I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post this. It was found randomly while scouring the internet and I can't seem to locate the original source. However, it does highly resemble the Demotivator posters by Despair, Inc.

Happy Birthday, Amy!

I've been waiting for great bloggy material to fall into my lap. I waited for a month and nothing really jumped out at me. Therefore, I've decided my methodology is bad (or at least uninteresting). Time for more random, unimportant posts.

To catch everyone up, I'm in the full swing of school. Lots of tutoring, tests, and homework around every corner. I'm recovering from a fairly nasty cold (probably made worse by my odd sleeping hours).

Tonight, I'll be running a rockclimbing small group with my friend Tyler (a fellow engineering student). Should be quite fun.

That's the quick version of me. Oh and I finally have a ticket to go spend time with my amazing girlfriend, Michelle, for Thanksgiving!

Mikey (my roommate), Amy, and I went on an awesome rockclimbing trip to Smith Rocks, Oregon - a Mecca for climbers in the northwest! Here are a few photos from the trip:

Mikey on his first trad lead (climbing without pre-placed bolts to anchor the rope into). Quite a fun climb called Mines of Moria (chimney up cave in the dark)

Me climbing an easy 5.8 sport route - last move was a challenging 5.10a though :P
The legendary Monkey Face rock formation. The mouth is tall enough to stand in and it just looks like an amazing climb. Maybe some day...
The trio of climbers! We climbed Monday - Thursday before school started.Setting out our gear and preparing to climb 5-Gallon Buckets (5.9 and a 5.10a)
It was just a lot of fun, good weather, and I got to use a lot of my new gear (hurrah for birthday gifts)!

OK, so I've been really slack about updating my blog recently. Here's the newest scoop:

I'm up at Walla Walla University (note the status change) in my 3rd day of classes. 17 credits of:

Advanced Calculus
Honors Research Writing
Probability and Statistics
Linear Network Analysis
Engineering Economy

Exciting stuff, eh?! I signed up for the IEEE, History, Math, and Asian/PI clubs this year - should be loads of fun.

Speaking of fun, I had quite an excellent summer. I came back to Atlanta working full time, but got away for a weekend here and there. I also made it to Portland a week before classes to do research, hang out with Amy, see my niece, and generally relax for a short while. Here are some photos!

Rockclimbing near Amy's cabin (Amy climbing, Mikey belaying):My new 4month old niece Shanna!Me and sis in Portland:

Third annual trip to Cumberland Island! This amazing island is located just off the southern Georgia coastline. It's a great place to meditate, talk with friends, swim in the ocean, and just relax. It is run by the National Parks Service, so it has a much more rustic/wild feel than resort islands. There are wild horses, deer, turkeys, raccoons, armadillos, alligators, and ... mosquitoes.
Unfortunately, this year we came during the hottest few weeks of summer. The sand dunes (with heat index) were 112 F according to one of the rangers. We were also told that the mosquitoes were like a plague "of Biblical proportions." Even layering on pure deet repellent didn't save me. Still it was a great getaway to spend time with Jason and catch up on the last year of insight as well as discussing plans for the future.The last morning on the island, I took an amazing hike up the beach and then through the middle of the island. Not only do I like like walks on the beach, I like long walks on the beach... at sunrise... with wild horses :) It turned out to be a 20 mile walk which was a bit more than I had anticipated. Still, a great experience. I definitely have a greater appreciation for air conditioning now!

After the salmon fishing, I was in a hurry to get to Missouri to see a particularly special person! I spent a great 2 weeks with my amazing girlfriend Michelle. She was working at a local nursing home, so we snuck out for dates on her days off to Kansas City, St. Louis, and Columbia.
I had a great time with the whole family and really had a chance to relax. 7 months is way too long to be away... (oh and that's a hair dying adventure above - maybe I should move into hairdressing)
While she was working, I researched and ordered parts for my new computer. I've been living with my trusty Dell laptop for almost 5 years now and it has served me well. However, the fan sounds asthmatic, it's reliability has gone downhill, and it's just not powerful enough anymore. Thus a new beast was born. Big kudos to Eric, Daniel, and NewEgg.com for guiding me towards excellent parts. For those who care, the specs can be found here.

A video a put on MySpace to illustrate one part of the true fishing experience:
Salmon picking

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I suppose you could say "no news is good news." That doesn't work forever though. My apologies for the lack of new bloggish material.

Salmon fishing in Alaska was every bit the grand adventure I hoped it would be. There were good days and not-so-good days, but on the whole, I really enjoyed the experience. I couldn't ask for more amiable companions as captain and crew, my living space was nice, and 3 huge meals every day kept me running even with insufficient sleep.

In the photo above, you can see a seagull nesting near our cabin. I have a new hatred for seagulls after fishing (they peck eyes and gills out of fish) but I can't deny their beauty. We had awesome sunsets quite frequently and since we were so far north during the summer, sunset started around midnight and sunrise started about 3 am. 20+ hours of light every day took some getting used to ;)

Here is a photo of me with the largest King (chinook salmon) that we caught - 42 pounds! Neoprenes, gloves, raincoat, and hat were a necessity to avoid fish slime.
Here you can see part of the equipment before we went out fishing: webbing + lead line + cork line = one net ready for fish.

Here you can see the 2 cabins we stayed in (plus the luxury outhouse). No running water, no electricity, and surrounded by bogs/mud/mosquitoes. What more could anyone ask for? It was a great place though - awesome weather a very cozy home. I'm still a little puzzled about the smoke. Either another cabin is on fire or someone is burning trash.

Friends, I am off to go fishing in Alaska. I have no idea what it will be like, but plenty of pictures will be taken. I just hope I don't drown :D

Finals went really well - so glad to have that out of the way. Time to check out of the dorm and be on my merry way! My summer reading list contains:
Tao Te Ching
Bhagavad Gita
Selections from the Qur'an
Readings in the Philosophy of Science
and about 6 quantum physics books

(not to mention full blown research for next year's writing class). Time is going to fly!

I'm an uncle - what a scary thought... On the upside, it should be a lot of fun - I can spoil my niece, Shanna, rotten! I won't get to to see her in person for month or two, unfortunately, but from the pictures she looks pretty human ;)

I'm under a tough load at the moment, but in 3 days I'll be free and done with finals! Leaving for Alaska a week from Tuesday as well, so that's cool!