Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
There’s something wonderful about surprising yourself with our own capabilities and progress. I’m sure that there’s a word for it in German. I spend a lot of my free time either rock climbing or dancing. With both pursuits, I have my ups and downs, my things I feel confident about, stuff I’m working on, and…
I was bouldering yesterday with my friend Susan when we saw this dude top a pretty challenging V3. “Good job!” Susan called up to him. Cause that is the kind of human that Susan is. When he came down we chatted a bit. He admitted that this was the first time in a year that…
Well 2018 was QUITE the year for me. Certainly not what I expected the year to be about. Quick 2018 Stats Jobs Lost: 1 Countries Visited: 2 Dance Competitions / Showcases Entered: 4 Dance Competitions Won: 1 Theme Parks Visited: 2 Parties Thrown: 3 Number of Pastries Baked: MANY Losing my job was certainly not…
I recently took my 10 year old cat Mole Negro in for a visit to his vet for his annual check-up. Apparently he’s in good health for his age, about at his target weight, and no real issues she could find. But she did mention that there was some plaque buildup on some of his…
This morning I finally topped a difficult V4+ boulder route at my gym, after three weeks of effort. I wanted to share some of my process for beating this route, and videos showing my progress over the last 9-10 sessions. Just getting through the first set of holds was a big challenge for me. Finally,…
About a year ago I added rock climbing to my regular workout regime. After going on a few sessions with my co-worker Jeff, I bit the bullet last September and signed up for a regular membership at my local climbing gym Planet Granite. That was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long…
I just remembered today that I had been outdoor rock climbing once, several years ago. And it was kind of a disaster. I was in my late twenties living in New York City. One summer, I had met a lovely woman at a Quaker gathering who took a shine to me. She invited me over…
I’m so excited to see the documentary Free Solo in a couple of weeks, the story of how legendary climber Alex Honnold ascended Yosemite’s El Capitan with no rope, no harness, just his chalk bag and balls of steel. In the meanwhile, this 360 video showing a bit of Alex free soloing El Cap will…
I’ve been bouldering for about a year, and feel like I’m making decent progress and more importantly having a really fun time. Today was my first time participating in a bouldering competition at my gym, Planet Granite. Bloc Party is an annual contest that invites all boulderers, from beginners to advanced, to compete in a…
One thing I forgot to report on from my trip to an Indian casino a couple of weekends ago. I did the impossible: I stuck to my low carb diet at a casino buffet. It actually was pretty easy. I just loaded up on the things that I like and that are good for…