Ouch and a Candle4Tibet

I have FINALLY gotten to go rock climbing! Ironically, the
injury photos that are here aren't from the actual climb. They are from the hike down afterwards. Overall, the day was great. I met up with two recent graduates, a student who moved to the midwest, and one of the members of the climbing team, and together with my son and his best friend, we headed up to Boulder Canyon for a few hours.

The day was perfect. We got there early enough in the morning that it hadn't gotten really hot yet, so that really helped. We knocked out a couple of climbs, and then around noon decided that it was getting hot, so it was time to go. That's when
the fun began.

About halfway down the trail, there is what is called a talus field; basically a big section of rocks. I was the last one over it, and I guess I wasn't paying full attention, because the next thing I knew, down I went. I pitched forward and landed on my knees and right arm. Not a lot of fun. I actually hit my arm hard enough that I thought maybe I'd broken it, so I rolled over on my back and took a few seconds to make sure I was okay. I did a quick scan and realized that nothing was broken, which was a pretty huge relief. I got up and finished the hike down, then we headed home.

I still can't believe that school starts in less than a month. Wow... this summer went by incredibly quickly!! I'm still working on getting podcasts together, and I haven't had much of a chance to experiment with my Smart Board.

In other news, on August 7th, I would like to encourage everyone reading this to light a candle for Tibet. It's part of a campaign to get 100,000,000 people to light candles the night before the Olympics starts to remind people of what is happening to Tibet and the Tibetan people. It is a nonviolent, global public statement that will help to remind our world leaders that we have not forgotten Tibet. There is also a social network on Ning (which was mentioned during our Global Learners training... see?! I was paying attention!), which I would also encourage people to join. The time to light the candle is 9:00 p.m. local time (whichever time zone that may be). If our world leaders won't do it, someone needs to show them how.

The deep breath before the storm

Some time ago, I mentioned that my raw milk delivery had started. One of the niftiest bonuses of that is access to raw cream. I got my first order of raw cream this past weekend, and got inspired to make some creme brulee. I don't know why I don't make it more often... it's ridiculously easy to make, and hey, I get to play with a blow torch! At any rate, I made it, and it came out the most AMAZING sunlight golden color I've ever seen from a creme brulee. It was beautiful to look at, and the flavor was both delicate and rich at the same time... the perfect match of decadence. Next time, I'm making a double batch. :-)

Tonight is a night of (relative) quiet for me. Tomorrow I have to be sure to post my review of Why the Dalai Lama Matters by Robert Thurman, then I head to the Elephant office to get some work done for Wednesday's event. Waylon (publisher of Elephant) is taking me to sushi for dinner (ROCK!!!) since I'm going to stay for the Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche's teaching later that night. Tuesday, I'm off to the Tattered Cover to touch base with Prof. Thurman, who will be there doing a talk and book signing in Denver, then Wednesday is the Elevision event.

Read an article recently discussing how yoga, meditation, and the like affect a person on the genetic level, which is just really amazing and cool. It couples nicely with another article I read not too long ago discussing a study that was done indicating that a healthy diet and exercise also affects an individual on the genetic level. I KNEW this stuff was good for me... now I find out that it's good for me all the way down to my genes, too. Nifty. All the more reason for me to remain committed to my lifestyle, and to be sure to reinforce it with the kids on the climbing team.

July 20 already. I go back to work in less than a month. Ack!! Where has the time gone?! I still haven't finalized my thoughts on the book club, there's my Smart Board to play with yet, and I have only gone climbing ONCE this whole summer!!

World Tibet Day

World Tibet Day is this weekend. Basically it's a day of celebration of the Tibetan culture and an observance of the birthday of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama's birthday. Boulder's celebration of it is tomorrow, and I'm pretty psyched about it. Kyle has to work all day tomorrow, so he had to miss it, but Blake and I will be able to go since Blake only has to work two hours. I think it's going to be a LOT of fun.

In other news, things with the Robert Thurman event are going pretty well. Endangered Species Chocolate has signed on as a sponsor of the event, which is really cool of them, and has moved them up into my favorite chocolate company. It was already pretty cool that they donate 10% of their profits to environmental causes, and now they've demonstrated that they are about a lot more than just that. Very cool of them. Prana and the Gaia Community have also expressed interest, which is really encouraging. I'm really excited about being able to meet and talk with Professor Thurman. By all accounts, he's a pretty amazing man.

I didn't get to do any climbing this week (argh!), but I did get some yoga and lots of bike riding in (yay!). Maybe Sunday will be my big chance to get on the rocks (crosses fingers). Let's hope! In the meantime... I'm off to enjoy some fireworks.

Yoga!!!

Finally did some yoga today... it had been a while since I'd done any, and it felt great. I'm definitely going to commit to making it a daily habit like I did last summer. It's much harder to do it every day during the school year, but there's no real excuse not to over the summer.

I downloaded some podcasts to my Zune yesterday; my next goal is to start experimenting with the Audacity software so that I can hit the ground running next year with my own podcasts. It really is my goal to have individual webpages for my classes, complete with podcasts. I'd put them up at the end of each day, and then take them down again on Sunday evening so as to not burn bandwidth. I figure if I leave them up until say, 10:00 on Sunday night, that should give my students plenty of time to listen to them/download them as needed. I'd take the notes down also since I'd also email them the notes anyway... hmm... seems redundant to post the notes and email them, so perhaps I'd email them the notes and then just post the podcasts. Either way, I'm really excited about it. (In case you couldn't tell... ha ha!)

Now if I could just find my climbing gear (it's buried in the garage somewhere), I could actually get out and climb!!!

Stop, guac, and roll

Took a break from unpacking (will it never end?) to take a trip to Boulder for Boulder Park(ing) Spaces day. Basically the concept is that various businesses took a parking space (or two) and instead of using it for cars, they set up a park with some sort of theme or activity or whatever. There were dog parks set up, a yoga park (woohoo!)... all sorts of really cool things. My first stop of the day was at Full Cycle on Pearl St., where Chipotle was giving away cups of chips with guacamole... yay, free chips and guac!! :-D It was a lot of fun, and I had a great time cycling around Boulder, in spite of losing my front brakes when a part that helps with the cable failed... back to Bicycle Village for repairs when I hit the Farmers' Market tomorrow.

In other news, gas prices are really getting on my nerves. I fully intend to spend a LOT more time on my bike this summer, which is great, but gas prices are also going to cut into my climbing trips big time. I love climbing, and as a rule, I would try to go out at least 2-3 times a week over the summers, but with gas prices being what they are, it looks like a once a week trip is likely to be more realistic and financially feasible. *sigh* Of course, it will also encourage me to fulfill that goal of riding my bike to Boulder, so that's pretty cool, really. If/when I do that (part of that equation involves convincing Kyle to do it), I'll definitely do a post about the trip. Stay tuned!

Another great day

An absolutely amazing day today. I'm still unpacking from the move (where did I get all of this junk??), but took the day to head to the farmers' market (of course), and stopped by the shop owned by my friend, Tenzin. Also had the pleasure of catching up with another friend of mine who formerly owned a coffee company but has switched over to hibiscus-based drinks. I tried one, and it was pretty tasty, I have to say.

I still haven't been able to do any yoga, climbing, or cycling, but considering that there is no room in my living room for yoga, my bikes are buried somewhere in the garage, and I've had no time for climbing, I guess that's not really surprising. Soon... soon.

I've been eating more vegetarian meals lately. Don't worry, I still like MEAT. In fact, I made some bison burgers this week that made me really happy, but tonight I experimented with tofu a bit. I sauteed some tofu in coconut oil, then baked it in a chipotle-citrus barbecue sauce, and topped it with a pineapple-mango salsa that Blake (Kyle's friend) and I made from scratch and off the top of our heads. It turned out pretty great, really. Oh... and yes, it was all organic. :-D Much of it was even local, compliments of the farmers' market.

I've also had no time for reading, which really bums me out. I'm thinking of doing some tonight, provided that I can find the book I want to read. :-p Oh yeah... moving is great, let me tell you. My goal is to be completely settled in before next week's farmers' market. Craigslist is going to love me pretty soon... I've been finding a lot of stuff and wondering why I still have it, so it's time to get rid of it... an ice cream maker that I've never used, and in fact I now have two, so it's time to get rid of one of them, a LARGE cast iron frying pan, a wok (again... I have two [why?]), a windsurfing board (was a cool gift at the time, but....)... all things that I have no idea why I still have them, and I know there will be more to come once I get to really sorting through boxes. Time to purge those things I no longer need... I even found a decoration I'd saved from my high school senior prom, for Pete's sake... what have I been thinking?? Time to purge. As Henry David Thoreau said, "Simplify, simplify." I thought about having a garage sale, but that's too much hassle, so I'm probably going to give most of it away, with the exception maybe of the extra washer and dryer I now have.

I like the new place except that the dishwasher doesn't work that well. bleah. I'll deal with it, or perhaps discuss it with the landlord; we'll see how bad it gets.

More unpacking tomorrow, then I can start on the garage and get my bikes out!! Woohoo!!