climbing mountains
It was a weekend of many laughs and much pain.
After one boozeless week of putting only good things into my body, Friday was my chosen night to throw tofu to the wind and indulge on many pieces of Parlor pizza. Thanks to Marcella, we've honed in on a very tasty pizza combination: gorgonzola cheese, basil, black olives, and artichoke hearts. In a word, delicious. I was happy that so many people came out despite the rain, and equally happy that my glass of Fireman's #4 never seemed to go empty. By the end of the night, it was me, Tim, Dave, and Rachel on my porch getting drunk on Corona and listening to Guns n' Roses. I had such a great night, and didn't remember passing out on my bed.
When I woke up the next morning, I had the worst hangover I've had in a very long time. My head hurt so bad that all I could do was take an ibuprofen, lay back down, and wait for the pills to kick in. The headache went away, but my body was sore all over and my stomach was unhappy. It was absolutely miserable. No regrets, though. None! I watched 3 DVDs that day:
Firefly (disk 1) - I got hooked on this show immediately. It's a space-western!
City of God - about gangs in the slums of Rio De Janeiro and one aspiring photographer who wanted something more. It was a very disturbing film but also extremely colorful and riveting and highly recommended by yours truly.
Big Lebowski - Ginger wanted to watch it. The dude abides!
While reading through the NY Times, I happened upon this article about Reinhold Messner, the first person to scale Everest without bottled oxygen, the first to do it solo and the first to conquer all 14 of the world's peaks over 26,200 feet. The article is mostly about his battle with his critics, but it got me curious about the history of mountain climbing. I started clicking around, and became more and more fascinated by mountain climbers. When I think that 1 in 8 people die climbing Mount Everest, I have to wonder what the draw is. It seems to be more than merely the spirit of adventure, but also the challenge of pushing oneself physically and mentally to places normally deemed impossible. Mountaineers are among the most visionary and courageous people I can think of; their primary adversary is their own capacity. I'm awe-inspired by the people who demonstrate what our human bodies and minds are capable of doing. Maybe I'm so fascinated by this because I want to feel like I have potential and strength.
Regardless of my yet-to-be-determined reasoning, I'm going to get to the bottom of this mountain climbing sport. On Sunday, tired of the cluttered internet, I picked up The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer, author of Seven Years in Tibet and the first in a group of four to climb the north face of the Swiss Eiger.
But if links are your thing...
Here's a photo of George Mallory's body, forever entombed on Mount Everest.
Check out this article on Michael Brown's "Farther Than The Eye Can See", the first high-definition account of an Everest climb. It follows Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to conquer the peak.
Also on Sunday... got fitted for running shoes at RunTex! Many thanks to Tim for the b-day Asics. That night we tried em' out. For 30 minutes, I ran on clouds.