Greenbackyard

The Passionate Rock Climber

2010-01-13T00:33:06Z

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I had recently discovered a brand new, all encompassing passion: rock climbing.

Before I go into this again though, it’s also important to notice that I am going through a very intense period in my life at the moment, a massive roller coaster, with very large swings of ups and downs and mixing “dreamy/fantasy” in what would otherwise seem like a normal existence, it seems to defy magic realism. Or maybe this is also again, part of my imagination of it being a bit too far fetched and trying to find meaning in everything. Why is this important? Because through crisis is that I also reflect very seriously about what I am doing with my life and reconsider the choices I have made in the past.

So trying to gently get back into the subject of rock climbing, how often is it that you find your Element (as described in Ken Robinson’s book) or at least one part of it? I guess that occasionally you stumble upon them and sometimes you engineer them. I’ve just read a post by John Nunemaker titled “I have no talent” in which he states that most of his best work is due to his perseverance and hard work and, of course, his passion for his craft, software development. This made me think: “Is talent something that really matters to me? Do I have any talent(s)?” and before I pursue this line even further, let me clearly say that I agree with John: only hard work gives results, I think it’s really the only way. I think the same applies to passions, like rock climbing. I do have a certain affinity (physically) towards that sport, I am not sure if I’d call that talent but it’s definitely a _connection_ however without all the hard work I would not be getting any better and my frustrations would just keep on growing. I have worked pretty hard to keep this passion of climbing alive, of course when you love something and you enjoy it, working for it doesn’t seem like such an effort. my training routine has got me a few “you are crazy” comments (and trust me it’s not all that intense) It requires persistence and a lot of sheer determination to get through it. Some days it can get hard (hangovers for example, are my worst enemies ).

Working towards ones goals and passions takes many forms. For me it’s been focusing on a routine that pushes me a bit further every time. and that I can do without machines or without having to rely on specialized help. and of course that I can do on my own so that I have to rely solely on my own motivation and not on somebody else to drag me out for a climb. If I get to share those moments with others that’s awesome however since I always struggled to get my own routines underway I needed to rely on my own energy. And it’s also about reading a lot about climbing and about conditioning for climbers, mostly because I am not a trainer and I have a vague idea of where my weaknesses are in terms of strength and flexibility however I needed some advice that would guide me towards the most effective training routines. BTW the most influential book for me so far has been The Rock Warrior’s Way by Arno Ilgner.

The journey has begun.

Adventures into a brave new world

2010-01-05T11:50:36Z

It has been way too long since I last posted here. I think I’ve been using Twitter too much as it feels so easy to just put my stream of consciousness out there without having to fear the empty blank “textarea” (or what writers experience with the blank page, however in our digital times this has long been replaced by a blank word document).

Anyway, as with the vast majority of the western world, I have decided that as part of my “new year’s resolutions” I wanted to tweet less and blog more. Why? Mostly because when I write a post here, I actually spend a vast amount of time thinking about it, preparing for it and, most of the time, it reflects my state of mind more accurately and not just a spontaneous outburst like what can happen through my tweets. And the last few months have been quite intense in my life and I need an outlet to express myself. It’s a way to communicate more detailed ideas, experiences, emotions. All bundled in these words, on these pages.

So, what’s this brave new world I am talking about? Climbing, as in rock climbing! Yes, I know … I am not 18 anymore and why taking on such a strenuous sport at this stage of my life? I owe it to Harry who took me to a climbing wall near Zürich once back in August or September, I can’t remember the exact day. I remember trying to climb the first walls and feeling transported into a state of deep focus and concentration without requiring much preparation and a great sense of camaraderie (well, the person belaying you has your life, literally, in their hands). I remember coming back to my apartment and staying awake until 4AM, unable to sleep, remembering all the moments and also “high” from the adrenaline (I also suffer -or suffered, not sure yet- from vertigo). A few days later, I started to realise how profound this experienced had been and how much it had affected me. And when I say “affected”, I really mean it, a deep transformation. Not just physical (which there was and I will cover that in future posts) but mostly mental.

Mental transformation due to the ability to get in that deep focus almost instantly and repeatedly. Like when I was developing software 24×7 and every now and then I would get into “the zone” and would code for, say, 4 or 5h non-stop and would not have any idea of how much time had passed, how I got to the results I did however those were the best classes, methods, designs and overall architectures. However these moments were seldom the norm. I couldn’t get in “the zone” on demand and I wasn’t able to create the conditions for it artificially. Coming out of “the zone” was also great because I wouldn’t feel stressed, actually all the stress would have evaporated.

As I write this I am thinking over and over again what is that fascinates me so much about climbing. I figured that stress relief is an important factor however that’s not the only one, there are more. The physical challenge is definitely up there, for a computer nerd like myself who has lived a mostly sedentary life, suddenly being able to climb and pull his own weight without the aid of machines or weird contraptions (bouldering) is a major accomplishment. And finally, something that I am very keen on learning about is climbing outdoors. Yes, I have to admit I’ve only been doing indoor climbing so far (give me a break, I’ve only been doing this since September last year) !!! There are so many climbing spots around the world, beautiful, photogenic and wild places that are just waiting to be climbed! So much more interesting than the climbing walls at the gym. Of course, don’t take me wrong, I love to train in a climbing wall, the safety and comfort of just a short stroll to it, any day of the week is unbeatable however “the real thing” is impossible to match (at least it’s still a fantasy for me).

I want to share my experiences of going through yet another life transformation, partly because I think it’s now part of who I am and also because there isn’t that much of it out there about climbing nerds and I thought that it could be interesting to document this journey to keep me motivated and focused and, hopefully, to motivate others. Stay tuned.

My first assignment

2009-09-15T00:48:53Z

How fantastic to stroll down to the letterbox yesterday and find my first beekeeping assignment, returned, and marked. I got most of my questions right! But more gratifying were the multiple hand written comments from my teacher, and the encouragement. I was delighted that someone really took the time to go through my assignment. I’m going to write to my teacher and ask him the multiple questions I have about bees, since he seems so engaged. Yay!

A garden bench and a cup of tea

2009-09-07T00:11:01Z

I’ve only just started rebuilding this old, run down garden and already it’s time to take a break. I think it’s imperative to have a cup of tea and a good sit down and a bit of a think about what comes next. In fact, as I’ve been working a bit of a space has opened up by the garden gate. That’s where my awesome garden trolley does it’s turning circle, where I can dump straw, where I can leave my tools. It’s such a useful space I think I’ll keep it and add a bench to sit on. Then I’ll make a cup of tea, and stare at the garden in progress.

The other two thirds of my garden shall stay, for now, in a forlorn, weed choked state. By getting a garden seat, and creating a space just for sitting, watching and dreaming I think I’m paying respect to the principle of considered organic design. A chair in this case isn’t a final cherry on the cake, it’s not the ornament that celebrates a finished project.
It’s about building a spot to reflect as you go.
Very often in my profesional life as a web designer, my team and I don’t get this luxury. Because of time commitments we bang out designs to a brief as fast as we can. It’s often the client that does the reflecting, gets back to us and asks us to make changes.
I believe that gardens can teach us so much, and perhaps one fertile area I could reflect on might be how organic design might influence collaborative design for the better.

An Epicurun garden

2009-09-02T02:23:14Z

Marble bust of Epicurus.

There once was a fellow called Epicurus. He was a Greek philosopher. He had a simple recipe for happiness. These days if you were to say that someone is living “the Epicurian” ideal, the implication would be that they are a debauched, avaricious existence devoted to pure pleasure. Oddly, this has nothing to do with what he said (or rather it’s an interpretation of what he said.) Other interpretations reveal a simpler, neater value system.

According to his surviving writings, the way to be happy is to do these things:

* Own a garden
* Be self-sufficient, in that you don’t depend on someone else for your livelihood
* Live modestly
* Eat fresh food, preferably home grown
* Have good friends with whom you can have long conversations
* Drink modestly
* Don’t be afraid of death

In fact Epicurus was supposed to have founded a school around his own garden, that was open to all sorts, including women and slaves, (exceedingly rare in those days.) Apparently, he was quite fond of a ‘pot’ of fresh cheese, a ripe tomato and a hunk of bread for dinner, and some friends to share it with.

All this got me thinking about planting an Epicurun Garden. Imagine this with me… White gravel paths, tomato plants of all sorts up trellis’s and sprawled over whitewashed walls. The drift of basil on the wind, thyme underfoot, the faint hum of bees working nearby. I have baked a loaf of bread, and made a little tub of cheese from locally sourced organic milk, and there’s one of my honey varieties open on nearby rustic table. Friends are due for lunch, and they are bringing a bottle of olive oil and a chilled glass of something delicious. That right there, that sounds quite heavenly wouldn’t you agree? Think old Epicurus would agree…

One last thing I think has to be said, and that is Epicurus really was very cool, you should read more about Epicurus here. Apparently he coined this phrase, which was later adopted by the humanists as a common tombstone epitaph:

“I was not; I was; I am not, and I’m fine with that.”

Twitter Entropy

2009-08-14T08:21:03Z

Our good friend Andrew sent me the following email yesterday, following a short but entertaining exchange we had on Twitter. I thought I would reproduce it here as I like it too!

Hi Bruno, Just for fun… I thought our Twitter banter over entropy was entertaining. [...] What was rather poetic and circular in this entropy thread was how you returned to a state of control “Planning”… neat!

twitter entropy exchange

Two “must-read” books

2009-07-06T12:45:05Z

I started this post a while back and then it sat there, unloved and gathering dust so I started over again. This is not exactly a follow-up from the previous series and it is at the same time.

I started reading two very very interesting books: Slow is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure and Joie de Vivre and Life Inc. recently. Danielle (my soulmate) gave me “Slow is Beautiful” and I had reserved a copy “Life Inc” before it was released because I’ve always liked Douglas Rushkoff’s writing (ever since John, a friend from Amsterdam, introduced me to his blog back in 2001 or so).

When I first picked “Slow is Beautiful and started reading it, I noticed that we had started going in the direction that Cecile Andrews talks about, towards reclaiming our own life from the hectic environments of our busy cities and its demands. For a while though, I have been still living with a very “city” mind in the country and the good thing is that you are surrounded by “country time” and it reminds you on a daily basis that you need to take it easy or at least, a life can be lived without the constant stress created by the super fast living demands and we need to reorient our individual-centric view of the world to a more community oriented one.

I didn’t realised this until very recently, in particular by talking to our neighbours and realising how much of a community sense there is in our valley. Everyone knows and helps each other. For example, the other day, the guy that delivers the gas bottles got bogged on our property … without even resorting to calling them, our neighbour and a friend that was at his place appeared with their 4WD to help. They had heard the sounds of the van trying to get out of the mud.

I am not even halfway through “Life Inc” and it has already given me a new perspective on the global financial crisis. Somehow I found so many parallels between these two books and our move to the country, it’s a bit scary Once I had the time to finish them and digest them a bit more, I will write a bit more. They relate very closely to where we are at in our life (Danielle, Zeek and I) and seem to be recommending a path forward that’s aligned with our way of thinking and our values. Highly recommended!

The ultimate survivor

2009-05-07T06:18:27Z

New tank

A few days ago we stood in front of our aquaponics system, looking dubiously into the stinky water. It was like looking into a tank of raw green sludge. The bottom was hidden under a depth of brack-ish green water. Mosquito larvae wriggled in the still, scum laden rainwater tank. No food had been dropped into the tank in months. Our plant beds were like little deserts – with a few weedy herbs clawing at the sky. Surely nothing could survive in such a toxic environment?

My brother made it clear he wanted the tank of water to go. Since the tank was right next to his room, he had a point. We knew that 10 of the 11 eleven original fish had perished. But what if that last fish was still alive? Surviving like a fishy Chuck Norris, deep in the tank? Tenaciously clinging to life like a Rambo – how could we get rid of the tank (or at least clean it out and reuse it) if, somewhere down there, it lived! We looked into the tank and our doubts were almost palpable. Surely, it had to be dead?

We started to drain the tank. Long hair like strands of green filaments coated the sides of the tank – I could only compare it to seaweed. The water didn’t get any clearer, but odd things emerged, like half sunken wrecks. As we got down to the last third, we stopped emptying the tank and got a big stick and had a bit of a poke around – juuuuuuusssssst in case…..

Suddenly, like a black shadow, out he darted!! I let out an excited yell. It made my day to find he was still there, incredibly, still fighting fit and swift as a flash of light. What a stayer! As my brother Stephen said (after whom we named every fish) – what a Highlander he is. “There can be… only one!” So we refilled the tank a bit and then had a good chat about what to do next.

The thing is, we need to transport the Highlander Fish to our new house and eventually build it a new aquaponics system – but our new house is 8 hours away. That’s a hard thing to do… Get it out of the swamp (er… current tank), get it into some in-between-time tank and then get it up to our new house and THEN get it into it’s long term accommodation. I sure will not be able to eat Highlander after this, he’s almost like family now, (and about as much trouble. And probably about as crazy.)

Anyway, we went out and bought a new fish tank for him. You can see the photo here. We need to leave it a week with a pump in it to settle down, before we transfer him into it, and finally clean the big tank. More on this saga later. I really hope that after living for so long in a toxic pool he doesn’t cark it the moment we introduce him to properly oxygenated water.

What to do with a small block of land full of fruit trees?

2009-05-07T06:17:21Z

What would you do if you moved to a small block of land, smaller than a normal farm, full of established fruit trees? Well you might consider erecting a pot stil to make your own liquors and spirits. That’s just what the owners of the Tambourine Mountain Distillery did, in 1992, after they moved from Tasmania to the Glass House Mountains in Queensland.

“As we did not want to use chemical sprays on our fruit, we discovered that our products did not meet with market requirements’, their website says. “For a four person family, we had too much fruit, so we needed to ‘convert’ it into something which would make this small property productive.” See more of their story here.

What a wonderful idea! You should check out their site – it’s a delightfully personal and warm website, complete with pictures of their hand painted bottles, glowing stills, and caskets of maturing liquors. They’ve won numerous awards, and every bottle is hand-painted… and be sure to take a look at the peacock named Claude displaying his huge magnificent tail outside their show rooms. I can’t wait to visit in person.

Setting up a distillery in Australia is not easy at all, (which perhaps explains why there are so few of them.) Where-as in France and many European cultures, making alcohol at home is centuries old practice, that is still very much part of the tradition of cooking and food preparation, it is very uncommon in Australia, because the Government makes it very hard to own a Still. Owning a still even to make your own home made liquors, which you don’t intend to sell, without the proper license is illegal. You can’t own the still, make the liquor, store it, sell it, or move it, without a license.

When you get a license, the Government imposes what is called an excise duty on your goods. So for every litre of 40% proof alcohol you make, you need to pay the Government $65. A 750 ml bottle (think of a wine bottle) with 40% alcohol will have an excise duty of $18. Which you have to pay upfront, regardless of whether you sell this bottle or drink it yourself at home. If you sell it, you pay taxes and GST on the earnings after that. And just imagine the record keeping this all takes?!

And don’t even get me started on all the other licenses that you need to make your fruit into a tasty liquor. You need a license to store your alcohol, and to move it. I’m not yet sure how much each license costs… I assume the licenses themselves cost nothing, since the excise duty and the taxes on top would be a huge chunk of change for our dear Government anyway!

Which only goes to add an extra bravo to the family of the Tambourine Mountain Distillery, who have overcome these hurdles! Personally, I’m going to make my first batches of limonchello and orangechello with Vodka. I’m going to buy premade spirits and I’m going to think very fuzzy fuzzy thoughts about distilleries until one day when I finally have the gumption to face all the red tape. By which time , my next batch of Limonchello should b ready…

New tanks, new plans, new idea?

2009-05-07T06:15:44Z

We’ve been thinking about a new aquaponics system – a phase 2 set-up. Ofcourse we only have a sketch on a back of a napkin at the moment, (so many good plans start like that!) but we’re thinking of a bigger system than our initial prototype we set up in the backyard in our last house.

A bigger set up will give us the chance to learn about medium size set-ups work. For instance, we can get an idea about how to scale up the technical stuff, such as the sort of the pumps we’ll need, how the beds full of vegetables will respond to the Bellingen climate, and what sort of problems a medium size rig will create (not that we are anticipating any, but its good to allow for the unforeseen.)

In the winter, it gets cold around where we are. Well, by cold I mean about 0 or just below – that’s centigrade. Not so cold by the standards of many of our friends, but that’s cold for a beach girl. It will be cold for our plants too – and our fish. Dealing with that cold will be new for us.

Perhaps one piece of the puzzle will be to use a marquee-tent that I found on on ebay. It might act as a makeshift housing for the tanks, (and possibly some beds), and by crikey we’d have to stake it down properly. But it might also act as a greenhouse within the tent, raising the temperature and stopping frost. I wonder if this will work?

Marquee from KMATE - look for it on Ebay