Happy Mother's Day

Wait. Isn't Mother's Day in May? I believe, in fact, that this year it was the 10th. Ironically, I was in The Red then, too. But today happens to be Mama Sus' BDay, and given that she's been one of the most loyal, supportive readers of Abaluba, I believe she deserves special acknowledgment. Plus, she's my mom, for goodness sake. As many of you out there can attest, she's basically THE reigning badass mother, fully capable of thoughtfulness-sans-mawkishness. I've never met a more conscious, caring person. Thanks, and I love you, Ma. Left to my own devices and without your guidance, patience, and influence, I'd probably end up like one of these meth-heads living in rural Kentucky.

I was bummed, for sure, that I couldn't be there to celebrate when she and my sisters went out to dinner on Friday night. I did my best by having flowers delivered to the restaurant, but otherwise failed on the gift responsibility. I'll have to come through with my own party as soon as I see the Matriarch again.

While we're on the subject of gifts, new music is one of the very best things I can think to give anyone with similar tastes. I'm assuming, of course, that many of you Voyeurs have similar taste. If I'm correct, you're in for a serious treat. This trip has certainly been centered around climbing, but there's been plenty of down time to sit with friends and exchange tunes. (And, of course, to watch Mad Men and grow a fierce conquistador).

Dan, my good buddy who arrives on Wednesday, made sure I left CO with a large portion of his library. As I've plowed through the thousands of songs he passed along, I've been blown away. Our exchange started poorly when we connected our computers and his Mac immediately made a weird noise, short circuited, and then refused to boot up. Fortunately for me, he had an external hard drive already loaded with all of his music. Fortunately for him, Apple replaced his machine. Win-win. If I had to narrow it down to my favorite two new bands that he turned me onto, I'd have to say Ratatat and French Dub Connection.

Making her first appearance on Abaluba, allow me to introduce Kathy Wise. This sweetheart climbing minx also gave me some great music for my road trip and ipod listening pleasure. For the last couple of days, I've only been listening to a mix CD she made me, and to songs by a bad called The Antlers. These guys were one of her absolute best suggestions. Holy Christ.

Kettering is one beautiful, haunting song that I've been playing largely on repeat, and another one of The Antlers' greats is a song called Two. This song is not only a little more upbeat, but also really attention grabbing. I love the video, as well. While I was checking it out for about the 15th time yesterday, I noticed that it was directed by a guy named Albert Thrower. Oddly, I happen to know a guy named Al Thrower, and when I went on Facebook to sleuth things for a bit, I found someone by the name. Facebook allows you to send messages to pretty much anyone, and I asked him if he was either a friend of Will Swayne (and subsequently the guy I know), or if not, was he the Albert Thrower who directed this fantastic music video. I wager $100 that I never hear back from him, but if I do, that it's in the form of a restraining order.

The musical copy write infringement wasn't limited to people in my home state. Mikey P, the master of Johnny Utah and rock climbs requiring 4 wheel drive, also happens to have an all-star command of iTunes. On a rest day recently, he and I managed a similar music swap, though without the computer fatalities. I came away with some absolutely clutch bands. From the number of views that this youtube video has received, I imagine everyone has already heard of Boards of Canada. I hadn't, but thankfully Mike hooked me up with four of their cd's. Additionally, he turned me onto a band called The Dodos. More incredible stuff.

A lot of Mike's music overlaps with suggestions that Nuno has given me. It seems like I'll always get a great song suggestion here or there from Nuno, but we haven't been hanging out in the same place about a year. He and I haven't managed to get our felonious libraries synchronized. That may change, however.

Nuno just got accepted into Teach For America, and this should give him a lifeline out of DC. His first choice of venues was the San Fran area, and he'll be somewhere in the vicinity. Given that he's one of my best buddies and he'll already be there, I've got extra motivation to get accepted into Berkeley's grad program. The Energy and Resources Group application deadline is December 3, and it looks like I'll have no problem getting my essays finished before then. He and I could be back to our old mischief, initiated in Boulder when he was a grad student and I was a lowly undergrad.

I imagine the program, centered on sustainable energy and resource conservation, to be the most interesting thing I could possibly study. I'm not sure I really want to leave Boulder, but I think having this particular option, one that will allow me to open a lot of doors, is a great idea.

Getting in is no guarantee. Berkeley prides themselves on being remarkably exclusive. The recommendation forms asks, assuming a teacher/student relationship, whether the prospective California Bear was the "best student of: the semester, the year, the decade, the history of the institution". Well, all right, then. What if I'm the best student named Patrick Pharo, a funny climber who generally wishes well to his friends and family? Where's that box to check? I'm the best one of those in the history of modern fuckin' man.

Speaking of rock climbing, let's not forget I'm on a climbing trip, here. And with climbing trips come climbs. I'm struck by one in particular: Table of Colors. It was the first 13 to go up in The Red, and this stunning line ascends a painted, sculpted wall at an area called Left Flank. Sending this route is my primary goal for the remainder of the trip. I'm going to get someone to hang from the chains of Mercy, The Huff, the next climb over, and take pictures. Mercy happens to be the best 12b in the country, and I was lucky enough to do it a few days ago. Aside from climbing at Left Flank, I'm going to cruise around and explore some more areas with the next batch of people who arrive in the coming days.

My immediate plans include a climbing day tomorrow, and then I'm going to give myself a quick break on Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather for these two days looks a little dodgy, and I'm going back to Louisville to finalize Cal essays, and bill some hours. The rest should do me good, and hopefully I'll be fresh for a Table ascent quickly thereafter.

I'll try to get a good post up from Louisville. Have a great weekend. Stay warm, CO.