... and now for something completely different!

This makes me happy on so many levels. Enjoy!

Death Metal Puppy - watch more funny videos

The Trip: The End

So on my last day at Rumney this year, I fell on the same move of the same route that I fell on the day before I drove west. Brutal. At least next summer I'll know what to do to get ready for Rumney... Boulder, a lot. Even when you're on your feet, you've still have to pull with your arms. It is what it is, and I love it.

So after getting my but kicked, Izzy and I hit up The Common Man for some lunch before heading down to Foxboro to see the Seattle Sounders visit The New England Revolution. I'm a converted man now, and I was cheering for the Sounders.


This was a fantastic vacation, and exactly what I've been needing. Can't wait to do it again next year!

The Trip: Actual Sending!

Technosurfing is one of the best routes at Rumney, and I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner. There were only two of us this trip, so we didn't get any pics, but I tracked down a good shot of the route off google. There's another 25-30 feet below the bottom of the shot. Get psyched! (and click to view full size)

The Trip: Nostalgia

So due to a lack of climbing partners, I spent several days chilling and enjoying being in a place that feels like I never left. The roads, the food, the people. This is, and always will be, home. I hope in several years I'll be able to come back here for good. Maybe when I transition from route setter to high school teacher. But that's still a long way off, can't get hung up on it. Life is good now. As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But you could still work on your food shops Washington, get on it.

The Trip: Re-acclimating

The Trip: A Rough Start

So this trip got off to a very bad start. The airline screwed up and I missed my connecting flight, resulting in me getting in 6 hours later than planed. Then the next morning I didn't find out if I had a car or not until it was too late to head up to Rumney. So I headed into my old gym to be greeted by being told that I could not set, and therefor, could not climb for free, and that to be able to set I'd need the permission from the head setter who is on vacation in the Sierras. Seriously? I use to be the head setter there. Do you think he's going to tell me no? Fortunately Dan showed up and wanted to get on some real rock, so we booked it out to Gloucester to get on some glacial erratics before the sun went down.

After a quick session we headed over to Cala's in Manchester for dinner and to visit Lauren at her new job. In classic Manchester fashion the food was good, but overpriced.

The next morning I was hoping to just beat the rain to Lincoln Woods in Rhode Island, but failed to do so. Just ended up spending the day hanging around the house.

Today (monday) was an obvious rain day, so I slept in and chilled out for the afternoon. I watch the excellent movie Cashback. Then headed into the gym for Yoga for Climbers, which Lauren teaches.

Untitled

Another fit has brought me down again.

Mentally prone, I lie in wait of rest,

But sleep does not come, nor will it stave pain.

For there can be little that will work best.

The mind's infection races far and wide,

Bringing the body ache and heart distress.

The past's indiscretions will not subside,

So that the new born soul can not confess.

So it tries to force and bring clarity back,

To bring these things forward into the light.

But psychoses push back, a swift attack,

And silent the voice falls on the cold night.

An utterance so soft it's barely caught

As he dreams of the woman never forgot.

The Parents Invade! - Sunday

We started the day off with the tour of the Boeing plant just down the street from my apartment. It was cool see how they put together the 747's, 777's and the yet to be released 787's. Each one had it's own unique assembly line.

Next it was into town to go to the aquarium. It was pretty cool, but I expected more from a coastal city. Picked some of my favorite videos I got there:



To end the weekend off we saved the best for last, a Sounders game! This was a crazy experience. No other MLS team has a following like this. They were also kind enough to win 2-0.

The Parents Invade! - Saturday

So may parents were in Seattle this last weekend, so I finally got to do some of the tourist things around town. We starting things off on saturday by going to the Experience Music and Sci-Fi Museum. This place covers two of my favorite things outside of climbing.

(The tower of guitars in the center of the museum)
(Nirvana's old gear)
(Eddie Van Halen's famous guitar)
(I shouldn't need to explain this one)
(What I wanted to be when I grew up. So jealous of Cory Feldman)
(Aren't you a little short to be a Storm Trooper?)
(Dude, your skin fell off)
(Farscape was one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever)
(This is a favorite b-rate sci-fi movies of my sister and I. Jane Fonda is sooo hot)
(A Freman stillsuit from the movie Dune. If you haven't read the book, do it now)

After, we decided to go catch a movie as the weather was being classic Seattle, and therefor, unpleasant to be in. We headed up to Lynnwood to see Despicable Me. This movie is fantastic. It's so good I really can't put it into words. So go see it... and feel free to invite me, 'cause I want to see it again.

Sunday breakdown coming soon.

The end of many good things, and the start of more

Red Sox @ Mariners

A very well played game that saw the Mariners come back in the 8th for the win. I was disappointed in the Mariner fans though. The people at the park were split about 50/50 between Mariner and Red Sox fans. The Sox fans would cheer when the Sox made a good play or just a general "Let's go red Sox!" chant. There were several Mariner fans however that felt the need to yell "Red Sox suck!" or "You suck Drew!" (if you couldn't tell from the picture above, I was in the section near JD Drew) whether or not the Mariners were ahead or behind. The most ridiculous one came when some lady randomly pointed at me and yelled "You guys suck!" when I was walking out of the park with everyone else.

I expect this kind of stuff to go on at Red Sox/Yankees games, but I wasn't expecting it here. Especially with the Mariners walking out the winners. It will be interesting to see if it happens again with a different team in a few weeks when I go to a game while my parents are in town visiting.

And we're back

1 year latter

Alex's Surprise Birthday Party

Index Round 2

So far, so good, but there is a lot more to come.

So proud, and so close...

As Tyson would say, time for a fitness check

The First Last

The poster the kids made for me. Totally blown away by them.

3 Weekend Recap aka Lot's of Firsts

So I finally made my first trip out to Index this last weekend. It was very eye opening as to what climbing on gear out here is going to take. Very different from back east. We only got in a few pitches because Rudy had to get home to pack for Atlanta, but the quality was outstanding. I only ended up top roping, but made up for it by getting on the stellar Marginal Karma (5.11b). I know I'll be able to lead it as soon as I can place my gear more efficiently. Can't wait to get back.

Ok, now to jump back to two weekends ago. The original plan was for Chelsea and I to head out to Little Si, but with Washington weather being what it is, we instead took the sure thing and headed out to Leavenworth. Nothing crazy went down, but Chelsea got back on Scrabbled Eggs (V8) for a second time and was very close to sending. Considering she hasn't trained for bouldering in months, this is a problem that should go down easy in the fall when she's back in shape for it. As for me, I messed around on some easier problems until we made our way over to the Swift Water area. There is a schist cave in the back corner of the picnic area that made me quite homesick for Rumney. I only did the V7 line, but it's first hard schist climbing I'd done since the move and it got me wicked psyched for my trip home in late August.

Then there was last weekend. Two solid days of real rock action. Saturday was spent running sport routes at the Nevermind Wall at Exit 38 with Andy. A solid day that went 5.1a, 5.12a, 5.11b, 5.12a, 5.10d. The endurance in slowly coming back. But then there was sunday, the day of power pulling on the boulders of Gold Bar. I had one clear goal heading up there, Twisted (V10). I had worked on the problem once before a few months ago, putting in at least 15 tries. So after a long hike and a quick warm up, I went back to battle with my nemesis. It got an early lead by spitting me off the first of the hard moves, a move I had gotten dialed on the previous session. I got the feel for the move back after several attempts and then the work began. Attempt after attempt, but the no progress was to be made. I was starting to think that it would no go after all, but I didn't plan to stop trying until I didn't have any skin left on my fingers. And then it happened. A slight twist of my right foot, putting my body in a slightly different position, allowing me to hold onto that bad vertical pinch. I had that momentary pause where I realized that I was not hitting the pad below me, but in fact, was still on the rock. I quickly got my wits about me, snagged the next crimp and finally latched the first of the top out jugs. I rocked up onto the moss laden slab and carefully made my way up and over to the easy walk off the back side. I had finally done it! After more than 30 tries, I'd finally done my first V10! While this was a goal I could only dream of 3 years ago, I now know that it is only the beginning of things to come. Especially if I can build the endurance to transfer this power to longer rope routes. This coming year is looking very bright indeed.

See you on the rocks!

-Josh