ohtanninbound

Friday, February 29, 2008

In Defence of All the Things I've Been Slammin'

Such a Catholic am I. I have been feeling guilty about slamming school and living in K-town. So I will say there are a few great things about being here...just give me a sec...umm...

1) I have great profs. Really, they are great. In an alternate reality I would want to have a beer with most of them as they are smart, interesting, good folks.
2) I have a sweet pad here. It's quiet, it has a great view and it's close to the school. It has air con, and I get to control the heat all the time. True, I will have to do LOTS of nights on call to pay for all this when it is all said and done but anything beats living in a dark and dingy flop house with towels that smell funny and rotten macaroni behind the stove. Been there, done that.
3) The city affords some luxuries such as a nice selection of wines, cheeses, restaurants, art galleries...and good coffee, even on Sundays.
4) I can play music here at least once a week when the crazy schedule allows it.
5) I am learning the art of coping with stress and loneliness. Two things that will likely be a theme in my life for the next few years.
6) I can already run in shorts, and went for my first XC bike ride 2 days ago in the mud and snow!

Six is good for now.

Hitting the Wall

(Back by popular demand I reposted this...I just had some second thoughts about sounding like the biggest whiner in the world but evidently people like reading that sort of stuff!)

It's official. Going to Switzerland between end of winter session and the start of spring session at U of A. It's going to be a whirlwind 10 day trip, bookended by moving out of Kelowna the day I finish exams and starting organic chem the day after I return. But I figured, what the hell? I've never been to the Alps and am stoked for some--you guessed it---spring ski touring at a slightly higher elevation than I am used to...oh and the wine at the huts ought to be a nice treat as well. With my adventura points the flight only cost 169 bucks...hell, I'd spend more than that on a pair of ski pants...wait...I just did.

But as I was saying...I am hitting the wall here in K-town. The recent round of midterms and "on hold" application to MD school has just appeared to kick me while I am down. I am not sure how I can put this delicately...um...I HATE SCHOOL. Well, not 'school' in general, because if I did, I wouldn't be signing up for another 7-10 years of the stuff but I hate the 'jumping through hoops' phenomenon of school right now. And the hoops at this juncture (physics, MCAT, etc) are just so soul sucking that most of the time I can't decide between lying in the fetal position on the floor or sitting in my car in the underground parkade staring straight ahead and listening to the Doobie Brothers.

And now it is 1900h which means I have wasted 2h of precious study time faffing on the computer, which makes me feel guilty, which leads to the downward negative thought spiral which you are now reading.

I just wish I could know that I wasn't doing this all for nothing.
The week off was supposed to recharge my batteries and get me ready to finish this semester. Instead I returned to my abode and classes feeling more despondent than ever, thinking about all the things I value in life and how those things are all compromised while I am here, studying MAGNETS for crying out loud.
Vent vent vent. I know, the world's smallest violin is playing my heart bleeds for you.
Well, what is a friggin' on line journal if you can't say what you really want to from time to time?

5 comments:

Henkka said...: Yowza, you are also coming!! Were you going to save it as a surprise or tell me as well? ;-)

WELLLCCCOOME to CH in the spring!!! Yes, spring touring with good wine and cheese will all be here! We are actually getting a bit of fresh snow now, it has been sunny for almost 3 weeks in a row. Jiihaa!; February 27, 2008 11:26 AM
Ryan said...: Henkka, you forgot the 'd' on the end of jiha...Or are you declaring a Jiha(d) on the snow this spring?; February 27, 2008 12:34 PM
Henkka said...: haha :). that's the Finnish way to spell yehaaw (or however you spell it :). I like the spring snow and the couloirs are in skiable condition early this year!; February 27, 2008 12:40 PM
Albinoblackbear said...: Way to go Ryan, now my blog is going to be flagged by CSIS and the FBI...jackass...hahahah; February 27, 2008 2:38 PM
Henkka said...: isn't that special, you will get a lot more traffic on your blog and some guys with dark suits and sunnies are waiting in your apartment one day when you come home ;-); February 28, 2008 12:11 PM

Wagon Wheel (Cover Old Crow Medicine Show)

Though the visual aspect lost some quality in the upload, I thought it'd be nice to put a bit of music on the blog. This is us playing a cover of an Old Crow Medicine Show song called Wagon Wheel. Story has it that Bob Dylan made up the chorus on the fly while showing someone a chord progression during the recording for the soundtrack to "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid". Dylan never released it but the recording has been released as a bootleg. Old Crow Medicine Show wrote the lyrics to the verses and made it famous.

Last night we recorded the jam in Dan's old house which currently stands empty. The acoustics were fabulous. Unfortunately the audio quality does little justice, but you get the idea. It was another inspiring night of music no matter what the sound quality anyway...just what my soul needed.

I noticed a cool trivia aspect to the real music video for this song...the couple selling tickets at the fair are none other than Gillian Welch and her husband/bandmate/guitar player David Rawlings. Glad I spotted Ms Welch, she is after all, in my humble opinion, the greatest female songwriter living or dead. If you watch the first video in the reel provided at the end of this one you'll hear some stylin' roots music and see my musical heroine. Enjoy!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

School Schmool

Well well well, how much reading did I do over "reading week"?

Other than avalanche reports and weather forecasts, not much. I can't help the guilty feeling that is hanging about in the back of my mind over the fact that I had planned all sorts of reviewing, reading ahead, and prepping for the last push to the end of the term. And it all went down the drain. Well actually my good intentions didn't go down the drain, they just went up the mountain.

After a great day with Verena et al, and a great day with Anna, my friend Craig from Kelowna came up for a visit. It may have had something to do with the emails I was sending regarding the quality of the powder and the blueness of the skies in Rogers Pass. We skied Connaught Basin with Troy and Jenna (who was encouraged by Troy's frequent "C'mon MANITOBA!" shouts as we skinned up).

It was beauty out so after not too long we were stripping down and sunscreening-up.

Connaught Basin

Though the weather was welcoming, the tire sized boulder that rolled past us made Craig and I slightly unnerved. Plus the baking rocks to climbers right just seemed to loom in a way we weren't comfortable with. So we only skinned up another couple hundred meters from where the above pic was taken.

Part way down the Basin.

The next day we were 'advised' by a certain Parks Canada employee to give Ross Slide Path a go. It is a permit area that is blasted regularly so we felt a bit more comfortable skiing there. The treed uptrack was a bit gnarly in spots but we were entertained nonetheless by things like John's hairdo, witnessing Craig getting 'familiar' with a pine tree, and me pulling some sweet gazelle-like moves whilst kick turning.

The before shot, once we found the right uptrack...

Our lunch spot, with a pic of John wishing he was at home, reading his book...

The final push to where we dropped in, so nice to get out of the trees and enjoy the views.

Can you spot John patiently waiting for me to get my skins off?

John choosing his line while I say a few Hail Mary's.

At the bottom, in one piece.

As always, John and I attempt to emulate Lord and Lady Black.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Life is Good

Anna and I had one of those perfect days at Rogers Pass yesterday. Bluebird skies, great snacks, good conversation, fluffy snow, warm sunshine. It rocked. We went to the "toe" of Pearly Rock and did two mellow loops and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the sun.

After I slid backwards, slow motion style, into the tree well Anna took over the trail making part of the excursion. The new bib pants paid for themselves already, kept me nice and dry despite the 'face shots' which were in fact, ass-over-tea-kettle-shots...though I did find pine needles in my underwear and bra at the end of the day...not sure how they made their way there...

Anna patiently letting me take her photo before dropping in...I asked if she wasn't afraid of losing her sunnies in the snow--only then realising that Anna probably hasn't wiped out since 1995. Not everyone goes halfway down the fall line on their ass like you do Sullivan...

These guys poached our line while we were snacking....that's what you get for making most of the sweet uptrack I suppose...well I suppose there were still a few acres of freshies to be had...

Woot! So I can stay upright after all!

The Waiting Continues...

February 20, 2008

Ms. Albino Blackbear
Box 1234
Shovelstoke, BC TOS OEO
CANADA

Dear Ms. Blackbear:

The Admissions Committee has completed a preliminary review of your application and based upon this evaluation we believe that in order to give your application fair consideration we must request that you submit your transcript for courses taking in the Spring of “08.

I look forward to receiving your transcript. In the interim, your application will be put on “hold” status. If we do not hear from you within six months, we will assume that you are no longer interested in attending SABA University School of Medicine.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Robert L. Sickletein, Ph.D.
Director of Admissions

Translation: "lets see how you do when you finish organic chem this spring..."

Seems like life is all about 'earning the turns' these days.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Sullivan Eats It

I like how my ski comes over the top of my head. Style points baby, style points...

Monday, February 18, 2008

NOW I get it!!

We were lying in bed yesterday morning when the phone rang...for a moment I thought that staying warm and under the covers was definitely a better idea than hauling myself out of bed to go skiing...but Verena is just so damn enthusiastic it is contagious. Besides, the sun was shining, powder was waiting, and I promised myself I would go skiing as many days as I could over reading week.

Thus ensued the usual "find the neck warmer make coffee eat breakfast pack skins make lunch try to get out the door while John sits with the car running in the middle of the street to go skiing" routine.

It was already a gong show because we ran out of milk and anything that would be suitable for a picnic lunch so we had oatmeal with whip cream for breakfast and John attempted to smuggle the figs for chicken marbella into his pack, along with some crystallized ginger and dried cranberries. The best thing about skinning up a mountain is knowing that at some point you get to stop, put on a warm coat, and eat delicious things before getting back to the grind. I knew that a handful of dried cranberries would not be an anticipated snack to look forward to, so we decided to stop at Tim Ho's and get some breakfast sandwiches to pack for our lunch.

So I ordered two regular breakfast bagel sandwiches and one without meat, all on whole grain bagels. A simple enough order, one would think...

Much to my chagrin they made us a blueberry bagel with sausage and egg, and as I discovered about 2000ft up McPherson, a cinnamon raisin, sausage and egg bagel for lunch. BLECHHHHHHHHHH! I was so hungry I didn't care. Well, I cared enough to curse a blue streak about IQ levels and passive aggressive tendencies of Tim Ho's employees.

So we carried on. It was a challenging uptrack as kick turns are not (sorry--were not) my strong

point. I like to listen to my ipod whenever doing anything physical that invokes shortness of breath and lactic acid occupying my thighs. I find a little White Stripes really gets me through the tough times...so it was not so bad trailing behind the speedy gonzales triple action of Verena, Corey and Simone. Then though a break in the trees I saw this little slope of heaven...and suddenly the shin rubbing no basket on my ski pole reality seemed to melt away into the excitement of knowing that some sweeeeeeet turns were headed our way.

We had skied at the resort yesterday, but the lift lines were atrocious, and the heavily chopped up snow had been only mildly enjoyable...it was obvious now that the advantage of the "flying couch" up the mountain was far outweighed by the fact that at the Fingers we only saw 4 other people (our friends) and got fresh tracks ALL day for the small price of a few thousand calories.

The people waiting in line at RMR are too small to see, but you can see the only 'lines' we dealt with all day...SUCKAHS!!

So the down bits...well lets just say it was the best day of skiing I have ever had in my entire life. The snow was phenomenal...I finally got the groove of powder skiing figured out, and we had beautiful sun and great company all day. Pure entertainment also with John and Corey bushwacking...John's butt looks so cute when it is high-centered in a throng of alder! Everyone was on fire, rippin' through the pow and all you could hear was shrieks of laughter and woots! the entire way down.

We finished it off with some delicious beer a la James, right from the source at Verena's place, then ate our faces off at Spaghetti Night in Canada at Marney and Pat's. We were home by 8 and sleeping by 10. Sigh. A perfect day here in the Interior of Paradise.