For New Years Eve, I plan on watching my friends Irish Band, The Waxies, perform at Quinn and Tuite's Irish Pub in Grand Rapids and heading to downtown Grand Rapids for the first ever Ball Drop as part of "New Years on the Grand."

The Bryson Christmas Tree.	Christmas Decortions	The Bryson Household

Merry Christmas!!!

Today, I went and saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra perform at the Van Andel Arena. My parents are big fans of the group and they bought a ticket for me and my grandmother to go see the concert. It was the second time that I had gone to see them live. It is a highly entertaining and coordinated show with choreographed laser lights and pyrotechnics. It was a blast.

On my GVSU page I have also added papers and presentations from this past Fall Semester.

Today, I went and saw The Verve Pipe play a reunion show at the Intersection. The Grand Rapids band rarely plays together so a chance to go see them play was an oppotunity that I couldn't pass up. The group gained national recognition with their single "The Freshmen" in the 90's.

Verve Pipe Grand Rapids Press Article



The Waxies at the Black Rose

The Waxies

Yesterday, I went and saw my friend, Nick Schooley, play with his band, The Waxies, at The Black Rose in Grand Rapids.

Yesterday, I finished my last exam of the semester. Additionally, I also recieved approval from the University to substitute CHM 311, Green Chemsitry, for CHM 321, Environmental Chemistry, in my major requirements which helps me graduate on time. If the substitution had not been allowed I would have had to wait until Winter 2010 to take CHM 321. I am excited to take Green Chemistry and grateful that the university decided favorbly on my situation.



Bottling the Holiday Ale

Boiling the priming sugar.	Beer after first fermentation.	Beer after first fermentation.
Beer mixed with the priming sugar.	Bottling.

After five days of fermentation my beer stopped bubbling, signifiying that it's time to transfer the beer from the main fermenter into bottles. I spent this afternoon transferring the beer into the bottles. In about two weeks the beer will be ready for drinking. If I want a full body beer, I should wait another week or longer. It should be ready just as the week of finals exams is getting done.

Today I excitedly watched the Space Shuttle Endeavour land at Edwards Air Force Base in California on NASA TV. It is one of the few times that I have gotten to see a shuttle land. Looking through the list of astronauts who signed my violin I found out that Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, who was on STS 126, signed my violin last year.

Boiling the beer.	Cooling the Wort.
My beer in the Fermenter.

I started my third batch of homebrewed beer yesterday. It a "Holiday Ale". The following is the description of the beer: "This is a full bodied amber beer with a rich, malty character that is flavored with orange peel, cinnamon, and other spices to create a complex winter taste treat balanced with Nugget and Willamette hops. At 8 to 9 per cent ABV, this brew is sure to warm you throughout the festive holiday season."

Yesterday, I attended a Cadillac Sky concert at the Van Singel Fine Arts Center in Byron Center, MI. My friends, Michael Henneberry and Skip meadows saw them at the Telluride Music Festival this past summer and they got me hooked on their music. It was an amazing concert. You can see photos from the concert on my photo gallery page.

Photos of my senior seminar.

Today, I gave my senior seminar for Chemistry. I gave the talk in Manitou 123 at 1pm. I presented on the "Identification of Staphylococcus aureus and Determination of Its Methicillin Resistance by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry" by Zongmin Du, Ruifu Yang, Zhaobiao Guo, Yajun Song, and Jin Wang at the Institute of Microbiology and Epidemeology in Beijing China.

Academic Paper(.pdf)

Wheelchair match that was played prior to the Sampras Exhibition.

Today, I went to see an exhibition match between Jim Courier and Pete Sampras at the Van Andel Arena. It was put on by the Miracle Match Foundation. Originally, Pete Sampras was supposed to play against John McEnroe but for some reason McEnroe had to pull out of the match. Courier gladly steped in to take his place. The match was a lot of fun to watch. Courier's goofy antics kept me laughing most of the night. Unfortunately, his antics didn't help him win the match. Sampras decisively won the best of 3 match, (6-4,6-2).

I spent this past weekend in Indiana. A philmont reunion was held down in Bedford, IN for people who live in the midwest. One of the guys families owned a farm so we went and had a bonfire on his property and partied for the weekend. About ten people showed up for the reunion. It was a lot of fun spending time with people whom I haven't seen since August and catching up on what they've been up to. IWTGBTP.

Photos taken at the MSGC Conference.

The 13th Anuual MSGC Conference was held at the University of Michigan yesterday. I participated in a presentation on the group project that I have been working on for my GIS class, "Tracing the Greatest Generation: Preserving Personal Histories though GIS and Multimedia Technology". Using GIS we are tracing the movement and locations of WWII veterns that were interviewed for Grand Valley's Veterns History Project. We did feel a little out of place being that almost all the other presentations dealt with space exlporation. However, we understood why we were there due to the fact that our professor has gotten funding from the MSGC in the past and presented at previous MSGC conferences.

I went and watched the Hudsonville High School Varsity Soccer team play Grand Haven in the first round of districts. The close game ended in a 3-1 loss by Hudsonville, thereby ending their season.

To complete two straight days of homecoming football games, I went to Grand Valley's Homecoming game yesterday. GVSU Triumphed over Hillsdale collge 41-10 and extended their undefeated streak this season to six games.

I went to Hudsonville High School's homecoming game in hopes of seeing friends from my graduating class in 2003. I ran into two poeople that I knew, Todd Geurink and Erin Witte. I also found out some sad but inspirational news. Aaron Thatcher who was on the soccer team with me, and a friend of mine, at Hudsonville was diagnosed recently with Cancer. Despite his diagnosis of cancer, and the terrible side effects of chemotherapy, he is continuing to go through medical school, uninterupted.

This past week my high school alma mater's soccer team has been playing in the conference tournament. Tonight, I went to the conference final where hudsonville won 2-0 over West Ottawa. It's been fun watching the games and meeting up with old friends of mine at the games. Watching the games makes me miss playing soccer on a regular basis.

The following video is of a goal that made by hudsonville but ruled no goal by the referee. As a result it cost Hudsonville the game. The game went to double overtime and to a double shootout. This was one of the last shots made.

In the afternoon I went and kayaked down the Little Muskegon River.

The Flowbs

Last night, I went to the Flowbs concert in Holland at Lemonjellos. I knew Eric Boyea, who is the lead singer of the group, from choir in high school and from Music Theory Classes at GVSU. I also ran into Todd Guerink, a friend from high school, who came to the concert as well. I hand't seen him for a few years. I really enjoyed the music and I was glad that I decided to go to the concert.

Today, I went and biked in the Apple Cider Century. It's an annual bike ride held in Three Oaks, Michigan. I, along with my Dad and fellow Co-Worker, Dan, completed the 62 mile loop. Timing myself including resting time and breaks, I completed the 62 miles in 6:40:02. My brother and sister in law completed the 50 mile loop. We had all intended to do the 50 mile loop, but my brother accidentlly slept in and was delayed in arriving at Three Oaks. Instead of waiting around for my brother we decided to do the longer loop and meet up with my brother at the first SAG(Stop and Go) stop. It worked out perfectly. We all rode together from the first SAG till the end of the ride.

This afteroon, the GVSU chemistry club had a Faculty vs. Student Softball game in Allendale. Unfortunately, though we, as students, lost to the Faculty once again.

This past weekend I went on a backpacking trip with GVSU Backpacking and Outdoors Club. We had planned on going to South Manitou Island for the weekend. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the harbor we found out that the ferry had been cancelled for the day due to high wind. Instead of letting the weekend go to waste, we drove about 15 mintues and spent the weekend at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I had never been to Sleeping Bear Dunes so the I knew that I would definitely enjoy my time there. It was also the first official trip of the year so it was an opportuity for me to meet new memebers of the club.

Personally, I would have rather been in Winfield, Kansas at the Walnut Valley Festival. Three of the guys that I worked with at Crater Lake this past summer went to the festival. It was something that we talked about going to almost all summer long. Unfortunately, I had an very important exam in one of my classes on Friday which prevented my from going.

Trek 4300 Bike

On September 28th, the Apple Cider Century will be taking place in Three Oaks, MI. It is an annual bike ride that happens in September each year. Since I'll be taking part in the 50 mile event this year my parents felt that it was time for me to get a new bike. So today we went to Chicago Drive Cycling and Fitness, a local bike shop, and bought a Trek 4300.

My American Nut Brown Ale

Now that I am back home I've gotten into homebrewing beer again. I picked up a new kit and I started brewing yesterday. In about three weeks my American Nut Brown Ale will be ready. The following is the package description of the beer: You’ll go nuts over the new Nut Brown. Balanced with big body and plenty of hop character, this American-style Brown Ale has slight caramel and chocolate flavors are followed by a nutty aftertaste that makes the brew a real treat for your taste buds!

I spent my first weekend back in Michigan backpacking on North Manitou Island with the GVSU Backpacking and Outdoors Club. We hiked around most of the island, swam in Lake Michigan, ate some fresh apples and enjoyed as much solitude as we could get. It was labor day weekend so, unfortunately, the Island was packed with people. I had never been to North Manitou Island so the trip was a lot of fun for me. It was also fun enjoying a weekend outdoors with people I haven't seen for three months.

After spending three of the best months of my life in New Mexico at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch I returned home to Hudsonville late in the afternoon on the 24th. I spent three long days driving across the country to make it back in time to start classes at GVSU on the 25th.

To enjoy my last few days in Michigan, I decided to go and kayak the Grand River. I went and kayaked a short section of the river that extends from the mouth of the Rogue River to 3 Mile Rd.

Tonight, I went and saw the movie Blindsight at the Urban Center for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids. It's a movie about Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man to summit Mount Everest, who is invited to a blind school in Lhasa and has the idea of taken the students to the summit of one of the Himilayan Mountains. The movie chronicles their journey and struggles.

Windmill Island

Since Tulip Time in Holland started on Saturday, I thought it would be fun to go kayaking around Holland. I decided to go an paddle around Windmill Island. The weather was gorgeous. I passed a few other kaykers so I wasn't the only one out that day.

I returned from my backpacking trip with the GVSU Backpacking Club last night. All my pictures from the trip can be found in my Photo Gallery.

After I took my last exam, I headed up to the beach in Grand Haven. A bunch of my chemistry friends headed up there to celebrate the end of the semester. They actually left as soon as I began my exam. As a result I joined them as soon as I was done. We played some frisbee on the beach and we walked along the Grand Haven Pier around sunset. Some people went swimming, but the water is still very cold. I wasn't one of them. It was a great way to end the semster.

In the evening around I went to my friend Tracy Watson's graduation party.

Grand Rapids Article.	Autographed Photo.

As soon as I completed my last Organic Chemistry Lab, I headed straight to downtown Grand Rapids. David Leestma, who was a former Space Shiuttle astronaut, was giving a talk at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. He is a native of Michigan, having spent his formative years here. I was motivated to go to the talk not only by my love for space and space exploration but also by my desire to eventually work for NASA someday.

After class there was a blood drive at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Hudsonville. I went and donated blood for the seventh time.

Organic Chem Lab was very unique toady. During lab today we took a break to go listen to a talk while our reaction product evaporated. On GVSU's Campus it was Student Scholarship Day(SSD). As part of SSD Dr. Tyrone Hayes, from the University of California at Berkely, gave a lecture titled "From Silent Spring to Silent Night" on Atrazine, a pesticide. After it was done, we went back and finished lab.

http://www.atrazinelovers.com/ - Hayes website dedicated to atrazine.

All the that was removed from the ravines.

Today, was the spring Ravine Cleanup. I went helped remove trash from the ravines behind GVA from 2-5.

Weekend Adventures

On Friday, I went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour in Midland at the Bullock Creek High School Auditorium with my friend Eric Strickler and a few of his climbing buddies. We arrived late due to bad Mapquest directions but we only missed three films. There were some really good videos and it was a lot of fun.

My kayak on the Forrester.

Kayaking along the Kalamazoo River.

Now that spring is here and the weather is conducive to outdoor activities I decided to go kayaking in Saugatuck. I paddled along the Kalamazoo River from Saugatuck through the Kalamazzo Harbor to the lakeshore and back. The trip took me about 2 hours and the weather was just georgous.

In the evening Chris, one of my friends from backpacking club, took part in a Fashion Show on Grand Valley's Campus. To show support I went and watched the show.

I just recently got copies of the pictures and videos taken from when I went climbing at Climb Kalamazoo. They are posted in the blog entry for that day.

My amber ale.

I bottled my beer after letting the wort ferment for a week. The beer in the bottles will now undergo a second fermentation for two more weeks after which I'll be able to enjoy my first batch of homebrewed beer.

Today, Louisville lost to North Carolina in the sweet sixteeen. Louisville is my Dad's Alma Mater so of all the teams in the tournament I was rooting for them to win do their best. North Carolina was just too good. Now that I don't have a team to root for I just going to enjoying watching good Basketball. If I were to choose a team I would root for this years cinderella story, Davidson. March is one of my favorite times of the year.

Homebrewing

Fermenter in which my Amber Ale in fermenting.

Due to my interest in chemistry and my own personal curiosity I have begun homebrewing beer. I purchased a Brewer's Best kit for an American Amber Ale and I mixed up the indgredients this past Thursday. The ale in currently fermenting in my bathroom.

This past weekend I attend both of the Grand Valley regional tournament Basketball games. They won both games and will play in the regional final tomorrow. Yesterday, I attended the regional final game where Grand Valley took on Findlay. They won 75-58 and advanced to the Division II Elite 8.

I returned back to Michigan from Spring Break around 5:00 on Friday. We came back a day early due to circumstances of the trip and the fact that a huge winter storm was hitting the east coast. After a couple days of recuperation I had invited the whole group over to my house for a post-trip party. We reminisced about the past week, enjoyed some good food, and watched two movies together(The Great Outdoors and The Simpsons Movie).

Tonight, there is a talk being put on by Robert Bindschadler from the NASA Goddard Space Center on "Discovery: The Warming & Waking of the Polar Ice", which I plan on attending.

Lecture Description

I went with my parents and saw the Blue Man Group perform their "How To Be a Megastar 2.1" tour at the Van Andel Arena. My Dad has always been intersted in the group and when she saw that they were going to be peforming locally she decided to get tickets. The show was very funny and entertaining.

Grand Rapids Press Article

Snowshoeing on frozen Lake Michigan.

I went snowshoeing with the backpacking club at Sandy Mound along the Michigan lakeshore. We hiked around most of the trails there and on the frozen waves that lined the shore. Afterwards we had lunch at the Main St. Pub in Allendale. In the evening, I went and watched the Last Laker Standing Finals, which was campuswide stand up comedy competetion. As soon as the competition ended I went downtown to Mojo's Bar with a few friends of mine.

Total Lunar Eclipse as seen from Hudsonville, MI.

Tonight there was a total lunar eclipse. I went outside and watched the eclipse for a short while and I got my telescope out to take a closer look. We were very fortunate in the fact that it was a very clear night and there were no clouds in the sky.

I went skiing up at Caberfae with other members of the Backacking and Outdoors Club in the evening. It was my first time out skiing this year.

This evening I went and saw the Clasical Mystery Tour with the Grand Rapids Symphony. The show lasted about two and a half hours and featured many of the classic Beatles songs. I initally sat in the wrong seat and had to move to a my actual seat, but before I did I had some interesting converstaion with those around me. One of the ladies who sat near me saw the Beatles Live in 1965.

It was a very fun and memorable Friday evening.

Grand Rapids Press Article

Yesterday, Focus the Nation took place. Focus the nation was a nationwide Teach-In on climate change solutions for America. At GVSU ,we had a small sustainabile business fair, a panel discussion, and a showing of Leonardo Dicaprio's, The 11th Hour.

GVSU Focus the Nation Event Page

Today, the GVSU campus is closed due to winter weather. I believe it is the second time that the university has closed while I have been attending GVSU.

Today, is my Twenty-Third birthday. To celebrate I went out and had dinner with my parents at Chili's in the evening. Aftewards, I enjoyed watching Australian Open Tennis on TV. I was surprised at Roddick's loss early in the tournament. However this year hasn't been lacking in good matches with the third-round five set matches for Blake, Hewitt, and Federer. I am looking foraward to watching the Blake vs. Federer quarterfinal match tomorrow night.

I purchased thelifeofbryson.com a few days ago to house my personal website.

Yesterday, I spent the evening at Climb Kalamazoo indoor rock climbing. My friend Logan Fritz, who worked at Philmont, just got back from studying abroad in China a few days ago and his dad purchased an overnight climbing experience as a gift. We spent the whole evening trying as many routes as possible. It was a lot of fun but very exhausting at the same time. I hadn't been rock climbing in over a year and a half.

Belaying at Climb Kalamazoo

Rock Climbing at Climb Kalamazoo

I recieved an email from Philmont offering me the Camp Director position at Crater Lake this summer. I gladly accepted the position. If I don't get accepted to any of the REU opportunities I am applying for I will defintely be working there this summer. I'll make the tough decision in May.

When I was younger, Colleen O'toole, was a girl who lived down the street. I hung out with a lot because my parents were good friends with her parents. As a result, we played together a lot during my formative years in elementary and middle school. It was brought to my attention that she is featured on a student profile page at her college, Alma College.

GVSU Backpacking and Outdoors Club Student Enviornmental Coalition GVSU Sustainability GVSU New Music Ensamble Philmont Staff Association Western Michigan Chapter of the NCTA Siciliano's Market First Ascent Gear The Music of the Lord of the Rings Blog The Tobasco Donkeys Austin Best's Website Bryce Blakenship's Blog Gentex Corporation Progam Error.com (My Brothers Website)

The North Star (PDF) - Article in The North Star, the North Country Trail Association's Quarterly Newsletter, regarding the section of trail I helped build near Lowell, MI during the Fall of 2009. (October - December '09). High Country - Trail Talk (PDF) - Featured in the Trail Talk section of the Philmont Newsletter (December '09). GVSU Chemsitry Department Newsletter (PDF) - Article about GVSU's 2009 Chemistry Department graduating class (September '09). GVSU Articles/Graduate Listing (PDF) - Articles from the Fall '08 - Winter '09 academic year in which I am indirectly mentioned and 2009 GVSU graduate listings. High Country - Trail Talk (PDF) - Featured in the Trail Talk section of the Philmont Newsletter (February '09). High Country - Trail Talk (PDF) - Featured in the Trail Talk section of the Philmont Newsletter (February '08). High Country Page (PDF) - Brief article about conservation at Dan Beard in the Philmont Staff Association's Monthly Newseletter, High Country (September '08). Newspaper Articles (PDF) - Newspaper articles in which I have been featured.

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