Some ask why, some ask how
Truth is all I know, it’s making sense to me and mine
That it’s time to hit the road
So I try. And I wait
Something’s got to give and something has got to break
I’ve waited for this moment, nothing left to give
I’m closing in on the footsteps outside almost in
I've waited for this moment...
"Moment"-Midnight to Twelve
…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on September 18, 2009 at 2:00am —
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On broken wings I'm falling
And it won't be long
The skin on me is burning
By the fires of the sun
On skinned knees
I'm bleeding
And it won't be long
I've got to find that meaning
I'll search for so long
"Broken Wings" (Alter Bridge)
I'd originally planned on saying nothing more about my recovery, but the past week has been nothing short of miracles. I had my first visits with a new physical therapist, who measured me at the outset as having 8 degrees of extension and 40 degrees o…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on September 9, 2009 at 7:00am —
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"I don't know how else to put this.
It's taking me so long to do this.
I'm falling asleep and I can't see straight.
My muscles feel like a melee,
My body's curled in a U-shape.
I put on my best, but I'm still afraid.
I get to go home in one week.
But I'm leaving home in three weeks.
They throw me a bone just to pick me dry.
I'm following suit and directions.
I crawl up inside for protection.
I'm told what to do and I don't know why."
(
Zzyxx Road-Stone Sour)…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on August 29, 2009 at 2:00am —
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If I could just go back in time
Wouldn't change a damn thing in my life
Love the dumb things we do when we're young
But the best is yet to come..
(Hinder)
An ambulance was used to transport me from the Intermountain Medical Center to the HealthSouth rehabilitation facility. The biggest challenge was getting the arms off the wheelchair. My scrotum had swollen after the accident, to the point that it was the size of a cantelope. The arms on the wheelchair forced my legs together, which re…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on August 24, 2009 at 6:00am —
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"Go for it, run for it, dive in head first, live life with no regrets,
Put your heart out there, you might be scared, but it all works out in the end,
Because the best is yet to come..."
(Hinder)
My normal landing position
June 8, 2009, my life change…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on August 20, 2009 at 7:00am —
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Mornings marked with wet pavement and grey skies generally don’t inspire feelings of excitement for skydivers, particularly on a weekend. It appeared I’d flown halfway across the country for a non-event.
Returning from Australia on a Monday morning, Monday afternoon was dedicated to recovery from jetlag and bad airline food consumed over the last 19 hours…. Needless to say, those precious hours weren’t quite enough, but they did give me a head start.
Tuesday marked travel to Madison, Wisconsin t…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on May 24, 2009 at 6:26am —
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Saturday/Sunday:
Got up this morning, made some GREAT skydives with Eddie and Lynda, Stacy n’ Steve, and other members of the Byron staff. Aiysh decided today was the day that he’d begin Wingsuiting, and so Brad and Aiysh took the First Flight Course. Brad couldn’t jump his ne…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on May 18, 2009 at 3:30am —
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Wednesday, Day 3 of the APF
Today began very slowly due to the Riverboat Party last night. The masquerade-themed event was a ball (no pun intended) but there were those of us from overseas that weren’t aware it was a masquerade until shortly before the event. I t…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on May 17, 2009 at 7:30pm —
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Skipping ahead to the evaluation of Byron Bay Skydiving….
Today started with a quick visit to the Cookie Composites shop where all the cool toys are designed and built. Jeremy was gracious enough to spent a couple hours showing me how they mill all their metal parts from hinges to…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on May 15, 2009 at 1:19am —
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Sunday, May 10, 2009
Cookie was right there to pick me up this morning… even though the flight was nearly an hour early. We headed straight to coffee, but the restaurant on the bay wasn’t open yet. So…we watched the sunrise over the sea until the coffee shop opened, whereon the cognizant portion of the day began.
…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on May 11, 2009 at 7:02am —
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Monday, May 11, 2009
This morning started late. Although I went to bed around 8:30, the 16 hour difference from home and the day of jumping at Ramblers made for one very tired boy.
I arrived on the conference floor at 9:30 and was pleasantly surprised to see trade booths f…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on May 11, 2009 at 7:00am —
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Four hours into the flight, it seems appropriate to begin the blog for the week; I’m on my way to the Australian Parachute Federation conference being held in Brisbane, Australia. Two rows ahead of me, a wailing child compels me to put in my headphones and listen to music. I’m considering what I’ll say to the members of the APF, speaking on subjects related to wingsuit skydiving and digital media on the dropzone. These are similar presentations as seen at the PIA conference in Reno, Nevada last…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on May 11, 2009 at 6:55am —
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Receiving an AFF Instructor rating is one of the pinnacle points of a skydiver’s continuing education and experience in the sport skydiving world, and has been a personal goal of mine for approximately two years. I was sure that the moment I had six hours of freefall time and my C license, I'd be able to knock this thing out fast.
How wrong I was...
When I first began skydiving, I was presented with the opportunity to spend some time in the tunnel at Perris, CA, with Ed Dickenson…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on February 27, 2009 at 6:30pm —
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PIA begins in a couple more days; Mannie, Chris, Mike, Jack, Dru, and myself are packing our cameras, new DVDs, and pointing our noses west for the trip to Reno, the biggest little town in the world.
At least it's warmer there than it is here.
A lot is happening at the PIA Symposium, and we'll be bringing as much of it to you as possible.
Tune into the
VASST Channel on Youtube and catch the live interviews with the various attendees. We'll als…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on February 7, 2009 at 7:00am —
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One of my favorite lines from a so-so movie; "Worms, Roxanne, I was afraid of WORMS!"**
Worms get me into so much trouble, even with my fairly large vocabulary, I don't always correctly choose the worms I'd like to cast forth.
....
words truly are "worms" sometimes.
They burrow their way into the mind of those that read or listen, and sometimes change lives for the better, worse, or in some cases....maybe just leaving holes of misunderstanding.
Worms....I'll spew comical worms, and…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on February 3, 2009 at 6:30am —
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Why do we have em'? Deadlines always seem to come on Wednesdays so that if something has a problem, it can be fixed by Friday, but Friday means that we have two more days to fix problems which means Monday makes for a smarter deadline, right? Doesn't everyone put in 20 hours over the weekend? Except some companies close on Friday. Or Monday, making for a three-day weekend. For those of us that actually work...That leaves only Tuesday and Wednesday as our "work days." It's not fair, because some…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on January 21, 2009 at 8:30pm —
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OK, I admit, my work keeps me up late, so sunrises aren't typically in my schedule.
This morning was different.
The lighting recessed beneath my cupboards was out, so after removing my English muffin from the toaster, imagine my surprise as I found myself buttering the lid of the peanut butter jar (it looked and sorta felt like a muffin in the cold and dark).
Occasionally, technology vexes me. I put my coffee in the microwave (left over from last night) and couldn't figure out why it wasn't hot.…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on January 13, 2009 at 4:00pm —
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Suffice it to say that with no jumping on New Years Day other than the golf course jump (that ended up giving Skittles a tib/fib fracture) and the skydive ultimately ending the life of Dan Kulpa, the past two days have not found themselves worthy of a single character on my screen...
Yesterday was a dark day. We lost a comrade in nylon, a young skydiver named Dan Kulpa. Dan was a very happy kid, enthusiastic as hell about skydiving. I didn't know him well at all, and had only chatted for brief p…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on January 4, 2009 at 12:30am —
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On the Twelfth Day of Sebastian, my true love gave to me....A busy, backflying day!
Today was our last day of shooting for the project we have underway, and it was BUSY! We coulda used more loads. Again...I still don't understand burning fuel at 30 gallons an hour like we're…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on December 31, 2008 at 4:00am —
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ANOTHER early morning morning...Chris Gay, Chris Warnock, Justin Shorb, Scotty Burns, and myself opened the dropzone for the third morning in a row. Sunrises are beautiful here, but I think I've see enough of em' for a while.
Chris Warnock tests out the Sony MC1…
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Added by Douglas Spotted Eagle on December 29, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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