First time climbing with Shawn in a while! And neither one of us had been to Red Wing for... probably a couple of months. It ended up being a great day. We started on Frequent Flatulence (5.10a) as a warm up. Shawn cruised it until the awkward mantle move, at which he actually took a big fall. I toproped it with ease. Then we did the always awkward Vertical Vice (5.8+) which I was gratified to see Shawn struggling with, and Call of the Mild (5.11a) which we both led with a fair amount of confidence. Then we did the 5.10 to the left of Vertical Vice... Pandemonium. Dirty route because it doesn't get climbed enough.
Then Shawn had an urge to get on Annadonia (5.11b), and I led it after he did and cranked through the very tough start! Definitely had an advantage with the preplaced quickdraws on the finish, though. And we finished off with Out of Control (5.11a). I kind of love the first half of this route, but it has it's awkward moments. I took an unexpected fall at the second bolt when my foot popped off, but totally clean fall.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Squee and me
I did not know what "squee" meant, or what it meant to "ship" someone, despite frequently running into those words in internet fandom. Oh, sure, I had a sense from context, but it was only when I stumbled across this article (http://firefox.org/news/articles/1275/1/Celebrating-Squee/Page1.html) on Firefox News that I finally found an official definition of the term.
"What is squee? If you're a fan and you’re reading this, you already know. It's that happy, warm, fluttery feeling you get in the pit of your stomach two minutes before a new episode of your show airs. It is defined by the sound that very likely escapes your mouth when your favorite couple (or threesome) is on-screen together, interacting, and omg, their hands are touching, that was definitely a touch, and did you see how they were looking at each other, they're so doing it, it's canon!"
I could really just post that entire article in here, it's so good, it gets it so right... I think it's fun to read, but then I AM a fan and I squee on a regular basis (albeit usually alone). So you who might be reading this, give it a try. Read about squee and then do it yourself. Ha ha.
And "ship" is apparently short for "worship" but has taken on additional overtones and nuances; it seems to me that fans don't ship merely a single character - they usually ship a pair of characters, and indeed the relationship between those two characters. So it's sorta like worshipping the relationship. In case it's not obvious, I ship the Doctor and Rose. And I'm certainly not alone in that.
Here is the best site to indulge my shipping.
http://www.loony-archivist.com/who/betterw2/index_s1.htm
"What is squee? If you're a fan and you’re reading this, you already know. It's that happy, warm, fluttery feeling you get in the pit of your stomach two minutes before a new episode of your show airs. It is defined by the sound that very likely escapes your mouth when your favorite couple (or threesome) is on-screen together, interacting, and omg, their hands are touching, that was definitely a touch, and did you see how they were looking at each other, they're so doing it, it's canon!"
I could really just post that entire article in here, it's so good, it gets it so right... I think it's fun to read, but then I AM a fan and I squee on a regular basis (albeit usually alone). So you who might be reading this, give it a try. Read about squee and then do it yourself. Ha ha.
And "ship" is apparently short for "worship" but has taken on additional overtones and nuances; it seems to me that fans don't ship merely a single character - they usually ship a pair of characters, and indeed the relationship between those two characters. So it's sorta like worshipping the relationship. In case it's not obvious, I ship the Doctor and Rose. And I'm certainly not alone in that.
Here is the best site to indulge my shipping.
http://www.loony-archivist.com/who/betterw2/index_s1.htm
fun with the internet
In the book "Quicksilver" it's often hard to know what stuff is based on reality and what is fictional. I was looking at the amazon.com reviews of the work, and this led me to the wikipedia article on the Baroque Cycle, which has an entire section listing the elements which are fictional. "Aha!" I thought to myself when I learned that Qwglhm is actually a fictional country. "Well of course it is!" you might think to yourself, but "Quicksilver" is so well-written and the fictional stuff is so thoroughly intertwined with the historical stuff that I did find myself wondering if Qwglhm was just some place I had never heard of before.
Another intertwining of fiction and history in the book: the origin of the word "cabal" - based on the first letters in the names of the five people who formed the first cabal. Although the five characters in the book are fictional, the word apparently does stem from the initials of five crucial individuals.
Anyway, at the bottom of the wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwghlm) there was a link to a list of "Fictional European Countries" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fictional_European_countries).
God I love the internet!
Another intertwining of fiction and history in the book: the origin of the word "cabal" - based on the first letters in the names of the five people who formed the first cabal. Although the five characters in the book are fictional, the word apparently does stem from the initials of five crucial individuals.
Anyway, at the bottom of the wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwghlm) there was a link to a list of "Fictional European Countries" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fictional_European_countries).
God I love the internet!
Who am I, really?
Ross and I watched "The diving bell and the butterfly" last night. It has been on my mental list for months, after my mom and Ross' stepmom both recommended it very highly. Finally it was time.
Wow. The images were so beautiful. The life, so unimaginable. The accomplishment.
I'm trying to remember where this particular quote came from... it might have been a movie or a tv show, or the olympics coverage. Someone was describing a guy and saying that he didn't really know what he wanted or how to get it, and Ross exclaimed, "But that's how we all feel!" There was more; it sounded more profound. Ha ha. It certainly describes me. And sometimes I realize that it's a universal state, more or less. That makes me feel more OK about it. I think it's good to feel... to accept oneself, more or less. I don't usually accept myself; I beat myself up a lot. But I think there are things I should change about myself. I feel like I've grown into a crabbiness (ha ha) that I'd like to shed. I'd like to rediscover a youthful playfulness. It would be easier to rediscover that if I won the lottery and didn't have to sit at a desk all day.
Oh, and now I'm whining!
I'd like to be better at staying in touch with my family.
Family, I'm sorry I haven't been good at that. It is not for lack of caring; it is due to the crabbiness that I need to shed.
Wow. The images were so beautiful. The life, so unimaginable. The accomplishment.
I'm trying to remember where this particular quote came from... it might have been a movie or a tv show, or the olympics coverage. Someone was describing a guy and saying that he didn't really know what he wanted or how to get it, and Ross exclaimed, "But that's how we all feel!" There was more; it sounded more profound. Ha ha. It certainly describes me. And sometimes I realize that it's a universal state, more or less. That makes me feel more OK about it. I think it's good to feel... to accept oneself, more or less. I don't usually accept myself; I beat myself up a lot. But I think there are things I should change about myself. I feel like I've grown into a crabbiness (ha ha) that I'd like to shed. I'd like to rediscover a youthful playfulness. It would be easier to rediscover that if I won the lottery and didn't have to sit at a desk all day.
Oh, and now I'm whining!
I'd like to be better at staying in touch with my family.
Family, I'm sorry I haven't been good at that. It is not for lack of caring; it is due to the crabbiness that I need to shed.
Devil's Lake
Went to Devil's Lake with Katie last weekend.
Saturday - left her house at 7:30 a.m. Climbing by 1 p.m. after driving there, missing a turn, reversing, finding the campground, setting up the tent, getting to the park, buying a sticker, etc. I led Push Me Pull Yu (5.6). Didn't have my lead head, made it harder than it should have been. Set up a toprope on Cheatah (5.10). Struggled with the bottom crux, glad I wasn't leading it. Then cruised the rest. Katie did great, too. Then I led Brinton's Crack (5.6) and Katie followed. Brinton's is superb. Then led Anemia (5.2) because I thought Katie should lead it and she didn't feel ready. And by then the sun was low in the sky and we decided it was time for showers and dinner. Shower facility near the parking lot is very convenient. Ate at the Barn Restaurant (not to be confused with the Farm Kitchen) which has a really great beer selection! We had beers from Furthermore Brewery of Black River Falls, WI. Highly recommended. I slept like a log.
Sunday - reasonably early start. We hiked along the railroad tracks to the Railroad Amphitheater. Very easy to find. I led Pine Tree Step-Across, 5.6, although I wimped out on the step-across move; on lead your last gear is below your feet and you have to do a step-out with hardly any hands... scary. Then we set up a toprope on Catenary Crack (5.9). This was definitely old-school Devil's Lake 5.9 - the hardest route of that grade that I've ever climbed. Really fun, but strenuous. Then I led Pine Tree Dihedral (5.5) which was fun. Then toproped Cop-Out (5.11) which was a majorly great climb. I'd love to get on it again. Then a final lead of The Pillar (5.6), with an awkward move into a chimney, and a finish on the top of Catenary Crack.
We called it a day and were back in the cities by 9 p.m.
Katie near the top of Pine Tree Step-Across - note the pine tree below her.
Kiri at top of Pine Tree routes.
Catenary Crack! follows the arcing, chalked-up crack. The Pillar is to the right. Cop-Out to the left.
Kiri on the starting hold of Catenary Crack.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Wow, summer
It passes. The evenings grow dark, sooner. When I walked Toad around the block after work tonight there were tiny baby toads all over the neighborhood; some combination of the rain, the season, the toads themselves... The annuals in the garden are blooming in the way that is hard to imagine at the beginning of summer. Prolific as all getout.
Katie and I climbed at Taylors Falls last weekend, and Katie did her first trad lead! I almost got stung by a wasp. We both got hissed at by a bat. I led Inside Corner (5.8) and felt really strong and in control. We both toproped Batman (5.10) and we both hung at the crux.
Ross has been making constant progress with the Jag sedan, but now he's thinking about other cars since he has probably sold his Miata to Randy. Toad needs a bath, badly. I have pre-ordered the 4th Season of Doctor Who (available November 18) and can hardly wait.
Not enjoying work; some days are better than others. Sometimes I think I should just be profoundly grateful that I have a wonderful, well-paying job. Other days it kills me a little.
Katie and I climbed at Taylors Falls last weekend, and Katie did her first trad lead! I almost got stung by a wasp. We both got hissed at by a bat. I led Inside Corner (5.8) and felt really strong and in control. We both toproped Batman (5.10) and we both hung at the crux.
Ross has been making constant progress with the Jag sedan, but now he's thinking about other cars since he has probably sold his Miata to Randy. Toad needs a bath, badly. I have pre-ordered the 4th Season of Doctor Who (available November 18) and can hardly wait.
Not enjoying work; some days are better than others. Sometimes I think I should just be profoundly grateful that I have a wonderful, well-paying job. Other days it kills me a little.
Friday, August 01, 2008
I'm behind on this...
But only by a week or so. Went to Taylor's Falls with Shawn and Sue last weekend. Sue is a very strong climber I haven't really climbed with before; she and Shawn are going to the Tetons... actually they're on their way there right now. They had an agenda last weekend - to get in some practice aid climbing.
Aid climbing is distinguished from free climbing by the fact that you hang on every piece of protection that you place; it is a technique for ascending rock faces so sheer that they cannot be free climbed. Shawn and Sue hope to do a route that includes one 25 foot section of aid climbing. The technique is relatively straightforward, but the sequence definitely benefits from practice.
Tom, a friend of Sue's, found us at the Airconditioned/Layback Crack area, so I ended up climbing with him while Sue and Shawn did their aiding. Tom is a slightly older guy, very experienced, very mild-mannered and pleasant with much tattoos on his arms and torso. He also rides motorcycles. It turns out that he and I both have a Ducati Monster 750. We climbed Layback (the old guidebook calls it 5.7 but Tom said he thought it was easily a 5.9), and then I climbed Mantrap (5.10). Tom tried but backed off because of knee pain. Mantrap is wicked! The bottom, at least for me, involves desperate slopey slippery laybacking, and then a funky traverse under a roof. I had tried the top section before but failed; this time I pulled through to the top.
Good day, and good climbing and meeting new friendly people. Also met Jared, another friend of Sue's, and people with him. Climbing folks are usually really great people.
Aid climbing is distinguished from free climbing by the fact that you hang on every piece of protection that you place; it is a technique for ascending rock faces so sheer that they cannot be free climbed. Shawn and Sue hope to do a route that includes one 25 foot section of aid climbing. The technique is relatively straightforward, but the sequence definitely benefits from practice.
Tom, a friend of Sue's, found us at the Airconditioned/Layback Crack area, so I ended up climbing with him while Sue and Shawn did their aiding. Tom is a slightly older guy, very experienced, very mild-mannered and pleasant with much tattoos on his arms and torso. He also rides motorcycles. It turns out that he and I both have a Ducati Monster 750. We climbed Layback (the old guidebook calls it 5.7 but Tom said he thought it was easily a 5.9), and then I climbed Mantrap (5.10). Tom tried but backed off because of knee pain. Mantrap is wicked! The bottom, at least for me, involves desperate slopey slippery laybacking, and then a funky traverse under a roof. I had tried the top section before but failed; this time I pulled through to the top.
Good day, and good climbing and meeting new friendly people. Also met Jared, another friend of Sue's, and people with him. Climbing folks are usually really great people.
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