I love mapping, cycling, being outdoors, and reading.
With regard to mapping, for the past two years whenever I have had free time on a rainy or cold day, I would spend my time filling in landuses among Northern Kentucky on OpenStreetMap, especially focusing on areas called “TIGER deserts” (TIGER is a US Census dataset of all roads in America that was imported into OSM approximately a decade ago, but the data is poor and unaligned, and often needs cleaned up). Another activity in OSM that I partook in was the humanitarian mapping of Bowling Green after the tornadoes in December of 2021 so that rescue workers could use accurate maps.
I also love cycling because it allows me to explore the world in an intimate way that i find driving fails to do. During the quarantine of 2020 I spent most of my time biking around Cincinnati, eventually racking up 3,500 miles in half a year.
I also love being outdoors, whether this means hiking, gardening, foraging, etc. During the summer before college I harvested a pound and a half of wineberries (invasive raspberry-like berries from Japan) from the train tracks near my house. I then made pancakes with the berries! Maybe next year I will make a jam?
Along the lines of being outdoors I love to manage invasive species in my town. At Tower Park, in Fort Thomas, I have assisted in the cutting down of acres upon acres of invasive honeysuckle. For Christmas, my dad gifted me an electric chainsaw so that I could do the same in the forest behind our house.
Reading is another passion of mine, in which there are two genres I love to read the most. My favorite books are by Orwell and Steinbeck and subsequently I love great depression-era literature. My other favorite books are half-travelogue and half-history, especially when they focus on the history of Russia and Central Asia, which are places I find endlessly fascinating. Ultimately, my favorite book I have ever read is Orwell’s Keep the Aspidistra Flying which is about a poet who struggles with the idea of being successful while earning merely a few joeys per day working at a floundering bookstore. While the book is ultimately very depressing, I found it inspiring with the message it had towards growing up and applying yourself even in the face of obstacles that seek to force you towards being down and out.
Case Grillot 