This thing is huge! It shouldn't be called the Grand Canyon. It should be called...like...the Freaking Huge Canyon. --Dutch guy we met at the Grand Canyon
I fucking hiked the Grand Canyon this weekend. Excuse my unusual vulgarity, but it's mild compared to the other thoughts that were running through my head as I ascended seemingly endless miles and miles of uphill switchbacks on one hour of sleep and a backpack filled with way too much freaking food. I seriously think yoga saved me. If I hadn't been practicing regularly I don't think I would have had the physical and mental capacity to finish that hike. It was such an amazing experience in the sense that I didn't think I'd be able to love and hate something so much at the same time. Now that the adrenaline and searing sensations in my legs have faded, I feel more love. It's so wondrous when you take that view all in and realize how small you are. A literal metaphor reminding me to look at the bigger picture. Humbling.
We caught sunrise on the Bright Angel Trail.
At this point I was wondering how the hell I would make it back up later.
Ahh! Second massive fish die off in a month on the California coast. Could it really be a sign of an impending apocalyptic earthquake? (I'm referring to geologist Jim Berkland's prediction about the "seismic window" and patterns of quakes on the Ring of Fire.) Well, I guess if the big one comes there's nothing we can do about it except run around like chickens with their heads cut off.
I was talking to a friend today and after our conversation I concluded that the best gift I can give someone I care about is an earthquake preparedness kit. (Well, for people living in earthquake zones anyway.) They might think I'm crazy, but if you think about it, I live on a huge fault line. It only takes one huge shake up to destroy everything and devastate lives (knock on wood). So people living in places like Los Angeles really should make a kit for themselves. I know I should for myself, but I am guilty like most other people and just never get around to doing it. We Socaler's just don't think about it because it seems like such a remote concept, that the ground would crack beneath our feet and the roofs above us come tumbling down. I don't really care if the recipient of my gift thinks I'm crazy. If the big one does come one day I hope that person will have my kit in an accessible location and think, wow, I'm so lucky I have this. ULTIMATE told-you-so victory. =D
Interesting argument by the rabbi. I usually tune myself out to faith-based arguments since they tend to make me not believe rather than believe, but this piece points to the teetering foundation of faith upon which science is based. We believe in the legitimacy of science not because it is grounded in concrete and naturalistic principles (which in many cases it is not, precisely because there is no foreseeable 'beginning' rooted in testable, prove-able conjectures), but because we believe in the value and superiority of a theoretical framework created by us, man, to explain the world around us. And in doing so, we have taken a leap of faith. Makes you think.
In either case, definitely a more convincing argument than Bill O'Reilly's.
God or not, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature. She may be the most powerful of all. And I'm praying she has mercy on Japan. Tragedies like this make me wonder why humans bicker and fight with each other and are willing to take each other's lives for petty reasons. Because when a 40-foot tsunami wave washes away your life in a matter of seconds, nothing else fucking matters.
When nature strikes, it forsakes no one. Hoping for the people of Haiti's survival and revival. I can't help but think, Los Angeles is on a fault line similar to Haiti's. What if something this devastating was to strike our city as well? God forbid. I am thinking of and praying for you Haiti. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/world/americas/15haiti.html?hp
Text 'Haiti' to 90999 to donate $10 for the relief effort. Or donate here. http://www.yele.org/
