MWOLC

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the inaugural Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference (MWOLC) at the Ohio State University. The conference itself was chalk full of sleepless nights, interesting seminars, and a good representation of some like-minded interests. It is always reassuring to be gathered with a large amount of people that share similar passions as yourself, to allow a perpetual excitement build as you spread new ideas between each other.

Now of course we had to do some climbing along the way. With a little detour and a late night driving, we found ourselves waking at the Red River Gorge in Slane, Kentucky. We hopped on the refrigerated rock and did our thing. As continued by this weekend,  My climbing career consists mostly of falls and curse words (sailor mouth!), but I always have fun far off the ground and hanging on a rope. Adventures like this push your restart button and give you that get-up and go feeling; so start your engines, forfeit some sleep, and find some excitement in your life.

In the meantime, you can check out a small example of a Lead Climbing fall 

(whipper snapper):

Jake Wallace & Nora Metz

Video/Catch courtesy Chad Lincoln

-BDL

Catching Some Movement

My latest photo endeavor included the challenge to collect movement in action. To represent action through a still shot. And in this digital age, I was able to go out, fill the memory card with blurry shots and over-exposed images, and luckily walk away with a few that turned out pretty well:

I'd like to always thank the folks that volunteered their time and effort to help me get the shots, without all of you I would just be some creep job trying to take photos of himself on a moving merry-go-round.

 "You Don't Take a Photograph, You Make It"
-Ansel Adams




Best Accidental Picture of the Day: "Bailing on Jumping a Picnic Table, 2012" ----->>>

Healthy Tip #65423: Meditation and Daily-Life

Meditation is not an uncommon term in our American daily lives. We are all familiar with the images of Buddhist monks sitting bald-headed and cross-legged on the mountain side, or the transcendental Jim Carrey floating above his body a la "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls." <-----
 My healthy tip for this week is to forget all of the stereotypes or send-ups of the traditional idea of meditation. Instead allow yourself slip into the art of staying in the present moment.


Meditation is healthy way to consciously asses and understand all the demanding stimuli that is introduced to our bodies on a daily basis, and you don't need a mountain top to do it. Simple meditation is not primarily a physical act as it is a tool of the mind. It's a way to actively engage your actions, thoughts, feelings and emotions while taking a passive approach to acting upon them. And in my life (or anyone's life) a good dose of meditation is surely needed.

Personally I find time to sit back and think about my current situations when I'm out running the streets, or walking to class, or those last moments of the night before falling asleep. Sometimes it's subconscious, and sometimes I'm fully aware of it, but when I find myself out on the long runs or walking home late from the library, I try and take a step back from my mistakes in the past and my fears for the future to understand exactly where I am in the present. I am not trying to achieve any goals or standards I set for myself, I am just trying to become aware of them.  

So get out their and escape a bit; ride the bike, skip the bus, go grocery shopping... Do whatever you need to do to get a grip on that never-ending question:  
What makes you happy?

Coca-Cola and The Genius of And

Coca-Cola is not the first name you think of when coming up with sustainable companies, but as I listened to Dave Katz (Senior Vice President, Midwest Region, Coca-Cola) speak about his companies relationship to the community it inhabits, a new light shined on the classic coca-cola bottle I've become so accustomed to.

David Katz continually referred to the rhetoric of "The Genius of And." He held it in relation to turning "or" situations into "and" situations. In his case he was referring to thoughts that once held true such as you can either have a heavy, wasteful bottle and have it look good OR you can have a light-weight, post-recycled bottle that is jarring to the eye. Dave Katz applied his theory by stressing that Coca-Cola is no longer accepting "or," and introduced as evidence the 30% plant-based, 100% recyclable, Coca-Cola PlantBotlle. Proof that you can have a light-weight bottle AND have it look good.  

Coca-Cola's theory of "the genius of and" stretches far past their bottle materials. They want people to know that you can recycle AND not go out of your way, that you can use the Earth's resources AND ensure future use for all other generations, and of course you can be a global leader in business AND inspire moments of optimism on an individual level. Coca-Cola may not be the most sustainable company out there, but in terms of progress to a better world, they are among the leaders in the pack. So the next time you are standing at the vending machine or presented with an "or" decision, think of Coca-Cola and uphold The Genius of And. 

Any thoughts of comments are welcome. 

BDL

Writing About Meta-Reference

I have never struggled so hard coming up with content for a specific blog entry as I have done with this one. Meta-Reference (more specifically meta-fiction/film) is something that has long since intrigued me well before I even realized what it was. I had seen movies before that involved meta-reference, but the movie that really got me thinking about writing about meta-reference was Charlie Kaufman's "Adaptation".

As I stayed up late one night, completely pulled into the movie, I began twisting my brains around the idea of character realization and the devices we use to tell our stories. The quick (but confusing) run-down on Adaptation: Charlie Kaufman (character) plays himself (screenwriter) as he sits through the production of his latest screenplay (Being John Malkovich (also a crazy movie)). Charlie Kaufman is hired to adapt a real-life book (The Orchard Thief) into a screenplay. Charlie Kaufman (character/screenwriter) unintentionally includes himself in the screenplay (based on the real book) and what inevitably happens is that the movie (Adaptation) begins to be about Charlie Kaufman (whichever) writing the screenplay for the movie (no-longer based on the book) of which we are already, and have been, watching for an extended period of time. So in brief, Adaptation is a movie about watching itself being written (I think).

This warped my brain around so much that I dedicated time and patience to research and eventually blog about the whole ordeal, only to find that I could not formulate a reasonable way to present the information regarding meta-realization. I threw around "clever" ideas such as referring to myself writing the blog, and then referring to myself about referring to myself writing the blog, and then as a dramatic twist I would refer to myself about referring to myself about referring to myself writing the blog. But I decided that it would be way to confusing.

So finally I decided to perhaps give some solid definitions and examples of Meta-Reference (Fiction & Film). If you are familiar with the movies "Stranger Then Fiction" or "The Never-Ending Story" you are already familiar with Meta-Film. In both of these movies, the main character is simultaneously involved in two distinct plot lines that refer to each other in unity and self-consciously address the devices of story-telling being used. The main characters of the plot reveal that they are aware of their own story being told, thus share an odd similarity with the intended viewer.

Or perhaps either of Stephen King's "The Secret Window" or "The Dark Tower" series. Where in the first of the two, the main character becomes (or is) the main sinister character he himself is writing about, or the ladder where Stephen King himself is an essential plot character who (as a character in the story) needs to finish writing the story (of which he is in) so the main characters can continue on. Real Crazy Stuff.

I may have just confused myself further upon re-reading what I have wrote, but I hope the message gets across. For further insight onto Meta-Realization follow this link: Meta-Reference Articulated


BDL