Taken it to the General!

Went out climbing today. Shortly before meeting aaron and bryan out at the rocks, I went and got some hard climbing in, since i would just be showing them around and doing stuff i'd already done. One guy showed me a problem called General Lee. Staring at it you really wonder the finger width cracks are good enough to hold body weight and the scant foot features are intimidating. At a tall (approximate) 18 feet high, it's definitely a difficult problem in more ways than one. I stacked my crash pad on top of Jim's and he showed me the beta for it. Then i hopped on. Starting on a big horn, working feet up almost to my waste allowed for the first reach to a solid crimper. Locking off with the thumb i eyed up the next move. Again, fastidious use of feet on this problem is key, as one would need super-human hand strength to just pull up on the crimpers without any solid foot placement. Next move was rather strained: work feet up slowly, bumping one up, then the other. Contraction of the abs into the wall and stretch right hand out. Bam! Another solid crimper but the amount of ab and footwork getting to this point starts to take its toll. Next move is to the worst crimp on the problem, but only 3-4 feet from the top of the problem. I work my feet, reach and barely grab it and fall the roughly 12 feet to the crash pad. It took me many attempts to get this worked out beta but i feel it is awesome that i worked it all out in one little 20 minute session (with lots of help from Jim). It's goin down next time! A fabulous problem and boy it makes for an exhilarating fall when you're near the top of it.

JLH look alike

saw this girl out at the boulder fields yesterday. of course in outdoor fashion, she was surrounded by several dudes, but this is to be expected. she seemed really cool and damn she was hot. she has lean feminine features that reminded me of Jennifer Love Hewitt... only more attractive! she was even shit talking one of the guys about his climbing. maybe ill get lucky and will be able to catch her climbing by herself one day so i can talk to her.

Some women just need a security blanket

im not bitching, more explaining a thought process when i read a statement such as the following:

“I do not call guys until we’re dating exclusively. I let him take the initiative.”

—Amorales314, Memphis, TN

I mean really... you have to put a label on things to call someone? Has he asked you out? If so he has already taken initiative... you know that he has the ability to. Not calling at all may make a guy feel like someone isn't interested.

Someone having this philosophy when it comes to dudes sounds like a way for them to make the guy stroke their ego. If they call you, you know that they want to talk to you. You are being paid attention to. Maybe if a guy doesn't have enough self esteem to call it quits when it seems like you aren't interested enought o call him, he'll make for a wonderful security blanket who will be able to shower you with the attention you need to feel good about yourself.

lol sad really... but still funny

It's out of my hands now

My packet for PA school is en route to Fort Knox. There's nothing else I can do except move on with my life and wait for word of either acceptance or lack there of. I feel as if I have grown attached to this little bundle of paperwork, after all I've put about 50 ish hours into preparation and paid nearly $100 (if not more) to get everything that I needed. I anticipated needing a moment to work up the courage to mail it off, being that once it's sealed in an envelope, it's completely out of my control. Interestingly enough, I felt as if I were about to audition for something on my saxophone. Countless hours of preparation all pointing toward one event in time that either produces fruit as result of the effort, or leaves me wanting. On the drive to the mail center I was nervous, running through every sheet of paper in my head, visualizing all the signatures I had gotten and making one last mental check. Entering the mail center felt like entering those judges rooms from sax auditions. The nervousness went away while I focussed on the task at hand: putting the proper mailing address on the envelope and selecting the right form of mail. Addressed and paid for I walked out of the mail center with little recollection of what I wrote, but just like with auditions where I forgot the music after I left the judges room, I knew with complete confidence that my preparation and planning came through and that I did not need to worry about it. Everything is in order. It's out of my hands now.

It's all in the fingers

I went climbing today.  It was awesome!  I started working a little V2 problem that I had never really tried.  First time back in a few months and it didn't go so well.  That was to be expected though so I kept trying, changing my feet, grabbing at different parts of the same hold from different angles.  It shouldn't be too hard to make the top-out reach next time.  We shall see nameless-V2-problem-that-lies-20-feet-to-the-left-of-shapeshifter!  I  moved on to go and work another V2 problem called Long Shot.  This was a painful endevour in more ways than one.  For startes my fingers were talking to me from my short work on the other V2; screaming in the absence of any kind of callous on any of the fingers.  Next my knee hurt a little bit when i had to do the starting heel-hook.  It's felt funny before but I've never tried it more than one time while being out there.  Today I worked the start 3-4 so my knee is a little sore.  It's weird cause it's rooted in the outside of the knee, almost like it's a problem with a tendon that is connecting to the lateral epicondyles of my tibia  :-)   Luckily there were a other climbers who wanted to climb Long Shot too... and they smoked my ass!  But it true hippy style, they were not arrogant and were eager to give me pointers (known as beta in the climbing community).  I finished my 2 hour session working on a problem that is probably a V1 called Cheese is Good.  I've tried this one in the past but today I got 2 moves higher than I ever have.  I took a nice 8 foot fall onto my brand spankin new crash pad.  It's the first real fall it took.  It has been deflowered  :-P

The fingers are sore but they will be for a few weeks.  

A beautiful afternoon and day outside, I cleaned my car, drank two beers, and tidied up my room a bit.  Didn't even realize it was V-day til about 5:00 this evening.

Euphoric 2 weeks

The past 2 weeks have been absolutely amazing!

1) Ordered some "higly discounted awesomeness" as I told Bob.
2) Hung out with Bob, Kiki, Jon Payne, and Mackenzie last weekend!
3) Took the Combat Lifesaver Course at Camp Shelby MS... This bullet deserves it's own post. More about these 4 days of nervana later!
4) Got almost all of my paperwork mostly or completely filled out!
5) Wrote my letter of intent to the PA School and sent it to my PA who wrote my recommendation!
6) She said that it was great and very thorough. She said not to change a thing. Nice little ego boost to the writing skills there.
7) Went and ate at Ryan's last night. Anyone who has eaten there knows that they don't have cooks in the back, they have chefs! And its all you can eat!
8) Im getting paid for 1.5 weeks of Army duty.
9) I'm going to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousin tomorrow and will visit my grandpa on Wednesday.
10) I have a cup of coffee next to me, family, friends, a job, plans for life, no disabilities, and a positive attitude.

11) Added late: I had 3 friends that I hung out with regularly while taking CLC at Camp Shelby.

What an awesome two weeks. When I think about all of that, it further solidifies the fact that I feel blessed by all the good fortunes in my life and my upbringing. Sure I don't have a lady friend, but hell! with all that stuff I've done in the last week and a half, I don't have time for one anyways so here's to being single, enjoying life, and taking advantage of opportunities!