are as an artificial memory (the organic one is a crapshoot, I'm afraid) and a writing exercise of sorts, the benefits of which will hopefully make themselves clear to me at some point in future.

I have recently relocated to Johnson City and started a new degree program. I am still becoming accustomed to starting life afresh in a new town. Luckily it is a great little city and I'm looking forward to exploring it.
The city's culture seems to be shaped around it's history of storytelling, bootlegging, and old-time and bluegrass music. The university even developed a major in bluegrass. It's tempting, but I will resist.

My first taste of great music here, however, was from an out-of-town band called the Blair Street Mugwumps.

"The Blair Street Mugwumps on Myspace"

I was captivated by the diversity of instruments in this band- banjolele, banjolin, kazoo, and washtub bass. The highlight for me, though, was definitely the washboard player. While I don't have much experience judging washboard playing, I can say that it was skillfully and enthusiastically managed and a joy to watch.

They have a website
"Official Website for Blair Street Mugwumps" but it is still under construction.