treeoflifeandeath (18"x24" Acrylic on canvas)

Here's the latest finished work.  Bigger version can be seen at my house.  Come visit me.  

Hey there - here's a video. You can watch. I don't mind.

I found some lightning...

So I'm a sucker for lightning storms.  It's true.  Well tonight was my lucky night.  I was planning on spending the evening getting things done - you know, the type of things that we all mean to do, but always find reasons not to.  Well, I got distracted again.  There's an intense lightning storm happening right now around the Ivins and Kayenta area.  After hearing the 3rd or 4th thunder roar in a row, I decided to drop everything and headed to one of my favorite spots -Hellhole- to check it out.  I was having a hard time catching pics and I wanted to share this just cuz it's so frickin' cool.  I tried my best to get a bit of it on video, but it was tough too, since the storm was happening literally in a 360 around me.  It was hard to know where to point.  Guess I'm just gonna have watch most of this one on replay in my brain movies.

Anyways, I managed to get a few clips and caught what I think was a pretty close strike right at the end.  So here it is:

Hey look! I did something kinda cool...

Okie doke.  So if you don't like blog post with a whole bunch of pictures, you better stop now.  Go back to Facebook or whatever you were doing before you clicked on this post.  Cuz it's got a lot of pictures.  The realm in which I ventured into this last weekend was just too frickin' cool not to snap a bunch of pics (and a little video too).  I'm still trying to figure out this new camera, so the quality isn't terrific, but if you decide you're one of those "picture likers", I think we'll get through this just fine.  Speaking of the camera I used, it really was amazing for this type of stuff.  Here's a little shameless plug for it:

Olympus Stylus Tough 6020 14MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Black)

Ok, on with the good stuff:

First of all (or maybe second I guess), I went canyoneering through Pine Creek in Zion National Park this last weekend with my friend Matt and a few people we'd never met before (seriously).  Here's Matt with a couple of those people - all just starting to get the idea of what we were getting in to, but still totally oblivious. 

Looking up at the top of the first rappel.  It's a little tricky getting in- you have to actually swing in to a little pocket on the left before you can start going down.  For those that remember, this is the spot where I fell from the top to my ass and received a ginormous black and blue kiss from the rocks and the bottom.

I got to lead everyone through, which meant I got to look really cool while I belayed everyone else.

 Just to prove that my ego isn't quite as big as it sounded in the comment above, here's a rather un-flattering pic of myself with Dawnetta swimming in the background.

 Looking on at one of the few sunlit (and much warmer)  sections of water.

 Someone suggested we prop the camera on a rock and get a group shot.  Looks like every agreed.

 Much of the "hike" looked like this - wading through slot canyon waters with killer beams of light shining through in random areas.

 When we weren't hiking or rappelling, we were swimming.  Troy demonstrates here:

 Checking out the next rappel.  Does anyone look nervous?

 A view from the bottom of the rappel (really not as scary as it looks from the top).  We probably coulda jumped, but it was hard to tell what was below that murky water.

Just a view of some of the slot canyon.

 Here's Brady coming down the wall of The Cathedral.  This place is seriously bad ass and my camera couldn't quite do it justice (plus I was trying to belay and take pics at the same time - not easy).

So here's a picture that does this place justice.  I can't take credit for it, but these people can.  Seriously, check out some of their pics.  They're pretty rad.

Here's Brady in the middle of the arch.  That water you see is quite disgusting.  It's got dead animals in it (they fall in from the tops of the cliffs and get stuck) and it smells of lovely decay and methane.

 Here's Matt descending:

 And once again:

 Dawnetta doing her best not to breath in the awesome aroma as she swims.

Check me out in my cool belaying spot.  I got to swing back and forth on the wall and did a little airborn drop in to this little nook.  Probably the most fun part of the trip.

 Looking up and out from The Cathedral.  

Don't like pictures that sit still?  You're in luck!  Here's one that moves!  Matt was so cold from the water (It's like 45-50 degrees in there) that he had a hard time holding the camera still, but you'll get the idea.  Listen to the echos and the acoustics in there, it was pretty unbelievable.

Brady and Troy try to reel the rope in as quick as they can while Dawnetta freezes.  Check out the water I'm standing in - pretty sweet, eh?

 My attempt at making Matt look as epic as possible.  Did it work?

 Looking back at where we came down - you can only see about half of it - it's roughly 65 feet total.

 It started to get a little darker and A LOT colder.

 There's all kinds of debris that falls in to these canyons.  When it rains, waterfalls pour in from the tops of the cliffs and it flash floods and cleans a lot of this stuff out.

 Dawnetta looking surprised and me looking like... well... me.

 Looking up for some sunlight.

 Working our way through.

 How about another group shot (minus one)?

 Whaddaya know?  Here's a picture to prove I actually did something!

Almost to the bottom. 

 It's a good thing we took these pics from the top, cuz it looks way cooler than from the bottom (guess you'll just have to take my work on that one).

 Here's me working my way into the last rappel (85ish feet) while Troy awkwardly tries to pretend the camera isn't there.  It was a little nerve-racking going into this one, because it's a blind entry and since I was leading, if I made one mistake I'd drop a long way to the bottom.  Yup.

 Proof that I made it safely to the bottom.

 If you look really close, you can see a little person coming down.

And now I'll leave you with one last moving picture:

"Research your own experiences for the truth....Absorb what is useful....Add what is specifically your own....The creating individual is more than any style or system."

-Bruce Lee

I Will Tell You a Tale...

On a particularly amazing Sunday afternoon, Meisha and I set out to venture into the wilderness:

We came to a trail.  The trail led deep into the Red Mountains.  Meisha looked upon the trail and pondered: "Shall we venture into these treacherous Red Mountains?"  We agreed that we were up for the challenge, and so our adventure began.

We grew tired quickly and stopped in the shade to complain.

The trail was boring.  Look at it.....

But then.....

We made it to the top.  And we beheld the beautiful beauty of some big ol' cliffs.

We hiked a little farther...

and came upon the perfect camping spot.  Here's Meisha showing it off:

We set up our tent....

....and took a little video:

After camp was set up, we decided to hike some more.

Meisha said "Hey dude, climb down to that rock.  It would make you super sexy!"  and of course, I agreed.

So I put on my manly hat and started climbing.

It was real scary, but I am a man... a sexy man... so I had to do it.

"Is this good?"  I asked.  "Quit being a pussy!"  Meisha exclaimed.  My manhood was hurt.  It was hurt real bad.

"How about here?" I said.  "Give me a sexy pose and work it like you've got a pair!"  Meisha replied.

"IS THIS BETTER?" I yelled.  "It'll do."  She said.

Then Meisha demonstrated the proper way to pose:

Then Meisha said "Let's climb over there!" .... "But how will we get there?" I asked.

"I don't know."  She replied.  "Let's ask the beetle...."

So we did.  He told us he would consult the lizard tracks for an answer.

He looked and looked, but found no answer. 

We thanked him for his time and decided to head back to camp.

I love trees, so I had to take a picture of one on the way back:

...which made me want to hug one.

"Look!  On yonder horizon!  Me thinks I see an evil spirit coming this way!"  I shouted.

"Dont be a dork.  Just start the fire already."  Meisha told me.

Then we made a delicious dinner.

The sun began to set.

And a flaming demon began to rise out of the fire!

Meisha started looking a little strange and my paranoia set in....

Things got very dark and we were enveloped in flames.

Meisha became possessed and started circling around me.

Little demon spawn started leaping out of the fire!

Things began to blur and the city started to fade away.

Suddenly, we were consumed in hellfire and we died.

the end_