A Savage Journey: Fear and Loathing in Centralia

It has been a long, strange journey, this life so far. After graduating from high school, I was not unlike most 18 year olds turned loose on the world; I had no idea what I wanted from life and I didn’t know where to start looking. I began at community college as an undecided major lacking much, if any, enthusiasm. I attended through a few quarters and had a lot of fun and then, well, I stopped. I had joined the workforce straight out of high school and trounced around from Hollywood Video, a child care center, and a plant nursery before I started at a new child care center where I was very much encouraged to consider going back to college. Here I am now, a college graduate, almost 7 years to the day after graduating high school. It is a strange feeling knowing that it’s time for the next step, and wondering what that next step is. 

What I have learned, through all of this, can be summed up with one word, at least for me. 

Care

If you can learn to care about yourself and accept and love yourself and others unconditionally you will learn that it is an invaluable idea. This thought carried me through a great deal of ups and downs, doubts and worries, and reminded me that while I feel that I am struggling, others around me are struggling as well. If I can pay it forward, and show others I care, in turn helping them care, then I will have achieved much.

Thanks to Chris Newhall for the first 3 photos, my niece for the last. 

atlasobscura:

The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rising three-stories above the central study area on each wall, the book collection contained in the Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading has created one of the most stunning examples of “library porn” on the planet as well as showing the history and breadth of writing that has come out of Portugal.  

The doors of this massive library were opened in 1900, bringing a nearly endless collection of Portuguese texts to readers in the capitol of the empire. The cabinet was founded in the early 1800’s by a trio of Portuguese immigrants who wanted to bring their country’s culture to the Brazilian capitol. The collection’s current home was built in the 1880’s specifically to house their growing collection, and was designed to evoke a Gothic-Renaissance influence that was popular at the time. At 350,000 titles, the collection soon became the largest collection of Portuguese works outside of Portugal itself including rare original manuscripts, singular works of literature, and unique proofs.

Keep reading more about the Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading, on Atlas Obscura…

Saturday was a *freezing* beach day. Clockwise from left: Westport, Washaway Beach, Bottle Beach State Park. Today is a snow day with my favorite ginger.