Greenbackyard

Oxfam Trailwalker Sydney 2010

And so here we go… Tomorrow morning at 7AM, my team and I are starting a massive challenge supporting Oxfam. We will be walking 100km from Brooklyn to the Harbour.

First of all, thank you to everyone that donated and supported us so far, it’s been an incredible journey to get here, ready to start our walk. Made even more incredible because I just arrived back from a week trip to Trivandrum, Kerala, India for work and avoided getting sick!

Tomorrow, we will be getting up at 4AM to catch a 4.30AM train to the start of the event and from there on, we will be walking for many many hours supported by our great support crew that will wait for us at the checkpoints and supply us with food and warm clothing, and our camaraderie! I will be tweeting as I go and you can also follow our team’s progress online.

Taking the opportunity to use the words from Ben (one of my teammates):

So while you have a leisurely lunch, check in to see if we’ve made it to Berowra yet.

As you pour your first glass of excellent pinot noir on Friday evening, see whether we’ve made it out of the interminable hills of the Great North Walk and are heading eastwards towards Pymble and St Ives.

If you find yourselves watching Rage at 2:30 am, entertain yourselves with the thought that we’ve probably just climbed one of the longest, nastiest hills on the trail, to Kambora school in Davidson.

And when you stumble out of bed on Saturday morning and grab that first, vital espresso, chuckle to yourselves when you check in and realise that we have “only” fifteen kilometres still to walk.

If any of us have mobile reception, we’ll attempt to update the page with heartrending descriptions of our suffering. Maybe even photos, if we think your stomachs will take it.

The possibilities for entertainment are practically endless!

It’s just one of the ways we say “Thank you” for donating to our walk.

The other way is to say “Thank you”!

So I am looking forward to receiving SMSs and tweets of support all throughout the night I can’t promise I will reply in a timely fashion, I will try Thanks again to everyone that supported Oxfam so far through donations and those who supported us through encouragement!

Mountains Beyond Mountains

A few weeks ago I finished reading Mountains Beyond Moutains by Tracy Kidder. I got this book immediately after I read Philip Greenspun’s review.

After many months of silence on this blog, I thought this would be a good way to get back to writing and continuing with the new year’s resolution I decided on.

“Mountains Beyond Mountains” is a fascinating story about an even more fascinating man, Dr Paul Farmer, who has dedicated his life to help those in need. A great deal of the book covers the work that Dr Farmer and his colleagues have done in Haiti (a country I got to know a little bit throughout my life) -which was the part that really drew me the this book. It covers the work they’ve done in Peru and Russia as well. The story is told by Kidder who accompanied him over multiple years through many truly inhospitable places, and tells us stories of how this dedicated man and his companions have transformed third-world healthcare and how their dedication has saved countless lives. Farmer and his colleagues founded Partner’s in Health, whose mission is “[...] to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care”. Kidder covers with quite some detail how restless Farmer and his colleagues have been in fulfilling that mission, how dedicated (beyond measures at times) and, in my opinion, how successful. Of course, as Farmer says in the book (I don’t have the book here with me so I am quoting from memory) “if I save one life, just one, then I have done my job”, so success is not only measured by the global impact that their hard work has had on the treatment of Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) but also by the individual lives that have been saved along the way. As a side note, if you haven’t seen the work by the world renown photographer James Nachtwey on raising awareness about XDT-TB, you should (the images are terribly moving).

What I found fascinating about this book is that this is a real story on how we should “never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” (quote by Margaret Mead). Our daily lives are cluttered by an enormous amount of “junk” and sometimes little gems like this one give us back hope, we are not powerless. Through dedication, activism and selflessness, we can and will change the world.

I do agree with PhilG’s review, where he says:

[ ... ] If this is what it takes to change the world, then don’t hold your breath waiting for change, because there probably won’t be another guy like Farmer in our lifetime.

We shouldn’t hold our breath, we actually have to do something about it! Farmer is not unique, there are other “heroes” out there, I know a few. It’s true, there are probably counted with the fingers in one hand when we are talking about having a global reach like what Partner’s in Health has achieved in terms of healthcare in impoverished corners of the world. We don’t all have it in us to be Paul Farmer’s, I certainly am not as gifted or focused as he is. What his story is all about though, for me, is that we cannot afford to give up just because it’s too hard. It also reminded me that our first world problems are minute in comparison to the problems that are plaguing 75% of the world’s population! We have plenty of options to help, let’s just use them!

What can you do? You can donate to Partner’s in Health, or support someone through a micro-loan on Kiva, or support my team on the Oxfam Trailwalker Sydney this year. These are a tiny tiny fraction of all the options out there, there are plenty more!

The Passionate Rock Climber

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I had recently discovered a brand new, all encompassing passion: rock climbing.

Before I go into this again though, it’s also important to notice that I am going through a very intense period in my life at the moment, a massive roller coaster, with very large swings of ups and downs and mixing “dreamy/fantasy” in what would otherwise seem like a normal existence, it seems to defy magic realism. Or maybe this is also again, part of my imagination of it being a bit too far fetched and trying to find meaning in everything. Why is this important? Because through crisis is that I also reflect very seriously about what I am doing with my life and reconsider the choices I have made in the past.

So trying to gently get back into the subject of rock climbing, how often is it that you find your Element (as described in Ken Robinson’s book) or at least one part of it? I guess that occasionally you stumble upon them and sometimes you engineer them. I’ve just read a post by John Nunemaker titled “I have no talent” in which he states that most of his best work is due to his perseverance and hard work and, of course, his passion for his craft, software development. This made me think: “Is talent something that really matters to me? Do I have any talent(s)?” and before I pursue this line even further, let me clearly say that I agree with John: only hard work gives results, I think it’s really the only way. I think the same applies to passions, like rock climbing. I do have a certain affinity (physically) towards that sport, I am not sure if I’d call that talent but it’s definitely a _connection_ however without all the hard work I would not be getting any better and my frustrations would just keep on growing. I have worked pretty hard to keep this passion of climbing alive, of course when you love something and you enjoy it, working for it doesn’t seem like such an effort. my training routine has got me a few “you are crazy” comments (and trust me it’s not all that intense) It requires persistence and a lot of sheer determination to get through it. Some days it can get hard (hangovers for example, are my worst enemies ).

Working towards ones goals and passions takes many forms. For me it’s been focusing on a routine that pushes me a bit further every time. and that I can do without machines or without having to rely on specialized help. and of course that I can do on my own so that I have to rely solely on my own motivation and not on somebody else to drag me out for a climb. If I get to share those moments with others that’s awesome however since I always struggled to get my own routines underway I needed to rely on my own energy. And it’s also about reading a lot about climbing and about conditioning for climbers, mostly because I am not a trainer and I have a vague idea of where my weaknesses are in terms of strength and flexibility however I needed some advice that would guide me towards the most effective training routines. BTW the most influential book for me so far has been The Rock Warrior’s Way by Arno Ilgner.

The journey has begun.

Adventures into a brave new world

It has been way too long since I last posted here. I think I’ve been using Twitter too much as it feels so easy to just put my stream of consciousness out there without having to fear the empty blank “textarea” (or what writers experience with the blank page, however in our digital times this has long been replaced by a blank word document).

Anyway, as with the vast majority of the western world, I have decided that as part of my “new year’s resolutions” I wanted to tweet less and blog more. Why? Mostly because when I write a post here, I actually spend a vast amount of time thinking about it, preparing for it and, most of the time, it reflects my state of mind more accurately and not just a spontaneous outburst like what can happen through my tweets. And the last few months have been quite intense in my life and I need an outlet to express myself. It’s a way to communicate more detailed ideas, experiences, emotions. All bundled in these words, on these pages.

So, what’s this brave new world I am talking about? Climbing, as in rock climbing! Yes, I know … I am not 18 anymore and why taking on such a strenuous sport at this stage of my life? I owe it to Harry who took me to a climbing wall near Zürich once back in August or September, I can’t remember the exact day. I remember trying to climb the first walls and feeling transported into a state of deep focus and concentration without requiring much preparation and a great sense of camaraderie (well, the person belaying you has your life, literally, in their hands). I remember coming back to my apartment and staying awake until 4AM, unable to sleep, remembering all the moments and also “high” from the adrenaline (I also suffer -or suffered, not sure yet- from vertigo). A few days later, I started to realise how profound this experienced had been and how much it had affected me. And when I say “affected”, I really mean it, a deep transformation. Not just physical (which there was and I will cover that in future posts) but mostly mental.

Mental transformation due to the ability to get in that deep focus almost instantly and repeatedly. Like when I was developing software 24×7 and every now and then I would get into “the zone” and would code for, say, 4 or 5h non-stop and would not have any idea of how much time had passed, how I got to the results I did however those were the best classes, methods, designs and overall architectures. However these moments were seldom the norm. I couldn’t get in “the zone” on demand and I wasn’t able to create the conditions for it artificially. Coming out of “the zone” was also great because I wouldn’t feel stressed, actually all the stress would have evaporated.

As I write this I am thinking over and over again what is that fascinates me so much about climbing. I figured that stress relief is an important factor however that’s not the only one, there are more. The physical challenge is definitely up there, for a computer nerd like myself who has lived a mostly sedentary life, suddenly being able to climb and pull his own weight without the aid of machines or weird contraptions (bouldering) is a major accomplishment. And finally, something that I am very keen on learning about is climbing outdoors. Yes, I have to admit I’ve only been doing indoor climbing so far (give me a break, I’ve only been doing this since September last year) !!! There are so many climbing spots around the world, beautiful, photogenic and wild places that are just waiting to be climbed! So much more interesting than the climbing walls at the gym. Of course, don’t take me wrong, I love to train in a climbing wall, the safety and comfort of just a short stroll to it, any day of the week is unbeatable however “the real thing” is impossible to match (at least it’s still a fantasy for me).

I want to share my experiences of going through yet another life transformation, partly because I think it’s now part of who I am and also because there isn’t that much of it out there about climbing nerds and I thought that it could be interesting to document this journey to keep me motivated and focused and, hopefully, to motivate others. Stay tuned.

My first assignment

How fantastic to stroll down to the letterbox yesterday and find my first beekeeping assignment, returned, and marked. I got most of my questions right! But more gratifying were the multiple hand written comments from my teacher, and the encouragement. I was delighted that someone really took the time to go through my assignment. I’m going to write to my teacher and ask him the multiple questions I have about bees, since he seems so engaged. Yay!

A garden bench and a cup of tea

I’ve only just started rebuilding this old, run down garden and already it’s time to take a break. I think it’s imperative to have a cup of tea and a good sit down and a bit of a think about what comes next. In fact, as I’ve been working a bit of a space has opened up by the garden gate. That’s where my awesome garden trolley does it’s turning circle, where I can dump straw, where I can leave my tools. It’s such a useful space I think I’ll keep it and add a bench to sit on. Then I’ll make a cup of tea, and stare at the garden in progress.

The other two thirds of my garden shall stay, for now, in a forlorn, weed choked state. By getting a garden seat, and creating a space just for sitting, watching and dreaming I think I’m paying respect to the principle of considered organic design. A chair in this case isn’t a final cherry on the cake, it’s not the ornament that celebrates a finished project.
It’s about building a spot to reflect as you go.
Very often in my profesional life as a web designer, my team and I don’t get this luxury. Because of time commitments we bang out designs to a brief as fast as we can. It’s often the client that does the reflecting, gets back to us and asks us to make changes.
I believe that gardens can teach us so much, and perhaps one fertile area I could reflect on might be how organic design might influence collaborative design for the better.

An Epicurun garden

Marble bust of Epicurus.

There once was a fellow called Epicurus. He was a Greek philosopher. He had a simple recipe for happiness. These days if you were to say that someone is living “the Epicurian” ideal, the implication would be that they are a debauched, avaricious existence devoted to pure pleasure. Oddly, this has nothing to do with what he said (or rather it’s an interpretation of what he said.) Other interpretations reveal a simpler, neater value system.

According to his surviving writings, the way to be happy is to do these things:

* Own a garden
* Be self-sufficient, in that you don’t depend on someone else for your livelihood
* Live modestly
* Eat fresh food, preferably home grown
* Have good friends with whom you can have long conversations
* Drink modestly
* Don’t be afraid of death

In fact Epicurus was supposed to have founded a school around his own garden, that was open to all sorts, including women and slaves, (exceedingly rare in those days.) Apparently, he was quite fond of a ‘pot’ of fresh cheese, a ripe tomato and a hunk of bread for dinner, and some friends to share it with.

All this got me thinking about planting an Epicurun Garden. Imagine this with me… White gravel paths, tomato plants of all sorts up trellis’s and sprawled over whitewashed walls. The drift of basil on the wind, thyme underfoot, the faint hum of bees working nearby. I have baked a loaf of bread, and made a little tub of cheese from locally sourced organic milk, and there’s one of my honey varieties open on nearby rustic table. Friends are due for lunch, and they are bringing a bottle of olive oil and a chilled glass of something delicious. That right there, that sounds quite heavenly wouldn’t you agree? Think old Epicurus would agree…

One last thing I think has to be said, and that is Epicurus really was very cool, you should read more about Epicurus here. Apparently he coined this phrase, which was later adopted by the humanists as a common tombstone epitaph:

“I was not; I was; I am not, and I’m fine with that.”

Twitter Entropy

Our good friend Andrew sent me the following email yesterday, following a short but entertaining exchange we had on Twitter. I thought I would reproduce it here as I like it too!

Hi Bruno, Just for fun… I thought our Twitter banter over entropy was entertaining. [...] What was rather poetic and circular in this entropy thread was how you returned to a state of control “Planning”… neat!

twitter entropy exchange

Two “must-read” books

I started this post a while back and then it sat there, unloved and gathering dust so I started over again. This is not exactly a follow-up from the previous series and it is at the same time.

I started reading two very very interesting books: Slow is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure and Joie de Vivre and Life Inc. recently. Danielle (my soulmate) gave me “Slow is Beautiful” and I had reserved a copy “Life Inc” before it was released because I’ve always liked Douglas Rushkoff’s writing (ever since John, a friend from Amsterdam, introduced me to his blog back in 2001 or so).

When I first picked “Slow is Beautiful and started reading it, I noticed that we had started going in the direction that Cecile Andrews talks about, towards reclaiming our own life from the hectic environments of our busy cities and its demands. For a while though, I have been still living with a very “city” mind in the country and the good thing is that you are surrounded by “country time” and it reminds you on a daily basis that you need to take it easy or at least, a life can be lived without the constant stress created by the super fast living demands and we need to reorient our individual-centric view of the world to a more community oriented one.

I didn’t realised this until very recently, in particular by talking to our neighbours and realising how much of a community sense there is in our valley. Everyone knows and helps each other. For example, the other day, the guy that delivers the gas bottles got bogged on our property … without even resorting to calling them, our neighbour and a friend that was at his place appeared with their 4WD to help. They had heard the sounds of the van trying to get out of the mud.

I am not even halfway through “Life Inc” and it has already given me a new perspective on the global financial crisis. Somehow I found so many parallels between these two books and our move to the country, it’s a bit scary Once I had the time to finish them and digest them a bit more, I will write a bit more. They relate very closely to where we are at in our life (Danielle, Zeek and I) and seem to be recommending a path forward that’s aligned with our way of thinking and our values. Highly recommended!

The ultimate survivor

New tank

A few days ago we stood in front of our aquaponics system, looking dubiously into the stinky water. It was like looking into a tank of raw green sludge. The bottom was hidden under a depth of brack-ish green water. Mosquito larvae wriggled in the still, scum laden rainwater tank. No food had been dropped into the tank in months. Our plant beds were like little deserts – with a few weedy herbs clawing at the sky. Surely nothing could survive in such a toxic environment?

My brother made it clear he wanted the tank of water to go. Since the tank was right next to his room, he had a point. We knew that 10 of the 11 eleven original fish had perished. But what if that last fish was still alive? Surviving like a fishy Chuck Norris, deep in the tank? Tenaciously clinging to life like a Rambo – how could we get rid of the tank (or at least clean it out and reuse it) if, somewhere down there, it lived! We looked into the tank and our doubts were almost palpable. Surely, it had to be dead?

We started to drain the tank. Long hair like strands of green filaments coated the sides of the tank – I could only compare it to seaweed. The water didn’t get any clearer, but odd things emerged, like half sunken wrecks. As we got down to the last third, we stopped emptying the tank and got a big stick and had a bit of a poke around – juuuuuuusssssst in case…..

Suddenly, like a black shadow, out he darted!! I let out an excited yell. It made my day to find he was still there, incredibly, still fighting fit and swift as a flash of light. What a stayer! As my brother Stephen said (after whom we named every fish) – what a Highlander he is. “There can be… only one!” So we refilled the tank a bit and then had a good chat about what to do next.

The thing is, we need to transport the Highlander Fish to our new house and eventually build it a new aquaponics system – but our new house is 8 hours away. That’s a hard thing to do… Get it out of the swamp (er… current tank), get it into some in-between-time tank and then get it up to our new house and THEN get it into it’s long term accommodation. I sure will not be able to eat Highlander after this, he’s almost like family now, (and about as much trouble. And probably about as crazy.)

Anyway, we went out and bought a new fish tank for him. You can see the photo here. We need to leave it a week with a pump in it to settle down, before we transfer him into it, and finally clean the big tank. More on this saga later. I really hope that after living for so long in a toxic pool he doesn’t cark it the moment we introduce him to properly oxygenated water.