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fluffy

Trad climber
Colorado
Sep 27, 2013 - 03:32pm PT
you know her last name? previous addresses? how hard can it be?

not trying to be a dick but have you tried using google?

NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Sep 27, 2013 - 04:18pm PT
I really enjoyed reading this.

This sounds like the first chapter of a new book, Finding Florence. Maybe you'll find Florence, maybe not. Meanwhile, you can publish your work and find some cash?
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
Sep 27, 2013 - 04:52pm PT
Hope you find flo,
Glad you have straitened out,
You have great talent and skill as an artist !!!
Best of luck!!!!
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Sep 27, 2013 - 08:44pm PT
I have long taken comfort in this expression:
"Success is not measured by heights attained, but by obstacles overcome."

I have no idea where Fist started, what stuff he was dealing with that made him the way he was, but I like the simple honesty and directness with which he now expresses himself. I don't have to like everything he shares for me to respect his exceptional courage for sharing it and the skill with which he does it.

If I had a 16 yr old daughter who was with a 27 year old, I'd be focusing more on how to get through to my 16 year old and figure out what's going on there, rather than trying to chase down the tool my daughter was using to act out.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
Sep 27, 2013 - 09:09pm PT
Really nice writing.
mt10901. = troll fo shizzle
Russ Walling

Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
Sep 27, 2013 - 09:12pm PT

the law is the law
&
when did child rape become cool?

In Alaska you could be score heavy.... along with about half the other states that run an age 16 consent program... Hey wait... aren't you an Alaska guy? Maybe take a shower, splash the Old Spice and try your luck big fellah! Oh, and don't forget to shave your back. The kids hate that.
Russ Walling

Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
Sep 27, 2013 - 10:39pm PT
law in alaska is not 16....
Russ are you an authority figure?

ummm... yeah, it is 16 "unless" you are an authority figure, but you knew that.

How about trolling a bit less and pulling your head out a bit more, m-kay? Have a nice nite.
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Sep 27, 2013 - 10:45pm PT
Ha ha ha!


Yeah what Nut said, I'd but it. I'd read it!
Charlie D.

Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
Sep 28, 2013 - 02:24pm PT
Bold honesty and well written, thanks I enjoyed reading it. Perhaps Fist, just perhaps you've already found her....

She would never say where she came from
Yesterday don't matter if it's gone
While the sun is bright or in the darkest night
Nobody knows, she goes and goes

Goodbye, ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

Don't question why she needs to be so free
She'll tell you it's the only way to be
She just can't be chained
To a life where nothing's gained
And nothing's lost at such a cost

Goodbye, ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

There's no time to lose, I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time, lose your dreams
And you will lose your mind, ain't life unkind?

Goodbye, ruby Tuesday
Goodbye, ruby Tuesday
Still I'm gonna miss you

Goodbye, ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm going to miss you, miss you
dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Sep 28, 2013 - 03:20pm PT
Great stuff Greg, keep it up and good luck.
Heyzeus

climber
Hollywood,Ca
Sep 28, 2013 - 03:44pm PT
Do you know if she rode a motorcycle in the early nineties?

I remember a Florence who showed up in Hidden Valley CG (around maybe 1990?), was a non-climber, beautiful, started hanging out, never left, became a climber. Maybe ran a subbie or two before hooking up with someone steady and a real good climber. They were together for years. (I think I remember who but don't want to say here). I forget the job she had in LA, that she abandoned to live the life. Could be a different girl. But in my memory, was as you describe in the story.

Great story BTW.
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
Sep 28, 2013 - 04:58pm PT
Greg... Isn't life really weird how it all goes down?

I hope you find Florence, she gave you a great gift.

Hope to see you again someday.

Swap stories, lies and maybe do some climbing.

Till then, all the best to you.





Klimmer

Mountain climber
Sep 28, 2013 - 08:21pm PT
Fist,


Great writing. Like so many, once I started I couldn't stop.


You could edit the image properly and only show her face, and perhaps people would know her or maybe have seen her. Or maybe paint a portrait of her? Hope you find her at least just to meet-up and talk again.
Gunkie

Trad climber
East Coast US
Sep 28, 2013 - 10:13pm PT
And I was expecting more of a "lost a #3 cam on Moby Dick Center" kind of story.
The Fist

Trad climber
reno,nv
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 29, 2013 - 10:24am PT
There's always the one kid who has a booger eternally hanging out of a nostril. It appears and disappears with his breathing, and his name is usually Nicholas.

Blahblahblah-- Every fun fact and detail is true to the best of my recollection. I don't need to embellish, tweak, distort, warp, eliminate or fabricate, because I'm not trying to impress anyone with what I write. Hmmm... I think I'll change her age to a diaper-wearing 14 months because all men like younger women, right? That's gonna wow 'em! Am I cool yet? If I needed to live a lie, make others believe I'm something I'm not, instead of spending my final years painting in Nevada's relative solitude I'd be hanging out at the Viper Room in L.A.

I've been asked if the stories from my life I write about are true, but I've never been accused of blurring fact from fiction. I'm curious to know what do you see as stretching credulity?

I enjoy writing because it comes easily and relieves stress. I would never call myself a 'writer.' Largo is a writer. He can spin tales tall or small, filling an evening around a campfire or a novel. He's erudite and grammatically literate. It's anomalous to posses both athletic and artistic talent, but John Long has that sh#t in spades.

I've got a whiplash life for source material, a decent vocabulary, and Spellcheck.

Painting realistically is tense, requiring a high level of motor coordination and stroke-inducing focus. Every brushstroke is hypercritical, and finishing the painting requires around 150 hours for a smallish, 18"X24" canvas.

Writing requires the ability to punch buttons while flexing the mind, or not.

Finally, on what planet was 'Drum,' now 'Bali Shag' equivalent to Burpweiser? You have got to be effing kidding me! Spaten Optimator, more like. 'Bugler' is Bud, 'Top' is Coors. Sure, Drum was the most common shag, enjoying perhaps 1% market share among lung cancer aficionados. That's great, you and your buddies all smoked it, you know quality. I never ran into your group in L.A.

If someone saw me smoking and asked to bum one I'd reply It's a rolling cigarette. If they didn't walk off in disgust I'd produce the blue pouch, only to hear 'Oh, Bugler. I smoked that when I was locked up at county.' If I handed the pouch over they'd look blankly at it, then ask for a paper. 'They're inside.' The pouch would be opened, a paper peeled off, then using their thumb and first three fingers they'd pull enough tobacco for five cigarettes, laboriously spend five minutes trying to assemble the thing, eventually producing a pregnant mutation of a cigarette barely held together. I'd give them a light causing chunks of burning tobacco to fall from it. They'd never thank me, just turn around and shamble off, usually going about a block before throwing the cigarette at the ground in disgust because it wouldn't burn right.

It was rare to run into another American climber that rolled Drum, or anything other than weed on the west coast. I guess Boulder is different. Everyone out here that smoked was strung-out on Camel non-filter. I mean everyone.

Levy-- Hell yeah, like it wasn't 1978, but last week. When I met Vaino and Toivo Kodas, after exchanging numbers and my grasp of Estonian being nil, I couldn't figure out their names and wrote down Lionel and Thaino. Turns out they lived two blocks from my grand aunt's place in Hollywood where I was.

I made the transition from trying to do a 360 en rappel, to the greater joy of struggling up climbs, recently leading the one pitch gully on the south face of Intersection rock (done as three pitches with my step-brother belaying.) Gripped out of my mind, placing Cam-a-Lots and T-Bars for pro that some smart guy at Granite Stairway Mountaineering suckered me into buying. I finally managed a free ascent. Grade IV, 5.3

Toivo came and got me. A couple hours later we're underneath Suicide's Weeping Wall. This is a lot bigger than Stoney, I thought.

He trails the rope up Serpentine's pitch 1. I follow without peeling, so of course I will lead through my partner explains festooning me with the exact number of draws needed. Before I can pee my pants I'm On belay! and learn I will ascend the pitch no problem. He was right, I think. Then he put me up on Revelations, after which he walked up Duck Soup like climbing a ladder.

I learned later I'd upset other climbers by holding on to the quickdraws when clipping them. Faux pas? Oui. Pardon the merde out of me, I'd never clipped a bolt before.

Given where they grew up it was one of the world's 7 wonders the brothers came through without Hollywood's stink rubbing off on them. Mr. and Mrs. Kodas got a late start parenting. The failed attempt to kick the Soviets out of Estonia in 1944 was precedent. Mrs. Kodas was incredibly sweet and Mr. Kodas was gruff, yet kind. He'd been wounded fighting the Soviets. A bazooka he fired suffered a barrel burst, blowing an arm off just below the shoulder. They had a beautiful garden in front of their home with trellises and flowering vines. I went by the last time I was in L.A. and the garden was gone. I'm certain Mr. and Mrs. Kodas have moved on as well.

I could never understand why Mike Waugh wasn't crowned strongest climber in SoCal. He was the only climber I ever saw fire the low traverse on the Pile-ups boulder. He owned that problem the same as Bachar owned 'Midnight Lightning.' Plus, he had that great haircut all of us shared to some extent except Mike Jaffe. I'm certain it held, or hid the key to his power. A veritable Samson.

Urmas-- You sold me the first car I ever owned outright. I can't remember the make or model, only that it was silver and I paid $60. You did warn me about the bent tie-rod.

There I was, tooling down 89 on Tahoe's west shore, my head overflowing with images of an endless supply of beautiful women, each wanting nothing more than a chance to be impregnated by yours truly in the back seat of my very own Sh*t! my reverie would be Crap! broken by the Sh*t! headlights of the car I found myself instantly Crap! hurtling toward when the Sh*t! tie-rod did its Crap! thing. You did warn me about the tie-rod, whatever that was. Seriously though, I was certain you'd given me the key to losing my virginity. If only it were that easy.

Good to hear from you Urmas, its been a year or two...

I want to offer my sincere thanks to all of you who took the time to let me know you enjoyed reading my meanderings. Really appreciated.

mt 10910-- your heartfelt approbation touched me most of all, I'm calling NAMBLA first thing tomorrow. Seriously though, your misguided indignation and proselytizing has garnished a special missive which I'm cobbling together at this very moment. I think you'll wish you'd kept your pants on.
The Fist

Trad climber
reno,nv
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 29, 2013 - 10:40am PT
HeyZeus-- That has to be her. How many girls named Florence take up climbing in SoCal? Unfortunately if I ever knew her last name I've long misplaced it upstairs. Also, the photo I buried in the desert still affixed to the bottom of the Shoe Pie. I promised her no one would see it and kept my word.
Heyzeus

climber
Hollywood,Ca
Sep 29, 2013 - 01:27pm PT
Greg, I sent you a PM, so keep an eye out for it.

I'm sure if you find her last name, you'll be able to find her, maybe on Faceplace or something. Let us know what you find, eh?
pyro

Big Wall climber
Calabasas
Sep 29, 2013 - 02:13pm PT
I could never understand why Mike Waugh wasn't crowned strongest climber in SoCal. He was the only climber I ever saw fire the low traverse on the Pile-ups boulder. He owned that problem the same as Bachar owned 'Midnight Lightning.' Plus, he had that great haircut all of us shared to some extent except Mike Jaffe. I'm certain it held, or hid the key to his power. A veritable Samson.

greg he is crowned the king! that's why he's up in toulumne..

he became strong because he watched his dad do one arm pull up's in the living room...

damn ur an author to some novel
blahblah

Gym climber
Boulder
Sep 29, 2013 - 03:18pm PT
Blahblahblah-- Every fun fact and detail is true to the best of my recollection. I don't need to embellish, tweak, distort, warp, eliminate or fabricate, because I'm not trying to impress anyone with what I write.
. . .
Finally, on what planet was 'Drum,' now 'Bali Shag' equivalent to Burpweiser? You have got to be effing kidding me! Spaten Optimator, more like. 'Bugler' is Bud, 'Top' is Coors. Sure, Drum was the most common shag, enjoying perhaps 1% market share among lung cancer aficionados. That's great, you and your buddies all smoked it, you know quality. I never ran into your group in L.A.

If someone saw me smoking and asked to bum one I'd reply It's a rolling cigarette. If they didn't walk off in disgust I'd produce the blue pouch, only to hear 'Oh, Bugler. I smoked that when I was locked up at county.' If I handed the pouch over they'd look blankly at it, then ask for a paper. 'They're inside.' The pouch would be opened, a paper peeled off, then using their thumb and first three fingers they'd pull enough tobacco for five cigarettes, laboriously spend five minutes trying to assemble the thing, eventually producing a pregnant mutation of a cigarette barely held together. I'd give them a light causing chunks of burning tobacco to fall from it. They'd never thank me, just turn around and shamble off, usually going about a block before throwing the cigarette at the ground in disgust because it wouldn't burn right.

OK, I'll chalk it up to having different experiences. In Boulder in the early 90s at least, Drum was ubiquitous among climbers and wannabees.
And it seems strange that in the era you write about, so many people would have problems rolling a tobacco cigarette, as that was the era of commonly rolling other smokable substances. I'm sure many of us practiced rolling tobacco on album covers (not the way real tobacco rollers do it of course, but easier to roll on a flat, hard surface than completely in the hands)--again, in my little social circles of about that era, that was de rigueur.

But so what, if Drum and rolling any smokable substance were exotic things in your world, so be it.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
Oct 1, 2013 - 08:49pm PT
Quality writing bump!!!!
Messages 21 - 40 of total 42 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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