I Won! Almost...and Kind of

Exciting news.  My story on crocodile hunting in Belize received 2nd place in the Blog Carnival held at 20 Something Bloggers.
Thank god they are easily impressed.



I won a free year subscription to a foreign language program of my choice through Live Mocha.  I'm about to get my espanol on.

Congrats (and a defiant fist) to my conqueror, Igor, who wrote about his Surreal Adventure in Peru.

Inner Circle Fight Team Represents Half a World Away

Bryan Schatz won his first Muay Thai fight over the last weekend, stopping his opponent in the 3rd round. The victim was unable to answer the bell to start the 4th round after absorbing dozens of low kicks to his lead leg. Good luck walking tomorrow...

Rest of '09. Full of Win.

With just over 2 months left, I'm finishing 2009 off with a bang. I have a good solid mix of mental and physical challenges, travel, and time with family and friends.

Mental Challenges
Against my better judgment, I registered for the NaNoWriMo challenge. November is the National Writing Month, and thousands of people worldwide attempt to write 50,000 words over the course of the month. Even though I know that the only way to get better at writing is to write consistently, I still procrastinate and pass on daily writing, way too often. The appeal of a challenge like this is that it forces me to just go, pedal to the metal, for a full month. My last attempt to write a novel ended about 25 pages into it, when I had a bit of a paralysis by over-analysis problem. I would edit and re-read what I had written so much that it would just end up sounding stupid to my ears. Getting 50,000 words down without being able to edit will force me to get my story down on paper. My goal is to finish a complete rough (ROUGH!) draft by the end of November, and then I can spend the time necessary to go over it as much as needed. 50,000 words comes to just under 1,700 a day, and will be about 150 pages. It's insane. Excitement, I has it.

Physical Challenges
On November 7th, I will summit Mt. San Jacinto in Palm Springs, California. My friend and I will start at the desert floor around 3am, and climb 8,000 vertical feet of elevation in about 11 miles. That's the first part. Another 5.5 miles will take us to the actual summit peak, where I expect we will flop to the ground for a half hour, drink a warm beer, gather ourselves enough to take a picture that makes it look like it was easy, and then guzzle water for the return trip. The full mileage will be in either the mid 20's or mid 30's, depending on the route we take down. The heat, vertical climb, and just sheer mileage will make this a test of endurance at least as punishing as the marathon earlier in the year.


Travel
I leave for Thailand on November 27th, and that my friends, will rock. My brother and his girlfriend are already out there, as part of their year-long nomadic adventure, and good times will be had.

There will be at least one work-related trip to Southern California in early November. During that trip, I will get to see my Mom and Grandparents, and make the fool-hardy attempt at Mt. San Jacinto.

There is also a work-related trip to British Columbia, with a date to-be-determined. Depending on when this gets scheduled, I will do my best to allow for a day or two to explore. Supposed to be beautiful up there.

Fight Summary - October 2nd, University of San Francisco

I won this last Saturday at a fight card held at the University of San Francisco. Did some things well, and others not so much, and there is plenty to work on.