The Guide. . . . . . . .

Just recently we finished watching the Guide, a bollywood movie based on the novel by R.K. Narayan.  As usual in my perspective the movie failed to present the book properly.  Which is not uncommon in movies anymore.  The book I thought was very intriguing, and very. . . . . philosophical, in its own way.  The movie on the other hand was rather bland and lacked in the detail that the book displayed without going to in-depth.  And the traditional musical-bollywood film type really detracted from the plot and story line of the book.  The ending didn't real bother me, and really gave the movie the finality that the book really needed.  However the rest of the movie was rather lacking in the real point of the book.  And it focused more on the part of Nalini (Rosie) instead of the perspective of Raju, which is really what the book is all about.  And which also really displays the morals and teaches the lesson of the plot.  The book as I said earlier was excellent, however, I felt that the movie was a very poor representation of a fine novel.

Resolutions......

Well, after a much needed break for Thanksgiving its back at it with the resolutions.  I had some opportunity to work out, and did a little climbing over break, but the majority of it was spent moving my fork from the plate to my mouth, and sleeping.
But since returning to campus I have returned to my regular workout routine, and now at practice we have been adding in additional exercises.  Tuesday we did Ab Ripper X, a section lasting 15 minutes from the P90X series. Can you say killer?  I was beat, and glad that I wasn't doing much climbing after that.  I hope to get the movie off my coach so I can keep doing them over Christmas break and also on my own time in my room.  I also created my own pull-up bar, using some steel pipe and my jobs metal shop's pipe bender I was able to create something very similar to this, but without the cost.
Sleeping has been fairing well enough, but the other night I was up late and thus, my attentiveness in class the following morning was rather.... lacking.  But I have been able to get more sleep now that I have been back and settled now for a couple days.  Hopefully I will be able to get enough sleep to remain attentive and intelligent during finals.
Well I haven't been around to leverage my money at school.  But now that I am back I have been able to start up my candy selling business along with sodas.  I have also returned with some of my mothers product, slumped glass bottles.  Made into dishes and cheese trays.  They are pretty cool, I have absolute, absolute citron, smirnoff, svedka, rolling rock beer, and a grey goose bottle left.  They make great Christmas presents, and are very appealing to students since most of them are alcohol bottles, with the label still on.  They are about $10 each, and they really don't cost us anything to make them but time, and electricity, since we get all the bottles for free from local recycling centers and bars.

Poetry Reading.. . . . . .

Just recently our campus had the pleasure of hosting three rather well talented poets, from the great old city of New York.  They provided a very introspective view on life from their standpoints and from their lives.
This showed me some of the problems of the world as seen through the eyes of another person, a person with a different outlook on life, and other experience.
This brought some new perspective to some of the other students in my class, as they had either never left this region, a rather well sheltered area, or had never been to the same places as the poets.  It brought into perspective the views of other religions, sexual orientations, and races.  Something that this area doesn't see a lot of.
This gave me a new outlook on the local community and how more diversified it could be.  It is a well sheltered region and besides the tourists, doesn't see much of otherworldly problems affecting it.  It would do with a more diversified community.

Small Farm Rising . . . . . . . . . .

The other night a friend from across the hall and I decided to go and take advantage of some free cheese (Which we both love) and the screening of a movie about some local farms.  The movie really showed what it takes to establish a small farm in a world filled with one stop shops.  It showed the hardships and difficulty in establishing a business in this economy as well.
I am glad to know that some of the food that we eat in the cafeteria comes from local farmers, so that some of my money for a meal plan is being pushed into the local economy. It also gave me a new outlook on some of the sustainability courses and majors from other students.  I really felt that this course gave us a standard as students to live up to, one of hard work and determination.  My friend and I both thought of this as a very informative and entertaining film, packed with what it really takes to start out on your own in that kind of business.

Team Everest. . . . .

Tonight myself and a neighbor from down the hall decided to go and watch the newest film being shown by the school office of student activities.  The movie was Team Everest: A Himilayan Expedition. This film was about a team of disabled Americans traveling to the base camp of Everest.  Which is a challenge in and of itself for a person of normal capabilities.
This event really showed to me what it is that challenges people, and what it takes for them to do things.  I also came to understand their personal determination towards achieving a goal under their own personal strength.
During the program I was able to sit and discuss with other students what it was like to undergo such a challenging task, as even a fully capable person.  We also were able to just see and understand together what it is to have determination and an understanding of needing to fulfill your personal goals.
I realized how inaccesable the surrounding high peaks region is to those who are handicapped, limiting on the sights they can see.  They will never be able to see what it is that brings the true beauty to this region.

welllllll. . . . . . . . .

So this blog post is supposed to be about whatever we want, so this one is about a current project of my own that I have started.  I found recently on the backpacker web site a competition for anyone out there that would like to go as a gear tester to the Salt Lake City Outdoor Retailer Trade Show.  You would get an all expense paid trip to go and hang out with all of the outdoor gear manufacturers and retailers.
The only thing is that you have to be able to go around and ask retailers about new products for the upcoming year, and blog about interviews along with posting videos.
The only requirements are to pitch why you should be selected in a 3 minute long video and a 100 word essay (blog style) about your favorite piece of gear and what makes it your favorite.
They are only taking two men and two women.  Over break I will be taking some time to get this done before the December 15th deadline.
The great thing is that I would only be missing two days of classes for it, and it would be a great experience for opening my outdoor retail store.  This is the largest outdoor industry trade show in the world. This would be one of the funnest and informative thing I could do for my future career.  It would be an awesome experience for me in so as to improve my public relations and public speaking.  Plus, who wouldn't want to spend a weekend playing with the newest in outdoor gear, and the people designing them?

Goal Log. . . . . .

Well my resolutions are more than well on their way.  I have found a new way to get my workout.  I found a company that makes a portable hang board, a tool used to workout and strengthen forearm and grip strength.  I plan on taking my current pull up bar, similar to the design they use, and modify it so as to be similar to this one. Then I will be able to continue working out after break and at an even more climbing specific manner.

I have since last update been changing my sleeping patterns into a more effective way, especially since my hair has grown over an inch since I buzzed it off.  I have been going to bed at no later than 11 pm during the week.  And waking up at roughly 7, 715 in the mornings after at least 8 hours of sleep. I then shower (hence the hair) dress and eat a bagel before heading to class early.  Its very regimented and perfect for maintaining a good nights rest for me to maintain alertness in classes throughout the day.  

I have come upon my next and better resolution.  With an assignment given to me in Introduction to Entrepreneurship I have decided that I will find the simplest ways to gain income.  We were given a no interest loan of $1 and told to leverage our dollar to achieve as much money as we could.  So far I have been able to make over $60 and have inventory of roughly $40.  I hope to continue this business and leverage and invest as much of my money to a positive outcome.  

What makes a person who they are?

Well, there can be many ways to look at this topic. Some would say it can be said a person is defined by their actions, or by where they are from, or by what they do.  But I don't believe that there is any true one way in which you can define who a person is.  You can take as many identity tests, personality quizzes as you would like, but it will tell you nothing.  The one major way to define somebody would be to define them by their actions.  As they say, actions speak louder than words.

You can only really find out who a person is by seeing how they react to certain situations, putting them in places where they are pushed just outside of their comfort zones.  That is where you can see what a persons character is like.  You can see how they handle themselves when presented with something unknown to them. The next test is to put them in a situation that tests their moral compass, not just a simple wallet on the ground.  But something deep, to see how a person reacts to things that may have multiple answers.

Then you have a basis on which to not judge, but define someone, you have seen how they react when outside of their normal realm.  That is where you really find out what kind a person they are.  Otherwise you are presented with what the person wants you to see, I can take any test you give me and manipulate the answers to make you see whatever I want you to see, putting up the ideal front can be very easy.

Raju does this someways in The Guide.  He is able to make himself appear to be anything he wants to be, either a highly educated tourist guide, telling lies with such candor that anyone would believe him but the experts, and then when in their company he is a humble guide, only taking them where they wish and listening humbly. And he can do all that in a days work.

He is also defined by what he does in his personal life,  he is obsessed with having material things. Something that he was somewhat denied as a child, so now he wants only the best, no matter how much the cost, or how much trouble having them gets him in.

He is also very greedy, something he gained from always trying to get the most out of his clients when guiding, he will only receive the most for Nalini's performances.  He will only see her happy around him.  He wants her to smile, but only when it is him making her.  He has gone to far in his life, twice in a row, and now has found out that it is not what people really want in their life.

Rosie regretted his forcefulness in their original relationship, and now that they are in a pseudo-relationship he has made their life to complicated, and it has made her feel unhappy once more with her decision.

And because of his actions, he has suffered the most extreme consequences.  He has caused all his problems, but then, he does them once more.  As the villages swami he begins anew his conceit and lies,  his fakery to those around him.  And he once again gets himself in a pickle.

But this time, he is trying to improve the wellness of others by his actions and not his own.  He has finally realized what was his real fatality in his previous ways, and is almost reborn, trying to improve the lives of those around him with his experience of wrongdoing.

And so we can see both sides of Raju, his initial stages of greed, thievery, and conceit.  And then his regression from prison to unknowingly improving the lives of the entire village by giving inspiration, and a person who seems clean and pure, when he is really the opposite.  But this is what makes Raju who he is.  You can either see him as who he is to begin with, or who he is reborn as after jail, his pilgrimage of sorts into the realm of Swamihood.

Goal Log

Well, our resolutions have been getting thinner and thinner, I have yet to find a replacement for my eating healthier.  But I have been able to keep up with my other two.

So far I have been able to keep up with my physical fitness rather well.  Increasing the number of reps per exercise and also adding more diversity and overall number of exercises.  I have increased the amount of time I workout as well.  When I first started working out, fresh I was able to eek out a mere 15 pull-ups, now I can do roughly 20-22 fresh.  As well with my push-ups,  increasing the initial number by quite a large margin.  I have been adding exercises from builtlean.com.

I have been able to improve my sleeping habits by perfecting my morning routine, so as to maximize time before class.  And also by going to bed no later then midnight (except weekends) to insure a minimum of 7.5 hours of sleep a night.  Which is the perfect number so as to be able to still remain alert and attentive in class all day.

Literature from Another Culture

Well, recently in class we have been delving into the novel The Guide by R. K. Narayan, an Indian novel that so far, with my interest in Buddhism, I have found extremely interesting.  I have been flipping the leaves over constantly, continuing to read past what is required because of its insnaring plot.  I have been able to relate this book to another that I read in high school, and one that I can almost assuredly state, is required reading of American high school students, To Kill a Mockingbird.  That novel, when I was first introduced to it, seemed to be of little interest to me, and one that I would read, but would most likely only be reading it because it's required.

But that was not so with that novel, or with this one. Once I got past the first few pages, I have become enraptured with the simplicity of the novel, yet how simple and direct the writing style is.  I have nearly finished the novel, and we have not been slated to finish it until another week.  This was the same way with To Kill a Mockingbird, I started and finished the novel in a little under two days.

So far I have learned how simplistic an Indian community is, and how devoted they can be to a person or ritual, belief is something deeply rooted in their society. As is a diligence in ones duties. This novel, and the authors style shows how there is little need for details in ones life, and in a novel.  He shows the simplicity that is India's somewhat laid-back living.  It really shows to me how here in America we have become obsessed with the minute details and descriptions, needing everything to be complex and difficult, even when it need not be.  It puts the difference in religion and social norms in perspective and shows just how different two nations can be.

Goal Log

Well, I have been able to improve my goal work since my last post.  I have gotten over my arm and leg injuries, and have since been cranking out some of the hardest bouldering problems I have ever climbed, going further and harder than I thought was possible.  I have also been working out on my normal schedule.  Doing even more specific exercises in relation to climbing.  Hopefully I will be able to find a way to install my climbing hang board for use in my dorm room.

I have also somewhat been able to get back on my track of eating healthier, but its a dying cause.  The food in the cafeteria has little to no help in offering healthy, somewhat palatable choices, and the variety is lack ing.  I have all but given up on this in realization of the fact that I can eat almost anything and have no real side affects.  Hopefully I can find something that can replace this resolution since this one isn't working out very well.

My sleeping hasn't been hindered. and I have been finding it easier and easier to fall asleep at night, even with the commotion of my roommates playing xbox into the wee hours of the night.  I have been able to remain alert and attentive in class, and my sleep has been able to stay at a constant rate of at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night, and on the weekends sometimes in excess of 10 hours, which has helped extremely.