The Start of a New Day

Weekend with Ethan

2011-07-18T20:46:00.003-05:00

.: Two weekends ago was a bit crazy. My buddy Ethan's car did die in Yreka so he ended staying from Thursday through Monday. Which sucked for him but was awesome for me. We got to have some fun around Ashland, eat some food and drink some wine. Was a good time. After we got his car fixed he took off on his way.

Seattle Kids

2011-07-07T17:48:00.002-05:00

.: How I love long weekends, especially when friends are involved. My buddy Tim came down to Ashland with his lady Kate (Kate's parents live here too) so we got to hang out. We went out for cocktails on Saturday and then went to the parade on Monday. Was pretty epic times. Makes me miss Seattle a bit much but Ashland is a killer town to hurray for that :) I'm trying to find time to go up to Seattle for a week or something, but time is a hard things to find, so is money...

.: But on the same note, another friend Ethan is moving to Vancouver BC and is stopping here tonight as a waypoint. Well hopefully, he just called me saying check engine light came on in Yreka. He's got a mountain range to get over before he hits Ashland and there isn't "much" in between here and there... I'm hopeful and excited :)

Out From The Mist

2011-06-28T16:40:00.005-05:00

.: After ever so long, I decided to post an article. This is the longest I've ever gone without writing on my blog since I started one years and years ago. Yicks... So what's been going on? Lots... To much to put in a single post without me going nuts.

.: Well, this past winter I got to go skiing a bunch at Mt. Ashland. My skis still work after 11 years. My boots on the other hand, not so much. I couldn't figure out how to make my ankle/foot not hurt. However, even with the pain, I had a blast! The ski area has a lot of variety and there seemed to always be powder somewhere. Didn't ski the bowl but I did pretty much everything else. I snagged a season pass for next year so game on!

.: I opened a little Etsy Store to sell the random sewing projects I've been making. Also, I got a lot better at sewing... Wow, was I bad before. I'm still not "great" but I'm a lot better now. Check out my coffee cozies and whatever else I have up there: http://www.etsy.com/shop/gobobgo82

.: Ally and I have been doing great. We've had our ups and downs as any couple might. We're hoping that we can relax a bit this summer and just have some us time away from things. We didn't get to take a honeymoon so our "One Year Together Trip" is still being figured out. I'm excited for whatever it holds.

.: I started eating meat again. The reason for starting to eat it is the same reason that I gave it up, I hate making two menus or arguing about where to go based on dietary needs. I've slowly been adding meat to my diet since November. I'm finally to the point where I can eat most things. I had a steak the other day and it was awesome. One thing though, NOTHING will taste as good as the "thought" of bacon. It tasted amazing in my head, and real bacon, not so much. It's still good, but not earth shattering like it was in my head.

.: I purchased a new bike, Casper, a Swobo Sanchez. Its all white and black with a corduroy top tube protector that has a scene of skeletons having tea on it. Its a lot of fun to ride around. I won my first Alleycat on it too! Rode all over town collecting random things and pulled down the W. There is a fun time.

.: I started to get into gardening. I landscaped around my apartment. Pruned a bunch of plants. Planted new ones. I have a little herb garden going that I'm very exciting about, chives, cilantro, mint and basil. I've only killed some of the cilantro. That stuff is weird. I have much to learn.

.: That is gonna be it from me for right now. I'll see how the readership responds as most of you probably left after the hibernation started. Hope everyone out there is well and I'll post again soon.

Bored...

2010-11-09T10:57:00.003-06:00

.: Last night I was pretty bored... TF2 wasn't going well for me... Ally was super tired and wanted her space... So I went to my man cave... Ally had gotten home from Medford and said that she was gonna get a cable case to manage all her computer cords but didn't get it for some reason. She said she wanted one for a long while. Well... I have a sewing machine and left over canvas... I can make her one... Why not... So I pulled everything out... sketched out a REALLY rough design and starting cutting... Sewed it together with only a couple messes... After not using the machine for a year, I was really pumped that I could thread it and get it going at all.. I'm SURE that it will fall apart due to some weak sewing skills, for for the time being, you can put cables in the pockets, fold the top flap down and roll it up... Pretty cool I think. :)

Back to Climbing

2010-10-12T21:04:00.002-05:00

Ahhh getting back to one of my old hobbies, gym rock climbing. Found a climbing gym up in Phoenix (Oregon not Arizona) which is like 15 minutes north from me. I was pumped so I invited a friend (Ryan) to go with me to check it out. Ryan told me "Why not goto the one on campus?"..... There is one ON CAMPUS?! SWEET! I bugged a different friend (Curtis) to come with me as Ryan was busy or something. Don't remember. The gym is small... The size of a racket ball court (cuz it is one that was renovated). But it's close... really close.. down the hill... And cheap.. $65 for a year.... I've gone 3 times now, so in my mind I've paid half of it off already! I've done most of the bouldering routes already but hey, for next to nothing and for it being 2 minutes away, I'm happy. There are top roping routes that I have yet to do and I'm meeting peeps. The guys that work there are cool and nice. The peeps I've been climbing with are upbeat and I can actually help some of them. A couple of them and I have been playing Tim & my game named "Who can do this route using the fewest holds"... That's a lot of fun :)

Well.. back to doing pointless stuff...

Marco... POLO!!

2010-09-15T21:44:00.002-05:00

.: I had a really really long day.. Things breaking.. Things not working.. Things annoyed me.. All-in-all a realllllly long day.. So I pulled out the hammock and had a beer. That was great! Rested up a bit and then the best end of a day.. Went out to play some bike polo!!

.: I got to the school where it was going to happen and waited around till some peeps showed up.. Luke, the organizer and Emerit, the serious player and Jacob showed up and after introductions and briefly explaining the local rules we picked teams off we went...

.: A few things to know.. Bike polo is:

a physical sport with a lot of purposefully putting yourself in the way of a speeding bike
a crazy mental chess game of when to put yourself in harms way and when to go play goalie
a demanding game of endurance as I just got home and can't feel my arms
a game best played on a free wheel bike with your brake on the non-dominate hand (left in my case..) (I showed up with a fixie with a rightie brake.. suck)

.: It was a lot of fun! Total goals scored by me... zero... Total goals blocked by me... a couple.. Number of times I had to go and tag back in... I don't know the name of the number that high... Dang is it hard to switch directions that quickly and avoid getting smashed into or smashing into other peeps..

.: I'm so showing up next week for another beating!

Oh Come On!

2010-09-14T23:42:00.000-05:00

.: I was feeling pretty motivated today so I decided to go on a little bike ride. Went up the main trail toward Medford. After 5 miles on the road, *thunk*, *thunk*, *thunk*..... flat tire.. Oh well. Pulled out my extra tube and my co2.. Filled and got back on the road.. Pulled off and went to the bike shop that is just off the trail and picked up another tube and co2... Started off again and had to stop after running over some bumps that messed up my alignment on my back tire... Started YET AGAIN.. and flew up the trail stopping short of Medford by a little.

.: Coming home was nice. It was pretty much up hill the whole way but nothing horrible. And then, like a mile from my other flats, *thunk* *thunk*.... You have got to be kidding! Ok, I just went over some bad bumps and my tire was completely flat, maybe I just knocked air out. So I flagged another biker down and borrowed his pump so I didn't kill my co2 on a dead tire.. Didn't work. So I thanked the guy and pulled out my spare and fixed it up.. AGAIN... and got back on the road.

.: Made it home without any more issues.. 25 miles, 2 flats and a great ride later.. Screw the flats.. It was nice..

Oh My

2010-08-29T16:13:00.001-05:00

Sorry Readers.. I haven't been posting as much as I should be.. I was getting married... I'll try to be better :(

-D

Mt. McLoughlin

2010-08-29T14:49:00.003-05:00

.: Yesterday I got a chance to return to something I used to more regularly, go climb a mountain. :) I had been looking at Mt McLoughlin since Ally and I drove into Ashland for the first time and I saw it's pretty snow covered peak sitting all alone in the distance. I thought it was going to be a multi-day trip so I kind of put it off till I ran across an actual trail report. Apparently it is only a 11 mile trail (round trip) with 4000ft vertical. That isn't very much longer then Mount Si or Mailbox Peak... So game on! Granted I didn't have anyone to hike with as Ally was on duty but I was motivated...

.: I started out at 7am to get to the trailhead by 8am... At an average of 2mph I was hoping that I'd make it to the peak by 11ish. Sadly however, I parked at the wrong trailhead. Well it wasn't the "wrong" one, it just want the easy one. Soooo I ended up hiking an extra 2 miles in and 2 miles out and an extra 600 vertical feet (give or take). Ended up being a 14 miles and 5400ft vertical..... Suuuucckkk... I was really hurting by time I was at the summit (at 12:30...) The sad/funny part is that I was actually going to give up and not summit less then 300 ft from the actual top. I told myself that I'd just go around the giant rock and head back down. I went around the rock and BOOM, fire lookout base and the summit.

.: Started back down the mountain after failing to eat lunch cuz I couldn't actually chew it.. Not good... Got down off the seemingly endless ridge (seriously, it went on forever... I thought it was long on the way up.. it seemed twice as long on the way down) Got into the forest and thought I missed a trail branch so I got out my phone to GPS it up... that plus my compass had me on the right track... I was just worrying... Kept my spirits up by singing random songs to myself. Man it sucks hiking alone.

.: I got to my car and couldn't be happier to drive away from the trailhead... I was beaten, bruised, and happy I made it. The mountain didn't beat me. It tried.. It tried really hard.. But I made it..

Hangin with Louie and Ash

2010-06-09T19:51:00.003-05:00

.: Couple weekends ago Ally and I went up to New Glarus to hang out with Louie and Ashley and dang was that a fun time. We started off at the bakery for some yumminess (thanks Sarah and Steve for the heads up on that one) and then a coffee shop to get some coffee and chat. Ally got a bit sun burnt there as we were hang out outside. After coffee we headed to the brewery for a tour and some tasting time :) That was awesome.. Yummy Yummy beers. Ended up buying a case+.

.: We took off and went up to Madison for Brat Fest. I got a veggie brat which was yummy. We hung out some, more eating and chatting, people watching and simply enjoying the day. We decided to catch a movie so we went to Star Cinemas to see Price of Persia. Good flick. Action filled but the bad guy was apparent from the beginning (though I thought there were two bad guys..).. idk I enjoyed it..

.: We left there and went to get some dinner. Had a great wine and wonderful food.. Was a great end to an awesome day. Ally and I went home happy. :)

Move Part 1 Finished

2010-06-09T19:42:00.002-05:00

.: Ally and I finally have all our stuff off the 13th floor and crammed into our new "apartment" on the 11th floor. Sooo many boxes.. We lost our silverware in a box somewhere.. We were doing great in labeling and documenting where everything is but the last couple days things, well things just fell apart. We were just trying to get everything out... I was super super tired and lifting boxes pushed me to my limit.. I ended up just kicking some clothes bags down the stairs cuz I couldn't deal with it anymore... *sigh* It is stressing me out just thinking about it..

.: But now we're waiting for part 2 of the move; loading up the moving truck and getting it on the road.. Part 3 is us driving cross country... So so much yet to do but we'll get it done somehow.

On The Road Again

2010-05-26T18:08:00.004-05:00

.: Oh man... Moving time again.. Another 2000+ mile move... But this time, I have a partner in moving! Downside, just means more stuff to box... Upside, someone else help plan and move stuff.. Ally got a job in Ashland Oregon at SOU, starts on July first.. Puts our moving date on June 23rd.. hittin the road again... I can't believe I'm on the road again. We're gettin quotes from moving companies to move our stuff out for us.. We got a front runner but nothing reserved yet.. *sigh*

.: I am excited to be moving out of Illy. Sad to leave my new friends here.. Pumped for new opportunities.. Nervous about starting all over again.. Really pumped to learn how to build a bike (there is a bike frame school out there).. Disappointed that the new apartment has less space.. Super happy about the fact that we'll have a patio!!

.: Mixed bag of stuff.. Overall, I'm happy.. just nervous about getting there..

Finally Did It

2010-05-26T18:01:00.003-05:00

.: I was on a ride today.. Went north on a nice frontage road with a big shoulder. To put the cherry on top, it was not very busy.. That being said, it was super windy (head wind). I really enjoyed the first half of my ride. Pushed me hard but not to the breaking point. It was funny that I choose that route cuz I turned north into the way of a rain storm. It didn't rain on me though, which was nice. The road dropped me on 1st ave which I knew the way home on.. I took it in and at a red light it happened.. I started to track stand to wait out the light and then....... boom..... I hit the pavement.. I just fell over with my feet clipped in... First time for everything... I was hoping I could skip that first but nope. Couldn't declip and down I went. *sigh*

Wedding Blog Is Up

2010-03-20T16:57:00.002-05:00

Hey guys, for those who want to follow what Ally and I are doing for our wedding we have a blog going at: http://dusoldbeckwedding.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to comment on anything on there. It should be a good time though!

Vacy and Weddings

2010-03-20T16:26:00.003-05:00

Spring Break came and went. Ally and I took off to California's Santa Cruz/Big Sur area. Oh man was it amazing! I went into Chicago to pick Ally up from TPE and we went to the Hampton Inn to set us up to get to Midway the next morning (Hampton Inn has a $20 parking pass so you can park there for 14 days well worth the room rate). We got up and caught the 7am shuttle to the airport and by 7:30 we were at our gate.......... Definitely not Slow'Hare... I really didn't know what to do with myself.. Oh well.. Hurray for Midway. The flight was fine.. Ally and I watched Devil Wears Proda and before we knew it we landed. Got our bags and caught the shuttle to the rental cars and picked up my little Chevy Aveo. Not a great car but it was cheap.

We drove over the wonderful "hill" to Santa Cruz, bought some wine and found our way to Dave and Judy's house were our adventure begins.

The first day was hanging out in Santa Cruz, going to cafes and stores and generally showing Ally around my old home. Then we went wine tasting with Nico and Sarah and hung out. It was a good first day.

Day two was spent in San Francisco with Nico. Sara didn't want to join as she was going to San Fran the next day (after already being there the day before). Nico showed us around and was a GREAT tour guide. The day grew cold and we went back to Santa Cruz tired but extremely satisfied.

Day three was spent on a hike along the beach and then to a private wine tasting at Alfaro's where I got to do my very first barrel tasting. Oh mannnn that was sweet. He's an amazing guy! Huge thanks goes out to him for opening the place up on a day off so we could taste. I brought back 3 bottles from him. Yummy yummy yummy. But the day wasn't over as I took everyone out to Soif for dinner that night. More good wine and some great food. I love that place, you can never go wrong with anything you pick.

Day four had Ally and I going off to Monterrey Bay and it's aquarium. I always enjoy that, though it was a little lame since there were 9,000 school field trips that day and way to many kids shouting. We still had fun though. We left and went down to Big Sur and checked into Glen Oaks. What a sweet place. We had a nice cabin with a fireplace and a huge bathroom (seriously it was an awesome bathroom). It's located right in the middle of Big Sur. A+ is all I'll say. That night we went out to dinner at Nepenthe where we had some lovely food and got to watch the sun set over the Pacific. Soooo amazing.

Day five was filled with missions. Mission one: go to a cute little cafe for breakfast. Check. Mission two: go to a waterfall. Check (was a nice little one and the hike to it was easy and lovely). Mission three: go to the red sand beach. Negatory. We ran up against a raging stream that had swelled from the rain we had previously. New plan, go to the point at the same place. Check. Nice little hike to a pretty overlook of where I wanted to go. Mission four: Ask Ally to marry me! Check!!! After calming down my nerves and stumbling a little, I got down on my knee and looked at Ally and said "To many more checklists. Will you marry me?" Boom.. Done.. Ally's response, "Are you serious?"........... ummmm... yes.... yes I am.... lol.. but she said yes and I'm now engaged! Hot sauce!

Day six was just driving back to Santa Cruz and rocking dinner with everyone. I did get to see Gobi and Sofi though which I'm super pumped about!

Day seven "The Way Home". We got up, packed, and took off for San Jose. I stopped to get gas per the rental agreement on my car. Dropped the car off and......... where did my wallet go?! I had it when I stopped for gas 5 minutes ago.... NO where to be found. Alamo peeps drove me over to the gas station... nothing..... Ohhhh Noooooo... How do you fly with no ID.... Crap... So after searching everywhere... I went into the airport and asked the ticket counter... They said security would let me though with a bunch more searches and things... Went to security... gave them my checkbook and my debit card (the only things left)... and after having the head of security check them, they let me through?!??!?!? Hotness!! go to the metal detector... and I set it off... get the full pat down... why? cuz I forgot to take off my watch because I was sooo worried about just getting to that point.. oh well.. Got through and flew home...

All in all, a great vacation!

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-17T21:18:00.002-06:00

.: Ally and I woke up, rather latish for a rather interesting Valentines Day... We started out making some realllllly yummy crepes... We had strawberries, pineapple, raspberries and mango. When you add in the homemade whipped cream and some mimosa... It was a great start to the morning. Later we started making dinner which I didn't take pics of, but was Ally and my first attempt at homemade ravioli... Needless to say, we failed... not horribly but we didn't succeed either.. They were falling apart, couldn't serve them, and generally failed.. Oh well.. The night wasn't killed.. Just set back. We watched our gifts to each other (we got the pixar movies).. and relaxed the rest of the night. It was a nice day :)

.: PS. Love ya Ally!

Ambient Light Accessories...

2010-02-03T17:54:00.004-06:00

.: I'm on REI's twitter feed... I like REI. They are a good company and they sell sweet stuff... That being said, They posted this product two days in a row, Mammut's Ambient Light Accessory... I looked at it and said, dang you want $10 for this? It's a simple defuser.... The first ad they posted was for $40 but it included the headlamp... but still.. it's a lot of money...

.: So I made my own for about 5 cents... a foot of wax paper from the kitchen, roll it a couple times and tape it to my headlamp. it's water proof and waaaay lighter then the mammut one... So for any hiker/camper out there that wants to share some light in a tent... grab some wax paper and save your $10.

My New Wheels!

2010-01-27T19:06:00.003-06:00

.: John hooked me up with some killer wheels! They look killer on my Bianchi... This shot if funny cuz I don't have the gears so I just kinda put the chain on there.. and my bike computer is on my rear stay.. but whateve' it's still super sexy! Thanks John for them.. They are liiiiiiiight (though the gears are gonna add some weight) I can't wait till spring when I can bring this baby out on the roads again :)

Illy Winter 2, Dan's Pride 0

2010-01-27T18:54:00.003-06:00

.: I hate snow and the cold and winter in general. I don't mind visiting cold places, I just don't want to live in them... I moved to Illy for Ally cuz she's my love and I didn't want to be away from her.. but dang it.. I hate the snow... So last week I had to put more money on my card so I could do laundry... The place you do that is a block or two away, so I just hopped on my bike... Got there no problem... Put the money on... Hopped back on and splat... Down I go... I was rounding a corner with one of the university golf carts right behind me... I was nervous with that thing behind me so I was going a bit faster than I really wanted to be going and ice can really just mess your day up... I bounced off the ground and got back on my bike and road off.. No harm no foul...

.: Fast forward to today... I was coming home from the bike shop where I had just picked up some rim tape for my new wheel set.. I was crossing the rail road tracks, making sure to take them at enough of an angle so as to not get my wheels stuck on a rail........... failed......... Down I went.. In traffic... slammed my hand into the road and jammed my thumb and scrapped my knee.. Suckkkkk... Got back up and road off before anything else could happen.... My knee throbbing and not knowing if my thumb was broken or not I peddled home and hung up my bike to clean it off... Found out that my knee was ok and even though my thumb hurt like heck, it seems to be fine, full range of motion and it's not tender to the touch..

.: My bike (Pops) is fine after both crashes.. I messed up part of my peddle but I just wrenched it back into position.. pretty bitter though.. they are sexy peddles.. I should change them out for less sexy ones for the winter... Oh well..

Trip to Wisconsin

2010-01-27T18:40:00.003-06:00

.: I got a weekend pass to go up to Wisconsin and visit friends :) Hurray for road trips!! I started out in Madison with my buddy Cha and her twin sis' Coral. We had lunch at Red Robbins and it was a blast. We chatted about everything and made the waitress a bit annoyed at us since we were there for something like 2 hours and the place was packed. I tried to make it up to her by leaving a good tip. It was awesome to see Cha again after something like 2 years(?) either way a long ass time....

.: The it was off to Budsin to hang with my hometown/Seattle buddy Ethan. We rocked out on some killer homemade fetachini alfredo! Ethan knows how to roll some amazing noodles :) We had some Old Monk and tonics... I heart Old Monk.. I heart that I know where to buy it now! Ray's Liquor and Wine in Wauwatosa. The have always had a supply if anyone is in the area and wants some amazing rum (and I hate rum).

.: The next morning Joe showed up and we got to hang out for a couple hours. Man I miss hangin with him.. We caught up on his crazy life. Chatted about what's new with me. Generally we just hung out by the lake.

.: After I took off from Budsin I went down to Madison to catch some dinner with Nora and pick up my new wheel set for my bike. Nora and I rocked out at The Old Fashioned on the capital square. I had a sad sandwich that if it hadn't been for the KILLER cheese curds and the decent fries I might have been disappointed. In the end, it was great conversation and ok food.

New Camera! Part 2

2010-01-27T18:35:00.002-06:00

.: Ohhh to have a "real" camera again! My wonderfully new Canon 50D... It's soooooo nice.. I still need a better lens for it as the one that comes with it is, well "ok" but it's got a variable f-stop depending on the zoom and even though it has a image stablizer, it could be better. It will work until I save up more money to buy the lens I want. But it's awesome to have a solid camera that I can set the f-stop and shutter speed on again. Throw in that I can white balance again... ahhhhhhh to white balance photos...

The Crazy Month of December

2010-01-14T20:42:00.002-06:00

.: Dang, December flew by. I must have driven to Wisconsin a half dozen times at least. Sister's, brothers, work, Ally's family were all on the destination list. I racked up quite a few miles on the new car. It still is running well and I'm still happy with the purpose.

.: So notable notes of the past month. I got some killer biking gear for Christmas. Pretty happy with that. Ally and I rearranged the apartment. I had my first Christmas tree :) Pretty stoked about that. Finally moved one step closer to selling the old Intripid. Saw Rent live in Milwaukee.

.: I'm getting ready to have a photo show in March. That's pretty exciting for me. First time I've shown anyone my art in ages.

.: I've been working a few freelance jobs for an old friend. That's been really good for me. I like to have new and fun challenges :)

.: A site I've worked on www.MatchSavings.org was in the New York Times. Thousands of people have now seen my work. Talk about a highlight of my work. We raised a ton of money for a great cause and my website held up to the beating!

.: Other than that, I've been busy planning a trip out to Santa Cruz for spring break. A ski trip with my buddy Louie. And generally just keeping busy. Life is good and I'm pretty happy. Minus the fact that I haven't slept very well recently.

The Dekalb Apt

2009-11-23T16:38:00.003-06:00

.: Ahh.. So many people have asked to see what Ally and My apartment looks like.. And with my new camera with the auto stitch feature it was super easy... Click and sweep! Boom.. Granted I had to bring them into photoshop to correct the levels a bit. It wanted to make them a bit to bright.. Oh well.. So this is our apartment! Yeah!! Well just the office, living room, kitchen and bike work room. Not the bedroom and bathroom.. cuz.. itz a bedroom and bathroom... lol...

Ohhhh New Camera...

2009-11-23T07:57:00.003-06:00

.: Ohhh.. New camera.. My last camera wasn't that great, the one before that got dropped and died. The bunch before that were all lent to me or works.. So I needed new camera that was "better" then my iPhone. I say "better" because a camera that you always have with you (your phone) is just really awesome.. And it can upload to Facebook... But, the quality is missing on an iPhone. So I got this sony.. Why sony? It has a backlight CMOS chip on a POINT AND SHOOT! How awesome is that... I took the pic of Ally below with no flash and just the room's bad lighting... I like it.. it also has an auto panoramic mode that you just sweep the landscape and booom.. auto big pic.. quality isn't wonderful but realllllly quick and spiffy..

One Year

2009-11-10T19:23:00.001-06:00

.: Ally and I celebrated our one year together! How amazing is that. This is my first year anniversary ever, so it is a huge deal for me. I made reservations at Wildwood Resturant in Geneva. Wow great food! Had some swordfish with a spicy sauce. Really good!

.: Ally got me a flask with an engraving on it and I got her a couple 11x14 photos of us together. I'd post pics but I'm super tired right now.

.: Basically I had a great 1 yr anniversary! Yeah us

Oh Man...

2009-11-03T16:04:00.002-06:00

.: September and October were crazy months.. I've been working on some freelance stuff.. My brother got married! I turned 27.. I bought a car.. I sat around the apartment.. I worked... I laughed and cried........ wait a moment, this isn't a graduation speech.. oh suck it..

.: So the big things, John and Nora got married. Holy balls. John, my little brother, got married to a wonderful lady, my new sister Nora. How jacked am I?! I stood up in my first wedding and held a shit eating grin on my face the whole time. The ceremony was awesome. The reception was great. I got to see my cousin again and my Aunt and Uncle who I miss dearly. I got to see my parents and my grandma and grandpa which was a treat. And I spent most of the night drinking scotch. Yesssss.. For John's bachelor party we went up to the north woods and John did a mountain bike race and Chase and I drank and watched. I hung out with the Trek team who are awesome peeps. And that night the groomsmen and John had scotch and cigars and sat around a campfire. That was awesome!

.: I bought a new car. A 2009 Honda Fit Sport w/ Nav to be exact. It was an experience to go and test drive new cars and research the heck out of all of them. I was torn between a VW and a Honda, but the VW dealer sucked and the Honda Love prevailed. Cars are really expensive and one that long ago I was thinking of getting rid of my car altogether but living in the midwest again changed that concept. I needed to get around and when the check engine light came on in the Interpid, it was time to move on. For the record, it went off again right after it came on, it was just telling me I had low oil.

.: Other than that, life here has been pretty normal. Ally and I have had a couple dinner parties which are a lot of fun. I've been hangin out at the cafe a lot. I've been bored quite a bit too. But OPE opened registration and Ally is number 5002. Rock on (for those who don't know, candidates start at 5000 so she was the third person to register). We're working on getting back out to the west coast and that makes me super happy.

.: I turned 27 a couple days ago. Hurray.. I went out in Madison on the 30th with coworkers for some wine. Always a great time! Thanks to all those who came out. And then on the 31st with family for dinner and drinks! Was a lot of fun. The day had an awkward start as we forgot to check the badger game schedule so our first choice of breakfast places was packed so we went to Lazy Jane's on Willy St and ran into my ex-gf there who is back from the peace corp. Sooooo awkward! But oh well. We all moved on. The day was a nice little day and I had a great birthday weekend with everyone!

.: With that I'll leave you with this video....

Training Day

2009-11-03T15:58:00.001-06:00

Got a trainer for my bike from my bro! Gettin ready for the winter monthes in the cold and crappy Midwest.. Tried it out and dang is it a workout!! Drippin sweat after 30 minutes.. But atleast I can attempt to stay in shape :)

New car!

2009-11-03T15:56:00.001-06:00

I got a new car! How about that.. A 2009 Honda Fit sport.. She's a lot of fun let me tell you... Not exactly quick but gets great gas mileage. Been getting 38ish on average. Still searching for a name but I'm feelin Natalia or Nat for short. Yeah for doing grown-up things!

10 Esspresso in 1 minute

2009-09-29T15:27:00.001-05:00

Col de Espresso Challenge from RAPHA on Vimeo.

Lack of Updates

2009-08-25T21:39:00.000-05:00

.: Ahh.. I'm sorry readers! I've been so busy with moving cross country and then creating my nest that updating my blogs just hasn't been a priority for me lately. I'll try to do better in the future so keep reading..

.: So besides moving what have I been up to? Humm.. Work.. Throwing dinner parties and learning how to cook better.. I bought an air purifier to help me get better.. Oh yeah.. being sick.. I've been sick for about a month and a half.. That's been fun.. lots of meds.. doctor visits.. but I think I'm done with that..

.: Really my life has just been trying to find my groove in the new apt..

First Road Bike Adventure in DeKalb

2009-08-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

View Larger Map

20 miles (give or take) at about an hour fifteen making my average speed 16mph.. I did great going out but it was slightly downhill and I had a bit of a tail wind... that being said, since it was an out and back trip, everything was slightly uphill and a headwind but I was already tired... booo..

Moving? Where?

2009-07-19T20:33:00.000-05:00

.: Itz that time again.. Time to do a major move.. This time to DeKalb... DEKALB?! Illinois... I'm gonna be a FIB... I really can't believe I'm leaving my beautiful, wonderful, pleasant Seattle.. Leaving it for the snowy wasteland of the home of barbwire.. But I go to be with my love.. She will keep me warm.. Atleast I hope.. lol.. Closing up shop here means getting rid of a couple things.. Get a moving company.. So many things to tie up here.. Being sick isn't helping at all... But still moving forward with everything.. By August 1st, I'll be a FIB (Friendly Illinois Brethern) :).. Wish me luck on everything!

Stolen Identity?!?!

2009-07-19T20:25:00.000-05:00

.: I got a phone call when I was at the bike shop. A 414 number.. I was a little leary of taking it, but I answered it anyway.. Glad I did.. It was US Bank's Fraud Department. Someone had got a hold of my debit card number and purchased a bunch of random stuff on the internet... They stopped payment on everything and reversed charges.. Cancelled my card (which I was going to use to buy my bike.. but I have others..).. Dang.. Same day as the fraud, things got resolved.. Hurray!! Still sucks that it happened.. New passwords on all my accounts.. Blah...

New Bike!!

2009-07-17T23:14:00.001-05:00

.: It doesn't have a name yet.. so if you have any ideas.. let me know.. I'll be going on a ride tomorrow to see if it tells me anything.. My first Bianchi.. A Bianchi Volpe.. Apparently itz Italian for Fox.. but thatz unconfirmed. Much thanks to Gregg's Cycle in Greenlake and Devin for getting me the hook-ups!

No Local Reading

2009-07-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

I stopped in at Borders this past week looking for a book for work and what did I get? A good laugh at Dekalb's expense... A huge area set aside for local books with only a few to fill it

Google Maps Fail

2009-06-24T18:04:00.000-05:00

Looking for a place to get my oil changed in a city I don't know so I googled oil change in Dekalb found a place. Punched it up on google maps and drove to where it said and....... Nope not there.. Drove around in a circle for a couple times.. Decided to give up and boom there it is.. Oh well google maps, better luck next time.

Upate appartly I'm leaking gas...

Back from Neshkoro

2009-06-21T21:56:00.000-05:00

.: Went up to neshkoro this weekend to give Ally a tour of where I grew up.. Fun times as we stumbled around the area trying to run into as many people as we could.. I dropped in on the Allured's and got all caught up. Then I stopped in at the coffee mill and called Bill who was on his way to a HA trip.

.: Then it was off to my old house... As we drove up there was someone working on a boat in the circle part of the driveway so I pulled up, got out and introduced myself and told him that I used to live there and went to introduce Ally who came up and hugged Will (the guy I just meet). After I picked my jaw up off the floor Ally to me that Will was the husband of her old church youth group leader!!! Small world!

.: After that it was off to Harley's then back into town to hang out.. Party back at Harley's with the gang and then crashed at Joe's place.. Breakfast at Nappy's where I ran into Casey and family and back to Illy.. Good weekend

Window Farms... Interesting....

2009-05-27T10:10:00.001-05:00

Cali?!

2009-05-19T18:18:00.000-05:00

.: I'm in Cali!!!! Yeah!! Santa Cruz... The beach... The sun.. The wonderfulness of it all.. My Aunt and Uncle were very kind to allow me to crash at their house for a week while I work and adventure around... I miss this town... It's so much fun and I really missed my family here. I'm trying to get out and visit people while I'm here so we'll see how that goes..

.: Fun travel note.. If you fly into San Jose... You get to de-plane through both the front and back... so amazing.. take that first class douches.. (Not you Nikki. You're kewl.. )..

.: I got in and went on a bike ride/wine tasting/art fair adventure right off that bat.. Got to see Sofi at work and eat some fro-yo.. Had tosata night... how is it they are just so much better here compared to when I make them? idk... Got to work at Caffe Perg'... I love that place.. Today I worked from David and Judy's.. Learned how to make beans their way.. I still have 4.5 days left!! what else am I going to get to do?! Who knows.. I'm having fun though..

If I.. A really nifty video

2009-04-30T14:54:00.001-05:00

If i... from Tim Brown on Vimeo.

New Blog

2009-04-27T19:10:00.001-05:00

.: I started a new blog.. I'm going to keep both of these "up-t0-date".. The other one is at http://gobobgo-photos.blogspot.com/ and is a collection of various graphics that I've been working on, or looking at (but only stuff I make goes on it).. so if you want to follow my graphical adventures, feel free to follow that one as well...

Visiting Ally for Easter

2009-04-27T18:46:00.000-05:00

.: I know, I know, it's been a long time since I posted anything. Not like any of you guys post things on your blogs (I check). The big story is I went back to the Mid-worst for Easter. I flew in to Chi-town and then waited around for Ally to get in so we could take the bus up to Kenosha to visit with my sister and bro-in-law.. That was WONDERFUL.. Minus some allergy issues.. But I love seeing Rach and Joe.. I got to introduce Ally to them and that went well I feel... Sunday, Ally and I boarded a train bound for Chi-town and then another to get to DeKalb.. These were my first 2 train rides since I was about 5.. I was pretty f'ing pumped..

.: When we got into DeKalb we unpacked and relaxed.. The week blew by so quickly it's just a blur at this point.. Though I did get to meet BIC group that Ally advises.. They are a nice group of kids..

.: Then on Friday it was time for some more trains.. We trained it from DeKalb to Chi-town and then Amtracked it from Chi-town to Milwaukee.. We got in and Ally's sister Lindsay picked us up with her boyfriend Jon. We went to Ally's Dad's place where I meet Walter... Walt and I got along real quick.. We had a bunch of things in common; biking, wood working, humor, cooking. We had a HUGE dinner.. Enough to feed about 20 people... we had 6... Jonathan put a huge dent in it.. That boy can eat.. but in the end, the food won..

.: The next day Ally's dad and I went on a bike ride. All I can say about that is bonding time. Especially over yelling at idiot drivers. After that Ally, Lindsay, Jon and I went to meet up with Ally's other sister Clare and her boyfriend Sam for breakfast at Beans and Barley (?). Yummy... After that, it was coffee with Aunt Debbie and then off to babysit Ally's 4 yr old cousins.. They are cute and FULL of energy.. Holy wow... No sugar required.. Though they do love soy beans... good kids..

.: Easter Sunday Ally and I got up for sunrise service... 6am is a bit early for service for me.. but we went and it was nice... We got home and cooked and relaxed and went over the Aunt Cheryl's and Lynn's house (The parents of the 2 small ones Anna and Ian) to meet the rest of the family.. After a few moments I felt at home and talked to most of everyone.. Didn't get much time to talk to the grandparents or some of the Aunts/Uncles.. But I managed to leave with my wits in tacked and feeling actually really good about the first meeting...

.: Ally and I got back on the trains and went back to DeKalb... That week flew by too and before you know it I was waking up in Seattle again.. 2 weeks with my Ally and it seemed both like 2 years and 2 days all at once... We did so much.. Lots of fun..

Ummmmmmm..... yeah....

2009-03-30T18:45:00.001-05:00

Auto Code Formatting..

2009-03-27T18:18:00.000-05:00

.: Let's just start off this by saying that I dislike 95% of all the automatic code formatting plug-ins for the various programs I use.. Sometimes they are nice.. but most of the time they leave you with crap you can't read... I rewrote the how the one works in Editplus so it conformed to the way I create webpages.. But there are some programs you can't turn it off or change it.. it does what it wants to do.. Most of the time I'm ok with it in the end.. I keep original files so I never edit the code after it formatted it into whatever it wants to... However, my sql managing software that I use, creatively named "SQL Manager", 'compiles' certain code and in doing so it puts it in 'read-able' format.... yeah... right.... it would be fine if it understood how people read... whatever... I recently ran into an issue with a sql view that pretty much defines the heart of a project I work on.. it takes all the various bits of information from around the database and piles them into one area.. really really handy.. but it was taking forever to run.. humm... My buddy/co-worker Peter took a look at it and yelled at me for using a stored proc to feed the view it's data.. I was a bit confused.. but whatever.. if you moved the sql query into the view definition it speed it up by 2x... so from now on I don't make stored procs to make views.. lesson learned... but when you have my really really way to long sql query in the view definition you get the following output from the auto code formatter.. I'm going to overlook that it actually somehow messes up the actual syntax of the query (yet somehow still works....)... It looks rediculous and it COMPLETELY unreadable.. My buddy Jack put it best "looks like a source code's suicide note! 'good bye crueld world.... arghhh....'" .. Nice..

Cut&Paste

2009-03-27T17:06:00.001-05:00

I missed it this year.. but I want to at least attend next year.. if not compete..

Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament 2007 from Cut&Paste on Vimeo.

Ally's Visit!

2009-03-19T20:33:00.001-05:00

.: Ally had her spring break this past week and came out to see me!! What fun! We cooked, went out, rode bikes, and went to meet the parents in Tillamook..

Skiing Last Weekend

2009-03-05T19:49:00.000-06:00

.: This past weekend I went skiing with Tim, his dad, Devin and DC.. good times!! It had snowed during the week, which it hadn't snowed in a long time... So we had fresh powder to play with.. I only went skiing twice last year and this was my first time out this year.. Dang.. it's so much fun.. I've tried to figure out why it's so much fun to strap on two planks and throw yourself down a hill, but I failed.. It doesn't make any sense.. but it is.. Love it..

.: The second day was the more interesting day of the weekend.. I was getting more and more brave and in going down a route that an off-duty ski patrol guy showed me, I crashed.. hard.... went off a jump and caught my ski tips in a snow bank (very very low contrast and I didn't see it) which threw me into another snow bank head first.. landed hard on my head.. pretty much hyperextended my neck and cut my face up.. Ouch.. I got up and skiied away from it.. Nerves shaken but alive and mostly well.. The rest of the day I worked on form and accidentally finding new WAYYY to difficult places on the hill.. but the irony is that I didn't crash the rest of the day even though I was on harder stuff...

.: All in all, it was an amazing weekend even if I am in recovery the rest of this week...

.: Me.. First Day.. Feeling good..

.: Easiest way day is to HIKE up a hill to go down a "More Difficult"... lol... Orion wasn't that bad.. was actaully pretty nice..

.: Tim representing..

.: At the crash site.. The ski patrol offered to take a picture..

.: Sporting my battle wounds at the end of the day..

I hate you Flash!!

2009-02-20T12:24:00.000-06:00

.: For those who don't use Adobe/Macromedia's Flash.. You will probably not understand this rant.. but for the select group of people who have, this might make sense to you.. I've been trying to make a collection of photos that when you click on one in the background, it will come to the front.. Great.. sounds easy (apart from the dynamic loading part and actually putting them in a border that resizes and displaying 3 sets of information.. yeah.. easy)... But the problem is that Flash's built in function getNextHighestDepth() works like ass.. It really doesn't work the way you would think it would.. or it doesn't in my little world.. Add on top the most useless function ever swapDepths() and I found myself pulling out my hair.. (the little I have left)... A google search or two later, I found this script below (well kinda, I changed it for my uses) on Kirupa.com (http://www.kirupa.com/developer/actionscript/depths2.htm)... And it WORKS!!! It returns the highest depth! Thank the Lord!!! Granted it might not work with large N, but for my 2 depth demo it worked just fine.. I'll load a couple hundred and see how she works.. YEAH!!

function highestDepth(){
var curr, high = undefined;
for (var clip in _root){
if (!isNaN(curr = this[clip].getDepth()) ){
if (curr > high || high == undefined) high = curr;
}
}
return high;
}

Twitter....

2009-02-05T09:37:00.000-06:00

.: Oh, forgot to post this.. I made a twitter account to try it out.. not sure how long I'll doing it, but if you want to follow me on twitter I'm at http://www.twitter.com/gobobgo82

.: For those who don't know what twitter is, itz a 'micro-blog'.. you are limited to 140 letters.. The concept is that you'll post more times, about stuff you're doing right now.. instead of a normal blog which is normally a longer article..

Movies in Time

2009-02-05T09:23:00.000-06:00

.: I was having problems sleeping last night and in one of my half awake moments I revisited one of my favorite topics to waste time on, If you brought a modern day movie back in time, either to the time it was representing or just back in time in general, how would it be received? Take for example one of my favorite movies, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge (2001, Bazmark Films). I love this film.. It's amazing on so many levels. The sound track rocks! The graphics are never an after thought, heck the credits are one of my favorite parts of the movie.. just how the style is kept even in such a minimal piece of the film.. it's still awesome! The wardrobe is amazing.. Just a great movie.. But put it back in time when the songs they used weren't written and you didn't have any connection to them or more importantly context to them, would it be so cool? Roxanne is just a dance in the brothels? The song that launched the grunge movement into mainstream is reduced to sound bights and the remix is lost.. Would it still be PG-13? How much has society been numbed to what we watch in movies? It's a fun topic to ponder about because there is not correct answer.. You could conjecture but you'll never have a firm answer just because it's so different from what they had seen at the time.. Just something to think about.

Random Graphic Design Image

2009-02-05T09:22:00.001-06:00

.: I find the call between the art director and illustrator reallly reallllly funny.. the rest.. eh.. but a good illustration all around..

Match Savings!

2009-01-30T16:15:00.000-06:00

.: Finally after many months of planing, programming and committee work, Match Savings is up! It looks pretty and is for a good cause!

"MatchSavings.org helps poor people in developing countries to open savings accounts in their local credit unions. Contributions from people like you and me match their savings to help these impoverished people accumulate enough money to afford their children's school fees, install indoor plumbing, cover the costs of basic healthcare or even start a microbusiness."

.: If you have a moment and a couple buck, help out the less fortunate.. Read their stories and help them out. You can give any amount, because any amount is helpful! World Council of Credit Unions (where I work) is running this program via our non-profit arm so all donations are tax-deductible!

A Kilo of Tea?

2009-01-21T21:47:00.001-06:00

.: So a co-worker sent me a gift of tea today from Kenya. Sweet!! I love tea!! Great gift and I'm super pumped about it.. I got it and itz A KILO of TEA!!!! lol... Thatz a lot tea... If you look at the picture below, the small bag is what I normally get (2 oz or 56 grams).. The big ziplock bag is a 1000 grams..

.: So after mildly freaking out about how much tea that is.. I did a quick count of all the tea I currently have.. the total kind of surprised me.. I have 2.6 kg of tea before this package.. now I have 3.6 kg.. That is a TONNNNNNNN of tea.. *giggles* Anyone up for a tea party?

Zebe Jr

2009-01-19T20:58:00.003-06:00

.: After spending a bunch of money and learning a TON about bikes and the various craziness that is working on them.. Zebe rolls again.. This time as a single speed 42Tx18T freewheel and as Zebe Jr. Itz kinda like riding a sports car.. Itz rough and a bit touchy.. Responsive.. and sexy as hell.. :)

Peach or Orange

2009-01-19T20:56:00.000-06:00

.: Is this peach, orange or both.. I hate being colourblind

New Years!

2009-01-12T19:11:00.000-06:00

.: Ahh New Years.. A time of renewal.. A time of new beginings.. Wait.. Seriously... We're celebrating time elapsing as it always does? Oh well.. If my education from Oshkosh has taught me anything, its take EVERY opportunity to throw a party.. Clocks changing, people coming, people going, the fact that the day ended in a "y", whatever works right? Hehe..

.: But this new years I got to celebrate with Ally.. She flew out and we hung out for a few days.. I showed her around Seattle.. Enjoyed eachother's company.. It was an amazing time.. It was really hard to see her go.. I just have to look forward to the next time we get to see eachother..

.: So lets start a new year and enjoy ourselves!

Family Time!

2009-01-12T19:05:00.000-06:00

.: So catching up with important events.. I flew out to see Nora graduate college.. and then John decides to ask her to marry him? Hotness!! I have a new sister (well two if you include Nora's sister Kristen) We're now even in the Guys to Girls ratios.. 3 guys: 3 girls.. (Sorry Ally, you're not related.. yet.. which is really gonna through the ratio.. 3 guys to 6 girls?! what! Lol)

.: Then John, Rachel and Joe all flew out here and crashed at my pad! That was fun!! I love having my family crash with me :) We drove down to Tillamook for Christmas.. That was interesting.. I need to fix my car's windshield wipers. But it's really not on the to do list. We came back and hung out here for a bit.. John flew out then Rachel and Joe.. Ahhh family times.. I miss hangin with my sis and bro.. Gooooood peeps..

Sexy New Bike Parts

2009-01-12T18:55:00.000-06:00

.: I know I'm gonna get random google search results because of my title so for all of those of you get here because of that, I'm sorry.. but I got a new front rim and tire for my single speed. my bike is back to being sexy..

.: In addition to Pops getting new parts, I stripped Zebe down to the frame and I'm in the process of rebuilding him to be a "Saturday morning, I'm hung over, lets go slow" bike. I got parts on order and am looking forward to getting it off my bike stand. :)

Oh My.... Another Year Gone...

2009-01-12T18:35:00.000-06:00

.: Ahhh crap.. Thank you Ally for reminding me that I haven't been keeping this thing updated.. I apologize to all my faithful readers who check this dribble of thought. Has it really been two years since I left college, got dumped, moved to Cali and said that itz time for a new day? Sweet.. So what is this past year's recap..

.: Well, the huge news is that I have officially stayed in one city for the whole year! Granted I've had two addresses in this city, but still.. I heart Seattle. My new apartment is way better then my last one. I can crash here for a bit and then who knows where the winds will bring me next. All I know is that this past year has been pretty f'ing sweet!

.: Along the same lines, I've worked for one company for the whole year, World Council of Credit Unions. I love that place.. Great co-workers.. GREAT boss.. Great Cause (http://www.woccu.org/give - you can help us help others!) This year has been a huge year for me there. I launched my portal system, done a ton of work on backend systems, designed a few things, launched a consumer campaign site (www.matchsavings.org - Match the savings of the poor to help them out of poverty), and generally rocked the house!

.: The MOST important note of my year though, without a doubt, is I'm dating Ally.. I love that girl.. She is the most amazing person. I know peeps don't like to read all the smushy/gushy/lovey stuff, but seriously. She has made my year a gazillion times better. She has helped me grow as a person, as we have grown as a couple. I can't sing her praises enough..

.: Other things to note.. Humm... I cut my bike accident rate in half this year by only getting hit once. Unfortunately this accident was more serious then the previous two I was involved in.. My front rim is destroyed (which I have since replace) and I got a ticket cuz the second police officer said it was my fault. Took it to court and the judge said, thanks for your honesty, and it could have gone either way, but he wasn't going to overturn the ticket. Grrr.. Whatever.. I now no longer advise people to bike. Ohh well..

.: All in all this past year has been amazing. There were some downs and some ups. More ups then downs.. I got homesick, which is an interesting when you've moved so much cuz really... where is "home".. I missed everywhere.. I missed nowhere.. But in the end, I've made a home here..

.: I'll try to be better about updating this in the coming months..

Silly Facebook Note Thing

2008-11-23T19:13:00.000-06:00

Post your name in the comments and I will do each of the following:

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
(if possible. If not, I'll say something that only makes sense to me.)
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
8. I'll tell you my favorite thing about you.
9. I'll tell you my least favorite thing about you.
10. If you play, you MUST post this on yours.

The Notebook..

2008-11-20T21:18:00.000-06:00

Don't suggest the movie "The Notebook" to someone who's grandma has alzheimers... Just sayin..

To My Allyson

2008-11-13T18:48:00.001-06:00

.: Yeah major news... So after my trip to Wisc (see previous post) I got back I decided that since I couldn't get Ally out of my head, I really needed to just ask her out.. We'd been talking on the phone for almost a week and pretty much went to sleep thinkin bout her.. woke up thinkin bout her.. Couldn't come up with any reason not to be with her.. So after being single for almost two year, I'm not.. And I couldn't be happier.. She is one of the sweetest people I know.. So there is some distance issues we need to work out since she goes to school at NIU.. But we'll figure that one out in time.. Hurray free nights and weekends!! Heheh..

Wait... What? Crazy trip to Wisc? Yes Please..

2008-11-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

.: I went on a two week trip to Wisc for work.. That was exciting.. Horrible flights in.. Soooo sea sick.. I hate wind.. But whateve.. Louie picked me up from the airport and we went to get some Ian's.. cuz itz amazing.. Then played some Guitar Hero.. Good times..

.: Monday found me at work getting settled.. Nice day.. Then went climbing with Jackmeister.. We rocked some walls.. Then Jack, his wife and I went out to eat at Red Robins and then home..

.: Tuesday.. Work.. Missed an important meeting cuz I went to lunch with the managers.. eeehhh not good at all.. but the CEO told me to come.. oh well.. stuff happens.. Then had dinner with Kimbery and then we curved some pumpkins and baked the seeds.. All while drinkin some yummy wine.. Rock on..

.: Wednesday.. Work.. Then to Kristen's to pick up a bike to use while I was in Madison (THANKS!!!) and then went to fensing practice.. And I didn't get p'owned as bad as I thought I was going to.. I could actually defend myself.. Granted it was a bit of me just sucking so bad they couldn't figure out what I was doing to actually get a shot in.. but hey.. I'll take it..

.: Thursday.. At work we unvailed my pretty project, WOCCU Central!!! Hurray.. it was meet with a few ohhhs and a few ahhhs.. I'm happy with the release.. After work WOCCU IT went over to Evans for a little party time.. Played Rock Band.. Where I sang.. Wait.. I sang? Well according to the game I sang.. and actually did pretty good.. So that was fun..

.: Friday.. Ahhhh Fridays.. I went to work.. then.. Allyson came up.. We went over to Nora's parent's house.. Which is awesome.. if you have a chance, check it out... Then over to Kristen's where we drank and had a good Halloween/B-day.. Yeah being 26 now!!

.: Saturday.. Got up and ready for Jenny's wedding.. Ashley didn't show up.. so missed the ceremony.. but Kimbery gave me a ride to the reception.. Had a blast.. I ended up break dancing infront of my co-workers.. humm.. might not live that one down...

.: Sunday.. Slept most of the day with a hang-over.. Watched a lot of tv... Went over to Browen's brother's place to hang out..

.: Monday.. Work and then Climbing again.. This time with Evan and Jack.. Evan is a really good beginner.. I was impressed... Even if he does drive with his heat on high and the windows down..

.: Tuesday.. Did Central Training #1.. Which went awesome.. The off to a Election celebration party thingie.. Go Obama!!! Watched the speaches with Allyson..

.: Wednesday.. Work.. Then dinner with Kristen.. Then late night tea with Kristen.. It was interesting to talk to your younger brother's girlfriend's older sister.. But hey, great times there..

.: Thursday.. Did Central Training #2.. Didn't go as well.. but oh well.. But wait.. is this my first night I have off.. with nothing to do??!!?!? Sweeettt.. So I spend it talking to Allyson...

.: Friday.. Work was just closing shop.. Then Birthday party.. Louie, Woccu IT and a random came out.. Louie and I did dinner at a killer Italian place.. Then the Gennas with everyone.. Then Ians where I sprang my tounge.. Then to Paul's Club then to Lava Lounge for some foosball.. Where we were missing a foosball guy... still killed them.. :)

.: Saturday I had to return Kristen's bike and then did dinner with Brit.. That was a good time.. and a nice way to end the trip...

.: But I flew home and I'm happy I did as it started to snow... Booooo to snow.... That was a crazy trip...

Biking Sadness

2008-10-21T20:46:00.000-05:00

.: So after telling many people to go biking, I can no longer, in good conscience, continue doing so. I've been hit three times on my bike with many more close calls. Last night coming home from climbing my friend Tim almost got drilled by a car who didn't stop at a stop sign.. I just can't say that it's safe to ride bikes.. I do, cuz I love it.. I wont give it up.. but as for telling others that they should? No.. If they got hit, I'd feel responsible. I wouldn't be.. but I'd feel that way.. There are just to many bad drivers.. And bikers are really treated as second class citizens on the road.. I got cut off today by some guy in a mustang who REALLY needed to get to his condo a half a block ahead of me.... What? no... no need for that.. he saved 15 seconds at the risk of my life... I've rode in cars where the drivers yell at bikers, and I turn and look at them in awe.. Seriously? Share the road.. And get better at math.. Start figuring out how much "time" you're saving by driving.. By driving fast.. by cutting people off.. by getting angry at other drivers cuz they cut you off.. by looking for a parking spot even remotely close to where you're going.. In fact.. don't do the math, I'll race you... We'll start at my house and go downtown.. and stay there all day... and come home... That will save you from doing math... Give me a break.. Driving is American.. Screw that.. If being stupid is American, I'm introducing myself as Canadian.. Eh?

A Ball?

2008-10-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

I don't know what this is.. besides really fun looking.. Thought I'd share...

Logos

2008-10-13T21:33:00.000-05:00

.: I've been working on a few logos lately. In doing so, I really decided I didn't like most of the serif typefaces. I do like slab serifs.. but even those weren't looking right in my logos.. So I made a little comic that I thought you might enjoy.

The Debates

2008-10-13T21:32:00.001-05:00

.: I'm not going to go into depth on the debates.. I'm an Obama supporter. Enough said. But I found this flow chart and thought I had to share it...

Chelan Mts Trip Report

2008-10-01T17:58:00.000-05:00

Totals
Hiked: 31.1 miles
Time On Trail: 26 hours
Gross Elevation: 19,460' ~ 3.69 miles
Vertical: 9,730' ~ 1.84 miles
Highest Point: 8,243' (Pyramid Mountain)

Ethan and I went on a four day backpacking trip to the North Cascades.. Amazing trip in the end, but not without it's injuries or issues. The main issue for me was my ankle and shoulders and the dust... This trip was sparked by Ethan reading "Hikes in the rain shadow of the Cascades".. No rain + forest fire years ago = Lots and Lots of dust.... Ethan had issues with his feet but resolved them on the trail.. We had planned to do 3 summits but only made 2 of them. But hey, we gave up one to camp at an alpine lake.. Way cooler! Over all this trip was massively difficult and not for the faint of heart, but the pay-offs were worth it.. I'd go back.. No question about it..

Day 1: Fern Lake
Starting Elevation 3900'
Ending Elevation: 6900'
Highest Point: 6900'
Distance 7.6 miles
Vertical: 3000'
Time: 6 hours

The first part of the trail was all valley hiking, nothing exciting. Would have been more but we were in dense woods so we got no views. The views we did get were of some crazy peaks. Very pretty but like I said, the forest prevented us from seeing them a lot. We had to make a decision as to if we were going to go up to the lake to camp or stay at the river. The issue was Ethan's feet. He got a couple blisters early on. In the end we decided to press on. One and a half miles and 1700' later we emerged to see a ridiculous lake! The trail up was crazy ridiculous with very few switchbacks or no switchbacks at all. It isn't a trail for the faint of heart. My knee and my right foot started to hurt. Added together with my previously injured right shoulder made the climb that much more challenging for me. In the end it was all worth it. The site we stayed at was large and open with a nice fire pit. It had some great views or the valley and was sweet just by itself. I did end up finding a second campsite up to the right that was hidden with access to a sand beach. All in all the day kicked both our butts so I went looking for a firewood.

Day 2: Cardinal Peak Base Camp
Starting Elevation: 6900'
Ending Elevation: 6600'
Highest Point: 7400'
Lowest Point: 5200'
Vertical: 2280'
Gross Elevation: 4860'
Distance: 7.9 Miles
Time: 6 hours

The day started with us going down the massively step grade we climbed yesterday. My ankle started to really scream as we came down, as did my shoulder. Ethan changed into flip-flops as his feet hurt to much in his boots and stayed in them for the bulk of the trip. Props to him. I hit a wall coming up to base camp. I didn't feel good on my feet and stopped way to often to catch my breath or get some water. When we finally got to the base camp we made camp and ate lunch, packed our day packs and Seska Pass. Very Pretty! You can see the whole valley and beyond. We scouted the next day's trail from the Pass and generally just chilled. On he way back to camp we went by high camp, man it would be sweet to stay there some time. When we got back to camp, we ate and crashed.

Day 3: Buck Camp
Starting Elevation: 6600'
Ending Elevation: 6500'
Highest Point: 7901' (Cardinal Peak South South Summit)
Lowest: 6500'
Vertical: 2200'
Gross Elevation: 4500'
Distance: 5 miles
Time on Trail: 7 hours

We did our first summit today.. to bad we summited the wrong peak. We did our best, studied the maps and trip reports but when it came down to it, we failed. That being said the summit wed did go up was a good time. I got stuck in a couple bad spots going up. LOTS of loose rocks made it a definite Class 3 Summit. The summit was a bit sketch as well, but we made it. The way down was again pretty hard and when we got back to camp my feet and ankle hurt a lot. But it was worth it. We hiked some really pretty meadows and got to see the valley from "a" summit. The hike to the next camp was slightly harder then expected. We didn't realize it dropped a couple hundred feet before climbing back up to the pass. My body wanted to give out so much. In the end we made it and got to camp. a ridiculously huge camp with horse lines and all. We gathered some wood, made dinner and a fire. Ethan explored the next day's trail as I tended to my shoulder and feet which still hurt. Though the numbers don't show it, we had a really long and full day.

Day 4: Out
Starting Elevation: 6500'
Ending Elevation: 3900'
Highest Point: 8243' (Pyramid Mountain)
Lowest: 3900'
Vertical: 2250'
Gross Elevation: 7100'
Distance: 10.6 miles
Time on Trail: 7 hours

Determined to not make the mistakes of the previous day, we took bearings and checked maps and made a game plan before we left for the morning's summit attempt, Pyramid Mountain. We were going off trail to take a shortcut. Ethan in sandals and myself with a busted up ankle set out in the woods. We came up to cliff after cliff and climbed them all making the summit in an hour and twenty minutes from camp! We chilled on top of the peak for a while, took pictures and enjoyed the view. We came back down and hit our camp dead on. No more misreading maps! We packed up camp and took off up Pudge Ridge (another 500' up....) and hiked along the ridge line. Then the trail disappeared.. We'd find it.. and it would disappear again.. repeat... many times.... No one must hike that ridge... Either way we ate lunch as a huge rain cloud was coming in... With 2000+ feet to come down yet on some crazy switchbacks and Ethan in flip-flops we flew down the remaining 2 miles off the ridge as fast as we could.. We stopped to fill up on water and enjoy the last bit of the woods before hiking the last 2 miles out.. The rain never came (thank goodness). We packed up the car, refilled our water bottles and went home.. Amazing Trip!

Trip Photos
Day 1 & 2
Day 3 & 4

Shoes on Dan

2008-09-22T22:37:00.001-05:00

.: I got my new Chucks in today!!! YEAHH!!!

Maxed Out

2008-09-21T22:21:00.000-05:00

.: I just got done watching this movie and all I can say is wow..... They should play this for everyone who turns 18 in this country.. I want to cut up every credit card I have... Not that any of this was all that new to me.. My parents as well as my teachers in high school drilled it into me.. I'm very thankful they did.. Seeing actually numbers and figures and interviews.. Just scary.. If you have a chance, check it out.. It's available on Netflix as an instant watch.. ... wow...

Back on the wall!

2008-09-21T16:55:00.000-05:00

.: After giving my shoulder a good rest after the accident and hiking trip I felt it was high time to start abusing it again.. Tim and I went climbing on Thursday and wow, I felt great. I only did one really stupid move that hurt.. For the most part, I was just taking it easy and doing a bunch of V1's and a couple V2's.. Nothing really harsh.. For fun, I went up the big wall to do a 5.5 (really easy for those not familiar with the system). We climbed for an hour and my arms were cashed.. I excepted that.. Three weeks of not using those muscles, you're gonna start over in building them back up..

.: Yesterday I felt I needed to go back and explore all the routes that were put up in my absence.. So harness and shoes in hand I rode down to StoneyG's and just started climbing. I did the big wall first where I cleared anything below 5.10 on my first shot.. but trying to do 5.10's were just not happening for me.. and it was annoying me.. So I went back to boldering and cleaned a bunch of V2's and started a couple V3's.. But once again, V3's weren't happening either. So basically, I dropped a level in the three weeks of being gone... grrr.. I'll need to buy a year membership so I can go more often and push my limits again and get back to playing with V4's.. :) More goals... hurray!!

Winterizing my bike

2008-09-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

.: Did you ever have to make a gradient scale from black to white where each square was a solid shade of white. It looks like this..

.: Now if you took that concept and applied it to weather, you'd get Seattle's weather for the past week...

.: I was amazing to watch it turn from summer to winter in a week.. So since I ride everywhere I needed to get my bike ready for winter and all the rain that it brings. In years past I just rocked a back clip-on fender. It worked "ok". If you needed to not wreck your clothes it wasn't gonna work for ya, but if you just wanted to keep most of the road grim off you and your pack, it worked. This year I decided to take it up a notch and got full fenders.. I put them on and cleaned and re-tensioned my chain, put on my bike computer which I had been to lazy to before, and attempted by failed to put my bell back on my bike. I need to find a killer bell that fits my handle bars.. I also need to get new handlebar tape but then I remember that I wanted to get new handlebars.. And so the issue grows from a bell costing $5 to a new front setup costing a bunch more money... Long story short, I'm still riding without a bell..

.: Other biking news, I have a "pre-hearing" date to talk to the judge. October 14th.. I'll keep everyone posted on what happens with that.. I'm hopeful..

.: In still other biking news.. I can almost drift around a corner by locking up my back wheel and leaning into a turn.. Granted the time I got the furthest was when it was raining and wet.. but I can kinda do it on dry pavement too.. "But Dan, why would you want to do that?" Because it looks really kewl! Who cares if it's ripping my tire apart... My goal is to do a 180 and then start to ride backwards... That would be rediculously sweet.. We all have to have dreams right?

Pictures of the new apartment..

2008-09-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

Can be found here

Renewing My Rant...

2008-09-21T16:17:00.000-05:00

.: Please for the love of all things good.. USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL!! It's not that hard.. It's right next to your left hand.. I was biking around Ballard and Crown Hill today and I can remember 10 cars who just randomly turned.. NO SIGNAL! What?! (No, I wasn't hit, but it bugs me to death)

Olympic Trip!

2008-09-08T19:24:00.000-05:00

Total Miles: 26.2
Total Elevation: 15,200' = 2.87 miles
Highest Point: 6000'
Total Trail Time: 26.5 hours

Day 1: Deer Lake
Starting Elevation: 1900'
Ending Elevation: 3600'
Highest Point: 3600'
Gross Elevation: 1700'
Distance: 4 miles

.: The hike started out with way to many people, day hikers looking to see Sol Duc Falls. The falls itself wasn't all that amazing but it is a weird shape. I think we had Labor Day weekend to thank for the amount of people we saw in the first mile. Once you went over the bridge and beyond the falls heading up to Deer Lake, the crowd thinned out fast. We played hopskotch with a couple of groups. They were all going further than us, and in one case WAYY further than us (That being said, there is little to no way they made it to their camp). The trail was uphill all the way as it followed a cascading river. Very pretty. There are three camps along the way named Canyan Creek 1,2,3 that you could have a fire and were kinda fun looking but way to short to be useful. When we got to Deer Lake the scene was amazing. Peaks all around us were reflected off a crystal lake. We got campsite #10 at the head of the lake, on a little mound. We couldn't see anyone else's tents and we had easy access to the lake or a little brook to fill water. All in all a great first day.

Day 2: Hoh Lake
Starting Elevation: 3600'
Ending Elevation: 4700'
Highest Point: 5400'
Gross Elevation: 2500'
Distance: 5.4 miles

We got up early, 6:45 and started breakfast. We didn't break camp till 10:30 though. Who is in a rush when you're in a place like that. The climb out of camp was pretty steep but we got to go by a lot of really pretty lakes and had a lot of awesome views of the mountains. We finally gained the ridge and the trail leveled out. We rolled through some GREAT shots of mountains and vallies. Some clouds were forming and moving toward us. But no rain came. We did get to see lots of wildflowers. We stopped for lunch when I looked up and saw a black bear about 50 yards in front of us. But as it was the only flat place to sit we took it and ate lunch while watching for the bear. For those keeping track at home, we stopped right before the Seven Lakes Basin Trail. The climb up to the highest point of the day, Bogachiel Peak (5400'), was a bit tough on the knees as you're forced to go up some steep switchbacks to gain the last 400'. We continued on the Hoh Lake Trail after stopping for some pictures. The trail started off fine, then we got stuck waiting for a bunch of black bears to get off the trail. We sang "Bright Side of Life" from Life of Brain. to keep them at bay as we made our way past them (mase in hand). I was rather nervous as a big mamma bear could easily make up the distance from her ridge line to our trail. But we got past just fine. The rest of the trail down to the lake below fell off 700' in a mile. You get great views of the lake and it's basin all the way down. It was a weird greenish blue colour and reflected everything. We got down and scouted the camesites. We found out a couple things, 1) NO ONE was there, 2) The lake is really cold, 3) Our campsite was rediculously awesome and 4) The Hoh Lake Privy is the best bathroom I've ever been in. No walls, and a clear view of Mt Olympus and White Glacier! Not sure if my opinion would change if it was raining but it wasn't.

Day 3: Sol Duc Park
Starting Elevation: 4700'
Ending Elevation: 4300'
Highest Point: 5400'
Gross Elevation: 2800'
Distance: 6 miles

After purifying water and then loosing my carabiner to the water frozen depths, we started out with a steep climb out of the Hoh Lake Basin. 700' in a mile up was an interesting way of starting a day. We got some great views of an Elk heard as we both were leaving the basin. We tried to summit but a bear on the trail put a stop to that idea. The views from the ridge were crazy pretty! We had lunch at a good look out point. The ridgeline was rather difficult to hike but worth it. We came up to Heart Lake, a nice spot even if it was exposed. We decided to daytrip out to see Cat Peak. It was an awesome little trail that wasn't really used. There is a campsite on it that has an amazing view of Olympus and Blue Glacier. When I go back I'm definately camping there. We ate a snack and headed back down. The trip from Heart Lake to Sol Duc Park was a lot of down hill. The camp itself was kinda lame. Not a lot of room after the one good campsite was taken. No good views either.

Day 4: Appleton Junction
Starting Elevation: 4300'
Ending Elevation: 3100'
Highest Point: 6000'
Gross Elevation: 7000'
Distance: 7 miles

Leaving Sol Duc Park didn't make me cry at all. The trail goes through some pretty fallen trees and fields. The campsite at Appleton Junction was a little "eh". With no bear wire we spent an hour trying to string one up. We did make the day trip up to Appleton Pass to see the Mt Appleton. Wow! That is a hike. Steap uphills and a tricky river crossing that I almost lost my manhood on made for an exhausting trip. Once we did make it up, we saw the peak and decided to do the scramble up. We topped out at 6000' and the views of the park were worth every painful moment and drop of sweat. You could see everything! The Seven Lakes Basin, the Appleton Pass Basin (not a real basin but I'm naming it ;) ), Cat Peak.. Everything.. Even the Poop-copter! hehehhe

Day 5: Leaving
Starting Elevation: 3100'
Ending Elevation: 1900'
Highest Point: 3100'
Gross Elevation: 1200'
Distance: 4.8 miles

Downhill was the name of the day. That and mud. We followed the Sol Duc River down from our campsite to the trailhead. The views were ok. Lots of tall trees, waterfalls and bridges. Other than that the day was just exciting to be out and get a hot shower. Not that any of us wanted to leave at all! We got into the car and made the 5:30 ferry to Seattle (totally by accident, we arrived at 5:20 with no idea when the next ferry was leaving.. sweet timing!). When we got in, I got a huge headache from all the pollution in the air. Five days of cleaning out your lungs and I couldn't take an hour in the city.. And we wonder why we have so many health problems...

This trip was rediculously awesome! I can't wait till next time... :)

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109466&l=9f9b8&id=71203078
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109465&l=baf81&id=71203078
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109463&l=b0d43&id=71203078
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109462&l=2a190&id=71203078
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109461&l=f9f66&id=71203078

http://www.danieljbeck.com/images/extras/Basin.jpg
http://www.danieljbeck.com/images/extras/Hoh_Lake.jpg
http://www.danieljbeck.com/images/extras/MtAppleton.jpg
http://www.danieljbeck.com/images/extras/Olympus.jpg
http://www.danieljbeck.com/images/extras/Ridgeline.jpg

What the heck is wrong with me....

2008-08-28T22:59:00.000-05:00

.: I just got into a bike/car accident.. grrrr... This is my third for those keeping track at home.. This is the first one that actually damaged my bike and I was worried about serious harm.. I'm fine.. obviously, as I'm writing this.. but basically my front wheel is done.. shattered it... The frame is ok.. don't know about the front fork yet.. need to check that out tomorrow morning..

.: The story.. I was riding my normal route from Ballard to Downtown.. I come up to the intersection of Westlake and Valley.. Not a very good interestion.. The walk signal was flashing the stop hand thingie.. but I still had time.. so I went into the interestion and bang.. I'm on someone's hood.. I bounce off the ground and skip a bit.. as I see the car's underside.. Needless to say a bit worried.. they were turning right and by their own admission, didn't see me and was thier fault..

.: I get up and check myself for serious damage.. none to speak of.. but I'm shooken up and wanted a moment to actually make sure I was fine before I said anything.. I look at my bike and see the front wheel.. I slowly and disappointedly remove it from the street and sit on the sidewalk.. Someone asks if I need an ambulance.. I decline, but I asked them to call the police so I could get an accident report.. Use that to get the driver's insurance to buy me a new wheel..

.: Cops get there.. and... after much waiting (about an hour.. seriously...) They told me it was my fault.. I can't enter a crosswalk if the hand was blinking.. on top of it I failed to yeild right of way to a car.. So they slapped me with a $159 ticket!!!! What? Seriously?!?!? I, a bike/pedestrain just got HIT by a CAR.. and you're giving ME a TRAFFIC TICKET!!!! Ruling that it was my fault so NO ONE gets money from insurance.. cuz my CAR insurance isn't gonna pay for me getting hit on a BIKE... I would have been fine if they told me it was my fault.. sucks to be you.. but to give me a ticket? I already got a ticket, I have to replace a really nice front wheel.. That thing is like $150 itself..

.: Aren't tickets there as a way of making sure someone doesn't do something again? Speeding tickets, stop light tickets.. all are there so we don't do something.. I don't know that many people who get hit by cars and are like "Dang that was fun.. I want to do that again!!"

.: Now my shoulder really hurts.. I have no front wheel.. and I have to pay a f'ing traffic ticket... I hate police.. seriously.... That is about the dumbest thing ever...

.: To the drivers credit she argued with the police officer that it was her fault to the point of the police officer got angry... The cop just really wanted to take the driver's story as truth.. and leave me out of it..

UPDATE: This is what my front tire looks like now..

.: I will be taking donations for the "Dan wants to get back on his bike" fund.. :)

Kaleentan Peak: First Class 3 Summit

2008-08-26T00:14:00.000-05:00

.: Hurray! I'm alive... I made it up my first class 3 summit.. there were some rather difficult parts for me in it as I'm slightly scared of heights.. yeah yeah I know.. it's weird.. I love being up high, but getting there is nerve racking.. so I just move slowly..

.: Tim, Justin and I rocked Kaleetan Peak. And by rock I mean rock.. we made it up in 3 hours and down in 2 and a half.. Our guide book said it would take 6 up and 3 back.. We were the first to summit that day and the others who did, camped at the lake.. so we did really well..

.: The trip itself was really pretty.. valleys with snow.. crystal lakes.. slag fields that seemed to shimmer.. ok.. so they didn't shimmer but the whole scene looked sweet.. Blue skies to climb into.. You could see forever when you got to the top.. All the way to Seattle in fact.. it was the closest thing to my memories of Colorado that I've been..

.: On the way back we stopped for a celebration beer.. and I meet up with one of my sister's friends from college Sara.. Who is really awesome I must say.. Her job, stories, and personality, all top notch.. I said hi after much debate as to if it was actually her or not.. Afterwards Justin and I, with a little help from Tim, destroyed 2 huge plates of nachos.. and mannn they were yummy!

CSNY/Deja Vu

2008-08-19T14:32:00.000-05:00

.: It's been a long while since I did a movie review. It's not been for lack of watching movies, because I have been watching plenty.. I'm just lazy.. Well, that or I've been busy, which is probably more the case.

.: So CSNY / Deja Vu.. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young have been one of my favorite bands for as long as I can remember. I was pretty stoaked to see that they had a movie coming out. I missed it in the theatres, but it came out on Netflix (hurray) and I had to watch it. I have to say that I knew they were political before I watched it so that didn't surprise me. For those who think Bush is doing a great job, might not be the movie for you.. But for me, I loved it.. Love their music and loved the movie/message... Keep on rockin in the free world! Overall I wasn't watching for it like I would a normal movie, so I can't really say the angles were great or the effects were wonderful, because it wasn't that type of movie.. I will say that watching the preview was pretty much watching the movie.. I wanted to hear more music.. I don't think their message would have been lost if they let a couple songs play through.. they did end up repeating themselves a bit.. I didn't mind.. The time passed and I enjoyed it.. :)

Seattle Hempfest 08

2008-08-16T21:31:00.001-05:00

.: I didn't attend this event.. but there is a lot of press about it.. and the whole thing is questionable.. Hurray for the right to assemble and the right of free speech.. it's pretty kewl.. But it is illegal to do drugs.. so whhhhyyy is this festival possible? Because Seattle is AWESOME!

Seattle PI's Story..

The best quote from it:
"A Hempfest leader said the protesters show up each year and added that a group of transsexuals were en route to frighten off the preachers, something that also takes place each year."

lol... I just imagine organizers on radios.. "Rainbow Team.. Northwest corner.. The C-Team (meaning of course Church team) is attacking.. block them..."....

Moving? Suck...

2008-08-14T19:14:00.000-05:00

.: I'm moving once again.. For those keeping track at home, I haven't lived in one spot for more then 8 months in the last 3 years.. Just crazy.. I'd LOVE to live in one spot for more then a year.. I wasn't planning on moving out of this apartment for a while as I love it.. It's a great place, great location, great peeps.. but they decided to raise my rent (I had an 8 month lease so they were gonna raise it after it ended..)... Adding insult to idiot, the parking ramp raised their rent too.. So basically I had to move out or start working the corner.. I tried that for a bit, but my pimp said that I was a disgrace to the shoes and told me to go home... Guess it's time to find a new place to live..

.: I pulled out the good old moving play book that I've created.. Flipped to the chapter on "In Town Moves" and started looking for new places. After looking at a couple spots, I found one that was in the right neighborhood, big enough, and cheap enough.. Called up the owners and...... it was rented already.. Looked through their website again and found another place... Went to check it out.. Looked ok.. Called them up again and they said they could send someone out there tomorrow... Tomorrow? really? I'm outside the place, it's only 4pm... Hurray real estate peeps working banker's hours... So I came back the next day... And waited.. and waited.. 10 minutes late, the person shows up... and then doesn't have the keys to the house................

*coughs*

.: Seriously? You forgot the keys? Alright... Make an appointment for the next day? sure.. Why not.. Now I'm curious about this place... My interests have peeked... So I came back.. Wow.. glad I did.. This 2 bed, 2 bath, walk-in closet, wood fireplace, 1200 sq foot apt was in my price range.. It has a garage and street parking.. this is important to me cuz I was thinking of getting rid of my car. It was costing to much to park it..

.: I filled out the application and turned it in.. Got a call the next business day saying I could move in.. When do we sign the lease.. blah blah blah.. Hurray.. I have somewhere to go.. Started packing my apt and I move Wednesday the 20th... Sweeet!

.: I'd post photos, but my camera battery wasn't charged when I went the third time.. I'll post pics soon though..

Hurray Friends

2008-07-31T22:17:00.000-05:00

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2105142&l=c3fd3&id=71203078

Lacie and Nick just left.. I already miss them.. it was great having friends visit.. Anyone else want to visit? hehe.. Hella great times!

Thank You CH!

2008-07-19T18:39:00.001-05:00

.: When I was in Madison, Crystal came and visited.. She made me a top tube protector!! It's hot :) Thank you Crystal!!

Oh My Gosh! Friends!

2008-07-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

For all those not pictured, sorry.. I didn't use my camera as much as I should habe (and I think there is a 5 pic upload limit on this.. but .. eh...)

Maps..

2008-06-26T01:07:00.001-05:00

This one goes out to Karina.. Hurray maps! This is a map of the neighborhoods of San Fran overlaid with a map of noise levels.. So if you want to find a quiet place in the City.. check it out :)

Newbie

2008-06-26T00:57:00.001-05:00

.: After many months of debating when I should actually take a class and learn how to work with ropes while I'm climbing, I finally did it.. went to Vertical World and took a class... hummm.. might have been worth it.. but probably could have picked up on the stuff I needed by asking some peeps already in the know.. not saying it was a bad course, just that I already knew just about everything they were talking about.. I'm glad I took it in the end.. I got a "free" two week membership for taking the course and I feel a lot better on my skills.. I no longer worry about dropping someone (though honestly I never worried about that anyway..) I bouldered a bit after the class and did a couple ropes courses.. didn't do any of them cleanly though.. the bouldering was fun though.. did a couple V2's with some varied success.. I'm not used to their setters.. it's amazing how used to a setter you get.. never realize it till you goto a different gym.

.: So the title "Newbie".. I feel like a newbie today.. I couldn't climb the big wall with as much accuracy as my boulder problems.. and worst of all, I hurt.. a lot.. and I can't figure out why.. I only climbed for and hour and a half today.. and I didn't do anything truely crazy... but I still hurt..

A remix of my favorite commerical

2008-06-20T18:18:00.001-05:00

The Remix

The Original

Oh my gosh

2008-06-16T00:41:00.001-05:00

.: Where did time go? I haven't posted in forever! Not that my life is boring, far from.. just so busy that I haven't really thought about it..

.: So what have I been up to? Well.. I did a summit attempt with Ethan and David Childs.. (didn't summit due to lack of time, but it's now on the official list of things I need to do).. It was still a lot of fun going up as far as we did..

.: Been busy at work.. lots of stuff going on there.. programming programming programming.. Lots of changes there. but to sum it all up for those who don't care about the nitty gritty details.. I love my job and my co-workers... Work has been challenging and fun.. a good mix..

.: I've been rock climbing, a bit less then I was.. but still at least once a week.. I do enjoy myself there.. lots of good people... a good way to push myself to become better (really nice that it has NOTHING to do with computers :) ).. I picked up a harness and I'm planning to learn some ropes stuff.. got to find time and motivation.. boldering is just so much "easier" in terms of you don't need anyone else to go.. just you...

.: I went down to see my dad for Father's Day this weekend.. I heart my parents.. It was even more sweet as my sister was there too.. I miss her a lot.. It's really hard to get all of us in the same area now.. as we live all over the country..

.: Dad gave me all his vinyl when I left.. so now I have about a hundred+ records and a turn table.. so so so much new music.. it was like Christmas when I was going through it.. I have an original "Tommy" by The Who, Led Zepplin II, Beattles records, Clapton up the yinyag and many more... I'm excited.. I'm rocking Tommy right now..

.: Anyway.. there is a lot of stuff going on in my life.. you want to know, give me a shout :)

Week 7: No hair?!!

2008-05-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

.: It's happened.. The end of the primary experiment.. No facial hair.. clean... Scary as heck.. There isn't anything to hide behind anymore..

People who piss me off......

2008-05-26T13:17:00.000-05:00

.: I'm pretty pissed right now.. Some people in the world, I'd like to take my size 10 boot and apply it to various areas of their bodies.. Here is a list of people that would fall into that category (in no real order, cuz I'm not exactly in the mood to categorize)..

I hate people that:

have a closed minds
lack respect (earned or otherwise)
lie & cheat
take advantage of people's trust
steal

.: The list is longer, but I need to calm down..

Funny Ikea...

2008-05-24T13:26:00.000-05:00

A Few Ikea Tidy Up Funny Ads - video powered by Metacafe

The Secert Bike Shop

2008-05-20T23:23:00.000-05:00

.: I went over to Recycle Cycles, a very kewl bike shop in the U District.. I needed to pick up a new front derailleur for Zebe, who is hurting right now... They didn't have a vintage Campy one so they suggested I goto Mobius Cycle. The guy said it was kind of hidden*.. They really only deal in high end bikes but the owner collects vintage parts and she might be able to help me.. I needed to call ahead and get directions..

.: So I went online and looked them up.. They didn't show up on google maps when I did my first search.. but I ran their phone number and got their website, which in turn gave me their location.. I went there.. and the guy at Recycle wasn't kidding.. It was hidden.. Kinda creepy even..

.: Unfortunately, they were closed cuz the owner had a cold, or so the note said on the door.. So I'm pretty pumped about actually going..

.: These are pics of the entrance.. Currently you're in an alley.. the door is the off the picture on the right on the top one.. and it's the door on the left side of the bottom one, the one with the graffiti on it and a white note 3/4 of the way up.. There are no other markings then a small graphic on the door that I could find.. So NO walk up customers for sure..

Footnote:
*The mechanic at Recycle Cycles thought I was a bike messenger as he later asked me why I didn't just ask my dispatcher for a new derailleur cuz they should have extras I could use.. I got the impression that this store was only for those "in the know".. only adding to my fascination with it..

New Bike!!

2008-05-20T23:18:00.001-05:00

.: Pops came in the mail on Friday afternoon and I was WAYY pumped about it.. I don't think I've ever hit refresh on a tracking page so many times.. Pops is a single speed track style bike made by Swobo (which I didn't know is actually based out of Santa Cruz! Hotness!). It's model name is Del Norte.. It a 55cm bike that has red Apex rims, some clipless peddles (thought I don't have shoes yet) and well look at the pic... itz pretty sexy... I love riding it so far.. Hills are a bit of a pain, but not so bad that I would think about changing the gearing on it..

.: It also comes with it's very own guard dog I guess.. Well I found one guarding it as I came out of a coffee house this weekend.. kinda cute..

.: Other side note to this.. I've never been complimented on my bikes before, though they have all been kewl.. Riding this thing around, people definitely take notice and compliment the awesomeness that is Pops! :)

Week 6: Soul Patch

2008-05-20T23:10:00.000-05:00

.: So far my favorite new style.. Though I do hate shaving all the time.. and I don't so much like the shape of my face.. However, I don't feel creepy anymore like I did with every other style pretty much..

Week 5: Mustache & Soul Patch

2008-05-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

.: I giggled a lot when I first got done with this shave.. I felt like I should be speaking a lot more Spanish.. which of course I instantly knew the second I shaved.. I mean.. if you have a mustache and you're not a cop (which I'm not) then you're Mexican right? hummm am I going to get beat up for that one?

D'Bags on the road

2008-05-09T23:20:00.000-05:00

.: I have driven cross-country about 3 or 4 times now. I've seen a lot of miles. In those miles, there are a ton of horrible drivers. Sometimes myself. I'm not the greatest driver, but I'm not the worst.. I've seen just some crazy stuff on the road; people doing 110 on a one and a half lane road as it's snowing for example. Needless to say, I hate driving.. I hate most drivers.. But lets put that aside for right now..

.: I've been biking as a main mode of transit for about 4 years now.. I get groceries, go to the gym, visit friends, all on my bike.. I like it.. Better then that, I love it.. You're free to go where ever you want, when ever you want.. Since you're both a vehicle and a pedestrian, you pretty much get the rule of the road.. Oh wait, we (bikes) don't... Car Drivers think they can do whatever they want on the road and we don't count.. But lets put that aside for right now too..

.: In the last couple weeks, I've seen just some horrible d'bags on the road.. I mean serious, I'd pull their rights to be on the road, d'bags... The first event that sparked this whole thought process (besides the years of seeing bad drivers as a driver) was actually a biker's fault.. granted the driver of the car that almost plowed into this guy was going way to fast, this biker didn't stop at a BLIND STOP SIGN.. Ok, I don't stop at all the stop signs.. actually rarely do I ever come to a complete stop ever on a bike.. but I do slow down and if I can't see if a car is coming, I wait until I can... Bad things happen when bikers meet the front end of a car.. (Been there.. itz not fun) The worst part of this biker almost getting plowed over is, he didn't even realize that it happened.. He had his headphones in (NEVER A GOOD IDEA ON CITY STREETS!) and when this car (and myself) flew around him, he looked really surprised that anyone was around.. When I do something dumb, I normally know it as it's happening.. this guy still has no idea how close he came to either being in intensive care or dead... I wanted to hit him... He's want gives bikers a bad name... grrrrrrr

.: Story two involves taxi cabs.. I normally never have an issue with these guys.. Bikers and taxi drivers share a lot of the same maneuvering concepts and we weave traffic almost in sync.. They have been nice to me and allowed me into a lane that I needed to be in.. Not to many issues.. Tonight, not the case.. I encountered a hoard of bad taxi drivers tonight.. They were waiting at green lights making me track stand on my bike.. Which normally isn't a problem but tonight I just got done climbing and my arms were dead, and I wasn't expecting them to NOT BE MOVING.. if you're expecting that you'll have to track stand, I normally give myself some extra room so I can play around.. but this taxi pretty much stopped randomly and I was right on his bumper.. so it was kinda annoying.. Ran into a different set of taxi cabs that were blocking the lanes.. It was messed up... Never had that many issues with taxi cabs..

.: Since I'm not an angel on a bike, I do have to complain about myself too I guess.. Today I rolled up behind a car and then decided to go in front of it (like ya do on a bike) but I cut off a HUGE truck that I wasn't paying attention too.. granted, it wouldn't have hit me as I stayed in my lane, but I probably scared them a bit.. Bad me.. But like I said, I know that I did something dumb as it's happening..

.: For the most part, I think I'm a pretty good biker.. I don't get in to many people's way.. and I can get from point a to point b faster and easier then a car in most cases... I love riding.. but some of these people just need to be taken off the road before they get hurt or hurt other people...

Week 4: Fu Manchu

2008-05-05T10:07:00.000-05:00

.: Not gonna lie.. didn't like this one to much.. really hard to shave it.. and I think it might be better with a couple days of stubble.. idk.. we'll see..

The Working Manifesto of an Extroverted Introvert

2008-05-04T14:07:00.000-05:00

.: I am an introvert. I find great solace in being alone, relaxing with a bottle of wine and a book. I do not need people around me to feel happy. Yet I want people around. I love to talk, chat, gab, relate. I love meeting new and interesting people and finding out all about them. I have no issues with going out and exploring. Yet I stay in. Not because of fear, but because I'm comfortable here. I don't shut out the world. I just know the world will be there tomorrow if I feel tired tonight.

.: Why should extroverts have all the social skills and introvert have all the deep thoughts? I enjoy both. I seek both. Not out of desire to have both, but out of a passion for both. I love being able to be comfortable in any situation I might find myself in. I might only be a jack of all trades and never a master of any. I still can't work a whole room at the drop of a hat. Nor can I always stay home and just relax. But I can still enjoy a party and then just go home and read.

.: My old boss Victor always made us take personality tests every year to help us understand how to connect with our fellow co-workers (or that is how I understood the goal). He always was surprised that every year everyone scored about the same, except me. I would flip flop from extrovert to introvert. I guess I just sit on the fence of that test.

.: My experience with most people is that we are all on that fence, if only with certain groups or parameters. A quiet person will be the most talkative person in the world when you go to her brother's concert and pack the car with a bunch of close friends. The most social person you know might be found in his room writing a program to catalog his movie collection for a week straight because he saw a need and wanted to fill it.

--

.: Like the title says, this is just a working manifesto. I still have to refine it.. Normally this sort of thing would just end up in my journal and never be seen by anyone.. but today I just feel like posting stuff.. The three previous posts today were all little jots from my journal from about a year ago.. Just a day of reflection I guess...

For Sara

2008-05-04T14:02:00.000-05:00

Fists up!
Ready, Set...
No?
Fuck it, oh well..
Go!
Who cares if you don't have your feet on the ground.
Who cares if we didn't tell you how to fight.
Battle it out...
Fuck you if you can't take a joke.
Fuck you if you don't know.
We'll bitch slap you till you get comfortable.
Comfortable, that is, in our way of life.
You want to change it?!
Fuck you again...
We just wont give you a job.
Ha.

Credit Debit

2008-05-04T13:59:00.001-05:00

No Cash. Never Cash.
I have No Cash today.
Credit, Debit, Check,
Those I have.
Those I live by.
No Cash, Never Cash.
No Cash for me.

The Coffee House

2008-05-04T13:57:00.001-05:00

I stand here,
watching customers stumble
through their coffee orders.

We all drink the same thing,
but we fight to be different.

A mocha, a latte, a coffee,
All from the same beans.

Why is it that we want to be so unique,
but all end up the same.