now that everything been said and done - DYNO issue 5

spent the better of the past few sundays camping in the office of ClimbAsia poring over the publication of Dyno Issue 5. the fruit of our labour can be read online here.

a labour of anger?
for this issue, i was pretty much given a free rein to do whatever i wished. having always been fascinated with the emotional bombardment our climbers have to endure during competitions (butterflies in stomach, spectators eyes watching your every movement, etc), i've decided to incorporate such emotions as a central theme for this issue. this explains why you see 3 fierce ladies on the cover. wanted to bring across the message that climbing is not a male-dominated sport, and that our girls are just as driven as the guys. pictures depicting either anger or exasperation for the centrefold sbl article were also chosen.

did my 3 month internship and found it really hard to boulder hard after a long day at work. as a student, i could nap for as long as i wanted before hitting the gym feeling psyched to crush routes. fast forward to life as a working teenager (yes i prefer to refer to myself as a youthful teen). i find myself thoroughly sapped by the demands of work. realising that climbers before me also have had to contend with these problems, i volunteered to do interviews with people whom i consider to be role models. not bad eh, doing an interview on the preface of writing an article but actually doing it for personal gains. muwahaha so cunning. i liked yam's super philosophical reply - when people ask me how i manage, i tell them i don't... hopefully someday i'll be a better teacher, a better parent and a better climber. awww..

loved tim's reflections about routesetting. i wish i can write as eloquently and as imaginatively as him. loved the narrative at the front, especially the metaphor about his ideas drying up and being dictated by another entity (the sun). the whole idea of being dictated where to go or what to do (the shadow) and as a result operating like a clockwork is every creative person's bane.

behind every successful man is a woman
and behind each successful magazine lies a team of editors, writers, graphic designers, layout artist, cartoonist, marketers, etc. there is only so much a writer can do.. perhaps i'll dabble around a little in the other fields. also learned to break out of my 'writing for an academic paper' mould, and make my pieces more readable befitting that of a magazine.

all in all, i had loads of fun doing this issue. hope the learning never ends..