Sunday, September 11, 2016

Another Year, Another Mountain

As has been tradition for the past few years, Ellen and I took our annual 14er hike this weekend. This year's target: Mt. Democrat.

We stayed the night in Silverthorne so that we wouldn't have to get up too ungodly early. On the way to the trailhead, we caught some fall colors.



Kite Lake Trailhead was our starting point, which is around 12,000 feet.



The first half was pretty easy, but by the time we hit the saddle, the talus was aplenty. Annoying to hike on, but the new views opening up made up for it.



And, without further ado, here's the view from the top at 14,148 feet.



And, his and hers truly.



Bonus: After the hike we had lunch in Breckenridge and completely unbeknownst to us stumbled across their Octoberfest party! The key takeaway from the event was that we'll soon be making this simple but super-fun game for y'all to play the next time you visit us!





In the interest of migrating stuff off of Facebook and over here to this blog, here's a brief recap of previous 14er hikes:

Grays Peak and Torrys Peak in September 2015

Mount Bierstadt in July 2014



Mount Massive in September 2013

















Two Guns Distillery post-hike medicine.






Friday, September 09, 2016

Goodbye, Mark

In light of continuing and apparently increasing censorship on Facebook, I'm going to begin posting blog-first. I'll copy the links over to Facebook, but Mark and his company have proven to no longer be trustworthy stewards of my content.

The most recent example of this is:

Mark Zuckerberg accused of abusing power after Facebook deletes 'napalm girl' 

If you don't like that picture, Mark, perhaps you'll prefer this one.

Photograph: Nick Ut/AP


I'll be slowly removing all of my old content from Facebook, at least the stuff that I think I should keep, and relocating it here. Some of the conversations I had with you, my friends and family, were the best part of that content. If the conversation was something more than "Nice shot!" then I'll probably copy that over here, too. Because this is a public blog, I want to respect your privacy. If you see a conversation here that you participated in with me and would prefer that conversation be kept private, just let me know and I'll remove it. 

To end on a positive note, I'd like to share a quote that I ran across while researching the original "Napalm Girl" photograph. That little girl turned out to be a wise and beautiful human being.

Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed. Napalm is very powerful, but faith, forgiveness, and love are much more powerful. We would not have war at all if everyone could learn how to live with true love, hope, and forgiveness. If that little girl in the picture can do it, ask yourself: Can you?

-- Kim PhĂșc, NPR in 2008


Monday, February 02, 2015

Transience

Here we are, just over five years since my last post on this blog. According to Google, 135 people viewed this old blog last month. What were they looking for? Did they find it? It's been a very long time since I've been here myself. So much in the world has changed in so little time.

This particular post was inspired by the discovery of the appallingly high count of dead links here in the blog. Digg no longer exists the way it did in the past. Google Video is dead. MySpace? What is it supposed to be now?

It seems that blogs and the Internet in general are pretty poor ways to archive information unless that information is copied word-for-word or pixel-by-pixel. But, what about copyright? How can we permanently share media in the digital age?

Coming soon: Try Everything. The movie. Revised Edition #231

With the rate of change in our world, better go visit Starbucks while you still know what they offer...


Sunday, January 17, 2010

New Blog; New Adventures

I'm not sure how much posting I'll do on Try Everything for a while. Although the title of this blog is also inspirational as we begin our journey, I'll be posting mostly over at Curious Souls. Check it out!

I still might post over here if there is something Ellen doesn't agree with on the other blog. :)

Friday, October 09, 2009

Strangely Silent

There is no A/C running on the train this morning. Two weeks ago, this situation would have been a Really Big Problem. Today it is not. The beautiful weather does not warrant the use of supplemental cooling systems.

The A/C normally provides a baseline level of sound so that when it is absent, an eerie sort of silence is revealed. All that you hear is motion and people. The clack-clack of the wheels on the tracks. The sniffles of noses. The muted whirr of the electric motors struggling against Newton's First Law of Motion. The squeak of tennis shoes on... whatever strange scientific miracle substance that makes up the speckled, palegreen floor.

The gentlemen to my left is brave enough to initiate a conversation on his cell phone. Because there is no other noise, everyone in our train car can hear every whisper. In his attempt to remain relatively quiet he needs to repeat himself often. He queries the other party "Did you get sumpthin to eat?" He asks this question four times. He makes another call, presumably to another party. "So, you get something to eat?" I can't decide whether I would be annoyed or comforted to have a friend whose function was to verify whether or not I ate breakfast each day. After all, it is The Most Important Meal of The DayTM.

I'd tie up this post with something profound about "eliminitating the noise in our daily lives" or something silly like that but I gotta run. "Approaching station... Priest Drive and Washington... Exit to Left..."

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Nearly Haiku

Nearly Haiku

It makes one wonder for what alternative purposes the ice scoop was being utilized.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Together Again...

Sorry, blog. I know it's been a long time since we talked last. This is a bit awkward for me, but let me try to explain what happened.

I found Facebook. Facebook was so flashy, and had so many cool friends. Everybody loved Facebook and when she and I were hanging out, it felt like all her friends were my friends too. She knew everybody. She was the life of the party. It felt like everyone listened to what I had to say when I was with her.

And then there was Twitter. At first I couldn't figure out why she was so popular. She was just, like, a shorter version of you, right?! Then I realized that not only did Twitter have great friends, she had celebrity friends! OMG!! Shaq!! Oprah!! Danny frickin' DeVito!!! How could I not love her. I was caught up in a whirlwind! And then... When I learned that she was into "sharing" with Facebook... every man's dream, right?

So, blog. I know that it's been nearly two years since we last chatted. I know that I've neglected you for sexier technology. I know that I've treated you like crap.

And have you asked for forgiveness? No. You have just been here, patiently waiting for me to come back to you. No complaining. No talking about how I went astray. Here you are, welcoming me back with open arms. Hanging on to my every word in a saved draft, just in case my browser crashes. I may not be the most loyal man in the world when it comes to technology, but it's good knowing that I have someone I can depend on through thick and thin. I just want you to know that you were my first love. I promise that I'll try to do better, baby. I love you, blog.