Lonely Planet

Perpetual Dryness, with a Pinch of Desolation

I never thought I'd miss the color green so much. 

Everything around me is either rock or dirt, with the exception of the contents of the atmosphere dome… not that anything inside is warm or soft or comforting. The second I take off my suit and step onto the tile floor of the dome, I realize there’s just no avoiding discomfort in this place.

Even my bed is unwelcoming. I lay down every night on a set of sheets that are coarser than a burlap sack, and look almost radioactive in their sterile whiteness. In the beginning, before I broke everything in a little bit there was a constant, subtle crackling sound coming from my pillow when I laid my head on it.

So yeah, I’m really sitting in the lap of luxury here. Tim Grandy- a real success story.

The conditions have definitely made me feel more alone; which is saying something, because I’m on another planet. I dunno if I like having all this time to think. I just start remembering everything I miss back home. Not anything material-like, mainly just people.

Just the other day… I had gotten in from a harvest, and I sat down to look at the stats on my blog. For some reason I was reminded of the time I found Cassandra’s first blog post about a paranormal encounter. I can’t believe I didn’t think more of it then.

That group gave me something to hold on to in a really… I dunno if I can say dark time… maybe blank time is better. Yeah, I just literally had nothing going on and felt like I had wasted a major part of my life with my previous job. The group gave me something to do, and it was something like I’d never experienced before. When we met at Jay’s for the first time they were just strangers I met on coincidence, but by our final job I couldn’t stand the thought of it ending.

I don’t get emotional about things usually.

I just can’t believe something so significant happened to me, and now that part of my life is over.

-Tim

InDesign

Thinking about MAPI

When I lived back home in Morgantown, I used to dabble in some paranormal investigation. I guess what got me thinking about it is just my recent experience with the unbelievable...but I still think back on my time in MAPI (Morgantown Association of Paranormal Investigators) like damn, that was so intense.

I remember I got involved after this college girl Cassandra posted on an online forum. She was just looking for some answers cause she had a pretty scary time on a haunted road in Cheat Lake. It was pretty interesting. I myself hadn't had any run-ins with ghosts before I saw her post, but I always kinda believed in ghosts (kept that one to myself.) Living in Morgantown, I'd get spooked walking by really old buildings.

It's kinda like, when you're in a really old place the history is almost palpable. But when you think about the history in terms of people, you realize the possibility of spirits being left behind too.
Anyways, I got in touch with this girl Cassandra cause I was interested in hearing more about what happened to her. I dunno if that counts as exploiting the situation, but what can I say. I can be curious and apathetic at the same time, right? So sue me.

Turns out I wasn't the only guy interested. A couple other people turned up when I met up with her for the first time. There was Peter- a reporter, and the only guy who might have been exploiting the situation more than me, Alcyone- a girl who was definitely in it for the ghost chat, and Auden- there was definitely something up with this one.

All of us had our different motivations in the beginning, even though we weren't completely open with each other, but by the end of it we were a tight-knit bunch. To be honest I think what we were doing got us all really involved on a level i never expected. It was like.... I dunno, taking your work home with you. Even after we got together, I'd keep thinking about what we talked about. I mean paranormal activity became something I thought about over coffee in the morning, weird.

I have to say though, I didn't mind that it took up so much of my time- mentally and physically. In terms of being a group, we were organized as hell. We drew out maps of what we found, linked 'em together, wrote out documents for each site... The group gave me a sense of accomplishment I wasn't used to. I was really sad to say bye to those guys, but the group was coming to a kinda natural end anyway. I think in a way the closer we got to solving all of Morgantown's mysteries, the more aware we got of the association breaking up.

As someone who didn't have a lot going on before it, I hit kind of a low point after. But goddamn, the times I had with MAPI...
Well, it's late and I gotta pass out. Possibly more details of MAPI later.

-Tim

My old stomping grounds

View Tim's map in a larger map

Talk About Jet Lag

First day on the Red Planet, and I'm already homesick. There's a serious lack of "cool" colors here, and it just doesn't sit well with a being accustomed to luxuries like water, plants, and breathable oxygen. Thank Earth for the atmospheric simulation model (ASM,) which I guess I can consider my home for the coming years. 

I suppose you'll all be wanting some background as to how I came to this planet. 

Being a single man with no real direction in my life, I signed up for..... well you could call it an internship, but it's looking more like a paid life sentence. Electronics manufacturers started seeking additional sources of Iron oxide a few years back, and so they recruited long term harvesters. There weren't many folks willing to give up significant chunks of their life, so the pay is good. 

Basically, I'm here to do two things:  harvest iron oxide from the surface, ship it back to earth, and not die while I'm at it. 

I'll be posting updates from home base about everything from daily harvests, to inevitable self reflection, and maybe even a few discoveries. 

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end." 

-Hemingway