so i've decided that thailand will have to wait until next year, when i've racked up more vacation days and a sizeable savings account. KRABI 2008 will be AWESOME.

as an ersatz holiday, i've put in an inquiry about a climbing/biking/kayaking trip to yangshou, near guilin in china. according to wikitravel and wikipedia, there are over 200 bolted routes ranging from 5.6 to 5.14 on beautiful limestone karst. i'll probably climb and kayak with an aussie expatraite climbing company and in the company of my pops and uncle. from guilin, i'll fly to shanghai, where i'll spend a few days catching up with family and the rapid overnight westernization in the ever-sprawling metropolis. of course there will be new friends to be made in all the expat hangouts i'll end up at eveningtime.

zhonguo - the center of the universe. indeed.

i'm planning a trip to thailand this thanksgiving. the original idea was to stay on railay beach in the krabi area and climb every day. this idea has morphed into island hopping on the west coast, partaking in sport climbing, snorkeling, diving, trekking, kayaking, and maybe even elephant watching.

would love if anyone who's been in that part of the world would provide any clues on the best way to island hop.

xx

hiyaaa,

so the ABC nightline segment turned out to be a bust (though one of my colleagues was featured). however, i do have some new pics of myself nearly killing myself today on some 5.6 and 5.7's.

the big news of the day is that i took my first outdoor fall whilst climbing and i've to say that i've never been scared so shitless in my life.

enjoy!

xx

a segment on photoshop featuring one of my colleagues and perhaps a picture of me will air MONDAY night on ABC nightline. i'll try to catch it on the hotel room telly in georgia :)

xx

a segment on photoshop featuring one of my colleagues and perhaps a picture of me will air tomorrow night on ABC nightline. i won't be able to catch it at home but if you guys do, let me know how it turns out :)

xx

gelsa, a classic 5.4 was nice and easy this time 'round to finish. layback, on the other hand, gave me quite a scare with its crux chimney (ended up pulling a 5.11-esque face climb on a bloody 5.5!!) and a tricam (set by edgar, that bastid!) that was damn near impossible to fish out.

Location: Near Trapps, The Gunks

click for action shots!

my hands are fucked but all the bleeding and callouses are worth it because i started a sustained 5.9+ (didnt finish, not enough power in the end) and finished on a clean 5.8+.

the new rochelle gym rocks!

in three years, i'm going to be teh awesome.

xx

fuck the heidegger gesamtausgabe. if i had a thousand squid to throw around i'd invest it in a new rack.

as you can see, they're not made out of silicone.


my future rack



someday...

goals for 2009: lead trad on a 5.4-5.6, become quad/pentaligual (francais, espanol, deutsch, shanghai-hua, engarish), marketing execute y0 ass, and have enough savings to peace out of the shiteous states of amerika and put a nice DP on a flat somewhere in europa. yea, right.

THE GUNKS were amazing. i really felt in tune with the rock and the earth.

FUCKING AWESOME!

ed lead and we successfully climbed the first pitch of Gelsa, a classic 5.4 in the Near Traps. due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to wrap from an incredibly weak anchor point. so i've got another date with Gelsa in two weeks, but boy did it feel good to get to her first base. and rappelling is so fucking cool. oh yea, and so is camping, which i found unexpected. nature rocks. so do rocks.



tentative travel schedule v3

april-sept: gunks gunks gunks! new paltz, ny

may 23-30: JFK-CDG bouldering at fine fontainebleau, france

july: sport climbing in rumney, new hampshire

august 31-sept 6: londontown/berlin (?)

november 16-25: JFK-PHUKET sport climbing in railay beach, thailand

february 15-21: JFK-GENEVA skiing and fondue in lausanne, switzerland

learned how to tie a figure 8 knot and a fisherman's knot. so so nervous but also excited about tomorrow - my first camping and outdoor climbing trip rolled into one.

i really hope i nail down ATC belaying by saturday morning, especially the taking up slack bit. oh god and repelling.

ON BELAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

jeanne in action

first outdoor climb next weekend - woohoo!!

or trying, at least. i really need to learn how to use accents and familiarise myself with the french keyboard, but it's not bad for two months, if i say so myself ;) my email to marc et francesca (feel free to correct the french bits):

Salut Marc (et Francesca aussi)!

Ca va? Je vais bien, et toi? J'apprendes Francais pour deux mois mais c'est tres diffcil! Je veux parler bien Francais mais je crois que ne c'est pas possible sans beaucoup etudiere. Donc je peux ecrire et comprendre un peu Francais. Je vois beaucoup de film Francais, par example, LE CENT DES COUPS, MASCULINE FEMININE, L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE, LA VIE BOHEME, JE SUIS BIEN, NE T'EN FAIS PAS, AVENUE MONTAGNE. J'adore L'auberge Espagnole (nous avons vu le film en Freiburg, c'est vrai?) et Je Suis Bien, Ne T'en Fais Pas. Tu connaites le film ou la music (Aaron "U-Turn)?

Qu'est que tu faits? Tu travailles dans la fac ou la bureau? Mon travail est OK mais je m'ennui. Tout les jours est meme mais j'ai un projet noveau - Photography Contest. Je n'aime pas New York parce que les gens sont pas intelligent, interessant, ou beaux. Je suis pretentiesse, c'est vrai? J'adore mon petit ami (Tom) mais il habite a Londres et je suis la. Alores c'est la vie. En Mai je fais d'escalade et du camping en Fontainebleau avec lui. Nous allons a Paris aussi et nous habitons dans l'hotel (quatre etoilles!) pour deux nuits.

Je veux aller a Lausanne a la anee prochaine (Fevrier) parce que je veux faire du ski avec mes amis de Freiburg. Je veux aller a Argententine en Novembre pour faire de l'escalade mais je ne sais pas parce que c'est tres cher.

Entschuldigung, dass mein Franzoesisch schiesse ist. Na ja, ich lerne noch. Du kannst es natuerlich korrigieren, wenn du darauf Lust hast. Ich denke an dich und Francesca, und es waere schoen, wenn ihr mich mal in NYC besucht. Vielleicht koennen wir uns in Paris oder Fontainebleau treffen, wenn ihr Zeit und Lust darauf habt?

A bientot,
Jeanne

t minus 2 mos. and 16 days until i see my beautiful boy again, but this time amidst the chateau and cliffs of breathtaking fontainebleau:




we're meeting in paris, where we'll spend two nights dining and romancing (maybe even ride in a peniche, passing by pont neuf by twilight) and then off to the font campgrounds to build a fire and boulder away. snuggling underneath our sleeping bags under the stars - icky icky poo ;D.

t minus 2 years, 7 mos., and 15 days until i'll see my beautiful beau every waking day in our londontown fixer upper :*)





ugh, i'm so over this wretched city and the shiteous states of america. when i'm done using and abusing her and peace out to royaume-uni, i'll take the only remaining redeeming factor along with me -- my few coveted loved ones.

ES FREUT MICH SEHR, DASS _DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN_ FUER 'BEST FOREIGN FILM' GEWONNEN HAT. CONGRATS!!

GO SEE IT, ITS A WUNDERSCHOEN FILM!

the outskirts of orlando was like being in a foreign country. oldies riding around in golf carts, senior citizen discounts all around, and no asians, hipsters, or twenty-somethings within a twenty-mile radius. disneyworld and epcot rocked though, as did the discount strip mall shops in the villages.



downtown orlando; by elisha; january '07

( a heap of vanity goes a little way )

j'aime francais. j'appredenz francais pour parle un nouvelle langue :).

so this morning on the uptown 4-train i fantasized about uprooting myself again and moving to paris or more realistically zuerich or geneve, so that i can always piggyback on my deutsch language skills.