Self-Awareness VII

I overestimate my abilities all the time.  Must learn not to do that!

Going to Arizona

My friend Randi planned a weekend backpacking trip to Havasupai next month.  There's no way in hell I'd turn down her invitation so I bought a ticket to go.  I feel super excited, and now trying to rekindle landscape and macro photography to best capture the Grand Canyon's full majesty.  Here are some shots from this morning:

Sifting Through Things

Franz Kafka wrote to a friend

"The books we need are the kind that act upon us like a misfortune, that make us suffer like the death of someone we love more than ourselves, that make us feel as though we were on the verge of suicide, or lost in a forest remote from all human habitation — a book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us."

April 15-19, 2013

This has been a tremendously brutal week.  Aside from the senseless violence that struck Boston on Monday, this great nation has rejected the gun control bill that would enhance background checks to ensure psycho-lunatics become truly incapable of obtaining assault weapons legally.  To most, that's a logically valid conclusion to make in order to reduce, possibly prevent, the type of incidents that occurred in Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, etc.  Adding insult to injury, further violence struck Boston yesterday amid the MIT compound, keystone pipeline continued to deface the immaculate skin of America, and a fertilizer plant blew up injuring hundreds, killing dozens in Texas.  Breathe. One thing that keeps me above the surface of this seemingly chthonic abyss of endless dread is that all dramatic human phenomenon will always slip farther away into the sunset.  Always remember that the entire world is not awful:

Back On the Trail

Did a longish run over the weekend.  My legs feel a great deal better than last season.

Self-Awareness VI

When met by a crescendo, my tempo tends to get lost.  Just like life.

Misshapen Memories

I find myself constantly telling stories derived from all the memories collected over time.  The farther into the future I get, the less those memories seem to bear their truths.  Fiction is interesting, and I've adapted to tell my story that way.  I think we all do.

Self-Awareness V

Yesterday was Sergei Rachmaninoff's birth anniversary.  I've always loved listening to his compositions but I've also felt malaise at the attempt to play them myself.  I'm at peace with my ignorance because listening to others accomplish something I could never have the vision to achieve is reasonable.  We can't all be masters of everything.

Whidbey Island

Spent this past Saturday on Whidbey Island.  Took the ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton.  Ate lunch at the Braeburn in Langley and adventure ensued right after.  Here's the story in pictures.