I'm four excedrine in and it hasn't gone away.

Have some guayasa for this afternoon.

The sound of heavy rain on my coat followed me as I walked. I squinted, and could feel the cold stone under my feet as I crossed the street. There she was, leaning against a nearby street light, her body enveloped by a flowing red dress that contrasted with the stark and barren urban wasteland. Her head sunk as she heard me - I knew I wasn't the only guy to be walking past her at this hour.

"Excuse me miss-"

"I'm taken."

Her terse tone pierced my chest. I hadn't been given a chance to even finish my sentence.

"That's not what I was after. I'm investigating a disappearance and I'd like to ask you a few questions."

She sighed, bit her lip, and slowly locked eyes with me. She had large, brown eyes, long curly hair and a demeanour that made her every move sensual.

"I don't know anything, I'm new in town."

I could tell this was going to be some tough conversation. I'd received an anonymous tip earlier that she was involved. The caller had a deep, husky voice...I got the sense it was disguised. Rich businessmen fuelled my enterprise, and the stakes were high on this case. I had to get it done before Redgrave did, otherwise I'd be out on the streets.

I pulled two cigarettes from my pocket and with trembling fingers offered her one. She obliged and as I leaned in to light, I could smell the perfume on her. They say smell is the best trigger of memory, and it took me straight back to Paris all those years ago.

"What's a pretty lady like yourself doing waiting for a bus at this hour?" I asked, turning my head. I had to play cool, I couldn't jump to the chase. She inhaled and the silvery smoke leaked out of her lips as she spoke.

"Sometimes nights just don't work out as planned."

I reached out my hand, and offered to take her home. For the first time she really looked at me, I could tell she was studying my face. It wasn't until now I noticed the small nose piercing she had as it glistened in the warm glow of the street light. I could sense a sadness, a longing for human comfort, but it was obvious she was trying to maintain a tough outer shell. I didn't think she'd accept, but I felt the smooth leather from her gloves wrap around my fingers. We stayed under cover, and could hear the vague tones of a lonely trumpet from a nearby jazz bar. Her place wasn't far, and we made good time in my beat up car. No one wanted to be on the roads at this time, and neither did we. That was the problem with this city, too many people with their own agendas. Moral fibre was lacking these days, and I wasn't the type that should be criticising. I'd solved too many cases planting evidence, beating confessions out of suspects...I know it wasn't playing by the book, but I was just trying to restore the balance. I looked over to the passenger seat, and gazed at her beautiful face. She just looked straight forward and muttered.

"I suppose you want to come in."

We walked briskly through her front door and up the stairs. She instructed me to sit down as she walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured me a stiff whiskey. My heart fluttered with every word she spoke, her tongue dancing around each syllable. I knew what was going on here. I had to get things moving.

"You knew Jim didn't you."

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. The last I saw of him was on the corner of 23rd and 7th, last Monday. I saw him get into a black Rolls Royce but I can't remember the licence plate...I'm sorry."

A single tear slid down her soft cheek. This case must go deep, I thought. If this was all she knew, I had no business being here. I left her apartment without a word and glanced at my watch. The face was cracked but I still made out the time: 4.27. I hadn't slept properly in weeks and I couldn't face the light of day. This was my moment, my zone, my dimension. The hustle and bustle of the streets in the light was too much, and I found the night air soothing. The journey back to the office went by so quickly, time hadn't moved this fast for years. I couldn't stop thinking about her, she was so beautiful - but I knew she was hiding something from me.

I don't know how long I had slept for, but when I woke, the rain was still pounding against the window of my office, and the night was still as dark as ever. There was an unmarked envelope on my desk which I quickly opened, containing a single piece of paper. It had a licence number and the words "Happy Birthday" scrawled in dark ink. I gazed out the window and saw a figure in the dark slowly walking away, long hair flowing in the cool breeze.

Try a bong

Guayusa is typically imbibed first thing upon waking, preferably before sunrise, to help assist in gently parting the veils between waking and dreaming realities.

I love the stuff.

Damn hippies

Dafuq?

Sorry... I dug deeper. Got carried away there.

don't put your dick in crazy things...

How many shades of grey was that?

Always sound advice

Tomorrow I'm doing cactus to something to something...

I think the original plan was to do cactus to clouds to cactus, but them I may do just cactus to clouds to tram... BUUUUUT depending on snow ( i hear there isn't much) I might do some other version...

all I know is I have a lot of uphill hiking in my near future

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

bout how felt last week.
now just tired tired tired.

bout how felt last week.
now just tired tired tired.

Several blows to the temple should do the trick.

Sorry... I dug deeper. Got carried away there.

Earlier in the year, I had a number of irons in the fire, things were looking pretty sweet. Three camping trips to the desert with my oldest and his scout troop, including a Jtree climbing trip. A weeklong family camping trip to Death Valley over Easter Break. Throw in a day or weekend od skiing. Pretty sweet. And if things were not too too crazy and I could swing it, meet with Kart and her feinds for a quick weekend in Jtree.
Turns out the quick weekend to Josh to meet Kart was the only thing that panned out.
Good thing I went too. Cause at that point I had only missed one camping trip. It was raining pretty hard here in town, but I went anyway since it seemed to be working out. Meet Kart, climb a little, camp a little, spend time with my younger son. I took my younger boy, since he was going to left out of all the boy scout trips, as hes only a cub scout. Something about liability, which I don't quite follow since cub scouts are part of the boy scout program, but supposedly thems the rules.

that was 30 seconds of my life I'll never get back.

Perfect temps, and I got on a total of 5 routes from 5.7 - 5.10a/b.

Although I didn't plan on it, I scrubbed a new line and led "Raven Song" at 5.7 directly up the middle of the cliff. Not too many remaining blanks on the Longstack map, but I'm sure I'll eek out a few more lines before I move.

well done

Dafuq?

yup, it's a migraine. you guessed it.

The sound of heavy rain on my coat followed me as I walked. I squinted, and could feel the cold stone under my feet as I crossed the street. There she was, leaning against a nearby street light, her body enveloped by a flowing red dress that contrasted with the stark and barren urban wasteland. Her head sunk as she heard me - I knew I wasn't the only guy to be walking past her at this hour.

"Excuse me miss-"

"I'm taken."

Her terse tone pierced my chest. I hadn't been given a chance to even finish my sentence.

"That's not what I was after. I'm investigating a disappearance and I'd like to ask you a few questions."

She sighed, bit her lip, and slowly locked eyes with me. She had large, brown eyes, long curly hair and a demeanour that made her every move sensual.

"I don't know anything, I'm new in town."

I could tell this was going to be some tough conversation. I'd received an anonymous tip earlier that she was involved. The caller had a deep, husky voice...I got the sense it was disguised. Rich businessmen fuelled my enterprise, and the stakes were high on this case. I had to get it done before Redgrave did, otherwise I'd be out on the streets.

I pulled two cigarettes from my pocket and with trembling fingers offered her one. She obliged and as I leaned in to light, I could smell the perfume on her. They say smell is the best trigger of memory, and it took me straight back to Paris all those years ago.

"What's a pretty lady like yourself doing waiting for a bus at this hour?" I asked, turning my head. I had to play cool, I couldn't jump to the chase. She inhaled and the silvery smoke leaked out of her lips as she spoke.

"Sometimes nights just don't work out as planned."

I reached out my hand, and offered to take her home. For the first time she really looked at me, I could tell she was studying my face. It wasn't until now I noticed the small nose piercing she had as it glistened in the warm glow of the street light. I could sense a sadness, a longing for human comfort, but it was obvious she was trying to maintain a tough outer shell. I didn't think she'd accept, but I felt the smooth leather from her gloves wrap around my fingers. We stayed under cover, and could hear the vague tones of a lonely trumpet from a nearby jazz bar. Her place wasn't far, and we made good time in my beat up car. No one wanted to be on the roads at this time, and neither did we. That was the problem with this city, too many people with their own agendas. Moral fibre was lacking these days, and I wasn't the type that should be criticising. I'd solved too many cases planting evidence, beating confessions out of suspects...I know it wasn't playing by the book, but I was just trying to restore the balance. I looked over to the passenger seat, and gazed at her beautiful face. She just looked straight forward and muttered.

"I suppose you want to come in."

We walked briskly through her front door and up the stairs. She instructed me to sit down as she walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured me a stiff whiskey. My heart fluttered with every word she spoke, her tongue dancing around each syllable. I knew what was going on here. I had to get things moving.

"You knew Jim didn't you."

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. The last I saw of him was on the corner of 23rd and 7th, last Monday. I saw him get into a black Rolls Royce but I can't remember the licence plate...I'm sorry."

A single tear slid down her soft cheek. This case must go deep, I thought. If this was all she knew, I had no business being here. I left her apartment without a word and glanced at my watch. The face was cracked but I still made out the time: 4.27. I hadn't slept properly in weeks and I couldn't face the light of day. This was my moment, my zone, my dimension. The hustle and bustle of the streets in the light was too much, and I found the night air soothing. The journey back to the office went by so quickly, time hadn't moved this fast for years. I couldn't stop thinking about her, she was so beautiful - but I knew she was hiding something from me.

I don't know how long I had slept for, but when I woke, the rain was still pounding against the window of my office, and the night was still as dark as ever. There was an unmarked envelope on my desk which I quickly opened, containing a single piece of paper. It had a licence number and the words "Happy Birthday" scrawled in dark ink. I gazed out the window and saw a figure in the dark slowly walking away, long hair flowing in the cool breeze.