Into Denali: Not Quite Following in Chris McCandless’s Footsteps
1574 words, published 2022 in Literary Traveler
A Beautiful Day for a Bike Ride
1300 words, published 2022 in The Ann Arbor Observer
Mile 5000
925 words, published 2022 in Adventure Cyclist
Have You Always Wanted to Ride Your Bike Across the Country?
1485 words, published 2020 on TreadBikely
Music review: William Elliot Whitmore, Song of the Blackbird
101 words, published 2006 in Paste
Music review: Fernando, Enter to Exit
231 words, published 2006 in Paste
Music review: Iron & Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean
360 words, published 2011 in The Signal
Kiss Each Other Clean is exactly the kind of album you want to hear from a seasoned artist like Iron & Wine. It’s an exploration of new territory that doesn’t fall victim to Sufjan Stevens Syndrome — that is, experimenting to the point of being unrecognizable.
Sam Beam’s fourth full-length seamlessly blends funk, soul (yeah, the rumors are true: you are hearing saxophones on an Iron & Wine album) and the rootsy folk the band is known for. Ultimately, Kiss Each Other Clean feels right at home in Iron & Wine’s discography without coming off as stagnant or derivative.
The standout track is, without a doubt, opener “Walking Far From Home.” It starts off muddy, until the entrance of a quiet, elegantly understated piano chord clears the distortion like the flick of a light switch illuminating a darkened room.
Beam’s evocative lyrics cut like shards of glass through the haze of background vocals, fragile near-howls of “ooh” and “ahh”: “Saw a white dog chase its tail / and a pair of hearts carved into a stone / I saw kindness and an angel / crying, ‘Take me back home, take me back home.’” The instrumentation grows between stanzas: spare piano to start, joined by skeletal percussion, the a full-bodied bass, all culminating in a return to distortion, a pressing, insectile buzz.
The song, like the album, is a meditative journey, tinged with nostalgia and at times a sense of desperation, a sense of joy.
Another exceptional track, though perhaps not as single-worthy as “Walking Far From Home,” is the album closer, “Your Fake Name Is Good Enough for Me.” It starts with a dark but almost jaunty intensity, reminiscent of early Doors, and then shifts into a moody mantra of, “We will become, become, become.”
And what will we become? To paraphrase just a few examples: the rising sun, the damage done, the river sway, and the love we made; the blood and bone, an ice cream cone, the way and the wall, and a disco ball.
You have to admit, Beam has a flair for combining the mundane and the melodramatic. The end result feels utterly authentic, a pristine and painfully articulate picture of the human experience.
Feature: Beer Is Good For Your Health? I’ll Drink to That!
550 words, published 2011 in The Signal
We all know a glass or two of red wine every day is actually good for you. That’s all well and good if you like wine, but what if you’re a beer drinker?
Good news! Drinking one or two beers a day has the same positive effects on your health as wine. Moderate drinking may improve cognitive function in women and can lower the risk of heart attack for men by 30-35%.
It also reduces the risk of other cardiovascular diseases by about 20%, raises levels of good cholesterol, reduces the incidence of blood clots, can help build stronger bones, and puts you at a lower risk of developing dementia. It may even protect against Type-2 diabetes. Overall, moderate drinking can help you live longer and feel healthier while you’re at it.
Of course, beer isn’t a silver bullet. Many of these effects haven’t been conclusively proven, and often only occur in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle — you know, balanced diet, exercise, all that good stuff. And naturally, if you have liver problems, you should stay away from alcohol entirely.
But if you’re already a moderate drinker, why not embrace the positive effects with an organic microbrew? Sure, we’re used to the trendiness of PBR, the heartiness of Guinness, and the easy drinkability of Corona. But the explosion of craft breweries has flooded our stores and brewpubs with so many unique, delicious options that it’d be a shame not to try a few of them. Here then, are my four favorite organic brews.
Napa Smith Brewery Organic IPA
IPAs aren’t for the weak of heart, and Napa Smith’s organic offering is no exception. You might be fooled by the floral, woody aroma and the sweet, almost butterscotchy start, but the finish is pure IPA: a bitter, back-of-the-tongue bite. If you can get past the aggressive hoppiness, it’s refreshing, complex and delicious.
Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer
Mothership Wit is brewed by the same people behind the immensely popular Fat Tire. It has the citrusy sweetness characteristic of white beer, but with a unique twist: a spicy hint of coriander. Cloudy and almost sludgy, it’s heartier and more complex than most wheats. Pair it with a tart citrus fruit, like lemon, to really bring out the medley of flavors.
Chatoe Rogue First Growth OREgasmic Ale
OK, I admit it: the First Growth OREgasmic Ale isn’t technically organic. It is, however, brewed with hops and malt grown on Rogue’s micro hopyard and doesn’t contain preservatives, additives, or chemicals, so it’s about as close as you can get. Besides, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention an offering from Rogue. When it comes to complex, delicious microbrews, these guys know what they’re doing. The First Growth OREgasmic Ale strikes a perfect balance between sweetness and hoppiness. A floral nose meets with smooth drinkability and a moderately bitter finish, with just enough bite to keep things interesting.
Samuel Smiths Organic Cider
If wine and beer aren’t your thing, cider might be just what you’re looking for. Samuel Smiths boasts easy drinkability without the cloying sweetness you might expect from a brewery like Woodchuck or the overwhelming tartness of Strongbow. With its delicate apple flavor and subtle hints of malt, this cider would make a perfect digestif after a long bike ride on a cold winter evening.
Athlete Feature: McCall Langford
1215 words, published 2011 in The Signal
It’s the bottom of the fifth inning on a bitterly cold March day. The Georgia State softball team got off to a strong start, but the Miami RedHawks just put away a third run, paring State’s lead to two.
Things are looking like they might start to get hairy — that is, until McCall Langford takes the mound.
The cold doesn’t seem to faze her. She stares ahead with confident composure and winds up. The ball cuts through the air and curves almost impossibly over the plate, hitting the catcher’s mitt with a satisfying whump. Over the course of the rest of the game, she’ll go on to strike out five batters and allow only a single hit.
“She gets what I call ‘The Look,’” said interim head coach Roger Kincaid. “You can see it in her eyes. When she has The Look, she’s tough to handle.”
As a pitcher, Langford is intimidating, but off the field, she’s sweet, with a playfully self-deprecating streak. A native of LaGrange, Ga., she pokes fun at her lilting Southern accent and describes herself as “kind of a nerd.” The sophomore marketing major made the Dean’s List and the Athletic Director’s honor roll last year. In her free time, she enjoys reading and painting, and has a tendency to develop addictions: the video game Katamari Damacy, the Ender’s Game series and her favorite restaurant, Chipotle, to name a few.
When she’s talking about something she’s passionate about — her older sister, her boyfriend, her dog — her face lights up. She leans forward, rests her elbows on her knees, says, “Good story!” and launches into a personal tidbit: the time her dog went missing because he got trapped under a porch, how she met her boyfriend, James Dabbs (she pulled off the best-friend-switch and managed to stay friends with the ex — yeah, the girl is that good), and all the times in high school when her older sister, Melissa, got her out of trouble with her parents.
Although her family and her boyfriend are clearly important to her, when softball season hits, Langford generally only sees them in the stands. Her parents can count the number of games they’ve missed on one hand, and Dabbs, a grad student at Auburn University, drives up to cheer for Langford on weekends.
To keep up with her loved ones, Langford has developed another addiction: the popular video chatting program Skype.
“Skype is the thing!” she said. “Skype is the best.”
So that’s how I ended up sitting with McCall in front of her MacBook, meeting the Langfords onscreen. As soon as she sees her family, McCall transforms into a classic baby sister: that is, the center of attention. Even when she’s introducing her parents, Phil and Harriet, McCall takes the spotlight — gently teasing and scolding them, then cracking jokes, keeping all eyes on her.
Watching this interaction, it only makes sense that Langford would feel most at home on the pitcher’s mound, at the center of it all.
“She likes being out front, she likes being the center, and that’s what you want in a pitcher,” said Kincaid. “That’s the kind of confidence that it takes to be successful in that position.”
Her parents are clearly her biggest fans. Phil, a passionate softball fan, encouraged both his daughters to play, and McCall grew up watching Melissa play outfield.
“We took her to Melissa’s games,” Harriet says. “By the end of the day, she would be ’bout down to her diaper. And she’d have her Twix in one hand and a pickle in the other. She loved to eat. And that was just my fond memories of McCall, was always something in her hands and half-undressed.”
As Harriet tells this story, McCall’s mouth falls open. She looks at her mother, half-horrified, and Harriet smiles back sweetly.
“Great!” McCall says. “Thanks Mom. That’s great. Good input.”
Melissa seems content to sit back and observe. She’s the classic older sibling: quieter and less at home in the spotlight than her baby sister.
“I played outfield, and I liked not having to be the one that would get all the pressure on my shoulders,” Melissa says.
“‘Attention’ is the word,” McCall interrupts, smiling.
“I will tell you, one thing that’s different between Melissa and McCall,” Phil says. “Melissa was a very strong batter, and she would hit home runs. And she said to me one time, ‘Dad, you know, I love to hit home runs, I just don’t like people watching me run around the bases.’ McCall never hit a home run, but if she had hit a home run, I will guarantee you there would have been a cartwheel or two done running the bases so that everybody made sure they saw her.”
Despite her strengths on the field, Melissa chose not to pursue softball. She made this decision in part because Phil, by his own admission, pushed her too hard and burned her out. He learned from this experience, and stepped back when his youngest started playing. This gave McCall the freedom to play for herself and develop her own passion for the game — a process that admittedly took some time.
“I grew up playing T-ball, terribly,” she said with a giggle. “I wasn’t really coordinated until I was 10 and 11. I wanted to pitch when I was 8, and I tried, and I was terrible.”
Even through high school, Langford says she didn’t put forth much effort. It was only when she made the decision to play in college that she got serious about the game. She expected that when she got to Georgia State, she’d shadow the older girls on her team and step into the spotlight in her junior or senior year. Few — including Langford herself — could have expected that she would be as successful as she has been.
In her almost three semesters, she’s already established herself as one of the most talented pitchers in the Colonial Athletic Association. She has a 15-5 record, and last year, she finished fifth in the country in walks allowed per seven innings, giving up a mere 20 walks in the entire year. She also finished 11th in the country in saves, and her ERA of 1.41 puts her at 17th. To top it all off, she was named CAA pitcher of the week on March 1.
There’s really no other way to put it: Langford is a rock star. But despite her stellar record and her love of the spotlight, she’s also a team player.
“The one thing that Mac wants to more than anything is win,” Kincaid said. “She knows that she can’t do it by herself. She’s got 21 kids on the roster, and it takes all 21 of them to win.”
Perhaps the most promising thing about Langford’s career is the fact that it’s only just begun. Kincaid, the Langfords and McCall herself are eager to see what’s in store for the young pitcher.
“We’re really excited that she’s at Georgia State,” Phil says. He laughs and shakes his head with a sort of grateful disbelief. “It’s just the right place for her, and just good people. We really are proud of her and proud of the team, and looking forward to great things.”