The Black Rose

Thanks Matt for coming into town to hang w me. This place is AWESOME. Will come here when next I’m in boston.

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Chilly in boston

Again no photos, but chilly! Anyway, here’s a shot of my lunch. Coffee n scotch! mmmmmmm warm tummy happy tummy.

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Extinction burst

The Misconception: If you stop engaging in a bad habit, the habit will gradually diminish until it disappears from your life.

The Truth: Any time you quit something cold turkey, your brain will make a last-ditch effort to return you to your old ways.

David McRaney from, Extinction Burst

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Being in balance

Being in balance is an amazingly complex process that our body handles at all times – sitting, standing, walking or simply moving. Without balance we would fall. And moving in diverse environments creates the need of very good balance. But as stated in the beginning, it is very complex. Because how do we even define balance? Is it the ability not to fall? Or is it the ability to react to falling – and adapt – in that specific moment?

Marcus Grandjean from, Balance the Edge

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Too much information

I’ve seen the whole world six times over
Sea of Japan to the cliffs of Dover,
Overkill. Overview. Over my dead body.
Over me. Over you. Over everybody.
Too much information /
Runnin’ through my brain.

~ The Police

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Jorno

Longest KickStarter I’ve done, but this Bluetooth keyboard is AWESOME

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Batman and Robin (aug 28)

Batman and Robin is a neat climb on Lumpy Ridge in Estes Park!

Mike and I picked this climb after spending the entire morning trying to climb Deer Ridge. So here we are, roasted, before we even hike in to Batman and Robin.

Lumpy Ridge has a slew of easily accessible climbs. It’s a stroll in the park — literally — to reach the climbs. The only confusion was the guide book said “readily visible from the parking lot.” We wasted some time until we realized they meant from the original parking lot, not the recently constructed one (which is very much easier to access.) Anyway. Last photo above is the view of the old parking area, from near the base of the climb.

Above are some views from the base of the climb. As you can see in the panorama, the weather was a little “snotty” (as we sailors would say) — cool, gusty winds from changing directions, spritz of water now and then. The climb — in the third photo — reminded me of the original TV show when Batman and Robin would lean forward and they turn the camera to make a really bad “scaling a wall” shot. We could have walked up it like that with a rope, but it was still fun. In the middle of the climb (no photos sorry), there was this cool section with huge angular blocks, so you were trying to paste yourself like a gecko on these huge flat, sloped surfaces. It was really unique. (Honestly, every climb in Lump was really unique and different.)

We reached the top of the climb very late in the afternoon. The last 20 feet was this crazy-fun, who-put-this-here?!, section with big blobs of rock going straight up. There was plenty to hold on to and climb, but you really had to be fiddly, working to get every inch without peeling off the rock. (Which makes for very fun climbing.) At the top… surprise storm! The wind picked up and a thunderstorm was rolling in over the ridge from behind us. On the top of  rock is a Bad Place To Be(tm) in a thunderstorm. So I rappelled off our belay anchor, Mike stripped it down and did a free (no gear) down-climb of about 15 feet as we scurried for cover. Once off the tippy-top, we rappelled 3 sections (Like Batman and Robin!) and ran — LITERALLY RAN, more than a mile out of the park with our gear to beat nightfall. We got to the van just after dark, completely exhausted and soaked in sweat.

We had a total blast! :*D

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120 feet

not me in the photo, but I did climb it first, no falls/slips… about a 5.7 with chilly fingers doing some nice (not a typo)

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down

mike rappelling of the results of my anchor building class…

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Eat grass-fed beef

This entry is part 10 of 25 in the series M. Eades' Blog

Feedlot operators basically pack cattle together in close quarters in which they stand or lie in manure all day, feed them an unnatural diet that changes the environment within their digestive systems, make them sick, treat them with antibiotics to fight the infections such conditions cause, add growth hormones to increase weight gain a little more, and ultimately slaughter them. Most of the beef you buy has suffered this fate. Even the beef that ends up labeled ‘Organic’ pretty much goes through the same process except it gets fed ‘organic’ grain and doesn’t get the antibiotics or the hormones, which is an improvement for you but not much of one for the cow. The meat from these cattle can still be contaminated since the majority of the E. coli arises as a function of grain feeding.

~ Michael Eades from, «http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/good-eating/another-reason-to-eat-grass-fed-beef/»

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Tomorrow’s adventure

rock climbing! Heading to #RalphStoverStatePark in Bucks County for some technical climbing practice. Ten pounds lighter than last time I climbed– I’m psyched!!

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Acceptable losses

In a pathological act of self-destruction, I bought Skyrim the same week that several hard deadlines were set on the sooner portion of my otherwise sparse schedule. Maybe life didn’t seem hard enough. Or I just have no ability to fight impulse buying. Or impulses in general.

~ Peter Welch from, Acceptable Losses

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My oath

This entry is part 14 of 72 in the series My Journey

I’ve been slowly collecting small thoughts so that I could begin writing something about my journey. Over a year ago, I found an oath on Nerd Fitness, but hesitated committing; There are bits in this oath that will demand 40+-years-big-ship-small-rudder sorts of changes of me. I’ve been revisiting it periodically to see how it felt each time I tried it on.

I love it. I’m committing to it.

My oath:

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I shall make no excuses and hold no grudges.

I care not where I came from, only where I am going.

I don’t compare myself to others, only to myself from yesterday.

I shall not brag about successes nor complain about my struggles, but share my experiences and help my fellows. I know I impact those around me with my actions, and so I must move forward, every day.

I acknowledge fear, doubt, and despair, but I do not let them defeat me.

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Low oil prices

I would argue that falling commodity prices are bad news. It likely means that the debt bubble which has been holding up the world economy for a very long time–since World War II, at least–is failing to expand sufficiently. If the debt bubble collapses, we will be in huge difficulty.

Gail Tverberg from, Low Oil Prices

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