Accidental Ocean @accidentalocean - Tumblr Blog

Goodbye tumblr!

Hey friends,

I’m formally giving up this blog. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been feeling discontent about using tumblr for a long time now. Around this time last year, I realized social media had a tight grip on my life, and I didn’t like that feeling, so I deleted my Facebook, and I’m slowly whittling down some others. I feel like tumblr has been an excuse to waste time for hours instead of being productive. I also feel like it’s been an outlet for ambiguous feelings that shouldn’t be vented on here, but rather just told directly to people, because that’s more of an adult thing to do.

Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye and thank you to everyone who was kind enough to follow me and befriend me on here! Over a thousand of you were that kind. I am so incredibly grateful for everyone who I have made friends with because of tumblr, and I’m so lucky to still call many of you my friend, some even in real life now! That is the amazing power of the internet.

Not that anyone really cares, but I think I’ll still leave this up, at least for awhile. I would love to keep in touch with some of you, so if we aren’t connected and you want to be, find me on Twitter or Instagram. I will of course still be keeping my photography blog, as I update that regularly.

Thanks to everyone for all of the laughs, memories, meet ups, and whatever else we may have shared. Best of luck to you all!

- Brian

This morning, my great great grandparents were immortalized in the streets of Kassel, Germany. These two bronze stones, or "stolpersteine," were embedded in the sidewalk outside of the coffee business owned by my great great grandfather, Hermann Weiler. His father, Carl, patented vacuum packing of coffee. During the 1930s, as the Nazi regime gained steam, Hermann spoke out publicly against Hitler and Nazi politics. In late 1939, my grandfather, his sister, and their parents fled to Dallas shortly after Germany invaded Poland. Hermann and Frieda, his wife, stuck around to maintain the family business. The Nazis heard of Hermann's opposition to their party, took him to a concentration camp, and murdered him in December 1939. Frieda, now widowed, managed to get a boat ticket on a crowded cargo ship with her brother to South America. Her brother died on the journey. She made it to Columbia, where she worked for six months, enough to save for a ticket to Dallas, where she was reunited with the family. A crowd of 30 people gathered outside of the site of Hermann's coffee business in Kassel this morning to embed this stone in the sidewalk, which is inscribed with his and Frieda's names for their bravery. I feel so grateful to have been able to attend this ceremony and to have such a rich and fascinating family history.

So good to be reunited with old friends for the weekend at the Jersey Shore! You know you're in good company when you can see people you haven't talked to in months and you can pick up right where you left off and it feels completely normal. It's good to be back east!

#🐺 (at Island Beach State Park)

#🐺

Miles away from any trails and totally soaked from wading through creeks and falling rain, we told ourselves we would go around one more river bend before we headed back. I spotted this behemoth from a distance and we were both instantly awestruck of its size. It was by far the biggest redwood I had ever seen! Tyler was a brave soul and decided to climb it for me so I could capture its true scale. Perhaps my favorite feeling in the world is being amongst nature that makes me feel small.

thefreshexchangeblog

micdotcom

Bernie Sanders’ free college bill really should win him every millennial’s vote

On Tuesday, the independent senator from Vermont introduced the College for All Act, which would make attendance of any four-year public college or university free of charge for any American student who can meet admissions standards. t’s one of Sanders’ biggest issues — and smartest bets.

rebel-feathers

PLEASE VOTE FOR BERNIE

sweetgooglymoolgly

VOTE FOR BERNIE

accidentalocean

I’m all aboard the Bernie train.

On Sunday, I made the five hour drive up to Redwood National Park for the second time in three weeks. This time, I went alone, and figured it would stay that way. However, through some mutual friends, I ended up staying at @tygreenbiker and @dirty_derek's house near the park, whom I had never met before. They turned out to be some of the most hospitable guys I have ever met! The next morning, @tygreenbiker even decided to tag along for my hiking adventure, which would have been alone. We set off for a remote and desolate section of the park, in search of a particular tree that I have been wanting to see badly. We were far from any trails, and our hike yesterday was the most difficult of my entire life. We waded thigh deep through chilly rivers and creeks, ascended 20 foot tall dams of fallen redwoods, and hiked on top of dense underbrush formed over millions of years in a rainforest - at a 45 degree incline. Oh, and did I mention it was raining the whole time, making everything slippery? At one point, I fell and landed on my back so hard that I'm sure I would have broken it if I wasn't wearing a big backpack. Although we didn't find the tree, it was a hell of an adventure, and the experience alone made it well worth it. I am so glad to have had Tyler with me, who made my hike so much more safe and enjoyable. I'm just really thankful for all of the people I have met out on the road in my life, and also for beautiful nature calling my name to get out there. More pictures to come soon! 🌲

Earlier this year, my dad, a family friend, and I flew to Arizona for a road trip of a lifetime. While we were driving to Monument Valley, I spotted these horses in the distance from the side of the road. I made my dad stop our rental car and I slowly approached these beautiful creatures. At first, they were startled, but eventually they warmed up to me. Before I knew it, I was about 1,000 feet from the car, and maybe 50 feet from these horses. Far from the road, it was entirely quiet except for the occasional neigh and my breathing. I stood perfectly still, and waited for them to make their move. After about 15 minutes of patience, they began to walk in this line together in front of the buttes and I snapped this image. It was one of the most memorable moments of not only the trip, but my life! #myAWAYcontest #traveldeeper

#traveldeeper #myawaycontest

Name that tune! Hint: it's an oldie but a goodie☺️)