I decided at the last minute to drive home today and go to HankD and Jackie’s (my cousins) halloween party. I am glad I did! I had fun and enjoyed seeing everyone. Above is a photo I took of my Dad’s jack-o-lantern. I placed a strobe inside of it, a smoke machine behind it, and two skulls and a candle beside it.
Their yard looked pretty awesome:
It is time to schedule classes for next semester!
After talking to a few professors, friends, and my advisor, I finally worked out my schedule for next semester, The number after the class name denotes the number of credits it is worth:
Symbolic Logic (3)
Theory of Probability (3)
Sophomore Math Seminar (1)
Intro to Philosophy (3)
Intermediate Macroeconomics (3)
Austrian Economics II (3)
Philosophy and Literature in Comics (1)
I think I am most excited about Logic, Probability, and Austrian II. In Austrian II, we read through and discuss Mises’s Human Action in a small group. The math seminar will focus on proof writing, oral presentations, literature research, and using programs like Mathematica to enhance our math skills. It is geared for math majors/minors. As of right now, I am working on a math and economics double major.
Tuesday, political theorist, activist, former Google engineer, and World Series of Poker player Patri Friedman came to Hillsdale to give a talk on structural activism and seasteading. Friedman is the founder of The Seasteading Institute, whose mission is “to further the establishment and growth of permanent, autonomous ocean communities, enabling innovation with new political and social systems.”
He gave a very interesting talk on structural activism and the seasteading movement. The talk was the culmination of his past few years of thought on how to change political structures in order to maximize freedom in a society while still maintaining the stability of that society. While significant work has been done on how to set up political systems to preserve a high level of freedom and stability while minimizing coercion, little –if any– work has been done on how to actually get to political systems like this. Until now. That’s where Friedman comes in.
Does this interest you? If so, check out Friedman’s essay from April on the topic of structural activism and why he thinks it is the only way to make systematic changes that will lead us to a realistically freer world in our lifetime. The essay is basically an outline of what he spoke about on Tuesday night. Also check out Let A Thousand Nations Bloom.
Yesterday afternoon, I was pulled over by a Michigan State Trooper for a traffic violation. I received a citation for violating code 257.637: passing a vehicle on the right.
After reviewing the code, I believe I was not in violation of that code.
Here is the situation: A vehicle in front of me stopped to make a left turn off of a two lane road into a driveway. There was a line of vehicles in the other direction, so it was clear he was going to sit there for a little while. The shoulder was fully paved, and as wide as a normal lane, so I slowed down and went around the vehicle in front of me–on the right. I thought this was perfectly okay, but apparently not. A State Patrol car happened to be traveling in the other direction and pulled me over immediately. I was not speeding, I was wearing a seat belt, and following all other traffic laws. The only thing I was cited for was passing on the right. The Michigan Vehicle Code has a clear exception for passing a vehicle on the right if that vehicle is making a left turn. The code also states, however, that “the driver of a vehicle shall not overtake and pass another vehicle upon the right by driving off the pavement or main-traveled portion of the roadway.” I did not drive off the pavement (the very wide shoulder was paved), but a shoulder is not technically the “main-traveled portion of the roadway.” Still, the vehicle in front of me was making a left turn, I slowed down, and was fully on the pavement.
Should I challenge it? My ticket is $100 and there are no court costs involved if I decide to schedule a hearing, so the most I can lose is $100 plus my time in the hearing. How much of a chance do I have of winning the case? I realize the odds are stacked against me, as it is my word against an officer of the state’s word and another officer of the state’s interpretation.
By the way, since I am an out-of-state driver, the court needed either $50 or my driver’s license as bond, to make sure I pay the ticket. Since I did not have $50 in cash on my person, I had to hand over my license, so I have to at least pay $20 to get it back. If I lose the case, that $20 goes towards my total $100 fine. (I was told I am allowed to drive without my physical license for the time being. If I am asked for it, I just need to show the ticket I received, which shows that my license was posted in lieu of bond.)
What do you think, should I challenge it, or suck it up and hand over $100?
Here are more of the photos from yesterday:
The weather was absolutely beautiful today. I took a little time this afternoon to go out and take photos. I will post a few more tomorrow!
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
My friend Kahryn:
Dr. Hutchinson’s class:
Here are two settings on the Canon 40D that few owners know about. If you know someone with a 40D, send this along to them!
1: ISO Expansion
In normal mode, the 40D only shoots in ISOs 100-1600. Once ISO expansion is turned on, ISO 3200 is made available, denoted as ISO H. This is a HUGE help in low light situations, especially capturing action, such as football games under the lights or indoor volleyball games.
To turn it on:
Menu > Scroll over to the Custom Functions menu (the orange square with the camera) > Select C.Fn I: Exposure > Set > Scroll over to 3: ISO Expansion > Set > Select 1: On > Hit Menu to go back to the regular menu.
There you are! You can now shoot in ISO 3200! (I suggest using something like Noise Ninja in your post-processing to clean up some of the additional noise.)
2: Highlight Rendition
This little known setting improves the details in highlights. You won’t notice a difference in most shots, but it becomes wildly apparent when shooting photos with strong highlights, such a sunset lighting up a few select clouds with others in shadow. Ken Rockwell has a great writeup on this setting.
To turn it on: Menu > Scroll over to the Custom Functions menu (the orange square with the camera) > C.Fn II: Image > Set > 3: Highlight Tone Priority > Set > 1: Enable > Hit Menu to go back to the regular menu.
As Ken Rockwell points out, this setting won’t help you if you overexpose a photo, and it limits your ISO from 200-1600 if you have it on. I only turn it on when I notice a scene with strong highlights I want to get more detail in.
I originally compiled this list for Mr. and Mrs. Odell, but I thought it would be good for everyone to check out.
Introduction to Anarchy and the Law: Ed Stringham
Anarchist Theory FAQ: Bryan Caplan
What it means to be an Anarcho-Capitalist: Stephan Kinsella
But Wouldn’t Warlords Take Over?: Robert Murphy
A 5-part series from Stefan Molyneux:
1: The Stateless Society
2: Caging the Devils: The Stateless Society and Violent Crime
3: These Cages are only for Beasts
4: Disproving the State
5: The Stateless Society Fights Back – Answers to Common Questions
Small Town Anarchy: J. L. Bryan
Anarchy, Anarchy – Wherefore Art Thou?: Wilton Alston
About Market Anarchism: Molinari Institute
I have a lot more photos from my Chicago trip, but I am not posting anymore after today.
These past few days in Hillsdale have been beautiful! Check out William Clayton’s blog to see a beautiful Hillsdale autumn photo. I even had class outside yesterday! (The seminar I was in is not the one pictures on Will’s blog. Dr. Wenzel gathered us around a tree because Dr. Smith already took the amphitheater.)
Taken during a riverboat architecture tour:
Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.
The Chicago skyline on a dreary day, taken from the Chicago St. bridge over 90/80. EDIT: 90/94.
Downtown urban art: This robot character was made out of the same thing the reflective lines on the road are made of. Evidently, someone got his hands on some of it and made these characters. I saw them all over downtown.
Hancock Building & Others
Inside Cloud Gate (The Bean) at Millennium Park
Today was the last day of Fall Break and my last day in Chicago. I celebrated by sleeping in, going to Eleven City Diner with Ryan and Carrie for lunch, then visiting the Art Institute. Shortly afterward, I made my way back to Hillsdale.
Eleven City Diner is great! It is a Jewish deli/diner with excellent food. I had a double decker corned beef & pastrami sandwich, and I tried a few other things. Here are a few photos from my phone:
I had another great day today! We got a late start (slept until 11), but Ryan and I met Carrie at Jake Melnick’s for lunch, which was excellent. I had a beef brisket sandwich, and we got an order of the XXX wings. Those wings are the hottest, yet most flavorful wings I’ve ever had. They blow Quaker Steak’s atomic sauce out of the water. They were very good, but insanely hot. Even now, 7 hours later, I can still feel the dull burn in my stomach from those wings.
After lunch, we walked down Michigan Ave down to Millennium Park, then took the river architecture tour. I have some really cool photos from today, which I will upload over the course of next week.
Right now, we are on our way to dinner, then a house party down to street to hear some live music.
Tomorrow night, I will be back at Hillsdale.
EDIT: We decided to go see Where The Wild Things Are and then eat Chinese food at midnight, rather than go to the house party.
I had an excellent day today!
I slept in, then got up and ate brunch at JamArchived Link, a trendy little spot in Ukrainian Village, just a few blocks from my cousin’s house. The food was excellent–great coffee, a tasty chocolate raspberry muffin, fingerling potatoes, and a spanish omelet with chorizo, roasted peppers, melted onions, and garrotxa cheese. The restaurant was really neat, with small tables, clear plastic chairs, and chefs out in the open.
After brunch, I decided to walk in the drizzling rain down to Michigan Ave (about 3 miles) to where Ryan works. It stopped raining about halfway there, and it stayed nice for the rest of the day. I visited Ry’s office, visited a bunch of stores down Michigan Ave. I carried my camera around all day, so I have a bunch of photos! I will post some when I get back to Hillsdale…the internet here is not very reliable.
Ryan’s girlfriend Carrie met us for a dinner of deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s. It was my first time eating it, and it was excellent! Later, we hung out at Carrie’s house for a little while, then went to the Blue Man Group show at the Briar St. Theatre. I had a great time!
Tomorrow, we are going to devour some hot wings at Jake Melnick’s, then visit some museums.
By the way: Another printed version of The Onion came out today! I was excited to find that. I really enjoy The Onion.
I finally got my paper finished, turned it in, then hopped in the vehicle and drive to visit Ryan in Chicago. Before I left, it was snowing in Hillsdale! It stopped after 10am, but there was definitely snow falling for a few hours. The ground was warm enough that it melted right away, though.
I got stuck in traffic outside of Chicago for about 40 minutes, then once I finally got to Ryan’s apartment, I just hung out until he got home. I planned on going exploring, but it was raining all day, so I just lounged around. After he got home from work, we went for a walk and ended up eating at The Silver Palms. The dining area is actually in an old railroad dining car from the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Apparently the restaurant was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Ryan ordered the Three Little Piggy sandwich, which is a huge sandwich stuffed with smoked ham, pork tenderloin, bacon, and gruyere cheese, all topped off with an onion ring and a fried egg. I ordered the Smoked Meat sandwich, which is corned beef brisket, grilled onions, and gruyere cheese on pumpernickel. We ended up splitting the sandwiches, so we both are half of each. I liked mine better, but his mountain of pork sandwich was pretty good, too.
On the walk back, I found a newspaper box that had paper copies of The Onion, so I am looking forward to reading that later tonight.
I have very sporadic and unreliable internet at his apartment, so I might not be uploading any photos while I am here.
Plans for tomorrow: Visit Ryan’s office, walk around Michigan Ave. and take photos, eat deep-dish pizza, and go to see Blue Man Group!
I am on my way to Chicago on Thursday. I am excited!
Besides lots of sight-seeing, photographing, and eating, I plan to update my photography portfolio here on my site while I am there. I have not updated it in a year, and my skills have improved in that time. I have a lot of photos to take out, and a lot of photos to add. I will post it when I get it finished.
Here are some photos from the alumni football game last weekend. All previous Hillsdale football players were allowed to participate in the event. Guys ranging from their mid-20s to mid-50s showed up to play.
All three pre-fall break exams are finished! Now I have to put the finishing touches on my Austrian Economics paper on the notion of cost and its use in economic regulation, and I will be on my way to visit Ryan in Chicago!
Now, for the regularly scheduled program:
4 photos from the Charger Blue & White meet last Saturday:
The Hillsdale Baseball Alumni came together last weekend to play a memorial softball game:
In other news:
2 exams down, 1 to go, and one paper to finish before I leave for Chicago!
