Nearly a week ago I had the chance to hike Old Rag with some co-workers (quickly turning into friends) and my bud Paul. It was, to say the least, extremely fulfilling for me. As embarrassing as  it may be, it was only the second serious hike I’ve every done. Not coming from a very outdoorsy family, I have been trying to catch up! Even more embarrassing is the sheer amount of people that hike Old Rag. Like I said, playing catch up. We decided to hike the 7.4 mile trail counterclockwise which meant climbing the famous rock scramble rather than descending it. This proved to be much more than I anticipated and, between my ridiculously heavy 40L multi-day pack and my ridiculous fear of heights, I did borderline terrible. There were times where I had to hand my pack up to Zach or Sean and then (poorly) hoist myself up the slippery boulders. The bulk of the weight in my pack was my overstock of food and my heavy DSLR. Both of which I was convinced I needed. But through the sweat and cramps there was laughter, good conversation and a peaceful calm I have never felt before. There is a clarity awarded by hiking a good hike. As we trekked the miles and miles I began to think about where I was. Who I was with and where I was going. Not just on the trail but in this day to day life I live. Since joining REI I have met some of the most amazing people I have ever met, and some of the most humble adventurers I will ever meet. I have learned the value of living a simple, honest and clean life. I learned to work hard and to be strong as an individual and as a team. Probably most of all, I learned that life is just too short to say no (except for sky diving, give me some time for that). I’ve been spending my days off either on adventures or volunteering in the community. Balancing a day for “us” and a day for “them” is something I learned from my good friend, Sean Lacey. I have always been an avid volunteer but not until meeting him did I realize just how many ways there were to serve the community. This is a guy that volunteers on a farm,  then immediately goes to donate blood, refuels and showers at REI and then heads off to spend his evening volunteering at his church…This is Sean Lacey. The beautiful thing about all of this was that I wasn’t sitting in my room late at night thinking myself into oblivion. I was blinking, sweating and aching - I was hiking a mountain surrounded by nothing but trees, mountain air and my brothers. When we reached the summit of Old Rag I could never have anticipated the breath taking view. The wind ripped at us across the treeless summit taking away all sounds. Before us spread the most beautiful sea of clouds and trees I have ever seen. It was as if we were on the edge of the world looking at a view only the gods could have the right to see. The clouds floated endlessly into the distance, the trees stood proudly in their sheer numbers. I felt infinite. I understand that this isn’t in any way the best or most extreme mountain range but to me it was an accomplishment and taste of something I am going to be doing the rest of my life. To say the least, my love for nature, the outdoors and the conservation of the only earth we have was refueled and rebuilt with a hard earned perspective…5 hours or so after entering the trail head we found ourselves sweaty, tired and satisfied enough to head home but first, we needed to see the ponies. I cannot wait for the many adventures to come with my beloved new friends.

Trek On,

Chris So

"To say the least, my love for nature, the outdoors and the conservation of the only earth we have was refueled and rebuilt with a hard earned perspective."

"Nearly a week ago I had the chance to hike Old Rag with some co-workers (quicjly turning into friends) and my bud Paul."

"I felt infinite."

"5 hours or so after entering the trail head we found ourselves sweaty, tired and satisfied enough to head home but first, we needed to see the ponies."

"But through the sweat and cramps there was laughter, good conversation and a peaceful calm I have never felt before."

"Since joining REI I have met some of the most amazing people I have ever met, and some of the most humble adventurers I will ever meet."

Broken Chair

And as your life goes on you deal with what comes along

     Today I revisited an old, memory laden trail - the Capital Crescent Trail (http://www.cctrail.org/). My good friend, Tim, and I road the path from Bethesda, Maryland all the way to Washington, DC. In total we covered 26.69 miles in 3 hours and 4 minutes. There was a lot of stop and go in the city but I am really getting a better grip on aggressive city riding. I really have to thank TIm for the invaluable training, I love cycling and traffic was always a big fear of mine. 

     The reason I say the trail is memory laden is because it was the nameless trail from my early childhood memories riding with my father, uncles and cousins. It was the same trail that I revisited in college to do my first stop action project. And it was the trail that I drove to to practice dragon boat racing in the Potomac for my ex’s chinese school. An ex that set up the framework for the impenetrable, trust robbed walls around my heart. Quite a trail! However, coming back to the CCT as I am now really opened up a new opportunity for me. With a newer, more mature mindset I looked at the trail as a closure with a lot of my past demons. As I pumped my legs and (made incredible time ~7 miles in 28 minutes) zoomed past trees and fences and memories I felt like I was finally saying goodbye to these memories. The good and the bad. I felt I was riding ahead and away from the younger me. Riding away from my dad and my uncles and my brother…I felt like I was finally old enough to lead my own trail and to discover my own paths. I felt like I was riding away from every poisonous relationship I’ve ever had. Literally running over and killing every “other guy” (god why is there always another guy). The trip was emotional and physical and amazing. 

     I have to hand it to Tim. He rode a single speed bike, only had a front brake AND was wearing long commuter pants sans chamois. I don’t know how his legs or prostate made it the 26 miles but they did! Riding through DC this time was more intense because I got to lead a couple of times and we got separated a couple of times. There was some seriously legit bus weaving done today! Our first break was at Union Station for smoothies (we discovered milkshakes were a bad idea last time). I saw a photo opp with the station’s hallway’s architecture and pulled out my DSLR to capture the moment. At first I took a test shot to gauge the exposure and then set up Tim centered and posed. As I looked through the pictures tonight I realized I liked the test shot so much more. Touching on the photographic conversation Tim and I had over beers and burgers after the ride, I thought about what makes a picture and what makes a photograph. I thought about photo journalism, I thought about composition, I thought about the rules and how to break the rules. I thought about fine art and I thought about a maturing photographer and I realized, yes, I definitely like this test shot more. Not to be that guy that analyzes his own picture, BUT. I saw the uncentered composition so much more intriguing. Tim is not the center of the picture, and one could argue, wasn’t even the subject. The mix of people at the end of the hallway, the homeless man passing Tim, Tim’s bike and Tim’s outwardly gaze cause the viewer to arc across the picture from the back to the left foreground. Even the overexposure fills the frame with a pure light that contrasts against the gritty, contrasty textures of the hallway’s ceiling and floor stirring yet more intrigue. The only thing centered and uniform about the hallway is the hallway itself and it encapsulates a variety of off-centered, busy subjects, as a hallway should! Both physically and artistically the hallways presents itself as a vehicle of transport for the viewer. Be it to the other end of the hallway to where we locked our bikes, or be it through the silent chaos of frozen action that is this picture. I may be looking too deep into it, but I think Tim, his teacher and my favorite professor would be proud.

     I, of course, had to take a picture of my personal setup. A photographer’s glory is from behind the camera but sometimes I like to let the viewers see a little bit of me. What I’m currently working with is my blue/silver 2012 Trek 2.1 Compact aptly named Tuna.

     After Union Station we decided to ride down to the historic Eastern Market area (hence the strange rhombus shaped detour we took on the bottom right). We ended up getting lost in a sketchy neighborhood, replanning and then ending up at a closed bar. So we gunned it back to the city center and decided to head back to Bethesda for food. It was getting overcast and we were afraid of rain. On the way back I couldn’t help but stop ever so often for instagram opps (@chrissogram). One particular spot had me turning around and calling for Tim to follow me. On the left of the trail was a uniform fence and on the right was a chaotic mess of dying trees and roots. Separating the two was a smooth endless pathway - I HAD to put Tim in the middle of it! What resulted was one of my favorite pictures of the day. A gentleman and his trusted iron steed standing unabashedly between industry and nature. Emblazoned on his chest, a stunning call to all those around him, “For the Greater Good”! Call me crazy, but when moments shout themselves out to me I cannot but help to shout back.

     It was another fantastically spent day with an equally fantastic friend. I am really biking more and more and I have to say that I am loving it (at the cost of my BJJ gym time). My posts have been becoming much more happier and, I have to say I am becoming much more happier. Out of a long drought I have suddenly been refilled with hope and, dare I say it, excitement. Excitement for what there is to come. Excitement for how uncertainly beautiful the future is. 

You get what you make of it.

Trek On,

Chris

"The only thing centered about the hallway s the hallway itself and it encapsulated a variety of off-centered, busy subjects, as a hallway should!"

"What I'm currently working with is my blue/silver 2012 Trek 2.1 Compact aptly names Tuna."

"A gentleman and his trusted iron steed standing unabashedly between industry and nature. Emblazoned on his chest a stunning call to all those around him "For the Greater Good!"."

My good friend Tim and I rode the path from Bethesda, MD all the way to Washington, D.C."

Volunteerism, REI and the SMSC

     Two weekends ago I did a volunteer shoot for Reston Association’s Habitat Heroes. It was my first time freelancing for an environmental organization and quite frankly, I loved it. I got to meet Reston Association’s Community Outreach Ha Brock, Media Manager Sean Bahrami, and several awesome volunteers. These hard workers were pulling out Garlic Mustard that had overrun a lot of the nature areas’ forest floor. The experience really showed me the value of a community committed to protecting it’s native wildlife. The experience also opened a valuable door into the the Reston Association’s many events. I hope to be working with Sean on many shoots to come. I used to work in Reston and often get onto the W&OD trail from here - I figure I should give back to the beautiful area. To check out some of the shoot here’s my site: 

http://500px.com/christophersophotography/sets/volunteer_work

     Something else that getting involved with the RA showed me was how environmental conservation can take many forms and how interconnected it is. Looking through the huge PDFs of the summer events Sean sent me I quickly realized how many activities and projects Restonians could get involved with. Barely 10 minutes away from me there were watershed cleanups, invase species removals, wildlife education classes and long half day bird watching adventures I had never even heard of! Both far reaching and compact at the same time, determined communities like Reston really offer the chance to make a difference. Conservation can take many forms, not just the big gov’t and NGO orgs I have been applying too, or obscurely located Alaskan coastal bird population surveys. They can be right in your community. I still want to travel far and wide, don’t get me wrong, but I was wrong to overlook the hard workers in my own neighborhood. 

     I got a call back from REI for the group interview! I got the call last week and have been very very excited about it. The company is everything that I could hope to work for. They are a consumer co-op and big environmental steward both locally and holistically. The big picture reason I’d like to work there is to learn about the various equipment as well experience more of the local natural areas. I hope to make good friends and to explore some beautiful places around here. Of course the 50% employee discount has a say in all this too haha. Just today I went to a ‘Hiking Basics’ REI class (not employee training, REI just offers awesome classes) and made sure to walk around the store for 30 minutes before. I’m not working there yet but I am already seeing everything in a different way (and making a wish list). The hiking class was extremely useful, we learned a lot about basic equipment, safety precautions and local mountain geography. Touching again on the interconnectivity of conservation, REI is also participating in this weekend’s Potomac River Watershed Cleanup. Something I took away from the class other than hiking stories though, was again seeing the bigger picture of all of this. This meaning the business of environment. I watched employees walk up and down the back rooms stairs, I watched a man stumble over returned items to get to his buried desk to make a call to HQ about a complaint and I listened to how we are supposed to camp 300’ away from the trail or the rangers will make you move away (it makes the trail look bad). REI is a co-op, yes, but in this day in age it is essentially a business. And even a business focused on selling products for 'human-powered outdoor recreation’ needs money to run. Like REI, environmental conservation in its entirety needs money to work. Parks need to stay healthy and pretty, parks need fees to be pretty, parks need patrons to get fees, parks need to be pretty to get patrons, you camp 300’ away from the trail. I’m not sure where I’m going with this but I’m certain I’ve hit something. The more and more I explore into this field, the more and more I get rejected from jobs, the more and more I just take the leap and get out there with these classes and volunteering, the more I start to see things clearly. I suppose, I’m growing up. 

     Last update, it has just been a sudden rush of progress lately, I finally manned up and completed the application to the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation. It wasn’t easy writing the letter of interest because of how much I wanted to get into the program. Having been thrashed by the job market to the point of depression, this program came out of the darkness like a lightening bolt. If I am able to get into the program and get the scholarship (because I literally have no money) I would be living, breathing, eating environmental training for a whole semester. If there is one thing that being in the job search shark tank has taught me it is the invaluability of experience. These orgs don’t care too much about what fancy coursework you’ve taken, they want to know that you know how to do the specific job they are advertising for with the least amount of training and pay necessary. It’s like pokemon. Say you need to train a pokemon to a competitive lvl 50, you don’t give too much of a damn about the personality or food preferences of the pokemon you find, you will catch the one closest to lvl 50. You will always opt for the most profit with the least amount of investment (this of course not taking into consideration EV training and competitive breeding). As of right now, I am a passionate, dedicated, willing to learn lvl 25 nothing. This semester may be the only chance I have to get a foothold to dive into this field. There are cheaper ways of course, find local opportunities, keep searching, volunteer! I have and they have always let me go. There aren’t many benevolent hearts out there willing to take a chance on 'potential’. The sequester is effectively shoving its hand down many of the departments’ throats and putting a nice freeze on govt hiring and everywhere else frankly doesn’t give a damn.

Things sure have changed from the boy that applied to 5 USAJOBS positions and immediately started packing for adventure.   

I have come to learn and realize a lot of things. Even now my plan is shaky at best. IF I get the job at REI I will have until August to gain experience and savings whereupon I will enter SMSC IF I get accepted and get the scholarship. After that I need to work my ass off to learn everything I can while making as many connections as I can. Best case scenario, I am hired into Smithsonian from within and find myself in a program that I am in love with that will help me get my masters. Worst case scenario, I don’t get the job or get into SMSC and I start from the beginning again while continuing to work at my parents’ store and perhaps working at a Caribou Coffee or something. 

C'est la vie, non?

As I continue to ride this ever changing sea,

Trek On.

Chris

Woke up to a most unusual March snow this morning. Seeing everything capped in snow again amplified how much I already missed Winter. How much I really wished I could just restart this whole season. Went out and helped my father knock the heavy snow off of our evergreens and then decided to gear up and venture into the forest nearby the house. There is such an eerie calmness to a snowy forest. The snow was already melting and all you could hear was your breath and the sound of dropping slush. I found a large overturned tree and investigated its treefall gap. I’ve certainly been looking at forest ecology differently since I’ve started volunteering at the local state parks.

I digress.

The silence was so peaceful and calm that when I heard the movement of a nearby deer I nearly jumped out of my skin. Away in the distance next to a second fallen tree stood two perfectly still deer. I didn’t get a good look at them but they were probably white-tailed deer (a species Smithsonian is working closely with). I managed to shoot a couple of shots of them but I didn’t have a zoom lens attached. They ran away before I could get closer. 

It was a rather small forest surrounded, albeit sparsely, by residential properties and the lake from my previous shoot. As I retraced my step back to my house I kept thinking how much I’d love to trek into a deep mountainside forest. How much I would love waking up to that crisp, frozen mountain air. I would only need good equipment and a good partner (human or animal) and I know I could make something for myself. Today will be dedicated to filling out my application for the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation. It is a costly program, but in the position I’m in, experience and technical training is invaluable. I am going to have to really work to earn the scholarship, It’d be the only way I allow myself to go back to school before grad school. 

Well, we will see, que sera sera.

Trek On,

Chris

Starbucks

     Earlier this week I went back to my alma mater to meet with a potential job/intern connection (oh the things that incite excited speeding now a days). I decided to make the most out of the 4 hours I bought at the parking deck and met up with my good friends Jerry and Sonja for coffee and catching up.

As I sat and waited for them to arrive, I had a lot of time to look around and think. Things had changed so much since I graduated. This was the same 24-hour Starbucks I used to spend all-nighters cramming for bio exams and, eventually, editing photography projects. This was the Starbucks that I used to buy for my ex when we would study late into the night, this was the Starbucks I discovered the Peace Corps in and this was the Starbucks where I fell in love. I looked around and saw students idly chattering with coffees in their hands, macs galore littered the walls with their serpentine plugs. I thought to myself,

“Damn, if only they knew how much work they could get done on a laptop with decent internet and 8 hours of dedication, do they know how many jobs and internships they could be applying to right now? How many companies and non-profits they could be researching?”

My own mind sickened me. I tried to focus back on my coffee. My Americano, rather.I thought to myself how sad it was that I regretted buying it. I could have gotten cheaper coffee at McDonald’s or Dunkin’, hell, I could have made better coffee from home and brought it in my tumbler. Again, my mind sickened me. Through the echoes and hum drums of the coffee shop I realized how close I was to collapsing in on myself. My dress shoes, dress shirt and tie didn’t make a damn difference. The reflection in the dirty window was of a hungry animal stuck in a room full of children. Rejection and routine had begun to chip away at my self-esteem, my being. Hell, the last time I sat in this chair I basically told the girl I loved her ex still loved her and to go for it! I don’t think a homeless celibate monk could stay jobless and loveless as well as me.

Alas, Jerry and Sonja arrived before I could really dig myself in. The world needs people as bright and happy as these two, I mean it. If there was a success story to be heard it would likely be of these two’s relationship. Neuroscientist meets Photographer, could fate have chosen a more interesting intersection of intriguing arts? We talked about school and about life. We talked about Jerry’s senior art project and Sonja’s second attempt at the beast that is Genetics. Oh how they breathed life back into my day. Hum drums sound completely different when it comes from good friends.

After Sonja left for class, Jerry and I caught up on man-talk. We talked about my next plans and my next moves. We talked about my future jeep. We talked about his future photography projects. And what would boys be without their toys? I let him try out the Mark II and showed him how to use a white balance lens cap, in case he wanted to borrow her, and I took the quaint hipster pictures you see above. 

Seeing my gent and lady was very very much needed. As we bid farewell over promises to go to the shooting range soon, I took one last look at the Starbucks and realized that,

“That was the Starbucks where I got my hope back.”

Trek On,

Chris

Serendipity

     Decided to stay home today to do my usual resume/ application work. By chance it was also the day that, Bruce, the refrigerator repair man, came in to take a second look at our freezer. The whole affair went swimmingly and as colorlessly as I’d expected, until he asked me about my travels in France. I’m not sure how he knew I had travelled there this past summer but I answered him nonetheless and I quickly found that I was in the presence of a well seasoned adventurer. Bruce, in all of his bearded-pony-tailed glory, told me of his adventures in France, Amsterdam, Australia and so much more.

“When I was your age my boss hated giving me my paycheck, because he knew I wouldn’t be back for the next 6 weeks”.

I don’t exactly know what job he was working or how vacation hours worked back in 1975, but, Bruce would pack up his bags, choose a country and head there with nothing on his mind but experiencing the world.

“If you’re under 25, finished with school and got your education, I say HAUL ASS! Go to a country, apply for a work Visa, work a little and then off to the next country. Before you know it you’ve travelled the damn world! Because if you get right out of school and find a job, you’re not going anywhere! Next thing you know you’re 40 and you’re thinking to yourself, I never got to do any of those things.”

I kind of wished Bruce would stay for dinner and just tell me about his life. It was as close to serendipity as I’ve ever felt. I can’t say that it profoundly changed much for me…the gears of my wanderlust have been grinding ever since I left school. At the same time, my overbearing, responsible mind has been screeching the brakes on just as hard. I don’t want to get swept away by time, and I fear that every day that passes me, is me getting further and further behind. I’ve been raised to believe that you graduate from college and then you graduate from graduate school and then you work and study for your PhD. Then you get a big job and work and have a family. When that’s all said and done, you can finally enjoy your life. Coming from a family that literally came to this country with nothing, I understand the value we have on education and hard work. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe life should be lived without education and hard work. There should be no limit to how much one learns and accomplishes in their lifetime.

It’s just that…I don’t know. 

I simply, don’t know…

My resume has been refined and torn up by many experienced eyes these past few weeks and I am primed for another onslaught of applications. At the success rate I’ve been having, I am going to need to apply for a not-so-related-not-so-government job. I need the income and structure back in my life…

Well, here’s to what the future may or may not hold.

“Fallin’ from the sky
there are raindrops in my eyes.
And my thoughts are diggin’ in the backyard.
My roots have grown but I don’t know where they are”.

- The Head and The Heart, Cats and Dogs.

Trek On,

Christopher So

P.S. My freezer still doesn’t work. 

Visited DC’s Eastern Market with the lovely Brie Gobel this past weekend. The old market boasts the title of “Washington DC’s oldest continually operated fresh food public market” and is located in historic Capitol Hill (http://www.easternmarket-dc.org/). I was incredibly surprised to find such a lively and diverse market just a few steps away from a metro stop! The goods they sold ranged from finely aged meats and cheeses to fresh cut flowers and ready made seafood dishes. Surrounding the old building were outdoor stands filled with vendors selling odds and ends. While exploring the stands I was approached by an older gentleman named Dan. He was a local and had lived in the area for quite some years. He was interested in my camera and asked what I was shooting. As it turns out he, too, loved photography and had travelled extensively in Asia as a younger man, “When there were more honest things to shoot”. He told me about the area and how much livelier the markets are during the warmer weather. As it turns out the building we were in had, at one point, caught fire and had to be completely gutted out but because of its historic significance, was preserved and restored. Since it was first built in 1873 it has been a home for fresh produce and culture - I was simply honored to be there (http://www.easternmarket-dc.org/default.asp?ContentID=12). The best moment of the day, however, was when Dan bid Brie and I farewell and walked away into the market. It was at that moment that I realized he had been carrying a bouquet of flowers the entire time. My heart warmed to have met such a kind, and fascinating person.

Here’s to impromptu trips, good friends and blessed souls. 

Trek On,

Chris

First Steps

Applied to several gov’t jobs today within the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture. Realistically, I don’t know how good of a chance I have of hearing back from any of them, but if things work out, I’ll be working as a Biological Science Technician soon. If things really work out, I may finally find myself in the NW. 

Here’s to being hopeful.

Never stop moving, there is change in the air. 

Chris