remember when?

Remember back when you would walk in to church with your parents and while they were handed a bulletin you would receive a kids bulletin? You would sit in big church and diligently work on all the activities the kids bulletin offered before the preacher really got into his talk, in which time you slept on mom’s shoulder. Those were good times, no? Well one activity always found its way to these sheets: the ol‘ Find the Difference pictures.

You know, two pictures that at first glance are identical but upon further inspection (which is exactly what the activity calls for) you realize there are five or ten, or some other number, differences between the two pictures. One has extra stuff, or the other is missing stuff. Whichever way you look at it, they aren’t the same.

I’ve taken you on this trip down memory lane to display to you one of my newest forms of art: digital photo editing. I downloaded this very smart freeware for photo editing called GIMP. It’s basically a free (and probably less user-friendly) version of Photo Shop.

I really don’t know how to do much with this program, I’ve still got tons of learning to do, but one thing I have learned, how to take stuff out of pictures. So, pictured above is a shot taken last spring break at Hueco Tanks, and pictured below is the edited version. Something(s) is(are) missing, can you tell me what it(they) are?

by popular demand

Hueco… thanks.

I can tell by the countless number of blog comments, voicemails, and text messages I received while in El Paso that all of my readers, friends, and acquaintances are bursting at the seams to hear about how my climbing trip went. Well, here’s the info you’ve been losing sleep over. Overall, our trip was amazing. We climbed for a total of 5 days (climb three days, rest one, climb two more) and after it was all said and done, we had sent a whole lot of rad problems and our fingers bear the abrasions to prove it. The picture above is of me starting a problem called “Nobody Gets Out of Here Alive.” That’s right, I’m starting it, not falling from it. This was by far the raddest V2 I’ve ever been on in my life. The hardest problem I sent over the week was a V4, while Colby and Mikey both sent a V5 (those stallions). We climbed around 8 hours a day, which not only allowed our muscles and finger pads to wear out, it also put us out in the sun long enough for my little nose to get real red. How someone as white as me forgets to pack sunscreen, the world may never know. On our next to last day at the Tanks, we were bouldering in this phenomenal cave that housed a V6 roof problem. The only inhabitants of the cave were the three of us, and two other, much stronger, climbers. After looking at one of the other occupants of the cave I realized it was professional climber Dave Graham… so we can say we’ve bouldered with Dave Graham, which is pretty dang cool. As is the case with most of my posts, there are many other stories and pictures that go along with this trip, and if you’d like to see them, you know who to call.

Spring Break ‘06… yeah!

Please pardon the fact that there will be no blog updates for this week. I will be in El Paso, bouldering at the world renouned Hueco Tanks (pronounced wa-co t’ank-s). Mikey, Colby, myself, and many other Aggie climbers will take two twelve hour drives, and climb for six days, and then you’ll get your update. Have a nice spring break folks, y’all be safe. I love you.

friends forever

As anyone who is associated with me in some form or fashion knows, I hold my friends in very high regard. A friend who probably takes the cake in being held high is Colby Neal Ivey. The picture displayed before you shows Colby and I atop “Black Cat Bone,” a 9 pitch 5.10d at El Potrero Chico. I opted to post this particular photo for a number of reasons. First, this shot offers a decent idea of how tall this climb is. To Colby’s left you can see down to the bottom of the valley, and all the green stuff are full size trees (if that helps give you an idea). Second, I feel like this photograph give everyone a glimpse into the real Colby, the ferocious monster that he is, and not the meek angel he appears to be when you see him outside Francis Hall. Last, I believe this picture will give you a better look into my mouth than you’ve ever wanted before.

If you happened to be thinking that this was the same route Colby and I were climbing when our Chacos got stolen, well you’d be correct. And for those of you wondering how my decision making has come along on the great conundrum, I’ve opted to hold out for the new, lighter Chaco… but I really don’t know how much longer I can wait.

trip results…

I got back from Mexico today, and I figured a good way to let everyone know that I safely made my return to the Land of the Free was to post a new blog entry. I’ll give you the reader’s digest version of the trip here quickly: We rode a Greyhound to Mexico, where we were to spend 5 days rock climbing. The weather (and our finger pads) allowed us 3 and a half great days of climbing on some stellar Mexican limestone. The two longest routes I climbed were “Black Cat Bone” with Colby (a 9 pitch 5.10d), and “Yankee Clipper” with Todd (a 13 pitch 5.10c). The former was a solid 850 vertical feet, while the latter boasted well over 1,000. And during the many hours Colby and I spent on “Black Cat Bone,” meanwhile, down at the bottom of our route, some Mexican stole my rope bag, which housed both mine and Colby’s Chacos… Ergo, I had to buy these Mexican Chacos in town… I have not been that mad in as long as I can remember, but the Lord used it to show me how materialistic I am, and now I have something to ask for for Christmas. Thanks to you guys who thought about and missed me… you’re great. For more pics from the trip, click here.

trip number one

If you’re reading this, and it’s the post at the very top of the page, then chances are I’m in Mexico. I thought I’d leave you all with one last post before I leave. I’m leaving in an hour to go to Austin, hop on a Greyhound bus, and take it to Mexico where we’ll be climbing at El Portrero Chico. I’ll be returning on December 21st, so feel free to leave me a message to return home to. Also, feel free to pray that we’re all safe and smart on this trip, and more importantly that the Lord will open up some doors for the gospel to go out… cause that’s where the party really is. Have fun doing what y’all are doing, and I’ll be back with pics in about a week.

rock on!

This past Friday Mikey and I were blessed with the wonderful privileged of taking 2/3rd’s of the 6 Chicks climbing in Austin. That’s 4 chicks for those of you who are mathematically deficient. Despite arriving at Reimer’s Ranch around 2:30pm, we managed to get to our desired wall, set up shop and climb for a few hours. Major happenings of those few hours include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Claire coming to the realization that an eyeball is not merely the colored part of one’s eye, rather it’s the entire eye, white part included.
- D.O. farted.
- Hayley and Jess got real sweaty during their time on the routes.
- Mikey cleaned his first ever route.
- Sarah fell asleep on a boulder mattress.
- Baby Cooper cried, slept, and woke up.

In conclusion, it turned out to be a very successful day which was topped off by a visit to Hula Hut, which, though it could have been disastrous, was salvaged by the fact that we merely ate appetizers and left.