Alpine Goals for 2009

Given my long distance relationship, there's a chance that this may be my last summer in the area for awhile. I'm hoping to attempt the following:

The Brothers Traverse, early season
Mt. Clark or Mt. Mystery, solo scramble
Mt. Shuksan via Fisher Chimneys
Mt. Baker, probably via Coleman/Deming Glaciers
Forbidden Peak, West Ridge (bringing crampons this time)
Sloan Peak, corkscrew route
Mt. Rainier, ideally Kautz Glacier

Let me know if you'd like to team up for anything!

India: October 24 - November 30, 2008

In 1939 my father was born in Bangalore, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The following year my mother was born in Hyderabad, Andra Pradesh. They were married in 1970 and moved to the USA, spending their first three years in Pasadena, California (where my father had completed his PhD in 1968) and then settling in central New Jersey.

I had only traveled twice to India, the second time in 1984 - when I was six. Several years ago I realized that my interest in foreign travel and my failure to visit India as an adult were particularly incongruous given my heritage, and I vowed to make a proper trip when I found the opportunity to take more than a couple of weeks off from work. Last April, when I decided to take a year off work, the opportunity finally materialized.

So on October 24, around 1 AM, I arrived in Bangalore. I had come down with a cold several days before the flight, and arrived feeling pretty miserable. My uncle Rangu Kaka (Kaka = uncle) and his wife Mythili Auntie (Auntie = auntie) arrived at the airport with a car and driver to pick me up, and we made our way to their home in the Jayanagar neighborhood.

Speaking of making our way, my initial impression of driving on the left hand side of the road was that the "law" was in reality an arbitrarily-followed guideline, not a certainty. This impression would prove correct throughout my trip.

My family has three homes in Bangalore. The one in Jayanagar is shared by my aunt Koopie Atthya (Atthya = auntie), Rangu Kaka, and Mythili Auntie. The two in Chamrajpet are occupied by my uncle Guru Kaka and his wife and by my uncle Kittu Kaka: these two homes were built on the same plot of land on which my grandfather's house once stood. If it's not already obvious, I have quite a few uncles: my mother was an only child, but my father was the youngest of seven children, all male except for Koopie Atthya. (My father was actually the youngest of ten, but the first three passed away in their youth.)



I spent six days in Bangalore in the Jayanagar house. One highlight was a day trip with Rangu Kaka and Mythili Auntie to the Hindu temples at Belur and Halebid and the Jain monument at Sravana Belgola: I particularly enjoyed the villages we passed on the way, which just fascinated me. There were two young, smiling girls dressed in saris toting water vessels on their heads, a gentleman on a scooter with a huge array of pots and pans for sale tethered to the back, cows everywhere, and so on. Other events of note during my time in Bangalore were having lunch with Mythili Auntie at MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Rooms), catching up with my friend and former colleague Praveen at a slick club called Couch on MG Road, and wandering around Lal Bagh gardens with my eldest cousin Madhu. But the best experience was seeing family at a get-together Rangu Kaka had arranged at home, as well as random conversations with family members, most of whom I hadn't seen in over two decades. My aunt handed me a letter my grandfather wrote her regarding my father fifty years ago, Guru Kaka showed me some photos from their youth, and Madhu and Murali, my 64-year old eldest (twin) cousins, told me stories about growing up with my father that I'd never heard before.



From Bangalore I flew to Trivandrum in Kerala. (Incidentally, Kingfisher flights ROCK - on time, great service, and good looking stewardesses - what more could you want?) I spent a night there and then took a local bus to Neyyar Dam, where I had planned to spend the following week at the Sivananda ashram. Local buses in India are quite the experience - I'll leave it at that. Upon first arriving at the ashram I was a little thrown off by a large banner in the main hall that advised, under an innocuous "Om," that one should "chant for world peace." Luckily the world peace-y impression would turn out to be a false one, and by the end of the week I'd synthesized some thoughts that had been wandering through my head for awhile, learned the basics of yoga, and made a few good friends. Highlights of the experience included a swami who proved to be an excellent teacher, very good asana and pranayama instruction, and a pretty cool international group of people. The lowlight was definitely the rather poorly bulk-prepared sattvic food, which while perfectly nutritious left rather much to be desired in the taste and variety departments. Incidentally, one thing that puzzled me my first few nights was the bestial sounding ritual I would hear before falling asleep - the sounds turned out to be emanating from a nearby lion sanctuary - bestial indeed.



I left the ashram after a week as planned, took a bus back to Trivandrum, and proceeded via train (unreserved sleeper class) to Kanniyakumari, the southern tip of the country. After a night and an unsatisfying overcast "sunrise" the following day, I returned to Trivandrum and caught an auto (autorickshaw) to Kovalam, where I spent two nights relaxing by the beach. There I met up with Kamini and Kim, two friends I'd gotten to know at the ashram, for the better part of one day. Kamini is from Delhi and works for the UN; Kim is from NYC and works in fashion marketing. I can STRONGLY recommend the dinner buffet we partook of at the Leela hotel - extraordinary variety and quality paired with a beautiful setting high above the shore. Incidentally, watching lighting over the Arabian sea was fantastic.



I departed Kovalam via taxi, headed back to Trivandrum, and caught a train to Alleppey, where I boarded an auto to a farming village called Chennamkary. There I stayed at Green Palms, a homestay run by a farmer of Syrian Christian descent, for two nights. Green Palms had been strongly recommended by two couples I had met at the ashram, and I was extraordinarily fortunate to have received and taken their advice. The homestay was an exceptional experience - walking, cycling, and canoeing in the backwaters community with the hosts was serene and genuine. Conversations with the villagers (usually with a host translating) and with the host family were heartwarming and illuminating. I learned a great deal about the community, from agricultural techniques to homebuilding to religion. I also spent my thirtieth birthday there - it turned out to be a visiting family's 8-year old son's birthday as well, and the hosts pulled out all the stops to celebrate. (The fact that it was my birthday came out during a conversation with a 90 year old villager during the morning walk.)



My next stop was Delhi - I took the train back to Trivandrum and caught a flight. I spent three nights in Delhi, and made a day trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. While in Delhi I caught up briefly with Kamini, and in Agra I ended up wandering around for a little bit with another random tourist. I then proceeded to Rajasthan, taking a 19-hour train (3 AC) to Jaisalmer for three nights, then heading to Jodhpur for two nights, and finally flying to Udaipur for three nights. In Jaisalmer I spent a night out on the Thar Desert with Sahara Travels - traveling by camel and sleeping on the sand soothed by the celestial lights and the warmth of seriously heavy blankets was a great experience. I also had an excellent meal at a small hole-in-the-wall "restaurant," the food prepared and served by a woman who appeared to be well into her eighties. In Jodhpur I stayed in Ratanada at Ratan Vilas, which I cannot recommend highly enough - affordable and atmospheric with excellent service and food. Jodhpur's Mehrangarh fort was also the most well preserved of the Rajasthani palaces I saw, and I had a good conversation with two of the scholars there. In Udaipur I sync'd up with Kim, who was also traveling through the city, and we met up for a couple of dinners. The second was arranged by the princess in an interesting turn of events. Also of note, I met and formed a friendship with a local artist my first day, and ended up having chai with him every afternoon before I left the city. Finally, two things generally struck me about the people in Rajasthan. First, the women carry brightly-colored umbrellas as sun protection; second, people in wedding processions act rather interestingly.



From Udaipur I flew to Bombay (Mumbai). I arrived on November 25th, and had luckily changed my earlier plan to stay at the Taj or the Oberoi. (The terrorist strikes occurred on the 26th.) Instead, I spent one night at the Grand in Ballard Estate and caught an early train the next day to Neral, whence I caught the narrow gauge line to the hill station of Matheran. Two weeknights in Matheran served as a superb antidote to travel - calm and picturesque. I stayed at the Verandah in the Forest hotel, which had been recommended by a couple I had met earlier in Jaisalmer - Verandah, a Neemrana heritage hotel, was a fantastic getaway - an old building (the Barr house) with twenty-foot ceilings, a beautiful dining hall, and even a proper treehouse. At the end of my stay I caught a ride to the Mumbai suburb of Juhu Beach with Siddharth, a novelist who was also at Verandah, and spent a night as a guest of the Hakims, a couple with two daughters and a dog whom I also met in Matheran and who had graciously offered me their hospitality in the wake of the attacks. On the 29th I took my leave of the Hakims, met with Anna's favorite uncle for a drink and dinner, and then headed to the airport and back home to Seattle.



I'll end this report with a number of disorganized thoughts about the trip.

First, I was surprised that I had genuine, meaningful interactions with people nearly everywhere I traveled. I had expected to feel like a western tourist and did not. It was rather amusing to observe people try to grasp that I was south Indian, born in the US to emigrant parents, and touring through the country. It was also interesting to find that Samvid really is an unusual name - Dwarakanath was much more effective for the purpose of making reservations.

Second, I found I missed very little while traveling. I would have loved to share some experiences with Anna and have some in depth discussions with my parents, and every so often I would have liked to have my guitar, iPod, or a book off my shelf, but that was about the extent of my unfulfilled material desires. I thought that was pretty revealing, especially since I was traveling with a thirty-five liter bag.

Third, I was fascinated by the visible effects of a large unskilled labor pool on the economy. In Kerala a dozen men will work for two hours pulling in a single fishing net, and in Agra I saw women cutting the lawn outside the Taj Mahal by hand with scythes. Yet in areas, such as parts of Kerala, where education is strong, the tide is changing, and in those areas harvesting machines are making their entrance as the availability of agricultural labor declines.

Lastly, I should mention some of the issues in India. There are serious problems with governance, sustainability, and education. I witnessed two instances of police bribery, and was shocked to find hate crimes by groups such as the Bajrang Dal widely ignored by the government out of political expediency and lack of accountability. Pollution resulting from recent economic growth coupled with two-stroke transport in Bangalore was bad enough to result in my inability to walk around without coughing, and over-development of tourism has adversely affected the Keralan backwaters, the Thar desert near Jaisalmer, and the beaches and waters around Kanniyakumari. Education is poor in most of India - in Rajasthan it is common for school-aged children to be illiterate and working in restaurants, and extremist teaching in Muslim madrasas and Hindutva shakhas and akhadas perpetuates the religious tensions that have long existed in the country. It will probably take education and inspiration of the masses to bring about change in India, the largest democracy in the world.

For photos, visit my Picasa page.

Latest

Quick updates:

I went to India for five weeks in the fall - it was an excellent trip and my first time in 24 years. Will write about it sometime I swear. Photos are on Picasa.

Things with the girl are going well, though long distance is not ideal.

I'm finally getting back into playing guitar after nearly two years of slacking off.

It looks like I'm going to end up going back to corporate America for awhile before doing my own thing.

Fly Virgin America

I flew down to LA for my friend Dan's graduation from dental school, and it was the best domestic flight experience I've ever had. Smiling, friendly - not to mention good-looking - staff, an atmosphere right out of a trendy European lounge, great entertainment options, comfortable seats with lots of room, and excellent customer service.

If you're flying where they fly, go with Virgin America, you won't be let down.

Economics

With proposals such as the Clinton- and McCain-sponsored gas tax cut on the table and trade agreements like NAFTA up for debate, it would be nice if voters had enough of an understanding of economics to reach an informed opinion of their own. Unfortunately, you could graduate from an Ivy League school these days and still not have a clue about the fundamental economic principles at work in modern society.

So I'd like to propose a basic reading list.

• Wheelan: Naked Economics


• Hazlett: Economics in One Lesson


• Heilbroner: The Worldly Philosophers


• Hayek: The Road to Serfdom

Wheelan's book in itself will demystify much of economics and is an easy read.

Larry Page on Innovation

Worth a read:

Click for article

Cooking Again

For the first time in five and a half years, I'm cooking at home - and the food is turning out surprisingly well.

Here's what I cooked up tonight:

NY Strip Steak, Scalloped Potatoes, and Asparagus

• 1/2 pound, 1 inch thick NY steak, trimmed
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• four sprigs asparagus, chopped in half
  
• one russet potato, thinly sliced
  
• pat of butter
• 1/2 pint whipping cream
• Beecher's or other cheese as desired
  
• French bread

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees and allowing the meat to come to room temperature. Douse it with salt and pepper.

Get the whipping cream simmering in a saucepan. Add the potatoes to the whipping cream with some salt and pepper. Cover the saucepan and cook until done, took me about 15 minutes. Grease an oven-safe bowl with the pat of butter, and layer the potato slices in, grating cheese in between layers and on the top. Stick the bowl into the oven for a few minutes to get the cheese to the desired state, and remove when ready.

Coat a skillet (mine is simple stainless steel) with olive oil. When the potatoes are just about done, bring the skillet up to medium heat. Throw in the asparagus with a little salt and pepper, saute for a few seconds, reduce the heat to low, and cover for 30-60 seconds. Remove the lid, saute a few more seconds, and then plate the asparagus.

Put the skillet back on the heat and increase to medium again. After a minute or two, add the steak. Brown each side for about a minute, and sear the edges for about 15 seconds each. Then transfer the skillet to the oven for about five minutes. Remove and plate the steak.

Allow the steak to sit for five minutes or so, then plate the potatoes and serve with French bread on the side.

This gave me a juicy, medium steak, just how I like it.

Climbing Objectives for 2008

I thought I'd list the peaks on my list for folks who may be interested in teaming up for a climb.

Scrambles

• Brothers, South Peak (South Couloir)
• Mt. Daniel (SE Ridge)
• Mt. Clark with option of Mt. Deception, 2-3 day trip camping by Royal Lake
  

Glacier Climbs

• Ruth Mountain w/Kutta, (Hannegan Pass/Ruth Glacier)
  
• Sahale Peak (Sahale Arm/Sahale Glacier)
• Sloan Peak (Corkscrew)
• Mt. Rainier w/Marc (Kautz Glacier)

Rock Climbs

• Miscellaneous cragging
  
• Mix-up Peak (East Face)
  
• Mt. Cruiser (South Corner)
  
• Liberty Bell w/Marc (Beckey Route)
  
• Forbidden Peak (West Ridge)

Mixed/Ice Climbs

• Ice climbing at Mt. Baker (Coleman Glacier)
• Mt. Shuksan (Fisher Chimneys)
  

March 15 - April 1, New Zealand

Last summer I finally started exploring the mountains around Seattle. It started with a solo up Mt. Ellinor: I encountered a short snowfield and rather enjoyed it, and that's how the madness began. By the end of October I'd also summited Mt. Pugh, Snowking Mountain, and Mt. Washington (Olympics), and attempted Mt. Daniel. (Max accompanied me on my second (successful) attempt on Snowking, and Dan was my partner on Washington.) I joined the Seattle Mountaineers, and took first aid and intro crag climbing classes with them; I also spent some time on the Muir Snowfield on Mt. Rainier practicing self arrest.

When I joined the Mountaineers I was intent on taking their introductory mountaineering course, which runs over scattered weekend days from January through early fall. Then one late summer day I jokingly told Max that maybe I should just go to New Zealand for ten days and take Adventure Consultants' intensive alpine climbing course (ACC) instead.

Adventure Consultants is a mountain guiding firm based in Wanaka, New Zealand. It has a strong reputation for taking climbing seriously, and may be best known to the lay community as the firm Jon Krakauer climbed Everest with.

By October the joke was a joke no longer, and in early November I booked a spot on the last ACC session of the season. I did weekly training hikes up Mt. Si from late January through early March, and on March 13 I headed to the airport and took off for New Zealand.

The trip got off to a stressful start. The United Airlines flight from Seattle to San Francisco was delayed by two hours, and I barely made it to my flight to Auckland. I arrived (via yet another connection in Christchurch) in Wanaka on Saturday March 15 as expected, but my gear had missed the tight connection. As it turned out, the bag wouldn't arrive until Tuesday March 18, the day after we took off for the mountains: luckily Adventure Consultants loaned me a bunch of gear, and our guide, Paul Aubrey, even loaned me his personal clothing from home.

I have to say that Air New Zealand was the most pleasant airline I've ever flown with: comfortable seats, good service, even good food. I also met a number of cool people on the flights, including a European turned Kiwi whose enthusiasm for NZ was contagious and a Wanaka local who personally knew the folks at Adventure Consultants with whom I'd interacted.

Upon arriving in Wanaka I soon realized that everyone in Wanaka pretty much knows everyone else in Wanaka. Even the tourists were friendly - I ended up making a number of casual acquaintances as well as meeting some cool dogs. Wanaka's economy is largely driven by tourism, especially during the winter months, with some agriculture in the area as well.

Lake Wanaka

Bevin Redmond at AC had booked me into the Clearbrook lodge for the nights before and night after the course. Clearbrook rocked - Maria and her husband, the proprietors, were terrific people, my room had a jetted tub, and the sliding door opened onto a grassy lawn with ducks and a burbling brook. All that and the location provided a two-block walk to the center of town - absolutely fantastic.

I found several other places in Wanaka worth noting: Cinema Paradiso, an offbeat movie theater with lots of comfy couches and even a VW Beetle as a seating option, where I met a bunch of trampers (backpackers); Cafe Gusto, which has fantastic muesli and other breakfast fare, and at which I met a really friendly (and seriously shedding) dog; and Kai Whaka Pai, a great central hangout for coffee or a beer.

I spent Saturday and Sunday relaxing in Wanaka, and met up Monday morning with the folks on the course. After introductions, various preliminaries, a failed attempt to retrieve my gear bag, and a picnic lunch, we headed out to Fox Glacier Township, with a pit stop at our guide/instructor's place - a gorgeous self-built wood and stone affair - to snag clothing for me. It was a beautiful drive that made me wish I had my motorbike. We spent the night at the NZAC (New Zealand Alpine Club) Porter Lodge, practiced Prussiking from the rafters, had some beers at a local pub, and crashed after cooking up and chowing down some dinner.

Tuesday morning we flew out to the NZAC Centennial Hut above the upper reaches of the Franz Joseph Glacier at 8000' or so.

Paul Aubrey, Andrew, Paul, and Samantha (Sammy)

It was a really good group of people. Paul Aubrey, our guide and instructor, had been guiding for twenty-nine years and teaching for twenty-five. Andrew, a 28 year old Aussie and small business owner from Central Coast, had done a climb of Mt. Aspiring two years prior with Adventure Consultants, Paul Aubrey being the leader of that trip as well. Other Paul, a 24 year old Aussie and IT support engineer from Sydney, had an extensive tramping history. Sammy, a Brit turned Kiwi and cryobiologist, was a skilled rock climber. Finally there was myself.

We flew to the helipad - a snow mound - by the hut, donned crampons, and made our way to shelter.

Centennial Hut

After sorting gear and supplies, we headed out to the upper snowfields to practice snow travel and ice ax arrest, and to learn how to build snow anchors. Nothing beats five people yanking on an anchor with all their might to convince you that it's going to hold. We then returned to the hut for dinner, some theory, and sleep. That night Andrew dreamed that there was a monkey messing with him in the hut. This turned into a running joke during the trip, with a particularly memorable high point - Sammy's extended monkey impression one night in the hut.

Wednesday was spent on glacier travel and crevasse rescue, along with the necessary anchor building practice. We focused on the assisted hoist and Prussiking, and would return to the unassisted hoist later in the trip.

Andrew really wanted to hit the glacier

Thursday we made our way across the Chamberlin Snowfield, navigating around numerous crevasses, and learned how to belay up snow, both with an ATC and utilizing a hip belay. Andrew and Paul decided to try tobogganing on a foam pad with ice axes as brakes, which was rather amusing. Paul Aubrey cooked up an unbelievably good meal for dinner from dehydrated ingredients. We chopped out a bivy spot and spent a cold night on the glacier.

Bivy on the snowfield above the glacier

Awaking Friday morning, we set about practicing self arrest and other skills. We also noticed a helicopter drop off a pair of climbers at the hut - they would turn out to be two family men who've maintained a climbing relationship for three decades. As the clouds were starting to roll in we made our way back to the hut. A steep section required dagger technique with ice axes and tools as well as a belay, and we finally made our way through the final hundred meters or so enveloped by a whiteout. After some time in the hut to collect ourselves, we crossed the class three rock outside the hut and practiced abseiling down to the glacier, maneuvering to a snow lip that provided passage across a bergschrund and then cramponing back up to the hut.

Ascending the steep snow back to the hut

Saturday morning was spent indoors as the whiteout continued - we studied and practiced anchor equalization and did some theory work. (Over the course we covered navigation, basic snow safety, and weather.) We then moved out to the rock and practiced placing pro, from actual stones to pitons, stoppers, and cams. We finished by climbing up some low class 5 rock in our plastic boots.

Posing after a little rock climbing in plastics

With four days left, we decided to fly out Sunday morning: the bergschrunds prevented a full climb out, and we wanted to work on more technique. Sunday and Monday were spent learning ice climbing technique on the lower Fox Glacier, with the nights spent at Porter Lodge. We covered ice screw placement and v threads, and worked our way up to vertical ice. The highlight may well have been lowering down into a small glacial cave, with beautiful blue walls and a stream trickling through, and climbing back out. We also covered the unassisted hoist rescue technique while on the glacier.

Andrew belayed by Paul

Tuesday morning we drove back to Wanaka, grabbed my gear bag and some other items, and headed out to the crags. We spent the next day and a half climbing rock, with an overnight camp (minus Paul Aubrey, who spent the night with his family) near a stream by the crags. Wednesday afternoon we headed back to the AC office, debriefed, and headed back to our accommodations. Later that evening the four of us students reconvened for drinks and dinner, met some random foreign students along the way, and pledged to get together somewhere, sometime, for future adventure.

Building a fire at the campsite with headlamps on

The course being completed, on Thursday morning I awoke and made some phone calls to change my flights to accommodate a trip to Wellington. I caught a bus to Queenstown and spent two nights at Bumbles Hostel, between which I took a Real Journeys trip out to Doubtful Sound. Queenstown is a very developed tourist town, with virtually every conceivable adventure sport up for grabs - jetboating, skydiving, paragliding, etc. I met some interesting people at the hostel, but the most interesting part of my stay was a meal at Pog Mahones Irish pub. I had venison served raw on a steaming hot stone: you slice off cuts of meat, let them fall onto the stone and cook to your liking, and then devour them. It was the best meat I've ever had.

Venison on a "Stonegrill" at Pog Mahones

Doubtful Sound on Friday was a phenomenal experience. We took a bus from Queenstown to the town of Manapouri, crossed Lake Manapouri by boat, and then took another bus along the road to Deep Cove. Then we took a catamaran out through Doubtful Sound to the Tasman Sea. On the way back we stopped at the hydroelectric plant at the far end of Lake Manapouri. The fjords in New Zealand get a tremendous amount of rainfall, so you literally see waterfalls all around you - it's unbelievable.

Doubtful Sound

Saturday morning I left Queenstown and flew to Wellington for three nights. Wellington reminded me a lot of Capitol Hill, my neighborhood in Seattle, mixed with Granville Street in Vancouver (B. C.). There was a dominant cafe culture, along with a strip of quality nightclubs. I was charmed by how laid-back and quirky Kiwi culture turned out to be.

Sign on Oriental Parade in Wellington

I did very little of tourist value in Wellington - I visited Te Papa, the national museum, on Saturday, and took a tour of Parliament on Monday. I hung out in coffee shops a good bit, and ate pretty well: there's a strong multicultural aspect to Wellington's cuisine, with many Indian, Malaysian, Turkish, and Pacific Rim restaurants. Saturday night I had dinner at a restaurant called Ernesto, listening to the jazz band while watching a light rain outside the windows - beautiful. Then I made my way over to Matterhorn and caught the tail end of a great funk group's performance over a bourbon. Sunday night I had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Tulsi that was playing Bollywood music on the stereo, and capped off the evening with coffee at Espressoholic, where the baristas were going a bit nuts with music that demanded to be square-danced to. Monday I strolled down Lambton Quay, the shopping district, and had a great pizza dinner at Scopa. I had half a day Tuesday, which was spent strolling down Oriental Parade by the waterfront and having lunch at Mac's Brewery. As for random spots, I really liked Olive, Espressoholic, and Mojo for coffee, Dorothy for pastries, and Floriditas and Sweet Mother's for breakfast.

Finally, after 17 days in New Zealand, I headed to the airport on the afternoon of Tuesday April 1st and headed back home to Seattle. I got a bit of a scare when I got home as my motorcycle was gone from the street - it turned out to have been impounded for being on the street for too long (@#!$) but at least it hadn't been stolen. Three days later I finished up work at Google, and am now plotting my future business, travel, and climbing plans.

What a great trip!

Click for my photos on Picasa
Click for my (crappy) video of the helicopter flight out from Centennial Hut

YouTube Addiction

Damn it, I can't seem to get up or go to sleep without spending a little time browsing stuff on YouTube. On the positive side, my friends get a bunch of stuff to watch without needing to dig through the junk. Feel like partaking? My favorites are at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=shd0.

Catch up

So, what have I been up to?

• In March 2007, I'll be leaving Amazon to join the company whose product you're using right now. I'm very, very excited.
  
• In November 2006, I went on a four-day recruiting trip to Ann Arbor. Among other things, I interviewed one absolutely stellar MS/CS candidate, caught up with my old friend Andrea from Duke, and got to see the Royal Shakespeare Company (with Patrick Stewart!) perform The Tempest.
  
• In September/October 2006, I went on a fantastic two week trip to Spain. I spent time in Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Jerez, and Conil, along with a day trip from Conil to Vejer.
• There's also a bunch of personal stuff, but of course you won't read that here. :)
  

Sticks and stones won't break my bones...

but crashing my bike apparently will.

I hit a large pothole yesterday about ten miles into a ride, did an endo, and crashed hard. Fixed my bike and rode home. My right elbow got progressively more painful until a friend dragged me to the ER. Looks like I broke it, though not badly. It's in a splint now, awaiting an appointment with the orthopedist.

<whine>I can barely type code. I can't play guitar. I can't lift. And I'm going to miss RSVP this weekend because I can't ride. </whine>

Richard III

This past Friday my friend Amber and I went to see the Intiman Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Richard III. The performance was impressive. Nearly all of the actors and actresses were superb, the drums were thoughtfully arranged and played, and the set was well-designed. Above all, I was struck by how well the Intiman writers reduced a five-act play to approximately 2 1/2 hours without causing the play to feel particularly abridged.

Flying Wheels 2006

I just rode Cascade Bicycle Club's Flying Wheels Summer Century for the second year. The route was as beautiful as I remember, meandering up and down hills through Sammamish, Duval, Snohomish, Carnation, and probably a couple of other towns I can't recall.

I was pleasantly surprised that, with the exception of a little ITB strain I sustained about twenty miles from the finish line, I really didn't feel like I had ridden a hundred miles. I also didn't subject myself to massive Clif Bar intake - I ate a bagel with lox and a shmear before the ride, had a tomato and mozzarella sandwich at the forty-mile mark, and downed just one bar down the home stretch. My body seems happier with me today than it did a year ago.

Books Everyone With a Job Should Read

The short list now includes:

• Peter Drucker: The Effective Executive


• For knowledge work, DeMarco and Lister: Peopleware


• New on the list: Buckingham and Coffman: First, Break All the Rules

I'll be posting my notes on all these works shortly.

yes, I'm alive

Due to popular demand, I'll start being more regular about writing. :) I might as well start with recent events.

Trip to California
Just before I started my new job in March (with a different team at Amazon), I took a week off and spent a few days in LA. One of my closest friends, Dan, is a dental school student at UCLA, and another good friend, Regan, works in the Irvine area for an insurance company. I had a really good time catching up with them, and discovered a part of LA I actually liked (the area around the campus). Highlights included

• hitting Santa Monica with Dan, who played "All I Wanna Do" on the stereo as we drove down Santa Monica Blvd.


• driving to Pasadena at breakneck speed for drinks with Dan and Regan in Regan's modded A4, with Jay-Z and Linkin Park providing the soundtrack


• walking down the red carpet just before the Oscars


• finding out that Dan is seriously rocking dental school, and Regan's doing quite well himself

Watch
I bought a Tag Heuer Carrera on a bit of a whim.

Trip to Portland
I spent a fantastic weekend in Portland that took off about two months of stress. It started with a train ride down on Saturday morning, and ended with a return trip Sunday afternoon.

• The train ride down was on the Coast Starlight, which runs from Vancouver to LA. I sat in the observation car on the double-decker train - the car had bay windows, the weather was gorgeous, and I was grooving to everything from John Fogerty to Elvis on my iPod. As a bonus, these guys from "Trails and Rails" would occasionally point out sites and give the history behind them.


• The Fifth Avenue Suites Hotel, where I stayed, had extremely friendly staff whom I immediately hit it off with. Keegan, Meaghan, and Lucy, among others, were terrific. The hotel does a really great wine reception every evening as well, with guests socializing in a way I've rarely seen in Seattle. Upon entering my room I found a teddy bear on the bed - the hotel used to be a department store, the store's mascot was the cinnamon bear, and this is their way of keeping history alive - very cool. At the end of my stay the bear looked sad, so I brought him back with me - he seemed happy about that. :)


• I met a lot of great people in general. While eating a sandwich outside the Pearl Bakery I met this guy and his dog, and we hug out and shot the breeze for awhile. At dinner at the Heathman I had a great time talking with my waitress. And so on.


• Saturday was prom night. It was extremely amusing to see hordes of girls in black dresses taking over the sidewalks.


• After dinner Saturday I hit the 20-odd floor restaurant at the Hilton for dessert, and downed a chocolate souffle and ruby port while looking out at the city from the windows on three sides. Then suddenly a fireworks display ensued (possibly since it was the day before Mother's Day). While leaving the restaurant I encountered a great jazz performance in the lounge, and left to a beautiful smile from the singer.


• Sunday I met Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles and toured his shop. The man does AMAZING work. I'm now in line, and about two years from now should be a proud Vanilla owner.

Trip to NYC
Just a week ago I took a last-minute flight to NYC, arriving Friday night at midnight and leaving Sunday morning at 8 AM. I stayed with my friend Christina at her "crib" by Gramercy Park, and it was great to catch up with her - we had a late dinner and drinks after I arrived, joined some folks for a ridiculously rich brunch the next day, had coffee at 9th St. Espresso that afternoon, and then ate at a fantastic Italian restaurant that's apparently one of the top five in the city. My folks drove up from NJ and met us for coffee, which was really nice since I don't get to see them very often. Saturday night I headed to the Katwalk Bar and Lounge for my ten-year summer school reunion (yes, you read that correctly), and was psyched to meet up with Sofia, Charlie, Brad, Kjell, Howard, Brooke, and others I had lost touch with since Harvard '96. It turns out that Charlie has become a very accomplished comedian, and we got to see him perform with Upright Citizens Brigade. After that we ended up at a wine bar, and then Kjell took me to a bar where we drank until the 4 AM close. At that point I headed back to Christina's, hung out with her on the couch in a stupor, and then caught a cab to the airport. What a weekend!

New Gig

Three and a half weeks ago I started in a new position at Amazon. Our team is building a really cool and rather ambitious system for a supply chain/logistics management problem - I can't disclose any more information than that, but suffice to say I'm excited. So far I've done our high-level system architecture, nearly completed our initial data model, and started getting my head around our mathematical problems. It's been great to hit the ground running - I don't think I've ever come out of the gate quite like this before.

On the other hand, my personal interests have been slipping. In particular, I've been spending very little time with my guitar, which needs to change soon. I _am_ starting to get back into cycling, and need to take this pretty seriously as I've entered the lottery for RAMROD this year.

While I'm writing, I should mention that I read a fascinating book recently. It's "Notes on the Synthesis of Form", by Christopher Alexander - the book is about designing forms to fit complex requirements, and it's absolutely brilliant. It's timeless and quite universal as well - what Alexander wrote forty years ago is extremely true of software design today, and for that matter even applies to musical composition. It's also a quick read, so stop reading my crap and pick it up.

"For My Active Lifestyle"

Seeing as I probably own myriad consumer goods intended for "the man with an active lifestyle", I figured it was about time I started taking care of myself.

Historically I've been pretty good about lifting weights, and this past spring, summer, and fall I consistently rode my bike. But lately I've been slacking on physical activity, working extremely long hours, and eating poorly, which I have a feeling is why I've been getting sick a lot. But no more.

I got back into the gym today, and it felt great. I was also disciplined about my eating, starting with a multivitamin and the granola/yogurt/fruit cup from Specialties that kicked off my day (at, err, noon). I'm going to start commuting on my bike again. And I even bought nuts and fruit to snack on at work, to avoid the otherwise inevitable afternoon cookie urge.

Don't get me wrong, I'm probably still going to eat something every day that's bad for me, and I'm still going to be eating out a lot. But I'll be more conscious to get calories from whole grains, protein without saturated fat, and to eat more fruits and veggies every day.

Salute!

To write without a computer

I've thought for years about buying a nice pen and pencil for all the scribbling I do. Lately I've been drawing a lot of graphs during meetings, so I decided it was time to procure a multicolor writing instrument, i.e. a clicky-pen. So I went out today and bought a Lamy 2000 4-color pen and the matching mechanical pencil.

I'm really impressed by the design that went into these things. The pen's color selection is gravity-based: hold the pen horizontally, and whatever color indicator is showing at the top is the one that pops out when you depress the advancement button. It's light given the four ballpoints, and it feels well-balanced. Not to mention the clip is sprung so it doesn't get all bent out of shape. The pencil is similarly well-designed, though it's obviously not as complex.

Now I'm writing Greek in style. :)

Sometimes you're just stupid

I was in my guitar lesson today, explaining to my instructor that I was still struggling with a passage from a piece I started working on quite some time ago. Well, it took him all of five minutes to figure out what I was doing wrong, and it took me less than a minute to correct the error in technique. Simultaneously gratifying and exasperating.

The passage is from Llobet's transcription of Danza Espanola No. 5 - I've mentioned the work earlier in my blog. The bars in question comprise a slow section with three voices, but the trick is that the highest voice is articulated with harmonics. Well, I was trying to use my m and a fingers to sound the harmonics and my p and i fingers to sound the base and middle voices, which is brutally difficult and completely unnecessary. Switching to i/a and p/m made all the difference in the world.

Shows I still have a thing or two to learn. :)