7:20 a.m.

The alarm is blaring; time to get up. No, scratch that. Time for snooze.

7:29 a.m.

More snooze.

7:38 a.m.

OK, time to actually get up. Time for a shower, breakfast, and a quick read of the Journal before finishing up some homework.

10:00 a.m.

Arrive at class, held off site today at the ritzy Stanford Shopping Center. The assignment for MS&E 277: Creativity and Innovation: go to several stores as an observer and make notes about the experiences. Look at the lighting, smell the smells, feel the merchandise, listen to how the staff treats customers.

12:01 p.m.

Drive like mad — late for sailing class! Head over to the Stanford boathouse under beautiful skies. Once there, find out that the wind has picked up and that some of the sails are being repaired, so use racing team (i.e., really nice) sails. Go fast on the water. Go fast some more on the water. Woo!

3:05 p.m.

Drive like mad — going to be late for MS&E 288: Creating Infectious Engagement!

3:15 p.m.

Get there — on time. Deliver an absolutely astounding presentation to the class, teaching team, and guests from Facebook. Enjoy accolades. Listen to other groups’ presentations of highly variable quality.

6:30 p.m.

Dinner time. Spaghetti tonight. Look at the day’s Stanford Daily and admire photographs done by yours truly. Look at previous day’s issue. Bemoan forgotten white balance correction for the photo of a famous somebody.

8:00 p.m.

Watch most of Goodfellas for the first time.

10:12 p.m.

Watch the last few seconds of the landmark The Great Train Robbery to fully appreciate the homage at the end of Goodfellas.

10:40 p.m.

Finish writing blog post. Worry about weak plot. Decide it isn’t a problem. Sleepy time.

I can distinctly remember a time but a few weeks ago when I relaxed away the days and slept without a care through the nights.  Ah, relaxation.

Compare that with now, when all I have time to write on my blog is a cop-out post about being busy.  Good times!

Remember that webcomic I drew for a couple of months last summer called Zoitz?  The one that is on an indefinite hiatus?

Well, for the past nine months it has been averaging less than a dozen visits per day, mostly random search engine traffic.  That changed a few days ago.

While I was backpacking at the Grand Canyon, it got picked up on Stumbleupon, and it’s been averaging over 3,000 visits per day (and 5,500 page views per day) since then.  Exciting, I guess.

If I did revive it, I would do so with a new style.  I wouldn’t feel right continuing to rip off the xkcd style.  Too bad I don’t feel inspired to draw anything new.

The numbers say a lot:

• 1600 miles driven
• 37 gallons of gasoline burned
• 24 miles hiked
• 4400 feet climbed
• All in 86 hours

What the numbers don’t tell you is that I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to the Grand Canyon.

Spring is the right time to visit the south rim of the canyon. Everything is open, the temperature is pleasant, and the crowds are relatively small.

I’ve always heard that photos don’t do the Grand Canyon justice, and I’d have to agree. What’s more, I found it difficult to appreciate just how BIG the Canyon was until I backpacked down into it. The 4400 feet between the rim and the river become much more daunting when you’re at the bottom.

Some of the photos from my trip may make it to my Flickr stream, but most of the rest will stay in a separate gallery, which includes a number of captions that say more about my trip.

I visited Yosemite today and was struck by the beauty of the environment and the awesome size of the natural wonders.  Still, it could not compare with the beauty of the spring landscape on the drive back to Stanford.

With just a couple of hours until sunset and some thin clouds covering the sky, the world was bathed in a surreal glow.  All of the greenery seemed somehow more vibrant.  All of the roads seemed more perfectly in harmony with the terrain they traversed.  The trees fit with the fields, placed where they belonged, still in the calm air.

The drive from about Big Oak Flat, CA to Knights Ferry, CA was one of, if not the most, beautiful I have ever experienced.  I was taken by what met my eyes.  I felt an immense peace with the world.

I was torn between stopping and photographing it or continuing on, but I finally decided that I had better take some shots.  I felt that what I was seeing was one of those special moments, when everything aligns in a way that might happen once a lifetime, and I knew I would never again have that opportunity.

With the window closing, I focused on a single tree in the distance.  I took some photos and continued on.  A few minutes later, the sun broke through the clouds, sank lower in the sky, and the moment was lost but to my memory and my camera.

Well, lost but to me and the handful of other people that I saw hastily parked on the side of the road, cameras in hand, snapping photos.

Tomorrow: I begin my drive to the Grand Canyon for several days of backpacking.