a puzzling interest

I'm not really sure why, considering that I am probably the least fashionable person I know, but I really like to look at fashion magazines (albeit when I'm waiting to see the dentist, pay for groceries, traveling on an airplane, etc.).  When I was in high school, I was so psyched on clothes.  I put a lot of care into what I wore every day, spent lots of my parents' money on clothes, wore makeup occasionally, etc.  Even my first year in Philadelphia at UPenn saw me dressing up.  I frequently wore - oh my gosh! - pea coats and high boots!  whoa!  Could be cause I was insecure and didn't have anything better to worry about, but who knows.

But these days I wear the same pair of shorts every day of the week, and do my best not to look in a mirror that often.  However I do still look at celebrity fashion.  It's my guilty pleasure, and certainly worth of slandering if you should choose.  

It amazes me how much we change after high school.  I kind of feel like high school was an incubator and you hatch when you get to college.  Stupid analogy, but somehow it seems to fit.

And by the way, I LOVE the dress in the photo.  I want to wear it and be a fairy princess.

What were you all like your first 2 years of college?

So Proud and Happy

I just wanted to post this link, and congratulate Justen and Tommy.  That is awesome.

It's just so inspiring.  I keep thinking that so much can be overcome if you just desire it enough.  I'm going to concentrate really hard on making my hand not numb anymore.  Yeah.  And then I'm going to climb really fucking hard, or maybe I'll just climb really fucking hard with a numb hand.

Eat eat eat!

This was meant to be linked to a pdf that showed that primates who were heavier did not suffer a lack of ability in "climbing", but I can't figure out how to link the pdf.  Disappointing that I can't let you all read about why you should eat chocolate croissants and pizza every day.

I can be as fat as I want.

Thank you Baby Jesus it is NOT 100 degrees!

And this is a thing to be grateful for!

So, we never went to Donner, instead we ended up forgetting a climbing rope, going to REI, driving around Sacramento in 100 degree weather looking for a Trader Joe's, failing, and going to the gym.   Blah.  In hindsight, we definitely should have gone to Donner.  I only did 3 pitches.  The gym totally sucks right now.  Old routes, hot as hell, etc.  I'm psyched to get out to the east side this weekend, come hell or high water!  I think that with my current disability, the goal right now is to do lots and lots of new routes and get outside as much as possible.  Clearly I will not be crankin' the high grades this summer, but I never really climbed that hard last summer either but somehow came back to Jailhouse pretty strong.  Go figure.   I think it was from french-freeing routes while following up behind someone I will only refer to here as the "mega-douche".

My new theory is that climbing hard at Jailhouse definitely does NOT make you a good rock climber.  I've seen it over and over again.  So if you want your ego to be stroked, only climb at Jailhouse.  You'll be psyched after you get a little bit of fitness.  You can suck your way to the top of many routes there and feel proud of how hard you are sending.  But whatever you do, DON'T go to Yosemite, or you might get a little butt-hurt, and no one likes that (well, Alan does, but whatever).

Anyway, the plan is to climb something long in the Valley on Friday (high of 72 degrees!), rest Saturday in the high country, and then do some climbing on Sunday.  I'm really hoping that I can pull off 2 days this weekend, what with my hand being gimpy.  In addition one of my veins is inflamed, which means that I am pumped in my right hand now writing this post.  That should clear up in a few days though.

Psyched that the pass is open! Yay!

Life is Shit.

Ok, life isn't really shit, but I'm a little down right now because I just spent 3 hours a day for 5 days in a row back on the Solu-medrol, and my right hand is getting stiffer.  Is it going to get better? What caused it?  You could spend all your mental energy wondering what the hell is going on and never get anywhere.  Just have to be patient and see what happens.  Total bummer.  I haven't climbed in 5 days because I feel like crap, but I'm going out tomorrow with Drew!  Yay!  Hope I can pull on some small Donner holds despite the gimpy right hand.  Either way it will be nice to get outside...just climbing makes me feel loads better.  On the bright side, my right finger tips won't hurt as much because they are numb.  Ahh life's little blessings.

I was so optimistic when the first round of intravenous steroids brought my hand back to life...to have it get bad again is pretty demoralizing, to say the least...but it's still not as bad as it was before, in that I can write and eat and wipe my ass.

So yeah, it's pretty freakin' hot here in Davis right now.  It's been about 100 degrees for the last 3 days, and should be warm again tomorrow.  I'm hiding out inside avoiding it...heat is supposed to be bad for us gimps on prednisone and folks with MS.  Fine by me...heat isn't too enjoyable anyway.

My mom has been here-she is an excellent mother.  She basically just hangs out, buys me stuff, cleans my house and keeps me company.  Sure, she cut back my plant and that pissed me off, and she tends to move things around my house in an effort to "clean up" thereby making me search around for whatever object she has misplaced, but I love her anyway.  Plus my house is totally clean! Amazing!

In other news, I put in some tomatoes, peppers and an eggplant.  I was initially resistant to planting veggies this summer, because, well, veggies need water.  And that requires me to water them.  And I like to go climbing, meaning that I'm not around to water.  Though I did set up a drip-line system last year that was pretty sweet.

Oh yeah, and my friend Sunshine came up to Davis to visit today and we made an excursion to Wal-Mart.  Going to Wal-mart is way more fun with someone else.  Whenever I go alone I feel very stressed out.  Sunsh and I looked at the fishing lures (for some reason they fascinate me...could be the rubber worms, I dont' know), the underwear (Sunsh is way into underwear), the plants (too hot to spend too much time outside), glass jars to store all my non-gluten, legume, corn, and rice new foodstuffs in (yes they are still empty), cheap DVDs, sunglasses that looked exactly like the sunglasses that Sunshine was already wearing, etc.  I bought the Dark Crystal DVD...I don't know why I buy DVDs...I never watch them, or if I put them on I just wander around the house doing random stuff.  Whatever.

Alright, wish me luck in this journey.  I need it.

back on the 'roids

Well, I have a lot to blog about, but the first thing I'll say is that I'm going back on the Solu-medrol for various reasons.  Five days in a row spending 2-4 hours in the hospital getting massive doses of prednisone.  I hope it helps.  The stress is definitely getting to me.  Hmmmm. Maybe I can finish this blog up while I'm getting infused. That would be novel...

Ok 7 hours later, and I've been infused, and there was no wireless internet.  On the bright side the infusion ladies were very nice and gave me warm blankets and a fruit salad.  They put you in a pretty nice reclining chair.  I tried to read a little of my Zone book, but promptly put my beanie over my eyes and slept for the 3 hours I was there.  ZZZZzzzzzz....

So now I'm home, and I've eaten some sushi and I am cooking food for the week.  Lots and lots of veggies, tempeh, etc.

Ok on to the Yosemite trip report.

James and I climbed Serenity/Sons on Friday, and the climbing went really well for the most part.  I made James lead almost everything except the crux pitch, which I fired.  I was a little gripped climbing a few feet above a blue alien, but the piece was bomber and I didn't fall anyway.  I did, however, run out of gear on the first pitch of Sons, thinking it was a hand crack and finding instead a weird climb with mostly finger pieces.  I put in an anchor about 20 feet from the belay and James finished the pitch and linked it with the next so it was no big deal.  I can be called a lot of things, but "bold" and "willing to run it out" are not on that list.  I was pretty psyched that I did the cruz pitch no problem.  I know it's only .10d, but hey, I take what I can get!  We had a little epic getting off, which involved a violent out-of-control pendulum across a rock face attached to James and some bruises on my head and ribs, but everyone was ok and it was a learning experience.  Probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me rock climbing, and again, on the bright side no one was hurt.  I DID choose to wear a helmet on my next multi pitch climb though.

Saturday I met up with Drew and we tried to go and do the Free Blast, but El Cap was kind of a cluster that day, with a party of 3 starting up the Salathe to aid and another party on deck for the Free Blast.  In addition there were tons of folks on the nose and other parties aiding Magic Mushroom.  So Drew and I decided to go shopping instead.  You should tell him how nice his new approach shoes are when you see him.  I looked for a 70meter tag line, but did not find one, so I will have to wait.

After our shopping excursion, we hiked up to Public Sanitation where I belayed Drew.  I was a little tired from our epic the day before so was happy not to climb.  Plus, I think with all that's happened to me lately I need a little more rest than other folks.  Two days on is hard for me right now.  Drew fired a Tucker's Proud Rock Climb (.12b) up there second go, and uncharacteristically made some noise cause he was ACTUALLY TRYING.  Kind of nice to see for us mere mortals.

Sunday we woke up early and got on Free Blast with no one ahead of us.  Another party started up after us, but they were always a pitch or two behind.  Drew styled the whole thing on lead, which I think is pretty proud.  I did a little bit better than when I went with Dan last weekend, but definitely did not free the Free Blast.  I have lots and lots of work to do before I can say that I'm decent on granite.  Not only that but after a certain number of slab pitches I'm thinking "fuck this, I want some effing holds already!" However I look forward to putting in the time and hopefully reaping the rewards by being able to do some long classic hard free climbs, but in the mean time it's a bit of a spank-fest.  Oh well, it's pretty neat to be on El Cap, even though El Cap is kind of dicey. Some party on the Shield dropped a pin that went whizzing by us.  Again, thank God for the helmet.  Drew was very nice and said that I did a good job on the climb, though I might dispute that.  It was fairly discouraging in fact.  I will say that even if I'm getting schooled, I still move pretty quick and get to the top in a timely matter and am efficient at the belays, which on a multi-pitch can translate to hours of saved time.  I credit the Honnold School of Efficiency (HSE) with some of that experience.

Anyway, cause I'm on the infusion all week and my Mom is flying in it's looking doubtful that I will make it to the valley again this weekend.  Maybe Monday?

The thumb is numb

ok.  So I don't have much to say, other than I'd like to complain about my right thumb being numb.  Bullshit!  Anyone want to climb Thursday?

Food Allergy Blues

So I want to start out by saying that I've always been a bit skeptical of the whole "food intolerance" thing.  And I've also been a bit disdainful of going to restaurants with people who always have a special order.  This is in part because of some family history, and in part because I try to be low key and take considerable pride in having a "gut of steel".  I've even been told before that I play "fast and loose with food safety", which was in reference to the fact that I leave things out of the fridge, eat things past their expiration date, etc.  So yeah, I have an iron gut that can take a lickin'.

Or so I thought.

So, with this whole MS thing there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that diet plays a pretty important part in "flare-ups".  The idea that I have gleaned so far is that a "leaky gut" can allow food particles into the blood stream, which can then potentially cross the blood-brain barrier and cause my immune system to be stupid and attack the myelin around my nerves.  The "leaky gut" is caused by poor digestion, food allergies, etc.

So I got my blood tested for antibodies to certain foods.  The theory goes that if you have antibodies to foods, then you are having an immune reaction.  But who even knows what they are testing your blood to react with.  Is it certain chemicals in the food?  Essence of wheat?  I don't know.  

At any rate, I got my results back and kind of had a tantrum.  Apparently I am "allergic" to wheat/gluten, corn, soy, dairy, almonds, carrots, celery, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, rice, tomatoes and potatoes.  

Yeah.  So what the hell am I supposed to eat?  I'm kind of bitter about this.  Is it all a crock of poo or is there some use for this information?  The idea is that I should cut out all of the foods for which I tested positive for three months and then reintroduce them one by one.

At any rate, this MS stuff is total bullshit and I'm over it.  I'm ready for something different, like being healthy.  Yeah, that would be cool.

At least I'm not allergic to chocolate.  Maybe there is a God.

The agony and the ecstasy

I just got back from the Valley, and I must say that I am less than thrilled about it (being home that is).  I arrived Thursday morning and climbed The Great Escape at Chapel Wall with Dan Urban.  What a great route!  4 pitches of classic 5.11 sport climbing.  I had toproped it a few years ago and kind of sucked.  I kind of sucked Thursday too, but it was nice to see that I sucked a little less than I did a few years ago.  Dan Urban climbed really well, and I am psyched to have found a new partner who is laid back, fun to hang out with, competent, and motivated.  

Friday I woke up a bit tired, and knowing that I was supposed to climb with Drew Saturday and Sunday, I was a little hesitant to try something big.  Dan's enthusiasm, however, won me over and we did the first 5 pitches of Free Blast.  I had done the first pitch of the Salathe Wall a few years ago when I barely even crack climbed.  I remember being pretty proud of flashing it on toprope, so I expected it to feel piss easy.  While I didn't fall, I definitely did not think that it was piss easy.  I partially blame my extremely tight sport climbing shoes.  I still have an internal debate over what kind of shoes to wear on a climb like Free Blast.  Should I wear Mythos, which might be a bit sloppy? Or the Katanas, which are way too tight and worthless for jamming.  I don't know.  At any rate, I bought a new pair of Katanas in a larger size.  There is NO REASON to wear shoes that tight.  It's just stupid.

Free Blast was rad.  I did pretty well, considering that I'm really not very good at climbing in Yosemite.  I ended up french-freeing the 10 foot 11b traverse section without even trying the moves.  Damn I'm such a pussy.  I get so gripped on traverses!  The rest of the FB went well until the end of the first slab pitch, where I just got lost in a sea of friction slab.  Dan, however, sent all 5 pitches on lead, and he was really happy about that.  Now he's ready for Freerider!!

Saturday I chilled at the Ahwahnee Boulders with Karl, Audrey, James and Steve.  Observe me chillin' above.

Anyway, Drew came into the valley and we went over to Chapel Wall and did the most heinous 5.11D in the world, which I got completely schooled on, and a 5.10 crack climb, which also felt hard.  On a more positive note, I worked on Drive By Shooting and figured out all of the moves.  I hope to go back and redpoint soon.  That route is really fun and high quality.  Drew of course, styled everything with his perfect footwork and "iceman" cool.

The evening found me once again in the Mountain Room Bar with James and Platinum and a couple of other random people.  I was also delighted to run into Alex Evans, who I had not seen in ages.  

Today I was worked, but went up to Public Sanitation wall to hang out and belay Drew on a few climbs.  My tips were scorched, my motivation was low, and it started raining.  Now I am home, a little bitter about it and some other things that fall under the "life is bullshit" category.  I'm sure I will rant more about that later, but wanted to devote an entire post to how awesome Yosemite is.  In the next few weeks I hope to do Serenity/Sons, Half Dome, Free Blast and the West Face of El Cap.  We'll see how much I get done on this list.  At any rate, it's a gift to be able to climb only 2 weeks after not even being able to use my hand or walk.