The cover. Soft, supple, brown Italian leather. The closure system. A strip of the same Italian leather that secures the flap over the top of the cover, wraps around the journal twice, and tucks in underneath itself in the back. The paper. Two hundred eighty-eight pages of unlined white paper on which to record my climbing thoughts, adventures, revelations, strategies, beta, and experiences with fountain pen, pen & ink, pencil, pastel, conté crayon…any medium that fits the task. I want this climbing log to be a most special volume that can be looked back upon and bring back to life the very thing it conveys in the context of its workings for anyone who thumbs through it, especially me. I want it to capture and inspire, to draw in and cause one to breathe fresh air and feel the nature of climbing – a call to action and adventure and skill and determination, a call to pure joy and the expression of the human spirit. My goals and dreams will go into this log, as well as my achievements, progress, projects, ascents, and failures. A part of my soul – the part of me that is ever-so-alive – will go into this climbing log and others will feel it when they pick up this most unique of memoirs, a series of which will exist throughout my lifetime. This is only the beginning. Only the beginning…
Content Rating PG, for the most part
I try to keep the content of my posts in the PG range (meaning that maybe your 13-year-old should not read it... Just kidding!) - you know, something I could get away with tastefully in the town square without getting lynched, tarred-and-feathered, or hung (and something my mother would NOT wash my mouth out with soap for). As far as what age you have to be to understand some of the subtleties of my humor in writing and/or speaking, well... That may vary. A lot.