I bought two new books this week: The Boys of Everest and No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs, who is one of my heroes.
I'm not exactly sure as to why, but I am very much drawn to climbing books. I have great respect for climbers, but due in part to my struggles with high altitude, it's not something that is terribly high on my "to do" list. That said, some of my favorite books of all-time, are about climbing. Maybe it's the sense of adventure and/or the great outdoors, maybe it's the story(s) of man's indominatable spirit, which is the leitmotif of most climbing tales, or maybe it's just that they are simply interesting, but give me the heads up about a good climbing book and I am in. I also am an avid reader of business tomes (though I find most to be pedantic and unoriginal) but I have to say that in certain respects, I've learned more about business from climbing-related books.
Anyway, I plan to start first with the Viesturs book and will post a review by end of week.
In other news, I put that Motorola Q through the paces these past few days and boy, do I remain impressed. It's pretty close to mobile phone perfection, though the jury is still slightly out on the GPS features. Man, am I a tech dork or what?
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Random Thoughts and Musings
Just back from a whirlwind, less than 24 hour trip to Chicago (apologies to peeps I did not get to see but this was a literally land last night, return this afternoon type of trip) and so tired I can't think straight, so just a few random musings from the peanut gallerty:
-- how could season two of Sleeper Cell (Showtime) be SO good only to blow in on the last episode, which was beyond ridiculous? That said, the season was still good enough to rent, especially for any of you 24 fans. Something weird though about watching a show about terrorists while on a plane.
-- how could it possibly take 5.5 hours to fly from Chicago to San Fran? That's the same amount of time it takes to fly coast-to-coast. But, that's how much time I was in the air tonight. The pilot said they were up against 150 mile an hour winds. Conversely, yesterday the same trip only took 3.5 hours.
-- how bummed will Yankee Nation be if the Red Sox get Johan Santana? Conversely, how psyched will we be? He is the missing link for us so far as I am concerned. If we add him to the rotation we will give the Sox an excellent run for their money next year. And if it costs Hughes, Kennedy or Melky, so be it. You gotta expect to pay a high price if you want the best pitcher in baseball.
-- how much do I miss the Chicago weather? Uhhhh -- not much. It was in the low 20's and it's not even December yet. No thanks. I'll take by 64 degree California days, thank you very much.
-- A couple of you have purchased that Daft Punk Live on my recommendation and seem wishy washy. My suggestion: keep with it. And be sure to put in on while running or biking. It will definitely help you pick up the pace.
-- Lastly, got a big ultrasound coming up this Monday. Thoughts and good vibes are appreciated.
-- how could season two of Sleeper Cell (Showtime) be SO good only to blow in on the last episode, which was beyond ridiculous? That said, the season was still good enough to rent, especially for any of you 24 fans. Something weird though about watching a show about terrorists while on a plane.
-- how could it possibly take 5.5 hours to fly from Chicago to San Fran? That's the same amount of time it takes to fly coast-to-coast. But, that's how much time I was in the air tonight. The pilot said they were up against 150 mile an hour winds. Conversely, yesterday the same trip only took 3.5 hours.
-- how bummed will Yankee Nation be if the Red Sox get Johan Santana? Conversely, how psyched will we be? He is the missing link for us so far as I am concerned. If we add him to the rotation we will give the Sox an excellent run for their money next year. And if it costs Hughes, Kennedy or Melky, so be it. You gotta expect to pay a high price if you want the best pitcher in baseball.
-- how much do I miss the Chicago weather? Uhhhh -- not much. It was in the low 20's and it's not even December yet. No thanks. I'll take by 64 degree California days, thank you very much.
-- A couple of you have purchased that Daft Punk Live on my recommendation and seem wishy washy. My suggestion: keep with it. And be sure to put in on while running or biking. It will definitely help you pick up the pace.
-- Lastly, got a big ultrasound coming up this Monday. Thoughts and good vibes are appreciated.
A Call to Community Action
Greetings from Chicago. I flew in for a quick in-and-outer so that I could attend a dinner event for one of my main buddies, Steve-O.
Both he and his father (who I regard as my "Chicago father" and is a man I have just tremendous respect for) were honored by a local Jewish organization, Shalva, which provides much needed aid and services to women who are the victimes of domestic violence.
It was really a fantastic evening and I am glad I came in to surprise my friend. I was beyond proud of him (in Yiddish we would say "I was kvelling"): he and his father both were awarded a lifetime award for service to the Jewish community. This is especially staggering in Steve's case given that he is only 41. As part of the introductions they went through a list of his accomplishments and organizations he has either led or been a part of and it was beyond impressive that someone so young could give so much of himself to various important causes.
All that being said, it was also a very good reminder to myself (and hopefully other attendees as well) that giving back to the community should be one of the more important things we do in life. It also made me realize that on a personal level, I am not doing enough. So with that, I am going to look to get more involved with an organization that is closer to my heart: ThyCa. I've long felt that I need to support the cancer community and shame on me for not doing anything about it. But that will change as of now.
So, congrats, Steve-O and Neil-O: you are both terrific people and role models and it was an honor to be part of last night. Thank you for all that you have done for the Jewish community and thank you for inspiring me into action.
Both he and his father (who I regard as my "Chicago father" and is a man I have just tremendous respect for) were honored by a local Jewish organization, Shalva, which provides much needed aid and services to women who are the victimes of domestic violence.
It was really a fantastic evening and I am glad I came in to surprise my friend. I was beyond proud of him (in Yiddish we would say "I was kvelling"): he and his father both were awarded a lifetime award for service to the Jewish community. This is especially staggering in Steve's case given that he is only 41. As part of the introductions they went through a list of his accomplishments and organizations he has either led or been a part of and it was beyond impressive that someone so young could give so much of himself to various important causes.
All that being said, it was also a very good reminder to myself (and hopefully other attendees as well) that giving back to the community should be one of the more important things we do in life. It also made me realize that on a personal level, I am not doing enough. So with that, I am going to look to get more involved with an organization that is closer to my heart: ThyCa. I've long felt that I need to support the cancer community and shame on me for not doing anything about it. But that will change as of now.
So, congrats, Steve-O and Neil-O: you are both terrific people and role models and it was an honor to be part of last night. Thank you for all that you have done for the Jewish community and thank you for inspiring me into action.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
New Toy: Motorola Q
By now most of you know that I have a pretty strong predilection for gadgets, with particular emphasis on phones and mobile devices (see my countless posts earlier this summer regarding my iphone)
Anyway, I recently received a new toy (actually, it really is more of a business device), the new second-generation Motorola Q replete with Mobile Windows 6.
I am going to save my long review for later this week after I have fully field tested this bad boy, but having used it for about 72 hours thus far, my early impression is very favorable. In fact, I am pretty damn stoked on this thing.
A bit of background: I am one of Blackberry's original users. I mean that almost literally. I was Ruder-Finn's beta Blackberry user and up until the last year, I have owned literally every single AT&T and T-Mobile blackberry ever produced. Literally. I was a Blackberry acolyte, to say the least.
Then, one fateful December year ago, about one year ago, my Blackberry blew a gasket and died. I will never forget that day or the fact that I was compelled to go almost 48 hours without a mobile device. I'm just getting over that now.
Given how much I travel, my IT guy, who's also a good friend, encouraged me to abandon Blackberry and try a Windows Mobile (WM) device instead. After a bit of hesitation and much research (I research new tech offerings like a freaking talmudic scholar. As the Wife can attest, when it comes to new devices, I can spend days on the computer) I decided to go with the Cingular 8525, primarily based on the fact that it was one powerful little device that could act like a mini PC while I travelled, thus allowing me to leave my laptop at home.
I must say that upon first use, I was pretty impressed with the 8525: I loved the 3g speed, which is faster than my home PC, and I liked the fact that WM 5 was essentially an extension of my Outlook, enabling me to toggle back and forth seamlessly between PC and Mobile device.
That being said, there were a lot of things I eventually grew to dislike: the battery life on the 8525 is truly atrocious. It NEVER made it through a full day without needing to be recharged, which is a real pain considering I am on the road at least five days a months, if not more. This is a key reason why I bought the iphone; to serve as a backup phone. Also the form factor of the 8525 is terrible (read: it's a damn brick) and while I saw the promise of WM5, it was/is buggy as hell and felt more like a beta software version than ready-for-prime-time. Among its many problems, I had to manually reboot it multiple times a day as it would freeze up on me for no apparent reason -- even when it wasn't in use.
Anyway, after one year of usage, the negatives were starting to outweigh the positives and I was strongly considering moving back to Blackberry.
But then I came upon the Motorola Q.
As I said, I will save my full review for later in the week (I am headed out of town in the am for two days so this will give me a good sense of how this thing performs while on the road), but I have to say that thus far, this is nearly a perfect device: it has so much functionality built in it is incredible (including GPS!), it comes with THREE batteries (and single battery life is far better than the 8525), including an extended version and most importantly, in typical Microsoft fashion they have quickly worked out the warts and WM6 rocks (great interface, very stable relative to WM5, easier to navigate, enhanced functionality, etc).
More on this later but I have to say that if I owned this thing a few months earlier, I would not own an iPhone (though I hasten to add that I would own an ipod Touch instead) and I'd be completely ok with that. In fact, if this thing hold up, there is an excellent chance I will cancel my iPhone service and just use it as an (expensive) video ipod.
Bottom line: while I still like Blackberry a lot, but methinks the good folks in Waterloo have a lot to be worried about with Microsoft coming on this strong.
More later. Next post I'll try to send from the Q, live from the road.
Anyway, I recently received a new toy (actually, it really is more of a business device), the new second-generation Motorola Q replete with Mobile Windows 6.
I am going to save my long review for later this week after I have fully field tested this bad boy, but having used it for about 72 hours thus far, my early impression is very favorable. In fact, I am pretty damn stoked on this thing.
A bit of background: I am one of Blackberry's original users. I mean that almost literally. I was Ruder-Finn's beta Blackberry user and up until the last year, I have owned literally every single AT&T and T-Mobile blackberry ever produced. Literally. I was a Blackberry acolyte, to say the least.
Then, one fateful December year ago, about one year ago, my Blackberry blew a gasket and died. I will never forget that day or the fact that I was compelled to go almost 48 hours without a mobile device. I'm just getting over that now.
Given how much I travel, my IT guy, who's also a good friend, encouraged me to abandon Blackberry and try a Windows Mobile (WM) device instead. After a bit of hesitation and much research (I research new tech offerings like a freaking talmudic scholar. As the Wife can attest, when it comes to new devices, I can spend days on the computer) I decided to go with the Cingular 8525, primarily based on the fact that it was one powerful little device that could act like a mini PC while I travelled, thus allowing me to leave my laptop at home.
I must say that upon first use, I was pretty impressed with the 8525: I loved the 3g speed, which is faster than my home PC, and I liked the fact that WM 5 was essentially an extension of my Outlook, enabling me to toggle back and forth seamlessly between PC and Mobile device.
That being said, there were a lot of things I eventually grew to dislike: the battery life on the 8525 is truly atrocious. It NEVER made it through a full day without needing to be recharged, which is a real pain considering I am on the road at least five days a months, if not more. This is a key reason why I bought the iphone; to serve as a backup phone. Also the form factor of the 8525 is terrible (read: it's a damn brick) and while I saw the promise of WM5, it was/is buggy as hell and felt more like a beta software version than ready-for-prime-time. Among its many problems, I had to manually reboot it multiple times a day as it would freeze up on me for no apparent reason -- even when it wasn't in use.
Anyway, after one year of usage, the negatives were starting to outweigh the positives and I was strongly considering moving back to Blackberry.
But then I came upon the Motorola Q.
As I said, I will save my full review for later in the week (I am headed out of town in the am for two days so this will give me a good sense of how this thing performs while on the road), but I have to say that thus far, this is nearly a perfect device: it has so much functionality built in it is incredible (including GPS!), it comes with THREE batteries (and single battery life is far better than the 8525), including an extended version and most importantly, in typical Microsoft fashion they have quickly worked out the warts and WM6 rocks (great interface, very stable relative to WM5, easier to navigate, enhanced functionality, etc).
More on this later but I have to say that if I owned this thing a few months earlier, I would not own an iPhone (though I hasten to add that I would own an ipod Touch instead) and I'd be completely ok with that. In fact, if this thing hold up, there is an excellent chance I will cancel my iPhone service and just use it as an (expensive) video ipod.
Bottom line: while I still like Blackberry a lot, but methinks the good folks in Waterloo have a lot to be worried about with Microsoft coming on this strong.
More later. Next post I'll try to send from the Q, live from the road.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Point Reyes, Ca
Yesterday the Little Boy and I joined Payro and his family on a tour of Point Reyes National Seashore, which is one of the coolest spots in the Bay Area. It's on the far end of Marin and features amazing trails, Ocean views and more. It is also home fo the epicenter of the San Andreas fault and we went on cool hike literally on the fault line. As part of this, in one area you could see how much the ground shifted (21 feet to be precise) during the big 1906 quake.
The coolest part is that Payro's brother-in-law is an ornithologist with National Geographic and showed us a number of really cool birds. Point Reyes -- and most of Marin for that matter -- is considered an important area by birdwatchers.
It was very cool and made for a really memorable experience; even the Little Boy enjoyed it immensely. Thanks to Payro and the family for having us along.
Friday, November 23, 2007
A Perfect Day
Today was nearly as perfect a day as I could imagine. Woke up early, breakfast, then a quick bike ride with the kids. Then my Main Boy Payro and I headed down to the famed DIpsea Steps, and ran from downtown to Stinson Beach; the hardest seven mile run you could imagine (ok, maybe not quite but it is up there, with approximately 3,000 feet of climbing). Through Muir Wood, up and over the famed Cardiac Hill, down to Steep Ravine into Stinson Beach. It took us approximately one hour and thirty minutes and featured a bit of walking. The Wife and Kids mets us in Stinson and we had lunch at the fabled Parkside Cafe. After that, we went down to the Beach and played for an hour or so. It is utterly surreal to me to have 70 degree, perfect weather in late November.
If I haven't said it before, the Bay Area rules.
I'll post pictures from the Epic Run tomorrow; right now we are off to the Cajun Cookoff. More on this later.
If I haven't said it before, the Bay Area rules.
I'll post pictures from the Epic Run tomorrow; right now we are off to the Cajun Cookoff. More on this later.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Way To Go, Nana
My Number One Mother in Law finished her radiation treatments today for breast cancer and I wanted to give her a public shout out (hope you don't mind, Nana!).
It's been a very tough eight weeks for her; on top of everything else, she got the shingles not once, but twice. But she's a super tough lady who's as stoical as they come. She didn't complain once, didn't let it slow her down (she went to Europe less than one month after her diagnosis) and she continued in her inimitable style to put family first. Congrats Nana and may this forever behind you. We are all very proud of you. And may no one else in this family ever become a member of our little club, eh?
Many of you who read this pages know Nana (aka Ann Silk) and many of you don't, but how about y'all give her a little love and leave an "atta girl" in the comments section. I would appreciate it and I know she would too.
On the topic of cancer, I just a few moments got back from my weekly track workout. It was one of those days when I was really just feeling it and I felt like I was eighteen years old again. As I was coming through my last quarter mile interval, I couldn't help to think how a mere seven months ago I was completely levelled -- I am not at all exaggerating when I tell you that I could barely make it one lap around the block. I am not saying this to brag at all, but there's a lesson here for all of us: if/when the chips are down (and I of course hope this never happens to any of you) don't ever give up hope: with a little hard work and perserverance you will come back BIGGER, STRONGER FASTER, BETTER (that's a nod to Daft Punk -- and Kanye West too I guess -- which I was just listening to on my ipod).
And on that note, for you runners out there or anyone who's into the gym, go to itunes NOW and download Daft Punk Live 2007 and ask questions later. if you don't like it, I will refund the $11.99 (but you will have to submit a 500 word essay on why you don't like it).
It's been a very tough eight weeks for her; on top of everything else, she got the shingles not once, but twice. But she's a super tough lady who's as stoical as they come. She didn't complain once, didn't let it slow her down (she went to Europe less than one month after her diagnosis) and she continued in her inimitable style to put family first. Congrats Nana and may this forever behind you. We are all very proud of you. And may no one else in this family ever become a member of our little club, eh?
Many of you who read this pages know Nana (aka Ann Silk) and many of you don't, but how about y'all give her a little love and leave an "atta girl" in the comments section. I would appreciate it and I know she would too.
On the topic of cancer, I just a few moments got back from my weekly track workout. It was one of those days when I was really just feeling it and I felt like I was eighteen years old again. As I was coming through my last quarter mile interval, I couldn't help to think how a mere seven months ago I was completely levelled -- I am not at all exaggerating when I tell you that I could barely make it one lap around the block. I am not saying this to brag at all, but there's a lesson here for all of us: if/when the chips are down (and I of course hope this never happens to any of you) don't ever give up hope: with a little hard work and perserverance you will come back BIGGER, STRONGER FASTER, BETTER (that's a nod to Daft Punk -- and Kanye West too I guess -- which I was just listening to on my ipod).
And on that note, for you runners out there or anyone who's into the gym, go to itunes NOW and download Daft Punk Live 2007 and ask questions later. if you don't like it, I will refund the $11.99 (but you will have to submit a 500 word essay on why you don't like it).
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