After spending some time here in Bend at Smith Rock, Cougar and Widgi I've done about 33 boulder problems and about 50
routes logged. Notable Smith climbs are: 5 Gallon Buckets 5.9 4 star, 9 Gallon Buckets 5.10c 4 star, Bluelight Special
5.11a (need to clean), Wherever I May Roam 5 pitch 5.9, Vomit Launch 5.11b (TR), Heresey 5.11d project, Barbeque the Pope
5.10b 4 star.
Now I'm heading north again for Greg's 30th on the 30th in Seattle then to Whistler for biking
and Squamish again for climbing. I'll need to regroup in Tucson then I'm off to Potrero Chico in Mexico for
a while. Anybody interested in meeting me down there this winter? Ed and Gary have already expressed interest...
and Mar may come down for our birthdays.
Ok - I had to redo the photos section because I started to develop a distinct hatred for the advertising, the spam mail and
awkward interface to the 'myalbum' site. I now have a decent way to load photos to my own website through Jalbum.
More to come.
Latest: Really enjoying Bend right now. What a great place to be for the summer.
I've been meeting lots of climbers and climbing at Smith or the local boulders fairly frequently. Just last Saturday
I was climbing with two new people and picked up a fourth from Alaska while we were there! It's a very close community
of bums, hippies and weekend warriors. I just picked up a used trad rack to expand my climbing into cracks, less popular
routes and mixed climbs.
My interest in photography has also grown necessitating the purchase of a Canon
XSi digital SLR and a couple lenses, an 18-55 zoom (cheapie) and a 30mm f/1.4 but I'll eventually need an 80mm f/1.8
Look for more photography and photoshopped shots soon.
If you're into websites and photoediting - check out
Jalbum (freeware to build easy webpages) and GIMP (also freeware - equivalent to Photoshop Elements but free!). You
can add comments to the photos so please feel free to yell at me for posting the one of you picking your nose.
A
slightly more detailed rundown of my trip so far:
Albuquerque - March - Got laid off so I drank a lot, sold my
house, sold Newton (Lotus) and a bunch of possesions.
Tucson - April - Moved in with Ed expecting to develop the land
we own. Because of the market that was a bad idea. Thought about running the consulting, construction and game
businesses full time until I realized this was the only opportunity to go screw around for an extended period of time, paving
the way for the trip to the great Northwest.
Moab, UT - May - Killer adventure trip (see photos) with Gary, Sev, Aleesha,
Ed, Mellissa, Mary, Tammy.
San Diego - June - Bouldering, biking and just hanging out.
Bend, OR - June - Some climbing
at Smith and hanging out with my dad for the first time in years.
Portland, OR - June - Saw my brother and his new baby!
Did some climbing at Carver
Seattle, WA - 4th of July - Hung out with Aleesha and family with a little climbing at Exit
32
Squamish, BC - July - 1st trip there with Aleesha for climbing, climbing and more climbing
Fayatteville, NC -
July - Flew here to pick up a '72 Morris Mini for Aleesha. Of course they lost my bags with all the tools.
Then I broke down on a Friday night in a ghetto part of Atlanta, eliciting the help of a bum to get me a jump while dodging
hookers and drug deals. Finally got a battery and was on my way through the rest of the hot, muggy south with no A/C.
Made it to New Orleans and spent a few days there.
New Orleans, LA - July - BBQs, Bourbon St., and logging - what better
way to spend some time in the south?
Seattle - July - Climbing at Exit 38 with Beth
Squamish BC - There again but
with Gary this time climbing with a little biking.
Richland, WA - July - Came out to see Mikey Lauer, Lisa and baby.
Squeezed in some Kayaking on the Yakima.
Hood River, OR - July - Saw Craig McConnel and wife (and dog). Did some
biking at Post Canyon and some drinking at the awesome fair in Odell. Hood River has a lot of vans with stickers on
it like mine!
Portland, OR - Beerfest with Gary. Holy boozy the clown. There was a bit of drinking going
on. 12 hours in one day if I recal (which I don't really).
Bend, OR - Aug - Kohen's 1st birthday!
Lots of climbing at Smith. Did you know how many Milfy cougars are here? I think there's a factory nearby...
It for now... stay tuned.
March 18, 2008
Lots happening as of late. I was laid off and couldn't be happier. I'm selling my house and moving
back to Tucson. I've been skiing quite a bit and seeing lots of music. Check out The Old Main and The Dirty Novels. I
have lots of pictures to post but I think I'll go get a drink or three first.
Jan 3, 2008
Christmas was
fun - spent time with Cassie and her family then had a solid game of Audacity. If you haven't played... well you're
missing out. Craig and Sarah happened to be in the neighborhood - always good to see the redhead. New Year's Eve was in
LA and now I'm back to work. Cassie had a photo shoot... more to come but
here is one of them. Awesome.
After some arm and back injuries I'm back into climbing. At least I didn't blow out
my knee like Alyssa.
Dec 13, 2007
New video for you - this oneone has music! Nov 24, 2007
I'm finally settling into my new house. For everybody that was asking about pictures,
you can go here. It's a really big file so I would suggest saving to your computer and taking a nap while you wait. I finished a V7 in
the gym the other day just before they tore everything down for a competition. Aside from climbing I've been working on
a theatre room. It's an 8 ft. wide screen (projector). Only shortcoming is the lack of a BluRay or HD player. For those
of you that feel compelled to follow the holiday tradition of consumerism; there's a few things I could use for my house:
wall clock (bedroom)
Movie posters. big, small, old, new, doesn't matter. A few of my favorites: Fight Club, Sin
City, Boondock Saints, Crash, Transformers, The Usual Suspects
Window blinds
I'll be in Pasadena for New Year's
Eve for anybody that's in the area.
Oct 24, 2007
Quick update... job is awesome (in case you were wondering
what I do: Adaptive Optics... I take the twinkle out of stars); house is great; track day was killer; meeting new people;
been climbing lots (V5s and 6s now). Albuquerque is pretty cool but the nightlife sorta bites.
Sept 21, 2007
Back
from a trip to Italy. I had an offer accepted in ABQ on a house so hopefully everything goes well with the inspection.
August 21, 2007
Lot of new things happening. My sister had a baby on Aug 8th - Kohen Wesley Swindlehurst (try saying that 5 times fast).
Pics. I've been climbing outside a bunch. I'm changing jobs and moving to Albuquerque NM. The company is AgilOptics - they make thin membrane deformable
mirrors for adaptive optics. My first day is Sept 28th so I have a bunch of work to do to get out there.
I finally got
the gallery section of the site back up and working (along with my greencrap email). I even updated some of the links. While
I was at it I thought I'd update the layout. I still have some work on it but it's better...
July 5, 2007
4th of July Partyat Gina's
June 3, 2007
Cool urban climbing
May 29, 2007
We had a track weekend at Arroyo Seco in NM. Oliver may not be a good tow vehicle but he's a
great camping van! Pics
I got first in my class in the time trials but I was about 5 seconds off the fast time by Brady (285 race slicks all
the way around - that's a lot of rubber). Cassie did awesome - 2 weeks into learning to drive a stick and she had her
first track day and 3 spins off the track. I never thought I'd say this but Miatas are cool.
Quotes for the weekend:
"I can screw up a wet dream"
"Do you still have to shit? No - I farted and I'm good now"
"You can't smell it?!? It's saturating my clothes!"
Helluva weekend.
May 20, 2007
OK -
web hoster is still screwed up so my homepage isn't working right and the pictures will not load right. For the latest
climbing pics go here. There is also a picture of the new track rat that Cassie has. Yes - that's a hot pink skull and Crossbones thanks to
me!
May 7, 2007
Life is grand! I went to LA for Greg's housewarming party (again) and had a blast. I towed
Newton with Oliver (car, van respectively in case you're wondering) for a track day at Buttonwillow which turned out to
be a bust. It was raining and they didn't want us on the track anyway (only race prepped cars). Lots of driving and I
even had a friend for the trip back - a little snail that I thought kicked ass for making it all the way back on a side window...
until I noticed he dried out and was glued to the window.
I thought I was supposed to move the weekend after Greg's
party but we had a program delay so it's looking more like Feb '08 so I have some more time here with friends in AZ!
This last weekend was nuts. (note that I still can't load pictures in the gallery yet). Saturday I did Firebird main track with a good group
- Ed, Mikey, Maryanne, Donna, Jeremy, Ryan and Cassie. We packed up and headed to PIR where we camped for the night (van camping,
not the hokey pokey, is what it's all about). We set up a projection unit and the PS2 and played a little Grand Turismo
on the side of a Porsche trailer. We then got up and took a quick shower (applied new pit stick) then did another track day.
This wasn't as fun - had to do some drills and I got paired with a very slow corvette and an even slower S2000. oh well.
As if I couldn't have enough fun without going to jail I got home, unloaded all my stuff then went to a Tool concert with
Mikey and company! Illenium. I now feel like a million bucks... spent and I need some sleep.
March 23, 2007
I seriously
can't get picture up since the webhoster changed everything and I still can't get email. This aside I have been adding
to the quotes page. In other news I'm moving back to the Bay Area May 1st. Not real happy about it but it's part of
the job. For those interested in my latest venture check out Firepoint Optics.
Feb 14, 2007
It's been a while since my last update and I have so many pictures... that I can't seem
to get uploaded. Let's see... I graduated and had my mum, Ryan and Marisol, Mar and Sev down to Tucson. I went to LA for
new year and saw Greg. I turned 28, then almost immediately after that learned how to dress myself and tie my shoes. I went
to Barrett Jackson in Phoenix which is kickass. In case you don't know it is THE largest car auction on the planet (televised
on speed channel). I just got back from LA - Greg, Ed, Buehn and I did a track day at Buttonwillow. We were the only three
closed wheel cars so we had the track to ourselves for half the day. Greg had a spin out that lasted so long I had time to
call ahead for dinner reservations while I sat in the passenger seat. It's amazing how far you can slide when you round
a corner at 95. Next day we did another track day at Willow Springs which is a FAST track. Greg couldn't run cuz he turned
his front brakes into a lathe but Ed and I had a blast. Heather and Meagan stopped by for a couple rides. Let's see...
what else... oh - and I started an optical design and instrumentation company called Firepoint Optics with two brilliant scientists.
I love my life!
Dec 7, 2006
Life has been hell as of late but it's come to a spectacular end as of yesterday...
I finished my last bit of work for school, defense is done (I passed) and I sold the coffee cart. Now all I have to do is
enjoy life for the next 4 months until I move back to California!
Sept 18, 2006
I loaded my thesis (not quite complete yet) but it's about 99% there. The link is at the bottom of the page. If you're a big fat dork
then you'll want to know all about Silicon carbide optics. My defense is in early November. Graduation is December 16th.
Mojo Espresso is starting to really pick up. We have our ad in the newspaper, flyers etc. and it seems to be making a difference. The Emily
pair (our employees are both named Emily) are kickass. One is the manager and she's handling most of the daily operations
now. I've developed an espresso addiction which is awesome. We had our vendor say we were in the 95th percentile concerning
our espresso making... turns out that most people don't take data like two scientists do. We also had a restaraunt person
comment on our ability to start business with all the permits, licenses, lease contracts etc. saying that people's lack
of preparation, research and planning cause most food businesses to fail. With all that it's taken to get going it's
nice to hear the praises of people in the industry - especially since we didn't have a clue how to start in the beginning.
Oh - and I'm selling my old house. Too much maintenance and the tenants lease is up. Should be sold by the end of the
year.
New quotes up too. I'll be updating that periodically since we now have a daily quote/fact board at MOJO.
August
12, 2006
The coolest dog ever to hit the face of the planet is no longer with us. I'm sad.
Rest in peace Rogue.
November 1, 2004 - August 12, 2006.
You can view pictures of Roguehere
A friend sent me this - thought it was pretty good.
HOPI PRAYER of The Soul's Graduation:
Do not stand
at my grave and weep
I am not there,
I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond
glints on snow.
I am the sunlight
On the ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn's rain.
When you awaken
in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that
shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there.
I did not die.
My Spirit is still alive…
July
31, 2006 Trip to Hawaii
Spend nine days in Hawaii on Waikiki beach with Ed, Julianne and Greg. We did some standard vanilla
tourist stuff like wreck diving, snorkeling at Three Tables, jet skiing and driving around the island but the real fun to
be had is with the excessive use of e-brakes, inordinate abuse of the phrase "I'm out like a boner in sweatpants,"
and especially the blatant disregard for personal safety on scooters. Who knew you could run an impromptu autocross course
in the BYU campus parking lot? Who knew you could catch a foot of air off a speed bump with a scooter? And did you know that
cul-de-sacs aren't really a dead end for a scooter and the three pirates piloting them? I'm willing to bet the manufacturer
of these little 50cc dogs had no idea you could slide the back end out 60 degrees and still recover. I'm also willing
to bet that the transmission designers for a Pontiac Grand Am GTP didn't include rollback neutral drops in their design
criteria... nonetheless 5 in a row. Combine that with several sessions bouncing off the rev limiter... in neutral... at a
stop... at a crosswalk and you've got yourself a car that doesn't move anymore, and conveniently quits in the middle
of a three lane highway.
"Hell if I'd a known it was going to be that kinda party I'd a stuck my d*%$k
in the mash potatoes!"
Pics here
Vids here
July 8, 2006
Trip to the NW again. Picture are here and videos here. I flew in and had a track day at SIR thanks to Mikey, Donna and Ed trailering cars, tools and tires up the weekend before.
Ed blew his clutch. Spent Friday and Saturday with Greg in Seattle then drove down to Ocean Park to see my mom and brother.
The roads west of I-5 are awesome curvy smooth racetracks. Only downside was hitting a bird at 90 mph - thought I would have
cracked the front clamshell but I came out with just a couple dings. Spent the week back in Seattle working on my thesis.
Went on a date with a very beautiful young lady. Sev came up Thursday so we went to Seattle underground which was very cool
- 25 blocks of Seattle that was built after a fire then built over the top of to help with flooding. Downtown Seattle as we
know it is the upper floor. We had a great track day at PIR - no major problems or wrecks. Ryan, Sev and Gulick came out to
ride passenger and had a great time. Went out for drinks that night then got up early for the drive to Tucson which was a
little bit of hell but the scenery and roads were spectacular. We each managed a speeding ticket - lucky for us they pinched
us when we were going slow.
April 27, 2006
Trip to Seattle to pick up some coffee equipment. Also some new car pics
April 1, 2006
Another kickass day on the track - this time Firebird's West track. Raced with an Exige which was fun. Saw a roommate from an internship about 6 years
ago - that was weird. Some guy got some pictures too so more to come.
March 21, 2006
Some photos of my trip to
Sedona and the Grand Canyon with mikey. Rogue was a great camping dog, even though he stepped on our heads while sleeping, couldn't
catch the camp robbing crows and scares everybody on the trail. There's also pics of the Pima Air museum.
March
11, 2006
A few new photos up. Check out the Carerra GT with the silicon carbide brake rotors. I went to the Arizona Regionals for the high school robotics. We did OK but it was clear that other teams were much larger and much more well funded. If you want to know more about 1st
Robotics and my team click here.
I don't like coffee but I'm starting a stand with a friend. Should be a small money maker and fun just to
do something different than engineering.
Feb 5, 2006
Just had another track day, this time at Firebird. Killer course and the Elise handled awesome. I rode with Gabby who has been racing for ten years... she drives at 10/10ths
and never blinked. The gallery will have more photos when I get some actions shots from friends.
Dec 29, 2005
Hmmm...
writing twice in a month. Odd. I raced my car at Phoenix International Raceway - almost better than sex - definitely
better than sex with me. Ummm... people got sick, people died, people broke up, people got hurt - not a very festive
season. Merry fucking Christmas.
Dec 11, 2005
I've come up for air from my little dwelling called 'finals'
so I have time to write a bit. Latest... I went to two other autocrosses - one went well the other was not so good. I had
bad understeer the entire course and had a couple mis-shifts. I've since changed the front camber to help with the former.
I got hit by a car on my bike a few weeks back. That was fun - 6 hrs in the hospital, 4 hrs of sleep then off I went
to Montana for Mikey's wedding, which was cool by the way - out in the boonies in an awesome log cabin but damn was it
cold! Cool thing about limping in an airport is that you get to ride in a wheelchair! How cool is that. Anyway - bike is a
little bent out of shape but I haven't made an attempt to fix it will finals eminent. The lady that hit me went straight
to jail - no license, no insurance, no front teeth. Pretty sweet.
My grandpa was out in October for a low-vision clinic
- got to visit with him and introduce him to Anitra - the only one to meet her so far. Das aboot it.
Sept 16, 2005
I reworked the website to be easier to maintain. The only part noticeable is the photo section that I changed over
to make use of a gallery viewer. I can easily add buttons now that doesn't require the complete generation of new
graphics and if you notice there are a couple new ones and a few that didn't make the cut from the last site. A
majority of the links below to pictures will not work.
Aug 31, 2005
Ok, so I got a new house right next to the Rillito River Wash - I take Rogue running through there all the time. Speaking of Rogue... all 100 lbs
of him ran into a fire hydrant at full speed. I never accused him of being smart. Classes started; I'm taking Linear Systems
and Fourier Transforms and working on my thesis which will be based on Silicon Carbide (SiC) mirrors. This is the same material
Porsche used on the clutch and brakes for their Carrera GT. Sorry Mar - no new pics of Rogue. I'm building some chairs
out of metal and leather that I need to get pics for too. I went to Oregon for Craigs wedding - had a blast.
April 19, 2005
Pictures of my new Lotus and one of Rogue with Otis
March 27, 2005
I have a few new pictures up on the Biking page. March marks my 1 year mark in Arizona. Still haven't received any pictures from vegas...
Jan 27, 2005
I did a full prototype of Audacity - 450 terms on cards, instructions and the whole bit. It's a hit but people think
I'm a sick sick boy - I have to remind them I'm just reporting the terms, not making them up!
I turned 26. I'm
old. Rogue turned 3 months. He's young, but he already weighs 33 lbs.
I have a vegas trip coming up in a couple weeks - look
for new pictures.
Nov 28, 2004
I have a new dog! Actually not quite yet - he comes in a week. It's a Rottweiler
and his name is Rogue, ya know - after the Oregon river, the Brewery and because he's a badass mofo. His dad is a show dog and both parents
are smart, have good bones and good temperments. Rogue was the biggest of the litter but they let him go cheap (relatively)
because he has a white spot on his chest, disqualifying him from show status.
Nov 4, 2004
The triathlon was a success (I finished and got drunk). Aleesha killed us in the swim as expected and Nate rocked us in the run.
I
also have a few more house pictures.
Sept 24, 2004
Well I've started school again - graduate courses in Optical Science at the UofA with
the rest of the biggest tards in world. I've also registered for a triathlon in Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco), Mexico on Oct 23rd - pics of my pathetic performance will come shortly after. 1km swim,
30km bike and a 8km run. My roommate Nate and Aleesha have registered too - Aleesha is the swimmer, Nate is X-country, I'm
a biker. We all have our strengths and the other legs are a definite weakness! I hopped in the pool a month ago and could
barely finish 50 meters. "How far was that? - only 50 meters! - crap I'm going home to drink some PBR"
Here are some Quotes I like
July 26, 2004
Just in case you were wondering if you are cool or not - here is a test
July 19, 2004
Some house pictures to show where all my free time is going... Tile work, new subfloors etc etc - mostly boring home owner stuff.
April
23, 2004
Check out the pictures from Brazil!
April 17, 2004
Vegas - Rode my motorcycle the 6 hours up to Vegas for a relaxing little vacation in Sin City.
Since I can't repeat any good stories I'll leave it at this: 6 hours sleep the whole weekend, there were piercings,
lap dances, strange women, and amongst it all I bought a house. Good decisions are always made after 15 hours of booze and
no sleep! Fortunately there were no pictures.
April 3, 2004
I've finally reworked the website. It is no longer
intended as a commercial site, although I will still sell some shirts if you inquire. The new purpose: Talk about crap in
the Green family. I'll soon have some photos from my favorite pastimes such as drinking, biking, travels and drinking.
