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Friday, February 29, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Csaba - the 24 hour mountainbike champion
It's high time I write you, so, here is my "winter story".
Well, it all started, when it was about time to finish my mastercourse, as an architect - my life suddenly became overloaded, and I just couldn't create the balance I always could. Besides the university, this riding thing actually started to work.
After becoming the 24-hour mountainbike champion with my team mate (in the duo category) in september, serious teams became quite interested in me - so, i switched my team (the old one was not working at all, so I had really no motivation to remain there) to GSK, (which originates from my highschool town; as a sidenote).
So, I got a new bike, a road "speeder" for my winter training period, "handcrafted in Italy", just for me. ;-)
She is the one:
Of course, the feeling of such high expectations also pressed me harder to do my daily trainings with more vigor - be it snow, ice, wind...who cares? But things worked out differently - after one training, I snapped the side ligament in my right knee - an injury that got me bedbound for 3 weeks.
As it actually happened, when I was trying to enter our front gate (on foot!), and I slipped on the ice, it is kind of ironic, that all my trainings were suddenly put to stake, because of such a stupid accident. Fortunately I healed up pretty quickly, and - besides - I have also graduated the mastercourse (~PHD or ~DLA) so I have became (or should became in weeks) a "lead architect".
Riding is ok now, as winter suddenly came to a halt here - today it was 16 C degrees with sunshine (normally it's April weather...).
I had to miss the winter mountaineering course with Adrienn, bacause of the inability of my boss (a dork...) to cope with "unexpected" holydays. But asking for a mere week 2 months in advance? Unexpected...my ass. :-) Maybe next time.
I have got to go now, I am quite tired, and still need to fix my mountainbike...as of yet, it's nothing more than a pile of parts and bolts. :-)
Ciao,Csab
"the Regulars"
A Trail Called Hope - I - Mont Blanc - 2006
Friday, February 22, 2008
Time Gives & Time Steals
This computer screen was black, and every stroke cuts away at the dark.
I was wondering what I might tell you this week, what was on my mind and then I went to type and it all went blank.
My fingers start moving and white letters start subtracting away from this void that was this computer screen, and it re-teaches me that even if I’m not sure where I’m going, what I’m doing or what I want to say, just starting breeds accomplishment.
The screen was blank only a moment ago, and with time now the letters are beginning to spell progress.
There is so much to say, but how do I say it and where do I begin? What have I been up to in the last few months on up to this very week?
Rest? No, not really.
It’s a blur on the inside, and the only thing I’m sure of is that I will keep trying.
I guess that’s the key, isn’t it?
"Trying"
My wife is wondering what I’m doing now, that seems to be more important than laying down to watch TV with her.
I have so much to do ...like everyone else.
My situation is not so different. We all feel like we’re overloaded sometimes. Life is the spider web we always seem to find ourselves tangled in. I am not independently wealthy so I need to keep working my day job. I am only an apprentice so I need to keep studying until my architecture exams have all been passed.
It is a bit of a guilty feeling, stealing my focus from concentrating on one thing at a time but I have never really done one thing at a time.
All through out life it has always been multitasking for me. It makes me slower...yes I know, but in the end I believe I have learned so much more through the experiences of running myself ragged, as I have become more rounded. Time is part of the journey. Until then I will remain an apprentice and keep inching ahead.
On my back there is a tattoo which is written in Latin. Part of it says "TU ES ULTIMUS FINIS" which translates loosely to "You are your own ultimate challenge". This can also be taken to mean that "the race is always with yourself". In my race if slow and steady is what works best for me, then that’s the speed I need to keep in order to succeed.
What else have I been up to? Hummm let me see.
One of my relatives has worked hard all through life and has helped me at points through mine, so I have been drawing plans for his vacation home on Grand Cayman. It’s beautiful. When I tell you it’s a castle...I’m not lying. It really is. There is currently one castle-like home on the island, and his goal is to build one which is even more romantic and still have the aire of a stone fort from the old days.
I have also been drawing plans for my brothers home addition. He and his wife are expecting a baby any day now and the should really have a little more room for the family to grow. I’m sure when the plans are approved my family (all my uncles and some of my cousins) will be there on occasion to drive nails into the backdrop of the stage being set on a new life for a little someone we haven’t even met yet.
I am a firm believer that you can give to friends and family but you should try never to take, so when ever possible family works for family - for free. They can always use a hand with things and I believe it should always be made unconditionally available to them. Doing this does of course move my life ahead at a somewhat "slower pace" then it could go if I would abandon everything which is extracurricular in life to focus on my own family. Even though this would absolutely simply family life in my own home...it will never happen. Doing so means leaving these people to fend for themselves at the hands of a stranger when by a little effort of my own their goals can be reached and then enjoyed.
Let me see, there must be something else which has been keeping me so busy lately.
Ah....
I’ve also been researching an idea for a business of my own. Strangely enough it’s not architecture. Even more strange is that the architecture I may seem to abandon after pursuing it through the last 23 years - will still be there for me in this business. Maybe I’ll burn the bridges behind me and force myself to move ahead with it sooner than I think. I love the idea and I work a little more at it every night, dividing the time between studying, & drawing. Someday soon it will happen.
I’ll make it happen.
But, it is a bit of a guilty feeling stealing my focus away from a commitment to do my part in helping to conquer Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s disease.
I’m sure I’ve said it a hundred times before, but I really wish there was someone to give me advice when it comes to what needs to be done next with our charity efforts. This is not such a simple world to maneuver through even when your goal is simply to raise awareness and funds to help conquer Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
It started out as one climbing expedition to "The Wettest Place on Earth". It was a mountain called Wai’ale’ale, and it had not been reached on foot for more than 28 to 30 years. That wasn’t a big goal was it? In the midst of all the emotion I was feeling there in the jungle, I thought, "Damn, this hurts! But you know what? I think I can do this again, and again until a cure is found". My friend Ken and I fell short of reaching the summit, but in this failure was born the idea for the 10 Mountains - 10 Years (a quest for the cure) project. As a bonus we did play a roll in helping two other climbers to reach the summit only one day later, but that’s a story for another time.
Even though I decided to link 10 years worth of charity climbing expeditions together in this newer bigger project I still thought it would be simple. Climb mountains & Conquer these diseases.
What a surprise I had.
It was like discovering all the intricacies I already knew went into designing the dream house and country estate for someone wealthy enough to want a simple life away from the city. The interesting thing is that the simple life takes a lot of thought, planning and work ahead of time. It’s not simple for everyone involved in making it seem that way.
My simple expeditions have become lesson upon lesson, laced with trial and error, tough luck, and stubborn determination.
Organizing an expedition, meant learning everything possible about your mountain, your gear, your route, the logistics, etc. It meant collecting a team and having patience enough to sift through all the people who say they want to climb with you, then back out at the last minute. It’s funny because at times I might have 2 dozen people who all want to be a part of the action for the charity on the mountain. They come across as so hard core serious about doing it, then one after the next they fall off the bandwagon for a thousand different reasons and excuses. Some just don’t even bother to tell me they are no longer following through on their promise to be a part of the team’s effort. I used to get mad it the lack of commitment, following the heavy "I am so serious for this" facade. Now I have learned that people just break sometimes, and they can’t be faulted for it.
Lucky for me, I have collected some good team mates who have come out time and time again and have also helped to coordinate some of the logistics.
But, climbing is not the beginning and end of it all.
It seems everyday I need to learn a little more about how to simply raise awareness, which as it turns out isn’t simple.
There is marketing,
there is writing,
there is research,
there is staying current on your subject (Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s),
there is public speaking,
there is mailing,
there is Emailing,
there is creating graphics which will inspire people,
there is real politics, there is association politics, there is team politics,
there is learning to recognize when someone has that little extra spark which has the potential to really burn brightly with a little encouragement and cultivation,
there is learning how to deal with the new and varied personalities involved in helping my cause, there is learning how to create and keep relationships,
there is this, there is that, there is the other thing.
Then there is evolution.
By this I mean that at the urging of my team mates we have now branched out to doing more than just climbing expeditions to raise awareness and funds for research. We have spent months sorting through, then developing ideas for social events where anyone interested in the cause could join us in a great old time while raising fund for the Alzheimer’s Association and the Michael J. Fox Foundation (for Parkinson’s Research).
I never imagined 4 years ago that my team would do anything more than climb, but apparently we’re only just scratching the surface of what can be done to raise awareness in public and the funds needed for research. Every day it seems we write our own "How To" guide book on interesting ways to support the cause.
It’s all so exciting, sometimes scary, and always a little confusing, but we’re finding our way.
I always think to myself, this is no place for someone who grew up as a shy kid; who would rather hide behind his parents legs than say hi to the person he was being introduced to when he was young.
But here I am anyway.
If these diseases are to be conquered we’re all going to have to come out of our shells and push harder against our own shy, docile or introverted manner in order to succeed. Before we can go on to conquer anything in this world, we must learn to conquer ourselves first.
I still have quite a bit of a guilty feeling stealing my focus away from my wife who sometimes not so quietly waits for me to drop the world and lay still to relax and watch TV with her.
Time gives, and time steals.
World up,
Enzo
I was wondering what I might tell you this week, what was on my mind and then I went to type and it all went blank.
My fingers start moving and white letters start subtracting away from this void that was this computer screen, and it re-teaches me that even if I’m not sure where I’m going, what I’m doing or what I want to say, just starting breeds accomplishment.
The screen was blank only a moment ago, and with time now the letters are beginning to spell progress.
There is so much to say, but how do I say it and where do I begin? What have I been up to in the last few months on up to this very week?
Rest? No, not really.
It’s a blur on the inside, and the only thing I’m sure of is that I will keep trying.
I guess that’s the key, isn’t it?
"Trying"
My wife is wondering what I’m doing now, that seems to be more important than laying down to watch TV with her.
I have so much to do ...like everyone else.
My situation is not so different. We all feel like we’re overloaded sometimes. Life is the spider web we always seem to find ourselves tangled in. I am not independently wealthy so I need to keep working my day job. I am only an apprentice so I need to keep studying until my architecture exams have all been passed.
It is a bit of a guilty feeling, stealing my focus from concentrating on one thing at a time but I have never really done one thing at a time.
All through out life it has always been multitasking for me. It makes me slower...yes I know, but in the end I believe I have learned so much more through the experiences of running myself ragged, as I have become more rounded. Time is part of the journey. Until then I will remain an apprentice and keep inching ahead.
On my back there is a tattoo which is written in Latin. Part of it says "TU ES ULTIMUS FINIS" which translates loosely to "You are your own ultimate challenge". This can also be taken to mean that "the race is always with yourself". In my race if slow and steady is what works best for me, then that’s the speed I need to keep in order to succeed.
What else have I been up to? Hummm let me see.
One of my relatives has worked hard all through life and has helped me at points through mine, so I have been drawing plans for his vacation home on Grand Cayman. It’s beautiful. When I tell you it’s a castle...I’m not lying. It really is. There is currently one castle-like home on the island, and his goal is to build one which is even more romantic and still have the aire of a stone fort from the old days.
I have also been drawing plans for my brothers home addition. He and his wife are expecting a baby any day now and the should really have a little more room for the family to grow. I’m sure when the plans are approved my family (all my uncles and some of my cousins) will be there on occasion to drive nails into the backdrop of the stage being set on a new life for a little someone we haven’t even met yet.
I am a firm believer that you can give to friends and family but you should try never to take, so when ever possible family works for family - for free. They can always use a hand with things and I believe it should always be made unconditionally available to them. Doing this does of course move my life ahead at a somewhat "slower pace" then it could go if I would abandon everything which is extracurricular in life to focus on my own family. Even though this would absolutely simply family life in my own home...it will never happen. Doing so means leaving these people to fend for themselves at the hands of a stranger when by a little effort of my own their goals can be reached and then enjoyed.
Let me see, there must be something else which has been keeping me so busy lately.
Ah....
I’ve also been researching an idea for a business of my own. Strangely enough it’s not architecture. Even more strange is that the architecture I may seem to abandon after pursuing it through the last 23 years - will still be there for me in this business. Maybe I’ll burn the bridges behind me and force myself to move ahead with it sooner than I think. I love the idea and I work a little more at it every night, dividing the time between studying, & drawing. Someday soon it will happen.
I’ll make it happen.
But, it is a bit of a guilty feeling stealing my focus away from a commitment to do my part in helping to conquer Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s disease.
I’m sure I’ve said it a hundred times before, but I really wish there was someone to give me advice when it comes to what needs to be done next with our charity efforts. This is not such a simple world to maneuver through even when your goal is simply to raise awareness and funds to help conquer Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
It started out as one climbing expedition to "The Wettest Place on Earth". It was a mountain called Wai’ale’ale, and it had not been reached on foot for more than 28 to 30 years. That wasn’t a big goal was it? In the midst of all the emotion I was feeling there in the jungle, I thought, "Damn, this hurts! But you know what? I think I can do this again, and again until a cure is found". My friend Ken and I fell short of reaching the summit, but in this failure was born the idea for the 10 Mountains - 10 Years (a quest for the cure) project. As a bonus we did play a roll in helping two other climbers to reach the summit only one day later, but that’s a story for another time.
Even though I decided to link 10 years worth of charity climbing expeditions together in this newer bigger project I still thought it would be simple. Climb mountains & Conquer these diseases.
What a surprise I had.
It was like discovering all the intricacies I already knew went into designing the dream house and country estate for someone wealthy enough to want a simple life away from the city. The interesting thing is that the simple life takes a lot of thought, planning and work ahead of time. It’s not simple for everyone involved in making it seem that way.
My simple expeditions have become lesson upon lesson, laced with trial and error, tough luck, and stubborn determination.
Organizing an expedition, meant learning everything possible about your mountain, your gear, your route, the logistics, etc. It meant collecting a team and having patience enough to sift through all the people who say they want to climb with you, then back out at the last minute. It’s funny because at times I might have 2 dozen people who all want to be a part of the action for the charity on the mountain. They come across as so hard core serious about doing it, then one after the next they fall off the bandwagon for a thousand different reasons and excuses. Some just don’t even bother to tell me they are no longer following through on their promise to be a part of the team’s effort. I used to get mad it the lack of commitment, following the heavy "I am so serious for this" facade. Now I have learned that people just break sometimes, and they can’t be faulted for it.
Lucky for me, I have collected some good team mates who have come out time and time again and have also helped to coordinate some of the logistics.
But, climbing is not the beginning and end of it all.
It seems everyday I need to learn a little more about how to simply raise awareness, which as it turns out isn’t simple.
There is marketing,
there is writing,
there is research,
there is staying current on your subject (Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s),
there is public speaking,
there is mailing,
there is Emailing,
there is creating graphics which will inspire people,
there is real politics, there is association politics, there is team politics,
there is learning to recognize when someone has that little extra spark which has the potential to really burn brightly with a little encouragement and cultivation,
there is learning how to deal with the new and varied personalities involved in helping my cause, there is learning how to create and keep relationships,
there is this, there is that, there is the other thing.
Then there is evolution.
By this I mean that at the urging of my team mates we have now branched out to doing more than just climbing expeditions to raise awareness and funds for research. We have spent months sorting through, then developing ideas for social events where anyone interested in the cause could join us in a great old time while raising fund for the Alzheimer’s Association and the Michael J. Fox Foundation (for Parkinson’s Research).
I never imagined 4 years ago that my team would do anything more than climb, but apparently we’re only just scratching the surface of what can be done to raise awareness in public and the funds needed for research. Every day it seems we write our own "How To" guide book on interesting ways to support the cause.
It’s all so exciting, sometimes scary, and always a little confusing, but we’re finding our way.
I always think to myself, this is no place for someone who grew up as a shy kid; who would rather hide behind his parents legs than say hi to the person he was being introduced to when he was young.
But here I am anyway.
If these diseases are to be conquered we’re all going to have to come out of our shells and push harder against our own shy, docile or introverted manner in order to succeed. Before we can go on to conquer anything in this world, we must learn to conquer ourselves first.
I still have quite a bit of a guilty feeling stealing my focus away from my wife who sometimes not so quietly waits for me to drop the world and lay still to relax and watch TV with her.
Time gives, and time steals.
World up,
Enzo
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Matt
Well guys, this is Matt. It took me awhile to post anything because honestly, I hate writing. But I finally sucked it up and decided to post something.
Recently I’ve had a real life change. Nothing is like it used to be. But it’s for the best. Part of this change is because of my faith. Part of this is because of events that have happened to me during the past few years. And another part of this is because of Enzo.
Enzo showed me that there is a fight out there. A fight bigger than any one of us. I met E on myspace a few years ago. See I believe that everything happens for a reason. Just the fact that we met on myspace of all places strengthens that belief. Why did he add me? Why did I add him? I usually delete anyone who isn’t a friend of mine in real life. I could have simply hit “DENY” and my life would be completely different from what it is now. It’s a trip just thinking’ about it.
I soon started talking to E and learning more about Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. My God, I had no idea that these diseases affected so many millions. Then I realized that I could do something with my life that truly meant something. I mean, I won’t lie to ya, I’m lazy. I’m really lazy. But to be apart of this is an honor. To be on a team with such inspiring people willing to fight so hard. I tell you this right now; there is nothing “regular” about these people. This team, “The Regulars” is what separates everyday people from great people. Peter Parker is a “regular” guy in the day, but once trouble strikes he puts on his mask and becomes Spider-Man, a hero. That’s the kind of people this team is made of. People willing to sacrifice for others. I see people like Enzo who has put this whole quest together while taking care of family, building a house, and going to school. Then there’s Eileen. She takes care of three boys! I barely finished my teenage life so I know how much trouble us guys can be. Props to ya Eileen. These "regular" people inspire me so much.
Thankfully I do not have any family or friends who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. But I hope that by my being on the team people can see that you don’t have to be directly affected to stand up and make a difference. E once said that our children should never have to grow up knowing the words “Alzheimer’s” or “Parkinson’s”. This is my goal. This is our goal. If you’re reading this then I hope it’s you’re goal as well.
-Matt
Knee-knack!
So, i'm currently in Puerto Natales after 4 days hiking in Torres del Paine, I had a great time. The views and the vistas amazing, the weather very very changable, one moment the sun is shining, the next moment the rain is falling. I experienced some of the strongest winds I ever have, at one point we were sitting by the lake and we got soaked from a gush we saw coming in, another we were hiking obove a cliff and had to sit down to stop us getting blow right off. I suppose its normal given the location, close to the Pacific and not that far from the Atlantic and Antarctica! Its pretty hard to know what to wear, but you get used to being too hot one moment and too cold the next. Some of the camp-grounds are amazing, you literally wake up with the Torres just in front of you.
We saw some very cool stuff; a glacier the size of Litchenstien (according to a guy from there travelling with me that day), mini twisters on the lake itself (honestly), free-roaming horses, and of course the torres, three massive granite summits that can be climbed in 12 hours, and then can be descended in 12 hours. I hiked with some very nice people from all nations, Argentines, Russians, English, Americans, Australians. For me the biggest problem, is the number of tourists, and the prices, but then this is the price you pay for such views, I hope to head off to a location a little less touristy soon.
Si, i´ve seen what is going to be the biggest problem in travelling for 6 months before Mount Hood in July - keeping injury free. Already my knee is a little painful, I guess i´ll just have to make sure i´m careful, and don´t push myself too hard. One of my goals with this trip is to arrive in tip-top condition so that I can help the team push for the summit and do my bit in our battle against Parkinsons and Alzheimers!
Anyway, will blog again soon,
Brett
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