is enjoying being car free

It's not super convenient all the time, but I sure am enjoying being car free most of the time. I was sad to miss a fundraiser for a friend who has cancer because I was too tired to bike the 50 miles to Loveland and back. However, it is really easy to get around. My friends make fun of me because I'm still "using" cars by hitching rides with my friends and such. I agree. I'm not actually "car free" because of this. However, I am not driving by myself and so therefore am lessening my overall carbon footprint and keeping one more pollution-spitting vehicle off the road. And today was extra interesting. I hitched a ride into Gunbarrel with my friend Alison because I had a meeting at the Kelty offices at 1 (in relation to the Lyons Outdoor Games). Annoyingly I forgot my power cord and so my plan to work in a coffee shop until 1 didn't work out. However, I was about to take the bus to Boulder when my friend Eddie walked by me, on his way through Boulder to snowboard in the mountains. I hitched a ride with him into Boulder, which was lovely because we were able to catch up a bit (he's heading to Bali in a few weeks). then I ended up at my Buddhist teacher's house (Jim Yensen), where I borrowed a power cord. Over the next few hours, he made me a great lunch, I finished up a few articles, and had a great discussion about how to interpret what "need" means in certain situations. I.e. sometimes a homeless person or pan handler really does "need" $1, while other times s/he does not, most notably when that pan handler aggressively and rudely tries to get money from you and then treats you poorly when he does not get what he wants (this happened to Jim). Anyway, around noon, Alison decided she wanted to get away from work and eat lunch in Boulder, so Jim, who had to bring a shelf back to a used furniture store and do other errands, drove into town and dropped me off on Pearl Street. I then met Alison at Wahoos, where she ate lunch and we chatted. We then headed back to Kelty, where, after some wrangling at the meeting, they notified me that they wanted to become a significant sponsor for the Lyons Outdoor Games. Cool! Then I headed back to Boulder by bus, and am now sitting at the Library. In an hour or so, after I finish writing one more article, I will head to the Shambhala Center, meet Madaleine, meditate for an hour, and then the two of us will head over to Chuck and Kira's house for dinner.
This is my everyday experience when I'm out and about on the town, which is why I have to stay home so many days so that i can actually get significant writing work done!
What a lovely day!

Greenheart Institute in Lyons, Colorado

I wrote this press release for the Greenheart Institute. I can proudly say that I'm a part of this program. It's really cool. Plus, they give you a $300 credit to help you make the conversion to being more environmentally focused. I'm going to buy a bus pass with some (or most) of that money, which will certainly help me financially. Thanks Greenheart Institute!

Lyons, Colo., March 5, 2009
Greenheart Institute program leads to significant reduction in energy usage for Lyons, Colo., residents

More than 120 Lyons, Colo., residents reduced their overall energy consumption by 11 percent in 2008 as a result of the Greenheart Institute’s carbon reduction program. Using a community-based approach, the organization’s dozen “sustainability mentors” helped homeowners identify areas where they could improve their energy usage—such as utilizing fluorescent light bulbs, weatherizing homes, using alternative transportation, etc. They also encouraged lifestyle changes through educational programs, community potlucks, regular monthly updates, and a Web site on which participants could track their ongoing utility, waste and transportation consumption.

“We are achieving our goal of changing the habits of home owners and not just their homes,” explained Diane Dandeneau, Co-founder of the Greenheart Institute. “After just one year we have seen very striking results. We have one of the most effective carbon reduction programs for the residential marketplace.” And word is spreading, she added.

“More than 30 families joined the program just last quarter,” said Dandeneau. “They joined for the cost savings and the desire to be more environmentally conscious.”

According to Co-founder Jennifer White, the Lyons program was modeled after a similar program they did in conjunction with 30 families from the Boulder-based Shanahan Neighbors for Climate Action, which helped that group reduce their annual carbon emissions by 28 percent.

That experience really helped Greenheart streamline their system so that it could be applied on a larger scale with an eventual 150 families in Lyons, White explains. And now the group wants to take things one step further. “We know now that we can offer an interactive and effective residential sustainability and carbon reduction program for any community that is interested,” White says. “We hope to bring our Green Heart Community Initiatives to many other neighborhoods and towns in Colorado over the next year or so and then take this model to other states around the country.”

Madaleine climbing Living Dead, 11b on Lumpy Ridge

Madaleine styled this climb. She breathed hard at the bottom (thank goodness or else Marc and I, who were watching and have both climbed the dang route with much effort, would have felt like complete gumbies!), but she sent the top 11b section without even pausing. It was absolutely lovely to watch. Neither Marc nor I had ever seen anyone climb Living Dead so smoothly (nor without using the layback at the top of the climb). It was neat.

Assortment of photos of me, Madaleine, and other friends

Mad, Chris, and Alex

This is me and Madaleine being silly on her back patio

Back patio

Mad and Edgardo

Girls night at the play, "Girls Only: The secret comedy life of women. We had such a great night at this event. There were 20 women, all of whom I think are amazing and beautiful. I had so much fun that night!

Week two--Still car free

I've made it to week two, and I must say I am exhausted--my legs ache as if I hiked and climbed the Diamond, and my body is just tired. However, I can already feel any fat that may have existed on my body melting away and my muscles tightening up (sometimes in very painful ways). I think going car free is going to work wonders on my body; I'll be more fit than I've ever been in my life. On the other hand, the financial benefits I gain from not paying for gas and/or insurance may be outweighed by the money I spend on food. Riding around all day on my bicycle and/or rollerblades (in addition to hiking and climbing up on Lumpy Ridge yesterday) has made me constantly hungry. I am especially hungry for chocolate and seem to be eating at least one bar per day. Mmmm, good life.

Yesterday Marc, Madaleine, Alex, and I climbed on Lumpy Ridge. Madaleine, as usual, stylishly sent difficult 5.11s that the rest of us can only thrutch up, while Marc and I charged up our normal round of super easy routes--because my shoulder is STILL f'd up, preventing me from climbing harder than 5.8. Sigh. Marc is an amazing friend. Year after year he does the same easy routes with me over and over again, just so that we can climb together... in hopes that one day we will actually be able to do some fun, more difficult things together. Hopefully it will be this summer. We shall see. I am trying to be optimistic, despite the inflammation that is plaguing me today.

Back to work!
I'll post some photos of Mad on "Living Dead," a splitter 11b, later today.

Amee Hinkley

My friend Amee Hinkley just started a massage business in Boulder a few months ago. Check out her Web site!

Today was beautiful. Me, Madaleine and her friends Cat and Natalie went to Button Rock and climbed a few pitches. No matter how many times I climb there, I still always love it. The scenery is awesome--we watched a silly little bouncing bird swimming under water, eating bugs, and we listened to the dam/waterfall all day. Lovely lovely. Tomorrow I'm going to try to climb again, despite the nagging and annoying pain in my shoulder. Hopefully it is nothing. If it hurts tomorrow night, I'll have to take more time off. Sigh. But at least it's beautiful outside these days. G'night.

Car free day three (or four)

I'm on my third day of being car free. It feels great, though my legs are super tired. I think I made the right decision. Perhaps when it gets cold again (tomorrow or maybe next winter), I'll get insurance again for my car, but for the time being, it's not necessary. The two times I've been car free in my life have not been that difficult. I imagine if I had a child, it would be much harder, but I don't have a child, and so I really have no excuse to drive. I can easily get around by bus, bicycle, and roller blades. I wish I had done this years ago.

Day 1 (I am reposting this because I had to delete my other one to get rid of an annoying spam comment)
This is the first true day of my car-free life. I've cancelled my insurance and parked my car. I've been thinking about doing this for years, but my desire to climb in Rocky Mountain National Park has kept me driving. However, I've spoken with my favorite climbing partner in Estes about just crashing there the night before we go to the Park. We shall see how it works. I'm not selling my car. It's a great little vehicle that I will probably use again at some point, when the recession is over and when I've assuaged some of my guilt for contributing to global warming.
Today I took my heavy mountain bike to Boulder by car (hitching with my friend Alison) and then by bus. Yesterday I was also car free. I got a ride into Boulder with Alison, rode my roller blades around town all day (really fun until my legs started to burn and wobble), and then I hitched home with a nice, long-haired fellow names Sam, who was headed up to Estes to see some bluegrass.

Neat bluegrass from Belfast: The Mountain Firework Company

These guys are great! They are apparently all from Belfast.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=57060544023&h=p16BK&u=MlGoP&ref=nf

New blog

I'm contributing to a new blog on a Denver-based site called Examiner.com. Click here to check it out.

Sliding Liberia

I just watched the movie, "Sliding Liberia." It played at the Boulder Adventure Film Fest. It's hard to imagine how the producers/directors could juxtapose surfing with a war-torn country in which 90% of people were brutalized in some way during the recent 14-year war. But they did, and they did it beautifully. The movie was meaningful. I really enjoyed watching it because I could finally put faces, actions, and emotions to the people that I've worked with at Common Ground Society, the organization that administers our scholarship program in Margibi and Bong counties.

From the movie, I learned how many Liberians talk; it's a crazy sort of Caribbean sounding English, but not quite Caribbean. And I finally saw clear images of what some Liberians look like. The only thing I felt was missing from the movie was the perspective of how girls were particularly and awfully brutalized during the war. But maybe that's an article I need to write. My goal is to get to Liberia later this year and to write a story for a publication--Oprah, Women's Adventure, one of those mags--about the fortuity of Liberian women.

Please someone call and tell me how I can spend my life raising awareness for disadvantaged girls? I want to write, climb, and enjoy my life as well, but if I could dedicate 90% of my work life to helping other people, that would be a dream come true.

Tough week

It was a tough week. I had to ask my roommate to leave because she is financially irresponsible and she is causing me hardship, and I was told by a fellow I worked for that he cannot pay me a significant amount of money that he owes me. Sigh. Life can be trying, especially during these very hard times. Someone recently asked me if the recession was affecting me. How could it not? I don't know many people whom it is not affecting. I feel very lucky that I have some work and also that I still, so far, get to keep my home. I feel for all those people who are suffering. At least Americans can still eat most days, unlike people in many third-world countries who die because of world-wide recessions such as this.
On a bright note, there are many beautiful things in life that I am really thankful for. I have an amazing Buddhist teacher, a wonderful, sweet and beautiful partner, my shoulder is healing, I have the perfect house, great neighbors, I love lentils (which I am eating every day because they are so cheap, but also rich with vitamins), and I'm learning two more songs on my mandolin. Woohoo. Next weekend I'm going to try climbing. But first I need to write a dozen more articles for Demand Studios, finish up my grant application for the Banff Literary Journalism Program, and... well, never mind, the "to do" list is 20-something long with tasks. Suffice it to say that I'm keeping busy.
Ciao, Lizzy

More photos of Mexico--Tom climbing and other stuff

I don't actually know Tom's last name, but he is a wonderfully sweet and kind fellow from Index, WA.

More Mexico photos

I have a bunch more Mexico photos I'm going to put up later today (Monday), mostly of my friend Tom climbing and our Spaniard friends. Here are photos of Mad's & my trip through Hidalgo, on our way to the wedding. We found a neat old wall that had its doors and windows cemented; a large coop with all sorts of chickens, roosters, and peacocks; and we painted our toenails in town before the wedding. It was a fun, warm walk through a neat old authentic Mexican town.

Lizzy's updated resume

March 2009

Lizzy Scully
PO Box 853
Lyons, CO 80540
303-903-2768
girlsed@gmail.com

Education: 1996: BA from University of Utah in Psychology
2003: MS from Utah State University in
Journalism/Communications/Women’s Studies

Work experience:

March 2008—September 2008 (full time contract)
Berthoud Recorder: Managing Editor (temporary contract)
Duties: Oversaw redesign of newspaper. Edited and wrote articles for the paper for five months. Hired, trained and managed a staff of five.

March 2005—August 2007 (full time)
FindYourSpot.com: Managing Editor
Duties: Edited/wrote content for Web site, enewsletter, all marketing/PR materials and earned media. Managed small staff.

February 2003—February 2005 (full time)
She Sends magazine: Publisher, Founder, Editor in Chief
Duties: Edited/wrote content for startup publication and all promotional materials. Managed dozens of volunteers and a small staff.

July 2001—January 2004 (full time)
Estes Park Trail-Gazette: Features Editor
Duties: Edited/wrote content for features pages and news pages.

January 2008-Now (contract)
Rocky Mountain Sports: Columnist and Contributor

January 2004—now (contract)
Rock & Ice magazine. Senior Contributing Editor

November 2006—now (part time, volunteer)
Girls Education International: Co-Founder, Liberia Project Manager
Duties: Fund raising, grant writing, edit/write blog and Web site content, marketing and PR. Visit: www.girlsed.org

January 2000
Freelance writing
• Nutrition Business Journal
• Mountain Flyer (I am a contributing editor)
• Lyons Recorder
• On the Edge
• The Alpinist
• The Mountain Hardwear catalog
• Climbing
• Utah Outdoors
• Dandelion/Women’s Adventure
• The American Alpine Journal
• Gripped
• Alternative Medicine
• Homepower
• Logan Herald Journal
• Lyons Recorder
• Greeley Tribune
• Rocky Mountain Bullhorn
• (online) Livestrong, Ehow, Trails.com

References
Brent Eskew, Founder FindYourSpot.com, beskew@wilanddirect.com
Duane Raleigh, Editor in Chief, Rock & Ice magazine. draleigh@bigstonepub.com
Matt Samet, Editor in Chief, Climbing magazine. msamet@climbing.com

Samples of my writing:
http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/women_in_the_karakoram/index4.html
http://lizzyscully.blogspot.com/2008/04/rocky-mountain-sports-article-on-majka.html
http://www.mountainflyer.com/news.cfm?itemid=179
http://www.homepower.com/article/?file=HP103_pg42_Scully

I have two active blogs:
www.girlseducationinternational.blogspot.com
lizzyscully.blogspot.com

Lizzy at lizzyscully.com not working

My lizzy at lizzyscully.com email is not going to work until April. Please write to me at girlsed at gmail.com. Thanks.

Downtown Hidalgo's ice cream shop

Ice cream in Hidalgo
Umberto has worked at the Michoacan Ice Cream shop for 14 years. It was a nice surprise to see him again after nine years of absence from the Potrero. It was also nice trying the homemade ice cream again. It's not Ben & Jerries, but it sure is good.

Gay Scientists Isolate Christian Gene

This video is hilarious. Click here.

Video and photos of Madaleine climbing Hombre de Rifle, 5.13a, and other photos/videos

Madaleine worked on Hombre de Rifle over the course of the trip. She fell in this video, but ended up sending it the next day. She has done a few 5.13s, but she was stoked about this one because she felt she was learning how to better "project" a route.

Mad climbs Hombre

Madaleine's friend, Andy

Lizzy doing yoga at the sweet casita at Las Azucenas--what a heavenly place to stay!

View of gorgeous El Potrero from inside the canyon. I took this the day I hiked to the big tree (six feet in diameter!)

The big tree

Kevin is stoked to have some Oskars instead of Tecate

Mexicans enjoying Oskar Blues beer

The Outrage Wall

Lizzy doing yoga at the Casita

photos of the Catholic Mexican wedding Mad and I attended

Carlos and Sandra got married while I was in El Potrero Chico this year. Maria invited me to the wedding. What a treat it was. I felt very privileged to be invited to Carlos' and Sandra's wedding. Luis and Maria had us sit at their table at the reception. It was really a wonderful experience. I love Luis and Maria, so to see their son get married was just incredible.

The whole experience was amazing. The entire family is warm, loving, and wonderful, and Sandra was just sweet as can be. We spent one afternoon hanging out at Luis and Maria's house before the wedding. She even loaned me a dress to wear, and I wore a pair of Maria's shoes. Madaleine wasn't so lucky. But, after our experience at the wedding, we both felt really lucky regardless. It was an incredibly traditional wedding with all the Catholic and Mexican trappings of a small town, from the really neat ceremony at the Catholic Church to the reception, replete with traditions. The waiters, for example, paraded around the reception room just before the food was served, while all the guests waved their napkins around, whirling them in the air. Then, the food was served, and the other festivities began: dancing, cake eating, boquet throwing, garter belt removal, etc. It was just wonderful.

Stained glass in Catholic church

Elvia, Sebastian, and Elvia's hubby

Maria

Luis Alberto and Maria's mother, plus family

Luis and Maria

Luis and Maria dancing

Luis looks dashing

Madaleine and Lizzy at reception for wedding

Maria's sister