juliet

Another "selection of random things" post, then.

I went climbing yesterday & had AWESOME FUN, despite (or perhaps because of) falling off several times & sustaining a splendid bruise to the elbow. (Falling off is kind of good for you, though, because hey: you fall off, no major harm done, more inclined to throw yourself into it next time.) There are at least two things that I really love about climbing: the meditative nature of it (not thinking about anything other than what you're doing at the time); and the fact that it's about both physical ability (being able to do particular things) and mental puzzle (how can I get from A to B?). The physical exertion/exercise part helps, too. Anyway: I now have a decent pair of shoes (thank you doop) & a harness (thank you Mum & Dad), both for Xmas, which obviously commits me to going a lot & making use of them :)

This has led me to a certain amount of contemplating about the sports/physical activities that I enjoy & what it is that I get out of them; as opposed to the ones which I'm still not remotely interested in. I still have this mental image of myself as "not very physically inclined" from school sports, which these days is kind of out of date; but of course basically everything we did at school fell into the second category, and I hated it.

I've also been writing a lot, which is cool but a little scary so I will not say anything more about that. (Although I will put here links to the two things I wrote for the Yuletide fic exchange.)

On the subject of making things: someone on my FL linked to an auction to help Haiti, so if you want a pair of hand-knit socks, wander over there to make a bid.

This CGI video is seriously beautiful, and v hard to believe that it's all CGI.

I could have sworn I had other things to say here, but apparently not.

Went past LARC today to do diary-synchronising (A BETTER SYSTEM IS NEEDED) and potter round the garden briefly; then on up to the Castle for an hour of very energetic bouldering.

Climbing is *awesome* fun. I am very pleased with myself for doing two 4C problems[0], both of which were overhanging & thus Harder. Doubtless tomorrow I will ache, but hey, I can climb things that require me to hang backwards off them! That is pretty damn cool! Plus it does the thing that I wanted to get out of it, viz: when I am climbing I am not thinking about anything else at all. (See also surfing.)

[ BTW, anyone who fancies having a go at climbing, I am happy to sign people in. Doesn't matter if you have zero experience -- all you need to know for top-roping is how to tie a harness, & how to belay, both of which are straightforward to demonstrate. ]

ION: after all the faff with the boiling up bones &c, Finlay is *very impressed* with his lentil stew stuff, so it was at least worth it. It'll still be vegan next time.

IOON: am on target with NaNoWriMo (hurrah!); have worked out that I am trying to fit more things into the day than there is available time for things (so nothing new there, then); the Archive Of Our Own is in open beta! (I have a spare invite code if anyone wants it) & I have top running in a window over there <-- so I can keep an eye on it; & teaching is going well except that my individual lessons keep getting cancelled due to e.g. torrential rain & 30mph winds.

[0] It's indoor climbing, so what you have is sets of coloured handholds set onto the wall, and each colour is one problem. Ratings start at 4A, & I've been climbing 4A and 4B pretty reliably recently; 4C I tend to fall off. Bouldering is not far off the ground, so you don't need a harness or someone to belay you. Top-roping is where there's a rope & a pulley at the top & it goes up a lot higher because you're attached to the rope so it's OK if you fall off. I mostly do bouldering because I go up on my own in the daytime. I think possibly problems is the word in bouldering & routes is the word when top-roping? I dunno. I am a beginner!