This playlist was cultivated over a long period of time. I’m not saying that to hype it up to be the best playlist ever; I think it’s ok. I’m only saying that to acknowledge that about halfway through it takes a pretty hard turn. Not in any specific direction, just a turn.
Such is life.
Here is a non-linear list of things that I’m anticipating
Now Playing: Polyenso – Push
This is a very diverse playlist. It’s the work of a few months of slow and sporadic collaboration of some of my favorite songs. I cannot recommend the entire alt-J(∆) album enough to anyone who enjoys music of any form; it’s a true masterpiece.
Also, since my last major update, I have: visited Portland, visited Ohio, started school, gotten a promotion, joined a church, achieved the highest score in the world in an SSX online event, sent V6, and have been sleeping better.
After exploring a reddit comment thread, I came across this website. No matter how many times I see things like this, I’m always amazed. This however, is one of the greatest and most spectacular illustrations of our universe that I have ever seen.
The authors of the site won my heart with the use of Half Dome.
I encourage everyone to take a look at this and to learn something new about the universe that we all inhabit. This toy is thorough; From Planck Length to the estimated size of our universe, this thing shows it all in detail, with facts!
So, last night I was fortunate enough to compete in my first ever climbing competition. It was held at the gym that I work at in Greenville,SC, The Mountain Goat. I’ve been very eager to compete for a long time, so this was a good chance to quench my competitive thirst while keeping the competition stress low.
You earned bonus points for climbing in Christmas garb, so I rocked Katie’s Santa hat for all of my attempts.
The environment was very encouraging and it was a really fun time. The competition lasted for approximately an hour and a half, so it became a little stressful towards the end after trying to earn points as strategically as possible. After climbing at your max level almost non-stop for that long takes a pretty big toll on your mind, and definitely on your body. It was a learning experience and it definitely gave me the confidence to compete elsewhere in the future.
Katie was a five-star climbing caddy and kept score for me, while providing encouragement and supreme hydration.
I managed to come in second for my division, losing to someone who was bumped up from the class below me. Winning wasn’t that important to me since the prizes were things that I have regular access to anyway since I’m an employee. I also wasn’t as concerned with winning as I was with maxing out my personal goals and achieving at the highest level I thought possible. I’m super proud of my performance, and will definitely be competing at the next competition I can find.
After the competition there were typical GOAT party festivities such as lasers and giant snowmen.
It was a really great experience, and it made me really proud to be a part of such a cool ministry. All of the funds from the party went to buying shoes for the kids on the climbing team, which is such a cool thing. I’m super psyched about how it went and how much fun was had by everyone, and I’m eager to get into my next competition and to push myself even farther.
Rock climbing is fun!
So, this week the blog is getting into the Christmas spirit (as per request). These songs are a mix of some old and new Christmas favorites of mine. The Sufjan songs are currently some special favorites of mine. Mainly because Sufjan is a fantastic artist, but also because I was able to experience Sufjan’s showmanship first hand (more on that later).
Enjoy these tunes with someone special.
At first I thought the only reason that I enjoyed climbing to the glitchy tunes of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) was because of my mutual love for the two. However, the more I immersed myself in the rock climbing community, I’ve noticed that everywhere I turn, there’s someone crushing to The Glitch Mob.
It slowly began to occur to me that there was a reason that the two went together so well. It’s said that a good rock climber should appear to be performing a “dance” up the wall; visual poetry hanging from a sharp, grainy mineral. I’ve begun to think of it in a way that EDM is to rock climbing in the same way that classical music is to ballet; perfect accompanying rhythms that work together with the performers’ precise movements.
As a climber, it’s my preferred genre for sending. It always appears to make me feel stronger, and keeps the psych high at all times. I believe that this occurs because of the association that I, and I’m sure many others have made with professional climbers and the music. Every movie, video, competition montage, or documentary you watch about climbing has it pumping solid rhythms while a world class climber crushes the hardest routes in the world. It makes you feel like a pro.
I’m a firm believer that climbing is primarily, a mental sport. If you feel confident about what you’re climbing, you’re always going to do better. Let’s not forget though, ballet isn’t always accompanied by classical music. I’ve seen climbers who crush harder than I ever could, to country music, which to me is a total bummer. To each his own I suppose, but I think we can all agree that almost no one crushes harder than Adam Ondra, and he crushes to EDM (in his videos).
Keep in mind though, these rules primarily apply to the gym. To me, there’s nothing more engaging than the sounds of nature and the rubber of my shoes smearing on a perfect slab. When climbing outdoors, you’re in an entirely different environment. I have seen people bring mini speakers around to boulders on occasion, which is totally chill. Right now though, I prefer the organic symphony of nature to accompany my outdoor adventures.
Until next time,
After a few weeks in the dark, it’s time for some fresh tunes. I know I’ve probably said it before, but I think that this is the best playlist I’ve made to date. This might only be a personal side effect of it being mostly new music for me, either way, it’s good.
I’ve had my computer back for a little less than a week, and I haven’t made much use of the blog since. It’s been a mixture of being out of the habit, school-work, and, you guessed it mom…
Halo 4
Thing have slowed down quite a bit since the absence of my computer, so I’ll be re-forming the habit starting now.
In other news, I pulled off my first outdoor lead climb on Sunday!
It was a pretty fun trip, and all of us got to do a lot of cool stuff! We will for sure be making a return in the near future.
I should probably organize some music for you guys, shouldn’t I?
brb
As soon as I get some good ideas on the table, my computer decides to take the week off. It’s been hard to keep up with my schedule without my computer, and that issue should be resolved no later than the beginning of next week. Apologies for the constant delays of my thoughts and musings. Maybe one day I’ll have enough content in my hopper so that when things like this happen, I’ll be prepared.
Until then,
