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Standing on the beach looking towards the mountain

As soon as I saw this mountain along the North Shore of Oahu I said aloud, “I must climb it.”

Tuesday morning I grabbed a few bottles of water and my camera bag and headed north to make it happen.

The mountain offered a buffet of terrain; grasslands, bushes, boulders, and the meat of the experience – vertical rock faces. Every ten minutes I was conquering one section and plotting my attack on the next. I felt like a kid in a candy store – eyes wide, overwhelmed with delicious options. “Can I find a way around this obstacle or should I duck in and go straight up through?” Aside from two necessary exceptions, I typically scanned for the route that looked the most challenging. What a blast!

There were a few close calls, and more than once I thought “I probably should have gone with a climbing partner.” Fortunately, I only fell three times – nothing serious. However, my knees, shins, and ankles were brutalized. Let me explain:

Thick and nasty underbrush.

The entire mountain is covered in thick underbrush between four and eight feet tall. Everything below waist high is covered in thick grass that perfectly conceals boulders and crevices. Each footfall must be slowly and cautiously placed. I can’t count the number of times my shins “discovered” boulders or I stumbled into a crevice – cutting and bruising my ankles.

At one point I had to stop myself mid-step. A foot in front of me the hillside disappeared into a bottomless darkness. A crevice cut deep into the mountainside – maybe ten feet deep but only three feet across. It was so narrow that the brush on both sides hid the death trap perfectly.

That was my first real scare of the day– and I made a mental note to watch my step.

My head was pointed downward for most of the climb – only stopping at clearings to enjoy the view and plot the next segment of my route.

I got to do some seriously fun climbing here!

I underestimated this mountain, but not in ignorance. Before climbing I laughed away the reality of the challenge in the same way boxing heavyweights talk trash before entering the ring.

I understood the challenge, but it only charged my legs and brought a smile to face in a fun, “show me what you got” sort of way.

Imagine a piece of paper crumpled up in a ball. From looking at it you couldn’t estimate the surface area very accurately. In the same way, scanning the mountain from a distance you can’t really imagine each cliff and ridge that make the climb seem five times longer than it should. The thing really unfolds.

Wearing pants would have been an awesome idea – but the only long pants I have here are my nice jeans which I wasn’t about to shred. Instead, I shredded my legs (and arms… and face…)

Another tricky thing about this rhino was that each time I thought I was nearly at the top I kept discovering higher ridges to conquer.

Finally, after two hours I approached the summit.  I was covered in sweat, insects, dust, and bruises but I felt brand new.

The final 15' climb was the trickiest thanks to loose rocks.

The final 15 foot climb was the most intense. Several rocks came loose and fell from overhead and dust was blowing in my eyes.  I briefly considered the irony of getting hurt now, within reach of the top.

I finally hauled myself over the last boulder.  I stood up deliberately and slowly turned to face the ocean.  A wall of air was pouring in from the pacific and screamed over the summit.  I leaned into it.  My feet gripped the rock through the thin soles of my shoes and I felt perfectly solid and balanced – as if the full weight of the mountain was flowing up through me as I straighted my back and stood perfectly tall.

I smiled.  And then – arms wide, head back, and eyes closed – I shouted at the world.  I existed alone for a moment.  It was perfection.

[View 22 of the best photos from the climb below.  Click on the first photo to open an overlay.  Then use the controls on the lower left of the overlay to scroll through the images.]

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[Show as slideshow]

 

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Unlike the past, I decided to actually celebrate this year!  We had cake, lit 8 candles, and yes, even sang “happy birthday” to Web Logic Now! (Thanks Sara, Malory, and David).

Making the cake look just like the WLN logo was tough.  Because the logo is composed of geometric shapes (circle, triangle, and rectangle) the human eye can pick out flaws very easy.  It was my job to draw the outline of the logo in the icing and Sara did, literally, everything else.  (Sara is awesome.)

Happy 8th Birthday to Web Logic Now LLC!

First step: create delicious icing with lots of sugar and butter

Sara meticulously outlining

Looking pretty good!

Now to fill in the logo's white areas

Coming together! Next to smooth the white areas

Just look at this focus and attention to details!

Final product!

Om nom nom nom

A smile from the talented chef

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Web Logic Now! (we're goofy, I know)

Finally we can eat our creation

Delicious.

Thanks again to my family, friends, and all of the great people I’ve had the joy of working with during the past 8 years.  I’m excited for 2010 and the things we’ll accomplish together!

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Waimea Bay - North Shore

[Warning: the following is a free-write that I’m publishing as a sort of experiment. It was written just now as a stream of consciousness with complete disrespect to syntax and grammar. It’s fun.

I hope that you find it readable despite the terrible sentence structure and run-ons.]

I want to write about Hawaii – but I find myself so lost in the experience that I’m finding it difficult to wrap it up. To capture it.

I would take a few steps back – in order to get a better view, grip, grasp on the experience in order to describe it in a way that resonates with me, but I’m in the middle of it.

It is not something that has already happened, which I can now reflect on – which is typical for most experiences that I write about. My normal writing style is either some thought or memory that was recently inspired, has ended, and is fresh in my mind for description, thought, consideration.

I think I’m so used to this normal experience pattern that my mind is thrown off by the relative length of this experience. This moment, sitting alone in my room on my bed, after breakfast but before heading out for the day, is the closest I’ve come to being able to separate myself from the enduring experience in order to reflect.

It’s a relief, really, because I planned on writing more – and although I have no reason to, I feel ever so slightly stressed when I feel like I should (?) be writing more.

That I’m missing something and it needs to be captured so that the impact of some certain event – a conversation, a scene – doesn’t fade into a weak watered-down description using stock words like “awesome, fun, amazing” – which lack any feeling whatsoever – especially in written word. In person these words can be used because they are complimented with big eyes, smiles, hand gestures, and emphasis.

More writing and details of my Hawaiian adventures later.  Subscribe by rss or by email so you don’t miss the coming tales, photos, and videos (climb palm trees, jump off waterfalls, and learn to surf… vicariously).

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Indianapolis Artsgarden (photo credit Indiana Univ)

On Friday I spent the day in Indianapolis with my good friend Nathan Monk (@nathanmonkart). We go way back (I’m talking grade school). Nathan is a husband, father, musician, and artist – and he was invited to display his work at the annual Indianapolis Artsgarden Holiday Art Sale sponsored by Be Indypendent and the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

Nathan focuses on recycling and repurposing found objects for sculpture and 3D collage. Really awesome and original stuff.  He doesn’t do it  for the money (what artist does?) but his work is definitely worth owning.  Everything on his website is for sale if you are interested. (very reasonable prices, just email him at nathanmonkart@gmail.com)

The event was held in the beautiful Artsgarden – which is a glass dome-shaped building suspended over the intersection of Washington and Illinois streets at the heart of the Circle City. The event lasted all day and showcased artwork from 20 of Indy’s top local artists.

It was quite an honor for Nathan to be accepted in the show. He was probably the youngest artist on display and his table was easily one of the most popular. I got to tag along for the ride – helping when possible and documenting the occasion.  Then on Saturday I had a blast digging through the footage and creating a short video montage of the day. It’s nothing too advanced (I used CyberLink PowerDirector ha), but I had a blast with it!

The video includes:

1. Our 8am set up
2. A micro-interview with Nathan
3. A taste of what the day was all about
4. The evening crowd
5. Packing up and heading home
6. Credits
7. Bonus “uncut” clip

…all packed into a delicious five and a half minutes.  Like I said, I had way too much fun creating this video. Maybe I should think about how I can do more video work in the future? Hmm…

Enjoy!

(If you enjoyed this post, Nathan’s artwork, and/or the video, you should post this on facebook or twitter. Thank you)

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The experiment involved sleeping multiple times during the day – specifically, sleeping for 20 minutes every four hours around the clock. Instead of sleeping during the night and being awake all day I’m basically taking six powernaps (amounting to about two hours of accumulative sleep per 24 hour period).

Ultimately I decided to return to monophasic sleep for social reasons.

I cherish the freedom to be spontaneous – especially when it comes to spending time with friends and family – and I was having to make too many social sacrifices to maintain the strict polyphasic sleep schedule.

My first major social sacrifice came on day five of the experiment when I had to back out of going to an art and hip hop show in Indianapolis with my buddy, Nathan Monk. I wasn’t happy about it but I figured that after the first week or so I could be more flexible with my sleep schedule – delaying or possibly even skipping naps when necessary.

After the first four or five days of the experiment I was feeling great and spending more than 90% of the day awake. I felt more optimistic and creative than I’ve ever felt. I was working more, reading more, skateboarding more, writing more, learning more, taking more photos… It felt as if I was cheating in the game of life. I was hacking time. Not only was I functioning, but I was excited and productive on about two hours of sleep a day! I was optimistic from the start and expected good results but the degree of success was still shocking. Every day I asked myself, ‘How is it possible to feel this good on only two hours of sleep a day?!’ Did I mention it was the most optimistic and creative two weeks I can ever remember?

Now, I do want to clarify that although I was awake for 22 hours a day I was not functioning at 100% at all times. In the same way that most people feel a bit slow during the late afternoon I also experienced times where I felt a little hazy. For me these times typically came between 3am and sunrise. During these times I would focus on less demanding activities such as cleaning, washing dishes, laundry, and reading.

During the second week of the experiment (the week of Thanksgiving) I began pushing the limits of the schedule’s flexibility – sometimes skipping a nap and then taking a longer nap later to “make up for it.” This, however, did not work out so well. It turns out that if I’m going to be getting two hours of sleep every 24 hours my body needs the strict schedule in order to snap into a functioning pattern. My schedule was a 20 minute nap at 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm, 2am, 6am, and repeat.

As the novelty of the experiment wore down I was less willing to make social sacrifices, therefore putting vibrations into my sleep schedule which caused strain in the experiment – sabotaging my optimism and commitment.

The final nail in the coffin happened on Friday November 27th when I stayed awake for over 18 hours. I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon and evening with close friends that I don’t get the chance to see very often – and I couldn’t bring myself to put my own sleep experiment before those relationships. It has become clear to me lately that no relationship lasts forever. Not to be a downer, but all relationships will eventually end.  But this is what makes our relationships so valuable and worthy of being cherished. And yes, worthy of sacrificing sleep for.

After the night of the 27th I considered continuing the experiment but after a fierce discussion with myself I decided it would be best to return to monophasic sleep. Yep. Plain old boring monophasic sleep, ugh. The first time I slept for eight hours consecutively after my experiment I felt like a lazy bum. During the sleep experiment eight hours of sleep would have lasted me four days!

The transition back to monophasic sleep was actually a little tough psychologically – and I’m still bummed out about it. The days seem to fly by and I feel relatively unproductive. It’s difficult.

After experiencing the high that comes from “time travel” (essentially having more hours in the day), I think I’ll always feel awkward about monophasic sleep. It’s just not the most effective sleep schedule for me. But unfortunately it’s what we all do thanks to the day/night cycle of the planet.

In the end, even though I prefer the polyphasic sleep schedule for many reasons, I came to the realization that the freedom to spend time with friends and family is far more valuable to me right now. I will always daydream about those two weeks though… and I know I will again return to polyphasic sleep at some point in my life when it makes sense (likely this spring).  I lived through a thrilling dream – and I must give it another go at some point. I’m addicted.

EXPERIMENT INDEX:

• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Zero
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day One
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Two
• Why Polyphasic sleep? | A simple and compelling answer
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Three
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Four
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – The Epic Napstake (nap + mistake)
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – The Success, Conclusion, and Addiction

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2. Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Zero Every since I first read about polyphasic sleep in 2007...
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I’m currently reading “Personal Development for Smart People” by Steve Pavlina (Amazon link). I’m only halfway through this book and plan on reading it again just as soon as I finish.

It’s easily the best book I’ve ever read. Meaningful, life changing, and delicious.

It’s so packed full of good stuff that I should probably write a page of reflection for each page I read – just to let the inspiration marinate and settle. In fact, don’t even finish reading this post – do yourself a favor and head over to Steve’s blog.

Anyways, I was reading last night and thinking about something that has troubled me for a couple years now. Why isn’t everyone actively interested in conscious growth? (aka “personal development”) The resources are available. The books and blog posts have been written. It’s all there within arm’s reach.

So what is it? Do people not know how to find the resources? What books to buy or what search terms to use?  Maybe people don’t feel supported or capable of change?  Or, what I fear is the case, are some people just not interested in learning, improving, and developing as a person? Perhaps some people don’t want to read books like these because they underestimate the chance of actual results? Maybe they’re trapped into a destructive “things are good, not great, but that’s just the way it is” mentality. Maybe some people would rather share complaints on a smoke break during their soulless job than admit to themselves…

“I alone am responsible for my life.”

It takes some humility and courage to buy a “personal development” book, doesn’t it? I noticed something curious about this book I’m reading. When someone asks me “what are you reading?” I actually hesitate for a moment because I feel slightly embarrassed! After I tell them the title (Personal Development for Smart People) I quickly follow up with a qualifying statement like, “It sounds lame, but really it’s a fascinating book.” I should read sexier books, ha!  Maybe this is how others feel as well?

This post is hardly polished, but I will publish it regardless because I think it captures my current thoughts on the matter of conscious growth.

What are your thoughts on personal development?  Perhaps we each grow in different ways and I shouldn’t rant about those who choose to grow in a different direction, at a different pace, or by different means than I choose.

[I suspect that my beautiful and intelligent readers aren't the type that need to hear a rant about the value of pursuing conscious growth, so thanks for taking a minute to read anyways. ]

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It recently occurred to me that right now in my life I am happier than I’ve ever been.  The question is, why?

You should click the purple button to play.

[pro tip for the multi-tasking type -  Let this play in the background by opening a new tab in your browser and listen while you do other things.]

PS – Since this is my first audio post, I’m very interested in your feedback. I know we’re all busy busy busy but if you have a moment to spare I value your thoughts. You should leave a comment below. Thank you!

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As you know, my sleep experiment involves sleeping for 20 minutes at a time every 4 hours around the clock. Tuesday was rough, Wednesday morning was killer, Thursday was an improvement and Friday was fantastic, but I’m afraid this morning I’ve taken a big step backwards in the adaptation process.

The adaptation process is difficult and requires strict discipline when adhering to the sleep schedule. Skipping / postponing a nap or (much more likely) oversleeping would damage the learning process – and oversleeping is exactly what happened this morning.

As of this morning I had slept a total of 10 hours in the past 110 – averaging just 2.3 hours of sleep per day. Things were going well and I was feeling optimistic about my progress. I cannot describe my disappointment when I awoke from my 6am nap at 1:30pm.

Confusion. What? How… is this possible?

My mind raced as I tried to remember what happened. I looked down and my phone was in my bed. Not where it’s supposed to be. I use the alarm on my iPhone and intentionally place it on the other side of the room so I have to get up and walk in order to turn it off.

Over the next minute the details came back into my mind in fuzzy dreamlike images. Here’s what happened.

My alarm went off at 6:30am. Automatically (this was my 25th nap of the experiment), I got up, walked over and turned the alarm off, flicked on the lights, and walked into the kitchen for a glass of water. I woke my computer, checked email, and began checking twitter and facebook – those mindless things you do out of habit. I then opened my word document called “dream log” to record a dream I had (it was terrible. My teeth were shattered but wired together like I had braces so I couldn’t get the pieces out of my mouth – they just filled my mouth. I was freaking out and I realized it was a dream so I tried to wake myself up by screaming and shaking my head. I woke up, relieved to find my teeth back to normal, when all of the sudden they started to shatter again in a blinding pain.

I had “woken” from my dream into another dream. Something I’ve NEVER experienced before.

This time my family was there and I had to show them my shattered teeth. It was intense.

Anyways, I opened the document to record the dream details and noticed that my fingers wouldn’t type correctly. I was skipping letters and mistyping all over the place. I was frustrated and felt desperate. The next thing I remember was sitting at my computer but my eyes were closed. I didn’t remember closing them it must have happened automatically.

I felt hopeless. Sleep was going to happen and I felt like I had no choice in the matter.

I must have reset my alarm for 20 more minutes of sleep, because when I woke up at 1:30pm I checked and saw that it was set for 7am. And that’s it. I must have turned my alarm off without waking up when it went off at 7 and the rest is history.  Tragic napstake.

That put me at a real crossroad in my experiment. It would be an easy time to end the experiment, since this likely took me back several days in the adaptation process… but I wasn’t planning on ending it now. I feel that ending the experiment under these circumstances be a weak end to an otherwise awesome experience.

After some more thought I’ve decided to press onward with the experiment.

It will be interesting to see how this affects me during the next 24 hours. Right now, as expected, I am feeling rested and alert. The good news is that I was still able to sleep during the 6pm rest today – which indicates that I’m not thrown off completely. I’m still bummed out about my napstake though.

On another note, I wish it was summer time. I could really use the extra sunlight. Right now 4 of my 6 daily naps begin and end in darkness. In July only 2 would be in darkness, since it would be light during the 6am and 6pm naps. Oh well. Onward!

EXPERIMENT INDEX:

• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Zero
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day One
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Two
• Why Polyphasic sleep? | A simple and compelling answer
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Three
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – Day Four
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – The Epic Napstake (nap + mistake)
• Polyphasic Sleep Experiment – The Success, Conclusion, and Addiction

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