CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

Well, now that I have a bit more time, or rather, now that I am taking the time, I will tell you a bit more about my trip to California to see my good friend Scott get married.

I flew down to Los Angeles a few days before the wedding. Flying out of Alaska in the middle of the night, beneath the midnight sun, is very cool. Landing in the mid-morning hectic mess that is Los Angeles International is another kind of sensation, one akin to badly performed acupuncture or something. Ok, that may be a BIT of an exaggeration, but that is how it felt to me. I am a confirmed Alaskan mountain man weirdo now. The first thing that I said to Scott when we first saw him at Julie's (his wife, for the uninitiated) parent's house was "Scott. Thank you for inviting me to your wedding in Los Angeles. You have helped me to confirm that I belong in the wilds of Alaska." Seeing all of that giant area occupied by everything EXCEPT nature, in stark contrast to Northern Alaska, is quite a shock, especially in such a short time period.

Anyway, there we were in California, and after meeting up with Jeremy Bill and Mark Grossardt (long, long time friends from Minden) at the Thrifty rental car place (Thank goodness I remembered which one it was!), we were on our way to Arcadia, which is just NE of Pasadena, which is where our hotel was. The wedding would be in Pasadena, and the reception in Arcadia. We arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, and spent the day with Scott.

We ended up going to eat at a place called The Claimjumper, where we eventually met up with Rev. Brian Ellison, who is Scott and Julie's pastor at their church in Parkville, MO, and is now Scott's boss. After lunch, we went back to the hotel where we all were staying to play some cards, watch some baseball, and bide time until we went to pick up Tim James. Tim was Scott's roommate in grad school in Lincoln and in Kansas City. Well, when you play cards with Scott, Jeremy, and Mark, money is never involved...rather it is pride. Those of you who know the stories of "Santa Packs" and "Freak'n Santa" are laughing right now. The rest of you...you have a giggle coming for you someday soon. Anyway, we were trying to come up with a punishment for the loser of the poker game, and someone suggested that the loser would have to hold up a sign in the Terminal as we waited for Tim to arrive saying "Tim James, Will you Marry Me?" Guess who lost?

Picture here: http://community.webshots.com/photo/45456504/45457779PGKMyE

Thursday was the Bachelor's Day Out, and boy did we have fun. We started the day with a trip to Santa Monica Pier to swim in the ocean. I hadn't realized how much I had missed swimming. It was a lot of fun, especially since I could conquer the deeper water and the bigger waves. We were operating under a strict WWJD Rule..."What Would Julie Do"- to make sure that nothing foolishly stupid would happen to us. This included gobs of sunscreen to prevent "lobster face" in the wedding photos. Unfortunately, despite the large amount of sunscreen that we all applied, a few spots, such as the area beneath my thinning hair, were missed.

"Obvious to Everyone but Me" Rule No. 354-A sunburnt scalp is no fun.

Anyway, after a run-in with the Santa Monica Police for jaywalking "I think that YOU will find that there are more cars here than in Nebraska, Kansas and Alaska, OK?!?!" and lunch at a 110% trendy restaurant in Santa Monica, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the ball game. We all went to the Dodgers-Padres game at Dodger Stadium. It was Shawn Green Bobble Head night...we all got bobble head dolls...pretty cool. The game was ok at best...the Dodgers lost. But the company was great! We met up with the Rev. Dr. Terry Palmer at the game, who was Scott's pastor when we were all back in Minden.

Friday was rehearsal day, and we went to pick up our tuxes and the like, then it was off to rehearsal, where we played our parts very well:

Wedding Coordinator: "Stand here!"
Groomsmen, in unison "Baaaaahhhh"

We were sheep, and that was fine. Our job was to keep Scott from running away (just kidding) and to keep ourselves from breaking out in a loud rendition of "Blue Moon" during the ceremony or falling over. Pretty simple. We then went on to the rehearsal dinner, which was fantastic. The Grossardts were there, as were the Brewers, all from Minden. Dr. Jim Grossardt regaled us with a stirring rendition of "Scott and Julie's Wedding", sung to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon".

After the dinner, we decided to go bowling, having pulled Kevin Brewer into our motley group of wild midwesterners. We eventually found a bowling alley that had lanes open and that was free of random gunfire. One of the most enjoyable evenings of my life. Yes, it even rivals some of the time I spent in drum corps. I introduced everyone to the wonders of Dance Dance Revolution, which is the wicked-cool arcade game where you have to dance on this pad, with foot moves in a certain order. Oh, the looks we were getting. And we bowled, too. I am a really bad bowler, just for the record. I think I single-handedly ruined my team's chances of winning...oh, well.

Saturday was, of course, the wedding. Without going into too much detail, it was, in a word, wonderful. A perfectly orchestrated ceremony! The idea of the "Team-Preaching" was interesting to me at first, but when it came together, it was truly something to behold. Rev. Johnson (the pastor at Julie's church when she was younger)performed the first third, Rev. Palmer (the pastor at Scott's church when he was younger) performed the second portion of the ceremony, and Rev. Ellison (THEIR pastor) finished it up. The music was absolutely grand. The organist played the Widor "Tocatta from Symphony No.5" as a postlude. Needless to say, it was great.

The reception was held at the Arcadia Country Club, and was a grand affair! Getting to see Scott's dad in an afro wig was worth the trip in itself.

Well, I guess that is just about all there is to say. I know that I left out about 863 details that made the week even better, but it is late, and I need sleep.

You can see pictures of the week at the following pages...check them out...they are worth the time:
http://community.webshots.com/user/hartmann105
http://community.webshots.com/user/s_and_j_phillips

FROM THE NOT-SO-CHEAP SEATS

I was "lucky" enough to have been booked on an oversold flight out of Asheville, NC last month when I was traveling home from the meeting of the American Association of State Climatologists. When they offered a free round-trip ticket to a volunteer, I approached the counter to see if my day would be ruined by a little longer stay in Asheville. When they said I would not get to Seattle until 7:30 PM, I balked, but they sweetened the deal by offering a first-class upgrade all the way to Seattle. How could I pass it up?

When I travel, I always like to play a little game with myself. I try to look around the boarding area to try to pick out the first-class passengers before they board. Being the very-amateur sociologist that I am, albeit a bad one, I enjoy this. Does a first class passenger have a specific outward appearance? Then, all of the sudden, it is I who is the "target" of my search. How does a geeky looking big white guy in a t-shirt rate a first-class seat? I found myself a fish out of water.

I don't know how to accurately describe it, but I felt uncomfortable sitting in those plush seats, sipping my pre-flight drink, watching the poor souls waiting to shoehorn themselves into coach. I didn't really 'belong' in that seat. I had feelings of inadequacy, or guilt, or something. Garrison Keillor speaks of similar ideas..."Don't get the idea that you are something special...you're NOT." Were these feelings part of what Keillor attributes to his strict fundamentalist Christian up-bringing?

Well, like anything dealing with new experiences, it is only new for a little bit. Before very long, you find that you just wish that you were home, just like in coach. Time is the great equalizer. But...the surroundings are quite a bit nicer...to put it mildly. Bottomless beverages, warm towels, REAL food, real silverware, the works. It is SOOO cool. And the seats!!!! Oh, mercy me!! They were "Brian-Sized"!!!

Essentially, it is a wholly different experience. It is really incredible how much stress is relieved by simply having space. I will be hard-pressed to relegate myself to coach in the future.

GOINGS ON

Let me see. It is almost winter here. I have had to scrape my windshield on several mornings. How is that? Beginning of September! Ha!

Work is very busy, but also very rewarding. I am involved in too many projects, as is in my nature I guess, but that keeps it fresh. I am working on a team developing a website called IARC J.R. (International Arctic Research Center Junior Researchers), a science site designed for kids. Those of you who know how much I love sharing science with kids will know that this is right up my alley. I am also working a little more in-depth with the analysis and synthesis of the different data sets (high-res radiation measurements, high-res meteorological data, ship log, synthetic aperture radar satellite, AVHRR satellite) from the last mission that Gerd took to Antarctica. It is very interesting, and is giving me an opportunity to work with data with which I have limited experience.

We are also getting cranked up into our "Climate Atlas of Alaska" project. I am one of the 3 leads on this mammoth project. Martha Shulski, our new head research climatologist is leading up the project. We are planning on this one taking almost a year and a half, or more. But, it will yield good results, and will almost assuredly be published in book format, which will be cool.

I present a research poster and am named on another oral research presentation being given this week here in Fairbanks at the AAAS (American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science) Arctic Region Science Conference. Wish me luck.

And, I am assisting in a lecture series given by the great Prof. John Wallace, a fantastic researcher from the University of Washington, who is giving lectures on large climate data set analysis. A very good man to know. In conjunction with his visit, I have started working as lead author on a research article for publication regarding the manifestations of the 1976 Pacific Decadal Oscillation shift on Alaska climatology.

I got to see my great friend Leland when I was in Asheville a few weeks ago. He drove down from Washington, DC to spend the day. We had a lot of fun flirting with the waitress at the restaurant, and watching the Husker football game at a local sports bar. Good stuff.

Oh, finally...I am thrilled to announce that I am going to be visiting "home" in November and early December. I arrive in Lincoln early in the afternoon of Sunday November 17th and I leave on Thursday December 6th. Over two weeks in Nebraska and surrounding states. I am going to be around for a while, so I do hope that I have the chance to see many of you. I am planning to make a swing down to El Dorado, Kansas to visit my sister and her family in their new house, probably a swing up to the Kansas City area to visit Scott and Julie et al, perhaps a couple of days in Minnesota with my sister Karen and her family, maybe going out to Laramie, Wyoming to visit my once-colleague Jan Curtis at the University of Wyoming, where he is the State Climatologist. And of course, I will be doing my annual survey of all things Nebraska, visiting UNK, getting blottoed with Jim at Thunderhead, who knows? The options are numerous.

Well, I am going to sign off with the customary...

INJECTIONS D'HUMEUR

Why is an elephant big, gray, and wrinkled?
Because if it was small, white, and round, it would be an aspirin.

Can an elephant jump higher than a lamp-post?
Of course...lamp-posts cannot jump.

HEY...you...yeah, you. You are reading this, aren't you? Well, if you are, would you please be so kind as to hit that funny little reply button and just say "Hi." Or more if you want. I know I cop-out desperately with these emails en-masse, but I truly would love to hear from each of you. Two lines..."Doing good. Saw a moose and a cat holding hands. Ate an orange today" Whatever it is...I want to hear it.

Take it easy,

Brian "Coach Class" Hartmann