Having It All: Am I a Mouseburger?

Last spring, I was perusing a selection of books at a thrift store when the word Mouseburger caught my eye on the back cover of Having It All – written Helen Gurley Brown and published in 1983. I wondered what the fuck a Mouseburger was – is it something that Tigers eat or is it a tiny burger that mice eat? Moreover, I was intrigued by what ‘having it all’ meant over thirty years ago and what women were willing to do to get it. The fact that someone had already expelled it from their personal library made me wonder if they had achieved the promise the title made or been horribly lead astray by it. So, I spent the $0.99 – a bargain from the original $4.99 cover price – and took it home.

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Wield Your Axe Carefully

I recently wrote about what I learned about my social media hiatus for Eskapee.com.

"So I took a month off social media and my world didn’t end. It didn’t even fall apart.

I have never bought into the idea that social media is inherently evil or the undoing of our society. Notwithstanding a basic knowledge of algorithms and user manipulation, I look at these platforms as tools – nothing more, nothing less. If you use an axe properly you’ll chop enough wood to keep you warm through the winter. But if you are careless, you might find yourself alone and bleeding out behind your hipster cabin. Facebook, used wisely, should be no different.

But was I using it wisely? It doesn’t control us, we control it. Right?"

Read more on Eskapee.com here.

Rostros de mi segundo hogar: The Completion

When I arrived in Mexico earlier this month I hung over one hundred photos at the local taquería for the people who live in the village of Barra de Potosi to have. I called the project 'Rostros de mi segundo hogar (Faces from my second home)'. While technology like cell phones is prevalent here as a means of doing business, printed images are still highly valued as a luxury. 

The images hung with this message:

If you see a photo of yourself, your family, or a friend, please take it home or give it as a gift. Thank you for sharing beautiful Barra de Potosi with my family! Merry Christmas.

Hola! Si encuentras una foto tuya, o de un amigo o familiar, por favor tómala o entrégala como regalo. Gracias por compartir Barra de Potosi con mi familia. ¡Feliz Navidad!

When I returned to the taquería after Christmas all but a few photos had been claimed and when I road my bike into the village today I was greeted by people who were thrilled with their photos - including my favourite fruit lady!

The project was so sucessful that I plan to do it again next year and have already started collecting images for it. 

2016 Disposable Rampage

This was my fourth year covering the behind the scenes of Red Bull Rampage for Pinkbike.com. Going into the event there is always a mix of excited about seeing history made as the boundaries of what's possible in mountain biking are broken, but also apprehension about safety and fair treatment of our friends. This year Red Bull came the closest ever to closing the gap when they worked with feedback from the athletes and participated in our industry rather than exploiting the talents in it. From that perspective it was an incredible year - despite injury and our absent McGazza. 

Below are the images from my disposable cameras behind the scenes.

Here are the links to the coverage I produced with our talented Pinkbike.com team:

New Digs

Canyon Cowboys

No One Gets Robbed

True Grit

The Magnificent 18

The Kelly McGarry Spirit Award