I couldn't decide if people would stop and stare and then shake their heads in disgust, or if people would stop and stare and take pity on the injured wiener dog that tried enthusiastically to pull himself up the hill; his useless hindlegs cradled in the fabricated two wheeled cart behind him.
I drove up over and through the Snoqualmie Valley leaving thick rain clouds and wet snow behind me in order to embrace the loving rays of the sun, that has decided to call the East it's home. With a lot of encouragement from Steph, and a last minute decision, we decided to meet our firends at Vanatage for this years first outdoor climbing trip. I was 3 weeks and 4 days post surgery and a tad ambivalent about hiking and climbing around outside. But, I decided to suck it up and give being outside a chance.
The last three weekends I had spent watching movies and trying not to think about all of the beautiful weather I was missing in destinations like this one. We arrived at the main campground around 4 in the afternoon and to my surprise it wasn't all that crowded. The sun felt so good on my skin as we hiked the short distance up to the Feathers. I was a little self concious of my plastic boot, but I looked over the first route and decided to give it a whirl. A really sweet 5.9 arete that follows some excellent flat jugs up to a small slab. I grabbed and hopped, grabbed and hopped, and finally found myself at the top. I was pretty gassed but very happy. A few calculated risks and I was able to clip the chains of my first outdoor route for the year 2011. Hooray for me!
I followed it up by leading a 5.8 and then swallowed my fears and did a short but steep 5.10a. So far this was turning into a great trip. I was ecstatic to have the feel of reel rock under my hands; something I was afraid wouldn't happen for at least another month and a half. We eventually saw the 5 figures of our friends make their way to the campsite and we headed down to greet them.
Another major part of a climbing trip that I thoroughly enjoy is the campfire banter!! I laughed so hard, it was great to be outside in my element surrounded by friendly faces. The next day was more of the same. I led a few routes at the ZigZag crag, and then finished the day by top roping a couple 5.10b's (that looked a little too technical for my one footed technique) and managed to flash one and get the other one with a hang or two. I also re-learned the magic that is toproping. As much as I love leading I had forgotten how much top roping can make you focus simply on the rock and the movement of a climb. We spent all day at the ZigZag crag ticking almost every route the crag had to offer. It was another great day but I was glad to be headed back home. My knee and my upper body are both in need of a rest day.
Monday, April 11, 2011
LLORT 2
new LLORT prequel #2, 40min cassette tape with screen printed wrap around slip sleeve, and 16 page zine to match. Take LLORT3, then step back, regress, slowly, move steadily backward. from 3 to 2. There. There you are. Here. Here we are. Now that we're both on the same level let's talk. It's a mesh of tracks from two people with the same parents. It's scrubby beat driven rust-pop juxtaposed with a repetitive minimal take on "power electronics." sample here.
It's good.
featuring hits like "It's a Body in a Bag" "Dead End Hug" "I Wanna See You Crawl" and "Lord Knees" $5 postage paid in USA
expect the best.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Hospitality Part 2
re-post
Guests are aware when they visit a home that the hosts have boundaries that cannot be crossed.
Guests know or should know that they cannot go wandering about upstairs, looking in their hosts' bedrooms. They ought to be careful in conversation that they do not mention subjects that may cause offence to the host. If the host has strong views on a subject, it is best not to argue with him or her. Guests know that they cannot bring their pet dog to somebody else's home unless the host has expressly said this is acceptable. Even if the host is an animal lover, permission to bring a pet dog must be sought.
It is now recognised by most people that when you visit the home of a non-smoker, they should not smoke inside. If they need to smoke, they should put their coat on and go outside. There are still some people, probably mostly from the upper strata of British society who think it is rude to forbid smoking in one's home. However, this view is very much in a minority.
It is important to recognise these boundaries when one visits a home and if hosts prefer, even if they do not insist on it, removal of shoes, this should be complied with by guests. To ignore this boundary is, as stated in the previous post, taking hospitality for granted.
Some people would object to comparisons with smoking pointing out the health risks of smoking, compared with the minor ill effects to health of wearing shoes past the door. However, it is not so much the health risks that should deter smoking in a non-smoking home. Nobody is going to get lung cancer because a few guests smoked at a dinner party. They are unlikely to even develope a cough because of it. No, the reason one should not smoke in a non-smoking home is simply because the smells and mess are not convenient for such hosts. It is simply impolite. Likewise it is not convenient to impose the dirt and dust of your shoes in the home of a person who would object to it.
Some would argue that it is polite for guests to remove their shoes if this is what the hosts do, but it is impolite for the host to request shoes-off. They feel that it is better to leave the responsiblity of politness to guests. To my mind, this is not quite logical. If guests have the responsibility to comply with the preference of their hosts, then it is surely quite reasonable for guests to make their preference known.
Part of the reason why a verbal request for shoes-off may be necesary is because etiquette is so uncertain and in such a state fo flux on this point. While it may be a good idea to remove one's shoes when one is welcomed by a shoe-less host, as this may be a shoes-off home, such a gesture might be taken as impolite by some. There are some who go shoe-less in their home who would be surprised by guests going shoe-less. It is probably necessary for those who desire shoe-removal to make their wish known.
Guests are aware when they visit a home that the hosts have boundaries that cannot be crossed.
Guests know or should know that they cannot go wandering about upstairs, looking in their hosts' bedrooms. They ought to be careful in conversation that they do not mention subjects that may cause offence to the host. If the host has strong views on a subject, it is best not to argue with him or her. Guests know that they cannot bring their pet dog to somebody else's home unless the host has expressly said this is acceptable. Even if the host is an animal lover, permission to bring a pet dog must be sought.
It is now recognised by most people that when you visit the home of a non-smoker, they should not smoke inside. If they need to smoke, they should put their coat on and go outside. There are still some people, probably mostly from the upper strata of British society who think it is rude to forbid smoking in one's home. However, this view is very much in a minority.
It is important to recognise these boundaries when one visits a home and if hosts prefer, even if they do not insist on it, removal of shoes, this should be complied with by guests. To ignore this boundary is, as stated in the previous post, taking hospitality for granted.
Some people would object to comparisons with smoking pointing out the health risks of smoking, compared with the minor ill effects to health of wearing shoes past the door. However, it is not so much the health risks that should deter smoking in a non-smoking home. Nobody is going to get lung cancer because a few guests smoked at a dinner party. They are unlikely to even develope a cough because of it. No, the reason one should not smoke in a non-smoking home is simply because the smells and mess are not convenient for such hosts. It is simply impolite. Likewise it is not convenient to impose the dirt and dust of your shoes in the home of a person who would object to it.
Some would argue that it is polite for guests to remove their shoes if this is what the hosts do, but it is impolite for the host to request shoes-off. They feel that it is better to leave the responsiblity of politness to guests. To my mind, this is not quite logical. If guests have the responsibility to comply with the preference of their hosts, then it is surely quite reasonable for guests to make their preference known.
Part of the reason why a verbal request for shoes-off may be necesary is because etiquette is so uncertain and in such a state fo flux on this point. While it may be a good idea to remove one's shoes when one is welcomed by a shoe-less host, as this may be a shoes-off home, such a gesture might be taken as impolite by some. There are some who go shoe-less in their home who would be surprised by guests going shoe-less. It is probably necessary for those who desire shoe-removal to make their wish known.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The Evergreen Gym
Woah, the Evergreen gym. SO many fond memories. In fact, the absolute birth place of the inspiration that lead to my climbing career (part 2). I used to work in the TESC climbing gym. For nearly three and a half years I inhaled stale sweat, chalk dust, normal dust, and patchouli oil. I dragged giant foam mats from one corner to the next and got blisters on my finger tips from screwing and unscrewing countless holds from the plywood paradise painted grey which transformed an ordinary racquetball court into a rock jockeys artificial play ground.
My first memory of the rock gym was stepping inside of the musty dimly lit room after a basketball game. I had just started attending TESC and was more interested in getting in good with the basketball coach then I was with trolling local climbers for beta on the best crags. I took a look around and on the next trip up to Seattle I made a point to look through my old climbing gear and find a pair of shoes and a chalk bag. Upon my next trip to the climbing gym I donned a pair of Anasazi Mocasyms (the red slippers) that I hadn't worn since I was 14, an old CG chalk bag, and my usual basketball attire. I traversed around and even got to set a problem. The people in the gym were extremely nice and welcoming. The atmosphere was a good one and I remembered why I had fallen in love with climbing all those years ago. So, I started climbing again. From that point on I would show up on a regular weekly basis. Basketball still took priority, but every now and then I would stop in at the rock wall and try to throw down on the latest problem. I met a lot of people who were continuously stoked on climbing and improving their skills. Travis, Daniel, Eligh, to name a few. Travis was really the catalyst bahind the Olympia climbing community at Evergreen having people over on a weekly basis to watch the latest climbing flick, eat good food, drink, and just talk climbing. A year went by and I finally started to garner a wage by coming into the gym, setting routes, and just climbing and encouraging other people to climb (ahh, the cycle continues).
The gym was always kind of a thorn in the side of the College's recreational budget and never really got the kind of attention it deserved without some severe teeth pulling by the student organizations that begged and pleaded for money. We did however manage to get $5,000 worth of holds one year and boy was that like Christmas everyday.
As time went on I started to meet more and more people just by working and climbing in the gym. I never went downtown to the Warehouse Rock gym at this point, I was too enamored with the tall grey walls of 'my' gym (affectionately 'my' gym). For almost a year I climbed solely inside before I finally was invited on a Smith Rock climbing trip. As I met more and more people the inevitable happened and I found myself drenched in terror and quick draws over-gripping my way up some real rock. It took a few trips but I eventually caught the real-rock-bug and became an outdoor junky. This only made me want to improve so I could climb the dream lines outside (and impress my friends). I started to set more and more in the Eevergreen gym. I can remember when I was the only one setting, besides a few others, and I had full creative range. I would try and set anything that I thought would stop me, but was doable. I became a bit selfish with what I would set and I started setting 'projects' (back then a project was in the V.6/7 range) specifically tailored to the kind of movement I enjoyed or found challenging. I set long circuits of V.3-V.5/6 traverses and would try to link them into one another for endurance training (this definitely became one of my favorite activities in the gym). My favorite wall in the gym was our 45. It was short, but utilised correctly, you could really get strong on this thing. I would try and plaster every t-nut with crimps on the 45 and just go around and around until I couldn't close my hands. Such good times!
The best sessions in the gym consisted of Dom, Nick, Jimmy and myself all sessioning the sick futuristic lines I was trying to envision and bring to life. The gym had a sort of intimate feel to it somedays, almost an exclusivity to it that when talking of where you climbed made one puff up there chest and declare "I train at the Evergreen gym" (maybe that was just me?).
My boulder problems and traverses started to gain notoriety within the small community drawing suitors from every corner of Olympia (okay, it was more like a few of my friends that I would spray endlessly too about my problems until they finally came to try them out of sympathy). The first major boulder problem (really a traverse) was Black Beauty. It was only V.6 (more like a .12c route) but it took me ages to finally get the send. Nick, Jimmy, and Dom were all fighting for the second third and fourth ascents and soon it was falling on a regular basis. I can remember when Jimmy came in for the first time since I had started setting hard boulder problems and made a flash ascent of Slap Face which was shutting everyone down at the time. I met Laura and Dom through this gym, and Nick was an old time gym goer who I met through the gym's guru Travis. The people I met through the Eevrgreen gym are still my climbing partners to this day!
I loved this gym, and have easily climbed and set some of the hardest and most classic boulder problems of my entire life. Some of the problems I remember the most were 'Knock Out Mouse' (V.7), 'Chemical Cat' (V.8), 'Triton's Daughters' (V.7), 'Poisoned Catalyst' (V.6), 'The New Hotness' (V.9), 'Where the Sidewalk Ends'(V.10/11), and 'I've Got Mono'(V.4, probably the best boulder problem I have EVER set). There are so many more amazing problems that this gym has given birth to, but I just can't remember them all.
Finally, time took it's toll on the gym. No money was being spent on maintenance, the walls started to get worn down, and the large foam mattresses started hemorrhaging foam to the point to where they were not as fun to land on anymore. I finally gave up my post as caretaker and moved on to a more professional setting and the gym fell into obscurity. I started setting at the Warehouse and eventually just forgot abut the gym and it's golden years.
I have been going to the Evergreen weight room lately and noticed that the TESC Rock Gym has finally received funding to install brand new certified rock gym floors!! A HUGE step forward for this gym. Now, all they need to do is buy all new holds, re-finish and patch the existing walls, re-t-nut the entire gym, add new lighting, and install a ventilation system and it will be all good. But I guess new floors is a decent start. I owe a lot to this little gym. It has changed my life. I can honestly say that I probably would not be where I am today, know the people I know, or enjoy life as much as I do if the Evergreen gym had not existed. And for that, I salute you!
My first memory of the rock gym was stepping inside of the musty dimly lit room after a basketball game. I had just started attending TESC and was more interested in getting in good with the basketball coach then I was with trolling local climbers for beta on the best crags. I took a look around and on the next trip up to Seattle I made a point to look through my old climbing gear and find a pair of shoes and a chalk bag. Upon my next trip to the climbing gym I donned a pair of Anasazi Mocasyms (the red slippers) that I hadn't worn since I was 14, an old CG chalk bag, and my usual basketball attire. I traversed around and even got to set a problem. The people in the gym were extremely nice and welcoming. The atmosphere was a good one and I remembered why I had fallen in love with climbing all those years ago. So, I started climbing again. From that point on I would show up on a regular weekly basis. Basketball still took priority, but every now and then I would stop in at the rock wall and try to throw down on the latest problem. I met a lot of people who were continuously stoked on climbing and improving their skills. Travis, Daniel, Eligh, to name a few. Travis was really the catalyst bahind the Olympia climbing community at Evergreen having people over on a weekly basis to watch the latest climbing flick, eat good food, drink, and just talk climbing. A year went by and I finally started to garner a wage by coming into the gym, setting routes, and just climbing and encouraging other people to climb (ahh, the cycle continues).
The gym was always kind of a thorn in the side of the College's recreational budget and never really got the kind of attention it deserved without some severe teeth pulling by the student organizations that begged and pleaded for money. We did however manage to get $5,000 worth of holds one year and boy was that like Christmas everyday.
As time went on I started to meet more and more people just by working and climbing in the gym. I never went downtown to the Warehouse Rock gym at this point, I was too enamored with the tall grey walls of 'my' gym (affectionately 'my' gym). For almost a year I climbed solely inside before I finally was invited on a Smith Rock climbing trip. As I met more and more people the inevitable happened and I found myself drenched in terror and quick draws over-gripping my way up some real rock. It took a few trips but I eventually caught the real-rock-bug and became an outdoor junky. This only made me want to improve so I could climb the dream lines outside (and impress my friends). I started to set more and more in the Eevergreen gym. I can remember when I was the only one setting, besides a few others, and I had full creative range. I would try and set anything that I thought would stop me, but was doable. I became a bit selfish with what I would set and I started setting 'projects' (back then a project was in the V.6/7 range) specifically tailored to the kind of movement I enjoyed or found challenging. I set long circuits of V.3-V.5/6 traverses and would try to link them into one another for endurance training (this definitely became one of my favorite activities in the gym). My favorite wall in the gym was our 45. It was short, but utilised correctly, you could really get strong on this thing. I would try and plaster every t-nut with crimps on the 45 and just go around and around until I couldn't close my hands. Such good times!
The best sessions in the gym consisted of Dom, Nick, Jimmy and myself all sessioning the sick futuristic lines I was trying to envision and bring to life. The gym had a sort of intimate feel to it somedays, almost an exclusivity to it that when talking of where you climbed made one puff up there chest and declare "I train at the Evergreen gym" (maybe that was just me?).
My boulder problems and traverses started to gain notoriety within the small community drawing suitors from every corner of Olympia (okay, it was more like a few of my friends that I would spray endlessly too about my problems until they finally came to try them out of sympathy). The first major boulder problem (really a traverse) was Black Beauty. It was only V.6 (more like a .12c route) but it took me ages to finally get the send. Nick, Jimmy, and Dom were all fighting for the second third and fourth ascents and soon it was falling on a regular basis. I can remember when Jimmy came in for the first time since I had started setting hard boulder problems and made a flash ascent of Slap Face which was shutting everyone down at the time. I met Laura and Dom through this gym, and Nick was an old time gym goer who I met through the gym's guru Travis. The people I met through the Eevrgreen gym are still my climbing partners to this day!
I loved this gym, and have easily climbed and set some of the hardest and most classic boulder problems of my entire life. Some of the problems I remember the most were 'Knock Out Mouse' (V.7), 'Chemical Cat' (V.8), 'Triton's Daughters' (V.7), 'Poisoned Catalyst' (V.6), 'The New Hotness' (V.9), 'Where the Sidewalk Ends'(V.10/11), and 'I've Got Mono'(V.4, probably the best boulder problem I have EVER set). There are so many more amazing problems that this gym has given birth to, but I just can't remember them all.
Finally, time took it's toll on the gym. No money was being spent on maintenance, the walls started to get worn down, and the large foam mattresses started hemorrhaging foam to the point to where they were not as fun to land on anymore. I finally gave up my post as caretaker and moved on to a more professional setting and the gym fell into obscurity. I started setting at the Warehouse and eventually just forgot abut the gym and it's golden years.
I have been going to the Evergreen weight room lately and noticed that the TESC Rock Gym has finally received funding to install brand new certified rock gym floors!! A HUGE step forward for this gym. Now, all they need to do is buy all new holds, re-finish and patch the existing walls, re-t-nut the entire gym, add new lighting, and install a ventilation system and it will be all good. But I guess new floors is a decent start. I owe a lot to this little gym. It has changed my life. I can honestly say that I probably would not be where I am today, know the people I know, or enjoy life as much as I do if the Evergreen gym had not existed. And for that, I salute you!
Green Beans: Baby Steps to Cleaner, Greener Living: Week 2 Take Off Your Shoes
Green Beans: Baby Steps to Cleaner, Greener Living: Week 2 Take Off Your Shoes
'Stop right there!! Don’t take another step!! Go back to the door and take off your shoes!! Phew. That’s better.
Geez, I almost passed out there. Don’t you know what you’ve been tracking into your home? Besides regular dirt and grit that can scratch up and eat away at your flooring, there’s dust, mold, microbes, feces, chemicals, viruses, and general “EWE” (that’s the unidentified gunk that scientists have not yet determined to actually exist, but I know is there!) Even worse, that toxic germy soup settles into your carpets and corners just waiting for you to kick it up and breathe it in. Yum!'
'Stop right there!! Don’t take another step!! Go back to the door and take off your shoes!! Phew. That’s better.
Geez, I almost passed out there. Don’t you know what you’ve been tracking into your home? Besides regular dirt and grit that can scratch up and eat away at your flooring, there’s dust, mold, microbes, feces, chemicals, viruses, and general “EWE” (that’s the unidentified gunk that scientists have not yet determined to actually exist, but I know is there!) Even worse, that toxic germy soup settles into your carpets and corners just waiting for you to kick it up and breathe it in. Yum!'
Practically Green:Earth Day Celebration all Month Long! #5 is SO Environmentally Healthy: Take Off Shoes When You Come Indoors!
Practically Green- Earth Day Celebration all Month Long! #5 is SO Environmentally Healthy: Take Off Shoes When You Come Indoors!
'Growing up in Florida with the beach virtually my backyard, I spent a good deal of my childhood barefoot — outside and inside — so maybe that’s why having a shoes-off policy in my own home feels completely natural. I now live in New England, where “mud season” stretches well into April and almost every house has a mudroom and a pile of boots near the door. ‘Boots off’ is the norm in my neighborhood.
But even if you’re lucky enough to live in a place where it’s flip-flop season year round, a shoes-off policy is an essential step in protecting your family from germs that can creep in on the soles of your shoes. “Dirt” tracked in endangers more than carpets. Residues from the lead in car exhaust, toxins from lawn pesticides, traces of animal waste and allergens like pollen on the ground all present a health risk, especially to small children and pets that spend time on the floor. You don’t have to be neat freak like Monica from Friends or a germaphobe like Monk, the TV detective, to care about these risks. Removing shoes at the door is simply a matter of good hygiene, like hand washing.'
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Hospitality Part1
re-post
There are some who think that asking guests to remove their shoes is contrary to the principle of hospitality.
This is a culturally relative matter. Albania and Turkey are countries in which hospitality is greatly valued and yet it is expected in those countries that guests remove their shoes.
The shoes-on people argue that a hostess should primarily be concerned with her guests comfort and not with the state of her carpet or floor. However, most guests will feel more comfortable after removing their shoes. They may, admittedly, be uncomfortable because they are embarassed about their feet or they feel their shoes are part of their outfit. Those problems can be dealt with by letting guests know in advance that shoes-off is expected and so they can either bring slippers or plan their outfits with bare or stocking feet in mind. Any embarassment should be minimal if guests are not taken by surprise.
In my opinion, those who insist that guests should be allowed to keep their shoes on take hospitality for granted. I may well invite you. I will give you the best seat. I will cook for you. I will serve you the best food I can. I will give you whatever you want to drink, whether it be alcoholic or not. I will give you my undivided attention. I will entertain you with conversation. If you live nearby, I will drive you home in my car. If not, I will let you stay the night. I will wash up the dishes and cutelry you have used and clean up any mess you make. Given that I am willing to do all this for you, do you really think it is so unreasonable that I ask you to take your shoes off?
There are some who think that asking guests to remove their shoes is contrary to the principle of hospitality.
This is a culturally relative matter. Albania and Turkey are countries in which hospitality is greatly valued and yet it is expected in those countries that guests remove their shoes.
The shoes-on people argue that a hostess should primarily be concerned with her guests comfort and not with the state of her carpet or floor. However, most guests will feel more comfortable after removing their shoes. They may, admittedly, be uncomfortable because they are embarassed about their feet or they feel their shoes are part of their outfit. Those problems can be dealt with by letting guests know in advance that shoes-off is expected and so they can either bring slippers or plan their outfits with bare or stocking feet in mind. Any embarassment should be minimal if guests are not taken by surprise.
In my opinion, those who insist that guests should be allowed to keep their shoes on take hospitality for granted. I may well invite you. I will give you the best seat. I will cook for you. I will serve you the best food I can. I will give you whatever you want to drink, whether it be alcoholic or not. I will give you my undivided attention. I will entertain you with conversation. If you live nearby, I will drive you home in my car. If not, I will let you stay the night. I will wash up the dishes and cutelry you have used and clean up any mess you make. Given that I am willing to do all this for you, do you really think it is so unreasonable that I ask you to take your shoes off?
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