Griffin Archive

People are Awesome

2011-12-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

Occupy Mountains

2011-11-20T13:27:00.001-08:00

Occupy Mountains: Maxim Arsenault 2011 Segment from Dendrite Studios on Vimeo.

Uh....um.....WOW!

2011-10-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

Even more Danny MacAskill

2011-09-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

A Wild Year in Banff

2011-08-10T12:03:00.001-07:00

more MacAskill

2011-08-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

Danny MacAskill

2011-08-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

cool Yosemite time-lapse

2011-05-30T11:18:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving in Mexico

2011-05-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

I spent Thanksgiving 2010 in Mexico climbing volcanoes: Nevado de Toluca, a 15,300 ft volcano west of Mexico City; and Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico at 18, 491 feet. I went with friends AL, EW, CH, and JF. JF's son also accompanied us halfway up Toluca. What a fun way to spend Thanksgiving (sorry I missed out on family time Mom! :P). Here are quite a few pictures of the week we spent climbing:

In the parking lot of the trailhead for Nevado de Toluca

getting ready to start our hike to acclimatize (I didn't climb it in flip-flops,

just haven't gotten all the way ready in this picture yet)

looking back down the valley before starting our climb

1/3 of the way there, we descended into the volcano's crater,

which was home to 2 high mountain lakes

almost to the summit ridge

from the summit looking back down towards

the tiny lake below, where we'd just been

climbed a little spire on the way back down! way fun!

Helping ZF for a little bit-- man was he tired!

our basecamp in the maid's quarters of JF's house in Mexico city

got some sun....

after half a day of recovery and a late night Thanksgiving feast,

we took off again for our next objective, Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's highest.

Here we are getting our gear loaded up on the rusty old Landcruiser that would

take us to the Piedra Grande hut from Tlachichuca.

goofing off...

more loading....

more goofing off....

skip forward 18 hours and here is the summit. No pictures of the drive to the hut, our late night arrival, peeing in the dark all night outside the hut, mice in my duffel bag, the start of our climb through the labyrinth, etc... Lots of exertion & sweat lead up to this pic

the sky cleared up for a few minutes

EW on the summit

AL on the other side of the summit crater rim

back at the hut getting ready to head back to Tlachichuca

in heavy traffic on the way back to Mexico City

The next day, we went to the ruins/pyramids at Teotihuachan to cap the trip

EW, CH, AL on top of the pyramid

a dish called escamarole.... which translates in English as "ant larvae"

Honestly, it wasn't that bad...

AL enjoying some ant larvae

here's my truck in the SLC airport lot... covered in snow.... what a welcome back to America!

everything locked in snow and ice... winter arrived while we were gone!

This was a great trip with lots of memories. Viva Mexico!

Fall 2010; work & friends

2011-05-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a view from my desk at the U.S. attorney's office for Utah, where I've been doing clinic hours for school. It has been great to work with people in the federal system and I've really enjoyed it. Plus, the view of the mountains from my desk is hard to beat!

Went to see the Jazz play at Energy Solutions Arena in SLC last September

One of our friends had this not-so-subtle sign, reminding

everyone that there were some Phoenix fans there too!

Fun with the sign walking by the mall afterwards....

more sign fun..... which one do you like best?

I really hate these plywood face things-- I don't really think

they're funny. Nevertheless, we took a picture so I'm posting it....

On the other hand, great big rocking chairs are always fun!

Really, what's not to like about a big ole' rocking chair??

The Great Fall

2011-05-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

I guess its about time that I post something again! I have a huge batch of pictures on my phone from the past year that I'll be posting over the next few days. I'll start with pics of the Great Fall of 2010, also known as the textured drywall incident. My dad slipped on the carpet of their house and took a fall at the bottom of the stairs last fall-- get it-- "the great fall"..... thankfully he wasn't really hurt, but unfortunately he rammed a huge hole in the drywall! I fixed it when I was home for Christmas and took some pictures documenting my handiwork. It was fun to have a project while I was there.

the damage......

surveying the scene...

drywall added

the hardest step was properly applying the "knockdown" texture

matching paint!

spectators....

the peanut gallery is silenced!

Geography

2010-09-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Frequently, people ask me what I studied "before law school" and I say "Geography" and wait for the blank stare back at me. There is a new series out from Penn State called the Geospatial Revolution that encapsulates what my response would/should be to the blank stare if I had the time to explain :)

cool OK Go video!

2010-07-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

Captain Kirk on why we climb....

2010-07-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

The Hurt Locker

2010-03-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

The Hurt Locker won best picture at the Academy Awards a few weeks ago. I can't agree with the Academy on that one... at all...

Here are a few comments from the web that sum up my thoughts pretty well:

"Hollywood's version of the Iraq war and of the soldiers who fight it, and their version is inaccurate."-- Kate Hoit, the Huffington Post

"The Hurt Locker is a high-tension, well-made, action movie that will certainly keep most viewers on the edges of their seats. But if you know anything about the Army, or about operations or life in Iraq, you'll be so distracted by the nonsensical sequences and plot twists that it will ruin the movie for you. It certainly did for me." --Brandon Friedman, VetVoice

"the way the team goes about their missions is completely absurd" --blogger Alex Horton

"I was amazed that a movie so bad could get any kind of accolades from anyone." --blogger Troy Steward

....and my personal favorite from DefenseTech: "Some of the scenes are so disconnected with reality to be almost parody." (Like when the E-5 buck sergeant punches his E-7 "team leader" in the mouth without any fallout or consequences!)

I think the production team should have hired a better military consultant if they even hired one at all. The fact that a film like that could win Best Picture, and in doing so, extend some of the inflated Hollywood notions of how to portray the military, is really troubling to me!

Running Playlist

2010-01-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

Help me out-- I'm running a race this Saturday that I've been casually training for since January. It's the Catalina Marathon on Catalina Island off the coast of LA. I'll finish, but it might not be real pretty. So I spent some time putting together a running playlist and I wonder if you have any good suggestions? Here is my latest list:

Any other suggestions??

Yeah, its been awhile since I posted something...

2009-12-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

It's looking like Blogger might go the way of AOL for me-- it was fun while it was new and exciting, then it just sort of fizzled out. My sister says that she hasn't posted in 6 months because she's been cheating on Blogger with Facebook, and I have to admit that I'm moving in that direction too....

It's interesting to see how it quickly different technology can change your habits. I started this blog on a whim over a 24-hour layover at the airport in Baghdad because I was bored. Blogging might be leaving my life just as quickly as it entered. :) It's kind of annoying that private blogs won't show up on google reader because they are authenticated feeds.... and since most of my family that have blogs have made them private, its a pain to have to manually check them to add comments and such....

The most recent example of technology changing my habits is regarding picture taking. I used to bring my camera with me every time I went on a big trip somewhere, to birthday parties, big events and such-- but now that everyone just uploads their pictures to facebook and tags everyone, I've gotten lazy and I don't feel like I need to bring my camera along. I'll just look at everyone else's pictures. Since they are going to have their camera anyway, why should we all be snapping tons of pictures? why not just trade off taking pictures with a 1 or 2 cameras instead of 6 or 7 of them? Does anybody else do the same thing?

Amazing downhill in Brazil!

2009-10-20T10:12:00.001-07:00

September 11, 2009

2009-09-18T20:54:00.001-07:00

Last Friday was September 11th, 2009. It came, 24 hours passed, and it went. I wont get up on my patriotic-high-horse, because when I woke up last Friday I didn't think about it anymore than the average American did. I was just glad that the weekend was here-- I didn't wake up and think about all the negative emotions that America experienced on that day 8 years ago; I didn't get down on my knees and pray that the horror of that day never gets repeated; I didn't do anything to commemorate the men and women who lost their lives on that day, nor those who have given their lives for this country since then. But that changed abruptly Friday afternoon when I passed a spot on the highway and a few tears ran involuntarily down my cheek.

I remembered that last Friday was September 11th all of a sudden as I rocketed up the interstate highway through Tremonton, Utah on my way to Jackson, Wyoming for the weekend. The Tremonton cemetery is very near the highway, and as I passed by it, driving alone in my car --BAM-- I remembered a funeral ceremony that I participated in as an ROTC cadet at that cemetery in the Spring of 2005. The details slowly returned to me and then became vivid, though for a moment it still didn't occur to me that the day was 11 September.

The ceremony was brief but intense. I was nervous, proud, and fatigued all at the same time. Utah State Army ROTC provided a firing detail for the three rifle volleys that usually form part of a military funeral (sometimes referred to as a 21-gun salute, although that is actually something quite different) There were six to eight of us cadets who were on the firing team for the funeral. We practiced after school a few days before and then drilled for a few more hours the morning of the funeral. It takes some practice to synchronize the volleys with precision so that each rifle is fired at the exact same time and each shot sounds as one. We drilled it over and over and over; first with unloaded rifles, then with a few precious rounds of blank ammunition that for some reason we didn't have very much of. I remember feeling so bereaved for the family even though I'd never met their son and had no connection to him or them before that day. When our time came, we fired three volleys with as much precision as we could muster with our limited practice. I remember feeling like we could have done better, like we should have been more precise, like we should have been able to give the family more-- but of course that is what you think in those kinds of situations. The volleys from all seven rifles were surely close to simultaneous, but to me it sounded like a string of firecrackers popping off randomly. If we were off, no one noticed. After the rifle salute, we stood at parade-rest for what seemed like an eternity-- it always does when you are standing like that, steady and waiting or the next command. I kept thinking about what a small sacrifice it was for me to put on an old faded green wool uniform, march a few feet, fire three shots, then stand still for 15 minutes-- compared to the forever that this family would now be without their son, grandson, brother, uncle, nephew, and friend. My small eternity was nothing. The funeral reached a crescendo and everyone there was openly grieving, including those of us who were actually participating in the service. I remember wondering if it was OK to shed tears while standing there at attention, having never known the man who lay in the casket a few feet away from us. Would the family expect us to be stoic? or would they be concerned at our lack of emotion, having lost a brother who we did not know? We did what felt right, which was to grieve. After several minutes the service concluded and we marched quietly away, passing the family and friends who remained for some time longer in silence.

It really bugged me last friday when I discovered that I couldn't remember this Soldier's name and that's when I realized that I'd forgotten September 11th as well. I thought about how we can't afford to forget things like that and I vowed that I would find out again who he was and one day return there to pay homage to this fallen comrade. His name is Sergeant Rocky Dennis Payne. He died in Iraq on March 16, 2005, and he deserves to be remembered. I hope that I never forget him and those like him.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=3323350

August 17-18, 1942 in the Pacific theater-- Inspiring Story

2009-08-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

I lost 100 bucks on Torreys Peak (kindof); Grays & Torreys Peaks and Mount Evans

2009-08-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we had a training holiday (army-speak for a day off of work), so I decided to climb Grays & Torreys Peaks-- 2 sister summits on the Front Range.

I slept in my car at the trailhead again-- that has been really effective for me this summer to acclimatize faster by sleeping above 10,000 feet. I left just before 6 am and summited both peaks by just after 8:

Summit of Gray's Peak; 14,270 feet

Summit of Torrey's Peak; 14,267 feet

This picture was taken from the summit of Gray's peak, looking back at Torrey's. Once I descended Torrey's back to the saddle between the two peaks, I started crossing a snowfield and reached for my sunglasses to dim the glare coming off of the snow when I realized...... that'd I'd left my sunglasses on top of Torreys! I really didn't want to go back, so then I started bargaining with myself-- it was 600 vertical feet back to the summit from the saddle, so I asked myself: in any other scenario, would I be willing to climb 600 feet if someone offered me 100 bucks? I decided that I probably would, so back up I went. I killed it-- I flew back up there and to my dismay.....the sunglasses were gone. There was another guy up there and he said that he hadn't seen them, so.....I came up with 3 scenarios: a) he stole them (strong possibility); b) I dropped them somewhere else and didn't realize it (50-50 chance of this-- I retraced my steps mentally and actually, but to no avail); c) the strong wind at the summit picked them up and blew them off the mountain (I'd say not likely but possible). Moral of the story: DON'T SPEND 100 bucks on SUNGLASSES.... (I actually got them for less than that but I still felt like I lost that much cause that's what they're worth)

Back at the parking lot-- I look pretty happy for a guy that just lost 100 bucks. :)

Lots of cars-- when I got on the trail in the morning, there were only a half dozen cars there and I was really surprised at how the trailhead filled up because the road up there is terrible!

Old mining building on the road up to the trailhead

After Grays & Torreys, I decided to drive up Mount Evans before going home. The Mount Evans Highway is the highest paved road in the United States. It was a cool drive.

Summit of Mount Evans; 14, 264 feet

I passed some goats on the way down blocking traffic

Mountain Goats: my heros

Check out my other new post here: http://griffinarchive.blogspot.com/2009/08/rafting-and-fake-flying.html

Rafting and Fake-Flying

2009-08-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

The weekend before last, I went rafting down the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River with friends from work. We got some pretty good tourist-shots. Here's a pretty good shot of the Royal Gorge and one of us rafting through it:

One afternoon last week, we went to check out the Apaches at the attack aviation unit at Fort Carson. Sleep Well America-- you're safe under the watchful eye of Legal Intern Callie Woolam:

You can't really tell, but she's wearing a dress and 5-inch heels in the cockpit.....

A fun week! Check out my other new post about World Guy here: http://griffinarchive.blogspot.com/2009/08/incline-round-2-world-guy.html

The incline round 2; World Guy

2009-08-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

Well.... I haven't had internet at my hotel at Fort Carson for over a week. Everyday, they say that it'll be fixed that day-- you know the story..... Consequently I haven't posted anything in awhile. I hsve internet at work, but..... I try to work at work (most of the time) :)

We did the incline for PT again 2 fridays ago, here are a few pics:

I was slower this time, but I still did it pretty fast. On the run back down the Barr trail, almost to the bottom, I had my headphones in, I was in a good groove, I rounded the corner, and I almost ran straight into this:

Whoa! What the heck? I was confused....why is there a giant ball being pushed up this trail? who is pushing it? do they really think they'll make it? this doesn't seem like the most well thought-out idea. Turns out, that this guy has been pushing this ball all the way from Louisville, Kentucky to raise diabetes awareness. Check out his website here: http://www.worldguy.org/

Here are some more pics of world guy:

A Weekend of First Ascents; lots of bragging-- you have been warned!

2009-07-26T18:44:00.001-07:00

Friday Morning: The Incline

For our workout Friday morning, all of the officers in the office went up the canyon to do the famous "incline" of Manitou Springs Colorado. It's a series on old railroad ties left in place from the Pikes Peak Cog Railway; they go straight up the side of a spur coming off Pikes Peak for almost exactly a mile, gaining 2,000 feet of elevation from top to bottom. The record for the incline is 18 minutes to the top; it took me about 25-- which I was super excited about!

It gets dicey in a few places where the soil erodes away from the RR ties and other methods must be taken to keep them in place. This picture was about halfway up.

Almost to the top, looking down

I found this elevation profile on the Incline Club website: http://www.inclineclub.com/ As you can see, the steepest grade was 68 degrees-- there are definitely spots where you teeter back and forth a little bit!

Saturday Morning: 4 summits in under 4 hours!

After work on Friday, I drove to the trailhead at Kite Lake outside of Alma, Colorado and camped in my car. The trailhead itself is over 12,000 feet elevation, so I spent the night acclimating while watching Scrubs re-runs on my laptop. With the seats folded down, there's plenty of room to sleep back there, which I did. :) I got up around 5am and hit the trail at 5:25. I got into a good rhythm and eventually started really cruising, bagging each summit faster than the last. The circuit that I ran/hiked was about 7.5 miles rountrip to tag the four 14,000-ft summits nearby. I decided to travel fast and light, so I took a really small pack with just raingear, food, and water. I didn't look at my watch the whole time and was really surprised when I got back to the trailhead at 8:36-- just 3 hours, 11 minutes after I left. I was really stoked to have done the circuit so quickly! I think most people plan for 6-8 hours, which is what I was expecting, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Summit of Mount Democrat; 14,148 ft.

Summit of Mont Cameron; 14,238 ft.

Summit of Mount Lincoln; 14,286 ft.

Summit of Mount Bross; 14,172 ft.

Looking back to the beginning from my last summit, Mount Bross (Note: Mount Bross is actually on private property if you can believe that-- it's an old mining claim. The owners ask for people not to trespass, but...uh....well....)

Saturday Night: Rockies Game

I went to Rockies game with some friends on Saturday after I got back. There is a row of purple seats in the very upper level that mark the actual mile-high level of the stadium, which is where we sat-- my last ascent for the weekend. It was a fun game to watch and the Rockies beat the Giants, so that was a plus.

The guy standing up was wearing a Giants jersey and he almost got beat up by the guy in purple who was (of course) talking trash the whole time. I had no idea that Rockies fans could be so intense-- that always seemed like an East Coast thing to me (Red Sox, Yankees, etc.) Anyway, it was a good game and a fun way to cap off the weekend.

Longs Peak, 14,255 feet; highest point in Rocky Mountain National Park-- long post; lots of pictures!

2009-07-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Adam L. and his boss Chris flew out last week from Salt Lake to do some climbing here with me. They went up Pikes Peak one day while I was at work and then we all drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park to climb Longs Peak. It's a 15-mile round trip mountain scramble and it was a great alpine experience. Here are a few pictures:

Longs Peak at first light. The face on the left is called the Diamond and is world-renowned for its multi-pitch technical alpine face routes. We climbed an easier way that has become the standard route on the mountain, called "the keyhole" after a prominent feature on the mountain.

Adam will be happy that I included this picture of him by the chemical toilets at the start of the boulder field.

This is "the keyhole"

A closer shot of "the keyhole" If you look on the left side, you'll notice a stone hut built into the rock face-- you can see the two windows and a cone-shaped roof.

Looking out the door of the hut.

Standing under the overhanging rock at the keyhole with awesome drop-offs on either side!

The sun is rising!

These pictures don't do the view justice!

This way is known for being really exposed and is also quite popular for how difficult it seems to be for those who just come looking for a day hike.

Adam and Chris at the narrows.

Another shot of....uh....other mountains.

View from the summit

Standing on the summit. Adam is very sorry about his finger in the frame, but I think it makes it more authentic.

No, Nick, I am not writing a poem here, I'm signing the summit register.

View of Chasm Lake far below to the east

Do you see the marmot? The yellow/red bullseyes mark the trail.

My friend Georgeanne says that this picture makes her proud to live in Colorado. I will take that as a compliment of my photographic skills :) It was really pretty up there and provided a much-needed respite from my internship this summer. The End.

Mile High Music Festival

2009-07-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

Went to the Mile High Music Festival this weekend with Adam L. and a friend of mine from work, Callie. Here are some pics:

We got there pretty early and didn't have to wait in line. Adam was upset that he dumped his camelback and video camera in the car because they were on the "prohibited items" list, but then we saw some other dude walking around with Adam's exact same video camera.....

We had a little tramp-stamp spotting competition. While this is not exactly a lower-back tattoo, it was definitely the winner!

We walked by this tent where the Fray was being interviewed and decided to sit in. I can't exactly say that I've met them, but we were pretty close.

I caught this cool shot right before sunset.

Me and Callie

Can you spot Adam in this picture? Hint: he's wearing a blue shirt

The Fray put on a pretty good show. We also saw Guster, Matisyahu, Jerry Joseph and the Jack-Mormons, The Wailers, and Widespread Panic. Widespread Panic was obviously the headliner, so they played late and I didn't get any good pictures. It was a good concert and alot of fun! Thanks Adam and Callie!

Climbing at Garden of the Gods

2009-07-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went climbing with my friends the Bells at this place called Red Rock Open Space. We had such a good time that we decided to go again after work on Tuesday-- this time at the Garden of the Gods. It was a relaxing and fun way to spend the evening!

See the hole in the rocks up in the top right?

I took this from the top of a climb called the Cowboy Boot crack. Georgeanne belayed for me while Stan kept their son Wesley out of trouble. Can you see them in the next picture?:

There are tourists everywhere watching you climb! People took lots of pictures and yelled out words of encouragement (and discouragement!) One guy yelled for me to give him my Mom's number so that he could call her and tell her that I was being dangerous. HaHA!

Georgeanne climbing and Stan belyaing while Wesley and I ate PB &Js. Georgeanne packed us a picnic lunch-- how nice, right?

Wesley gets his own big ole' red helmet

Bell family photo

Parting Shot:

Colorado Springs/ Fort Carson Week 2

2009-07-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Night I went out with a girl I met at church. There's an outdoor concert in the town she's from every Wednesday night during the summer. The Rockies provided an awesome backdrop to the small amphitheater there in Monument, Colorado.

Here's the view from where I've been sitting for the past week.... The case at trial is very interesting and also kind of disturbing.

Garden of the Gods with Pikes Peak in the background. Taken from the Garden Visitors Center. I was surprised at how green Colorado is compared to Utah. Hopefully, I'll be climbing near Garden of the Gods tomorrow. If so, maybe I'll post some more pictures.

Drive up the Pike's Peak highway (4th new post in a row-- maybe I should've just done one long one)

2009-07-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

slow line of cars go up.....slow line of cars come down....

view off the back side

I made it! (it's a 25-mile roundtrip hike.....

OR....a 2-hour roundtrip car ride!)

One more for good measure

And another..... photo ops galore

Katharine Lee Bates composed "America the Beautiful" after a trip to Pike's Peak (just look at these spacious skies and purple-mountain's majesty above the fruited plains, etc, etc and you'll see why!)

I can think of few things more demoralizing than hiking over twleve miles, only to arrive at a summit that has a cog-railway to the top and a walmart-sized parking lot full of cars carrying fat tourists who also get to share in the majesty that just took you many hours to attain:

Cog-railway

walmart-sized gravel parking lot

some hairpin turns on the way down-- there are all these signs saying to use a low gear instead of riding your brakes-- and a few miles down there's even a mandatory brake-check where they use a hand-held sensor to measure the temperature of your brake pads. If they're over 300 degrees, you have to park and wait for them to cool off (of course there is a conveniently-located gift shop right there for you to pass the time....) Mine registered at 282, so I was good to keep going

The Pike's Peak highway famously has very few guardrails--since everyone is going less than 20 mph anyway its really not that big of a deal-- but every year there is a rallycar/ motorcycle race to the summit, so I'm sure that would get your blood moving

Random, semi-funny pictures

2009-07-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

My niece Tess fell asleep with a strawberry in her mouth-- she was in the middle of eating it and just passed out. Before I could grab the camera to snap a picture, her hand fell from her mouth, but you can still see her clutching the strawberry.

I went to a house-warming party for some girls I know, and was surprised to see a kitchen drawer full of hip-hop sunglasses, so I snapped a quick shot.

The following 3 pictures are of a double rainbow that I saw while driving on I-25 yesterday. It's been unseasonably wet and rainy here lately!

June hike to the "living room"

2009-07-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went on a hike with some friends to "the living room" above Salt Lake-- basically it's just an overlook where people have moved rocks around to look like living-room furniture with views of the valley instead of a TV :) It's a great, short hike.

Sean likes to wear women's clothing.

A few days later, I took my friend Jen rock climbing. It was her first time climbing outdoors, so it was quite the experience....

Hiking and my new apartment-- before I moved away for the summer...

2009-07-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

So, I'm spending the rest of the summer at an internship in Colorado. But before I left Salt Lake, I moved into a new apartment. It's in the 9th and 9th neighborhood between downtown and Sugarhouse. Here are a few pics....

My room. It's kinda tight, but everything fits

Living Room-- lots of skylights in the apartment

Kitchen is small but functional-- except there aren't any drawers, so we might use the dishwasher to store silverware, plates, and bowls....

Last picture of the coffee-table I made before I removed all the pictures. It was fun while it lasted.

big patio outside for grilling, and a kiddy-pool for swimming--perfect!

Private Blogs suck

2009-06-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah-- I know why people make their blogs private..... well I know the reasons that are frequently cited anyway: stalkers, trolls, weirdos, crazy old girlfriends, etc. These are all valid reasons, and really my beef is not with my friends who have private blogs, but with Blogger/Google's lacking ability to provide authenticated feeds for when these blogs are updated. Here's what I mean-- I have a list of blogs that I check for updates on the right side of my own blog, but "private" blogs don't show up when they are updated-- so either there is no time shown for the last update OR the time shown is when they blog went private. I figured this out when I noticed that my sister's blog was showing updated "3 weeks ago" even though she had published 4 or 5 times since then.

So, I started thinking about how to avoid manually checking the few private bloggers I read-- google reader would be perfect, right? wrong-- they don't let you add subscriptions for authenticated blogs either! --even though Google owns Blogger and even though I'm logged-in to both. So, basically this means that if your blog is private....I probably don't read it anymore. Which is cool if that's why you went private in the 1st place-- to get rid of me. I'll check these blogs occasionally, and there will inevitably be like 10 new posts by the time I check-- which I will skim but not read. Anyway, I think it's kindof annoying and Google should work on a fix for this.

65th Anniversary of D-day

2009-06-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 65th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy. Let us never forget those who fought there, especially those now laid to rest on the ground made sacred by their blood.

Ted Talk about decisions

2009-05-20T08:46:00.001-07:00

If you have a spare 17 minutes and want to do some intellectual-laughing, watch this:

Over a month. (since i posted something)

2009-03-18T11:29:00.001-07:00

I've been told that my blog "sucks." While this may be true, I'm in the middle of writing an awesome Legal Methods paper to compensate.

So, I present to you, ******drum roll****** the best pictures from my phone's camera each month since last October. (I don't take a lot of pictures as you will soon see)

October 2008. Speaks for itself... Well, maybe not, I bought 2 pumpkins so that my roomate and I could have a carving contest. Bryce never carved his pumpkin, so I stabbed it multiple times with a knife and threw it in the garbage. This is my jack-o-lantern a week after Halloween. (Not technically still October, but whatever)

November 2008. BYU-Utah game after the Utes' 48-24 win. You can see the BYU section in the upper left hand corner is nearly empty now... I came to the U at the right time!

December 2008. Studying for finals in the city library downtown, it rained alot-- in December!

January 2009. My new place. I moved into a new apartment and took a picture of my bookshelf. Don't judge me-- I was bored. :)

February 2009. We had a rockband competition in the Moot Courtroom during lunch. I sang the Police "Can't stand losing you" and scored 100% Oh yeah!

March 2009. This month has been dominated by 1) Spring Break; 2) the Legal Methods paper I'm finishing over Spring Break. :( Here I am, happy to be alive in the law school dungeon.

Yesterday. In the morning I ran above the U to Red Butte at sunrise. I spent the rest of the day at school working on this memo. When I went to my car to drive home, there was basically no one else in the parking lot.-- not to say that I worked real hard, but I certainly was at school too long... (yes, I drive a subaru-- and I don't care if your grandma does too)

DC v. Heller

2009-01-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

I just found some notes that I scribbled out during an informal meeting I attended with Eugene Volokh, a well known constitutional law professor at UCLA and creator of the Volokh Conspiracy, when he came to lecture here at the U on the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision, DC v. Heller (which addressed the DC handgun ban.) He followed the Court's meticulous examination of the wording of the 2nd Amendment. I found one of his points very compelling-- some argue that the 2nd Amendment basically applied only to citizens serving in Militias, not ordinary citizens. Volokh pointed out that the language was a "right" to bear arms and that contemporary uses of the phrase "bear arms" referenced service in the military. His point was that military service is not a "right" in the same way as the other rights in the Bill of Rights. Citizens do not normally exert their "right" to service in the armed forces-- in those days many were actually compelled to serve. So, the "bear arms" referenced in the 2nd amendment would certainly have to be something more than what applied to those in military service only. I found this very interesting and blog-worthy

DC, Alexandria, Mt Vernon, etc. January 2009

2009-01-12T19:39:00.000-08:00

So, I went to DC to visit a former Solider of mine, Nick Koulchar, who's been at Walter Reed for several months, and Tabbi, my old next door neighbor from college who now lives in Alexandria, VA. It was a busy weekend that went by too quick! I rented an SUV and spent a good part of the weekend on Georgia Avenue driving back and forth between Alexandria and Walter Reed. DC traffic-- argh! Nick was up front serving as my TC and reluctant navigator. He saved us all a few times!

Me, Nick, and Mike at the Walter Reed Mologne-House party for BCS title game Thursday night

With Miss Fairfax and Miss Virginia

A new champion is crowned

At the natural history museum Friday afternoon. We picked Tabbi up from work and went into downtown for a few hours. We first went to the archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution--every time I'd been to DC before, the archives were closed for post 9-11 renovations. It was neat, but the low lighting kept my pictures from being any good.

Scary...so scary.

After the museums and such, we got a bite to eat and then took Mike and Nick back to Walter Reed for the night.

On Saturday, Mike scored some suite tickets for an NCAA Men's basketball game at the Verizon Center--Georgetown-Providence. There was a lounge, private bathroom, snacks, and a fridge full of booze and soda!

Me and Tabs at the game

with Nick and Mike

Our great view of the game. Georgetown won, but they were actually down by 3 or 4 at the half- to Providence, which is an unranked team!

Right after the game, we went to Arlington. Here's Nick at the tomb of the unknown Soldier. This was the best part of the trip-- also the most moving and the most somber part of the trip.

We made it to the very last changing of the guard for that day. It was getting late and raining hard. Nick didn't care. This part of the trip meant alot to everybody. He hasn't been able to get out much since he's been at Walter Reed, so this was fitting for one of his first real excursions into the city.

Afterwards, we ate downtown and then went back to Walter Reed. Tabbi and I said goodbye to Nick and Mike-- It was a full day for all of us, but especially Nick-- as you can see in this picture. He took a spill at the cemetery coming off one of the ramps. I know he was glad to get back and get some rest.

After we dropped the Koulchars at the hospital, Tabbi and I drove back to her place in Alexandria and walked around old-town for a few minutes before calling it a day. The "Narrowest House in the World" is a few blocks from her house.

On Sunday, Tabbi and I went to see Mt. Vernon after church. Tabbi was a good sport for humoring me since she's been there many times before.

The view of the Potomac from the front/back of the main house.

The original of one of my favorite paintings, by Arnold Frieburg...depicting George Washington at Valley Forge

So, we realized that we still had some time before my flight and decided to chance one last monument visit. I still had not seen the WWII monument that was finished a few years ago. As we were walking there, I thought that this made for a good picture-- all the portajohns lined up in front of the Washington monument in anticipation of the inauguration next week.

With Tabbi in front of the WWII fountain

Each star represents 100 Americans who died during the war-- there are over 4,000 of them

There is a column for every state and territory

Parting image...
DC and friends, you will be missed. There are a few more pictures not on here that the others posted on facebook, if you're interested. Tabbi has a few pics on her blog too: http://tabbiperkins.blogspot.com/2009/01/gi-jo-siah-visits-capitol.html
This trip reminded me that each and every moment of every day, Americans are in harms way in hot, dry, dirty places. I hope that we may never forget about them, and always remember the ones who didn't come back.

The New Year

2009-01-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks Georgeanne!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't published in awhile.... I can only blame finals...lamely...
So, here is my favorite youtube video....one day I will figure out how to embed the link on my post... Merry Christmas!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYGJQkr2t4o

Past 24 hours

2008-11-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

Today I:

- twisted my ankle playing football with my friend's Elders Quorum. It was fun, but I'm really going to need that ankle. I was planning on using it later.

- worked on my legal research memo-- and by "worked" I mean that I sat at the computer and moved words around, then moved them back, then deleted phrases, then re-wrote almost the exact same phrase, and so on and so on....

-saw the "No on prop. 8" crowd marching down 4th south in some kind of protest.

-rode my bike to the city library to work on the above memo. I locked my bike to the rack outside, and then I realized that the key to my bike lock is in provo right now! I'm taking bets on whether my bike will still be here in 2 days when I get the key back.....

-saw a dude washing his hair in the city library bathroom handicapped stall. At least he had his clothes on. yeah, I don't know what else to say...

-Last night I ran high above Salt Lake on a dirt road far to the east by the light of the moon. The view and the solitude were both incredible.

THE END for today

TCU v. Utah

2008-11-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Commentators are calling this the biggest game in Mountain West Conference history-- which is probably not a stretch since the conference has only been around since 1999. The teams are number #10(Utah) & #11 (TCU) nationally, and neither has lost to another conference team. So, who cares? why does this matter? Because the game is being played right across the street from the law school and I'm not there! I thought I could just watch it on TV, however none of the local stations are broadcasting it! What's up, Salt Lake!? I'm not the biggest Utah fan, but I am here in the basement of the law school, sitting in the TV lounge mindlessly watching the TV guide channel.....

Today:

-This old guy was walking up to the stadium this evening in an old, sun-bleached, purple, 80s-looking full-body ski suit. I don't know why this was sooooo funny, but it almost made me laugh out loud. I mean, it's a little chilly outside, but....

-The guy in the chair next to me at the barber shop was almost COMPLETLY bald. I thought that he must be coming to pick somebody up or something because there was NO WAY he was there for a haircut. I don't know what the barber could've done besides rub some oil on his forehead, but whatever it was it took him about two minutes. The guy paid at the register and seemed super satisfied with whatever he just had done.

-I spent an inordinate amount of time playing this game, which came from Brent Gardiner's website: http://www.helicoptergame.net/ and eventually I scored 956! Some might call this a waste of time. Some might be right. Can you beat me??

-I realized that my classes are all cancelled tomorrow and I'm having a hard time convincing myself to study and not go skiing.....

-The Office is on tonight, and since I'm alreday sitting here in the TV lounge.....

The End

I work for the government

2008-11-05T09:27:00.002-08:00

While this is not as true now that I'm in school,
it is still applicable on occasion:

Life is hard, then you die

2008-11-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

If "happiness is the object and design of our existence" and if "men are that they might have joy", why is it so hard to be happy sometimes?

The obvious answer is that we would not know pleasure if it were not for pain, but do you have any other thoughts? Some of us have had a much more plum life than others....why does it seem that some people's lives are dominated by pain, with very little pleasure? (I am not referring to myself here. Although I've had better weeks than this one, my problems just don't compare to other people I know. Afterall, I am NOT in Iraq right now, I'm not being shot at, no one wants to blow me up, I have food to eat and a place to live, I know where I'm going to get my next meal, I don't own a foreclosed home, I am for the most part healthy, I'm not on a deserted island like Tom Hanks in Castaway...)

I've been thinking about this recently because I really admire those who support their trials with grace and with faith that they will eventually be free from those afflictions, even if "eventually" means after years and years of suffering or even the entire course of their life in some cases. I too often feel that when I am tried, I crumble and fail. Hopefully repeated failure will lead to eventual success.....

I erased some stuff on accident....

2008-10-17T12:57:00.001-07:00

I'm no html guru, and well, I erased some stuff..... :(

I'm still trying to get this thing looking nice.

debatable

2008-10-08T17:42:00.001-07:00

So, I watched a little bit of last night's debate and I thought it was really terrible. If we could just get McCain to stop saying "My friends" and Obama to stop saying "Look", we will have accomplished something. It was like watching celery debate lima beans-- either way, you end up with a vegetable you don't like. So, with that intro, I'm officially throwing my name in the hat for decision2008....feel free to write me in. Several people have expressed interest in being my running mate. The winner will be determined in a fight to the death to be held later this month, possibly in conjunction with the celebration of Halloween. More details to follow, unless I get bored with this. I very well might decide to suspend my campaign in order to swoop down from my lofty perch and save the American people. We here on "Main street" are feeling the crunch, you know? However, if you want to contribute anyway, feel free to send money to my paypal account. I cannot guarantee that it will be used exclusively for my campaign, but I am house- shopping right now and property taxes in Salt Lake are really high. Either way, rest assured that it will be going to a good cause. I'm bored, and in the library, and ready to go home. Wait, what was I talking about? :)

No offense, but....

2008-10-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

When someone says "With all due respect....." 9 times out of 10, they're about to say something disrespectful. Same with "No offense, but...."-- get ready to hear something offensive! And then there's my personal favorite, "It's nothing personal......"-- Oh yeah, it's personal alright! Someone said that to me on Friday and of course I felt as if I was being condescended to... The world is full of pricks....whether or not YOU are one is a matter of perspective I guess. No offense if you don't agree with this and it's nothing personal, but I think some people are stealing air from the rest of us and we'd be better off without them. :) "we" being people who are "socially generous" with others...."socially generous" meaning that someone is given every opportunity to exit an interaction gracefully before it escalates into a confrontation......this is vague and abstract I know, but I really don't have an interesting story or exciting details to go along with this observation.

Bookmarks

2008-09-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have suggestions for a good program or website to manage bookmarks? besides deli.ci.ous-- which I don't really like too much

I got hit by a car! A practical warning against jaywalking....why keep life's embarassments to yourself, right??

2008-09-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I met a friend downtown for lunch . After lunch, I had to cross the street to get to my car which was parked on the other side of the road. Streets in downtown Salt Lake are really wide, which enables 2-3 lanes of traffic in each direction-- in addition to allowing for 45⁰ parking on each side of the road. I was parked in the middle of the block on the far side, and not wanting to walk all the way down the block, and seeing that the light was red, I decided to cross in the middle of the block. I weaved my way through the first two lanes of cars on the near side, which were stopped at the red light. As I approached the median, I looked to the right to make sure that no cars were coming from the opposite direction, when BAM! I was struck from behind by a white car with a 70-80 year old grandma behind the wheel! There were 3 lanes in each direction, not 2, and she was the only car coming in the lane closest to the median-- there were no other cars in front of her, so she had about 30 feet to go until she arrived at the white line where the cars in the other 2 lanes were stopped for the red light. My legs were clipped right out from under me and I was deflected off the hood and onto her passenger side. The next thing I knew, I was hanging on to the side of her car and putting her passenger-side mirror back into place, then waving to her that I was OK and that she didn't need to stop. She looked a bit shocked, as was I. She probably soiled herself, just like I almost did.... almost. It was funny though that I don't think she even took her hand soff the streeing wheel. I hobbled across the street, embarassed that I'd just been hit by a car and thankful that she wasn't going any faster.

"Blink" & showing your work.....

2008-09-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

I read a book a few years ago called Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Has anyone else out there read it? His basic point is that some individuals, when presented a set of facts, might just know things about those facts intuitively and almost instantly (in the "blink" of an eye, if you will) He uses some examples, like an art expert who picks out a fake,and a military commander who makes a key tactical decision under fire. His point is that individuals can develop instinctual conclusions in analyzing facts about subjects with which they are extremely familiar (which are extremely accurate even under closer and lengthier scrutiny later) Does that make sense?? It's almost as if, you might know what an answer to a question in your area of expertise is right away, even if you may not know how you know or why you know right away.-- i.e. the art expert who spots the fake from across a room but might not immediately be able explain why....

So, do you think that you have sufficient familiarity with any subject matter to have developed instincts specific to that subject?? Like a highly refined intuition in just that area?
Well, I'm not sure that I'm at that level with any area of expertise, although I feel generally intuitive about dealing with people......So HERE's the point regarding Law School and showing your work-- even if it were possible to have an intuitive sense of the law (it's not, IMHO, because the law constantly changes and is not always intuitive) you always have to "show your work"....Just like in 7th grade pre-algebra-- how you arrive at the answer is more important than the answer itself....so, no matter how intuitive and accurate your initial reaction to a legal situation may be, the final result will have to be dissected and deconstructed and thoroughly scrutinized.... the initial reaction may still have been right, but what matters in the law is the precedent and support for the decision.....

Other thoughts??

"You can't argue with a punch in the face" explained

2008-09-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Law school is interesting. I haven't been exposed to the academic world for awhile now and I have mixed feelings about it. People around here think big thoughts and form interesting opinions-- both my peers and my professors. I really enjoy the intellectual stimulation and friendly banter/debate, while I truly loathe the self-righteousness that sometimes accompanies those who have well-developed opinions (which they sometimes falsely view as completely unassailable!) One of my professors said something about Iraq the other day that nearly deserved an in-class response, but I refrained.
So, I was thinking about that today and about the "war of words" that is going on in politics right now as we get closer to the election. I realized that despite how much I enjoy the challenge of learning this new subject matter, I really do not enjoy being around some of the self-righteous people associated with it. The kind who will advocate and argue for their world view in any forum, appropriate or not. I realized how much I miss being around Soldiers. Many people who I met in the Army are among the most genuine, humble, outstanding people that I've ever had the pleasure to associate with. Salt of the earth folks. The kind who would not waste time merely arguing for their world view, because they are busy living it! These are the folks standing on the wall that separates civilization from savagery. My new quote is: "you can't argue with a punch in the face." These are the people making the punches. Real people. people who watch reality tv and who don't eat organic foods, people who have never tasted caviar and have no intentions to-- because who wants to eat fish eggs? I love being in the company of real folks.

In Memory

2008-09-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

photo by Ben Blocker, Stars and Stripes

In Memory of Cpl Carlo E. Alfonso
Killed in action August 23rd, 2008
Always remember, Never forget

Hiking in the Jemez mountains, NM

2008-09-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken in July near Albuquerque. Mom, Caitlin, Bryn, and I went on a short hike to a hot spring in the Jemez mountains. It was really fun and the girls didn't complain too much even though we hiked 5 or 6 miles. :) There were some interesting characters at the hot spring.....sorry we didn't get any pictures of them...you are probably better off without the photos anyway, but i will let you imagine whatever kind of crazies you want-- you probably will not be too far off! The first year of law school is good...so far no great photos of me sitting in the library to share with you. cheers

West Slabs of Mt Olympus

2008-08-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

See the Lenhard's blog for an account of our trip up the West Slabs of Mt Olympus. Later that day, Adam and I met up with Spencer, who was in town for BYU education week. We got a bite to eat and spent a few hours catching up. Good times. This may be the last time I have fun for weeks. :)

http://lenhardfamily.blogspot.com/2008/08/mt-olympus-west-slabs.html

South Fork of the American River

2008-08-20T23:31:00.001-07:00

Getting the boat pumped up

Cliff jumping with Brandon

Brandon was a little more adventurous, but I got a better picture!

Well......maybe not

Yes, we paid for someone to take this at a highway-robbery-like price

This one too!

Afterwards

Floating home

We almost had to leave Hillary there

Yosemite: the hike

2008-08-17T10:32:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the campsites from our 5 day backpack through the high sierra. Just a few more days to play until law school starts :)

Night #1 campsite. My tent is green. The brown metal box on the ground is used to store food away from the bears.

Night #2 campsite-- right on the lakeshore. We swan out to a small island in the middle of the lake.

Night #3 campsite-- we saw a black bear here. You can see all of our plastic bear canisters on the right side, used to store food and items that smell away from camp.

Night #4 campsite-- we had pancakes for dinner and went sliding on a natural waterslide See this video:

Night #5 campsite-- it got a little chilly on our last night.

Everyone's packs on the hike out

Half Dome via the "Snake Dike", 5.7R

2008-08-13T18:07:00.001-07:00

I finally made the climber's pilgrimage from Salt Lake to Yosemite for a few days of day-hiking, climbing, and backpacking. In the pictures, you'll see my friend Pat McGaugh. He and I were lieutenants together in Germany and we've been climbing together for about 2 years now. He and his wife Alicia have been on a nationwide roadtrip since they got out of the Army in April, so Yosemite was just another stop on their trip. They stopped in Salt Lake for a few days and then we made the drive out to Yosemite National Park together. Here are some pictures from our climb up the back side of Half Dome.

We stopped in a grove of Giant Sequoias the day before our climb. , huge, huh! Pitch 3 of 8 pitches. Cool exposure!

It's steeper than it looks but really runout just the same!

The "Snake Dike" is so named because of the way it appears to creep vertically up the rock for a few hundred feet. It is made of a salmon-colored vein of rock extruded 6-8 inches from the surface with nicely-formed holds that seem to go on for ever.

I think this is midway through the 4th pitch.

Pat on the 5th pitch

Nearing the top, the climbing turns to 3rd class, or low angle slabs

;) On the summit, where we enjoyed celebrity status for having come up the "hard" way. :)

Looking back towards the valley. What a view!

No, this was not as dangerous as it looks....but don't tell my Mother.

We came down the cables just like everyone else.

Back in the Valley on the Slackline

The Classic Yosemite postcard angle showing El Capitan on the left and Half Dome on the right. More pictures coming soon...

Middle and South Tetons

2008-07-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my trip to the Tetons with Adam Lenhard last week. We stayed at the American Alpine Club climber's ranch for a few nights and we also camped in the South Fork of Garnet Canyon before climbing the Middle and South Tetons. It was just enough to satisfy my Teton-lust for a little while.

We stopped on the way to the climber's ranch to take some pictures right before sunset.

A female moose and her offspring, close to where we slept the first night.

Adam on the Approach

Me on the Approach

Our picture, taken by two very forward chicks

Where we camped in the South Fork of Garnet Canyon

Summit of the Middle Teton

Grand Teton in the Background

Summit of the South Teton

Right before breaking camp

The Middle Teton on the way down.
Look at the cool waterfall in the lower left.

Gibraltar, Morocco, and Southern Spain

2008-07-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I took one last trip before I left Europe and here are the pictures. There were a bunch of topless sunbathers at one of the beaches (sorry, I didn't take any pictures :), but if you stayed close to the water, everyone was basically clothed. I've always wanted to see Gibraltar and it did not disappoint. We also took the ferry across the strait to see Tanger, Morocco and that was really worth it. Part of the last Bourne movie was filmed in Tanger and it was really interesting to see a different side of muslim culture than what I've witnessed before. In Morocco, Christians and Jews live along side the muslim majority in relative peace. For those of you rushing to judge, the girl in the pictures is a friend from church.

David Hasselhoff I'm not.

In Tarifa, which is famous for wind and kite surfing, on the Spanish side of the Gibraltar strait

Spain and Morocco are separated by less than 10 miles. In the top right, you can see how Gibraltar juts out from the coast of Spain. Gibraltar is still owned by the British if you didn't know, so everything was priced in pounds and was therefore super expensive-- 1 pound will currently trade for over 2 dollars! ouch!

Every time you go to the beach with me, be prepared to build a sand castle...

The only wild monkeys in Europe are found in Gibraltar, rumored to have been brought over from Africa when Southern Spain was dominated by Islamic culture and African imports. They are unpredictable...

A monkey jumped on my back a few minutes after this, hoping for a snack. They know that tourists will usually reward them with food after the photo op, so they are pretty brazen... I didn't care for a picture with a monkey on my back.

There are steep steps going all the way down the eastern side to the water, where Gibraltar's only real beaches are found.

You can't really see it, but there is a big harbor on the left, and of course the blue water of the Mediterranean is there on the right

Old WWII-era bunkers, fighting positions, and tunnels abound on Gibraltar, which was used as the headquarters for the allied invasion of North Africa in 1942. At the very tip, there is an artillery battery position with a commanding view of the strait.

Tanger alley way-- just like in the Bourne Ultimatum!

Look at all those olives!

They had EVERYTHING at this market and the smell was terrible! A variety of animal insides are hanging from the hooks and you can't tell, but those things on the counter are skinned goat heads, upside down. Enough to make you vomit just looking at it! ....or I just have a weak stomach raised on a western diet....

The shops and such of the old city of Medina

Beach in Tanger. Do you see any women in this picture? There is only one that I could see, right in the middle, in pink. This was a very modest beach compared to Spain. Most of the women stayed covered, even when "swimming"-- they usually just got their feet wet. Different world

Camels on the beach

Knee trouble

2008-07-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

I had my knee x-rayed after it became swollen following a workout, but the doctor didn't even look at the x-rays! At least they gave me a copy.....Any Orthopedists out there?

Promotion

2008-07-12T16:03:00.001-07:00

On July 1st I was promoted to Captain.

Mont Blanc

2008-07-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos of my trip to climb Mont Blanc. I couldn't have asked for better weather; it was an idyllic journey. I went a little too fast and got slightly sick near the summit because of the altitude. It took about 21 hours to reach the summit from the valley floor.

The Tete Rousse hut and tents far below

The infamous "grand couloir" where rockfall can be dangerous

Grand Couloir traffic jam

Eduardo, my Brazilian climbing buddy at dawn

Sunrise on the Bosses ridge almost to the summit

Mont Blanc Summit; look at the shadow cast by
the mountain on the right side of the picture

Descending the Bosses Ridge.
The crowd of climbers is just coming up

Overlooking the Chamonix Valley on the way down

The famously crowded Gouter hut

Ram on the way back down.

The fallen

2008-06-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

In memory of

Capt. Gregory T. Dalessio

Pfc. Bryan M. Thomas

2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment

2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division

Killed in Action 23 June 2008

A few pictures from Iraq

2008-06-25T08:33:00.001-07:00

Don't let those innocent faces fool you--they'll steal the pens right out of your pocket. :)

Look at how crowded it is in there with all of that commo equipment....the headset was broken though so I had to use the handmic...

Check out how ungainly the new MRAPs look, all tricked-out, ready for a patrol

Packing up my pad. I can't say I was sad to leave it behind

On the way back to Germany.

Kuwait, the land of sand. Pictures taken in April 08

2008-06-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

It's about time I posted some deployment pictures. I'm glad that it's over and that it was short. :)

More on Change.....Better to be Changeable or Unchanging?

2008-06-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

First of all, I don't think that being changeable and being unchanging are always mutually exclusive of each other. Each can apply to different personality traits. Broadly speaking however, there is a certain opposition between some personality traits which is descriptive of how these two qualities differ: rigidity vs. flexibility, dependability vs. adaptability, spontaneity vs.constraint, strict adherence vs. loose adherence, spirit of the law vs. letter of the law, etc.

Someone who is changeable could be teachable, malleable, moldable, or adaptable. They also might be insecure, indecisive, regretful, or a "social chameleon". The ability to change and adapt is certainly an asset, but the drawbacks of extreme changeability revolve around those aspects which foster a lack of dependability/predictability. An example: we can agree that it is good for a person to seek individual improvement, however if the improvement is only a swapping of certain bad habits for others, what purpose did the individual's moldable nature serve them? And further, if the extremely changeable individual later becomes convinced to continually shed certain habits in favor of other ones again and again, their only distinction as an individual becomes their lack of consistency. So the value placed on the ability to "change" is therefore very subjective based on the consequences of specific changes. Change is one of life's constants, maybe the only one-- we just need to regulate how much to change, or in what ways change is necessary. Which brings me to the virtues of being unchanging....

Someone who is unchanging is dependable, reliable, predictable, unwaivering, and decisive. They also might be inflexible, superstitious, unteachable, and unyielding. In the human condition, it is actually quite impossible to be completely unchanging-- change happens around us and expects (sometimes even anticipates) our reaction, without or without our consent, as a natural byproduct of living. As I mentioned it is a constant, however in the extreme an individual may adapt to a certain paradigm and remain relatively fixed there despite evidence that might otherwise lead them to a new paradigm and/or change their world view. Offhand, this would appear to be an inferior way to live life...but I sometimes wonder if that is really true. The phrase "ignorance is bliss" seems appropriate here.

Here is an example of what I mean: Lets say that you are a person who builds their actions on scientific research (you claim to do so without bias to any preconceived social or philosophical positions) You read a study one day that says alcohol consumption may actually be good for the body. You begin drinking a glass of wine every night with dinner. A month later, you come across another study that calls into question the findings of the first study, while maintaining that alcohol as a whole is indeed bad for your body even if there are short term benefits. You stop drinking alcohol altogether while you investigate. You find another study that validates the first one, so you figure you'll start your nightly wine glass consumption again. Then you find a church that you enjoy attending which puts forth a convincing argument against drinking for social/philosophically religious reasons. Then you see the pastor drinking moderately and find out that he's not against alcohol, just drunkenness. So here you are going back and forth, unable to be decisive. You change your behavior at each slight justification.Your willingness to change certainly is not serving you well without the ability to make a decision. So, it seems that the ability to change is not an asset for you here, but somewhat of a liability. On the other hand, if you're the corner drunk, it would probably be nice to be able to sober up and start life over-- to change into the person you thought you'd one day become. Change could serve you well. At a minimum though, you know what the corner drunk stands for.

The only constant in life is change

2008-06-23T02:54:00.000-07:00

Change. Everybody wants change. “We can change, yes we can” But have we stopped to think about the consequences of rapid change in government and social systems? And are we really able to affect major changes at all? or to just shift the problems from group to group, location to location? A typical pattern of rapid change goes like this: There's a rush to judgment (we use too much oil-- we NEED more bio fuels), followed by a blanket disdain for the way things were done prior to our arrival on the scene to “fix” the problem (why have we been using oil all these years?? how stupid), followed by our attempted “fix”(lets plant more corn and sell it to bio fuel manufacturers at gov-subsidized prices), followed by consequences [2^nd, 3rd, 4^th order effects] (rising food prices, rise in algal blooms in the oceans because of pesticides, higher taxes on other fuels, higher consumer prices, more government subsidies, etc) , followed by disappointment because we had such high hopes-- we thought we had the solution to “all” our problems (bio fuels work OK, but there are problems....we tried, but the opposition kept us down-- give us more time, we need to fight the other side together to make “real changes”), followed by the next cycle of desperately needed “change” (what are we going to do about all this algae in our ocean's? high food prices? etc.) followed by the kicker: Elect Me/Us or Reelect Me/Us so that WE can make it happen. Call me a pessimist, but I don't see it.

First Post

2008-06-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

It seems like most of my friends start Blogging immediately after getting married, but before having kids. It's the thing to do. Well, I'm stuck at the airport and bored, so I'm getting an early start. They call it Space-Available for a reason.

I have a confession to make. I routinely criticize and laugh at the intimate life-details some people post on the internet-- I know a guy who blogs on topics like strategies on using a laundry service, and how M&Ms are the best candy in the whole wide world. Not that there's anything wrong with using a laundry service and who doesn't like M&Ms?-- but the point is : do you want everyone in the free world to have access to every tiny, seemingly insignificant, detail of your life? I'm sure this particular blogger has no idea that I only go to his page to entertain myself at his expense. He's essentially turning his life into an extended digital joke. At least for me.