Finally, Everything is packed, studying *mostly* done and I'm ready to get on this boat. Tomorrow I'll board Adventuress for training. I'm expecting the summer to be busy but amazing. I've spent the last few days in Port Angeles with my mother and step-father getting ready, visiting friends and trying to relax in between. It's been great but short, and now I'm going to be pretty much out of touch for 2 months. I get a night off between sails (1-8 days) and some kind of break mid-summer. I have no idea how much time I'll get to make phone calls or internet stops. So if you don't hear from me in 2 months, please don't take offense. I'll be writing a huge journal about this experience when it's over and I'll post pics. Ahoy Maties! See you on the other side of summer!

I am lucky. I am very lucky to have the group of friends I do. Once again, our Los Alamos, Santa Fe posse has created a great experience. 14 of us hiked the Virgin River Narrows in Zion National Park. Yeah, it's a big group, but we work well together, are comfortable with each other and know how to have a lot of fun. We did have some minor complications in finally getting everybody together and starting the hike, but we were still marvelously successful in enjoying ourselves and completing a great trip.

Kush's friend Krishnan flew in from NY on thursday night - delayed, naturally. Scott, James and Erin drove straight to Zion (10 hours) to get into the line early friday morning so they could get permits. The rest of the group was on a permit that Kush smartly snagged when the online application was available in February. Coriander and Zach had to work Friday so they met us Saturday morning at the Zion Adventure Company. Where we rented 5.10 Canyoneers - specially designed canyoneering shoes with C4 rubber, buckles, and ankle-support and neoprene socks. Cori and Zach drove from Flagstaff to Zion with remarkable precision - arriving at ZAC exactly when we did! We were helped by the professional and beautiful Sandra who did a great job of getting us all fitted and happy with our equipment. However, with 14 people it still took longer than expected. Along with getting gas, slogging through the Memorial Day crouwds, finding parking spots and eating lunch, we left about 2 hours later than intended. And if that wasn't enough, we were stalled by an accident on the dirt road heading out to Chamberlain Ranch! An ambulance and crew were dealing with an ATV roll-over. The delay was a lot shorter than in could have been so I won't complain too much. After diverting ourselves with a frisbee and playing with cute kid named Jaden from another waiting party, we finally finished the drive and began hiking around 3:30 - WAY LATE.

With my experience from hiking West Clear Creek and given the large group size I was convinced we'd be arriving in camp no later than 10pm, meaning we'd be river-hiking with headlamps for at least 1.5 hours. It turns out that we were much faster. our point-team got to camp right at dark, and the rear team (of which I was a member) arrived only 1/2 hour later giving us only 1/2 hour of headlamp hiking. Hiking in a river with a headlamp is really not that bad. A headlamp penetrates the water nicely, allowing one to see the bottom and pick through it well. Camp was great. We were in "The Grotto" a nice hollow in the wall that all our tents fit inside. We al slept like babes. Even Scott who slept outside with the threat of strange insects entering his various bodily orifices. He seemed to make it through the night un-violated.

More amazing massive stone walls, the verdant paradisal Big Spring, wine guzzling at lunch and a wine-powered finish made for a marvelous second day in the canyon. The car-shuttle pickup went smoothly, shaving 1/2 hour off the expected time. The rest of the crew did marvelously with returning our gear to the outfitters and snagging us a campsite. The only drawback to our Zion campsites is that we had to be, shhhhh, quiet, due to the other campers around us. Our group is accustomed to singing and laughing loudly with abandon. Sunday night we had a little talking to from one of our neighbors about how his kids needed sleep because they were getting up early. I think scott got it right that the kids were probably sleeping like babes, and it was he and his wife that couldn't sleep and really needed it. Just be honest - don't bring the kids into this...

Our ride back went well with more great walkie-talkie enabled caravan car games. Our 5 car caravan stuck together well for the most part with a great Smokie and the Bandit feel. It's a long 10 hour drive but our camaraderie took the draw out. The Santa Fe crew and the Los Alamos crew parted ways in Cuba. John, Helena and I took 126 into the Jemez - a dirt "shortcut" road that I've heard about but never driven. In the shallow light of the evening it was a marvelous drive. The mountain terrain on this drive is uncharacteristically lush. The forest floor was carpeted everywhere in soft green grass and spring flowers. Around nearly every turn velvety meadows opened before us, caressed by meandering streams and punctuated by charming cabins. The fantasy of tilling my vegetable garden in the yard of one of those cabins, and watching my munchkins play in the river went through my mind many times. Some day...

This was yet another of Kush's genius ideas well executed. With it's neck-breakingly tall 1500'+ sheer redrock walls, spries, monoliths, springs, and of course, narrows, the Virgin River canyon is an experience like no other. As a movie producer might say, it's Buckskin Gulch meets West Clear Creek meets Yosemite. Damn.

While the stunning qualities of nature held my captive much of the time, I have to hand it to my great friends for making this trip a complete package with their rollicking good cheer and warm, supportive friendship.

Earth Day! My face is painted in honor of the season and where I am. A mesa and blooming tree on my cheeks and a zia on my forehead! It's been a long time since I've had my face painted - fun! I got it done at Ecoversity today. This small earth-friendly school held a great Earth Day celebration with great music, dancing, food and information booths. It's been a great day since I finally got to African Dance class. I'm sold - African dance and drumming are two of the coolest things I've come across. Few activities bring smiles, laughter and dancing like African dance and Drumming. I'm also going to have dinner with great friends tonight - what a day!

At this moment Seish is on his way to Ecuador where he will help a clinic in the Amazon. He's bringing 100 pounds of clothing to donate - what a guy!

Since the last entry, I've sold my car and took a trip to New Mexico to do some work and experience a social life again. The work is okay. It feels good to be productive, making money and working with the team again. They really are great people to work for.

It's incredibly nice to be welcomed back into peoples lives down here. From simple lunches and dinners to salsa dancing, parties, climbing, hiking and the like. I've been meeting new people who are also wonderful. It might have done me some good to starve myself of a social life for a while. I feel even friendlier and more open to new people - it's great!

Jennifer came to visit for a week too! It was nuts. I planned a simple road-trip to the Gila, which I had never been to. The weather however, was not looking good, so upon kush's suggestion I looked at the weather in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico: 80 and sunny, all week. So, two days later, Jen and I were checked into the Viña Del Mar in Puerto Peñasco! My first time to Mexico! I don't really suggest this town a s "nice" mexican town. It's a bit run-down and dirty with a good 3 miles of huge hotels and condo complexes on the beach. The beach however, is very nice, and the water a pleasant temp. See my photo album on this for more details.

I plan to go back to WA first week of May, visit Mom and Dad a bit, then road trip it through Eugene to see AO then to Cali to see Jen then to Zion for the Memorial day trip with Kush, Seish, and company. It's a busy month coming up but I'm stoked!

Now, I'm one step closer to having my veggie-oil car! I bought a sweet, 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel that is in remarkable condition. It's got a rebuilt engine, great interior, no rust, AND get's 40-45 mpg! Amazing how a 1981 technology is performing better than 90% of the cars on the road today. Ge, have we gone forward much at all? THAT is a whole other conversation, but back to the rabbit. Next plans are to retrofit the fuel system so that it can run biodiesel, then buy a veggie oil conversion from www.greasecar.com so I can run from recycled vegetable oil - free and very low net carbon emissions!

I just have to sell my subaru first! Anybody interested in a 1998 green subaru forester in great condition?

Wow, back from Mammoth Lakes. What a whirlwind adventure that was! Unfortunately the whole craigslist ride-share thing bombed. The young woman who was to give me a ride talked to her uncle who freaked her out about driving mountain passes in the winter and she became uncomfortable with the detour to 395. Bummer. But, my step-father decided to lend be his car for the journey - a hot, red, subaru impreza WRX - FUN! I zipped down as fast as I could and arrived on Jen's birthday. She imediately tried to kill be by taking me to the bar after an 11 hour day of driving. It was a lot of fun though! She's a nanny for a family with a house in Mammoth whom I made friends with quickly. THey very graciously and generously put me up for 7 nights and fed me over half of my meals. THANK YOU!

Even though Mammoth experienced 2 weeks of sunshine before I arrived, the snow was still in good condition. The groomers were a blast and the mountain is vast with lots of different terrain. Everybody - including employees are all in great moode, just lake other pure ski-towns i've been to.

I've discovered that Mammoth isn't just about skiing. It is in a fantastic setting for all sorts of other recreation. I skated on frozen Convict Lake, Soaked in one of MANY hot springs, and drooled at the other summer-time possibilites for fun. Rock climbing and great hiking. I will very likely return for more play.

The best birthday present of all was a new experience from mother nature. I turned 30 at midnight on frozen convict lake. Smooth black ice 6 to 8 inches thick covered the lake and shone like a black diamond in the moonlight. Just after we openned the car doors, the placid scene was broken with a frightening growl that seemed come from every direction. Jen and I rushed to the lake to figure it out. Quickly, within a minute, the sound game again. It was a bone-chilling mix of hysterical groans and searing cracks that echoed from the steep, soaring wall of the surrounding valley. It was very cold out, and the lake was actively freezing and as it did, the existing ice had to crack to make room. Frightened and curious, we clutched each others arms and cautiosly walked out onto the lake. Cracking at a pace of about once per minute, some seemed far away, and some seemed to happen right under our feet with a small but quick jolt that chilled to the bone. At these moments I felt as though I grew a phantom-tail that quickly tucked between my legs as we shuffled towards the shore. In reason I knew we were safe, but my million-year old instincts were screaming at me to get the hell of of the lake! It is a sound unlike any I've ever heard and I felt very lucky to experience this on my birthday. Nature just keeps fascinating with new displays from her infinite supply of tricks.

In the new year, after my visit to NM, I've been consistently working on the EMS database for LANL with the newly found motivation for that project. It dawned on me that this is a pretty important thing not just for LANL, but for the environment, and it's the latter reasoning that has encouraged me to increase my efforts and really decide to make as good of a product as I can. That feels good.

For life in Port Angeles, I've recently made some good

connections in the community. I spent 5 and a half hours protesting the escalation in Iraq on a busy street corner for MoveOn's emergency rally. That was the first protesting I've ever done, and it was really fun. A few hours into it, a really amazing person, who I found I have a lot in common with approached me and we talked for nearly an hour. It occured to me in this moment that if one very good way of attracting people you will like is to very loudly express what you stand for so that many people see it. In that moment it was a profoud thought and may help me to be bolder in the future. There were other like-minded people who approached me as well, so I think my theory not only makes sense, but tests well.

I also made a great acquaintance whith a man named, Grey who is an artist and was working at a building supply re-use store. He holds a once-a-month party at his warehouse-studio. It's was a fantastically eclectic collection of people from young to old including many artists and musicians - some of them performing music and dance! I met many great people and felt that I was finally connected to a great nexus of the Port Angeles social fabric. Thanks Grey!

Soon, next Tuesday, I will be leaving for Mammoth Lakes, CA to spend my birthday with my friend Jennifer. Her birthday is the day before mine so we'll celebrate together - on snow! I'm very excited, we've not seen each other in over a year, and it's going to rock - "it's on like Donkey-Kong!" I was originally thinking of flying, but seeing how tough (therefore expensive) it is to get to Mammoth Lakes, I started searching for other options. On www.craigslist.org, I found a ride-share with a woman going to Riverside from Seattle, and she's willing to make the detour to Mammoth lakes. I'm dumbfounded that I found this. It's perfect. Now I just have to find a ride back. Let another adventure begin!...

Christmass, a holiday for which I have many mixed feelings has come and gone. Although, admitedly, I do not have any beliefs supporting the reasons for which the holiday originally exists, I do take advantage of this wide-spread institution of our culture to visit family and friends. As happened last winter Mom, Dwight and I went to the always warm and welcoming Schubert family home in Leavenworth (Sloan Schubert is one of Dwight's daughters and Nick is her Husband). They have two adorable young ones, Treat and Price of 6 and 2 years respectively. I swear that since I last saw Price during Thanksgiving, his speech has become twice as articulate, complicated and adorable! Seeing these guys is always a treat (NPI).

I will also admit to not being completely gung-ho about this trip to begin with. I had just come back from a fantastic visit to New Mexico but it was still travel, and along with it all the exaperating, time-depended, worry-making shenanigans that are modern travel. I feel that airport travel might even cause the most serene Buddha to get a wrinkle in his placid smile. I was not keen on hopping right back into the car for another stint away from "home". But, after a few hours I was in the travel groove. Some crochet (I'm learning) and good conversation cruised the car ride along so that I was completely ready for the inspiring scene of the world air-brushed in multiple feet of shimmering snow under a cobalt sky. This is the winter I love. Ahhhhhhh!

Another wonderful treat was to meet Gaye, Steve, Ukie, and Dana. Gaye is Dwight's Niece, steve the Husband, Ukie and Dana their 12 and 14? year old kids. They actually live near to me right now, in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We both arrived the same day, which meant that their Ford Escort had met it's match with the new snow and was not up to the challenge of driving up Dempsy road. This privately maintained road is steep and does not get sanded. It get graciously plowed by the ever-extolled, "Mainerd", resident of the road whom I've never met, but who's labor I certainly appreciate. I took the Schubert's Isuzu Trooper down into town to retrieve Gaye and family. My first introduction to them was with, "Hi, I'm Jesse, your driver". For whatever reason I liked them immediately, and I now found myself very happy that I was in Leaveworth with family and lots of snow.

The next few days were very good as we had great fun enjoying the snow with skiing, snow-shoeing and sledding. Skiing on x-mas eve at the Leavewnorth Ski-hill was a momentus occasion. Treat and Ukie were skiing for their first times ever; Nick and Sloan were skiing for their first time in 10 years; and Gaye was skiin for her first time in 30 years! Wow. I got to teach Ukie how to ski, which was a pleasure because she's a quick learn and very tenacious. Treat's x-county skiing experience seemed to help him out hugely. First time on alpine skiis and he could herring-bone with the best of them. In fact, in a moment of frustration with the rope-tow, he 'boned it all the way up the bunny hill!

Sloan and Nick worked their butts off prepping food and accomodating everyone. They are amazing hosts and I thank them hugely. There were 7 extra people in their house and it didn't seem to phase them a bit.

After 4 days in Leavenworth, I was getting a bit restless, and felt ready to come home on Wednesday. I wanted to get back to work, piano and yoga - the things I'm focusing on in PA. It feels good to be back now, and I also feel that this holiday went very well, was full of fun, love and surprises. Thanks everybody!

The fine city of Eugene is really starting to grow on me. I've been here for a solid week now, living with AO and spending time with her when I can. I've been experiencing a lot great things here as always: Yoga, tango, salsa, disc-golf, funky music, great people, and once again to the confounding of all-year residents, GREAT WEATHER! This town is full of friendly, beautiful, youthful people and it's wonderful. Unfortunately I'll be leaving in two days, but I'll certainly be back. I'll get in as many visits as I can until Arielle leaves next year for a different school (if everything goes right - good luck AO!)

The past couple months have been great as well. The road-trip up from NM with Seish was fan-freakin-tastic! It was one of the best road-trips I've ever taken. Most importantly I had the splendid company of Seish-Bomb! Secondly it was unhurried and relaxed. We did 3000 miles in eleven days, and a few of those we didn't drive at all. We saw a lot of amazing stuff in 6 national parks, and we met a friend of Seish's in SF and my sister in Crater Lake! We created a lot of great memories and a stronger bond in an already great friendship. The trip web pages will be up soon, so check out the Trips link on my homepage.

After the road trip, I've spent some great time with my mother and father. Sailing, hiking and biking with my dad has been super, I'm very happy that my father is into so much cool stuff and is in great physical shape so I can join him in activities I like. Way to go dude! As always, it's been a pleasure to be cooking with my mother and enjoying all the music that is always surrounding her. She is in a HUGE 100+ member Sweet Adelines chorus in Seattle that is extremely impressive. I visited a couple rehearsals and it was jaw-dropping. I've never heard 100+ people sing in such a coherent way. I could understand the words of their songs perfectly! The concert is going to be great!

My next destination will be my grandparents place in Post Falls Idaho. It's been quite a while since I've been there and It will be nice to see them. I'll also try to visit my aunt Nancy (Dad's sister) who I've not seen in a few years! She's got a new house and a new job and been through a divorce! There's a lot to catch up on!

As for after that... who knows, lots of ideas are floating through my head and it's anybody's guess what will happen next. Wish me luck! Love to all...

Ahhh, the joys of modern technology... Here I am, in the Albuquerque Sunport - my new shiny macBook openned on my lap listening to some sweet tunes and, sucking from their wireless connection to the wide wild internet.

What am I doing in the Airport? Well I'm about to fly to the emerald Pacific Northwest! I'm flying up today, and back on the 17th. The reason for this 9 day trip is to capture the precious August summer days in the PNW. After I get back to NM on the 17th, I'll be leaving again on the 19th with my good buddy Seish for a grand road-trip back up to WA. Yeah, it sounds crazy, but I guess that's me...

I gladly held another going away party at Amy's house on the 5th. I don't even know how many going away parties I've had so far, and I honestly don't care - the more the better! It means my life is always moving and I have more frequent excuses to party! So I send out a huge thanks to my friends for attending another party. I wonder if somebody has been at all of them? They certainly deserve a prize! And of course another huge thanks to Amy for hosting my party. It was great to be dancing on her wonderful living room wood floor!

So you also ask what I'm doing up there? What's the reason? Plainly, I'm escaping the lab, I'm visiting family, and taking vacation. I also plan to do a lot of thinking about my life... who knows if I'll come to any conclusions, but it's worth another shot. What's also a little confusing about this trip is that I'm not "moving", but I don't have a return date to NM. It's because I'm purposely floating to see where I might land.

I hope to get some good pics of my adventures up on the photo pages. Thanks for reading - love ya - and I'll see you around the next bend...

Recently, I've decided that I'd like to have plenty of time to finish my current project at The Lab. As a result I'll be spending the entire month of July in NM, specifically in Los Alamos. I'm sick of the commute, and looking forward to be able to bicycle to work, mostly not driving everyday! I'll be staying with Donna, who I've known for many years - Thank you!

After july, I'll be heading to the Northwest for an indefinite period of time. I'm considering buying a one-way to Seattle, and just seeing where the wind blows me. I'll have to return here at some point becuase I still have my storage bin here, but I'm perfectly happy to keep paying $40 a month for freedom from my things. I'm trying to extend the quote from Fight Club: "The things you own, end up owning you." Perhaps, "The things that own you will give you time off for a small fee..." With my time off, I'll spend some quality time with my parents enjoying the great Northwest summer. Sailing and backpacking are on the list.

In other news, I recently saw the Taos Solar Music Festival, which was AMAZING! I only went for Saturday, but it was a real treat to be with a lot of fun people, listing to fantastic music. The main artists I wanted to see were The Duhks, an fresh bluegrass/folk band with latin beats; Yerba Buena, a high-energy, let's party latin/rock fusion band; and Michael Franti with Spearhead, a bold, socially aware, spiritually enlightened raggae/rock/hip-hop group with great positive energy. It was a real treat to hear Michael Franti live, as I have two of his albums and love his music. Every song has a relevant, important message that can apply to most anybody in our world today.

Ahhh, the opportunities of Memorial Day weekend... Normally, vacationing on this weekend, one is reminded that there are a whole damn lot of people in the world. However, the location chosen for this weekend delievered a comfort of knowing that there are still places that, even on Memorial Day weekend one can find peace and solitude.

This time, a rather large group of us (possibly ruining other peoples ideas of solitude ;) decided to spend 4 days and 3 nights in the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. Kush, Steph, Seish, Simon, Johanna, Erin M., Erin C-W, Jake, Johnathan, James, Nesha, Amy, Armanda, Eric, and Ian were on the roster. On Thursday night, we cruised 6 hours to arrive in Goosenecks State Park at about 1am.

Slept between 2 and 5 hours and embarked on a nice morning hike to get a better look at the serpentine river below. This included some difficult and at times limb-endangering climbing. But despite our efforts, we all still check out with two arms and two legs. After a little water and time for our heartbeats to normalize we jumped in the cars and took of for the Canyonlands. After a couple side-hikes on the way we made it to the visitors center with time to spare for check-in. We hiked the easy 1.5 miles into our campsite complete with at least 2 gallons of water per person, 2 guitars and 4 song-books - thanks to you simon, the music did not die! While some of us didn't camp IN the needles, all were there in spirit and made friendly visits to our campsite.

On Saturday, we all set our sights on Druid Arch at the end of the southernmost reaching trail in our area of the Needles. The round trip was 11 miles over some slickrock with magnificent views and through sandy canyon-bottoms. The weather was hot and sunny for most of the hike. We luckily found some waterholes on the last section of trail and we pumped some pretty tasty water from a small, shadow-hidden pool in a side-canyon. This was very welcome as we were all running low on water. 2 liters per person isn't quite enough for 11 miles in the sun. Druid arch was a fantastic site and pretty unique for the arches around. It was actually a double arch, the inner countours of which were more square as opposed to the typical round. The smaller whole was actually a long, thin angled slit probably 100 feel long. The large whole was probably the "druid" with a diamond shaped head.

Sunday the group split up for two different hikes. The larger group went into big-spring canyon, to the west, and back to the cars to drop off trash, and pick up more water. Huge thanks to those guys for the extra hefting - as I and Seish took a 10 mile hike over to Peekabo Springs, and Seish's hopes for running water were again dashed! Despite this little upset we had a fantastic time. It was a great hike with many miles of great slick-rock hiking and magnificent views. The "peekabo" part was explained as the trail ended up going through a small whole between two layers of sandstone - fun! We decided to go back through lost canyon, to the campsite we never actually used - whoops! But after over a mile of walking sand, and decided that the rest of the canyon was probably the same, we set of on a shortcut accross the slickrock ridge to our campsite in Squaw Canyon which worked beautifully. We even found was seemed to be a "non-marked" trail the lead us up the ridge, and Seish's early morning hiking experience led us directly to the cliff just opposite our campsite. It was amazing to realize that as soon as you get on top of the 50-80 foot cliffs near our campsite, you find yourself on the top of a seemlingly endless sea of grey/brown sandstone topped with red walls and spires. Expansive and inspirational it is a completely different world from the lush, cosy and slighty cramped world of the canyon bottoms.

Each morning I had the inclination to get up before the sun to experience the sunrise atop the open slickrock, but couldn't manage to extract myself from my warm cocoon until monday morning. I woke at 5:30, and whispered to Seish that I was leaving for the sunset. He was awesome and wrestled himself from bed to join me. It was a perfectly clear morning. The fresh magic of the morning was amplified by the stunning image that this bizzare landscape painted with the intense light of the desert sun. I took nearly 30 photos that morning - perhaps I'll get a few keepers.

Breakfast was an unusual smorgesborg of toasted bagels with melted cheddar cheese, dal makhani, salmon, cream cheese, peanut butter, jelly, tortillas and oatmeal. My favorite was the cheddar salmon quesadilla followed closely by the toasted bagel topped with melted cheddar cheese and dal makhani. Although I'll also admit that toasted bagel with peanut butter and salmon isn't bad.

The hike out went fast, but I was naturally pulling up the rear after stopping to take several macro-shots of the desert flora. I love my 28 mm macro lense!

We stopped at a little jewel of a cafe in Montecillo called the Peace Tree Juice Cafe which server great coffee, sandwiches and wraps. It had that great modern-southwest-outdoorsy-hippie atmosphere that I love so much. From there we cruised to Pagosa Springs where we all enjoyed a thereputic soak in the hot springs and a great mexican meal. Several of us went for the crazy soak in the 111 degree lobster-pot followed by a quick swim in the freezing cold river to the next pool. WOW that's refreshing!

Again, thanks all for a wonderful trip - you all rock!

Finally, it has taken me getting sick to give me some free time to make another journal entry. It's Saturday, 3 days before I leave for Brusseles. Although it's very annoying that I'm sick, I'm very glad I'm doing this now, as opposed to the day I'm supposed to leave!

Brussells?!?!? you say? And you have guessed right if you figured there must be a woman behind this. Her name is Dania, and she is an Italian woman that I met at Marla's wedding. The basic attractive forces brought us together that weekend, and we have been growing ever closer through email, phone, and snail mail. So, we decided to see each other again, and this 3 week trip is it. It sounds crazy and at times I'd call myself insane but I know I'm going to learn a lot and I'm very hopefull for both of us having a great time.

This trip happens only a month after my I've returned from 3 weeks x-mas vacation in Washington state, which went nicely. I'm very excited that both my parents now live in Washington state. It makes visiting family a lot more convenient and less expensive! Thanks Mom and Dwight!

I have gotten a chance to settle into the new place in Santa Fe, but there are still some things yet to be organized.

I moved in at the 14th of Jan, and had a fabulous moving in/birthday party on the 27th. This was one of the best parties I've ever had! The DJ I set up, Erin English, is a very cool Santa Fe girl getting started with DJ-ing. She did great, and provided a great reason for us all to be dancing until 2am. At 2am, the dancing prompty ended due to the police insisting that the party shut down. Evidently, the neighbors were unhappy with the parties intrusion on their sleep. Sorry, but we were having a GREAT time. HUGE thanks to everybody coming and making it a great party.

As far as work is going, I'm on schedule to complete the Waste database project by the end of March. After that, I might end up working part-time on another web-database for the lab. Who knows what else... The next three weeks may have an impact. ;)

Okay, so it's been a while since my last entry - A LONG while. The good news is that I've been busy, not lazy. Well, maybe a little. ;)

I finally got the slideshow option for my albums made - wohoo! And you'll see that there are quite a few new photos and albums up - enjoy!

The latest news in my life, for a quick recap is:

Amazing party at Kush's place last weekend. I helped him prepare by transporting a ton of cinderblocks from Home Depot to his apartment. The cinderblocks were used to support a set of shelving in his apartment to accomodate all the food that would be cooked, and brought. It's a damn good thing we made them too because every square inch of them was used - YUM. Kush, once again, outdid himself by cooking 5 new dishes - more great Indian food, most of them inspired by his mom - thanks mom! The party was amazing! Practically everybody in the area that Kush knows was there. We had a grand time eating, talking, dancing, playing strange games with plastic cups, and solving people puzzles (a lot like the crazy stuff you learn as a camp counselor). We all had a great time being childlike - doing whatever seems fun now matter how silly.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, I went on a trip to Havasu Falls with Roberta, Helena, and Nim - 3 great people I've recently met. This place is, AMAZING! Crystal clear blue-green water, travertine dams, 100ft+ waterfalls, red rock walls and great weather! It is HIGHLY recommended. This place is REMOTE. It's 75 miles from the nearest road-accessed town of Selligman (charming Route 66 historic town) and 10 of those miles are on foot. Supai the Havasupai village of 450 is 8 miles from the last road, and 2 miles from the Falls and Campground. The only ways to get to Supai are Foot, Mule and Helicopter. It is also the only town in the US where US Mail is carried by Mule-Train! For more info, check out the Havasupai tribe website. I think we really did celebrate the thanksgiving spirit on this trip. We met some other really cool hikers at the campground and invited them to cook dinner with us at our campsite. The 8 of us shared food, stories, and Cognac! It was really great to meet these fascniating people and share our a small slice of our lives together. Thanks to Melanie, John, Jack, and Jamé.

Two week before that trip, I went on another fantastic trip to Whitesands and Carlsbad with Kush, Seish, Erin, Roberta, and Helena. This was another amazing trip - not as much for the places we saw, but the people that came. We all didn't really know each other too much, but it turns out that we all had a very similar way of enjoying ourselves. Spontenaity and simple pleasures were the themes of this trip. We laid on the sands and watched the stars, swam in ice-cold Elephant Butte with tumbleweeds attacking, hiked in the moonlight, bathed in more icy-cold water at Sitting Bull Falls, followed a policeman to a great sunset lookout, stuffed 6 of us in one car to eat peach-pie from the plate, and danced salsa at the Clines Corners gas station at midnight. We all came away from the weekend feeling that we had shared something rare. At the end we couldn't stop thanking each other for such a great experience. Thanks again!

Wohooooooo!!!! I finished the drive from CT to NM today! 16 hours of driving got me from Onondaga SP in Missouri, to White Rock, NM! WOW. I haven't pulled a day like that it quite a while! Many thanks to those who shortened the drive by talking to me on the phone - it helped a lot. Don't worry, I've got an earpiece that makes talking and driving quite easy and much safer than holding the phone to my ear. The drive was not as grueling as I had feared - at least, at first. I got to see my friends from Omni Camp, Thad and Andrew in Cincinatti. It was really great to hang out guys - thanks! It was also quite a pleasure to stay at Chez Driscoll (Thad's place). He made me feel quite at home.

I also happenned to be swinging right by Evansville, Indiana, where my friend Jennifer lives, so I saw her briefly for lunch. It was an pleasant little side-trip. Thanks Jen.

Visiting friends made my trip much more bearable. But, as soon as there were no more friends to see, I just wanted to get home. When I realized I might be able to make it from MO, to NM in one shot, I went for it - motivated by the possibility of sleeping in my own bed with the peace of mind from a journey complete. It's going to be very nice indeed! Good night... :)))

ZZZZZzzzzzz....

Ahhh, back in Middletown CT - it's been my home away from home for the last couple months. It's such a joy to show up here and be welcomed so warmly by Heather and Nina, and the other residents of the house. I'll spend the rest of today here, then probably head out on my massive journey in my car back to NM tomorrow.

My little two week vacation started with meeting Markus in NYC for a few days. We had a great time exploring the city. From the Empire State Building, to Apollo the "Street Esquire", RENT, Street Performers, Ferries, Ground Zero, friendly hostel guests, bad locals' directions, Zap Mama, hidden night Clubs, Ellis Island, Lady Libety, and so much more, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! I certainly have the whole in my wallet to show for it. In 3 days, without even going shopping, I spent about $500! Yikes! I'm going to have to wait a while before i visit NYC again. But I'm certain I will. I really like the city. It feels very alive, and despite the rush that people seem to be in, most are very friendly, and eager to lend a hand.

Marla and Guido's wedding was fantastic! It was so great to see the old friends from Los Alamos, and to see friends of Marla and Guido who, naturally, are fantastic people. Meeting Guido and Marla's parents was fun also. The Maltin's threw quite the wedding party - many thanks to them and their generosity. Much partying and dancing was done in the Bridal suite after the ceremony. If you want have a fun wedding don't dissappear right after the ceremony. Stay and party a while with the friends and family that love you and have travelled far to see you. It's a recipe for a fantastic time!

As for the next few months go, my plans are to work in Los Alamos until I finish the software project I'm working on. I hope to finish before Christmass. I plan on spending the holiday season with my family up in the PNW. After that, your guess is as good as mine...

I can hardly believe that time is flying by so soon! It's almost time for Guido and Marla's wedding! I'll leave on the 4th of October to meet Markus in NYC before the wedding. It's going to be fan-freakin-tastic!

After a few weeks of battling with beurocracy and feeling rather depressed about being back at the lab, I've finally gotten myself to a point where I can start cranking this project out, and it feels good. I'm starting to put in some serious time, and getting things done.

The last 3 weeks I've been doing yoga classes at the LA fitness center, and it's been great! My lower back problem as of 2 years, is dissappearing already. It may be a fake-out, but I'm feeling really good about it.

Last weekend I helped Kyle and Julie move into their new house on 40th St in Los Alamos. I just met up with them for the first time in 5 years last week. It's so great to see them. They are wonderful people, and I hope to do a lot more with them while I'm here.

It's been a while since the last update, but I'm now in Los Alamos again. I've been out here since Sept 4. I'm working on another project at the LANL that will probably last another 2-3 months. I'm hoping to be done with the project before Christmass so that I can spend at least a month in the northwest catching up with family. I'm really excited to see Mom and Dwight's new place in Port Angeles.

It's been great to be back in the sunny southwest. After coming back from the east, I'm somehow better able to clarify one aspect of my attraction to the southwest. In contrast to the East, it has to do with the lack of trees. I know that sounds, uh, unfriendly? But becuase the trees are so few and far between you get to see the EARTH - which is demostrated, by the southwest, to be really beautiful. it's tan, pink, red, orange, purple, black, flat, rocky, cliffed, hodood, and a bazillion other colors and shapes in between. It's not that there aren't any trees, or that it would be better without them. It's that there's enough space between the trees for the earth to show it's many colors and provide create wonderful contrast between the earth and the trees. I'm also finding a great deal of comofort in the absence of opressive, disgusting, sweltering humidity. ;)

In Middletown CT now, visiting Nina and Heather. What fun to see them again! They are being awesome by letting me crash and chill out at their pad. My time in NYC was fantastic! I was honestly a little intimidated by the idea of the big bad city, but it all turned out really wonderfully. Driving in NYC wasn't bad at all, and parking it for a day was easy, and pretty safe. Despite the bike, kayak and rocket-box on top, it was untouched. I was really excited to have walked in central park, been in the Guggenheim, little italy, and chinatown. It was awesome to see Kush again - you rule! You also rule for having really fun, cute friends in NYC! Thank VERY much Shruti (probably butchered that name) for letting me crash in your micro, but comfey little apartment! One of the more fun activities of the night was carrying an abandon chest of drawers for two blocks to Shruti's apartment at 3 am while fairly intoxicated!

Visiting the McConnells has been great. I feel like I've finally gotten to know Ruby, and Alden is really great. He's wonderfully curious, full of energy, and generally quite well behaved. He's really good with bulding things out of tape too - which made me decide to build an airplane for him - he loved it. I hope it inspires him to make one - or something like it. Today we went on a great bike ride to a great seafood restaurant - Alden was amazing for riding his little bike for hours and never complaining - just rode like a champ. After the bike ride, we went on a beach finding adventure in eastern RI, which proved successfull - yay! It was a very nice beach, and we all had a lot of fun - I was trying to surf the small waves in my kayak, and which practicing my roll, partially dislocated my shoulder again - ARGHGGH. I guess I won't be rolling again for a while. I really need to get serious with strengthening it.

Here's a really fun little slideshow that Aaron put together about my time with them in August. Thanks Aaron!

(click here)

Friday was the last day of camp. I'm stunned that it's all over, and my brain is reeling from the termination of such an intense experience. Talking to Amanda in the office today, I find I myself reluctant to leave. It's a place that challenged me, and at the same time supported me in my challenge. Despite difficulty leaving, I know I must go, now is the a good time to leave, and I'm really looking forward to the next couple weeks.

Today i'll be hiking up Tumbledown Mountain, about 1.5 hours north of camp. I've done it with the kids a couple times, but this time I'm planning on going up a different way and going places up there I didn't go to with the kids. I also hope to work in some kayaking on the Androscoggin river. After this, I'll be visiting Aaron McConnell, his wife Ruby and son Alden in Providence. After than, I'll see the great Kush in NYC - good stuff!

Today is the first day of the second session of camp. I feel like it's going to be a great session. I'm a lot more comfortable with camp and kids in general. The intersession break was short, but I feel ready for the next session. Perhaps it was the great day of sailing I had yesterday. I Sailed for 3 hours in the morning in a Pico on Range pond, near to camp. It was the first time I've ever had a sailboat heeled way over with my but haning over the side - "hiking" as it's called. It was a LOT of fun!

The first session of camp is almost over, and just in time. I'm finding I need a break from the kids. All the trips went well, but I find I have a limited endurance for looking after lots of kids.

The trip to Mt. Katahdin was AMAZING. Katahdin is the most dramatic mountain I've seen yet in the Appalaichan range with huge cliffs and waterfalls. I highly recommend it to anybody looking for dramatic mountians in the east.

The 3 day St Croix River trip was also great. The river was very high, which made Little Falls HUGE fun to shoot. So much in fact that we did it twice! It was a good idea to take the equipment out of the canoes before the second go, becuase one of them flipped - some good excitement for the day. We also saw a big turtle, and a bald eagle.

The trip leader crew is AWESOME. We all have huge respect for each other's strong points, and get along famously. I feel really lucky to be working with such a cool crew. Now that we've done all the trips the first session, we should be able to make the second session trips even better.

After an entire month of planning and going on trips, I'm a little tripped out, and will probably spend the intersession break being very lazy. I hope to do a lot of sailing :)

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Leavenworth for my 10 year high school reunion - WOW. This trip was put together at the last minute, with minimal planning - so HUGE thanks to Randi and Lori and Katy for helping bring my transport loose ends together! I'm very glad that I decided to go. What a trippy treat to see most of my senior class again. Some people changed HUGE - big kudos to Heather Rohrbach! And some people were exactly the same. Dougie must have found the fountain of youth! It was awesome to hit the bar with the entire class, and get to know some people I never new. I certainly miss the people that couldn't make it - like EVERY other sPaZzTiK! I'll catch up with you boys later.

Of course, as was mentioned time and again, the Cascades and the Leavenworth area are amazingly beautiful. Every time I go back, I see the place with new eyes and this time I really appreciated how gorgeous it is. I must visit more.

My second day in Montréal - wow what a town! Friendly, beautiful people that know how to have fun! During my first 15 minutes on the island of Montréal, I met a guy on the freeweay in stop and go traffic who, through a series of roadway shinannigans, ended up leading me strait downtown to a really nice hostel. It is one of the the HI hostels in Montréal where there are a lot of really friendly people, with whom I've been having a fantastic time. I decided to stay two nights in Montréal and arrive around noon tomorrow at camp in Maine.

The two day drive from Bayfield Wisconsin was pleasant. I stayed the night in a "Provincial Park" in Massey, Ontario. The drive was pretty uneventful, except for a large rock hitting my window and making a further mess of my car. Now I REALLY have to fix my window.

I spent two night in Bayfield Wisconsin with my great uncle Ed, and his wife Pat. They were great hosts - thank you! It was interesting to meet more relatives on my fathers side. I even met a 2nd cousin once removed or something!

I'm in Eugene with the AO! It looks like the sun is following me. My arrival marked the end of a couple weeks of rain here, and it's been sunny since! We danced in Portland on saturday night, watched several bands at the Willamette Valley Folk Fest on the UO campus Sunday (dancing too), and Sunday night we watched the Afro-cuban band "Aphrodesia" at Cosmic Pizza (more dancing). Wow, these guys were HIGH energy! They are highly recommended for a live show if you like to dance!

I'm finally making some changes to the website, and in the next couple weeks, they'll be quite a bit more content on the Trips section!

I get back to ABQ on Sat, 28th, and on Monday, I'll be starting the drive to ND. I'm comin' soon Mom!

What a beautiful day!! This must be the warmest day in Santa Fe this year. It's made even sweeter by the fact that I spent most of the winter in a basement. My days off are precious! I'm sore from hitting the telemarking on Pajarito mountain pretty hard. It's feeling good though, moguls beware, I'm figuring out how to kick your asses!

The news now is that I'm going to be spending the summer in Maine! I'll be leading kids on trails, lakes and rivers all summer. I'm really excited about this. What could be more fun than hiking around all summer?! I feel like this job could open me up to some good possibilites.

Ooooh, am I sore! I just finished the best two days of skiing this year. I hit the tele's pretty hard on Pajarito mountian in some great fresh snow. My mogul technique is certainly improving - which is why I'm so damn sore! Saturday was a perfect morning, the whole possy was out, Kush, James, Lisa, Vince [Lisa's dad], Kristen, Sandra, Laura and I. It was wonderfully sunny, and we were shredding 8-10 inches of fresh snow.

Wow, what a great weekend! It's first time in several months that I've been able to spend more that one day thinking about nothing but having fun. Mikki, her friend Scott, Lisa and I spent 3 days and 2 nights in a Cabin near Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Durango. We were lucky in getting fresh snow each morning. The avalanche seemed pretty save, and there was a lot of moderate, very safe terrain near the cabin, which we shredded with much delight! The cabin was a rennovated 1880 miners special - lots of charm. On this trip, I finally realized where a vinyl toilet is actually a functional neccessity, there's nothing better when it's 14 degrees in the outhouse. ;)