Stuff I will do in 2013

-Ride my motorcycle in Mexico, just a day trip
-Visit Yellowstone, the Smithsonian museums, the Canadian maritimes
-Attend the Austin MotoGP race
-qualify for and compete in the IDPA national championships, by doing 3 sanctioned matches
-continue to grow my hair out
-become a good Cub Scout leader
-go back to CO or UT for some downhill mountain biking
-complete the Tough Mudder in February in a reasonable time
-take the Texas Tornado Bootcamp

2012 in Recap

January- JoJo got married. I recovered from my last surgery.
February-visit from an old friend.
March-working on fitness by surfing and playing tennis. Killer plans to go to Korea.
April-more fitness, more jiu jitsu. A little work. Begin PA school apps.
May-my birthday. GRE. getting my first DSLR camera. Israel.
June- climbing Mt Whitney. Norway.
July-new motorcycle. summer active in skating, surfing, climbing, biking, bjj.
August-week of mnt biking in Utah. MKB visit. swimming lessons.
September- Start a new sport, IDPA. quit bjj for good.
October- Mud run. family visits. Chile. rock climbing more.
November-family visits. Zero acceptance to grad schools.
December- two weeks in Europe. new motorcycle.

More has got to have happened right? Either way, 2012.............

Radical?

OK, I will admit to some radical personal beliefs. Probably the biggest is that I am against owning pets. Almost like ALF level disagreement to pet ownership. And probably 99% of the people out their think my ideas or opinions about it are "radical".

Or just as radical my ideas on prisoners and taxes. It seems that going to jail doesn't really do much to rehabilitate a person away from further criminal activity. In my mind while they are there they should be serving the rest of the population who are not criminals. Basically there shouldn't be a speck of trash anywhere, nothing un-painted, no graffiti, no weeds, no nothing left undone that is simple manual labor to clean and beautify a city. Not slavery while doing you're time but service for the greater good of the community and for no profit.

Taxes. I've been poor. I've been "rich". Folks with less income use more public services. If taxes provide those services then they should pay more. As my household has to pay 39% of its income in federal taxes, so should every other income bracket. You want fairness? There ya go, pay the same percentage I do.

Like I said, what lots of people would consider radical beliefs. But how is that a lot of my other beliefs were main stream, traditional and even somewhat conservative 30, 50 years ago and are now considered to be less so.

*Pledge of Allegiance in schools, each and every day.
*Belief in God and regular church attendance.
*That alcohol, tobacco, gambling, drugs, prostitution and such are all wrong. In a moral sense, as I do disagree on how these things are legally dealt with.
*Majority rule. Whatever the 51% want, the other 49% gotta play along.
*It's OK to own a gun, whatever kind you want.
*Marriage is between a guy and a girl. Let domestic partnership suffice for same sex couples and reserve marriage for its traditional definition.
*Capitalism good. Communism and Socialism bad.
*It is OK to compromise.

It is that last one I think is key. So much of what people feel and say and do today seems to be absolute. Those who scream "tolerance" are often the very least tolerant. There has to be reconciliation, understanding. Compromise is not weakness. It's having enough strength in your ideas and beliefs to include a portion of others within it.

Most of my friends really don't believe the same way I do. Most of them wouldn't even think I believe this things and would be surprised at my stating them. And yet we're often still able to successfully be friends. There is right and wrong. But there is room for all of us as well.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Killer! I hope you are loving Korea and it was great to skype with you the other day. Love ya man!

Merry Christmas

My 'real' Christmas this year was last week's trip to France. Heck, I don't have a single tree, light or decoration up at my house. No family visiting, no fancy food, nothing to really tell other than a few cards from friends on the bookcase.

Well actually they are all Super D's friends. No one sent me a card.

Aaaaaand there are no presents or stockings or anything either. I got my presents weeks ago. And yet with no tree, no presents, no kids or family here, no Christmas nothing I was still awake and such at 455am today!!

Don't feel sorry for me though, I'm actually quite comfortable with it. But if I were to have done all the traditional stuff, this is probably a pretty accurate way to portray how the morning would have been.....

And I'll never shoot mine, or anyone else eye out! (unless they deserve it)

So while my actual gifts were two different guns, I think the real presents this year have been

-Killer going to Korea
-Jeweled Malicious getting married
-Super D getting doctor of the year award
-Maximum enlisting and trying to "do something" with his life
-not a single hospitalization for myself, not even for an injury
-two new motorcycles!!
-learning and improving at a new sport
-world travel!This year alone was Israel, Norway, Chile, Germany, France, Austria and Hungary. the enrichment in my life from this can not be measured.

1 year! 1 year!

2012 was originally billed as "Back to Bad Ass" for me. I'm not sure I entirely accomplished my initial purpose but what has happened is that as of today I have made it exactly one year without being in a hospital.

That hasn't happened since 2004...... So maybe 2012 should have been billed as "Back to Baseline" and 2013 can be???
A year ago

A week ago

200 pictures of Strasbourg, Vienna and Budapest

Word tidal wave before the picture storm

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
― Saint Augustine of Hippo

and from on of my favorite authors, of whom I have an exceptional collection of 100 year old copies,

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes

11 Days on the road, traveling through central Europe. Wow. Normally I take my paper journal with me and record my thoughts and impressions each day. This time I brought the journal and never cracked it open. I wonder what that means....?

Treating my blog as a dry erase board I'm now just going to blog out some of my thoughts, feelings and impressions from the trip in hopes of being both accurate, entertaining and thorough. Enjoy the view, especially if it is a new one to you.

-travel by train is fairly easy. even if you don't speak the language. traveling by bus is horrid and i'd rather endure many unpleasant things than ride the bus. the metro is just fine as well. continuing with trains, if you are taking a regional trip and don't purchase your ticket at least 3 days in advance do not be surprised when you are sold what is essentially a standing room only ticket. unless you purchase a 1st class ticket, even same day.

-i like German airports. i've been to 5 different ones of them and they are considerably easier to navigate and deal with issues over many other countries I've been to. now anything that requires common courtesy or dealing with large groups of people, not so fun for me in Germany in my experience. but enough bashing of stereotypes.

-Strasbourg France lays claim to the largest Christmas market in Europe. They're right, truly the capital de Noel. ANYTHING you'd connect with a traditional European Christmas is there, on display and for sale. At night, on a small street, in the falling snow with the lights, ancient cathedrals in the background and holding hands with your loved one. Well, it is hard not to feel jubilant.

-Each place had something nice about it, even in winter that you just knew would be spectacular in the spring or summer. Winter really is the off season for cities. I was mildly surprised to never experience snow the whole time either. I saw it in the distance, countryside or lightly dust in the evening. But no snow ever on the ground where I was.

-I do not get lost in the outdoors. I do get lost in cities. Or even the mall. Vienna was like the Bermuda Triangle for me as I never was able to get my bearings or reach my destination without effort following a period of confusion. I don't do this in Robe, London, Oslo or other large US cities but I do in Vienna.

-Age. Culture. Cathedrals. Nothing in the US that is "American" is really more than a few hundred years old. I can't count how many cathedrals, palaces, battlefields, monuments, bridges and buildings I saw that dated from the first century CE to 1800 CE. (roughly, the new definitions, AD is now CE and BC is now BCE) Dark ages, middle ages, Renaissance, Victorian, industrial revolution... You really can see the progress of Western Civilization in these strategic and historic European cities.

-Bread in Hungary is delicious. Goulash in Austria and Hungary is delicious. Cheese and chocolate in France were great. Their attempts at pizza and Mexican food are laughable. Drinks are tiny. At the Christmas markets the three drinks are 'vin chaud', which is a hot mulled wine. Hot chocolate, but it is made by giving you a cup of steaming hot milk and then a bar of whichever flavor chocolate you want to melt into it. And finally 'jus d'orange' which is a hot orange juice with a generous amount of honey in it. Let me tell you, when it is overcast, 0 C outside and you've been outside for 4 hours a big (relatively) cup of hot orange juice and honey is delicious!!

-Nothing seems expensive after Norway. Nothing. And on the money topic my coin collection is really getting awesome. I need to spend some significant work getting it all in a book and labeled. Who wants to help?? It's also fun to go to a ATM in like Hungary where you can pull out 20,000 HUF and it's not even $100 US. (Vietnam still wins with being able to withdraw a million dong from the atm. hahaha)

-Smoke. Cigarette smoke is seemingly fresh air to a large part of the central European population. Disgusting. I stank like it for weeks and all my clothes need a serious washing to rid them of it. No one knows what a wash rag is for the shower or bath. No one seemingly used deodorant. What a cacophony of smells if there ever could be.

-Other than one of the central train stations in Pest, I always felt totally safe and was never in jeopardy of being pick pocketed or anything. Though I did see incidents around us. I felt bad for the couple times people asked in halting English, "do you speak English?" and for me to be stand offish about it and gruffly deal with them only to find they had a simple legitimate question.

-Do I look like I'm from here? I remember when I was in Morocco and to deal with the hordes of street kids I would just say, "J'habite ici." Meaning, 'i live here' and with that they stopped bugging me. There were enough expat frenchies around it was totally plausible. Well for the most part no one ever asked if I was American or spoke to me initially in English. Yes I was wearing clothes I'd bought in other countries and I was dressed 'American' in general so it always was surprising for both parties when a discussion would begin in french, German or Hungarian and i had to grapple with the words until just going to English. I felt confused and they looked quizzically like, "oh, you speak English?" Like they were surprised. It seems to happen a lot more to me now that in used to.......

-Communism. I've seen pictures of what the Austro-Hungarian empire was like before its dissolution at the end of WW1. I've seen pictures of what each place looked like at the end of WW2. Then Austria becomes neutral like Switzerland and Sweden and Hungary has the 56 revolution to Communism. Well it's been over 20 years since the end of Communism in Hungary and you can see it in their infrastructure, buildings and anything physical that huge damage was done. The cities of Buda and Pest were "living" proof to me of the failure and abject 'wrongness' of Communism.

Buda and Pest

Today I did most of the things on the generic "top10" lists for the two cities. Walked the main shopping street. Saw the two biggest cathedrals. Ealked along the Danube. Viewed Parliament. A visit to castle hill. All around the streets there and the Budapest national museum. The Simelwiess medical museum. And of course ate various goulash, pastries and Hungarian dishes.
Tomorrow is a spy and secret police museum and a visit to where all the old Communist statues are now stored. Then maybe a spa visit and more food. Thursday is the 16 journey back home.
Here are some pics from today.

ghetto

Now I know why my earliest memories of the word "ghetto " have a European origin. Walking the area around the central train station in Pest shows starkly that no place is free of poverty and squalor and depression.

more collages and less commentary

Pictures

Wein Konkerthaus

The Vienna Concert House. Wow. Last night I attended a concert of the Vienna Symphony there and heard the most beautiful music Iv'e heard in my life. It brought me to tears.
I have seen many beautiful things but have heard few. The words of love. The cries of new life. Visual beauty is everywhere but heard seldom.
This moved me greatly and I'll carry the power of it inside me forever.

dumb things

One, the amount of cigarette smoke I've had to endure here in europe. Disgusting. All my clothes stink, i stink and it gives me a constant headache. Fitlhy and dumb.
Second, not bringing my perscribed sleep medication. For three days I slept only 3 hours a night. Then I slept 14. Now I'm back sleeping from nine pm till midnight and thats about it. How dumb of me to think what I need at home I wouldn't need here.
Finally I chose not to bring a razor or shaving cream to "force" growing my beard more. Why? Idk.... 'Cause I sure want to shave now as I look like a dumb slob with it.
Oh yeah it is 419am as I write this.

Ps-dumb thing I forgot. I didn't turn off data roaming on my phone so after racking up a couple hundred bucks in foreign data charges att shut off my data access totally.

Hahahah how can ot be that I have been around the world to twenty countries and I still do silly little dumb things like this.

cold

It is for sure winter here. Ive had to get new boots and a fuury hat. Stuff that works here in europe but no so much in so cal.
Remind me never to fly american airlines again. Hate them.
Frankfurt was easy. A few hours on three different trains and im in france for part one of vacation.
Strasbourg is beautiful. Even my cell phone pics look great. It is snowy and cold, but in a snuggly romantic way. Not a too painful way.
Tomorrow is gonna be packed with shopping, viewing, pictures, food and such. It really is very close to how i imagined it amd that is soo nice. Only thin gis i dress like a slob compared to my euro peer group.
oh, and the hobbit opens a week earlier here than the usa so ill be seeing that here as well!

My 12 Days of Christmas Starts Now

Today, #1- pack everything up and make the house ready for departure.(ps-i just bought concert tickets online using a sight with German only, no English translation. I was successful!)
Monday, #2- leave at 4am for JFK
#3- arrive Frankfurt Germany

#4,5,6-After traveling by rail from Germany arrive in Strasbourg France and spend a few days shopping and experiencing the oldest extant Christmas market, having been in continuance since the 15th century.

#7,8,9- Another day on Eurorail brings us to Vienna Austria for urban cafes, music and opera. Specifically a night at the Wiener Konzerthaus for a symphonic performance. Oh yeah, and in row 2. Prime time or no time!

#10,11,12- A final scenic train ride takes me to Budapest Hungary. Sights, history, museums and ballet. From here it's just a short 14 hour first class flight back to provincial Sandy Lame-o. I mean, "Hey we got nice weather", San Diego.

Merry Christmas my awesome blog readers!

A flickr photo set of the last ride. Starting Monday at 4am my Euro Winter Metropolitan vacation begins.

2013 Honda CRF250L ride vid

ccdsgp from rowdy matt on Vimeo.

2/3 of my life.... Think about it for a week. Donate Today.

The week set aside for remembering those with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases is almost over. While others maybe think about it for a week, I've lived it for over 2/3 of my life.

So hopefully some other kid doesn't have to suffer how I have, please donate to the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America. I promise you'll touch a life and your heart will be softened. Do something good.

You can do so here.

Fitness Number Crunching aka I'm a 3/4 scale BAMF

I'll let you draw your own conclusions from these body/health/fitness statistics I've recently measured.

Height 5' 7"
Weight 144 lbs
BMI 22
Body Fat 15%
Resting Heart Rate 66 bpm
Blood Pressure 116/68 (i have my own cuff at home!)

Chest 34"
Waist 29"
Hips 33.75"
Arm 9.75"
Thigh 17"

Heck, feed all that info into a 3D printer and you could make a model of me for your own personal use. At home. Behind closed doors.

Yesterday I did boot camp style circuit training for 2 hours 10 minutes. My average heart rate was 138 bpm with a maximum of 182 bpm.

My sister better watch out come February and we're running the Tough Mudder together, 'cause I'm not gonna carry her. I'm gonna bury her. How's that for sibling rivalry?!?!

R is for reading

Just a little insight into my personal realm. (and a strong attempt to avoid alliteration) This is a list of all the things I currently have piled up on my couch, night stand and Nook to read.

Sport Rider magazine. All about sport bikes, crotch rockets or whatever you like to call them.

The Atlantic magazine. News, features. Always interesting and not as overtly biased.

Practical Shooting: Beyond Fundamentals. A book by one of the pioneers of modern competitive pistol shooting.

Vienna; Day by day. Pocket size guide for upcoming vacation.

The Best of Budapest. Sounds like an 80's band, but another guide book.

Foreign Affairs magazine. Just like it says, a mag about international stuff.

Mind Gym, The Athletes Guide to Inner Excellence. Hopefully a good read for my competitive self. Some would question if I need more of this. hahaha.

The Journal of International Security Affairs. More world security stuff.

There ya go, the varied list of reading material from a renaissance man like myself.

This a totally color enhanced pic from my ride today. A 4 hour ride through the hills of north county. I'd say that's a break in!

And of course here is the requisite video. I picked the wrong song, so you can mute it if you want. Oh, and that exhaust is going to HAVE to go. They are called "motor" cycles, and should not sound like sewing machines.

The Rowdiest Week EVER!

Most other weeks will live in shame at the thought of comparing themselves to the week I have planned. It takes a real Rowdy to pull down a week like this!

-ride the new motorcycle on a small adventure ride in the dirt. with video! CHECK
-practice shooting. dry and live fire. CHECK
-ride the downhill bike, even if just an easy ride. Friday?
-bootcamp 4 mornings a week to get a sexy bod. CHECK
-mailing my awesome Christmas cards, the ones that say "Only terrorists say Happy Holidays". Tuesday?
-sending Killer his birthday and Christmas package. CHECK
-surf Thursday?
-friends over for dinner Thursday 6pm
-shooting competition Saturday 8am
-truck oil change Tuesday 10am
-final shopping before two weeks in Europe CHECK

Yeah, all weeks turn away at the realization of their insufficiency.

Expect more....

Now that I have a GoPro, which I never had with any of my previous dirt bikes or supermotos, prepare for more motorcycle pictures and such. And better than previous ones like these:

Psalm 144:1

Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.


What I do with my eyes and my fingers is critical to succeeding in competitive shooting. I am still new enough and learning enough that I am not consistent in what I do. So I am off to practice!

Athletics, Organized and Such

A little Rowdy history of athletics, competition and sponsorship.

I wrestled in 8th grade, I did awesome in practice and got crushed in matches. I learned I liked grappling stuff but I just wasn't ready for it at that time. This is the first time I exerted myself soo much that I fainted while running.

(if you don't puke, pass out or die, keep going!)

Also starting in 8th grade I played tennis. All the way through my senior year when I quit the team right before the end of the season, for a stupid reason I can't even remember now. In college I also played club and league tennis for a year.

For high school graduation I bought myself my first mountain bike. So of course I started racing it. Then I got a job at a bike shop. Then I rode and raced more. Then I started getting parts for free. But I stopped. Changes in life and school.

I started rock climbing. I became a president of a rock climbing club. I taught rock climbing. I wrote articles that were published in climbing papers and news letters. All of my friends were from climbing, male and female. I mentored 3 kids for a senior project about climbing. I wrote a guidebook for the local area as a 33 page paper for a technical writing class in college. And then I moved to where there was no climbing.

But I found brazilian jiu jitsu. And you know the 5 or 6 year story there. Medals on the national level. One trip to the world championships, Mundials, losing to a guy who has won them three times now. Got free private lessons, free t-shirts, extra attention, free patches, my picture here and there. That sort of thing.

Then back into bike racing. Won two local Super D championships. Started working at a bike shop again. Tons of medals. Free stuff. Actual sponsorships for tires and some other things. But then the schedule of the season changed and I couldn't do it as much. Then one series folded Super D. Time to move on....To BMX bike racing. A concussion and not a single trip to the main, I decided that was enough bike racing.

So here I am now shooting competitively. It is athletic, but in a different way. I'm competing often. And as happened in the pedal bike and jiu jitsu world, people are starting to know me. People I don't know. A shooting instruction company here in the area just gave me tons of free targets and some ammunition. And a hat, saying "You're a good shooter, please wear this for us." A local Master class shooter who works in the industry has taken the time to mentor me in my practice specifically for IDPA.

Which got me to thinking..... I probably talk to at least 300 people a month at these shooting competitions. I have the ability to make essentially what is a face to face sales pitch for any company 300 times a month. To a group of people who aren't afraid to spend money. Meaning, I need to start working on my sponsorship proposal package. It's time to turn my name, reputation, charm and competition results into free ammo, training, entry fees and clothes.

If it shoots, has a moter and/or wheels, goes 'boom'; i like it!!

My new ride! 2013 Honda CRF250L. Oh yeah!! Get ready for a new round of pictures and videos of my riding Rowdy adventures!!!

Vroom Vrooom Vroom