Earth Beneath My Feet

I have a week break approaching in April, and I'm looking for an adventure! I was hoping to complete a rim-to-rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon, but silly me forgot how early you have to request back country permits. I'm not convinced that going from the South Rim all the way up the North Rim and finding a campsite at the top amid winter weather warnings all in one day is a prudent decision. Doesn't look like I'll be able to do anything beyond day hikes if I go. Beyond that, here's my brainstorm of options and why they would/wouldn't work.

-I'm ruling out Joshua Tree because 1) I'm not a climber 2) I'm planning to going in May 3) I haven't developed an affinity for desert camping enough to justify two trips in such a short span of time.
-Zion would be sweet for obvious reasons, but the likely weather conditions and drive time make this somewhat unappealing.
-Going to Channel Islands mid-April, so that is out.
-There's talk of hiking the John Muir Trail this summer, and it's too far and wintery to hit the Sierras. Besides, I might be on board for a hike/climb near Big Pine/Finger Lakes in June.
-Sitting at home/practicing all week in my studio is not an option for obvious reasons.

My break starts April 5th, and there's a beach tournament in San Diego April 12-13 that I want to be back for. I'm ideally looking for something 2-4 days in length. Anyone have any suggestions?

What I'm Digging Now

Music-

Pau Casals, Bach Cello Suites
Rabih Abou-Khalil, The Cactus of Knowledge
Ray LaMontagne, Trouble

Books-

Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma


Movies-

Into The Wild Read the book, actually read all of Krakauer's books!
Stardust
BBC's Planet Earth

Food

Made a great St. Pat's-style meal over the weekend.. Sautéed kale w/ onions and garlic, Guinness creamed potatoes, and seared salmon with raisin & caper compound butter. In the continued spirit of St. Pat's/drinking in general, I made homemade Guinness ice cream for a friend's party on Monday.

Created a random dish last night, I'll call it sweet and spicy chili baked spare ribs. In my favorite cast-iron skillet, sautéed onions, garlic, and chili paste in sesame oil. Added soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, salt, pepper (black and cayenne), and sugar. Tossed the ribs in once the sauce was boiling and baked at 375 for about 1.357 hours. Finished too late to have any, but it was delicious with rice for lunch...and dinner..

Nutshell, Me in a.

28-year old Caucasian-American with Italian, French, and English roots. Saxophonist, music teacher, administrative assistant and public-relations specialist, ultimate frisbee player, cooking afficionado, self-doubter, narcissist, outdoors lover. Capacity for juxtaposition- intense affection and distant withdrawal, empathy and intolerance, stagnation and zealousness. Manic and depressive, objective and subjective, active and lazy. Normal?

A Brief Introduction

At some point we all have to introduce ourselves to new experiences, new people, new surroundings. This is my name, this is who I am, this is the justification for my existence in this particular space and time. I'll hop on the cliché wagon and say that this blog is a method for identifying myself- to both you and I- and connecting with ideas/knowledge/people, both familiar and novel.

I will base this experiment on the notion that I am identified by the endeavors I undertake, my struggles and how I confront them, the people I consider friends, the stimuli I pursue, and my ability to express these thoughts coherently. Given that I have a propensity for run-on sentences, switching tenses mid-sentences, and grandiose verbiage, I will also treat this blog as an opportunity to gain efficiency in written communication. P.S. Call it personal preference or influence by David Foster Wallace, but I love the dash over the sem-colon. Deal with it.

The title of this blog, Institute for Perception Awareness, is multifaceted. Depending on your outlook, you could either see it as a general redundancy, a backronym for IPA (a tip of the hat to my craft-brew drinking colleagues), or an approach to identifying and understanding what we can and should perceive. The url of this blog, sixwaystoknow, refers to our six fundamental perceptions senses- sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and temperature.

I first thought it would be clever to devote each entry to a different sense based on the day of the week or something similar, but that would involve an increasing amount of hard work and predictability. No promises that it won't end up that way, but for the time being this will be a place where I explore at will. Enjoy.