Dang check out his brain!

So Hot!

It turns out that there is some wild science behind the theories of con man Professor Harold Hill. Yes "the think system" is in fact stimulating brain activity in a similar, if not the same, way actually practicing musical does.

Quite intriguing:

Similar to the self-fulfilling prophesy, this gives a bit of validity to why my soccer couch in high school would encourage the team to visualize successful passing and shooting pre and during the games... though I noticed little affect on our consistently losing seasons.

It is good to remember that action follows thought, or choice, so with the power of thought being such a navigational life and learning tool, what do you want to do or learn? 

I'm thinking of the practical use of studying spanish in complete silence, but estoy un poco mas excited to learn to unicycle without having one. Perhaps more powerful will be to think of the positive effects that cross cultural living can have on each party.

Tomorrow, however, will be spent doing 50 pound curls and running for miles and miles uphill at 15,000 feet, all while I sit in an airplane waiting to arrive in Quito, Ecuador where I will have already thought myself to proper acclimatization.

with the love I first received,

Colin

Let the wild rumpus start!

Hi family and friends.  Please feel officially invited to read my writings, subscribe or just check back on prime numbered days of the month. The stories found here will be in part, true.

My lovely bride, of nearly three quick years of escapades, and I have bunked the last two months in the Heartland of America and we're living The Good Life. Yes indeed, our homes of Kansas and Nebraska, where we have kept occupied with working for UPS and at the family farm in Arcadia Nebraska, preparing for our departure to South America with Spanish lessons, walking dogs, celebrating family time, and teaching our fingers to adapt to banjo and mandolin in hopes of starting the Hamel-Schanbacher string band, have welcomed us back like a pancake welcomes syrup. This is known as the sweet satisfaction of the plains. Among our learned picking' and strummin' tunes are the rapturous melodies of Big Rock Candy Mountain, You Are My Sunshine, Wagon Wheel, and the theme song of Davey Crockett, which all consist of the same three chords in a similar juxtaposition. As you can see we have adapted back to life in the Midwest quite well...

We depart with great excitement and anticipation from los Estados Unidos on January the 31st, one day after my beloved brother Louis' birthday. February 1st we plan to arrive in Quito, Ecuador to begin our three point five month stay as learners of the language and culture as well as photographers, writers, mountaineers, instructors, tourists, and farmers. Today our arms are sore. Nothing like immunizations of Typhoid, Tetanus and Yellow Fever.

The South America "Plan"

We will be studying with a tutor from Guayasamin Spanish School in Quito for a few weeks while exploring the city and surrounding mountains, then instruct a service and mountaineering course with Summit Adventure, then... figure out where to go and how to live well for two months. I can't wait to see Javier, a friend in Guayaquil, then head south to a 15th century Incan site in the Cusco region of Peru known as "Old Peak," then consider a bus trip to Chili and...or Argentina to serve on a farm, as long as it has goats.

We plan to wear the above outfits to be sure people know we are Americans.

Your prayers, encouragement and correspondence will be greatly appreciated. In life, be moved to great love or aggravation but do not allow the stagnant taste of apathy to dwell. 

with the love I first received,
Colin