For my health

So I'm trying to be healthy, y'know? I'm seeing how many days I can go without added sugar/ dessert snacks. That is, I cannot eat things that are sugary just to be sugary as a snack or meal or dessert, what have you. I still take a sweet and salty granola bar to work. And I can have honey in things, though I usually don't use it for anything, I like my tea black (or green.) And fruit. But not juice. I've been drying fruit, if you haven't been keeping up. I've done raspberries, which was a new thing, and bananas which wasn't new. And just today I dried some pineapple. I'm going to have to get more while their still on sale at the queen soopers. I also made some jerky. The second batch turned out heaps better than the first. I think the quality of meat might have had something to do with it. And I found a better marinade recipe. I think that half price dehydrator has already paid itself off.

pineapple!

jerky

Along with my (mostly) healthy diet, I've been trying to get back into a more regular exercise routine. Every weekend my boyfriend and I hike, and lately it's been eight or more miles, so that's been great. And we try to trail run about 3 miles once a week. Haven't done that as regularly. And we also occasionally do a loop around the neighborhood park. Last week I did a little parkour training with a friend. Hopefully we can keep that up regularly.

Each morning for the past month or so, when I get up I do some push ups and pull ups and some core conditioning (that doesn't include sit ups or crunches!) This has generally helped my lower back pain and energized me for the day.



I am not doing the "dieting" and exercise in order to lose weight (though I am a bit soft around the middle), I am doing it to be healthy. And perhaps to one day be see my abdominal muscles, I know they are there.  I will not be weighing myself regularly and keeping count, though I did record my weigh on the 1st. It's just that I need to create more healthy habits. I want to be able to do certain things (parkour) and my lifestyle right now doesn't enable that.

So yeah, that's me being healthy. It's been one week since I've eaten candy (yes, I made it through Halloween.) Here's to many more.

The Enemy Gate is Down

This is a spoiler-filled review of the film Ender's Game. (Please note that I am not going to get into any discussion on the author, Orson Scott Card, especially related to his politics and religious beliefs.)

The film was okay. It seemed... simple, I guess. I know it'd be hard to get all the nuances of the book onto the screen, but I was bummed with how it turned out. At the same time, I was amazed at what was pulled off. As a stand alone film, it was quite engaging, or at least I assume it would be. But I've only just finished listening to the audiobooks, so the differences were disappointing to say the least.

First of all, it seemed to move too fast. The novel takes place over several years. Ender is 6 at the beginning and around 11 at the end. The film seemed to take up only about a month's worth of time. Which is really quite implausible considering the task at hand. The children had to learn not only basic school studies, but also tactical maneuvers and how to work together as a unit. I understand that it would be hard to film a kid growing up, but I also think that they may have chosen a slightly too old kid. Yes, Asa Butterfield's performance was strong, and he looks quite young. However, he was 14 or so during filming and he's quite tall, which made some of the fights seem not as momentous as in the book. In the book, fighting the bullies and winning was a big deal because he wasn't bigger than them in any way. He had to use his brain to find ways to overcome them.

Another thing I missed in the film was Peter and Valentine's deeper roles. I realize that it was unnecessary for the film to have anything to do with them, but it didn't really drive home how awful Peter was and how good Val was. How Ender wanted to be nothing like Peter in any way. And it skipped all of Peter and Val's writing to become influential on earth; which was not needed for the film, but still quite interesting, as they were just as smart as Ender, but not suited for Battle School.

I think that they used the phrase "The enemy's gate is down" in much to trite a manner. We didn't get to see how Ender reoriented the Battle Room to fit this idea. How he had his soldiers attack feet first to make smaller targets, and now none of the other Armies could figure out his tactics. It made the phrase nearly meaningless when Bean reminded Ender of it at the beginning of the final battle.

There are things I did like about the film. The performances were quite good. Asa Butterfield embodied much of the Ender I imagined as I read. He showed confidence and strength of character. He did reveal a lot more emotion in the film; but in the book, we were inside his head, reading about his anguish and lonliness. He never expressed it. It would have been impossible to portray that onscreen. Butterfield also handled an American accent quite nicely. That's got to be hard. Harrison Ford made a perfectly dispassionate Col. Graff. I loved the changes they made to Major Anderson; choosing Viola Davis for the part was perfect. And Ben Kingsly! At first I was worried after seeing promotional photos of his tattooed face. I worried about cultural appropriation and the like, though I knew the character Mazer Rackham was from New Zealand. But the simple fact that Kingsly used a spot-on Kiwi accent washed all those misgivings away. He was perhaps my favorite part.

I also very much enjoyed the film visually. The simulations were amazing. I wanted to see much more of those. The Battle Room was also quite awesome, though not as I had imagined. I imagined a stark white room. No views anywhere at Battle School. But I liked the visuals of space and earth. I wish they'd showed more battles there as well.

So I was disappointed that the film left out a lot of beloved details. It seemed rushed. But I did enjoy it. Let me know what you thought if you've seen it.

Hiking and shoes

So it's been awhile. I actually have written some things, just not here. My boyfriend has been studying math in order to possibly go back to school for another bachelor's in mechanical engineering. So while he plays with numbers, I've committed to playing with words. I haven't got much, but I do get down a little blurb of something in every now and then.

On Sunday we went on one of the longest non-14er hikes we've ever done. It was up Bergen Peak outside of Evergreen. It was a beautiful day and the trail wasn't very strenuous at all. The hike totaled over 10 miles.

Merrell trail glove over the open space

clash of seasons on the north face of the peak

Denver in the distance. A very clear day, comparatively.

Pike's Peak

Today I received some new minimal shoes I ordered last week. I am super excited about them. Obviously, everyone knows I'm a fan of minimal shoes. And also the color purple. And these are a combination, so they're perfect. I haven't taken them off since I opened the box. I cannot wait to try them out for running and parkour.

I was too lazy to find my actual camera, so you get some phone camera poor quality.

out to dry

So I've picked up a new hobby to go along with my continued desire to eat well. I got a food dehydrator. My mom used one of these for fruit when I was growing up and I decided I could do the same. I found one for half off (only $30!) The timing coincided with King Soopers having a sale on raspberries, so I tried my hand at drying a bunch. They didn't turn out perfectly, but they're preserved and they don't taste horrible, so it worked out. They're just very similar to cheese puffs in consistency. I also dried a bunch of bananas which was always a favorite from my childhood. My next venture is to try my hand at making jerky. Just need to find some good meat.

hooray for new projects.

raspberries set out to dry

finished bananas

The escape.

It's finally, officially Autumn! It was a great transition, on the night of the 12th, after work, my boyfriend and I left the city. Early that week, it was hot, like 90s hot. Starting on the 11th it had begun raining rather intensely. So we left. Took our long awaited trip to Glacier National Park. We left behind the recent heat and the deluge. We found refuge in the north and returned to a wonderful Colorado Fall. Here are some highlights from our trip. 

After driving out of Wales (er, Colorado) we slept in the car off the side of I25 in the middle of Wyoming. The next day we drove through the rest of Wyoming and essentially all of Montana. On Saturday we hiked around 9 miles (round trip) to Iceberg Lake. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

 Glacier National Park.

hiking to Iceberg Lake.

yes, my feet in the water with an iceberg.

seriously, a lake full of icebergs.

very fun-shaped icebergs. 

Because of the way the cliffs face, this spot hardly ever gets sun. Perhaps an hour or two in the height of summer. So the snow and ice melts very slowly and hangs around in the water. It's absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.

We also hiked to St. Mary's Falls. 

St. Mary's Falls

After driving Going-To-The-Sun Road over Logan Pass, we hiked through some western cedars up Avalanche Creek to Avalanche Lake.

Avalanche Creek

Avalanche Lake

After leaving the Park, we visited Flathead Lake. A lake famous for being crystal clear even when it gets really deep. We didn't get to go out on it, but even from the shore (which was just smooth stones, no mud) we could tell that they weren't lying to us about the clearness.

Flathead Lake.

Hungry Horse Reservoir at daybreak. One of our camping sites.

We left Montana and headed south back down through Grand Teton National Park. These are mountains that I love immensely. They are striking in their shape and beauty and the fact that they spring up out of nowhere as the tallest thing for many miles.

Our last morning was a foggy one, I ended up with a really neat shot:

It was an amazing trip. I want to go back and stay in that area for months. I want to backpack and get lost for days in Glacier. Alas, we left the animals here and had to return. Oh and the whole job thing.

Next year.

Today I really miss an old friend. We would talk for hours. Sometimes a mite awkwardly, but generally very agreeably. We discussed politics and religion, even though we differed on both. I know I've written about him before. I just miss him. And I want to tell him that I've gotten into Parkour. That I've been conditioning and occasionally training with some people. I want to have a long chat over a nice, dark beer. I want him to come with me as he usually did when I got a tattoo. (Not that I'm getting another any time soon.)

I know he is doing what he most wanted to do. He is being true to himself which is the most important thing a person can do. And I am doing it too. I just wish we were still in contact.

goodbye and hello

Last weekend I drove Martin to my parents' house for a final time. Gone are the days of four wheel drive, of being able to see into other cars. Gone is the tradition of Nissan Pathfinder. I now am the owner of a Toyota Corolla. It's pretty exciting to learn to drive something so small and very exciting to pay so much less for gas. But then there's the car payments. Ah well. One thing I couldn't forgo was the manual transmission. So that's a comfort.

I meant to take a last photo of the old Pathfinder. But alas, I forgot. I also meant to take some photos of the new car. I guess I'll get to those later.

This weekend we're taking it for an inaugural drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Hopefully it can handle that road.

Bein' Crafty

I made some minimal shoes. Moccasins actually. I used this guy's blog as my basic design, but modified a couple of things.

I bought some nice thin (perhaps too thin) deer hide and a couple of tools. I actually didn't end up needing an awl to punch sewing holes, because the hide was so thin and soft.

I began with a pattern made out of an old pillow case to make sure of the measurements rather than wasting the hide.

pattern out of pillow case

buckskin patten

I had to teach myself the pucker stitching technique for the toe. It took some trial and error, and it's still not perfect, but it'll do.

pucker toe stitch is a bitch

I used a running stitch for the other parts. I wet them and wore them for most of a day to get them fit to my feet.

heel tab

uppers sewn on

billows added to the tongue (to keep out debris)

The soles are very thin and needed reinforcement. I couldn't find shoo goo on my first try, so I used another type of glue to affix some sand to the bottom to hopefully keep the soles from wearing through so fast and to add a bit of traction.

glued on sand

I'm pretty happy with this first project of shoe making. These will make great footwear for around camp.

fin!

Another 14er

This weekend was quite fun. And I got a lot into 3 days.

Day 1, Friday: I did some parkour with some friends from work. There is a great place with walls and rails and grass and everything.

Day 2, Saturday: After camping, we woke before dawn and began out assent of Mt. Sherman. It was amazing. I am in love with the trail to Gray's and Torrey's, but I think this hike may have trumped it. It's beautiful. And fairly short (just over 5 miles round trip). And also fairly easy. There were all sorts of old mining buildings, and the day was quite clear and perfect temperature. Really, I don't think I've had a more pleasant time. We summited about 2 hours after starting, so around 8am. We had Liam's sister's tiny dog and she did wonderfully going up, but had to be carried back down. I wore my new (to me) Merrell trail gloves. There were great. Nice and light and thin. I was worried that the bit of arch support they do have would hurt me, but it really didn't. Only the shape was a bit odd so that my arch got poked by a few rocks above where the sole ended. I think that Vivobarefoot still has the minimal sole down best.

Day 2 ended with steak, beer and Ewan McGregor (in Jack the Giant Slayer).

Day 3, Sunday: Almost attended Colorado Springs Pride, but they charged to park. Almost drove up Pike's Peak, but the traffic was awful. Instead, napped, ate.

Not looking forward to going back to "real life"

reflection and mine and summit.

Zorro up the ridge. 

trail gloves at the summit

Liam with Zorro at the summit. 

carrying Emma down. Sherman in the background.

Remember how I have an addiction to minimal footwear? Yeah, I got another pair of shoes to add to my collection.

I now have 3 pairs of Vivobarefoot. One pair is slightly on the small side and I wear them to work. One is for winter hiking, and the other are new and I shall likely use them for parkour/exercise/everything. I have a pair of Unshoes sandals that I use for playing in the water and also for hiking. I have a pair of Cushe shoes that aren't quite minimal, but they have a barefoot feel. They're the casual walkabout shoes. And my newest addition is a pair of Merrell trail gloves. I got them for an incredible price on ebay. I have decided to delegate them as hiking shoes, but I'm not sure if they'll actually pass the test, I may resell them. You see, for a barefoot shoe they have a very high arch. Unnecessary. It sort of hurts. So we'll see. Headed for another 14er this weekend, I'll test them on the decent. Great thing about minimal shoes is that they're a breeze to carry around.