حقيقة

I'm realizing I'm a city girl. I'm in Vermont for the summer, suffering, but really I'm not. I get three square meals provided each day (and then some--possibly some of the best dairy products in the country), am fortunate enough to have an A/C unit on the rare hot days, and am in a beautiful valley surrounded by misty green mountains as far as the eye can see in every direction.



I'm learning Arabic, in fact I'm sort of breaking the language pledge by writing in this blog. I'm bad, but I'm half way through almost no? Hopefully they won't kick me out for this infraction. Although I think I'm just becoming more dangerous with Arabic, my English is probably getting worse, so excuse the typing lapses.



I'm realizing I'm a country girl too, I can be in the country in a class for six hours look at said beautiful mountain ranges while knowing I have a rope and a full rack in my dorm and a car that loves to be driven. I've only been climbing once outside since I've been here, even though one of my favorite places in the world, the Adirondacks, is in my view to the west. Truly torture, truly the hardest thing I've done in my life. Truly دراسة اللغة العربية اصعب شي في هياتي.

bhutto

Nobody ever wants to criticze the dead, but the title links to a good op-ed. Westerners on a cursory study of South Asian politics grasp what they percieve as the oxymoron of a forward leading culture that puts women at the forefront of leadership, despite strong veins of traditional Islam. However, whether it was Indira Ghandi, Sheikh Hasina, or Khaleda Zia, and now Bhutto, it is not about progressive female leadership, but continuing and preserving dynasties.

23 year old playwriters

What would they write about, especially if they were a contemporary of Shakespeare? A few weeks ago, I found out exactly what they would write about. Marlowe's Tamburlaine showcased as the first play performed in the Washington's Shakespeare Theater Company's brand new space, the Harman theater.

The production was wonderful, and quite a feat, because the story follows a shepherd become Emperor and most of the scenes are his acts of conquering and plundering. The story though, mostly about a brutish warrior, who's company men do terrible things to those who plead not be annhilated (not surrender, they figure he'll overrun them-but just wanted to be spared the burning, pillaging, raping and killing), is something that one might imagine may come from the imagination of a hot-headed twenty-young year old playwright. Interesting to watch anyway, but not as engaging as Shakespeare's classic and complex works. Which makes me the think the bard was never one person anyway.

photographs

Make me indescribably happy. I can't explain the immense the feeling of satisfaction and well-being I get after looking at photographs, particularly of recent ones of my friends. Its like being there after the fact, at least for the highlights.

what did i do that was new in '07?

1. Shot a pistol ... very successfully (targets not people)

2. Learned to drive from the passenger side while supressing a 300 lb cop

3. Flew in a Blackhawk

4. Lived in a warzone, came back with PTSD from said warzone

5. Got back on a horse after my Bermuda accident, around the pyramids, of all places, yes Giza

6. Mumbled my way through an Arabic-speaking country

7. Learned to ice climb, then spent thousands of dollars on said equipment

8. Pulled a roof on trad lead!

9. Caught four trad leader falls, of guys much bigger than me (I wish it came with lifetime beer subscription)

10. Got my haircut in Paris ;)

11. Thinking my outdoor footwear had to be the most expensive, outdid it by buying a pair of beautiful Dior pumps in Paris

12. Went flying off into the white abyss on Mt. Whistler, British Columbia while skiing

13. For three months, had beautifully pedicured feet and manicured hands (couldn't climb in B-dad!)

14. went to London AGAIN without visiting Ireland or Scotland

retrospect 2007

I sometimes go back and read what I wrote in prior times, so here was a list I made about a year and a half ago. I took out the stuff I already did (hence missing number) and things I don't really care about or were associated with things I did in a previous like (like taekwondo).

things i've never done (and may never do)

2. Cheated on someone
3. Scuba dived
4. Smoked marijuana
3. Killed someone
4. Went Caving
5. Taken any illegal drug that had no age restrictions
6. Driven a motorcycle
7. Swam a lap

9. Played drums
10. Left the DC metro area for another place to live (3 months in Baghdad!)
11. Travelled 4 times to the UK and went to Scotland or Ireland
12. Skied a Black Diamond


15. Owned a dog
16. not talked to my mom for a week
17. talked to my dad continuously for a week
18. gotten married
19. had kids
20. owned a sports car
21. Been to Amsterdam, Luxembourg, or Monaco
22. acted in a widely distributed film
23. hang-glided
24. landed a single propeller engine airplane

26. gotten into a street fight has dramatically changed
27. stood up a date
28. faked liking a boy

30. saw the 'drag races' in Dupont
31. driven a car on a race track
32. Sailed a boat on my own
33. ice skated without falling
34. gone to the Phillips collection
35. Been to Washington state
36. painted a room all by myself
37. held a spider
38. been to Eastern Europe
39. defended a dissertation

41. Had surgery

44. fallen for a South Asian man
45. not had a boyfriend who wasn't some part Anglo-Saxon
46. voted Republican
47. Voted before 2004
48. gone to Fur
49. tolerated cigarette smoking very well

why i hate facebook

1. Too many people think this is a good and fast way to communicate with friends, despite already having e-mail or mobile contact info
2. Your relatives can post unflattering pics of you and the schmuck you dumped two days ago can use it as ammunition to make himself feel better
3. Bloody apps! Bloody apps! I don't want no freakin' apps!
4. The funwall makes it possible to bring about the re-emergence of that which is hated of all things: the chain-mail, without the consequences of the spam blocker
5. You always get notices some message is waiting for you on facebook, but then you can't login to check it because the server is too damn busy
6. Its banned at work
7. Your younger cousins who look up to you can see pics your friends posted of you in interesting situations
8. People believe they have real friends because they can count their numbers on a website
9. People drop big news like changes in relationship status on their facebook profile pages
10. Its killin' the romance ;)

new obsessions

Have begun this year, which will make the whole 'saving money' New Year's resolution a little difficult. It started with a introduction to ice climbing in January with members of the Potomac Mountain Club (also known as the Mountaineering chapter of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club). A couple weekends later I made a long drive with two firefighters on MLK day weekend for two days of trying to be as graceful as our guides while ascending ice water falls. Knowing I was in for some fat paychecks with my upcoming deployment, I spent ridiculous amounts of money for what people were told me were the 'top-of the line' in personal ice climbing equipment. I took these fresh out of the package tools and boots up with me to Whistler, British Columbia in March, hoping for late-season ice, but alas it rained, and much had come down. So it wouldn't be until next year.

Although I had my obsession from the previous year, trad rock climbing to get me out of city and chasing up rocky pillars while D.C.'s prolongued summer (practically into November) to keep me occupied, I confess, when in October the weatherman warned of the first frost, that night I went to sleep and dreamt of ice.

In fact earlier this month, I was in Hawaii for a work trip (rough I know), after hearing my sister abandoned housesitting for me and left my cat alone, plus the phone call to hear it was snowing, I dreamt again that night of ice (of ice covering Carderock of all things!) and booked my plane ticket home early. Of course I was being silly both those times.

This past weekend I booked a trip to the Adirondacks to introduce my sister to ice climbing with help from guides. What should have been a nine hour drive, turned into a 12 hour drive. Sunday was practically balmy at the crag, and my new tools and new crampons went into the ice like a knife into room-temperature butter. By the afternoon, we a had a steady light drizzle and one of our next climbs, involved a few 'mixed' moves (on rock and moss). My gore-tex shells were completely wet (thankfully keeping me very dry). After a moment of contemplating the ice, a bit slushy, under the 3mm deep waterfall, I plunged up and ahead. We were all ready for some dry clothes, a warm room, blanket, and a mug of a hot drink and quickly bailed off that first pitch. My sister did not want another watery escapade the next day so we cancelled the second day with a promise to be back after the New Year. I almost went back this weekend but with the forecast still warm for the north country, I stuck it out here.

taming women

Having seen Kiss Me Kate, both the movie and the musical performed on stage, I was ill-prepared for the un-watered down Shakespeare Theater Company's "the Taming of the Shrew." I was sitting with three other women, all of us (or at least most of us) self-proclaimed feminists and we often looked aghastly at each other at the rather physical 'courtship' scenes between Petruchio and Katherina. And let's not get into her monologue. In any case, before I walked into the theater, I wish I had read director Rebecca Bayla Taichman's comments, namely

"Instead of ironing out the play’s contradictions, I want to open and stretch them out. Kate and Petruchio truly love each other, and yet Petruchio may really have damaged Kate. He can save her while also stealing something sacred from her ... And Kate can mean what she says in that gorgeous and very complicated speech, while also being bitterly aware of how she is performing a male fantasy for a patriarchal world."

"The play should make you swoon and want to scream with rage. It should make you uncomfortable and impossibly entertained. It should make you ask questions about what marriage is, about how we love each other, how we collude to create an economy of love and a marriage market. It should make you question how we often prize financial reward and stellar reputation over deep human connection, and why we desire power. "

In the end, it makes me wonder about how much people expect to be changed and change their loved ones. Maybe I've always kept the philosophy those that are meant for us, understand us and love us for who we are, and not what they have made us become ... and one can't change unless they themselves really want to.

an idea for our cabbies

In the 3+ years I've lived in this city and taken a cab just so I could avoid losing a precious parking spot on the street, I've heard cab drivers increase the fare by a dollar twice. When confronted by my accusation they're trying to rip me off again, they usually cite high gas prices. Recently D.C. cabbies were considering strikes to protest the decision to go to a fare system. Maybe, if gas prices are such an issue, they should replace their old Marquis and Buicks with a car that guzzles less gas. Like they are doing in N.Y.

M5

Not the car but the band. What a great rocker Adam Levine of Maroon 5 is. My sister and I had the pleasure of seeing the hybrid pop/rock/R&B band perform at the Verizon center. The arena was packed ... mostly with women I was sure. We were seated next to a young boy and his father ... we saw many parents with the their children. Levine tried to get D.C. to sing, and clap, but we are a lazy audience indeed. But its cute to see how the 'cigarette-lighter-song' has become more eco-health friendly with the 'cell-phone illuminated glow song.' D.C. responded well to Levine's declaration of love for its denizens. An hour and 15 minute show, done by 10:30 PM, ensured most of the teenagers in the crowd were home and not too sleep deprived for school the next morning.

i'm back

Coming home from Iraq is a strange thing. My employer had given me at least three copies of pamphlets describing expectations when coming home, from feeling depression, to feeling anxiety, etc. We even had a powerpoint lecture on it. I was not really prepared for what I felt when I came back. I wanted to return to Baghdad! I felt a little bit like Jack on the season finale of Lost, although not that desparate. For a while I moped to my best friends how much I disliked D.C. and how I wanted to move somewhere else. I didn't bother having any welcome back festivities, but naturally friends of mine figured out I was home and would coax me out. I continued with work, but more of a miser than usual. I considered a long-distance relationship, which was completely out of the ordinary for me. But thankfully, soon realized (well after about almost three months), that I missed living in D.C., and I was glad and happy with my life. Woohoo! Now to only see how Chopingal is ...

crazy but not insane

The blog is becoming re-active (but we'll see how long this lasts). Mostly because I'm enroute to Baghdad for work so now while in Baghdad I will do my best not to write about work.

Right now I'm too exhausted to be excited or nervous about working in Baghdad. I know I'm definitley looking forward to it. When a lot of my family and friends heard that I was going to work there they immediatley assumed that my work was forcing me to go, when in fact I volunteered. I guess its hard to get people to see I'm not crazy for volunteering. When the U.S. first started talking about the war, I was completely against it. I didn't believe Gen. Powell's testimony to the U.N. and I didn't think the evidence for the case Saddam having WMD was strong, in fact I thought it was very weak. Now that the U.S. is completely embroiled in Iraq, and it really is the top foreign policy issue for the U.S., and since I've always had an interest in the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, it is a pretty natural career choice. Also, although this war is a mess made by people I disagreed with, I do believe this is a mess the U.S. has to take responsiblity for and although I may not be the smartest person or someone who can fix this problem, rather that waiting in the sidelines and complaining about it, I am taking the opportunity to do something about it. I have friends in the military who are serving in the front lines and this war has taken an enormous toll on their lives and their loved ones (some people say ... aren't they volunteer? but come on, given the choice to go to war or go to jail is really not about volunteering). The orphans, widows, and emotionally and physically impaired survivors of this war on both sides is heartbreaking. I've always been drawn to helping others, and I wouldn't be going if I thought the danger was so high, but I'm confident my heart is in the right place. I may not be able to accomplish peace in three months, but I hope I can influence even in a minute way to keep things from becoming its absolute worse.

'First Ascent' trailer

FIRST ASCENT DVDs on sale now at www.senderfilms.com First Ascent, the highly acclaimed new film from Peter Mortimer and Sender Films, is now for sale on DVD. In his follow up to the award-winning Return2Sender, Mortimer has created a movie about the legendary routes that have never been climbed – and the dirt bag heroes that climb them. First Ascent is a global romp with climbing’s modern-day pioneers, from the sea cliffs in Thailand to the high Himalayas, and from the scary depths of the Black Canyon to the buildings of Hollywood. Big laughs, huge falls, hopes, fears and truly radical feats.

catching up on July

Mt. Whitney Trip Report:

(Originally written Monday, July 31st, 2006)

I am exhausted! Have you ever found your feet swelling after returning from altitude? I don't know if its from the trauma of hopping 6,000 feet of boulders in 4 miles or if its all the bloat-y drainage from being at altitude settling into my feet.

It was awesome. The Whitney area is super beautiful. We had some unexpected weather, lightning and thunderstorms every afternoon around 2 PM, which ruined many of our more ambitious plans. Saturday we camped at 8,000 feet and all of us did pretty well. Sunday our goal was to hike to Iceberg lake somewhere around 12,600 feet but we were slower moving than expected. My pack was the lightest at 59 lbs whereas our leader got the prize for the heaviest at nearly 80 lbs (although you'll have to check with him). Around 3 PMish after leaving Lower Boy Scout lake which I think was somewhere between 9 and 10,000 feet we encountered rain and lightning storms so we ended up camping at Upper Boy Scout Lake, which is about 10,300 feet I think. Monday we decided to summit Mt. Russell, but due to some route finding issues we didn't find the Eastern pass until the afternoon. Just like clockwork, at 2 PM thunderheads rolled in and we scree-skied back to Upper Boy Scout Lake. Tuesday we decided to be more chill, wake up at a luxurious hour and the hike to Iceberg Lake at 12,600 feet. That was the toughest hike as it was mostly scree and talus fields with a few places slick from the glaciers melting (and getting around some glaciers).

Once at Iceberg we had an awesome view of Mt. Whitney, the minor peaks and the climbing routes. We got some beta from climbers coming off the Mountaineer's Route, East Buttress and East Face. Thankfully, there were quite a few who told us how to get around the snow coming down the Mountaineer's Route. Wednesday we would be the only ones climbing East Face. The two Erics were team one to go first on the East Face with Reed, Ross, and myself following. Wednesday we hiked up the talus field about 600 feet to the start of the East Face climb. The first pitch was airy! Talk about a crazy drop off. We also found out a Whitney 5.6 chimney was not as easy as we thought it would be on the first pitch with sparse protection. The Erics (Bosch and Richardson) pretty much flew up the first six pitches. By the time our three person team had gotten to pitch number 6 right before the Fresh Air Traverse, the Erics we re on pitch 10, three pitches shy of the 3rd class scramble to the summit. Then what we had prayed and hoped would not happen, we saw the clouds, lightning, and unfortunately a full out hail storm. The Erics hunkered down and had somehow gotten off route, while Ross, Reed and I made the decision to rappel and down climb back the way we came. We had about four rapels down and Reed lead the down climb which was part of pitch 1, which was on the more difficult ones, but since we knew the route from before it was pretty fast. Unfortunatley night came too soon and our last rappel was in the dark, trying to stay as close to a corner because any movement to the left would mean a huge swing and an even more difficult time getting back on route. We then scrambled down to base camp where the Erics were waiting for us with hot drinks and burritos. The Erics summitted around 5 PM and took the Mountaineers route down arriving at camp at 6:30 P M, only to see our three headlamps after dark making our way down the first pitch and approach. What an adventure :0!

Thursday we took it easy, recovered, while Ross summitted via Mountaineers Route. At 1:30 Eric and I set off from camp with the other three following for the parking lot, 4,000 feet below us through scree and talus fields. We made it back to our vehicle around 8:30 PM, went to the Mt. Whitney Restaurant for beer and hearty food and spent the night at the Mt. Whitney Motel in Lone Pine. Friday we were still pretty much in recovery, went to the Lone Pine Cafe for breakfast and then went to see the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, which was pretty neat. We stayed in Lancaster that night and Saturday morning, prior to their departure, went to Santa Monica beach.

We were all okay! I would definitley do it again, but this time with more trad leading experience under my belt. The prophylactic Ibuprofen went over really well. My only problems were allergies from the meadows blooming at altitude and in general I was moving slower than usual. Thank you for e-mailing me to see how things went.

world's shortest personality test

Your Personality Profile

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant.Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle.You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs. For you, comfort and calm are very important.You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection.You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

alive

A snapshot of my Whitney attempt, do you see me behaving much like a yellow-bellied California marmot?

Actually I got further on Whitney than that, this was the day after. Story to come.

quiet but not lazy

Yar, so its been a month since I've posted. Yes its been hectic, depite being done temporarily with school. I've been going twice a week to a physical therapist for my right ankle and had a smattering of orthopedist visits. I didn't write because I was afraid I would jinx myself. I decided to pursue the physical therapy intensely in hopes of being prepared to attempt my first alpine rockclimbing trip, summit Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. My first visit to the orthopedist and physical therapist were not very hopeful. A week later, out of a 'moon boot' aka pump leg cast and some recoil therapy, both therapist and orthopedist were certain I could hike 4,000 feet in elevation gain and summit Mt. Whitney via 5th class (rockclimbing steep) routes. My therapist allowed me to do some moderate hikes and climb indoors. By fourth of July, I was was able to climb outside and spent a day at Seneca. And next, 4th of July pictures!

seneca crag log 4th of July weekend

Saturday evening myself and another climber headed to Seneca Rocks in West Virginia. When we arrived in town, we found plenty of climbers but not the 13-20 person group we were looking for. Note to self: always print the e-mail confirming the campsite! Luckily, we spotted the trip leader coming into town and he showed us the way. The next morning I found myself a trad leader and we went up Green Wall (5.7) in three pitches. The second pitch was pretty sweet, a crack for protection and a narrow face that kept giving back the slight overhangs. Summiting the south peak, I practiced making anchors and placing gear. After lunch, I lead Old Ladies Route (5.2), probably the easiest way to get to the East summit. The third pitch was hairy, the climb was easy but it was along a chimney with very few spots for placing gear. The entire pitch I probably placed only three pieces of pro so it felt like free climbing. Thankfully it was not as windy as the first time I went to Seneca.

demographics

NPR's blog alerted me to this interesting feature, tells you what the demographics of the consumer of a product and even readership of a website.

They have me pegged a bit wrong for my car, a Toyota Echo, right on the female, wrong on the 35-49 age group.

Now if you read my blog you are most likely male and younger than 18 years old, true???? Apparently I'm not familiar with all my readers.