In the Forge of Words

I fight bears for a living. Proper semi-colon usage is a must.

[mrwordsmith-blog]

She & Jim - Two world travelers climbing, hiking, running, swimming, and exploring their way through life

Sheila Murray & James Simone's blog

It’s all happening.

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Realizing that I should really drop the Amazon link for “A Good Thing Never Stops” here! 

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Yesterday, I published my first novel - the culmination of seven years' worth of writing! If you like fiction and have enjoyed the sci-fi / fantasy genre, I would be humbled by your consideration in giving my book, A Good Thing Never Stops, a read. A huge shout out to the ever-talented @jcarando for designing the beautiful front cover! Click the link for purchasing details (link also available in my bio): http://bit.ly/agoodthingneverstops

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Well, it wasn't always fast, easy, or fun. What it was: a rollicking adventure that left me ebullient. I figure we only get to see one side of the moon; why limit ourselves? So psyched to have completed my first century ride. (at Motherlode)

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Strava screenshot from @steinforrest 's phone after our epic morning ride yesterday. We were definitely in no big hurry, but what a great way to start the day!

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"But high she shoots through air and light, Above all low delay, Where nothing earthly bounds her flight, Nor shadow dims her way." - Thomas Moore

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Yeah, I mean this is nice, but it's no Comm Ave (at Fluhalp Hut)

[emergeabutterfly]

There are no tricks. Run because you have to. Run because you love it. Run because you want to be fast. Run because you want to be skinny. Run to find some quiet time. Run to sweat. Run to eat. Run to hear your heart pound in your ears. Run because you’re a runner. Run because you gotta keep the streak. Run because you don’t know why the hell you’re running. Run because you fought with your partner. Run because your job is cruddy. Run because you got no money. Run for the sunrise. Run for a race. Run because it’s impossible. Run because it’s easy. Run instead of doing laundry. Run instead of watching TV. Run because no one else understands. Run because the cool kids are doing it. Run because you’re tired of talking. Run for numbers. Run for feel. Run to prove something. Run because it freaking hurts. Or don’t run. If you got something better to do.

Jeff Edmonds (via emergeabutterfly)

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Matt gets deliberate at the buttermilks #latergram

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some people get caught up in the number chasing, you know?  we so often lose sight of the things that really matter when we're in that mentality. to climb is a priviledge - to have found climbing is a privilege.  for me, the feeling of climbing something for the first time - not just bolt to bolt; or piece to piece; not just move to move - but climbing it from the ground up in one go... that feeling will never get old. it reminds me of sunsets, and the soft light leading up to them.

(photo: top of clippity doo dah, rumney. matt richter)

[mrwordsmith-blog]

I’ve been in the habit of making things for public consumption so long now that a lot of the mystery that is bound up in Creative Endeavor evaporates. Patrick Rothfuss had me on as a “beta tester” for Wise Man’s Fear, which I was more than happy to do: I wrote NO in thick black sharpie over entire pages, and I think I even shook my fist at one point at an impotent God. I don’t know how the book turned out because I never read the “real” version, but this very act horrified Gabriel. He thinks of books as being Absolute Things, like Sandwiches, as opposed to something that vibrates or shifts in any particular. I didn’t find it particularly weird, but you come into this stuff with a lot of your own shit. Perspective is, to him, more or less inviolate. That’s something I get.

- @TychoBrahe

I love Tycho's position on editing.  Words are his thing, and he wields considerable power both on them and how other people use them.

[young-adventurer-blog]

Can all outdoorsy type blogs repost this so I know who to follow!

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Yes.

[rockywoodling-deactivated201306]

Me on High Exposure

The Gunks NY, August 2010

photo by Seth Derr

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The aforementioned pants splitter. NSFW?

[mattrichter-blog]

Some things are universal.

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meet trixie

It's the third day of war and already I must admit a grudging respect for the enemy - for it hath singlehandedly (pawedly?) administered a great many defeats unto me.  First came the storming of my villa - before sun's light had even cast a glow upon the world - and lo! in that moment I beheld several portents that filled me with dread.

Was it that my mousy foe, it of the diabolic disposition and intellect that I had formerly reserved only for collective intellects (re: corporations, thinktanks, etc, etc..), was not content to simply make me aware of its presence in my room - allowing itself to be captured before darting nearly quite literally out of these hands - and in doing so, displayed a pride that reminds me of Man?

Could it have been the taunting on Day 2?  For upon breaking my fast, I found my companion's eye both constant and critical - it wanted to observe me having my oatmeal.  That's fine.  It doesn't behoove a gentleman to go about chasing a legged bottle-rocket, anyway.  It didn't bother me - oh no! Starved of company as I am in this seasonal intercession period, its company would have nearly been comforting.  The fear of its gnawing on my valuables....ate...away at my heart, though.  As it sat there, sarcastically observing me taking my meal, I resolved to kill it through a game of wits.

Turns out that's easier said than done.  I imagine I could have much more easily murdered my dog (perish the thought! ...and all the puns) - but regardless of my intent, little amount of malice and practiced lore has come in handy.  It seems that either my subconscious like for the little thing has interfered with my desire to truly see it die at my hands (or because of my hands), or my pace is actually being set by a taskmaster so devious that no deficiency of size will permit it the lack of a good meal of peanut butter (let the record state at this point that the mouse has no apparent interest in apple chutney; though perhaps its nose is better than mine in sniffing out the expiration of items left in our fridge by roommates).  Neither the "ramp leading up to the bucket filled with watery doom" nor the "toilet paper roll with treats on the end that tips into your watery doom, damn you" method has yielded much results, though the rim of the bucket filled with aquatic malice has in fact been cleaned much more thoroughly than I might have managed by myself; as of several minutes ago the same can be said for the edge of the toilet paper roll.

I consider the ante upped.  Last resort (offensive to both my character and want of wit to win) are the sticky traps, but for now the game goes on with gravity as my weapon of choice.  Stay tuned.

[mrwordsmith-blog]

(return of the) prodigal son

Just as I have found myself in this house, so too do I find myself on this tumblr. What I thought I would do with this and what I haven't done aren't that similar; the only thing I can think to say is that if intentions were responsible for governance the world might be a better place and I would be a full fledged novelist by now. I still have some hope for at least one of these things.