throw another bear in the canoe - it's a good thing you don't know what i'm like because you probably wouldn't think much of me

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it's a good thing you don't know what i'm like because you probably wouldn't think much of me

Jan. 17th, 2009 at 8:55 PM

We trekked up to the Albany Indoor Rockgym today to try it out and introduce a friend of Alisa's to the rockclimbing thing. It was fun: we wound up hanging out at the gym for about three hours and did a lot of climbing. Unfortunately, the gym itself was something of a disappointment: it's just a grigri and carabiner clip operation, and I'm spoiled by gyms which allow climbers to use real belay rigs. Also, none of the routes were rated, and they were badly enough designed and marked that it was pretty much impossible to tell what was supposed to be a route and what wasn't.

The actual structure of the gym was cool: lots of bays and corners and chimneys and cracks and so on, good stuff to play with, and I did get to play with a lot of it. It felt like pretty good exercise, at least, even if I did wish they had some rated routes to try my luck on.

I climbed six ~~routes~~ walls, tried a couple of others, and did some traversing. Good times, good times.

In news of fail, here's a good example of how to make sure you never work in this town again.

Poppy Z. Brite explains just what's going on over there, so I don't have to.

Dear aspiring writers: don't do that.

(I hope

mroctober doesn't mind my linking this, but really, in what universe does anybody treat another human being the way twitboy there is treating him? It's pathetic and sad.)

Mood: grateful
Music:The Pretenders - Room Full Of Mirrors (2007 Remastered LP Version)

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Comments

( 34 comments — Leave a comment )

dichroic wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:03 am (UTC)

Dear aspiring human beings: don't do that.

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matociquala wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:04 am (UTC)

We're not people. We're actors.

I figured human beings, even aspiring ones, would know better.

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dichroic wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:09 am (UTC)

I tend to figure that too, until someone like this guy demonstrates otherwise.

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mac_stone wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:07 am (UTC)

Lord. I have exactly three names on my "never, ever buy a story, or even answer emails from" list.

His will make four.

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sienamystic wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:15 am (UTC)

Holy McGee. I'm truly boggled.

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cypherindigo wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:18 am (UTC)

I am beyond words... What a hemorrhoid (Assholes have a purpose).

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gwynnega wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:21 am (UTC)

Wow. I...just WOW. What a creep.

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michaeldthomas wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:22 am (UTC)

Wow. That is f%#ed up.

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paigemom wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:40 am (UTC)

You'd think an aspiring writer would have a basic clue about how small the publishing universe is, and behave accordingly.

Apparently not.

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pickledherring wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 02:53 am (UTC)

That kind of thing really busts my buttons. I wish it hadn't happened.

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mroctober wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:02 am (UTC)

Oh, I had hoped all that past foolishness of mine was forgiven. I'd like to move forward in '09 with clean slates for all (except those advocating ill will to my cat). So, let me say, I owe you a drink of nice whiskey.

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matociquala wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:11 am (UTC)

Of course it's forgiven, sir. I just didn't want to presume.

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mroctober wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:17 am (UTC)

Please presume to know far more about whiskey, so at the next convention I demand you ed-oo-ma-kate me. First glass my treat.

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matociquala wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:26 am (UTC)

It's a deal.

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commodorified wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 04:40 am (UTC)

Sir, I do not know you, but may I mention that your conduct in this affair has at all times been such as to give me the greatest regard for you?

And if I ever run into you, how do you feel about port? I can't pick whiskies worth a damn.

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mroctober wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 04:43 am (UTC)

I am flattered. I try and learn from past mistakes.

As for port, well, my knowledge of alcoholic beverages is limited to vodkas, but I am more than happy to make a quick study in port.

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commodorified wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 04:44 am (UTC)

I shall cause a nice twenty year old to be brought to us.

Possibly *by* a nice twenty year old :-)

Are you by any chance going to be at Worldcon?

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mroctober wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 04:46 am (UTC)

Gah, I don't know which would make my cheeks be flushed more. The drink or the libation bearer.

Con attendance is always up-in-the-air based on finances.

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ken_schneyer wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:09 am (UTC)

Good lord. I think we can, um, expand the advice beyond "aspiring writers," and suggest that wannabe humans shouldn't behave that way either.

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ken_schneyer wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:11 am (UTC)

Aw, geez,

dichroic already said that! Always the bridesmaid...

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dichroic wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:12 am (UTC)

Yeah. Not just for professional reasons.

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chaosblue wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:37 am (UTC)

Wow. I wish I could believe you just made that up, because it burns to know that I'm sharing this planet with someone like that.

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pixel39 wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:46 am (UTC)

Seconded.

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flingslass wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 03:46 am (UTC)

Total madness if you ask me.

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gategrrl wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 04:29 am (UTC)

That is just...wow. Upsetting to anyone who holds an opinion about stories and writing and other human beings being essentially good. And all that. Thanks for the linkage.

I hope Mr Cole or whatever his name is gets some help. Sheesh.

Edited at 2009-01-18 04:29 am (UTC)

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cjtremlett wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 04:44 am (UTC)

That is seriously creepy. It's so much easier to dismiss trolls when they have terrible spelling and grammar. That this cretin writes in coherent sentences makes him all the more disturbing.

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rhfay wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 05:12 am (UTC)

Too many miserable trolls, not enough decent human beings. That seems to be a recurring problem on the net. It both saddens and angers me.

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edschweppe wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 05:30 am (UTC)

, but really, in what universe does anybody treat another human being the way twitboy there is treating him?

Unfortunately, the answer is "this universe." Here There Be Adzeholes.

On the other hand, there is some minimal upside to dumbfuckery like that. Whenever I really feel bad about myself, I can read about that sort of unadulterated nitwitishness and realize "Hey, I may be (fill in the blank) but at least I'm not so bad as to do that!"

(By the way, LiveJournal's spellchecker suggests "twat" as a possible correction of "twitboy." I find that remarkably amusing, considering that all this started over a review of a piece of gay male fiction.)

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matociquala wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 12:50 pm (UTC)

Maybe that's a British "twat"?

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calanthe_b wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 05:46 am (UTC)

Good grief. Some people are just--well-- ~gives up, points at icon~

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emrecom wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 07:28 am (UTC)

I saw Poppy's post and was all Oh fuck! worried about Berman who's a sweet, promising writer I was emailing a while ago about an interview that didn't happen because of word cut but anyway...Fuck. What a creep. Police is the route.

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coffeeem wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 11:31 pm (UTC)

But about the rest of the post...

I think there's a place in the world for a high-tech climbing gym with walls that allow you to request a route. Press the button for a 5.7, and the appropriate holds light up. Ask for a 5.9, and lo, different holds. You could program sections of wall, with selector buttons for each section. So no matter where in the gym you were, if you wanted a particular rating, you'd have it.

It sounds as if that gym had lots of promising walls for that sort of thing.

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matociquala wrote:

Jan. 18th, 2009 11:48 pm (UTC)

Yes!

There are gyms that have add-a-route. Use the red holds for 5.10, red and yellow for 5.7, etc. However, since one of the things that makes a route harder is the sketchiness and technical difficulty of the holds, not just the moves....

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jennythe_reader wrote:

Jan. 19th, 2009 12:53 am (UTC)

Small world! My husband used to go climbing at that gym pretty regularly.

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( 34 comments — Leave a comment )