To those that think leaving home constitutes a lack of necessities, and/or preparation for what may await should be considered silly. Fortune favors the prepared after all. Coming from a noble estate in the Far East, Erita (Latch) chose a life beyond her family's walls when the choice presented itself to her. However, as much as her decision was argued against, she found that with the stories she was enamored with of the world beyond, the trinkets that came from far and wide, and the tall tales spun of places both mystifying and magical, gave her an early taste, and sense for adventure. Her early life was evident of this, with many excursions out into the land surrounding her home, and even into the countryside in some instances. Seeing it all up close however, was far more appealing than witnessing it from a perch after all. Life beyond her familial estate's walls, and beyond the mountain which they lived upon, would be difficult. Life far from home would be different too, filled with trails, tribulations, foes, friends, and test not only her endurance, but her will to continue. And as such, she was given many boons to set her on the path ahead. As parting gifts to the world beyond, she was given, among other things, a Cheongsam embroidered with her most favored colors: blue, and yellow; other gifts were also tailored such as some tights, reinforced faux leather boots, a pauldron to protect her favored arm and limb, a Jian of moderate craftsmanship, and a belt with a side pouch - enough to carry the essentials in her travels. Anything else could and would be tethered to it should the need require it. With these gifts, Erita (Latch) set out into the world beyond after many goodbyes to the people that raised, sheltered, and nurtured her. Adventure awaited. And so too did a story that yearned to be unraveled... -- Epic new ref sheet commissioned for Latch, which is a remake of the one I did in 2019. She's mean, she's lean and she's ready to face the world, wonders and horrors all included. I wanted to make sure this one would last for a while and be future-proof, so this needed to be a maximum effort piece. One thing I had trouble with in the original was how to situate the armors, belts and utilities, so I made sure to show how everything is fastened and held together. The armor in question is somewhat odd as it only covers one half of her body - it's a scrappy, welded-together invention to suit Latch's specifications, providing enough protection in emergency situations without weighing her down too much. It was not actually that hard to figure out, to my surprise, and the rest came together pretty easily. The white robings beneath the cheongsam are kind of like an undershirt/bra and keeps the boob window from being too terribly exposed. Finally, the Jian is short and sturdy, made for combat situations that don't need to last longer than needed. Above story was written by Latch.

Alt of Latch's 2021 ref sheet, but without any of the armors. Made to help commissioners understand the underlying garments and how the armors/belts are worn on the body.

Travel Guide to San Francisco l The Expeditioner

In this San Francisco travel video guide, I travel to San Francisco, California, one of the most scenic cities in the United States, if not the world. In town for a conference for only four days, only one of which was going to be sunny, I headed out to see as much as I could in a day. I started my day by visiting the Haight-Ashbury district, San Francisco’s most famous neighborhood. Ground zero…

Travel Guide to Portland, Oregon l The Expeditioner

In this travel video tour of Portland, Oregon, I travel to Portland, one of the most unique cities in the United States. I started my trip off by hopping off a plane and then immediately hopping onto a bus. But not just any bus, a bus operated by Brewvana Brewery Tours, the mostly women-run craft beer brewery tour company. Portland, or know as Beervana to some, is home to 55 breweries within its…

Christmas found both Cherine & I with our families abroad-- and so-- as is our custom when planning adventures-- we waited until the absolute last moment to make a decision on what to do for Xmass...

December 24th in the a.m-- and we started browsing the internet for something: preferably a wood cabin in a secluded are.. with some skiing, or back-country access nearby....

Bella looked on her laptop--while I on mine... for hours...and everything was triple the price it usually is. Unjustifiable for us-- as we can go a couple of weeks later, for longer, for less.  We resigned ourselves to stay in Montreal... .. ..  but that was not to be-- as Cherine (Bella) found us a retarded-last-minute-deal for $70/night at the base of Mont-Saint-Anne near Quebec City-- and only a 20min drive from Le Massif. It's an alpine-ski mountain that's supposed to give a similar feeling to skiing in Norway-- where the inclination of the terrain gives you the sensation that you're skiing right down into the ocean. In this case--the Saint-Lawrence River. The Co-Founder of Le Cirque du Soleil owns the place, and they are investing 230million to make it "the" place go for East coast skiing. Here's the link to it:

http://www.lemassif.com/en/montagne/pistes/carte

Not too much snow had fallen before our arrival--but we nonetheless managed to put in a couple of powder runs on the un-groomed (and closed) trails. Unfortunately the triple-black-diamond was closed as well...as well as the much-touted new Gondolas. That being said--the facilities were pristine, the mountain was desolate--and the mountain showed huuuuge potential for some awesome back-country glade skiing-- once there's another couple of snowstorms.