The land of ostie de tabarnak de calisse

I finally got my act together to book the free Canada trip that I won from the New Yorker caption contest last August. And because people inevitably ask, here is a truncated version of the cartoon. This part that is cut off from the bottom is the name of the ship at Niagara Falls: "Maid of the Mist."

[THE CARTOON DOES NOT EXIST IN ANY WORLD I KNOW OF NOW.]

My winning caption was: "No, Jimmy, we will not be referring to Dad as Mistman."

Please don't ask me to explain why that's funny because I'm just going to mumble something about: 1) New Yorker humor generating a wry smile at best and 2) how apparently the editors saw something funny that I don't even get. Let's just talk about how each of those eleven words is worth $454. Eyes on the effin' prize!

So I'm taking Chris and Erik along, and the three of us are going to jet off to Toronto for five days over July 4th weekend. Yes, we're very patriotic like that, so just be glad we didn't choose to go earlier for Canada Day on the 1st of July. We'll ride the Maid of the Mist, traipse around Toronto proper, hitch a train to Montreal to see the sights, and then finish off with two days in Quebec. Trains, planes, and possibly automobiles are all involves. We're also going to be staying in a haunted castle. Hello, Château Laurier, hello.

And the title of this post is a reference to the amusing profanity of Quebec French that uses Catholicism for some of the big guns in its literary arsenal. I like that the Québécois can adequately translate "a fuckload of food" as "la bouffe en tabarnac."

I notched my first 5.11b ('Dacks!) last week, and I'm definitely feeling how the months of pure bouldering have improved my toproping. Solid climbing day today too! I flashed two 5.11a routes, the first one being super stemmy, which is right up my alley. My big concern is keeping my right shoulder healthy, so there are definitely times when I could just lean back and go for a lunge, but it ain't worth months of wishing I were clambering and starting from scratch. I'm signed up for two more outdoor trips: Goat Rock on the beach in Sonoma Coast State Park and Cosumnes River Gorge.

I have no idea why the Irish vampire chimpanzee didn't attack sooner.

 I can confirm that trivia night at Rogue Ales Public House has been the best one I've been to in San Frnacisco (so far). Organized, audible, and the rounds were entertaining. Who knew there was a prolific bluegrass band devoted to doing covers of...everything? Add in the excellent Rogue beer selection, and yeah, get me another pint of  Hazelnut Brown.

Such a relaxing Saturday bouldering with random bros at Great Western Power Company. I don't think I've had so many congratulatory fist bumps in my life. GWPC is definitely like the 24 Hour gym by Montgomery. Tiny but often empty, and it has a cozy feel. Definitely one of my favorite Touchstone gyms and I haven't even found anyone to toprope with there yet!

Kelis will never get to play any other songs.

Trueburger'd afterwards with Talia/Jason before headed off to talk to Berkeley undergrads. My first career panel, and it's so weird to talk about your life so far as some planned route, when really I had very little idea what I was doing while I was doing it. It was good to be asked to do some navel gazing, and I stand by the fact that it really was all about the people. Connections got me jobs and friends kept me happy, inspired, and motivated. I like that I've stumbled into two fascinating jobs since law school, and I really can't wait to see what's next. Meeting tons of people who do international work keeps opening my eyes to what's out there, and I don't think I'll stop osmotically learning in the near future.

Wrapped up the Saturday night with Samovar times and some Turkish oil wrestling at Hi Tops. Kisbets are for putting your arm through! There really need to be more venues to hang out at that don't involve drinking.

Sunday was yoga times, and then crisping at Dolores Park with amigos. And finally sampled Truffle Man's wares. Rum and dark chocolate: yes.