Archive for January, 2007
Posted by derrick on
January 31, 2007
It’s been that sort of week eh? Seems everyone is in rush mode right now. Of course right when you need to fly at a million miles an hour something else falls apart. It’s life. Glorious and full of adventure! But on the other hand it can be a right pain in the a** as well!
Well, I can’t fixed it or slow time. . so the best I can do at the moment is this sad little digital rose. I cropped it just for you!
It’s a good thing to know that while we’re all getting a bit edgy and frustrated, Andrew is still out there getting kicked around a very turbulent sea and still moving toward his goal. I’ll be thinking of that when the heat is on.
* new post on the CTA blog
Posted by derrick on
January 30, 2007
Our daily raiment, seems no obstacle
To instantaneous plunging in deep Sea!
And revelling in long embrace with thee.
- wordsworth
I woke up this morning to one of those bone chilling colds that no number of blankets can hold back. Lying there in the dark and deeply frozen I was dreaming of ghosts. I may tell you more about that later in the week. But for the moment, we have this other sleek white wraith tearing up the seas. . . Of course this is Aled Williams of
Rockpool Kayaks test paddling the new “Underground” we’ve been hearing a lot about lately.
Justine Curgenven was on hand to film the madness and has
posted the new clip here and
written about it as well on her blog so check it out. Nothing like putting a Greenland design through the British kayak paces. And of course as all you traditional paddlers know, the Greenland design does just fine.
Posted by derrick on
January 29, 2007
In the pouring rain
Like a change in the weather
Here comes the sun
Things could only get better
Hey babe believe me
Tough times don’t last
- bad english
Have you ever noticed how tough people can be? It’s inspiring. All you need do is follow along with the seemingly regular, (at least recently) mountain lion attacks on the west coast. I can’t believe how hard these guys are fighting and in the end, most getting away with years of surgeries ahead. Those experiences always remind me that when it comes to that moment, when “flight” is not an option you fight or surrender. Something I think we practice every day but in such tiny ways we may never notice. In the end though I think the practice pays off when it has to.
Posted by derrick on
January 28, 2007
Now can you rock it up, rock it up?
Don’t stop, just move ya waistline from side to side.
Now watch you push it up, push it up,
And do the body right, do the body right, do the body right.
-ashanti
Regardless of what you may have heard, you don’t need a kayak to practice your kayak skills. You may have heard rumors of me standing on the shore of lakes having students stirring water with their paddles. This is true by the way and I find it does wonders to help student understand how their blades move through the water. Sometimes there is a method to my madness. . . Really. I’m always looking for new ways to help students isolate skills so they can focus on one thing without the added noise of worrying about going over, or keeping their boats in one spot or all the other little bits that can often be a distraction.
Posted by derrick on
January 27, 2007
Pain never makes me cry but happiness does
It’s so strange to watch my life go by
Wishing it was
Wishing it was more like a fantasy
Where everyone surprises me
Wishing it was
-santana
Well, we’ve spent a good amount of time on the tropics this last week. Hey, anything to brighten up our deep winter moods. Of course my brain is immersed in the tropics as it is right now. I’ve posted a new entry on the
“Chasing The Ana” blog about that. Of course here I am planning a trip to Puerto Rico for August!?? I must be bloody stupid!
Posted by derrick on
January 26, 2007
My hands are small I know
But they’re not yours, they are my own
But they’re not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
-jewel
My hands are about 8 inches long wrist to finger tip and a bit over 3 1/2 inches wide. My index finger is just under 4 inches. There’s nothing particularly wrong with my hands. I have a scare on one thumb from where it deflected and errant knife, but other than that they seem like fine hands. Their flexible and strong. They’re certainly not a workman’s hands. Sure I’ve pounded my share of fence posts but the scars and slivers soon went. I suppose I’m lucky that the skin is still smooth and pliable. The tips of my fingers are still a bit callous from years of playing guitar but I’d never notice other than I can do a fun party trick with a lighter. My nail beds are a bit deep from years of chewing away when back when my nerves were a bit frayed, a habit I return to now and again. But then our hands in many ways are our physical connection with the outside world. Touch after all, is the foundation of sensuality and connection. It’s good to have hands. Great to have hands. Flippin’ fantastic to have them in fact.
Posted by derrick on
January 25, 2007
It’s a cruel, cruel summer
Leaving me here on my own
- Bananarama
So while I’ve been buried under the cold, white winter, it seems just to rub it in, I can’t stop seeing green!
Canoe and Kayak Magazine’s new issue is on recycled paper. In fact the whole issue has gone green in some sort or another. The folks at
Canoecopia have worked out this thing with the
Chicago Climate Exchange to trade off the amount of Green House Gas emissions they use to put on the show. And of course there’s my personal hero
Justine Curgenven taking suggestions on
her blog for more ecologically responsible packaging. Now if that all were not enough to start turning my skin green,
my new friend in Puerto Rico put up a whole bunch of pictures from the beaches around the island just to give me a taste of what we had to look forward to on our “
Chasing The Ana” trip in August. . . I’m sure she meant well. .
