This past Saturday Austin and I went to the 11th annual Jack-O-Launch in nearby Aurora. We saw frustrated engineers try their pumpkin throwing machines of all varieties. Some were pneumatic, others were traditional trebuchets. Check out this video - it is a catapult powered only by counterweights. The pumpkin goes close to 1/2 mile.

If I had to read one blog every
day it would be this one.








Here’s a couple of new artists I am digging:


































I kept seeing this shirt:
Which piqued my curiosity.












Turns out it’s a non-profit that was started to...well, here’s their mission statement:

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.  TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.
You can check them out here.
And, if you dig around on the site you can read the story behind the name. It’s beautiful.

For the last 8 months or so I have been raising my heels off the ground to see my oldest son eye to eye. The truth is I have been resisting this reality for even longer. Straightening my posture, not taking my shoes off, silly things to postpone the inevitable. When he turned 15 a few weeks ago we measured him to make the mark on the growth wall, and I finally conceded once and for all. He is at least a full inch taller than me, and still growing. Thankfully, I still weigh more than him and can pin him flat.

Last month Austin began his freshman year at the newest high school in our county. Legend High School is the third high school in Parker and was built to alleviate overcrowding at the other two schools. This year the school will only have Freshmen in the building (along with some middle school students, but that’s another story).

Austin took a swing at joining Legend’s Soccer team and fell a bit short. The next week he decided to join the school’s cross country team. Now he runs every day after school, with 15 other freshman, somewhere between 3 - 5 miles. He’s competed in four meets so far, and he is one of the most improved runners on the team. Here are his times (spread out over a 5 week period) - the Cross Country distance is always 3.1 miles, run over various terrain, including stream beds, hills, etc.

27:27

24:34

24:00

23:50

Donna and I are VERY proud of Austin. He is working hard, making new friends, and creating some great high school memories. I’ve uploaded some pictures of Austin and the team on the aperture page.

This was the view from our back deck this evening. Scary, huh. Austin took a little video as well. Take a look.

Typically I’m pretty good at saying, “I don’t know.” Seems like I say it a lot - I’ve had lots of practice. Don’t get me wrong, I love having answers. It makes me feel smart and important.

Lately, however, I have had fewer answers. And, on top of that, many of the answers I would have previously given seem woefully inadequate to me.

So, I’ve found myself in a state of disequilibrium lately - unsure about some things. I think this happens whenever something you think is true turns out to not be true. The result can be confusion, disorientation, and a desperate search for a stable reality.

I had a similar feeling yesterday while floating down the Colorado River.

Last year, while watching some kayakers on the Colorado, I promised myself that I would learn how to paddle in white water. A few weeks ago Larry, my brother (who has paddled more than me) planned his annual trip, and I saw an opportunity to combine brotherly fun with imminent danger.

Of course, my tendency is to run right up to where my ability ends, and then rush past it. Most of the time the consequences are nominal - I might have to rework a school assignment, try a little less cayenne pepper in the chili, or stick to the blue squares on the ski mountain. This time my M.O. caused me to be upside down for the first time in a kayak, in the midst of a class 2 rapid, wrapped in a neoprene skirt, not exactly sure how a wet exit works, hoping I didn’t crunch my head on a river rock (I wore a helmet).

That’s when the disequilibrium set in. When I made to the shore Larry asked me if I had any idea what caused the roll.

“Not a clue,” was my response.

As I said, lately I’ve been saying that a lot.

One of the things I’ve learned about disequilibrium is this: whether you’re under water, or questioning previous held realities, fear is not your friend. It can be paralyzing. It can even be life-threatening. The best approach, I’ve decided, is to take a deep breath, and swim toward the light.

The other day I downloaded a new application for my iPhone called Shazam. It is a listening tool that identifies music. I knew apps like this existed for a couple of other platforms, but I had never seen one in action.

We were watching the Olympics the other night and a commercial came on with a catchy tune. I clicked on the app and in about 15 seconds I was introduced to a new artist - The application gave me complete info - artist, track title, album name, etc.

Check him out - Donovan Frankenreiter (except for his mustache he is pretty cool).

Here’s a pretty interesting video from Death Cab. The song is “Marching Bands of Manhattan,” from their cd “Plans.”

Enjoy a little Death Cab For Cutie.

I had heard of Death Cab over the last few years, but assumed, because of their strange name, that I wouldn’t like their style.

I was very surprised. They have a very creative edge with unusual lyrics.

This cut (titled “Cath...”) is from from their album Narrow Stairs.

Perplexed. Uncertain.

This past Saturday our family (all four of us) rose early, filled our backpack water bladders, packed some food, and drove to the trailhead of Mt. Quandary.

Mt. Quandary is one of Colorado’s 14ers - a group of 54 peaks rising at least 14,000 feet above sea level. Every one of these peaks can be hiked. That is, climbed without technical equipment. Some are more demanding than others.

Our route on this day would take us about 3.5 miles in ascent, a little under 7 miles round trip. We would gain 3,500 feet in elevation before we summit. The ascent took 4 hours - less than one mile an hour. The descent took 2.5 - a slower pace than when you walk briskly through the mall. Seven hours after we began we crumpled into the seats of our car.

This was my fourth 14er. But, it is the first one I have climbed with my youngest son, Carter. I don’t know exactly what kind of stuff God used to make Carter, but I know that he has a determination that I know nothing about.

The last mile of the Quandary trail is unbearably difficult. It is relentlessly steep, very unstable, and terribly long. The air is thin, and the people above you look discouragingly small. The air gets thinner with every step you take, making frequent stops a necessity.

At just under 14,000 feet (Quandary is 14,265) we stopped for a needed rest. Carter had not been feeling well for a while, and I began to wonder if he would make it. Altitude can be dangerous. A few miles up a secluded, rocky trail is no place to be with an altitude-sick 12 year old. My Dad instincts kicked in and we had a brief discussion about turning around. When Carter realized that I wasn’t going to make him turn around, he stood up and headed up the mountain - a few steps ahead of everyone. He summoned energy and resolve from deep within and began climbing at a hurried pace - the rest of us could not keep up with him. Carter did not stop until he reached the Summit - the three of us several steps behind (okay, I was more than several steps behind Donna and Austin - but, I made it). When I made it to the summit this is what I saw...

















...Carter signing the climber’s log. Every 14er has a climber’s log that is attached to the summit with a sturdy wire, and protected by a PVC tube. Carter proudly wrote his name down because he had climbed Mt. Quandary.

Thin air, physical limits, a rocky trail - these are some of the things that reveal a lot about a person. As I ponder what might be the focus of Carter’s determination as he grows into a man, there is one thing I know - it will become subject to his fierce resolve.

I went back to the iPhone without being held hostage by the exorbitant AT&T fees.

My friend Chris bought a 3G iPhone, so I bought his old iPhone (which was only a few months old). I put my T-Mobile sim card in it, and used a hack program to make it work on the T-Mobile network.

Then I installed the new 2.0 software, and hacked it again. Now it works with the T-Mobile network, and makes use of Apple’s new “push” technology via their MobileMe service.

It does not have access to data over the Edge network - which is good since I have weaned myself from constant email. However, because the iPhone has wifi, it can access my mail, contacts, and calendar wirelessly.

Sweet phone, small monthly charges, no data, unless I am in range of one of my wifi networks.

One device. Music. Phone (have you seen the iPhone app store? It’s amazing). I can control my home stereo over my home Wi-Fi network from anywhere in my house (including my new deck) from my phone.

Genius!

We’ve been working hard on our new deck. Here are some before and after pictures. It’s not quite finished - some trim details need to be completed. But, it’s about 90% done (we need some furniture too!).

The deck is about about 350 square feet. I made it with ChoiceDek - Lowe’s version of Trex composite decking. The whole project cost a little over $4,000. The estimate to have the same deck completely built for us by a contractor was about $13,000.

BEFORE






























AFTER