tvashtarkatena

Oh. You could have a wonderful winter lichen garden....

What do your winter lows drop down to?

A dog was caught rooting through Obama's garbage can! Was it's name 'Rove'r? Was it a 'Rodham'wieler? More at 11!

I planted in Sept and overwintered everything under a cloche: snowpeas, mustards, endive, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, elephant garlic, mache. Gave it a shot of bloodmeal March 1st when it started to wake up, now it's going nuts. Love that Seattle climate (sometimes).

They demoed it to the Army, but it tried to hump both ends of the reviewing General's staffordshire terrier.

Probably not possible, but maybe she'll write a screenplay that's even worse than "Juno".

I subscribe to 11 dimensional politics that will someday converge into a singularity of eternal oneness.

Just harvested my first spinach, beyo-chez. Mufukin leaf buds are freakin. First tulips, but their not on your tiny organ.

Long shot, but I thought I'd ask.

ROFL 8D I grew up inside the Missoula City limits. Lots of farm/ranch kids got bussed in to highschool from the fringes. Sometimes they would tease each other about "un-natural acts" but the funny thing was how often they blushed. Life must be doubly tough for adolescents growing up in equatorial Africa.

Quarks stick just as well as BDs. Personally, I found that they stuck better in colder ice than Cobras, Vipers or Reactors. That's probably personal preference/style. Quarks do swing better with a wrist flick, but that's a more efficient swing style anyway. Love that swing. Quarks also have wonderful clearance. For what it's worth, it's the best ice tool I've used. I haven't used the Nomics, but they're reputed to be a fantastic mixed climbing tool when no hammer is required. Personally, I wouldn't modify an expensive tool like the Nomic. It might work fine, but that tool isn't designed to be a hammer, and wouldn't it be great if the aluminum casting that holds the pick in snapped in half right in the middle of a WI 5 pitch? Quarks (or better yet, the lighter hammer version of the Aztarex) are great for alpine climbing. I plunge the tool shaft in a lot on the the snowy sections of alpine climbs; Quarks work fine for that, even with the grip rest left on (although not as well) but that would be a bit tough with a specialized ergo tool like the Nomic.

If I were to make a prediction about the election (always a fool's game), I'd say that Obama will win in a landslide. The war is too unpopular, fiscal conservatives are too pissed off, the GOP is too fragmented, the economy is too troubled, McCain is too volatile and status quo, and Obama is too calming and respectable for it to go any other way.

"Hello. You have reached the spraying service of Tvashtarkatena. Mr. Katena is on an indefinite leave of absence of an alpine nature and therefore unavailable. If you'd like to leave a message, please fuck off." This message brought to you by Vagisil. Vagisil: it's for cunts. Cunts like you.

Parties this time of year who don't want to take the 5.6 rock pitch mentioned in the sverdinka TR to attain the upper snowfield (the steep slabs are covered with sugar snow, most of which has been kicked off by our failed attempt) can ascend the NE Couloir to the very end and take a much easier 4th class pitch to the upper snowfield.

Ivan's a biggun fo sho. Seeing you blastin up the trail while I lumbered down with my skis overhead catchin every other tree made me think that while I love skiis for an approach, a nice simple pair of snowshoes might be nice to have in the quiver for certain trips - last weekend being perfect example. I was doin the weight calc and figure I could shave ~ 8 lbs. between the skis and boots for trips when the need for floatation is questionable, and/or I'd like the climbing performance of my mountaineering boots over my ski boots. I loves me some skiin', but that Colchuck/Mounty Creek approach sucks on skis in any conditions. I use my snowshoes a lot these days for stuff like that. Once the south facing snowpack corns up I think skinning up our descent route on Argonaut, then over to Colchuck and skiing down to the lake would be a kewel trip, though. I've gotta get some cheap, punk ass AT gear for my climbing boots, though. Skis really come in handy on that road, but tely boots are a real hassle on mixed trips.

"Vagisil. It's for cunts. Cunts like you." "Ask you doctor about Vagisil."

The Boss rocks.

Or RuMR's sending something a retarded five year old would laugh at.

I'd like to take your pretty little picture....

Just like I do when I'm trying to send something a retarded five year old would laugh at.

That really sucks.

Actually, though, it turns out it's a real band.

Actually, I just made that band name up.

I crank Beast Infection when I'm sending heinous shit.

That's HUGE!!!!!!11111!!!! Plus the Denalis make that slappy sound that I hate. Plus Ivan blew out the pivot plate on his Denalis on a trip this year, but then again, Ivan is the size of a T Rex.