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It’s spring break and I haven’t been on my computer much as I’m in Mammoth Lakes, California, visiting my brother, Matt. I’ve been snowboarding, bouldering, rock climbing, and also just hanging out and doing nothing, and sleeping!

My brother has been totally impressing me with his climbing skills. When I arrived last weekend, he was working as an ice climbing guide. And this week we’ve gone to the Owens River gorge in Bishop a couple times for some rope climbing, where I have received private lessons.

Matt

Apparently climbers like to name their climbs with bizarre names. Matt finally conquered Sex yesterday. Here are the climbs I’ve done:

• Stella
• For Patricia
• It’s a Gaaazzzz
• Crotalulsley Challenged
• Silence of the Poodles
• P.D. Time

Silence of the Poodles was my first crack climb and removed a lot of the skin on my hands. Evidence of effort and accomplishment.

I’m heading back to the ‘Burgh on Sunday night. Madness continues on Monday.

Spring break! Spring break!

Who would have thought that at 32 I’d be chanting those two words. But thank goodness for it, because I definitely need a break.

While I haven’t been stressed out in the same way I was last semester (probably because I kind of feel like I know what I’m doing, maybe, probably not), I’ve been working non-stop since January. Not one day off.

I was describing the feeling to a fellow grad the other day. It’s like I’m swimming in front of a huge wave that’s about to crash down on me. I keep waiting for it to hit, but it just lingers there above me, threatening.

I’m at Pittsburgh International Airport waiting for my flight to board. I’m going back to California to visit my brother and his wife and their dog in Mammoth Lakes. I’ve heard good weather reports, and excellent conditions for riding and climbing. We’re planning a couple day trip to red rocks outside of Las Vegas early next week.

I will, of course, also have work to do (generative research for Motorola; Emergence website updates). But the fact that my bro doesn’t have Internet will keep me in check. And the trip to red rocks should keep me off line altogether for a few days.

I can’t wait.

I spent the past 10 days before the semester began visiting my brother, Matt, and his wife, Ericka, and their dog, Zoey, in Mammoth Lakes, California.

They didn’t have an Internet connection, so I had to rely on a local coffee shop, which provided free wireless—a beautiful concept. However, I only checked my email every few days, and obviously, did not blog at all.

Sometimes you just have to live life and say nothing of it.

But in case you’re curious, I did a lot of snowboarding (photos), managing to nearly kill myself only once. I fell and slid 300 feet down a steep slope before being able to stop myself. A shot and a beer immediately followed.

I also went cross-country skiing (photos) a couple times, once at night, where we found ourselves, and the two dogs with us, surrounded by a pack of coyotes. Fortunately, no dogs were eaten.

Also, since my brother and his wife are rock climbing fiends, we traveled a half hour south to Bishop for top rope climbing and bouldering. I’ll post these photos later.

Tomorrow I’m heading to Mammoth Lakes, California, to visit my brother Matt and his wife Ericka. Although Matt moved to California six years ago, this is the first time I am visiting. It’s also the first time I’m visiting California.

One reason it has taken me so long is Mammoth is in the middle of nowhere. The closest city is Reno, which is nearly three hours away. That’s where I flying to tomorrow. So after two flights and eight hours, it’s just another three hours in the car. Yippee!

On the bright side, Reno has a Patagonia outlet, and Mammoth Lakes is a ski resort town and the home of Mammoth Mountain, where I will be doing much snowboarding.

My bro doesn’t have Internet, so I’m hoping a neighbor does…with an open wireless connection. Not sure I’ll do much blogging. We’ll see. I got a new camera (Nikon D40) so I plan to take lots of pictures.

I’ll be back right before school begins, which is January 15.

Ericka, Matt, and Jeff where
Kennedy was shot

I spent Thanksgiving in Dallas (photos) with my youngest brother, Jeff, and his fiance. My brother Matt and his wife joined us from Mammoth Lakes, California. And my mom, who lives in Pittsburgh, tagged along as well. It was the first time we had all been together in over two years. So that was cool.

What was also cool was taking a break from school. I was very happy that my professors did not expect us to accomplish much, or anything, during the break. I thus did very little.

Of course, my designer brain did not completely turn off. For instance, at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday before Thansgiving, when going through airport security with my mother, who has not flown since 1999, I recognized an obvious design opportunity.

As we made our way through the line, I first told her to get out her license. This proved difficult when already holding her boarding pass and her purse. Some security person was screaming this to everyone, but my mom didn’t register it until I told her.

Then I told her she would need to remove her shoes. She looked at me dumbfounded.

I wonder how much design thinking went into the airport security process. I didn’t notice much in the way of signs. There’s nothing to say you must take off your shoes. There’s just security personnel barking orders occasionally as passengers are hoarded through checkpoints as if prisoners entering prison.

I digress…

I find it interesting that when I go on vacation I can mostly forget about all the worries I have related to work and efforts toward achievement. I felt this way when I went to Barcelona/Amsterdam earlier this year, as well as during Thanksgiving.

I can be totally happy doing nothing but hanging out, dining, and drinking. It makes me wonder why I feel compelled to be so productive all the time. But mostly it reminds me that there is more to life than work and achievement, and that balance is necessary.

Not sure if school allows me to find that balance, but at least I have a long winter break coming up in two weeks.