This Winter's Plan

The best birthday gift ever (next to Carrot Cake) is a climbing gym membership. As a gift to myself I signed up for a membership at Vertical World. It was either this gym with mostly top-roping and lead climbing, or I could have bought a membership with the bouldering gym - Stone Gardens. Wow and am I out of shape, both my forearms and calves (from the bike ride) are extremely sore. I at least plan on going the majority of every week and hope to be climbing at a 5.12/V6 level by late December, but maybe that is me being just a little bit too optimistic.

On another note here is a list of some flicks that I am definitely looking forward to watching:

• Steven Soderbergh - The Informant - 09/18
• Jonathan Mostow - Surrogates - 09/25
• Coen Brothers - A Serious Man - 10/02
• Ruben Fleisher - Zombieland - 10/09
• Spike Jonze - Where the Wild Things Are - 10/16
• Grant Heslov - The Men Who Stare at Goats - 11/06
• James Cameron - Avatar - 12/18
• George Romero - Survival of the Dead - 2009

-- Well I have been blogging too much, so I will find something better to do with all of this time on my hands.

Ski Season is Aproaching

I do not want to say much, but the a new ski season is upon us. Hopefully I ski more mountains and gracefully carve the most fluffy powder this year than I ever have done before. What the great Warren Miller once said, "If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do."

Here is the trailer for Powderwhore's next film "Flakes"

The Seattle Life

Well I am living in Seattle Washington! Exciting it is. Besides the fact that I need money to do just about anything (I must be living in a city), the lifestyle here is great. I am currently living in a decent studio located in Lower Queen Anne. Within a three block radius of where I live there are five Thai restaurants, six bars (real ones, not like the so called "bars" of Utah), five cafés, two Indian Restaurants, two Pizzerias, a Real movie theater which in comparison to Westates Theaters (a monopoly in Utah that typically leans towards an LDS audiences i.e. movies that are non-independent and are G-rated), and three grocery stores that have a vast varieties of products (but are a little pricier from what I am used to).

I just got a job with REI at their flagship store which is just about three times the size of any other REI store in the US. For right now I am only a seasonal sales person for winter sports, but I hope to become a full-time employee and possibly go even further up the corporate cooperative ladder.

For those of you that do not know what REI is, Recreation Equipment, Inc. is a cooperative retailer based in Seattle that sells outdoor recreational equipment (hunting rifles, soccer balls, and snowmobiles are NOT outdoor recreational equipment). The way the co-op works is by becoming a lifetime REI member for only $20, one becomes a lifetime "shareholder" of REI and receives dividends depending on how much you spend at REI and its annual profit. REI has been on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For for twelve years in a row (ranked 12th this year). I get great benefits and incentives, and there is a lot of potential for progress.

I also have an interview with Pyramid Brewery today.

Once I start making a self-sustaining income I will hopefully do the following:
1. Get a membership at a local climbing gym
2. Finally purchase a brewing kit to brew some delicious beer by the holidays
3. Join The Mountaineers and partake in their outdoor activities including Sailing!
4. Get my Avalanche certification as well as Wilderness Responder certification
5. Summit Mt. Rainier by the fall of next year