I’m about to embark on a road trip to knock a few more state capitols off of my list.

I’ve done a lot of solo road trips; normally, I have my iPhone playing music, podcasts and my turn-by-turn directions. A pretty standard setup for a road trip these days.

For the first time, I’m going to try to do without the turn-by-turn directions. I’ll have my iPad with the maps downloaded for all of the destinations I’m going to. Of the many destinations I’m going to, I’ve only driven to two of them: Kansas City and Little Rock. For the latter, I’ll be taking a non-direct route for getting there. After KC it’ll be all new territory.

As a rule, if I get off my route, I’ll pull over, look at my iPad and just figure out – maybe even ask a human for directions.

I’ll update this post as my trip goes on.

Fun little fact, do you know the difference between capital and capitol? Capital is the place, capitol is the building.

Your senator works in the US Capitol in Washington DC, the capital of the US.

For the past five years or so I’ve been trying to hit every single US state capitol building. As a rule, I only count it if I actually step foot on the grounds of the capitol. Preferably, I go inside the building and take a tour. Some places have weird hours that make this hard. So just going to the city doesn’t count.

Even though I call Canada home now, I still love exploring the US. There’s a lot of history – some good, some bad and some is just plain fascinating. Seeing and touring different capitol buildings is a great excuse to visit every state and learn a bit about them.

As of this writing, here are the ones I’ve hit so far, in not particular order.

Washington DC

Went here a long time ago, still trying to find the photo.

Lincoln, NE

Went here a long time ago, still trying to find the photo.

Pierre, SD

August 2014

Out front

In the rotunda
Bismarck, ND

From the observation deck.
Salt Lake City, UT

Sacramento, CA

For whatever reason, this is the only picture I saved from this visit.
Carson City, NV

Phoenix, AZ

Richmond, VA

Atlanta, GA

Baton Rouge, LA

The Louisiana capitol was modelled after the capitol of my home state of Nebraska. It’s the tallest capitol building in the US and just one of a handful of skyscraper capitols.

From the observation deck.
Jackson, MS

Pretty common in the south to have a monument to the former Confederacy. I’m standing next to a replica of the liberty bell which was given to each state during WW2 as part of a war bonds campaign. A lot of states will keep there’s either on the capitol grounds or inside the building.
Cheyenne, WY

Montgomery, AL

Santa Fe, NM

Oklahoma City, OK

So far, OKC is the only capitol I’ve visited with another person – my buddy Matt.
Little Rock, AR

Tallahassee, FL

Nashville, TN

Frankfort, KY

Springfield, IL

Jefferson City, MO

This year I’ve set a resolution to be more deliberate in my actions especially online. And this is what that looks like for me:

Consider the information I’m sharing and who I’m sharing it with. 

As a software developer, I let my guard down a lot more than most of my peers:

• I use a password manager, but I still get lazy and use the same password for different things.
• I rarely use VPNs or 2 factor authentication.
• I put basically all of my information into the hands of one massive corporation (Google).
• I literally created a website to share some of my intimate details – updated regularly.

Other than that last point, I don’t sound that different from the average person. Anecdotally, almost all of my friends who are outside of the tech world behave in this same manor.

Consider my average day and what time I’m devoting to what. 

In 2019, I think most people can relate to being too attached to a screen. I think I use my phone less than the average person, but I still use it a lot. I often look back and consider how much I could have achieved if I wasn’t scrolling through Reddit or the news. Long ago I kicked my Facebook addition, but I constantly supplemented it for other things.

A lot of this second point is to simply drop my phone (which I did, more on that in another post) but it’s also more general. I started using an app called Headspace to do meditations. It’s been really nice, especially during stressful times, but I’m terrible at using it on a regular basis. Anyways, the big take away from meditation is regularly being mindful.

Tying it all together, being deliberate means being mindful of my actions online and off.

• Considering if the form I’m typing into will benefit me or cost me in the long run.
• Considering if the thing I’m doing right now is keeping me from something that will fill me with joy and accomplishment.

More articles to follow.

Sometime in the beginning of 2017 I first became aware of the idea of living “Zero Waste”. First introduced to the idea when Lauren Singer was featured as the mystery guest on NPR’s Ask Me Another and she talked about her mason jar that represented her trash over however many months.

Screw that.

That was my sincere initial reaction. As months passed by I began to see every single piece of trash I was throwing into the garbage. Every paper towel, ever take out container, coffee cup began to convert into this pile of guilt. Simply by noticing the bits of completely avoidable trash I began to realize it might not be that crazy of an idea.

For 2017, I set a resolution to go zero waste. Throughout the year the target constantly shifted and getting all of my trash to fit in a single mason jar began to, once again, seem like a impossible task.

Over a series of articles I’ll outline my year and where I am now.