Letters from Lisa

Took a cute little tour of a rainforest area up in the mountains this morning. Very quiet, pristine (except for the large paved road and camping area of course) and peaceful. Took some nice photos and ate a hearty Australian breakfast, courtesy of the tour guides. It’s interesting that so many of these package tours include meals — would not have expected that.

Currently enjoying a “flat white” coffee which seems to be an Australian cafe au lait.

I’m more tired than I would have expected, but then again it’s really only my second day on this time zone, and perhaps I’m not quite adjusted yet. I had had some ambitions of maybe taking a boat tour this afternoon, but now I see that the timing isn’t going to work out, and probably better for it since I may be too tired to really enjoy it. Maybe this would be a better opportunity to take care of some errandy things — postcard stamps, change more money, shop for snorkeling equipment since there aren’t any rental shops on the Earthwatch island.

Oh, yes. I’m leaving for Earthwatch tomorrow morning. So I won’t be updating for a little while. I’m getting back into Cairns sometime on the 1st though it might be in the evening. I’ll probably be taking a full day tour on the 2nd, and then off to Darwin on the 3rd. Busy, busy, busy. From this point on it’s all madcap running about and tours and business. I suppose it’ll be more leisurely when I get to Sydney. But that’s not for another few weeks!

Very glad I have the two extra memory sticks that were a last minute purchase, seeing as I’m DEFINITELY going to be needing them. I have already taken 50-60 photographs. I also have the underwater disposable cameras, which are primarily for the Earthwatch trip because it’s likely that I’ll be getting pretty wet out on the boats and handling the turtles and things like that.

So, all’s well here… g’day!

G’day! Here I am in Cairns, Australia on my first full day in the country! Strangely alert and cognitively capable, considering I have just been traveling for over a day straight and got maybe 3 hours sleep scattered through the entire experience. I thought what I might do is share with you some of my travel journal from the journey over, since that is basically what I have done so far….

July 14, 5:59 EST. We have just taken off. I’ll wait a little while and then eat the sandwich I have packed on my carryon. Cheapo American Airlines does not serve any meals on this flight, just drinks.

It’s brilliantly sunny through the window. We will be chasing daylight throughout this flight. At some point I’ll watch the sun set.

Well, this is it. No turning back. I’m on my way. And calm, but questioning why I chose to do this and what I am proving. What I mean by spending a whole month alone, halfway across the globe, and why now. Although I feel Australia will be amazing, I feel oddly reluctant about leaving at right this moment. I’ve anticipated this trip so much that now I’m sorry it’s here.

The captain has announced that we’re going to land on time or possibly 5 minutes early. Bizarre since we left almost 40 minutes late.

5:46 PST (my watch is not cooperating — I can’t figure out how to set the time back. But it’s straightforward enough to calculate a 3 hour time difference)

We’re over a square tan-and-green checkerboard — the Midwest, I suppose. The first in-flight movie is finished (Hitch) and Spider-Man 2 is now playing. I’m trying to avoid getting sucked in. I’m too tired for any excitement or emotional drama. I don’t want anything that causes a pounding heart. Some Lord of the Rings music is on my MP3 player and I’m probably going to change it. My emotions are running wild. Especially with that particular soundtrack, I can get sucked right into the battle for Middle Earth… Am I too young to be physically tired from even the thought of drama?

We’re over a small town or city. It looks, from up here, like a giant crushed a tin can and then scattered the pieces into a semi-orderly pile, like a toddler asked to clean up his room. A dust-covered stringy shoelace vein — a highway, or river. Looks like someone squirted silly string over the desert.

We’re passing into a shadow. Are there clouds above us? I see sunlight off in the distance. The captain has turned on the Fasten Seatbelt sign. The clouds and the plane are rolling towards one another. Now it’s completely white outside, like a Star Trek dream sequence. I must stay awake until I get on my next flight.

7:20. We’re over the Southwest (mountains crackling up like an excavated skeleton — the landscape is an ancient graveyard). When we get to LAX I need to find flight 12, somewhere in Terminal 4. Then I will have completed part one of this long, long traveling day. Really 2 days because I am crossing the international dateline and thereby losing Friday.

All of a sudden the landscape has pulled a thick, wooly blanket of clouds around its waist.

8:31 pm in Gate 41, Terminal 4

Well, LAX is much dinkier than I was expecting. They had no displays telling us where to go for flights, and no personnel at the desk. I’m pretty sure I’m in the right place, but I’d like to check in and make sure. There is a huge red-shirted group of teens here. They are embroidered with “People to People” — probably some camp or school group. They’re pretty quiet and calm for a group of teens in an airport. God bless the chaperones who are willing to take a big group overseas. And a 14 hour flight at that. I wouldn’t. I love overnights with the kids, but I draw the line — well, at the international dateline, actually.

5:07 pm Sydney time
Altitude: 9296 miles
Time to destination 12:54

Bit of an adventure getting on the flight to Sydney. The electricity supplied by the terminal to the aircraft was out, meaning no lights and no air conditioning. (Knew that LAX was dinky!) Aside from a few groans and giggles — “Inconceivable!” we said — everyone was too tired to protest. Those already boarded were taken off the flight while mechanics hooked up a generator. I sprawled out doing airport yoga on the floor (sorry Mom, but at least I wasn’t running around in bare feet or lying face down on the floor with my pillow on it like some other folks!) I hope I don’t miss my connection to Cairns, though there’s another flight there at 9:40, which shouldn’t be too bad.

Status update:
-The group of kids is pretty much silent now.
-There is a sweet little baby, about 1 year old I would guess (editor’s note: 14 months — I am GOOD) who is going to handle this flight better than I will, I can tell.
-Paul Theroux is in the Solomon Islands (I am reading The Happy Isles of Oceania)
-The chatty Australian blondes next to me both dropped off to sleep as soon as we took off. Mercifully.
-Things are already laid back and charming.

Will hopefully post one more time before leaving for Earthwatch… I’ll add the posts to the Australia travel blog page upon my return home.

See ya!!

- The past two nights I’ve barely been able to sleep AT ALL. Not that I’m a great sleeper to begin with, but anticipating the trip has completely erased any semblance of circadian rhythm I might have had. Which actually might not be so bad considering I’m going to switch time zones.

(it’s 9:19 am here… and 11:19 pm in Sydney)
(and 10:49 pm in Darwin — How is that for a wacky time zone change?)

- I picked up a small duffel bag yesterday, so I was able to move stuff around and make it all fit. I now have a big wheeled duffel, medium bag with my camping equipment, the small duffel, and a monster-sized “purse”. I’m hoping to get it down to two bags and a big purse eventually, as I use up supplies. Then I can fill up the extra bag with souvenirs! (That was a joke. Sort of.)

- After this trip to Australia, I will have four continents to go until I have visited them all. If I time it right, I can do South America and Antarctica in one go. My Africa trip will probably be Tanzania (Mt. Kilimanjaro — if an IMAX crew can climb it, so can I) and I have a million places I would like to see in Asia. Not unmanageable AT ALL.

- There are something like 3 internet cafes in Cairns, half a dozen in Darwin, and tons in Sydney. So you will probably hear from me, and if they have USB capabilities, you might even see some pictures before I return.

- But I am going to be very far away. So I’ll say goodbye for now!

Wish me luck!
Lisa

I picked up The Singular Pilgrim : Travels on Sacred Ground and I’m about 250 pages in so far. Really like it. I’m a big fan of well-written travel narratives, and this one is organized around a really intriguing idea. The language is a bit more description oriented and poetic than I usually go for — a nice change.

Would take it on the plane but I’m probably going to finish it before tomorrow afternoon.

In less than 24 hours from now, I’ll be at the airport getting ready to board my first flight! I’m going

Newark –> Los Angeles
LA –> Sydney
Sydney –> Cairns

Needless to say, today has been spent running some Very Important errands (like the necklace in the post below).

One funny thing my parents did was come home last night with a GPS unit. Now when you look at my travel journals, you’ll be able to see exact coordinates for where I am!

(but of course, the GPS unit is “for the family”, so I shouldn’t take it as a vote of no-confidence in my own EXCELLENT ability to navigate!)

I’ll maybe post once more before leaving. It’s getting close though!

I made a new necklace today!

So I’m leaving for Australia in two days! Here’s what I’m doing about it:

- Inspired by the upbeat melodiousness of Ella Fitzgerald, I packed most of my stuff this morning. I got some of those space saver bags that compress your clothes by taking out the extra air, and I was able to fit everything but my sleeping bag into a medium size duffel bag, biggish carry on, and oversized purse. (This includes the tent and self inflating mattress!) I even stood on the scale with my various bags to ensure that none were over the limit. Now if we could just figure out what to do with the dratted sleeping bag, we’d be in business!

- As I type, I’m loading up my mp3 player for the long flights. We’ve got plenty of Beatles, Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel (and just Simon), classical and opera music, Lord of the Rings, and silly stuff from my mix CD (my kids will be amused to know that I was listening to the Numa Numa song high over the Pacific), among other things. It won’t be the expansive beauty of my music collection at home, but then again, I am going to be kinda busy.

(and my media player REFUSES to give my Bob Dylan Biograph Disc 2 the proper track names! What IS that??? I had to go through each track individually and rename it… now if Bob would stop writing 7-10 minute songs that take up tons of space, it wouldn’t be such an issue! but I need the songs I need!)

- It hit me, rather forcefully, that I’m going. I’m really going. So I did a little victory dance!

You know, learning things is so much easier now than when I was a kid. Sometimes you just need a good visual to understand a concept, and the Internet is more than happy to provide.

For example, I ran across a link to Animated Atlas: Growth of a Nation which charts the birth and expansion of the United States. Interesting stuff. US history isn’t really my thing, but I watched the entire 10 minutes just because it was so neat.

I’m more interested in Earth science (a subject I never got to study in school), hence Earth from different perspectives, the breakup of Pangaea, and the geologic history of the Earth (a much cooler animation).

If you’re interested in plate tectonics, here’s a few nice ones:
Plate movement
Tsunami wave simulator
Earthquake epicenters (this one takes a really long time to load and is a bit scary to watch if you happen to live in a high-earthquake zone)

Outer space more your thing? Try
the origin of the solar system, the Milky Way at different scales, and a whole set of neat black hole animations (that take a really long time to load).

And now for something completely different… life at hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.

A neat interactive timeline entitled “Britian’s Rocky Past” that deals with the history of life and fossils.

This one ought to be required viewing, especially in middle America: Understanding Evolution.

I saved the best one for last — Powers of 10. Amazing!

(well, to me, anyway)

Empire of Words: A Language History of the World is a comprehensive tome that offers a mixture of history, archaeology, and linguistics to serve up theories on how the world’s major languages have spread and changed over time. It’s less accessible than The Power of Babel, which is the book that got me interested in linguistics in the first place, but a fascinating read. I admit to getting bogged down in the finer distinctions between Sumerian, Akkadian, Aramaic, Phoenecian, Persian, Arabic, and Hebrew, but it was neat to read about great ancient settlements that only Biblical scholars are likely to know anything about. There are also chapters about Latin and Greek, the “percolation” of the Chinese language, the spread of English through colonialism, and the future implications of population growth, migration and global communication on language development.

(So basically, the next time someone ignorantly snarls, “Why don’t they learn English!!” I’ll be able to tell them.)

But if you’re only going to read one book about language, it ought to be Steven Pinker’s The Language Instinct. Pinker is highly readable and very knowledgeable, and a bit of a lightning rod for the field. He has several other books, notably How the Mind Works that are also worth looking at.

If your interest is history, though, then I recommend Guns, Germs and Steel, which is an epic treatise on the spread of societies that has the additional advantage of focusing intensely on non-Caucasian societies. The author, Jared Diamond, also wrote Collapse, which is an even bigger treatise about the roles of mismanagement of environmental and political factors in the demise of civilizations, great and small. Fascinating stuff, especially the chapter on Easter Island. He also manages to get in a chapter about his native Montana and the effects of mining and land use there, which is odd but sort of charming.

I have so many other books about linguistics and history to recommend, but I think this is enough for one entry. Maybe next time I’ll delve into some evolutionary biology as well. In the meantime, you can always try A Short History of Nearly Everything, which is one of my favorite science books and, due to its having been written by Bill Bryson, is a very easy read.

I started to make one of my “50 fun things you don’t know about me” type lists just now, when I noticed something sort of odd about several of the items. They were all about the same basic thing — my natural skill at being a beginner.

For example, when I was in elementary school, I held the school record for the high jump at 4′5. I probably could have gone higher, but I had absolutely no technique. The gym teachers tried to tell me that I’d get more height if I tried to clear the bar a certain way, but the hints actually made my performance worse, since I’d never practiced that way (I’d never really practiced at all).

Once I knew there was a technique and I wasn’t doing it, and I was probably going to get worse before I got better, I stopped being interested. What had been motivating me was the fact that I was surprising everyone with how well I was doing.

Similarly, I tossed aside the violin after a few years when it became clear that no amount of natural musical ability or talent was going to help me not sound like a dying cat. There was too much technique I needed to learn. I wasn’t advancing fast enough. I didn’t have the patience. I decided to focus on the flute instead, which came a lot more naturally to me. But I never really learned technique or theory. I just sort of tooled around until it sounded about right. I probably could have been a lot better if I’d taken it more “seriously”. Then again, I probably would have gotten bored long before that improvement made the enterprise worthwhile.

I pick up a lot of things fairly quickly, but I don’t always have the stamina to progress beyond the amateur level. This explains why I dabble in everything from sign language to painting to Old English to new musical instruments. I’m simply addicted to the rush of beginning something new and having the entire field open up in front of me, seeing all the possibilities — and then I come back to Earth and realize I have to pass through the narrow gate of acquiring all the necessary skills. Sometimes I struggle and push until I get through that gate (I eventually became first chair as a flute player) and sometimes I’m content to lean on the fence and observe, knowing that I could push through if I were willing to commit more to it.

I guess I’m always going to be an amateur at most of the things I like. But that isn’t so bad. Amateur derives from the Latin root amare, to love. Sometimes I also describe myself as a dilletante, which comes from delectare, or delight. These words did not come to have a negative connotation until much later — around the time that some people decided to specialize and market themselves as professionals.

(Word origins are — guess what — one of my amateur interests!)

I think it’s wonderful to approach everything in life with the attitude and optimism of a beginner. After all, being an expert is dull. If you know everything there is to know, what’s the point in continuing? And it’s dangerous to assume that you’ve got a handle on things when everything is constantly changing. (Even Einstein was eventually eclipsed by advances in quantum physics.) It’s better to know that you’re just beginning, and take refuge in that.

Especially if your IP address is 195.56.58.150.

Mr. (or Ms) 195.56.58.150 (alias 193.180.189.158), I just want you to know that I am not the gambling type.

Therefore, I am not interested in any online casinos. I’ve deleted your comments referring to online casinos. I don’t want any more comments about online casinos. OK?

Based on my admittedly non-MD-caliber understanding of neurological conditions, it appears that you may have Wernicke’s aphasia. You should seek medical attention immediately.

And stay out of the casinos. We don’t want you to get in too far over your head.

Remember this post about how I was frustrated when I tried to Google my own name and this website didn’t pop up, despite having my name AS the web address?

Well, kids, when you type “Lisa Fischler” into Google NOW, this is what pops up.

(insert sly grin here)

Maybe this entry will eventually pop up as #2?

Maybe they’ll eventually figure out how to prioritize URLs in the search results?

Maybe I’ll stop expressing my wishful thinking in the form of inane unanswerable questions?

Dream on, y’all.

The tortoise is digging again. Often I’ll be sitting here at the computer, minding my own business, but distracted by a cacophony of scratching (Lucky at the corner of the tank, trying to dig to China) or thumping (Lucky assaulting the food dish). It’s hard to concentrate under such conditions.

Lucky is a Horsfield tortoise. This is one of the many things we’ve discovered about him since adopting him from one of my coworkers who is leaving. Other things we’ve discovered:
– He likes to be put in warm water.
– He likes carrots and broccoli.
– He can’t see the glass of his tank, so he can’t understand why he bumps into walls when he’s trying to walk toward us. (This is because the tank is on the floor and there is no visual drop.)
– He responds to the sound of our voices. Expecting to be fed whenever he hears us, no doubt.
– He gets agitated when I play the piano. (Then again, my piano playing probably has that affect on lots of living creatures.)

Tomorrow we’re going to add to the pile of chips on the bottom of the tank and watch him probably dig up a frenzy.

Honestly, it’s like having a new baby in the house.

I’m getting two submission packets ready to send out on Monday. One is the novel that recently came back to me. The other is a journal/activity book for kids.

Wish me luck!

Q: Wow, it smells vanilla-y in here.
A: I don’t know if that’s a word, but yes, it does. I just made a batch of six vanilla-scented candles.

Q: And you didn’t burn yourself?
A: I’m full of surprises.

Q: What’s that box on the floor? That’s not for candles, is it?
A: No, that’s glycerin soap for heating up and pouring into soap molds. Haven’t you ever been in my bathroom? I made that purple-and-blue soap with the flower in it.

Q: You’ve been busy.
A: Actually no, not really. I expend energy for about 20 minutes, followed by several hours of sloth.

Q: Several hours? Aren’t you afraid you’ll eventually meld with the chair?
A: Have you forgotten that I’m leaving for Australia in six days?

Q: So you’re actually practicing for the long flight.
A: It’s like marathon training. You build up your time a little each day.

Q: I heard you’re taking THREE travel journals with you?
A: I like to be prepared. I’m going to be writing a book about this experience, so I have to take lots of notes. And besides that, I go through a blank book per month, and I’m going to be away for a month. So, simple mathematics suggests –

Q: Yeah, yeah, professor. Are you bringing anything to read?
A: The Happy Isles of Oceania, by Paul Theroux. I was going to bring Big Dead Place, but I finished it and lent it to my dad.

Q: Do you really think you’re going to fit everything into one carry-on, one big “purse”, and a duffel bag?
A: If it doesn’t fit, you must leave it behind.

Q: I still can’t believe you’re sleeping in a tent.
A: I assembled it all by myself last night. We’re developing the photos to prove it. So don’t be so incredulous.

Q: What’s that mean?
A: Wow, your brain is turning to mush since you’ve been on vacation.

Q: You’re the one spending 20 hours a day lying around.
A: Are you confusing me with the tortoise again?

Q: Are you implying that I’m stupid?
A: OK, Otto, I won’t call you stupid.

Q: Don’t bring A Fish Called Wanda into this!
A: K-k-k-ken’s c-c-c-coming to k-k-k-kill me!

Q: That’s it. I’m leaving!
A: You’ll be back. You always come crawling back! I’ll be lounging in the bathtub if you need me!

Given the terrible attacks that occurred in London today, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you some resources having to do with coping with loss and trauma. All of us here in the US can understand what this feels like, and we are grieving along with our friends in England and around the world.

Coping with Feelings about Traumatic Events

From the American Psychological Association — Tips for Coping with Disasters and Other Traumatic Events

Terrorism and Fear

Helping Children With Disaster-Related Anxiety

How To Talk To Your Kid About the News

Positive Actions

Precautions You Can Take (Dept. of Homeland Security)

Help Make Poverty History with the ONE Campaign — Don’t let the G8 summit and its issues get buried because of the attacks. If you’re outside the US, try MakePovertyHistory.org

The issue of terrorism is complex and there are no easy answers, and I don’t want to get too political in an entry that is about helping each other and uniting against a common problem. I have my opinions about how best to deal with terrorism and what I think the US is doing right and wrong, but I’m going to save them for another time.

Basically something like this is a reminder for us to cherish the life that we have, while we have it — to appreciate each other and the opportunities for life and growth we have been given. Don’t waste the day feeling hostile towards someone or raging against a circumstance you can’t control. Don’t put a dream off indefinitely until it’s too late. Live NOW.

I’ve added two new sections to the site, for your reading enjoyment — they can both be found on the sidebar, underneath the 43 places I’m planning on visiting.

The first is the homepage of Niagara Falls — or Does It? the new elementary school musical theater show for 2005-2006. Watch this space for updates, song lyrics, production notes, dramatic sighs of frustration, and so forth.

Just underneath that, you’ll note the link for Letters from Lisa Down Under. This page will serve as the online version of my travel journal. Stay tuned for fabulous adventures and photographs of my monthlong journey to Australia!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
This public service announcement has been brought to you by the letter Pi and the number… um, Pi.

1. When I was ten I started writing my own book of prayers. I never finished it, though, because I stopped believing in organized religion.

2. I had imaginary friends until I was in middle school.

3. I’ve been to France, England, Italy, several Caribbean islands, and three Scandinavian countries — all of which required somewhat lengthy flights — but not to Canada, which is an eight-hour drive from here.

4. I once spent six hours in Belgium because lightning struck an airplane on the ground in Canada that would have been my flight home from France. Don’t ask.

5. I once spent twenty minutes in St. Maarten because a volcano erupted and spewed ash all over the flight path from San Juan to St. Kitts. Again, don’t ask.

6. Caffeine sometimes makes me sleepy.

7. My first exposure to the Beatles was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but it was MANY years before I realized it was the Beatles singing.

8. All of the Beatles have, at one time, been my favorite. Except Ringo. Sorry, Ringo.

9. I crossed Abbey Road in my bare feet, like Paul on the album cover. (Not a bright idea to do this in January, but whatever. I was young.)

10. I’m a pain to go clothes shopping with because I won’t touch anything that has decorative buttons, buckles, straps, fringes, ruffles, sequins, tassels, dots, stripes, or writing.

11. I have completely forgotten how to play the violin. Maybe I’ve blocked it from memory to avoid trauma. This is after years of playing in orchestras, mind you.

12. I’ve also forgotten how to play guitar, but to be fair, I never actually learned how, really.

13. Thirteen is my lucky number.

Continue Reading »

I’m in the midst of, and thoroughly enjoying, Big Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica

What’s “strange” and “menacing”, according to the book, is not Antarctica itself (though it isn’t exactly hospitable, as the discussions of failed expeditions demonstrate) but rather the wacky bureaucracy of the American agency running the operations at McMurdo station. Some quick examples:

- removal of an “unauthorized” shower curtain put up to give the women some extra privacy (it was put back up after the women filed the appropriate permit)
- safety demonstrations involving how to deal with heatstroke, while the weather outside was a whopping -80 degrees
- suddenly deciding that it was “dangerous” to keep the lights low in the coffeehouse (to accommodate the night-shift workers) after an official got yelled at for keeping the door open too long and letting the harsh sunlight in, and then deciding it was no longer dangerous after said official finished her duties and left the continent

Suffice it to say that when I visit Antarctica, I will not be tempted to work at McMurdo station. Tourists aren’t really allowed there anyway (as the forward to the book puts it in slightly saltier terms — if Antarctica had a certain excretory orifice, it would be McMurdo)

Love me some wacky travel writing. This was going to be my book for the plane to Australia, but couldn’t resist picking it up. So looks like I’m now a free agent as far as books for the plane ride go. Any ideas?

OK, are you ready to be really impressed? Because I was.

New York Songlines: Virtual Tour of New York City Streets

This is way better than any tour book or simple map of New York — you HAVE to take a look. I think I’m going to print this out and put it on my bedroom wall.

I really believe in walking. People don’t walk enough. When you’re driving, you miss things. When you walk, you can investigate. You get a sense of where things are in relation to one another, what distance really is. It’s a different perspective. One of the best things about being a tourist is walking everywhere. But why should that sort of perspective be limited to tourists?

By the way, if you’re interested in the REAL songlines (of the Aboriginal variety) I highly recommend Bruce Chatwin’s book The Songlines. It’s not a definitive account of Aboriginal culture or songlines, but an excellent starting off point. The middle gets rather ponderous and vague (he starts pulling out quotes from old journals about nomadic cultures and lifestyles) but it’s interesting stuff.

If you’re interested in New York, on the other hand, just look at the website I linked. There’s enough information there to last ages.

edited to add: Hey Christine, there’s one for Brooklyn, too!