Height Challenges

Interesting thought. And I would have to agree...in today's volleyball world. I was of average height when I was playing college volleyball 10 years ago. By today's standards, I am below average...especially for my primary position, middle blocker. Most top division 1 programs have middle blockers that average 6'3". 

Times have changed and I'm glad I'm not trying to battle against these athletes now. 

I'm Everywhere

Sasquatch makes an appearance at work. 

Fact of the day: I acquired the nickname Sasquatch because I was observed lurking thru the woods neighboring a community park where we were playing some volleyball.

My Sasquatch nickname has since morphed in to Sassy. 

Why Do I Hike?

We'll just jump right past the fact that I've neglected this blog for almost nine months and, instead, jump in to my latest musings.

Today's question: "Why do I hike?"

Excellent question...here are my list of answers (in no particular order...except the last one is the most important):

1. I can't afford a gym membership.
2. I hate running.
3. I hate biking.
4. I love exploring.
5. I love reading maps.  An artifact from my Girl Scout days.

6. I went to Berkeley...ergo, I'm a hippie...ergo, I'm a tree hugger.    

7. Although not always accurate, I love the feeling of being somewhere that most people haven't been.

8. I love adding up the mileage and the sense of accomplishment when I reach a new max.

9. I love the silhouettes and contrasts of the trees with the light.

10. I love being away from the noise pollution of the city.

11. Because I have to live up to my nickname "Sasquatch".

12. I love, love, love the views. 

13. And probably above all else, I hike because of the joy that this guy experiences when we do...

Basketball on the Brain

I will get to an update on my New Year's Resolution - Weekly Challenges soon, but while I have your attention, I want to be sure to give my brother's brand spanking new blog a shout out:

Basketball on the Brain

I believe he is using this as a platform to discuss anything and everything related to basketball - college, pro, court at People's Park, etc...  If you are interested in sports or my brother, I would suggest checking it out.

Now...on to my New Year's Resolution - Weekly Challenges.

While I haven't been able to blog about it weekly, I have been adhering to my challenges.  Here's the break down:

Week 1: Brush teeth left handed. Fairly easily to accomplish.  I did spend longer brushing my teeth because I was worried that I wasn't doing as thorough as a job.  None of my teeth have fallen out, so no harm done.

Week 2: Don't hit snooze.  This essentially became alarm clock roulette.  I didn't hit snooze, but I didn't necessarily wake up either.  Several times I drifted back to sleep and LUCKILY woke up a short time later.  Since then, I have continued to hit snooze almost every morning.

Week 3: Read in bed before going to sleep.  Accomplished.  I read some research papers and People Magazine.  More than once, I fell asleep while reading, but I was already in bed so I just rolled with it.

Week 4: Morning jog. The mornings that I could, I did.  Monday morning would have required waking up at  5 to get a jog, and that wasn't gonna happen.  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I had to wake up early to commute to a convention in Burlingame, and waking up earlier wasn't really "in the cards".  I probably didn't pick the best week to take on this challenge since I had some many days that required me to wake-up extra earlier already.

Week 5: Do a Sudoku.  I'm still in the midst of this challenge, but successful so far.  One Sudoku from the newspaper during the week, and today I dug up my book of Sudoku puzzles and did a bunch of them.

So far, so good.

Remember to check out my brother's blog.

Catch ya later!

New Year's Resolution

Beginning of the year usually correlates with me trying to re-ignite my blogging.  Hopefully, with the help of my New Year's resolution, I can make that a reality.

So what is my resolution?

Challenge myself on a weekly basis.  I've put together a list of 52 (well, actually 47 right now...still in progress) "goals", and I will attempt to take on a new one each week of 2013.  Some might be worthy of a blog post.

Here are some examples:

- No TV for a week.
- Watch the sunrise each day for a week.
- Sleep on the opposite side of the bed for week.
- Only drink water for a week.
- Eat a banana every day for a week.

If anyone can think of five more "goals", let me know!

Cheers to 2013!

Fun with the Olloclip

I recently acquired an Olloclip.  This is a nifty little iPhone attachment that contains 3 different camera lens - fisheye, macro, and wide angle.  The macro is limited...but insane; you have to get uber close (within an inch for it to focus on your subject).  The fisheye is fun.  I haven't really found a whole lot of use for the wide-angle, but I'm sure it'll be useful.

I first tried it out at John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez.

Here are a couple from that day, but you can check out more of them at this link.

Yesterday, I played around with the Olloclip some more; this time at the Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm.  They were busy setting up for Christmas season.  Lincoln and Chester (the resident dog) wandered around...finding things to pee on...while I searched for a subject to shoot.  They have an impressive patch of sunflowers which were basically done blooming and I was going to continue walking by but then I noticed a bee working on one of the flowers and just like that I settled on my photo subject.  The combination of the moving bees and the swaying plants made getting a clear macro shot nearly impossible.  To get the 15 photos I posted, I probably took near 50 photos.

Here's a sample, but check out all of them at this link.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the impressive compact camera on the iPhone.  I continue to be surprised by the quality and detail I can capture with this camera.

Olloclip's website

Dirty and Loving It!

Weekly "rescue runs" to overcrowded Central Valley shelters are definitely a highlight of my job.

Inevitably, the days are long (6+ hours of driving), hot (summers in the Central Valley are ridiculous...how do people live there), and dirty (see photo of my dirt covered hand). But we are changing lives! Not just the lives of the 20 or so dogs that we rescue, but the lives of the guardians that eventually adopt the rescued dogs and give them a "forever home".

Read more about ARF, their mission, and their foster and volunteer programs here: www.arf.net