Find Your Inner Artist at The Phillips Collection

To say that I knew nothing about The Phillips Collection before visiting would be an understatement. I didn't even know it existed. So after looking around online for some fun free things to do in DC, The Phillips Collection popped up. 

While my wife is an artist and I do appreciate art, I'm not really the kind of guy to visit a gallery without being forced. But hey, this series is supposed to be on exploring new and unfamiliar territory, so off I went.

Getting around DC [efficiently] can be difficult. The gallery is only 2.5 - 3 miles away from my office but I knew getting there wouldn't be an easy or quick task. A taxi might have been the simplest solution but I wanted to keep costs at a minimum so the solution was clearly going to be the Metro.

The closest Metro stop is the DuPont Circle station and depending on where you exit the station, it could be a 2-5 block walk. 

A quick note: The downside to finding a good place to tour on your lunch break that depends on the Metro is that the Metro has crappy off peak service. Sometimes you have to wait 20 minutes for a train and if that's the case, you end up losing a lot of valuable time. Just something to keep in mind.

Luckily the Metro moved pretty quick and my walking pace can border on running for some and I got to the lobby of the gallery in no time. The permanent display is free but if you want to see the special exhibit it's $12. Also, they strongly encourage a donation of any amount and only after a few back-and-forths of 'I don't have any cash on me' will they let you in for free. 

There's a lot to the gallery that I missed because I was practically running through it (worried about getting back to the office on time) and would certainly like to go back and [try to] truly appreciate the art. If I had to guess, I probably saw about 73% in total. 

I forced myself to slow down and made sure to spend a few minutes reflecting on what I liked. Out of what I saw, here are some of my favorites:

• Pantone on Vellum (Jorge Pardo)
• Black Tiles (Kate Shepherd)
• Rothko Room
• Joseph Marioni
• Liberation - Tack
• Rocks at Mouthier (Gustave Courbet)
• Woodland Rocks (Julian Alden Weir)

If you don't mind being rushed and have at least 30 minutes, I say go for it. But the only way to enjoy art is to enjoy it and while I don't really know what that means, I assume it means something like 'slow down and take your time.'

'Boring' Details:

The Phillips Collection
1600 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009

• Distance from office: 2.5 - 3 miles
• Door to door time: 1 hour 4 minutes
• Tour time: 25 minutes
• Transportation used: Metro
• Cost: Free for permanent exhibit but donation recommended. $12 for special exhibit.

Notes: 

• No metal detectors but you are under constant watch.
• You are allowed to take photos and they even have audio tours you can do through your phone, but no talking on your phone.

My First Fourteener

I'm actually excited, just fighting an AMS headache.

On September 1st, I summited my first 14,000 foot mountain (Mount Belford). This was a monumental experience for me even though the photo above may not convey my joy. I was developing quite a nasty headache and a bit of nausea at that point. Yeah, Acute Mountain Sickness. Luckily we didn’t stay long and started our descent at which my headache began to subside.

I’m only writing this blurb to let you know I’ve been successful in reaching a life long goal of mine but now I have the desire to go bigger. I have decided to set some new goals and given the time and money, I’m sure they will be completed. Stay tuned for a post on my buddies site, ITS Tactical, which will include a full debrief of the GORUCK Ascent.

Thanks for all of your support. I couldn’t have done it without you.

GORUCK Ascent

Soon I hope to be embarking on a challenge that will test both my physical abilities and mental resolve. The challenge is called the GORUCK Ascent.

Just recently, I completed the GORUCK Challenge with Class 031. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, by far. It took an amazing amount of mental strength to even sign up but I’m here to tell you that it changed my life.

I am no longer bound to a world where things are impossible. I learned that whatever I pour my heart into, I will accomplish.

What’s next on my list? The GORUCK Ascent. It will be a 100 hour team building event combined with classes taught by some of our nations top special forces operators, the Green Berets. We will be summiting multiple 14,000 foot mountains in a short period of time.

I’ve pledged to gather at least $1,000 in donations for the Green Beret Foundation and I’m proud to say that with your help, I’m at just over $1,900. I honestly couldn’t do that on my own and it means a lot that you all gave so much.

If you haven’t donated and would like to, I teamed up with ITS Tactical and we have some pretty sweet perks for your donation.

• $30 or more — Limited Edition Patch commemorating the event (Never again available on ITS Tactical!)
• $60 or more — Limited Edition T-Shirt & Patch (You’re going to want this shirt!)
• $100 or more — Limited Edition T-Shirt, Patch, and ITS Flag (We have flags? They’re in the works, but you’ll get one of the first!)
• $200 or more — All of the above and some serious ITS store swag (Details forthcoming, but it’s going to be good!)

Click HERE to donate.

For even more details on the GORUCK Ascent, check out the site http://2011ascent.com and Facebook page.

Follow me on Twitter for updates.

Further Reading

• GORUCK Ascent: An Epic Adventure and We Need Your Help!
• Preparing for the GORUCK Ascent and an Epic Adventure

WOD Templeton

I just completed a new workout I called ‘Templeton’, after my dog because he just laid there next to me the whole time.

I’ve only been to a CrossFit gym once, to take an intro class and while I really enjoyed how much it kicked my butt, I still can’t commit to a time to go right now.

But in the meantime, I’m trying a few CrossFit style workouts at home and I figured I’d start naming them too.

Keep in mind that these may look simple to you but they’re still a test for me and I’m sure I’ll get better and start making the workouts harder.

WOD Templeton

Description: Simple at home workout that doesn’t require much except a weight, which can be substituted for almost anything. Two rounds for time.

• 20 burpees
• 15 25 lb one arm rows
• 20 reverse crunches
• 20 body weight squats
• 15 table inverted rows

Completed in 14:44.

Notes: Could have been a bit faster if I had my gloves and my water handy. I’m excited to do this one again soon!

Save Your Work

Living in a digital world is great. Until some ones and zeros get misplaced.

I just recently lost about a months worth of photos.

They were mostly pics from my brother in laws wedding up in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Don’t worry, I didn’t take many of the wedding itself so it’s not like the bride and groom won’t have a shot of their first dance. Also, I uploaded just about all of them to a Facebook and Google+ Album.

Because I share a lot of my finds/experiences on a day to day basis, most of the pics that I care about or think are of any quality are already online. Usually posted within minutes of taking it whether it’s on DailyBooth, Instagram, Flickr, etc.

That’s the kind of world we’re living in. A point and share world.

This doesn’t mean that just because you post every pic on Twitter or Facebook that you don’t need to backup your images (or the rest of your phone for that matter) but it’s just something that caught my attention.

After having some issues and tinkering for around 5 hours (and that’s being conservative), I finally had a functional iPhone.

Moral of the story? Back up your stuff, unless you don’t care if you lose it or not.

But the time spent figuring this out and the time spent not having a useable phone has already deterred me from trying a beta again. I’ll leave the beta downloading and testing to the real developers.

Photo: iPhone Update by Flickr User hddod

My 4 Favorite Features of the iPhone 4

With the rumor mill of the next iPhone (iPhone 5 and/or iPhone 4S) cranking pretty hard, I thought I would go over some of my favorite features of the iPhone 4.

Most of you are early adopters like me but the rest of you like to wait a year so all the bugs are worked out and the price is lower to get your new phone. So this is what you should be looking forward to.

Here are my 4 favorite features, in no particular order...

1. 5 MP Camera

• Fast startup and photo capturing
• HDR feature works really well

This thing just works. On my trip to Hawaii, I didn’t even pack my ‘real’ camera; it never even crossed my mind to add to my list. The best camera in the world is the one you have on you and I carry my phone everywhere so I take approximately 99.6% of my photos on my iPhone.

2. The Device Itself

• Glass & Metal
• Simple

The iPhone 4 is beautiful. It’s just glass and metal and while that’s also what I don’t like (always worried I’ll drop it) it’s super sleek and sophisticated and simple at the same time.

3. Retina Display

• The graphics will make your eyes bleed.
• Beats out any other phone.

Reading, watching movies, viewing photos… you will not find a more crisp and high quality screen on any phone let alone most TV’s! Really, if you haven’t taken a look at the iPhone 4 in person by now, go and do just that. You’ll be amazed.

4. Speed

• Fast when switching between apps.
• Can handle more intensive games.

The iPhone 4 is so much faster than its predecessor. I notice a huge boost in performance all around from multitasking to taking pictures; it made using the phone a breeze.

What are some of the things you like about the iPhone 4?

[Thanks Time Management Ninja for the idea!]