cmiles – blog

Charles Miles – Tucson Hiking, Outside and Adventures, Excel, .net, Life

The End of 2011 – Notes

Happy New Year! I thought it might be fun to write a few notes about 2011…

New Blog – consuming – I have been using this blog to post and record info about media that I have been watching/reading/listening to (and I like it!).

New Blogging – In the second half of 2011 I started contributing to Trail Talk – the Summit Hut blog, writing posts on both hikes (Airmen Peak, Rosewood Point and North Rosewood Point, Palisade Trailhead to the Sabino Canyon Tram and Buster Mountain, Buster Spring, Montrose Canyon) and about gear (Review: F-Lite 195 & F-Lite 230, First Impressions – Inov-8 Men’s Evoskin™ and Fall 2011 – Jackets with Synthetic Insulation!). Writing these posts has been a fun way to share some of the hikes, destinations and gear that I love.

Hiking/Outdoors – While my Flickr pictures are about any number of things I have more pictures of hikes/outdoor adventures than anything else – and my 2011 Collection has 30 sets of pictures – more than any other year I have on Flickr! I made more time for hiking than any previous year and am excited about getting outside in 2012!

School – I have been taking a variety of classes at Pima Community College for years as a way to keep learning new skills. But this Fall, with the combination of subject matter (diagrams, system planning, …), being busy at work and wanting to get outside I failed to finish my class for the first time in years… I am going to take a (brief?) break from classes at this point and focus on some programming projects at work that I am excited about as a way to keep learning, but classes are such a great way to learn/expand that I am sure I will be back for more at some point…

Rides/Runs – In the past I never felt all that excited about organized races – but I got the bug in 2011 (likely from ADT!) and did The Tour of the Tucson Mountains, El Tour de Tucson (60 miles), Catalina State Park Trail Run (5.1), Urban Assualt Ride and Arizona Distance Classic (1/4). I did not have specific goals (other than finish) for any of these events – and I like it that way – but the experience of seeing and being with so many other cyclists and runners is really inspiring!

2012?

In the first part of 2012, if I can stay healthy, I plan on doing Fleet Feet Arizona Trail Race, Mesquite Canyon (1/2 Marathon), Tour of the Tucson Mountains and the Catalina State Park Trail Run (10.2).

These events are a fun way to get outside – and I think my only goal in 2012 is to get outside more!

Hope everyone has a great year!
CM

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  • Hull Zero Three, Greg Bear 2012 January 15
    I am sad to say that the first time I saw Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear (official site) on Amazon I skipped over it because of the rating – in retrospect a somewhat sad reminder to myself about the value of ratings… Thankfully on the Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature blog I came across [...]
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    This blog made it thru 2011! A few notes about my media/reading that I thought might be fun if this blogs lasts a few years… -Reading: I am mostly reading on my Sprint Evo 4G Android Phone via the Kindle app. While the reading experience on such a small screen is unexciting the compelling feature [...]
  • Revelation Space Universe, Alastair Reynolds 2011 December 31
    I don’t have a good enough memory or record of what I was reading in the late 1990s or early 2000s to know if this is the truth – but the way I remember it is that after a lull where I had trouble finding any science fiction I was interested in reading I came [...]
  • Sea of Glass, Barry B. Longyear 2011 December 20
    I don’t remember seeing Sea of Glass, by Barry B. Longyear, on ‘top’ science fiction lists – or stumbling across it in website recommendations; but I do remember this novel from reading it in (about…) 1990. What I remember is the brutality, terror and a dystopian future world on the brink of war. The novel [...]
  • String Quartets 2 & 3, Kevin Volans, Balanescu Quartet, Kronos Quartet 2011 December 12
    I believe I first heard Kevin Volans‘s (homepage) String Quartet No. 2 – ‘Hunting: Gathering’ in the mid-1990s on a Kronos Quartet CD. While I can not say this was immediately one of my favorite pieces, I will say that sounds from and sections of the 2nd String Quartet have stayed with me – coming [...]
  • Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami 2011 December 6
    Norwegian Wood was not quite what I was expecting – the Murakami novels that I have read – A Wild Sheep Chase, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Dance Dance Dance, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Sputnik Sweetheart, Kafka on the Shore and After Dark – all seem to me to have some place [...]
  • Looking Glass, James R Strickland 2011 November 27
    Cyberpunk! James Strickland delivers the classic elements in Looking Glass – a future United States now carved into different countries, powerful corporations, cyber space, techy jargon, decks, jacking in and action! The strength of this novel is not in offering something insightful and new – but rather in being an intelligent and fascinating rec […]
  • Await Your Reply, Dan Chaon 2011 November 21
    Dan Chaon gives us a clever plot – with several converging stories – and disturbed characters that work together to create an enjoyable and slightly uncomfortable novel. There were sections that certainly made me think about my own life and identity, but overall I was not quite completely hooked/pulled in. Rating: 3 of 5 First [...]
email: charles@cmiles.info

flickr -> pictures

1202 Sign marking the official end of the Pontatoc Ridge Trail

1202 Looking Down Pontatoc Canyon and Across Tucson

1202 Pontatoc Canyon 3rd Wash Crossing

1202 Sun

1202 Alison on the Agua Caliente Hill Trail

1202 Charles and Alison

1202 Looking back on the Agua Caliente Hill false Summit

1202 Looking across Tucson and the Catalinas from Agua Caliente Hill

1202 From the trail, nearing the Summit

1202 Trail heading towards the Summit

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