The next afternoon, I encountered my first big hill. The wind was stronger than before, but was now working against us. The nearly sea-level plane we had been coasting across suddenly rose up 300 feet over the course of half a mile. I shifted my back gear to the lowest setting, and began to exhale sharply out of my mouth.
Read MoreWhat is Enough
I checked my gas meter. I'd accidentally missed my turn to the Barnes and Noble, but was still driving aimlessly talking to my Dad. “Values don't necessarily save you from being a hypocrite,” I thought to myself as I pulled into a parking lot to turn around. I was wasting gas while talking to my Dad about how humans are screwing the Earth.
Read MoreChemistry
As the plane lifted from the tarmac, my friends stood assembled on a bridge directly beneath the path of our initial take-off. The pilot flew low, maybe twenty feet over their heads, and I could see them screaming at us and mooning the plane below. My laughter was drowned out by the roar of the engine.Read More