Hello, Lovine.com

Frame by frame via 120fps. Sweet.

To the bestest, cutest, fattest brother anyone could ever ask for. Happy Birthday Bro! I love you!!!

PS I hope this GIF goes viral. Hehe.

Before and after each and every ride, I always give my prayers and thanks to the world - first and foremost, for keeping me and my passengers safe. When you choose to travel on two wheels, you subject yourself to many risks that can very easily compound out of your control. So you try to keep hyper-aware of all your surroundings and environment, which is really part of the trance when you hop into the saddle, and ride off into the horizon.

We pulled 420+ miles this weekend, in a long awaited scooter camping exodus that led us to the fringes of Lake Isabella, and up into the Sequioa National Forest. Our buddy Gerry took his 50cc Honda Ruckus for its furthest journey yet, and marks the second time that Kat and I rode quite a distance fully-loaded. Apart from my sore ass and a very very hot ride home, it was a great weekend full of spectacular views and lonely sweeping pavement.

Did you kiss your passenger yet? All day, every day.

The best part is when you lie down on your mat inside the tent after a long day of riding hard. Through the mesh, you can see countless stars peeking through the branches of the trees, and the fatigue from mental and physical exhaustion sets in. The ground swallows you whole into a deep dreamless slumber.

The road travels fast, without sound, underneath your feet. Your concentration is flush, the past and the future are forgotten. You are in the pocket, and eventually nothing will exist. And soon enough, you quietly sink, into the sunset.

My wife @sarahkatrina drew me on my #Vespa

On the way to get the Vespa serviced.

Testing from a mobile device. I usually prefer the tactile of a keyboard, and am wary of spontaneous outbursts that get immediately pushed to the intarweb. But with the current gravitation towards posting images instead of words, this might come in handy.

Oh hello, Milky Way.

Fantastic view from our campsite last weekend, as seen from Cottonwood Canyon in Death Valley NP.
Highly suggest viewing a larger version here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovine/7120745483/in/photostream/lightbox/

This is one of the many reasons why I look forward to isolation. There exists several worlds apart from the one we are accustomed to, and the moment we choose to open our eyes, we begin to pick up the hazy edges of our own existence and realise that we are both insignificant and therefore extremely special at the same time.

It makes more sense at the edges. Listen to the silence. Look into the darkness. Give your thanks.

Breakfast of Champions
or
Breakfast of the Walking Dead

I am a generally peaceful guy, but there are a few things that I find very bothersome. One of which, is the systematic exploitation of intelligent animals. To add salt to injury, this is done through seeding misinformation and exploiting the pockets of hard working families in the guise of conservation and education in a fun-filled family weekend.

Am I entertaining you enough?

I cannot fathom ANY educational merit to keeping these large magnificent animals in small holding pens and making them work for food. Are the sparse infographics scattered around the park enough to really impart any depth of knowledge to anyone who reads them? Does 98% of the guests who filter through the park depart with a greater respect and understanding of cetaceans? When they jump out of the water, do kids realize that these are highly sophisticated social animals that communicate in their own dialects, and swim hundreds of miles in the open sea? That their lives are greatly shortened in captivity? That some of them were taken forcefully from their parents in the wild? When a parent buys a plush Shamu ™ for her kids, all it does is cheapen their soul and commoditize our disrespect for the world in general.

Kat and I joined the rest of our family on an outing to SeaWorld, and expected the worst. She does not want me to disclose this, but she wept openly as soon as the orcas entered the waters of the show. I am never taking my children to a place like that. The only time I will be back, is to protest outside their gates and get handcuffed while wearing a Shamu outfit.

Teach children the truth, because that is the least that they deserve. Go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium instead - that's where real people go.

More information here:

This is categorically the most amazing view I've ever had outside a plane window - second only to that green wisp of Aurora Borealis I met for the first time, on a solo trip in 2003. This trip of course, came with a price to pay in the form of a 12-hour delayed connecting flight. I would do it again only if I had the rest of my team with me.

Tired, but I need to keep prepping myself that the mission has yet to begin. Bring it on.

Published our wedding website last week for friends and family:

We'll be having a small reception for folks in the US, and are still planning a shebang for Manila sometime later this year. If you are very special, you might even get to see a few easter eggs at the site:

As usual, we built everything from the ground up - Kat did the wonderful illustrations and I coded the nerd end of the site. Since this is the first time we've done anything like this, any comments are appreciated ;)

Greetings from Colorado. I'm on my nth bottle of water, trying to keep my head above the altitude sickness that blew my head apart last time I was in Breckenridge for snowboarding last year. The base of the town itself is at 9,600 feet, far higher than what my small lungs are used to. The air is very thin. Sickness has been at bay so far, with only a slight throb and finding myself catching my breath here and there. We boarded today at Vail, which had too many people and long wait on the lifts. But with snow like this, what me worry?

I think this is a good springboard to get back in shape - I've been particularly negligent about the poking belly I've been starting to nurse over the years, and my poor lung capacity. I really enjoy snowboarding. Cruising fast and bombing through powder, feeling the rush of the wind and the snow scattering underneath your feet. It's surprising to think that I had my first season 5 years ago already, yet there is still so much more to learn, so much more of myself to know and understand. I need to go more often. We always tend to say things that we want to do, but hardly do we take the steps to do them. I hope I'm wrong.

When we got back in to the lodge today, I tried my first "ice bath". Basically dunking my lower body into a tub of freezing water, to prevent muscle soreness the next day and to make my balls temporarily disappear. Hell. Then we hopped into the outdoor hot tub. Heaven.

Tomorrow is another day: rinse, and repeat.