bernardthered

The Perfect Pulk - MN Ski Pulk I

2011-03-08T09:50:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I took a pulk that I put together out for its virgin voyage on Mt. Hood. Below are details of the pulk construction, notes on how it performed, and some pics.

First off, the definition of "pulk", from dictionary.com:

A pulk (from Finnish pulkka)^[1] is a Scandinavian short, low-slung small toboggan used in sport or for transport, pulled by a dog or a skier. The name of the sport is pulka. The sled can be used to carry supplies such as a tent or food, or transport a child or other person.

I had rented a Kindershuttle pulk in December to haul gear for an overnight trip, and it was a huge failure. It flipped onto its side about every 15 yards for the 6 mile ski in that Greg and Anna and I were doing, and then again on the way out the next day. It was supposed to be for hauling kids, but a child riding in that thing would have been severely damaged within the first mile.

So, it was with somewhat deteriorated expectations that I started setting up my own pulk, using instructions from skipulk.com. I have to make an aside here and send huge thanks tto Ed Buffard for writing the excellent Pulk Book PDF and distributing it for free. I wound up following their instructions for the "MN Ski Pulk I" very closely. The book has full details, but here are the few key ingredients to give you a sense of the construction:

1 Paris Expedition Sled
2 six-foot long 1/2" diameter solid fiberglass pole (I would not have thought to order livestock fence posts for this, but they were perfect)
2 ten-inch pieces of 1/2" ID flexible braided vinyl tubing
4 hose clamps to secure the poles in the tubing
4 mend plates with 4 bolts each to attach the hose to the sled
1 strap to keep the poles crossed (important for increased control of the pulk)
2 3/8" copper t-fittings, with the arms of the T sawed off and the remainder expoxied to the ends of the poles (to create an attachment point for the harness)
2 quick-link biners to attach the poles to the harness

The trip results:

The loaded pulk weighed 35 pounds (w/o poles + harness)
It was relatively easy to loosen the hose clamps with a screwdriver to remove the poles for transporting in the car. A little Dr. Bronner's helped reduce friction.
On the snow, the pulk was unflippable. I took it over berms, on side-slopes, down and up hills, hit trees with it, did 180 degree turns, fell down multiple times myself, and still could not capsize it. It's as impossible to flip as it is to not flip the Kindershuttle.
The poles seem to have enough bend to them that they didn't seem to make the falls any more awkward or push me as I was stopping (unlike the Kindershuttle, which left me with bruises on both hips).
I did not put fins on the pulk as the book recommends, and it doesn't seem like they'll be needed. The pulk tracked well on its own, even on decent side-slopes.
The only terrain that I encountered that it was difficult on was icy uphills. It made skiing upwards at least 5x more difficult than it would have been w/o the pulk. Ideas of ways to mitigate: transfer weight from pulk to backpack for sustained inclines, add skins to skis for uphills.
Unfortunately, the skiing yesterday around Barlow Pass on Mt. Hood (Oregon) was mostly icy uphills, so after an hour or two, we stashed the pulk and skied around without it.
Overall, I am confident that this thing is ready for some prime-time winter ski camping. This is the sled that will take me around Crater Lake.

The pulk in action

The harness setup

The pole attachment point with hose clamps

The pulk fits into my Yakima SkyBox as if they were designed for each other (with enough extra room for about 4 pairs of skis and poles)

The load it was carrying - just about everything needed for a few days on the trail. The two summer squashes were used to add a bit of weight and simulate the things I didn't feel like gathering for the day trip.

Two questions for you, readers:

What should I name my pulk?
How should I decorate/accessorize it?

Updates from N and S Thailand

2010-04-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

I've been behind so I'm devolving to list format updates to catch up:

The 2nd week of volunteering in Singburi (3/23-27), we taught at an English camp. A French guy and I signed up to help teach "The Planets" and were put in a class in front of 30 or so ~10 year olds. After waiting a few minutes for the main teachers to show up, we realized that that was us. The first day was a little rocky, but we hit our stride and had an amazing time teaching. Unfortunately, the language barrier prevented me from telling the story of how, when we pointed Hubble in a direction that we thought was devoid of anything, the long exposure came back filled with thousands of points of light (each representing a new galaxy).
I spent a day at an elephant sanctuary near Chiang Mai around 4/1. I would highly recommend this to anyone going to Thailand. Highlights included washing the elephants in the river and seeing aspects of their social relationships with each other.
My last few days in N Thailand (4/2-4) I spent in a small town called Pai, which is a little like Eugene, OR. I rented a motorbike and cruised around the countryside and worked/stayed at an organic farm.
Yesterday I made it down to Ko Phi Phi Don. Phi Phi is a tropical island paradise, and has been in a movie w/. I've done some kayaking, snorkeling, and rock climbing here. To escape the island's main downside last night (the drunken hordes of spring-breaking Europeans), I went to sleep early. Then I woke up early this morning and hikes around the woods, eventually stumbling on a few Thais who squat in tents on a ridge overlooking the Andaman sea. They offered me some pumpkin rice dish (accepted) and hits from their bong made of bamboo (declined). Tomorrow morning I think I'll go up there for the sunrise and bring some fruit as thanks.

The heat-lightning storms at night here are enthralling, better than watching movies on the big screen.

On Fri, I'll be taking a boat to Hat Rai Lay, where there are beaches, caves, and some world-renowned climbing.

The Eurokids are getting rowdy, time to go to bed.

PS More pics up on flickr

Chiang Mai

2010-03-29T03:49:00.000-07:00

I'm passing a couple lazy days in Chiang Mai right now. I took the 9+ hour bus ride on Sat from Singburi after the volunteer program wrapped up. On Sunday I wandered around the moat-encircled old city of Chiang Mai, ate at an Indian place, a veg place, and dropped into an orphanage for some volunteering. I didn't know what to expect from the orphanage, but it turned out to be a great time. When I showed up, the kids (about 20 of them, between ~16 and 30 months) were sitting around a table and stopped whatever they were doing to stare at me for awhile. I tried asking one his name in Thai, but that illicited no response. I began to worry a bit that they would be too scared of me, but we soon switched rooms to a play room, many beach balls were unleashed, and I was swiftly appointed as a human jungle gym. We moved to the playground after awhile, and I juggled some clubs for them, which completely blew their 2-year old minds. An American family with a translator/guide was also visiting and the mom kept saying how much she wanted to take some of the kids home to Chicago with her, and something about understanding Angelina Jolie now.

After 2 weeks in Singburi, Chiang Mai seems very diverse, cosmopolitan, English- and vegetarian-friendly. I'm picking up a few history tidbits- it was founded in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna kingdom, some buildings date back to the 1200s, it was sacked by the Burmese in the 1700s (moat fail).

Oh, I also got a Thai massage yesterday (1 hour for $5). It turns out to be 50% assisted yoga (ex. the masseuse putting you in a body twist then putting her weight on you to add to the stretch) and 50% muay thai (Thai boxing, ex. punching you in the top of the head, putting you in a headlock and twisting your back, elbowing you right to the side of your groin). I like it.

Today I visited a temple and talked to a Buddhist monk for awhile as part of a program they call "monk chat". They practice Theravada Buddhism in Thailand, which is the oldest branch, which Mahayana came from (the monk compared the relationship between the two to that of Catholicism and Protestantism).

Tomorrow- overnight stay at an elephant sanctuary, then 5 more days in Chiang Mai or Pai, perhaps with a rock climbing day trip/lead-climbing class in there. Then, a week from today, I'll fly to Phuket in S Thailand and hit some islands, snorkeling, rock climbing, etc.

Singburi Week 1

2010-03-18T02:25:00.000-07:00

A little background for those I didn't get a chance to talk to before I left- I managed a month of unpaid leave and decided to spend the in Thailand. The first half of the trip I'm volunteering in a rural area north of Bangkok (via the IVS) and the other half I'll be traveling around, hitting an elephant sanctuary, maybe some islands, rock climbing, national parks, whatever sounds good at the time. For the photo version of this blog, here's my pics.

Now the update- I met up with the volunteer group on Monday morning in Sing Buri, had an intro day that day, then Tues, Wed, and Thurs working in a school (mostly on tiling a classroom floor). The volunteer group of 9 consists of 4 people from France, 2 from (French speaking) Belgium, and 1 each from Toronto, Germany, and Portland (me). French tends to be the default language and it's fun to listen to that and pick up a little bit of that and Thai too. There are a couple other volunteer houses a few miles away, and we run into them from time to time. There's a bar by one of the volunteer houses that looks like a lemonade stand, but they serve Thai beer and whiskey, we've had a couple debaucherous nights there already.

The work in the school is a nice mix of manual labor and playing with the kids. The kids are super friendly (actually almost everyone is in Thailand) and though they have no language in common w/ any of the volunteers, we find ways to communicate using sign language, soccer players' names, and gibberish. Next week we'll be teaching them English, let me know if you know of games or other tools that are good for teaching when the students and teachers don't speak the same language. I've got a couple simple riddles in mind, juggling, and duck-duck-goose of course.
We've got this weekend off and I'm either going to head to a beach or a national park. I want to see some monkeys.

Rental Pants vs the Emerald Buddha

2010-03-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Bangkok late last night and found my way to my hostel about 23 hours after leaving my house in PDX. It seems the political situation here is less than stable right now, but the protests seem like they'll be peaceful- http://www.bangkokpost.com/

Tonight I'll hit the juggling club in Bangkok and tomorrow I take off for the volunteer program in Singburi. I'll try to get some pics up before then as I may be offline for a couple weeks.

For my fellow map aficionados- right now I'm approximately here.

Day Seven

2009-07-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

I rode my first century today- did 105 miles from Lake Quinalt to the train station in Olympia. I rode through Hoquiam, tires for sale in a front lawn, Aberdeen with it's agro drivers, through Olympia past state capital building, and finally to the train station outside town. There were half a dozen retired folks in the train station who seem to hang out there as a hobby, talking about which signal lights are the most beautiful, discussing different types of trains, tracks, and movies about trains, and getting totally pumped up when trains go by. I wanted to stay and hang out with them.

Wildlife list for the trip: banana slugs, black banana slugs, roosevelt elk, barred owl, woodpecker, loons, deer, rabbits, red tailed hawk.

More pics from the trip

Day Six

2009-07-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

Took another walk in the rain forest, then biked West and South for the coast. Manu Chao sang:

Infinita tristeza
Tu sombra en la pared
Infinita tristeza
Viento de Washington

Stopped to check out a big cedar tree that had probably about 6 dozen different trees growing on top of its roots, branches, and off its trunk. Forests seem tranquil and serene, but the truth is that they're the site of massive and epic battles, with each plant trying to obliterate the others and achieve domination of the land. Trees grow right off each others fallen bodies, seed is blanketed across the forest floor in an attempt to grow a horde of offspring, and canopies are spread wide to try to block foes from seeing the sun. I wonder if we'll ever splice plant genes with ours to make people with chorophyll in their skin who can photosynthesize as a supplement to eating.

Later, I spooked a bunch of elk off the side of the road who ran into the forest. I stopped and saw a beach, another big cedar, and the Quinault rain forest before setting up an impromptu campsite on the South shore of Lake Quinault. Except for some loons, I had a bay on the lake completely to myself, . Bathing in the cold water felt good after the 80 mile day.

Day Five

2009-07-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Worked, making good progress on a new UI for our automated OS installation feature. Then I left Forks to head to the Hoh Rain Forest. Clearcut, purple bell flowers, green signs, then brown signs, Wolf Parade singing:

You know our hearts beat time out very slowly.
You know our hearts beat time, they're waiting for something that'll never arrive

and before I knew it, I was in the rain forest. Hung out with a few folks in the campsite next to mine, they had an engineer with them who had built a camping oven out of cardboard, tin foil, and a coat hanger. So I had hot beans and good company for dinner.

Day Four

2009-07-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Worked. Then around 5 I headed South 5 miles to Bogachiel St. Park, following a lead from a reliable source that the hiking trails there are just like Dagobah. I got there, but there were no vines, no swamp, no sagely green imps, and not even any hiking trails. So I walked down the middle of the Bogachiel river listening to the Great Lake Swimmers and savored a swimming hole I found. Oh, I forgot to mention that today was my first portable-MP3 player experience, and it was pretty awesome. I hammered to Audioslave on the way to Bogachiel, it was the perfect decompression from work. I think I have to formally give up my resistance to portable MP3 players, though I still think iPods are lame.

Day Three

2009-07-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

Bob headed back East to get his boat and sail to Bellingham, Colin the fiddler stuck around Elwha to rest, and I biked West toward the rain forests on the West side of the Peninsula. I did about 50 sunny miles to the town of Forks, where I got a hotel room so I could work for the next couple days. Forks has about 3 or 4 thousand residents, and its entire economy seems to be based on the fact that the Twilight series is set there. Every business in town sells something Twilight themed. On the walls of the Mexican restaurant, instead of paintings of pastoral Mexican scenes, they have glam shots of the actors in Twilight. The Thriftway in town has no less than half a dozen racks of Twilight-branded clothing. The town is over-run with female teenage tourists taking pictures of everything. The locals seem much larger than average and mostly drive trucks the size of Kansas City. I hid in my hotel room.

Day Two

2009-07-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

We awoke to a beautiful and bright day on the mooring ball we had roped to, took a couple trips ashore rowing our bikes and gear in Bob's dinghy, and began biking. We were going to bike to Hurricane Ridge, but we met a bike camper with a violin on his back who was headed to the Elwha hot springs, so we went with him there. It was about 60 miles to camp, most of them hilly and beating into the wind. Entering the national park felt like a breath of fresh air though.

We set up at Altair camp ground about 8, then biked a steep 5 up to the hot springs, hiked in a couple miles, and soaked ourselves in a couple-foot-deep pool of sulfurous spring water. It felt amazing after the day of biking.

getting started

my bed at Altair

Peninsula Bike Tour Day One

2009-07-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

Back Story:
A week or two ago, I asked my friend Bob Hall if he wanted to sail from Seattle to the Olypmic Peninsula, then ride our bikes around. The plan went through a few variations, but eventually we decided to sail to Port Townsend and bike for a couple days before he sailed back and I continued on a 3/4 bike loop around the peninsula ending in Olympia.

Day One:
We sailed out of Shilshole marina on his motorless 30-ft sailboat (which is also his house) We were headed through the Puget Sound North and a bit West to eventually land at Port Townsend, on the northeastern most corner of the Olypmic Penninsula. The wind was Northerly, so we had to tack NE and NW throughout the day to make progress. It got pretty choppy towards nightfall, and after the sun went down, it became more like whitewater rafting than sailing. I put on every layer of clothing I had with me plus about 3 more from Bob, including a full orange rubber suit. Cold splash came from the front and side and over us, the boat dove up and down over big waves, and the gimbled kerosene lamp inside swayed furiously. The only other light came from the half moon, a few occasional lights on the shore that crawled slowly by, and freight ships going by. I only started fearing for my life when I began wondering if the mast was supposed to be as horizontal as it was, and whether I was supposed to be able to stand flat on surfaces that were normally vertical. Bob picked that choice moment to me remind me of the woman who flipped her kayak a week ago and died of hypothermia in 30 minutes. He also mentioned that "this would be a really shit time to fall in. If you think I could see your head bobbing out there between the dark waves, you're totally wrong." Thanks Bob.

Books to Prisoners

2008-11-19T22:19:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've posted, and I don't usually use this space in a bloggy way, but this topic seemed worthy of sharing. I volunteered last night with Books to Prisoners, and it was a great experience. The group meets several times a week in a garage whose walls are lined with shelves full of donated books. About 8 of us spent a couple hours reading letters from prisoners and putting together packages of books to send them. In some of the letters, the inmates' desire for books was leaping off the page. One man in a Florida jail asked for HVAC manuals and Shakespeare. Another inmate with immaculate handwriting and grammar greeted me as comrade. He was trying to stay strong with 22 months to go, and wanted books on history, the civil rights movement, and black liberation. Searching through the shelves to find books that will be perfect for the person at the other end of the letter was an amazingly humanizing experience.

The organization is short handed, under-funded, and low on many kinds of books. If you want to help with any of those things, check out the above link, or you can sign up on Hands On Portland. If you don't live in PDX, you can check this map for a program near you.

A couple misc pics

2008-04-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

A cherry tomato plant that's bigger every time you look at it

Prayer of the Irish semi-agnostic computer programmers
(I wrote the regex, the rest is traditional)

Team Seattle Pub n Pedal in Portland for Filmed by Bike

2008-04-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

Bikers flocked to Portland this weekend for Filmed by Bike. Here's a bit of the fun that was had

The crew around the fire near the eastbank esplanade. The Willamette river is in the background

Bike parking at B's

At Hoyt Arboretum

Some siblings stopped doing this around the age of 10... Steph and Liz are keeping the good things alive. You can see Mt Adams between their heads if you look closely.

Starting now, you can enter a contest for the best caption for this picture. Post your entry as a comment to this posting.

With Gizmo the dog

NYC and Boston in March

2008-04-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

The Tavern on the Green in Central Park

Near Tompkins Square Park in NYC

Jason, Tansal, and Erika in Boston

Red Panda Girl, Ravi and Storey's cat

Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento

2008-04-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

The Mediterranean Sea (and an orange)

Climbing to the highest point in Naples

A lemon orchard in Sorrento

Some of the ruins of Pompeii, with Mt. Vesivius in the background

This is the ruins of a fast food restaurant pre-79 AD, with Chow doing a historic re-enactment of serving ancient gelato

ghost town

Neopolitan pizza in Naples (with funghi)

Rome in March 08 in a Small Numer of Pics

2008-04-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

Trevi fountain at night

The Colleseum (it's famous because Russell Crowe fought there)

The ruins of the Forum

Bernini's Apollo and Daphne (professional photo, since we couldn't take pics in the Villa Borghese)

Post-marathon (or half marathon, in my case) vegan gelato

The Pantheon

A few misc pics from Jan + Feb

2008-02-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

A parking sign in the Marina district of SF. Overnight parking: $39.00, hybrids: free. I didn't ask about bike parking, maybe they pay you to park your bike there.

Sunset from the Marina district, that's the Golden Gate bridge in the background past the boats

My roommate Alicia's cat Ellie's paw. Pink + black, just like the Sprokettes and Show Me the Pink.

The Purple Folding Steer Horn Bike

2008-02-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

I ordered some horns from EBay and affixed them to Greg's folding bike... here's what it looks like with those, plus bowling pin valve caps, a red bell pepper bell, and streamers:

Pics from Pennsylvania in Feb

2008-02-19T22:43:00.000-08:00

Misty morning at the cabin

The Tanner's Falls bridge

Turkey tracks on a walk near Alder Marsh Pond

Some Pictures from Portland Jan + Feb

2008-02-19T22:28:00.000-08:00

From Pacific NW College of the Arts (PNCA)

Also at PNCA

My friend Genevieve and I on the Worst Day of the Year Bike Ride (turned out to be pretty nice weather that day, actually)

Some sweet potato and beet soup a friend and I made

Some Pictures from Jan + Feb travels

2008-02-19T22:11:00.000-08:00

Rafferty Cousins in SF! Mike, Julia, and Claire

Manhattan from the airplane window

Sculpture in the 8th Ave + 14th St. subway station

Things we did when the visitors were in town

2008-01-06T19:03:00.001-08:00

I was thinking about how many different Portland attractions were visited when my parents and Chow were in town, and thought I'd make a list for posterity's sake-

Restaurants: Nutshell, Dalo's, Laurelthirst, Chaos Cafe, Hotlips Pizza, It's a Beautiful Pizza, Veganopolis, Blossoming Lotus
Attractions: OMSI, 3D Photography Center, Avalon Wonderland, Bullseye Glass Co. tour, School of Rock show (playing the best of the NW at the Wonder Ballroom)
Bars: the Bye and Bye (vegan bar), Ground Kontrol (bar-arcade)
Outdoor stuff: the Eastmoreland Rhododendron Garden, Mt. Tabor, the walk across the Hawthorne bridge
Misc: Voodoo Doughnut, Foodfight (and Herbivore), game night

Things we didn't get to:

The movie theater/breweries, Mt. Hood, Portland Rock Gym, Ya Hala, Forest Park, the Columbia gorge, the art museum, Portlandia

Next time: even more fun

December around Portland

2008-01-06T10:58:00.000-08:00

The Christmas tree we found on Mt. Hood and cut down

avocado-grapefruit salad, yum

Sophie/Bruce the dog, looking svelte

Bruce attacking Chow, then pretending to be innocent

Smoked tomato soup from Blossoming Lotus

Mammoth + mastodon teeth at OMSI

The Jamaican platter at Nutshell

My Mom and Terri Geiselman

My Dad on Christmas

On a tour of Bullseye Glass Co., where Chow's sister works

Piece created from glass stringers

Created by painting dust glass on a sheet of glass and then firing

Chow stylin' the fly safety glasses on the tour

In Forest Park in Portland (the largest natural urban forest reserve in the US)

Greg and Anna on the MAX on New Years Eve

Portland According to Me

2007-11-26T23:08:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving on the Geiselmans' Farm!

2007-11-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

Rode down to our cousins' organic berry farm for Thanksgiving. It was a scenic 30 mile ride through rolling farmland, with Greg towing a trailer with Bruce the dog (aka Sophie) and Anna towing one with the food we cooked. Took us about 3 hours on the way down and 2.5 on the way back.

Note Bruce enjoying the view

View of Mt. Hood from the road

The pie collection (Anna's cranberry one's a little squashed because it rode in the bike trialer)

Frozen lacinato kale in the garden the morning after Thanksgiving

The farm house

Sheeba the dog walking in the woods on the farm

Jim, Anna, and Greg watching The Two Towers the day after Thanksgiving

Cyclo-cross Crusade at Barton Park outside Portland

2007-11-05T23:39:00.000-08:00

I got back to Portland on October 28th, ending ~6.5 months of nomadism since I moved out of NYC in April.

Taking a break from looking for apartments and working, I raced in a Cross race on Sunday at Barton Park:

enjoying the scenery

Greg jumping the barrier

Greg and Brian (one of his Ironclad teammates) on one of the run ups

Greg jumping the barrier again

Video I took of the first bunch of A-class men going over the barrier

Greg and I after our races

October '07 Trip (IA and CA)

2007-11-05T23:22:00.001-08:00

My uncle Bill and his three dogs on his farm near Bonaparte, IA

Feeding time for the cows on Bill's farm

Tony and Bill discussing the sweet potatoes from Tony's garden

A mammoth tooth uncle Tony found (about a food long)

One of many hand-crafted cases holding artifacts uncle Tony has found

These two deer skulls were found in the woods interlocked just like this. The two bucks had gotten caught with each other while fighting and died trapped to each other.

One of Tony's pieces of woodwork, this one above the door in his museum

Kris Pruden, Paul Ingram, and myself, toasting at the Opsware party in Palo Alto

October '07 Trip (AR, MN, and IL)

2007-11-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

I was in Conway, AR for work for a couple days, near a town that was literally called "Toad Suck"

Visiting Aunt Jeanette and Cousin Liam in Minnesota, this is on a drive down the Mississippi from the Wisconsin side

n LARK Toys in MN

Setset over the Mississippi

Cousin Liam and Cocoa the dog

Chicago

Chow, Paula, and Jasper

Nick, Chow, and Nat, checking out the essential oils

Reich's going away party (he moved from Chicago to Monterey, CA), congratulations John!

Reem and Reich at Reich's going away party (note Reem's "Unleash the Reich" shirt)

Please don't order this dish if you can't take the heat (Amitabul is a great vegan Korean place in Chicago, by the way)

Mary (proudly sporting the Food Fight shirt) and P. Dallas at Alice and Friends

Nat, Mary, Nick, Vanessa, Pete, Chow, me, and Matt

San Diego + Joshua Tree National Park

2007-09-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

From Opsware's annual conference in San Diego

In HollywoodCousin John Rafferty and I on top of Ryan Mtn. in Joshua Tree

One of the biggest wind farms in the world

Portland in September

2007-09-30T18:49:00.001-07:00

Six buckets of Voodoo Donuts donated for the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event

A donut and a couple marshmallows being roasted over the fire in Greg's front yard

Greg and Anna in Washington Park

The cousins' farm down in Canby, OR

Looking over the Columbia river between WA and OR to Mt. Hood

At the tail end of a wedding reception

After the wedding, a run to Voodoo donut

Greg juggling in his front yard

Leaf on the ground over by Oak Bottom park

August in the East

2007-09-30T16:43:00.000-07:00

Been slacking on posting pictures lately... here's a bunch from August in the East

Nice looking food at my folks' place in PA

Disc golf w/ John Miller at Prompton State Park near Honesdale

Jason Markzon, Rachel, and Dan playing guitar in the back, camping in Delaware Water Gap

At the Delaware Water Gap

Storey, Ravi, and I at a bar in NYC

Aaron Baer in Winston-Salem, NC

Aaron and Jenny on the motorcycle

Nate and Stacey's dog, P-Diddy
(I somehow failed to get a picture of Nate and Stacey when I was visiting)

One of the old locks on the Lehigh River at Hickory Run State Park in PA

Dan Rocking Out in the Infirmary

Misc Last Pics from Kaua'i

2007-07-14T07:43:00.000-07:00

Misty morning in Waimea canyon

At the end of Honopu ridge trail in Koke'e, overlooking part of the western coast of the island. The Kalalau trail ends about 3,000 feet below here and goes 11 miles north along the Na Pali coast.

Brah Jim and I at the end of Honopu ridge trail

Taro root pie from McDonald's

Aaron dumping a bucket of water on Izzi on a hot day

Keesha watching

Anahola beach at the end of the bike ride from Kealea

Spring rolls from Blossoming Lotus

Izzi and Annekin on a hike up Sleeping Giant

Hike to Wai'ale'ale Crater 7/7/07

2007-07-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Wai'ale'ale crater. The scale here is hard to capture, but that cliff face ahead is about 2-3 thousand feet tall

Nice swimming pool at the end of the tough hike

Apple bananas! Got this bunch at the farmers' market in Kapa'a

The green curry from the Blossoming Lotus

Cruising in the island cruiser, my purple shirt matching the windows' tinting

Biking south of Kalaheo

The hike to Makeleha Falls 7/4

2007-07-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

This was a tough hike on an unofficial trail and for a mile or so through a stream. It had sweet waterfall views though.

An old stone wall reclaimed by the jungle

The end of the hike

Tour of Hindu Monestary in Wailua 7/3/07

2007-07-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

The temple being built from rocks carved entirely by hand

Sanskrit meditation prayer

The waterfall where the monks wash themselves

Pics from the Hills to the West of Wailua

2007-06-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

a sensitive plant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica)

some wild pigs down the street from the apt

One of the rudraksha seeds from which sacred Hindu beads are made

In the sacred forest, the only rudraksha grove in the US (more info)

The Moroccan tofu at the Blossoming Lotus

Geckos in Obscure Light

2007-06-29T01:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a poem from the New Yorker I cut out and put on the fridge. It's pretty fitting for the place I'm staying where the geckos run all over the place, inside and out, and you can hear them chirping loudly at night.

Geckos in Obscure Light
by William Logan
April 23, 2007

Tentative, greedy, by night they came,
drawn to the insects drawn to the light.

Their shadow organs pulsed
beneath bellies distended as Falstaff’s,

backs a tarnished armor studded
with the rosettes of some obscure disease.

What of their victims, the cannon fodder,
Welsh soldiery thrown each night

against the muzzle flare? Ragged, high-strung moths,
green lacewings streamlined like F-16s—

the geckos, like great officers and kings,
took them into their mouths, more or less

at leisure, with a gratifying snap.
Silently, of course, through the pane of glass,

where death comes only on a smaller scale.

(copied from http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2007/04/23/070423po_poem_logan)

The best rope swing ever, and a sea turtle

2007-06-25T20:07:00.001-07:00

Sea turtle at Ke'e beach

Pete and I swinging off the best rope swing ever, at Kipu Falls

Kauai pics through 6/23

2007-06-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hanakapi'ai Beach on the Kalalau Trail

Pete hiking on the Na Pali coast trail

Gia Bombilla's Enchilada Casserole w/ carob mole at the Blossoming Lotus

A rope swing/trapeze artist at Kipu fallsPete from the rope swing

First few days in Kauai

2007-06-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

The green arrow's where I'm at (more detailed map of Kauai)

the view from my backyard
(that's Mts. Wai'ale'ale and Kawaikini, the highest points in Kauai at about 5,200 ft)

Gecko hanging out on my screen door

the raw lasagna from The Blossoming Lotus, made from macadamia nut ricotta, rainbow chard, and some other delicious stuff

sunrise at Lydgate beach

one of the billions of roosters on the island that make lots of noise at 5am (click here for historical info and a recipe for them)

These 2 are from a hike up Mt. Kahili, which was only about a mile and a half, but got to about 3,000 feet and was one of the most precarious hikes I've been on. The goat-trail looking ribbon on the ridgeline in the picture below is the trail. 9 people started, only 4 made it to the top (the others turned around, they didn't fall).

Weeks 2 + 3 in PDX

2007-06-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

Just pics this time 'cause I'm feelin lazy

at an art gallery in North Portland

at silver falls, state park, an hour SE of portland

Greg, before biking to a job interview

Week One in Portland (May 4 - 12th)

2007-05-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

Had a nice first week in Portland, a few of the highlights were a couple Cinco de Mayo parties, a March Forth show on Tuesday night, juggling club on Wednesday (where I ran into an old friend I juggled with for 3 years in colllege), and a video game/junk food night at Greg's place on Thursday night. Biked and ran a good deal, which felt great.

The picture above is of the statue Portlandia, welcoming people to the city (second largest copper scupture in America after the Statue of Liberty).

The farmer's market near PSU

Looking at SW Portland from across the Willamette river.

Greg's house near Westmore- land in SE Portland where I'm crashing.

SW Portland at night (Hawthorne bridge is on the right)

Hiking in California

2007-04-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

Got to California on Sunday around noon, rented a car, and drove up to the ridgeline on the SF penninsula. I went to Corte de Madera open space preserve where I took a solid hike and the pictures below. The preserve is comprised mostly of new growth redwood forest on westward facing slopes, with streams running through it and down towards the Pacific. On the hike I saw the state tree, bird, and flower (redwood, quail, and poppy, respectively). After that, it was down to Sunnyvale for food and work.

the trail

pineapple weed
(when you rub it, it smells just like pineapple)

an old growth redwood and I
(this one was 1500 years old and 225' at its highest)

a golden poppy

Chicago!

2007-04-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

Spent last week in Chicago, it was a hell of a lot of fun. Highlights included: seeing college and Buffalo friends, a beer tournament, biking and running on the lakefront, lying around in Lincoln Park on the nice days, rock climbing, eating vegan deep dish pizza and lots of other good food, and Dance Dance Revolution.

Chicago skyline from the plane

beer tournament

DDR Showdown

Chow and Nick spinning joyously at the climbing gym

After the move from NYC -> PA

2007-04-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

Left NYC on saturday night in a car packed solid. But after selling my furniture to the incoming sublettor, I can still say I can fit all my worldly possessions into one car. Watching riverside park and the Hudson go by, I felt sleep deprived and melancholy, already missing my friends, coworkers, and roommates. When I was only one flight of stairs down from my apt my roommates opened the door and shouted "we miss you already!"

Coming back to NE PA, everything seems welcoming. From the home cooking to the moss-covered stone walls to the rough stone foundations of a town that was deserted after all the hemlock trees were chopped down, it all seems to beckon me back and tell me to stay awhile. The snow's nice too, we got a few inches here overnight and there were bear tracks on the lawn in the morning.

They say you should live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard, and live in northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. I've done both of those now, and I feel content. The future holds infinite possibility.

My new permanent residence

My front yard