Leaving Minnesota.

visited 8 states (16%) Create your own visited map of The United States

Where we've been on this trip so far.

In August, after quitting my job, I'll be going on a cross country trip from NYC to Seattle with my girlfriend Amanda.  We'll be writing about it on Driver's Side Diary.  If you want her unique experience, you can read Amanda Across America, and she'll be cross posting here from time to time.  If we'll be stopping by your city and want to say hi, host us for a night, or simply join us for some good old American fun, let us know.

Happy 4th of July!

On Thursday I took part in a protest about Bloomberg's budget cuts to childcare.  You can read all about it in the link above or on www.mattjasper.com

All next week, there will be a new child care protest photo!

Learn Something New Every Day: 7

This month, I've decided to learn something new every day.  Today I learned how to declutter my closets, and get rid of a number of clothes and old CDs.  I filled one of those large Ikea bags full of clothes to give away, and found three boxes of CDs that I could get rid of, freeing up a lot of closet space.  I've realized that I had been holding onto a lot of objects that have been just taking up space.  Before I head out to my parents for Mother's Day, I'm planning on dropping off the bag of clothes to Goodwill, and selling the CDs at a used record store in the city.

In the meantime, I've found a number of albums that I hadn't uploaded to my iTunes/iPod, so I've been learning about all of the music that has been locked away for years.

Learn Something New Every Day: 6

This month, I've decided to learn something new every day.  Today, I decided to learn how to write a Wikipedia page.  Every lunch time at work, eventually our conversation (or crossword puzzles) help us stumble onto a new topic or word that becomes the Wiki-topic of the day.  I've been meaning for a while to learn how to write a Wikipedia page, so I'd be able to contribute more to the greater consciousness that is the online encyclopedia.

A day or two ago, I got a Google Alert indicating that someone had created a blank artist page for me at Wikia.com, a wiki type site for lyrics.  I know this would help with search results and the like, so I began work at it.  I've created similar pages for Last.fm, so I have dipped my toe in briefly with the format in the past for music.  I'm not really sure if I have the time or the patience for something like this as a long term project, to create wikipedia pages, although I am glad that I am starting to get the experience.  I feel like this type of work helps with basic html and web content work, which is always helpful.

Still, I wanted to get the actual wikipedia experience, since I know for search results on individuals, it's usually one of the first results that comes up.  So I started reading up on editing and creating posts.  It's a very specific format, but I know it'll be good use in the future.  For those who are wiki editors, feel free to comment on your experiences.  It seems like it's definitely a skill that comes over time.

For those interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to:create_a_new_wiki_page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_wizard

Learn Something New Every Day: 5

Every day this month, I'm looking to learn something new.  Today I learned about Ecuadorian food in honor of Cinco De Mayo.  When I originally made my list of things to learn about, various cultures were listed.  However, to be honest, I hadn't been planning on doing much celebration of Cinco De Mayo.  Plus, the Ecuadorian place around the corner from me was nearly empty.  But it was worth the wait.  The empanatas were delicious, the plantains were delightful, and the main course was the type of thing that makes your gut melt.  Rice, avocados, eggs, carmelized onions, you name it, it was on this dish with tender meat.  So good.  All in all, Sandros was worth the affordable prices and a wonderful meal.

Additionally, I learned the value in taking some time to relax.  I had been planning on learning how to maximize my Bandcamp page by adding tracks and expanding the various offerings of my albums, but over the course of dinner, (ordering, waiting for the food, and then eating), it spilled into Thursday night comedy viewing.  To be fair, I did try to accomplish some things, but after what might have been a long work week, I needed to unwind.  Realistically, for Cinco De Mayo, I learned to relax, and taking things at a Latin pace, at least for an evening.