Cole Camplese

I Moved ... Again.

I moved my blog back to my own domain again ... update feeds and bookmarks to http://colecamplese.com

Trip to D.C.

Over the weekend we traveled to Washington D.C. as a family. I had been invited to come and meet with folks from the Chronicle of Higher Education and decided to extend it into a weekend in the city with my family. All day Saturday was spent walking around the National Mall looking at the Monuments. While my daughter was very interested in seeing everything and teaching my wife and I about the history of it all, my Son seemed more eager to simply climb on walls. Last night when my wife was putting my Daughter to bed she talked about how impacted she seemed by the experience. The Vietnam Memorial seemed as though it had the most impact on her. It is a stunning and emotional memorial and I think it may have been a little heavy for my little girl.

I'm still trying to make sense of the whole trip and the things we looked at. I've been to the National Mall at least a dozen times, but this was the first trip I made with my children. It pushed me to look at it all with very different eyes with a much deeper perspective. While standing taking in the WW II Memorial a group of WW II Vets came in together with their eyes as wide as mine. My wife and I watched them with awe and respect ... wanting to just walk up to them and thank them for what they endured for us. What I struggle with is my own internal conflict between my deep interest in living in a peaceful World and the cost of maintaining that peace. Really tough stuff to reconcile. But at the end of the day, I was most taken aback by the sight of my three year old boy's reflection in the Vietnam Memorial as he walked by.

A wonderful, but complex trip.

The Vietnam Memorial

 

The Lincoln

 

The World War II Memorial

 

The Washington

 

Visiting the Chronicle

I had a great time talking to Chronicle staff yesterday in DC. Lots of talk about social media and it's relation to traditional media. I didn't have answers but tried to share parallel stories of how it is impacting traditional views of education. It was a very rich conversation.

San Francisco Fog

Yesterday after meeting with Facebook Brad and I drove up to the Golden Gate Bridge. I've been there several times, but this was a first for Brad. It was amazing how the top looked completely Photoshopped out of the picture due to the fog. Just over in the city it was gloriously sunny.

Made It!

So after two days traveling I95, we arrived in Orlando where it is well over 100 degrees. Not much to say today, other than you see the craziest things along I95 ... if you think about it, that trip takes you through several states and lots of states of mind. Just the bumper stickers, people riding in the back of pickup trucks at 85 MPH, and all the stuff overheard is crazy. I realized on the way down that I think I've made the trip down I95 nearly every year since I was two ... first for annual spring breaks with my family in Myrtle Beach, SC and later to visit family in FL. Lots of things have changed, but South of the Border is still kicking it!

I have a few pictures of my own that I'll post over at my Flickr page once I get a chance, but at the moment the kids have been patiently waiting to swim for the last two days. Off for a Corona!

BTW, I think I have to file this post under "I hope it counts."

Roaming

I'll be on the road, so who knows what the one post a day for this month will look like during the next week ... I'll try to post something interesting as we travel to Orlando, FL for the week. I know, I know ... why the hell am I going to Orlando at the start of Summer? I'm asking myself that question as well. In all seriousness it should be fun, hot, and hopefully relaxing.

While I am not ponying up for a new iPhone 3Gs, I have upgraded to 3.0 and plan to take advantage of the newly announced free AT&T hotspots. I love the idea of easy login on my phone for wifi access along to way and while traveling. Even at home, where PSU has recently partnered with AT&T to provide customers access while on campus -- that'll mean I can use wifi in certain places without dealing with the iPhone VPN. BTW, does anyone know if it is possible to store a VPN password? I am so tired of checking something online while on campus and having it just spin ... if the VPN would auto engage and connect that wouldn't be an issue, but I can't for the life of me figure that out.

Either way I'll be connected as much as possible while traveling. I'll be doing my best to stay away from email, but I do plan to use some of the time away to take some pictures and continue playing with iPhoto and Photoshop. I'll be posting stuff here and over at my Flickr space.