Progress Check

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So far we’re 29 days into Lent, and I’ve managed to get a blog post in each day. I’ve missed a few days, and had to back-date, but I’m still at one-for-one, and I usually get that nagging lagging post in the next morning.

It’s a lot more writing than I’ve really ever done before, and the great thing about it is that it seems to be getting easier with each day that goes by. Ideas for things to write about come at me faster than I can get them down. (Knock on wood that it continues.) The conservative part of me is saving those posts for use on later days when I can’t think of something else to say, or don’t have time to get something down, but the longer this goes on, the easier it is for me to build up a surplus of ideas.

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MapJack and Car Fire

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Quick notes today. 1. If you haven’t been there already, you should check out MapJack.com. They have a really cool street-view map of Yosemite, and I love their interface. Click on the big picture to pan left or right, and you can move Jack around in the lower map area to explore different things. Very … Read more

This weekend (not) in Yosemite

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I am so excited to be packing tonight for a trip to the Bay Area this weekend. I’ve made an appointment to get my hair cut for donation to Locks of Love, and I can’t wait until I’m free of the burden of these long locks. I’ve tried the super short cuts before and they don’t look that great on me, so I’m not shaving my head or anything drastic like that, but cutting 10″ off is going to be dramatic anyway.

Plus, a trip to the Bay Area is a great opportunity to connect with friends, and do some of the city things that we don’t get to do around here, like eating ethnic food, going shopping, or to the movies. I’m really looking forward to a few days ‘away from it all’, but I’m also a little sad to be missing the great things going on in the Park this weekend.

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Wine Tasting

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Syrahs that we tasted
Syrahs that we tasted

As long as I’m going to be very particular about what kind of wine I like and don’t like, which I seem to be, it only makes sense to try and get a little educated about it.

We are lucky, in Yosemite, to host fine dining events like Vintners’ Holidays once a year, and the wine tastings associated with that event are incredibly educational, as well as delicious. Plus, some of the wines served are often expensive and quite rare. However, for a novice wine appreciator (connoisseur seems a little high-brow for where I’m at in my wine education), the conversation surrounding those wines is often at a much higher level than I’m prepared to engage in. Fascinating, but over my head.

Introduce the budding wine club that started just last month. Led by people who are studying for their Master Sommelier exams, it makes a great blend of people with a great deal of expertise with those of us who are barely able (or unable) to tell a Cabernet from a Merlot without reading the bottle. I went to my first session tonight, and we tasted Syrahs from around the world.

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How much protein do you need?

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Tom has been bugging me for a while about how much protein I don’t eat. I keep telling him that I am not vegetarian, so probably my protein intake is taken care of, but then he points out that when we eat together, I always eat vegetarian because he is, and since I wrinkle my nose at protein supplements I sometimes get less than he does. So, I decided to try to find out exactly how much protein I’m supposed to get and start keeping score.

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How to Be Good

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After finishing “How to Be Good” by Nick Hornby late last night, I am further from understanding how to be good than I ever was. Nick Hornby is also the author of other piercingly observant, and enjoyable books like High Fidelity, but he writes a lousy how-to manual, instead raising questions about the goodness of being good. I know – that’s the point – and I get it, but it’s like someone opening the blinds or turning on a bright light in the morning. It’s good for me, but really, I was enjoying my sleep.

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Yesterday, spring. Today, sledding in the street.

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Yesterday, it was spring – warm weather, wildflowers, sunshine. This morning, I woke up and there was a kid sledding down the street in front of my house. Just a reminder that weather can change quickly in the mountains, and just because the calendar says it is now spring, doesn’t mean diddly squat in terms … Read more

Just doesn’t get old

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Someone asked me once if it got old living in Yosemite – seeing the same old scenery day after day until Yosemite Falls is just ho hum. I do think that I sometimes get distracted by other things. Maybe I’m already thinking about the project that I’m working on in the office when I round … Read more

What is libel?

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The standard defense against any statement accused of being defamation, libel or slander, is the truth of the statement. Some even define libel as “An untruthful statement about a person, published in writing or through broadcast media, that injures the person’s reputation or standing in the community.”

However, a new ruling, reported in several places, is raising eyebrows throughout the publishing community because it suggests that if you’re saying bad things about someone, you could be successfully sued, even if what you wrote is absolutely true. Not that I’m in the habit of writing bad things about people, but if you ever needed another reason to follow the old adage “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all” this would be it. But it also got me thinking about the consequences of saying nothing at all.

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