Category Archives: Personal
Boots
Before I left for Indianapolis last week, I made a purchase that was a few years in the making. Yes, I bought my first pair of cowboy boots. The song says, “if you’re gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.” But well before fiddles or two steppin’ or cowboy hats, a Texas man needs a pair of appropriate boots.
It might be the boots or it might be for an entirely different reason; lately I’ve felt an intense need to work with my hands and get dirty. Yesterday I took my excess energy out on the lifeless compost bin in the backyard. It’s been neglected since I moved in over a year ago – half full and not exactly healthy. So I opened it up and shoveled it out, distributing the surprisingly good-looking compost around the yard.
Now that the temperatures are cooling down here in Austin, it’s time to get the yard usable again. Time for campfires, beers and friends. I’m excited – we made it through another long summer, and now we’re entering my favorite time of year.
I’m working at REI for a little while this afternoon, and I hope I don’t see you there. Unless it’s just a quick pop in to pick up climbing chalk, a PROBAR, or a spare tube – that’s allowed. The rest of you should be out playing in this gorgeous weather.
Indy
I had low expectations for Indianapolis. It’s not a city with a great reputation.
Carolina took me to the airport much too early on Sunday morning, and after two decent flights, I arrived in Indy around noon. One hour before the Colts game. There was a party of four on the plane decked out in Colts gear from head to toe. They probably go to NASCAR races in the off-season… Anyways, downtown was pretty busy, and my hotel was connected to the Lucas Oil stadium. Lots of activity around.
I traveled to Indianapolis for my work’s Fall Meeting. This was my first stab at organizing an event like this, and it’s much different from organizing a bike ride across the continent. The meeting went by without any major disasters. Indy is much more expensive than it should be though.
Work took up most of Sunday afternoon, but I did venture out that evening to explore downtown a little. I was pleasantly surprised – it reminded me of Austin, but with outdoor cafe seating. There’s some cool bits of architecture floating around, but more importantly, there was the Rock Bottom Brewery five minutes from my hotel. They had my attention for the three nights I was in town.
I met a lot of good people from our meeting. Last night I had drinks with a few guys from P&G, Veolia, Worthington Industries, and my colleague Laura. I stayed up much too late in relation to my 8:00am meeting this morning.
And now I’m back on the plane, headed to Dallas/Ft. Worth, and finally back home to Austin. I miss it, and I miss the pretty lady coming to greet me at the airport. I don’t think I’m cut out for too much business travel – seems like more trouble than it’s worth. On the plus side, I did learn that Indianapolis isn’t the shithole I was expecting. Even if their football fans are a little fanatical…
Out the window
My office has a nice view.
Second floor, with two big open windows in front of a nice wood table,
looking out to a giant oak tree and typically blue sky.
Typically it’s just me here, typing away alone on my computer, looking out the window.
It’s quiet, and thoughts seem to either go into the keyboard, or out the window.
Pulling on Plastic
Carolina, Kristen and I climbed indoors at Main Event in North Austin last night, maybe 9:00 – 11:30pm. It was my first real go at indoor climbing. The last time I climbed indoors I was a little kid, and I rented shoes…
Gym climbing, for me, takes all the magic out of the experience – the route finding, the outdoors, the feel of real rock, and the sense of adventure. But it is a fantastic training tool, and how else can I climb safely at 9pm? It felt odd having all the holds marked and so clear. Because it is such a controlled environment, you can really let loose on some big moves. At the end of the night, I was maybe a half inch away from sticking a six-foot all points off dyno…
Before climbing, C and I had a fantastic happy-hour sushi dinner at Kyoto. We ate in the Tatami room, cross-legged with our shoes off. It was quite cute.
Everything about yesterday went quite well – a good day at work, followed by a great evening. I’m so happy with life right now.
September 6th?
Wow, it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been a month since my last update. Life has been moving along quickly.
Being in love makes the world look remarkably different. I’m totally convinced and completely hooked on the feeling. She’s the best thing in my life.
Fall is almost here. Three days ago the city of Austin let out a collective sigh of relief as a cold front came in and pushed out the terrible heat. It feels like we’re on the downward slope to happier times. Jerry and I have made it – an entire summer in Central Texas without air conditioning in the house. It’ll certainly be on my list of great accomplishments in 2010. I’m overflowing with excitement thinking about fires in the backyard again, cozy down comforters on the bed, and jackets.
Fall means climbing in Mexico with Carolina (and jackets). Happy and cool commutes to the office. All that good stuff.
Work has been going well. I’ve been busy, but never stressed. Some days I wish I was back at REI full-time, talking about my hobbies, my travels, and feeling like an expert in something. I still work there once a week, and I definitely enjoy being there more than I used to. I guess being involved with something on a more limited basis let’s you see the good things you’d normally overlook in the blur of daily activity.
Carolina and I strapped a pizza from Eastside Pies to the back of the Big Dummy two nights ago. I felt a fantastic sense of accomplishment. I sold the fixed gear a few weeks ago, and have been using the Big Dummy exclusively for my short commute and cargo carrying needs. It’s been amazing.
I had a few small accomplishments in the climbing department yesterday with Carolina. We stayed local and climbed on the greenbelt for a change, warming up on my favorite route in Austin and flailing on some overhanging rock at 5.8 Sanctuary. My back is sore today.
Like most things right now, I’m striving for more consistency with my blog updates, hoping for at least weekly posts. We’ll see how that works out… Thanks for reading.
Some Places
The switch to this new computer, and the subsequent relocation of files, managed to get me looking through old pictures. Texas 4000 pictures. Backpacking through the Ozarks. Trips, people, places, good and epic memories. Some days I’ll forget that I rode a bike to Alaska. It feels like such a long time ago – I’m all grown up now, doing grown up things. Those roads and those people changed my life.
I’ve thought about it for a while, but I’m 95% sure I’m going to start riding my bike again for speed and fitness. My commute (100ish miles/week) has been great at keeping me healthy, but I want to get stronger. I’d like to be able to randomly jump on the bike and do the Johnson City out-and-back in six hours [again]. I know it’ll be a tough task with my work and all, but I’m sure I can find some spare time. Eat right. Train hard. Sleep more.
It’s time to get away from the city.
Today I woke up and worked from the bed, sending emails and taking advantage of a wave of extra motivation. I typically work from home and coffee shops on Tuesdays and Thursdays – I like being able to mix up my work environment. I hit Halcyon earlier this morning, and now I’m typing away at JP’s Java. JP’s is further than I typically travel for coffee; it’s my old university hangout, and always gets me thinking deep thoughts. I like it here.
Riding through campus on my way here was another trip down memory lane, and another part of my life that seems so far away. I was thinking about buildings I used to have classes in, the places I used to live, where I used to eat. Those were happy and carefree times.
But not as happy as the now. I spent a considerable amount of time cleaning my little house this afternoon, and thinking about the place I’m currently at. I live a good life, and I’m sharing it with the most wonderful person. I can’t wait for Fall. For fires in the backyard again, for cool air blowing through the windows, for jackets and long-sleeved shirts. Only 2.5 months of heat left.
OK, time to get back at it. A few more work related things to write up, then I’m heading home for the night.
Daniel’s Back
Forgive me for yet another lapse in updates. Life has been busy, and writing full time for one job makes it difficult for me to find the motivation to write my thoughts here. That, and with the free time I do find these days, I’d rather give my wonderful girlfriend attention instead. I would have never imagined that I’d find someone who makes me this happy.
Work, Life, Play (but not in that order)
Things seem to be really taking off for us at the business council – we’ve been busy busy. I can’t complain – it feels good to be working on projects that are making a difference. I like to exist on the border between productive and overworked, to push myself to get more done than I might think I’m capable of. This gig keeps me in that spot quite well. I’m learning, and I’m riding my bike to work everyday (even if it’s just to the coffee-shop sometimes).
Fit, Healthy, Happy, Fulfilled
Last night Caro and I cooked dinner together. A while ago, my brother taught me how to make a simple pasta sauce by roasting cherry tomatoes, garlic (whole cloves), red onion, and red bell pepper. Fast, simple, healthy and fresh. We did our thing last night, and it turned out incredibly well. My little triathlete has a race this weekend – now she’ll go into Sunday with plenty of glycogen in the legs.
I haven’t climbed in almost a month. Yuck. Our Sundays have been occupied with other good things though – a wedding, visiting relatives, triathlons, etc. The rock rings in the backyard have been a decent, although mosquito infested, replacement – but if I don’t see some real rock soon, I’m going to go crazy. Next week I’ll be back to it for sure.
Cool Things
Besides the Surly Big Dummy, which I’m totally in love with, I picked up a new laptop yesterday. A MacBook Air. One of those perks of working too much. I wanted something thin and lightweight to carry to work and such, and now I have it. Carolina will be bottling her first batch of kombucha this weekend, and I potted an avocado seed for her that should be popping up in the next week as well. I’ve taken ownership of Birdie, my new cockatiel. He sings to me and keeps me on the brink of happy and annoyed. I love him.
Be Here Now
By almost random chance, a few weeks ago I picked up a book titled “Remember, Be Here Now“, written by Baba Ram Dass. Formally Dr. Richard Alpert, you may recognize him from his old Timothy Leary associations in the 60s. Ram Dass took a different path, eventually turning towards India, where Hinduism and spiritual teachings gave him expanded consciousness without psychedelics. His experiences in India led him to write this book, where he teaches that every moment in life is of infinite significance.
It’s an easy concept to understand, but a difficult one for me to put into practice – being here now, existing in the moment and recognizing its significance. But I like to think that a good number of factors have been put in my path to help me reach this point. I have a beautiful girlfriend, and when I’m with her, I can’t imagine existing in any frame of mind but the present. When I want to learn more, or need someone to bounce ideas off of, I have my housemate Jerry to talk to. Soon, I’m going to let him show me what yoga can do…
I’ve been keeping very busy lately, mostly with my work at the business council. It’s been very fulfilling, rewarding, and full of energy. We traveled to Houston last week for a meeting with our board – a fantastic exploration for me into the inner depths of our nonprofit. Sometimes I feel like a sponge, just absorbing all this knowledge and information around me. I need to get better at turning it off sometimes; I feel myself getting too focused, with my mind too involved, at times when it probably shouldn’t be. I need to keep my balance. Sometimes I need to be here now.
Summer is wearing me out. I can’t find any refuge from the heat – I feel like I’m always sweating, always too hot. But I’m learning to see that it’s all in my head, most of the time. If I can go deep into my mind and calm my discomfort, I’m usually ok. This experiment of lasting an entire Austin summer without air conditioning has been a revealing experience so far.
Good gets Better
Cruising around on the Surly Big Dummy is perhaps the best cycling-related experience I’ve had in Austin. My obnoxiously large box arrived on Friday last week, four days after the order was placed. I left the office a little early and went into time trial mode to the shop, so we could get started right away on building it up. I helped Andy (my coworker and favorite mechanic) get it all together, and must admit, I was a little intimidated by the sheer size of it all. The chain, the insanely long cable routing, the super-sized wheelbase – for someone who rides aggressive road bikes pretty much exclusively, there couldn’t be a more polar opposite.
But I’m totally hooked. The plush ride, the stopping power and control, the ease of packing – everything is right. I’m still waiting for the opportunity to load it up really heavy, but so far, it’s been incredibly smooth. I loved going to the grocery store and not thinking about what I was throwing in the cart. It may sound trivial, but when you commute by bike exclusively, that little bit of freedom is something to behold. I’m very, very happy.
Good gets better.
Carolina and I have been climbing almost every Sunday. Yesterday’s trip took us to Hand Beyond Wall with my good friend Rami, who will be departing for a new life in South-east Asia in just a few days. Hand Beyond is my favorite place out at Reimer’s. Few people know about it, it’s far away from the typical weekend crowds, and the routes are all especially high quality. We did a lot of mid-hard 5.10s, and just enjoyed life in the sunshine. After thoroughly wearing ourselves out on the rock, C and I continued on to a great afternoon together, and a beautiful evening.
She lifts me up to a higher place – if you can’t tell by now, I really like her.
My work is keeping me excited and quite happy too. We’re developing a very productive dynamic at the office, and I like being handed the reigns on more and more projects. I recently reconnected with an old friend of mine to work on a project I’m really, really excited about, and I have a good feeling we’re going to make some magic happen. It’s good to get excited about those things…
Quick Update
My back muscles are just now beginning to return to normal. Last Sunday Carolina, Luis and I climbed especially hard out at Reimer’s Ranch. With the regular crowd presumably doing Father’s Day activities, we were able to set up camp at Prototype Wall and stay there for the day. We climbed on 8 flake (5.8), Bisector (5.10a), Prototype (5.10d), Sugar (5.10d), and Bolt Talk (5.11a). Not a bad lineup of routes to play on…
Bolt Talk is one of my favorite routes out there – a great balance of hard and powerful moves at the bottom, with crimpy and balancy moves at the finish. Pressed into the limestone at the top are a bunch of prehistoric pebbles and fossils, giving you some really interesting holds to play with. I’m still a little ways away, but I think Bolt Talk will be my first 5.11a redpoint. Maybe 2 or 3 weeks. Better yet was how Carolina sailed up it at the end of the day – she’s getting wicked strong, and will be all over 5.11s in no time too. I seriously have the coolest playmate a guy like me could ask for.
Surly Big Dummy. I ordered one. Arguably the most capable cargo/heavy touring bike out there right now, I’m hoping it’ll fill some pretty significant gaps in my transportation arsenal. Most notably in the “moving heavy objects” category. The whole package should arrive early next week, and the build should take another couple of days. I’m super excited. It’ll be nice to have a versatile and comfortable bike to cruise around on, picking up whatever I see fit along the way. And I have dreams of weekend touring trips in the near future too.
Lots more to write about, but I’m running out of time this morning. I have a series of conference calls to be on starting in 10 minutes… Life is good to me right now.
