mishaps, mayhem and merriment

geezervoo

2010-07-11T16:25:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I drove a couple of hours north up to Vedauwoo, which is outside Laramie, Wyo, to meet up with some friends to do some climbing. It was a somewhat special occasion as A & D are living a little bit closer than they have in more than two years, so I met up with them and Kate and Mark to try our luck at The Voo.

I was feeling a little nervous because a) I haven't climbed since I hurt my shoulder back in April and b) The Voo, which is notoriously hard climbing and doesn't cater to whatever climbing strengths I might have. The Voo is full of off-widths and chimneys and cracks and I hate hand-jams. I am not a talented climber. It is not innate to me. I struggle nearly every single time I go out and rarely have gains in skill level. And if I do, they are nearly infinitesimal. I really do enjoy it though. It gives me a sense of accomplishment like nothing else, so I keep going out there and flailing around, hoping that one day, something will click and I'll figure out how to actually do this thing.

At any rate, yesterday was as terrible as I'd feared it would be. I had a much harder time than everyone else did on the two climbs I did. But, one tiny thing was different in that I didn't give up even though I was struggling. Usually, if I feel like I've been on a climb too long and I'm not getting anywhere, then I decide to come back down without finishing. Yesterday, however, I stuck it out and bulled my way through the hard moves and finished, so I felt pretty good about that.

And, it doesn't seem that I re-injured my shoulder any. Both of them are sore and tired today, but it's the kind of sore you get after working out really hard, it's not the kind of sore that means you might've torn something important.

This might mean that I can start climbing again.

***
Currently reading:

'The Help' - After getting about three million recommendations, I decided to put the 'it' book of the year on my list at the library. A few pages in and I've decided that it's good. It's well-written and Stockett does a really impressive job at telling a story from different people's points of view, which I've always thought was especially difficult. So, she's to be commended for that. So far, it's pretty fluffy though and is not especially challenging or intellectually stimulating. I've just reached 'the hook' however, so maybe it's about to throw down.

The Tin Drum - Gunther Grass has been on the 'you're supposed to read this guy, although no one ever made you' list that I've kept since I graduated from college. Last year a publisher put out a reprinted edition of 'The Tin Drum' and I decided to buy it as part of my 'read a classic each year until you die' project. I love it. It's well-written and the language flows in a way that is more poetry than prose. It is incredulous and fantastical and stretches suspension of disbelief almost to the breaking point, but it is a beautiful story with a character who is infinitely more endearing than Ignatius J. Riley even though he is almost as much of a social misfit. I had to stop reading it in order to plow through three others before their library due date arrives, but I'm looking forward to picking it back up again and seeing what Oskar has been up to while I was away.

a test, a lesson learned and bear peak hike redux

2010-06-18T16:32:00.004-06:00

This morning I woke up and after my pot of coffee (it's good for the heart, look), I realized that I had not one single thing that was due today. So, I decided to do a little test to see if I could, in fact, spend the whole day away from the office without anyone being the wiser. I've often wondered if I could get away with little daily excursions (vacations) and not have anyone freak out about me not being able to respond thisveryinstant to their every whim. And, one of the advantages of having a smartphone is that it makes it much easier to work from just about anywhere.

So, I took off at about 8a and drove to just outside of Boulder to do Bear Peak. Yes, yes, I just did this a few weeks ago, but I knew I would be in cell tower range for most, if not all, of the hike, and I figured this would be a good baby step to training my mind in this new way of thinking. Usually, I feel like I can't leave for even just a little bit in case someone needs something. Which, of course I know is utterly ridiculous and destroys one of the main benefits of working for yourself—being able to set your own schedule—but I succumb to it on a daily basis anyway.

I learned that the upside is that I can nearly work from anywhere as long as there's a cell tower somewhere close by. The downside is that I can nearly work from anywhere as long as there's a cell tower somewhere close by. Of course, if I had to actually design something, then I could not do that from the top of a mountain (unless I were willing to lug my laptop up there, which so far, I am not), but I can respond to email and take phone calls and make appointments, all while walking in the woods. Which, I have to admit, is pretty cool.

I'm just afraid that this means that now I will really feel guilty about taking the weekends off.

catching up

2010-06-03T18:00:00.000-06:00

Blogland! What's going on? You thought I'd left without saying goodbye didn't you? But I'm here and everything is alright.

Things have been happening, kids. Things which have kept me away from the ol' 'puter. I have news:

- I hurt my shoulder bouldering at the gym about a month ago. I haven't been free of pain since. It hasn't helped that I've been extremely stubborn and keep 'doing stuff' in spite of the pain I'm in. It's pretty obvious that trying to do push-ups for an hour at boot camp class with a sore shoulder is most likely a bad idea, but why would running bother it? I don't know the answer to that question, but I'm not going anywhere that won't let me bring my ice pack and my hot water bottle and my Advil® along.

- Work has actually been crazy. Like crazy to the point that I'm logging at least 8 hours a day, if not more. I'm not sure I like it all that well, but it's nice to stock the coffers. (I realize that 8-hour days are not crazy to those of you who actually work, but I'd gotten used to 2-hour days. This is...a shift.)

- M and I decided that it was time to move in together. That will apparently happen sometime this coming fall. Mostly I'm excited about the decision and I find myself planning things, but occasionally I will get really freaked out and break out in a cold sweat over it. As my mom told me, 'You don't do well with roommates.' I'm hoping that this will be different than past experiences.

It's weird to contemplate a life with someone else when you've spent the past (almost) 40 years building one by yourself and never imagining that you'd one day have to schedule time in the shitter around someone else's day.

- I've started riding my bike everywhere again. I wussed out this winter. Mostly because I don't have a good place to clean it if it gets cruddy. Which it does in the winter. So far, I am without crashing this season, although if I keep riding in my flip flops, I give it a matter of days. Sometimes, though, putting on the bike shoes in order to be able to clip in seems like too much work.

Ok. That's all I think. I'll try to stop by more frequently here in the future.

taiwan, day 9

2010-03-30T13:36:00.003-06:00

We spend the last day very quietly—taking a walk down to a nearby park in the morning; I go to the gym in the afternoon for a couple of hours; and then we have homemade pizza for dinner.

It was a great trip and a very interesting experience. I was really surprised how easy it was to navigate in a place where you don't really know anyone or have much in common with the natives, and especially given not knowing any of the language. I was also amazed at how friendly and polite everyone there was and I loved learning more about their culture.

I'm happy to be home and ready to get back into the routine of daily life. Hopefully, my vacation buzz will last for awhile.

taiwan, day 8

2010-03-27T18:35:00.009-06:00

The sun's out today, so we wander downtown and I take pictures of all the signage I can see.

We decide to take a stroll through the Flower and Jade Markets. They're pretty much exactly what you'd think they are. I'm not one for plants usually, but the orchids here are beautiful and I sort of wish I could figure out some way to get one home. The jade is many-hued and pretty. I'm surprised by all of the colors. I'd thought that jade was always just green. I consider buying something for my mom, but get nervous about getting something bad so end up passing on it altogether. Sorry, Mom.

Our hosts take pity on me and let me have a hamburger for lunch. It's delicious. I would sort of kill someone for a turkey sandwich by now. I've loved all of the food we've had so far, but I'm really feeling the need for something familiar. After lunch, I decide to wander around by myself a little and just take in their neighborhood. It's weird being out and about by myself. I'm a little nervous about not being able to find my way back home, but as I continue walking I start to recognize how the streets are named and begin to feel more confident as I go on.

I find the majority of the architecture here to be excessively ugly and depressing. M says it's because when The Nationalists came over they threw all of the buildings up quickly, thinking they'd be headed back to the mainland at any second. Slowly, as they've come to realize that they're here to stay, they've started to invest more thought and care into their buildings. So, there's a strange mix of old, decrepit and boring with modern, new and interesting. This is really apparent just on the outside edges of downtown.

taiwan, days 6 & 7

2010-03-26T17:45:00.007-06:00

We pass the previous two days fairly quietly, only tackling one major thing per day. I think we're all getting tired. On Thursday we head downtown to pick up M's sister's friend for lunch and a trip to Yingge, a small town somewhat close to Taipei that is known for its selection of pottery by local artists. The friend, who is married to a U.S. army diplomat, lives in a swanky condo in a swanky building right across the street from the Taipei 101 (that big building I talked about the other day). Seriously kids, you have not seen the likes of this (and our tax dollars are paying for it). The parking garage has fountains and marble floors and marble walls and artwork in glass cases. Yes. You read that correctly—the parking garage.

One thing I really like about China is that you can take a picture of anything and everything here and no one looks askance, but this time I get yelled at by the security guard for taking too many pictures with the warning that I not post them to the internet. So if anyone asks, you didn't see these here. Capish?

Yingge is a cute little town, I imagine it would be called quaint by others' standards, but it still seems just as densely packed as everywhere else in Taiwan to me. And people drive like maniacs. I do find a nice little piece of Taiwanese art for a really cheap price though. I can't believe how inexpensive things are here.

On Friday morning, M and I go the gym again. This time I don't feel like running so I just lift weights. I don't know if it's true of all the gyms here, but they pack a lot of equipment into kind of small spaces at this one and I find it a little difficult to maneuver. About halfway through my workout, I go to the front desk to buy some water and say, 'Can I have some shuay mo, please?' The attendant looks at me blankly so I say it again and get the same reaction. Finally, I just point at the case and say, 'Water.' That does it. Apparently, I am wrong about what I thought was Chinese for water.

For lunch, we head to a market to have 'the best sushi in town'. To understand this correctly, you need to imagine if someone in the States said, 'Let's go to King Sooper's to eat fried chicken at the deli. It's the best you'll ever have.' But even I, who kind of hates sushi, have to admit that it's pretty darn good. The experience here is thus: you show up, you bring your own beverage, you get whatever they have that day. Apparently, some days are really, really...gross. But today we get pretty lucky and nothing arrives that has legs and brains and eyeballs still attached. Whew.

After lunch we hit The National Palace Museum—a...history museum that is more focused on artwork than artifacts. When The Nationalists left mainland China and seceded to Taiwan they shipped a bunch of Chinese historical art pieces over ahead of them. Now, of course, mainland China wants them back, but the Taiwanese aren't giving them up. The museum has over 300,000 pieces that they rotate constantly. Our tour guide says that it would take 12 years to see every piece. There are some really interesting pieces here, including one that is made of 21 concentric balls carved out of ivory each nestled inside one another. Apparently they were carved out of one tusk. An hour and a half is way too short a time for me to really feel like I got much out of it, but our tour guide was very knowledgeable and it was nice to get the extra information that the displays didn't provide.

The people here do really drive like crazy people, treating traffic more like a river than an orderly progression. It's not uncommon for people to turn left in front of cars coming straight from the other direction. This attitude carries over in how the Chinese treat personal space in crowds. It's fairly common for people to just walk directly in between you and an exhibit, even stopping in front of you so they can read the display that you're reading. Or for a mob of them to just surround you while you're looking at something, trapping you there until they're ready to leave.

At dinner, M's 4-year-old nephew teaches us how to ask for water in Chinese. It is 'schuay' but I had the inflection wrong.

taiwan, day 5

2010-03-24T19:00:00.007-06:00

We decide to give our hosts a break today and M and I jump on the subway and head down to the coastal town of Danshui—situated on the northern tip of the island where the Danshui River runs into the ocean, it's the Taiwan equivalent of Coney Island. Kind of. It doesn't have an amusement park, so without that it's really just a boardwalk with a lot of weird food on sticks. I vow to at least try the Taiwanese version of the corn dog, but M warns me off saying it's really gross.

We try to find the Red Castle, a place our guidebook says is good for lunch, but can't seem to figure out where we're at on the map. So, we end up at another place right on the river. It's our first time ordering food without our hosts and we discover how hard it is to communicate with someone who has no language in common. And, we're not good at the pantomime. At one point, I absurdly start speaking some of the little Spanish I know. I'm not really sure why, my brain just defaulted to it when I couldn't think of anything else to do. At some point we get water and a coke and finally end up with some Kung Po chicken.

After lunch we take a ferry across the river and visit the town of Bali, which sprang up due to the oyster industry here apparently. We take a walk along the river and decide we like this side better than the other just because it's a little more picturesque and much more calm. And there's a weird statue of a monkey doing Tai Chi. You can't beat that with a stick.

Unlike in big American cities, the Taiwanese don't walk around with headphones stuck in their heads. I'm not sure why this is. It certainly can't be because they don't have access to the technology. I do better with the Chinese phrases I know today, but I still can't get used to how exposed you are in their public restrooms. The doors are basically just a wooden shutter, which makes me shudder. I hope I never, ever have to poop in public here. They use common sink areas to wash your hands, though, which are out of the bathroom proper and open to the main dining areas of the restaurants. I think this is ingenious. It would insure that people wash their hands when they're done I think.

Oh, and Chinese babies are just about the cutest things on the planet.

taiwan, day 4

2010-03-23T16:08:00.008-06:00

Today we take a drive through Yangmingshan National Park, up over the pass and down to the coast. We stop at various points in the park to get out and take pictures, but the Gobe is still wreaking havoc in our part of the world, so the views aren't as great as they could be. Supposedly, the city of Taipei is out there somewhere, but for all we can tell, it might've disappeared off the planet. I'm still finding the English translations on signage pretty fricking adorable.

We get to the coast in a couple of hours and find our way to the Jingmu Museum. Apparently this guy is a fairly famous (in Taiwan) Chinese sculptor who has been producing since the early 80's. The museum has intentionally left off any descriptions of his work, which he barely even titles, under the direction of the artist who, according to our guidebook, wants the viewer to interpret the pieces for himself and make the art his own. Personally, I find this kind of annoying as I'd like to learn a little more about the guy and what his motivations are. I think everyone else is happy there aren't a lot of things to read though, as I warned them beforehand that I like to read every single word when I go to a museum. The few displays we find that have any explanations at all are fairly horribly translated, so the struggle to glean any information out of them overrides any absorption of knowledge. Oh well, the sculptures are still pretty interesting. There's a huge sculpture garden out back with a truly astounding volume of work displayed, which I think everyone ends up finding to be a pretty enjoyable experience. All three of them, at least once, exclaim how much fun they're having. I guess they have a lower opinion of museums than I.

We stop for a late lunch at some small coastal town I've since forgotten the name of, where I walk into the restaurant feeling fairly nervous. All week everyone's been teasing me about making me eat squid legs and octopi heads and eel brains, so every time we go out to eat I steel myself for what might possibly be a pretty revolting experience leaving me simultaneously nauseous and hungry. After we park the car, we walk along the road looking at the wares in an open air market—wares being things that are 'swimming' around in plastic tubs of water ready for you to select them, take them home and eat them. The fish smell is overwhelming and pretty nauseating. Plus, it's hot and humid. By the time we get to the restaurant I'm fairly certain I won't be eating anything. Luckily, they picked out fairly benign things and everything came to the table cooked and pretty delicious. I typically like to be really removed from my food sources. I know this is not in vogue right now among the more enlightened set, but I don't really care. I'd much rather go to the store and get everything pre-packaged without any extraneous body parts attached. Plus, I'm still more vegetarian than not and anything having to do with handling meat kind of grosses me out. Not that I would ever turn down a hamburger or anything. (Don't worry, I realize this makes me a hypocrite.) I do find it pretty fascinating though, the culture of picking out something live to eat and then a few minutes later it shows up on your table ready to be digested.

By the time we get back to home base, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed and assaulted. Everything is so dense here and it seems like there are people everywhere. I cajole M into going to the gym with me. I run for a bit and feel re-energized and better about life in general. An aside: even though there are plenty of treadmills open, the one I am on is constantly surrounded on all sides by a rotating gaggle of little Chinese women. I can't decide if it's because of how enamored they are with westerners or just what's showing on the particular television screens above those particular treadmills.

The Chinese are an unfailingly polite and seemingly happy people. They honk their horns at other drivers (and pedestrians) and they'll run you over in a heartbeat, but you never see anyone arguing or flipping each other the bird. And they go out of their way to help westerners navigate through their world. I'm constantly amazed by this actually, because I can't imagine that it's not highly annoying to have to try to understand a language you don't know just because some dumb tourist can't be bothered to learn your native tongue. I overcompensate by using the few phrases I know over and over again to let them know I'm not entirely ignorant of the annoyance factor.

taiwan, day 3

2010-03-22T17:33:00.002-06:00

Today we hop back on the subway and head into the city for a fairly full day of touristy things. The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial is our first stop. An aside: Taipei is a fairly friendly city for non-Chinese speakers. Most of the signs have English translations written under the Chinese characters so you have some idea of what's going on. But at the two memorials we visit today, none of the displays have much translation on them, so we have to rely mainly on M's family's knowledge of who these people are and why they are important. And, I have to say, it's fairly lacking. All they know about Chiang Kai-shek is that he was a terrible despot. I will need to Google these things later in order to learn a bit about them.

After lunch we stop at the Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial on our way to Taipei 101—which, until the new skyscraper in Dubai was completed, was the world's tallest building. Nobody knows anything about Sun Yat-sen so I won't even bother. What I do learn is that unlike Americans, the Chinese don't care about having the actual 'thing' associated with the person in question in their museums. Instead, they use replicas of the objects or even just show photos of what the objects looked like at some point in time.

Next we hit the 'world's largest bookstore', but really it just seems like the world's largest department store. Maybe. I find some kitchsy, and pretty cool, Asian postcards and stickers, as well as a graphic novel which is entirely in Chinese so I have no idea what it says. The artwork's pretty great though.

The last stop of the day is Taipei 101. Here I learn a little more about the building as many of the displays are in English also, but none say why they built the building or what it's used for now. The sand has blown back in again by this point, so visibility is a bit lower than if we'd hit earlier in the day. Still pretty impressive views though.

I have learned how to use, mostly correctly I think, three phrases in Chinese (I highly doubt I'm spelling these correctly):
-Mei hao (me how) = Hello
-She she (shay shay) = Thank you (sometimes you add a 'nee' on to the end to make it extra polite, but I'm still not entirely clear on when to do that)
-Dei bo chi (dway bo chee) = Excuse me

I've also learned that Bu yao (boo yow) means, 'I don't want' but I haven't had a chance to use it yet. I'm really afraid with that one that I will say boo-ya instead and sound like a complete moron. I've also learned that when making a transaction, it is polite to hand over your money with both hands with a slight bow and to accept your change and receipt in the same manner.

taiwan, day 2

2010-03-21T18:40:00.008-06:00

We think it sounds like a good idea to be a little more active today, so when we get up we go a couple of blocks to the base of The Stairs which climb up into Yangmingshan National Park. The guidebook says there's a possibility of seeing wild monkeys, but sadly we don't make it out of bed early enough. It's weirdly (or so the locals say) really hazy today, apparently because there is sand blowing across the Taiwan Strait from The Gobe. Which is unfortunate, because a big reason to go up the steps is to see the view from the top. It's still a pretty good hike though—I'm amazed at how intertwined the city and the jungle are here.

At the end of the hike we visit 'The Buddhas'—a monestary that has a garden out back with rows upon rows of statues of the Buddha (we think). I speculate that they're illustrating some fable or another, but no one knows for sure.

That night we get invited to a friend's friend's house for an authentic Taiwanese dinner. I think the food is pretty good, but everyone else (who are pretty major foodies) think it was just ok. I'm aghast at the bathroom setup—there's barely any door (everyone could hear everything you were doing in there) and the shower is not enclosed and just hanging out there on the wall. Luckily, there's a real toilet at least. It's interesting to see how the typical people live here and our hosts are very nice and accommodating.

taiwan, day 1

2010-03-21T18:01:00.005-06:00

We get in at almost midnight after what feels like a pretty grueling day. Right before we get on the last leg of the trip out of Tokyo, the world feels like it's slowly rocking back and forth and I feel kind of nauseous and dizzy. The second after we sit down, I ask, 'Is it a bad idea to take a nap right now?' And don't even wait for the answer before I pass out, oblivious to anything that comes after for the next three hours.

Thankfully, we arrive at a decent time to go to bed and get quite a bit of sleep before we get up to start our day. The jet lag is still pretty bad though so we take it pretty easy this first day, eating a really good lunch of 'soup dumplings' at a place called Fong's. Then we walk around a little gathering up stuff for dinner, trying to stay awake. I feel like a zombie.

They have scooter parking spaces everywhere here and scooters pretty much rule the traffic world. Which I find pretty adorable.

They weren't lying about the translations of stuff into English.

that happened

2010-03-17T11:45:00.003-06:00

Well. Hello Internets. How've you been?

I have no excuses really, just pure, unadulterated laziness. And an unwillingness to talk to you people. I'm back for one reason and one reason only—M and I are headed to Taiwan for a few days and people (I'm looking at you Doug) have pressured me into writing posts about the trip. And, there's nothing I'll succumb to like a little peer pressure.

So. Here we go.

For today's post all I'll say is airports make me anxious. And, I'm a little sad that I'll miss most of the NCAA tournament. I was so happy that UNC didn't even make it in this year, that I blew off filling out my brackets until the last possible second. Therefore, they were rushed and not really well thought out. Oh well. UNC didn't even make it—what's winning a bracket pool compared to that?

climbing bliss

2010-01-17T15:27:00.006-07:00

One of the advantages to living in a place that is so close to the sun is that you get to go climbing. Outside. In the winter. Because 55º in the sunshine can feel really warm. Or at least warm enough to play around on some rock. And, yesterday that's exactly what I did. I met up with Kate and Mark, Doug and Liz and their friends, David and Jess for a really awesome day outside at North Table Mountain near Golden.

I haven't been climbing all that much since I moved to Denver. Mainly because I don't know anyone down here who likes to do said activity, but also because it seems a little more difficult to get to than it did in Fort Collins. I'm not really sure why that is either, because the reality is, there's a lot more options that are just as close by, or closer even. I think what it really is, is that I'm a chickenshit—I'm nervous to climb in front of new people. The group of people I climbed with in FtC was really laid back about it and I feel (maybe erroneously) that that's not the norm in the climbing community. And I'm afraid I would hook up with the hard core 'bras' who want to go at everything hard and don't consider it a good day unless they break an arm or something.

At any rate, for some reason, yesterday I felt really good climbing. Normally my head gets in the way and I have to struggle to get up even the simplest of routes, but yesterday I had one of those days where everything just flowed. Granted I took the easier options on two of the harder routes I tried yesterday, but still. I didn't have to hang, I made it to the anchors without falling and I climbed all three without any beta. It felt good. And I felt pleasantly wiped out when I got home last night. Instead of burned out. And, most of all, it felt great to climb with people who aren't out to shatter any records, who just wanted to have some fun in some winter sun.

I need more days like that.

* That's not me, that's Mark on 'The M Route' 5.9.

jones' pass

2010-01-10T19:46:00.004-07:00

For the first time in what seems like years, the temps soared up above 10º on Saturday, so M and I decided to get in a short snowshoe trip. This has become my favorite way to bring in the new year (along with purging and shredding), and although I'm a week late this year, I think it still counts, right? This time around we went up to Jones' Pass right outside of Empire, Colorado (on the way to Winter Park).

This trip was made all the more special because we almost gave up before we even got there. 1) It took twice as long as it should've to get to the exit off the highway — I got my first tiny taste (M says it's usually much, much worse) of what westbound I-70 traffic is like in the winter time and I have to say, I'm not fond of it. 2) Then we missed the turn-off for the trailhead and ended up going about 12 miles out of our way before we figured out we'd gone too far. We finally made it though and the 4-mile walk we did in the snow and sunshine was well worth the trouble it took.

The sun felt good on my face and there was enough of an incline to get the sluggish winter blood pumping.

happy christmas

2009-12-24T14:27:00.004-07:00

My folks and I celebrated by going on a short hike in the rain the other day.

I hope all of you out there in blogland have a merry, merry.

visiting our neighbors to the north

2009-12-14T14:53:00.010-07:00

Awhile ago, M invited me to accompany him on his trip to Toronto. He got to spend the week working and I got to spend it wandering around a pretty big city. There aren't a lot of touristy things to do in Toronto, but we ate a lot of good food and I got a lot of walking in.

For the most part the weather held out. It was gray and kind of cold, but not too wet. Except for Wednesday. That day was Deluge Day, so I decided to spend it indoors at the Art Gallery of Ontario which has a pretty decent collection of both contemporary and not so contemporary stuff. There's a whole room dedicated to Henry Moore sculptures which I spent a lot of time in as he's one of my favorites. As far as I could tell, most of the Canadian artists spend a lot of time painting landscapes which don't really do much for me, so I pretty much skipped that whole gallery.

On Friday, M took the day off of work and we went up the CN Tower. It is ostensibly a broadcast tower which seems a dull reason to build a tower, but it's supposedly the largest one of those in the world and the second largest man-made structure. We spent enough time up top to see the city in both the daylight and the night time. You know, to get both perspectives. It's always interesting to see cities from 'up above'. Everything looks so much closer together than it feels when you're on the ground walking around the bases of all of those tall buildings and it gives you a better feel for the layout of everything.

Saturday we were blessed with the one day of sunshine we had the entire week, which was good as we had plans to visit Niagara Falls. We rented a car and drove about an hour and a half south of the city to see a lot of water fall off a cliff. The Maid of the Mist boat tours were dry docked, so we just walked around up top. Everything was pretty iced over because it was so cold outside, but that added to the appeal in my mind and made the Falls a much cooler experience than it might have been otherwise. Plus, the cold weather kept the crowds to a minimum. We fantasized about pushing one of the kids over the edge just to see what would happen, but figured we might get in trouble if we actually followed through, so we kept our hands to ourselves.

Apparently people throw money into the falls for some reason. I guess to make wishes? Is any body of water considered a wishing well? After we saw the falling water, we wandered around the town of Niagara Falls a bit. It might be the gaudiest place on Earth (besides Las Vegas). I guess it would be a good distraction for any kids you might have in tow, but other than that, it seemed really random and weird.

M likes to wander around cities as much as I do, so Sunday we took the subway up north and wandered around the University of Toronto, which weirdly seemed closed for winter break already. So, all in all, I feel like I got a pretty good tour of Toronto and a decent feel for what it has to offer. I still don't really understand Canadians' fascination with the Queen though.

If you're in the know, you can see other pics on my Flickr. If you're not in the know and want to be, give me a shout.

randomosity

2009-12-05T09:08:00.006-07:00

- Somehow, over the past year or so, I've developed an allergy to tomatoes (I think). Which saddens me very greatly because I love tomatoes—in all of the forms they come in—but will probably make M5K (I can't find the posts, but he had this whole thing about trying to learn how to like tomatoes) secretly happy.

- M and I are going to Toronto next week. I'm pretty excited to visit our northern colonies and see what life is like amongst the savages. I hope there aren't too many language barriers. I'll probably come back with a toque and an inordinate love of donuts.

- I really, really like living close to a major metropolitan library. I've virtually stopped spending money on books because the DPL has so many things I want to read readily available. Unfortunately, I may've gotten a tad bit punch drunk—the other day I put about 10 things on my holds list and 7 of them came in at the same time. I don't know how I can possible get through 7 books in the next 3 weeks. I guess I should stop spending so much time online, huh?

- I have been playing way too much Scrabble® online I think. The other night I had a dream that featured lettered tiles pretty prominently. And money. That's all I can really remember.

bird day weekend ought nine

2009-11-30T17:08:00.003-07:00

This year, instead of going to Chicago like I have the past few years, I decided to go down and see A and D in Santa Fe. A little over a year ago, D decided that he wanted to try a vegan lifestyle. Despite all of the constant ribbing from his friends, he's stuck with it and claims that he feels better and actually likes the food choices. All of this to say, I was nervous about what Thanksgiving would mean with a vegan in the mix. And, I have to say, it wasn't that bad, and, in fact, I hate to say it, but the food was pretty good. It did help that A grilled up some turkey legs for us so we wouldn't be completely without some dead flesh to munch on.

On Friday we got some climbing in near The Gallows (the place we went the last time I went down) which is on the banks of The Rio Grande. Which is pretty fricking cool.

To top off the long weekend, a bunch of us went to see The Swell Season last night. What a great show. They played for almost three hours, so it definitely made the high ticket price more than worth it. Lots of energy and good chemistry between the two lead singers, despite their personal turmoil, and Glen Hansard clearly enjoys what he does for a living. He's one of those performers that likes to talk a lot between songs and give little anecdotes about where the songs come from. In my experience, this is kind of a crap shoot—some artists are great story tellers and some can't talk their way out of a parking ticket given to them by their grandma. Luckily, Mr Hansard is one of the good ones. Most possibly, the greatest part of the night was the audience. Which was made up mostly of older people and since it was a school night...the crowd thinned out before the show was even two-thirds done. Plus, there weren't as many d-bags as there normally are at most live shows, so no beer was dumped on me, I didn't have to suffer through anyone making out through the whole thing and nobody flailed their limbs around obnoxiously to every single song despite the tempo. Which all adds up to a whole lot of awesome.

I highly recommend both of their albums if you don't have them.

the best $12 i'll ever spend

2009-11-30T16:49:00.003-07:00

I had a great 'city day' today. I had to run to Boulder for a client meeting and then on the way back home, I stopped downtown to get a bunch of errands crossed off my ever-growing to-do list. I had some trouble finding a parking spot, which is almost always a concern when driving downtown, but after driving around a couple of blocks, I pulled into an open metered space and as I as getting out, a woman walked up to me and said, 'If you want to back up, I'm getting ready to leave and I have about 20 minutes left on my meter.' I smiled and thanked her and thought, 'See? Not every person in the big city is cold and ensconced in their urban bubble.'

About an hour later, I was on my last errand of the day—getting my two watches fixed [finally, dang] and I stopped at this little kiosk in the middle of the 16th Street Mall that M had told me about. I walk up to the window and tell the guy behind the glass that I need a new battery in one watch and some links taken out of the band on the other, so he invites me to come around back and sit inside while he works. His name is Papa (not entirely sure of the spelling) and he's been in Denver for about 8 years. He grew up in Senegal and went to school in Lille, France because Senegal was originally a French colony, so most people from there go to France for University. He speaks three (!) languages fluently—French, English and Spanish and he came to Denver because he had friends here. He loves the winters here because he never saw snow as a kid.

Now, if you know me even a little bit, you know that I am the least likely person to have long, in-depth conversations with complete strangers, but holy crap, in this instance, I'm so glad I did. The cash I gave him to fix my watches seemed a small price to pay for what he gave me in return.* This is what it means to take care of your customers. I will recommend him to everyone I know and will go back every time I need a watch fixed, no matter how far away I am.

* Sorry for the hippy, dippy, feel-good, claptrap, but I just can't help it, it was a really great experience.

mr mandela

2009-11-22T15:33:00.003-07:00

Here's another in the 'People I've Never Met' series. This one is also for a little art swap that a friend started on Facebook. Some woman I've never met named, Mim, will soon get this in the post.

it's been a while

2009-11-17T11:12:00.005-07:00

I haven't been drawing much lately, I blame it on a creative malaise, but the other day I was reading about a current contest titled 'People I Have Never Met and Conversations I Have Never Had' which got me to thinking about the endless list of people I have never met and it inspired a portrait of ol' Einstein. What do you think?

bergen peak

2009-11-08T09:59:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was quite possibly the last nice day we will see here in Colorado for awhile, so M and I decided to take advantage and go for a hike.

We got a late start so we chose something not very strenuous and somewhat close by - Bergen Peak in the Jefferson County Open Space right outside of Evergreen. Which is about a 30 minute drive from Denver.

It was a nice walk in the woods. We ran into quite a bit of snow and mud, but other than that it was really enjoyable. Mostly shady without too many steep climbs, even though the guide book said we'd gain 1500'. It didn't feel too bad. We passed four different people running up the damn thing too, so that probably says a lot about how difficult of a hike it is. Just goes to show that no matter how 'active' you think you are, there's always someone out there to put you in your place.

I didn't have my camera with, and my iPhone wasn't really up to the task, but hopefully you can kind of get an idea of the really nice views from this pretty terrible photo.

in my inbox - social studies

2009-11-06T12:06:00.007-07:00

Social Studies is a fairly-newly-formed pop outfit from San Francisco who are getting ready to tour on their newest album, Wind-up Wooden Heart.

From their site:

Social Studies tempers the Fiery Furnaces with a love of unadulterated pop songwriting and arms the Decemberists with Casiotones instead of accordions, dropping pop gems that aren’t afraid to be raw and gentle all at the same time.

Honestly, the Fiery Furnaces reference almost made me turn away without even listening as they're quite possibly the most overrated indie pop band of The Oughts, but since I love The Decemberists, I decided to go ahead and give Social Studies a chance. I'm pretty happy I did, they had me tapping my thumb on my steering wheel the entire drive back from Boulder yesterday. Mostly, I would agree with their synopsis of their sound, but throw Rilo Kiley in there also for themes and style of singing.

They're offering up 'The Hourglass', a 'double' off of their new album, as a free download.

“The Hourglass” shows Social Studies maturing, turning more personal and insightful. It is an anthem for the modern world, encouraging you to grab hold of your neighbor’s hand, jump up and down, and let life wash over you.

You can download 'The Hourglass' from their site here.

Or just wait for the album to come out. Whichever.

away we go

2009-10-28T17:27:00.004-06:00

I don't care that none of the critics really cared for this movie, I thought it was pretty great. It was funny and poignant, the writing was good and the acting was pretty spot on. It was directed by the guy who did American Beauty and written by Dave Eggers and his wife, so there's no way it could be terrible. Despite what the critics say. Maybe their expectations were just too high?

Plot: A couple, that is expecting a baby in about three months, find that they will suddenly have no family nearby, and, terrified that they might be 'fuck ups' they set off in search of a better place to live and a strong desire to right themselves before they become responsible for another human being. Along the way they learn how not to be parents by seeing the pretty outlandish and glorious 'fuck-ups' that comprise their friends and family.

Probably its biggest detriment is that, at times, it's maybe a little overly sweet. But just as it starts to become too saccharine, something hilarious happens to keep your teeth from hurting too much. It has a pretty predictable ending also, but by the time it comes you're rooting so hard for the main characters that you don't really want it to end any other way. Or at least, that's how I felt.

i have been doing stuff

2009-10-26T16:44:00.006-06:00

• A couple of weekends ago, A and D came into town for the ostensible purpose of seeing some Russian chick play some Russian compositions with The Denver Symphony, but they managed to work in some time to go climbing out at Table Mountain in Golden. I slept in and joined them and K and M (who came up from the Springs for the day) around lunchtime. I had a really shitty climbing day, but as D says, 'Even a bad day climbing can still be a pretty good day.' Once again, I failed to take my camera, but K has a pretty good write-up and some pictures over on her corner of the bunny.

• I missed Wednesday's Boot Camp class because it was snowing and even I have to draw the line somewhere, so I ended up going on Thursday and Friday and decided that two days in a row is completely untenable. I'm still exhausted and I didn't exercise at all yesterday or today.

• D and A were still in town this past weekend, so on Saturday we went hiking. We ambled around in the White Ranch Open Space outside of Golden for a few hours and, after we were done, learned we went 6 miles. Pretty good considering none of us really felt like doing it before we began.

• P and D had their annual Pumpkin Carving Party on Saturday. I took M along which I was kind of nervous about, since my Fort Collins friends can be weird about such things. Thankfully, no one spazzed out and I'm fairly certain good impressions were made all around.

• Last night I met M's parents. Friend N is pretty freaked out about it too, since '[I] don't do things like meet the parents.' And she's right, it has been a really long time since I've had to endure such a thing. I also accidentally took a couple of sleeping pills instead of aspirin beforehand, so there was lots of opportunity for things to go seriously awry. Fortunately, dinner was short and my tendencies toward insomnia are stronger than OTC sleepy time and I made it home before I could fall face down in M's mom's homemade meal. Which was delicious by the way. And, M is still talking to me, so apparently the drugs didn't cause me to say or do anything too asinine.

Feel all caught up? I do.

the ides of october

2009-10-14T12:39:00.006-06:00

I just looked at my archive and realized that I've only posted once this month. And the month's almost half gone. I've been neglectful I guess. Mostly because I've been really busy, but with pretty boring things, so there hasn't been much to talk about.

on work:
I got a couple of new clients, a financial group up in Fort Collins and a water bottle company in Boulder, and did a tiny little project for another possible new client based out of Vancouver, so all of that plus my regular clients added up to me having a lot of work this month. Which made me feel like it was ok to buy a new pair of jeans the other day.

on exercising:
I've been taking this Boot Camp class three times a week instead of lifting weights and at first I didn't think it was really doing anything, but this week I've had to move my belt down a notch in order to keep my pants on, so I guess something is going on and I don't think it's just because my butt has become more non-existent than it was before. I've still been getting in some bouldering at the gym too and the occasional long run here and there, so I haven't completely become one of those group class zombies you meet in the suburbs.

on having a personal life:
All I'll say is that dating is kind of expensive, but it's nice to not spend your whole life watching a bunch of television.

randomness:
Basketball season officially starts (for me) on Friday with Late Night. It's really the only reason to get excited about October (for me), so I'm very much looking forward to it. Now something else can fill my time besides comic books and masturbation (not at the same time).

Although I have been getting into football this year, both college and professional. I have to admit, it feels kind of weird to like this pretty pointless activity. But, both of 'my' teams are 5 and 0, and that makes it pretty exciting.

So, that's it really. Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving.

volcano choir's unmap

2009-10-04T08:33:00.005-06:00

Warning: This album is not user friendly. Unless you like strange falsetto warbling, whole minutes gone by without a single vocal, whole songs gone by with many different vocal utterances (none of which are actual words) and lots and lots of odd noises.

However. If you are looking for something that's out of the ordinary or something that doesn't sound like every other album out there or if you are as in love with Justin Vernon, of Bon Iver, as I am, then you're in luck.

Husks And Shells - Volcano Choir

hush arbors release yankee reality

2009-09-24T11:33:00.013-06:00

Musicwise, not much has been keeping my attention these days. I liked the new-to-me-but-really-old J Tillman album I downloaded last month. And the new Cave Singers effort was pretty great, but really, not much else has been able to even muster up a 'Oh. That's ok. I can listen to that.' in a good long while.

However, I may have just landed on a diamond in the middle of a pile of dog turds. Generally, I find that free music downloads sent out by labels aren't really worth the effort of hitting, 'Save file to' so most of the time, if I haven't heard of the band, I don't bother. The other day though, I got an email from Terrorbird with a promo download of an entire album. Which, thinking I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, I decided to actually check out. I mean, free is free and an entire album? Can't pass it up.

I am pretty glad I did. Hush Arbors' latest effort, Yankee Reality is kicking some a all over my living room. He has a type of voice that I generally don't like and all in all he makes music that normally I probably wouldn't listen to, but it seems like that may be a good thing as it may get me out of my rut. Maybe I just needed to explore some boundaries or something?

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about him.

The new album comes out on Oct 6th.

Sun Shall - Hush Arbors

fall is here

2009-09-20T17:46:00.004-06:00

M and R and I drove up to Kenosha Pass today (along with 5,000 other people) to look at the aspens shed their casual, summer clothes and put on their fall splendor. It was purty. And we got in a 5-mile hike. Which we nullified with hot dogs and cheeseburgers and french fries and R made a couple of new girlfriends in the line at a restaurant called Coney Island Dogs.

it can be this good

2009-09-17T13:54:00.003-06:00

the last summer weekend

2009-09-14T10:25:00.004-06:00

I was sorely remiss this summer. I did not go climbing outside even once. I had a good excuse for June and July - moving and a long vacation, but for August I think the only thing I can say is I was lazy. So when Doug invited me to go up to Vedauwoo this weekend, I sighed heavily and packed up my gear.

Seems the climbing gods were kind of pissed at me though, as the weather was pretty cold and cloudy and we had to compete for routes with both the Colorado Mountain College and the Boy Scouts. So, I only got a couple of routes in.

None of us took a camera either, so you'll just have to imagine it all for yourself.

even punks fall in love

2009-09-09T14:32:00.003-06:00

I just finished a new painting. In a completely different style than I've been working in recently. I'm not sure it entirely works. It's kind of hard to see it exactly from these crappy pictures, but critique and comments welcome.

labor(less) day

2009-09-09T14:25:00.003-06:00

To honor the proletariat all across the world. M and I headed up close by Mt. Audubon in Indian Peaks Wilderness. It's one of the 13-footers, so up towards the top it got a little hard to breathe. The trail was a little crowded, but not nearly as badly as one of the close-by 14-footers I'm sure. Which is sort of why we chose it. The views were still pretty breathtaking and the annoyance factor was pretty low.

Of course I forgot to put sunblock on my legs so now I look like a lobster from the knees down.

another thing to check off the list

2009-08-10T16:05:00.007-06:00

I had my first bike wreck in Denver yesterday. Because I am a klutzy moron and tried to go up over a curb that I didn't know was a curb. It's a long story. Anyway, I didn't get too banged up:

Just one pretty good scrape on my elbow, one on my hand, one on my shoulder and my left leg is a giant bruise from hip to knee. All in all I feel pretty lucky. Trust me, it could've been much, much worse.

Luckily, it was Sunday and there weren't too many people out, so I avoided getting run over in the process of looking like a retard who doesn't know how to ride a bike.

And, yes, Mom, I was wearing my helmet.

The big question of the day is this: I'm almost 39 years old, when do I get to stop wrecking on my bike?

finale

2009-07-31T16:46:00.001-06:00

I finally got pics up on Flickr. Fair warning: I was apparently really excited about seeing the prairie.

2009-07-31T14:36:00.004-06:00

what's that smell?

2009-07-30T21:47:00.012-06:00

10 states + 4,311 miles + 14 days + 5 games of Scrabble + 3 hikes + 6 friends + 2 parents + 1 grandparent + 120 gallons of gas + 3 nights in a hotel + 1 museum visit + ~4 million clouds + 10 ticks + 2 client meetings + 2 old dogs and 1 not so old one + ~2,000 mutant chiggers + 1 really great show + 54 hours in the car = one really freaking awesome vacation.

It's cold in Denver. And my apartment smelled like old mustard when I walked in the door. I had a great drive through western Kansas today and I'm a little sad that my vacation is done, but I'm ready to get back to real life and a more normal schedule.

…jiggity, jig

2009-07-29T18:00:00.008-06:00

I have done a piss-poor job of updating this with travel news. So this will be a brief recap. Mostly because I really don't feel like typing all that much. The Chicago leg of the trip was full of booze and beef and bars and (art). On Friday we hung out in Millenium Park, saw the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute (It was so fricking cool. They have so many great pieces in their collection and the traveling exhibit they currently have on display—Cy Twombley—is one of the best things I've ever put my eyeballs on.) and then got to see what I imagine will be the best show I see all year at a venerable institution in the indie music hipster scene—The Wrens at Schuba's. There's not a bad place to stand in the whole venue. It's so tiny, I imagine you feel like you're pretty much right up there on stage with the band no matter where you are, but we were pretty close.

On Saturday we slept in, walked around Andersonville and generally just hung out. Then T and I left and headed south to Kansas City. I've never driven through Iowa before and I have to say that there's some purty country. And they have really fancy rest stops. Man, I really miss the prairie. Especially the skies. I mean, just look at that.

At home, we played a lot of Scrabble and got in some walks, some runs and one very bug-infested hike. Now, it's time to head back to Denver. I think I'm mostly ready to go back. I think. I've really enjoyed my time with my folks, and I certainly wouldn't mind just staying here for a good long while (until they got sick of me and kicked me out), but I guess I need to get back to reality. I do have quite a few projects waiting for me upon my return, plus a brand new city to explore.

I'll get the rest of the pics up on Flickr soonish. I don't have enough want to right now.

jesus saves, i spend*

2009-07-23T09:15:00.004-06:00

I really do enjoy driving through this great country of ours, especially if I'm seeing new things. Even if just in passing on the highway. But. I'm happy to be out of the car for a few days.

Every time I come to Chicago, to see my friend T, we walk through downtown Andersonville and I take a picture of this sign.

This particular trip to Chicago will be mostly just hanging out I think and not doing too much touristy stuff. Which is totally fine with me. I've done most of it before.

Oh and I went for a run this morning and discovered that what they say about running at sea level after spending a long time 'training' in the mountains is totally true. I felt like I was going pretty slowly, but if the RunTracker app on my iPhone is to be believed, I ran 6.31 miles in 32:06. Which is completely ridiculous. And totally awesome.

*completely, unabashedly stolen from St. Vincent.

america the weird

2009-07-22T06:01:00.002-06:00

Yesterday morning, before getting back on the road, I stopped and saw the portraits of dead leaders carved into rock. And all I could think of was how I could put a rope on Lincoln's head and climb up his nose. It is a pretty impressive thing they did there, especially considering all they used was dynamite and compressed air.

Last night I only made it to La Crosse, Wisconsin. Minnesota foiled me with countless miles of road construction and one really terrific storm that made me pull over to the side of the road to wait it out. So, today will be fairly leisurely since I have all day to get to Chicago and it will only take me about four hours.

For a lot more pics of the Presidents go here.

wyoming had this to say about it

2009-07-20T21:09:00.002-06:00

Two days of action packed fun in Montana ended today. I have learned to loathe driving through Wyoming, but this afternoon, the little northeast corner wasn't all that bad. I had hoped to make it a little further today, but I landed in Rapid City so I can get up kind of early and go see the dead Presidents that are carved into the rock. And maybe the Badlands. If I have time. Then. On to the Windy City.

i'm in missoula

2009-07-17T15:26:00.003-06:00

So, Thursday morning I woke up and decided to go try and fix the whole license plate situation. Mostly because the police officer I spoke with the night before scared me about officers 'approaching me at gunpoint' if I happened to get pulled over. Another reason to love Denver, I got that shit done in 10 minutes and for only $5.50. That's pretty sweet. I was imagining 5 hrs and about 5 times that much.

At any rate, the upshot was I was able to leave on my trip at the time planned.

The only negative so far is that it took me 11 HOURS to get through Wyoming. There is something evil about Wyoming that I can't put my finger on. Some really negative energy or something that causes mayhem and misdeeds every time I try to get through it. Thankfully, it was all washed away once I hit the beautiful state of Idaho and I made it to Missoula today in no time flat.

p.s. I know that I am an uber Apple® geek anyway, but I just want everyone to know that I absolutely love my iPhone. Like love, love it. For someone as obsessed with 'being in touch' as I am, it is the perfect gadget. This morning, I answered email and checked Google Reader while I was eating breakfast. In a diner. That didn't have WiFi. AWESOME.

one positive, one negative

2009-07-15T18:20:00.005-06:00

Last night I met a friend at The Hi-Dive on Broadway to see the makers of my favorite album last year, The Rural Alberta Advantage. I decided I wanted to walk down there just so I could see more of my 'hood, he thought this was crazy and told me he was going to drive. But it was not crazy. I learned about a lot of things that are located on Broadway. Things that I'd heard tell of, but didn't know where they were. Things like The Mayan—an independent movie theater that everyone raves about. They're currently playing a movie I really want to see also, Moon, so it appears that I'll be walking back down that way in the near future. If it's still there when I get back from vacation. Anyway, The RAA had two opening bands, Sandusky and some really, truly terrible emo/punk band who deserve to have their fingers chopped off for the really awful lyrics they write:

I am the wind / separating on your skin

I complained loudly and often during their set.

Then the RAA came out and all was forgotten. The show was awesome. They are one of those bands who, live, sound exactly like they do recorded. Only better. Richer. More tingly-inducing. Or something. As they only have one album out, their set was pretty short, but for only $10 it felt like a pretty good deal. If you don't have it yet, you really should get their debut, Hometowns. It originally released in 2008, but then in June they signed to Saddle Creek, so it got re-released this month. They're from Alberta, Canada and thanked us for coming out to see them between every song. I still can't believe that I live so close to so many cool things to do.

Today, I went out to my car to throw my camping stuff in the trunk because I'm headed out on the Great American Road Trip tomorrow (Montana > Chicago > Kansas City > Anderson, Mo > Denver) and saw a ticket on my car. This after getting two tickets last week for being in the way of the street sweeper. At first I got all indignant because I'd paid attention to the street sweeping signs this time. I opened up the ticket to see what the violation was and it said, 'missing front license plate.' I thought, 'What the hell?...' and went and looked. Sure enough it's gone. So I filed a police report online and have no idea what happens now. Plus, I'm going to be gone for two weeks. Hopefully, I won't get stopped by every cop in America before I get back to town and can deal with it. Who steals only one license plate? What good will it possibly do them?

i've been a busy bee

2009-07-12T17:06:00.004-06:00

Thursday: I met a somewhat new friend for dinner at a vegetarian restaurant in my new 'hood. Despite my attempts to limit the amount of carbs I stuff into my body, I decided to have this really good pasta with portabella mushrooms and broccoli on top. I swear it tasted like it had bacon in it. So, either they're lying about being vegetarian or they've discovered a way to make tofu taste like bacon. If the latter is the case, I will buy tofu by the boatload.

Friday: Another dinner out with another brand-new friend. And a complete opposite restaurant in all regards. Deep fried Polish food soaked in butter and all sorts of sauce and then deep fried again. I think. I ran a lot on Saturday.

Saturday: A third old friend invited me to go to a different library branch than the main one. Weirdly it is only a few blocks from the main branch, so I'm not sure who decided they needed another one right there, but oh well. So, I am now the proud owner of a Denver Library card. Oh the power. I did come out of there with 7 cds, so that's pretty awesome.

Then some friends from FtC came down and we went to something that I've been waiting for for a very long time: Bon Iver live. All I will say is it was magical and awesome and I am extremely happy that I got the opportunity to see him perform. I was so enamored that not only did I not mind the group singalong at the end (which I normally abhor), but I almost even enjoyed it. One of the reasons that I chose this neighborhood in particular when looking for a new home is that it's fairly close (within walking or biking) distance to a ton of live music venues that all play music I like to listen to. So this will hopefully only be the start of a lot of great shows.

Sunday: On Friday I had to break up with expensive gym lady. I don't think she was all that pleased, but I say, 'Suck it expensive gym lady. Your shit is too pricey for not very much in return.' So today I went and checked out the local Y. Better. But still more than what I want to pay for a gym membership. I may just have to suck it up and deal.

This week's urban lesson. Always carry a bag with you, with the following items in it: a rain jacket, a hat, a bottle of water, your wallet, phone, keys and iPod, a book, a map and maybe if you remember to go buy one, an umbrella.

things i learned along the way

2009-07-09T11:30:00.006-06:00

1) Today I didn't have a ton of work to do, so I decided to walk downtown to do two things: buy an iPhone (ohmygodi'msoexcited) and get a library card. It took less time to get there than I thought it would, which was awesome because now I know that I can easily walk downtown if I want to—I don't have to automatically get on my bike.

2) I always think of Denver as not being a real city. I think of it as being a gathering of people who wanted to be close to the mountains, but not have the troubles of living in The Bumps. So it always surprises me when I see things in Denver that you would find in nearly any big city. Things like shoeshine stands, convenience stores that don't have gas pumps and people who've clearly never gone on a hike a day in their lives.

3) I have officially learned this lesson: always, always, always check online first. I stopped in at the library on my way back (whoa! the downtown branch is HUGE!) and discovered that I needed a driver's license and some piece of mail with my address on it in order to get a card. So, no library card for d today. Sad can't check out any free books or music face.

4) This morning I ran down to the really large park that's about 7 blocks away to run some laps around it and then come back. This was my second time doing this. Both times I say good morning to everyone I pass both coming and going. I'm pretty sure people think I'm weird 'cause I only get a couple of responses back. Most people just ignore me. But in FtC nearly everyone would say, 'Hi,' or 'Good morning,' in return. Sometimes they'd even say it first. I've been in big cities enough in my life to know that most people exist within their urban bubbles, but I'm sorry, I don't want to live that way. So, I'm going to keep saying 'hi' and 'good morning' to folks and they can just deal.

god, that was a really good wknd

2009-07-05T12:01:00.003-06:00

Saturday: A friend and I got up fairly early and drove to Boulder and then hiked up Mt Sanitas. Which isn't so much a 'Mount' really, but still a pretty steep climb. As, you can see from the pic, a thousand other people thought this might also be a good way to start off the day—which, unlike a lot of people out here, I don't mind at all. I think it's great to see the trails getting so much use as long as everyone is respectful both of Mama Nature and the other folks trying to enjoy her. Which most people out here seem to be.

I came back home and finished unpacking (mostly), took a little nap and then drove up to Ft C to see some friends and eat some grilled meat. It was a great night full of cheap beer, failed prank tricks involving the densest cake known to man and some kind of dangerous sparklers.

Oh. And some pretty great City Park fireworks courtesy of good ol' Ft C herself.

Sunday: Today, instead of the Noah's Ark-level flooding rains predicted we got sunshine and cool temps so I decided to walk over to the grocery store (instead of drive) to see my neighborhood and also see if this particular way of hunting and gathering would be worth it in the future. Also, I got a really great parking spot right in front of my building last night and I'm gonna hold onto that baby as long as possible.

On my morning excursion I saw two men walking back from church holding hands (awesome), got attacked by not one, but two different pigeons (this is why birds freak me out people—they sense my fear and try to perpetuate the reasons for the phobia) and I swear that a man sitting outside the grocery store asked me, 'Would you like to find love today?' Luckily I had my headphones in and could pretend that I had not heard him.

The sum total of my city experience today was that I need to either quit drinking diet coke or get really, really strong. Because even though it only took me ten minutes to walk back from the store, that is still a long way to carry a 12-pack.

Today, right this second, I am so fucking happy I moved here and I am totally in love with my apartment, my neighborhood and my life. This could change at any minute, but for now I am just going to enjoy it.

i will not be a shut-in

2009-07-03T16:36:00.006-06:00

I rode my bike through downtown Denver today for the first time and didnotdie. So stop worrying, Mom. I'll be ok. I went the wrong way down several one-way streets, ran through some stop lights that I didn't notice because I was trying to look at the map in my hand and got honked at exactly once when I didn't even think I was doing anything wrong. BUT. I did not die.

I also met a friend for lunch today, stopped by my bank where I learned that I didn't need to transfer my accounts down here (which is kinda weird), and started a trial membership at a gym that is sooooooo not my speed. Machines instead of free weights, an attached spa for chrissakes and pilates classes. All for the low, low (high, high) price of $79/mo (!!!!!!!!!!!! - living in a city is more expensive than Bumpkinville). I did sit in the steam room though, which was pretty frickin' awesome.

The other task I accomplished today was doing laundry in the building's communal laundry room. What is proper etiquette here? Can I take up both of the washing machines and dryers at the same time? Or is that bad form? It did allow me to get my laundry done in an hour and a half though, which was pretty frickin' great. Plus, I got no nasty notes scrawled on my laundry basket and as far as I know, no one stole my underwear, so it didn't seem like I'd done anything too terrible.

Awesome things about Denver's tv channels? - FOUR Spanish channels. FOUR. Thatissoawesome. I love Spanish television.

So, see? I left the house today and survived. Tomorrow I might even go on a hike.

it's been a rollercoaster

2009-07-02T19:56:00.004-06:00

One morning I'll wake up and think this is the best thing since automatic hand towel dispensers were imagined by whatever genius had that idea, the next day I'll wake up and think this was possibly the worst decision I've ever made, including that time I bought orange pants.

I've got all my stuff here. Most of it is unpacked. I still need to hang pictures. And find the bolts that attach the headboard to the bed frame. I got rid of a lot of stuff before I moved, but seeing it all in this little space makes me think I need to get rid of more.

I found the grocery store on Tuesday and still need to find a coffee shop, a pharmacy and a gym. I saw several homeless people on my run this morning, but even in a big city it was possible for me to run in the street (I hate running on the sidewalk) without any fear of getting run over. It was 5.30 in the morning, but I still expected a lot of people to be out and about.

I feel a little like I'm back in college, living in the dorm again. But that's not entirely a bad feeling. I've also decided that I need to think of this new domicile as less of a home and more of a home base. Even though a very, very small part of me feels like I took a step backward, I really like not being a home owner. Life feels freer and more simple. Plus, I really like not having to mow the lawn. God how I hated that chore.

those darlins / red light love

2009-06-24T12:28:00.003-06:00

I've actually heard of/read about Those Darlins before on other music blogs that I read, I'd just never really tried all that hard to find one of their albums. They sounded like something I'd be ok with listening to—bluegrass-y/alternative country, but there's something about an all female band that just has never done a lot for me. I know this sounds really, really sexist, and it pretty much is, and I have no excuse, just that every other all-girl band that I've ever heard of was sort of douchey and pretentious and maybe tried to hard to prove things. e.g. 4 Non Blondes.

Anyway, I got this in my mailbox the other day and didn't really have time to give it a listen until this morning. And, honestly, I wasn't really that motivated to, but listen I finally did and I have to say, that it's actually pretty good. Sort of 50's Rockabilly if there is such a thing.

Apparently they're going on tour this summer also. And they're on facebook.

Red Light Love - Those Darlins

just call me benjamin button

2009-06-22T18:50:00.004-06:00

Most people in life follow similar paths: get born > grow up > move out of parents' house > get married > buy house of their own > have kids > grow old > die. This happens because it's a fairly logical progression. For whatever reasons though, my life has not necessarily gone by The Plan. Honestly, I used to worry about this. A lot. And I still do to a certain extent: what am I missing out on? Why have I not sought out what is the normal way of getting things done? Will I die before seeing the pyramids? But mostly, I'm totally cool with it. I think things happen certain ways for a reason, and we usually don't learn the reason until much after the fact.

So, recently, when I finally decided that home ownership was just not for me, no matter how much I wanted it to be, and how much I felt like it was what I was Supposed To Do, I gave in and decided it was time to just sell the damn thing. About a month ago, some lucky couple snatched it up and I am finally going to be a freer man. And I've decided to move to the booming metropolis of Denver. For me, this is a big move. Despite one very brief stint, I've never lived in a city as big as Denver and frankly, I'm not a small amount of nervous about it. It has me thinking that once again I'm doing things backwards. Whereas most people move to large urban areas when they're young and full of energy and move to the suburbs when they're old and tired, I'm doing it the other way around. I've always been a late bloomer though and this is just another instance where I'm about twenty years late.

Part of me kind of wishes I could back out of it and just stay put, but the larger part knows that this will end up being a good thing. I'll have more access to work and hopefully a larger social circle to choose from. Plus, hopefully, I'll be able to save a lot of money and finally be able to travel to all of the places I've always wanted to see. Which are many and varied.

At any rate, regardless of what happens, I'm once again, packing up the moving truck and hitting the road. Wish me luck.

i'm officially a sheeple

2009-06-19T12:13:00.001-06:00

Yeah. I'm on Twitter now, dammit. Sorry. It is pretty addictive though.

be a mother lover

2009-06-08T12:46:00.003-06:00

Ad Camp (my business) has decided to start offering up t-shirt designs. We've partnered with Zoo City Apparel in Missoula, Montana who will handle the printing and shipping for us.

Go here to order yours.

patterson hood / murdering oscar

2009-06-08T10:55:00.006-06:00

In what is a first for this here blog, a music rep emailed me an mp3* and suggested that I might want to post it and pimp it. Maybe she thinks I'm a music blog. What she doesn't realize is that almost no one reads it, so her effort was maybe wasted. Joke's on her I guess.

I neither hate nor love what she sent along, but for some reason I feel compelled to do as she requested and post the darn thing. For the sheer novelty of the experience I guess.

It's Patterson Hood's (of Drive By Truckers fame) latest solo effort. I have never been able to jump on the band wagon of the DBT's. Which is odd considering their music should be right up my alley. There's just something about them that doesn't sit right. Their voices? Their kind of not so good lyrics? I don't know but every time I hear one of their songs, I just think, 'Eh.'

I Understand Now - Patterson Hood

*If this is the start of a trend, maybe I'll become a music blog after all. What do you think?

the start of something big

2009-06-02T09:09:00.004-06:00

In the timeless activity of teenagers everywhere during every age, the four of them had been driving along that dark, dirt, country road late at night, or early in the morning (whichever way you thought of it). Outside it had been full of that kind of hovering, hungry dark that seems to fill up all the spaces and wants to molest anything possessed of light and life—to devour it. The feeble glow from the headlights strained to illuminate their way and they either uncomfortably avoided looking out the windows altogether or squinted to see what was not there. They had been laughing nervously about something stupid, the radio playing softly in the background when suddenly, surprisingly, there was a dark flutter of some flying thing, followed instantly by a loud thump. Instinctively, they all turned their heads to look out the back window, even Scott, who was driving, craned his head around just as he slammed on the brakes.
'Oh my god,' Katie whispered. 'You hit something.'
'What was that?'
'I think we hit a bird,' David, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, said. 'A fucking bird. Who hits a bird with their car? How does that fucking happen even?'
They sat in the stopped car for a bit, silent, wondering what to do next, reluctant to leave the soft dashboard glow which provided a small amount of comfort against the voracious night.
'Someone should go look.'
'I'm not going out there.'
'What good would it do? We can't do anything for it. Plus, it could be anywhere, how would we find it?'

Somehow a crazy idea spread slowly from one to the other that the hitting of the bird, the possible killing of this animal, portended something glorious. It was rare to kill a bird with a car. Not so much the furred ones, but the feathered beasts? It was unheard of. Surely it meant something shiny, right? Not something twisted and sinister. Regardless of how the darkness felt. Scott, laughing, pressed his foot down on the accelerator and they drove away from whatever possibilities were created there.

rabbit, run by john updike

2009-05-21T19:58:00.006-06:00

Upon hearing of John Updike's departure from this mortal coil in what?, this past January?, I realized that I'd never actually sat down and read any of Updike's extensive catalog of work. Of course I'd heard of him—seemingly as the author of somewhat salacious novels about modern day witches and somesuch—but I'd never bothered to actually crack open the cover of any of them. Mostly because they were seemingly salacious novels about modern day witches and somesuch.

Well, it took me awhile to get around to it, but a couple of weeks ago, I made a trek to the library and picked up a copy of arguably his most famous novel, Rabbit, Run. I figured since he was dead and all, he didn't really need any more money, so borrowing it was better than actually owning it. Especially if I didn't like it. What I wasn't expecting was a well-written, highly entertaining, hard to put down, really great story. About a protagonist with a dilemma that nearly every single one of us can relate to—the desire to escape the mundaneness of every day life. And Updike has a command of the language that can be simply amusing or stunningly breathtaking:

He doesn't want to go down along the water anyway; his image is of himself going right down the middle, right into the broad soft belly of the land, surprising the dawn cottonfields with his northern plates.

The beginning of the story finds Rabbit impulsively getting into his car after a long day and a run-in with his increasingly unattractive wife, and heading out on the open road. Surprisingly,he ends up turning around the very second he makes a wrong turn and gets a little lost, so his desire for escape is somewhat tepid at best, but still, he yearns.

The rest of the book explores the paradox of how easy it seems on the surface to escape from the mire of one's life, but how in reality, it's extremely difficult. Every time Rabbit thinks he's making a little bit of progress, something or someone comes along and sucks him right back down to the bottom. And, really when it comes right down to it, Rabbit doesn't want to leave all that badly. He's just a wee bit bored. And full of himself. The main problem is, in the end, that Rabbit is a bit of a douche and if he had half as much backbone as he thinks he does, he'd have had absolutely no problem whatsoever leaving this life he supposedly detests. Something he says about halfway through the book sums up his story in its entirety:

'If you have the guts to be yourself, other people will pay your price.'

All in all, it was a well written, charming story full of graphic sex and middle-class suburban adventure, but I'm not all that inspired to read the rest of the series.

how big is your bladder?

2009-05-12T20:24:00.004-06:00

Ask anyone who knows me pretty well, and they'll confirm that this is true: I'm sort of obsessed with bodily functions. I love experiencing them. I love hearing about other people's experiences with them and I especially love talking about them. I'm not shy about sharing my experiences with others either. I will happily pee, fart, burp, pick my nose, whatever, whenever. No matter who else is around. I am fascinated with the daily episodic experiment that is being a human. Therefore, when I recently ran across the website, Daytum, it's probably not much of a surprise that I decided to use it to record my daily bodily functions. As friend, t attested, 'It's like it was made with just you in mind.'

And it was.

The guy who started the website decided one year to create an annual report of his life, and he kept track of literally everything. How much money he spent, how many hours he slept, how many beers he drank. When he got done with the year, he published the results just like a company would. Then he turned to the dub dub dub to bring his vision to the rest of the world. Of course, I have neither the patience nor the time to go into that much detail, so for now, I'm just keeping track of how many times I pee (among other things). Just that number alone is extremely fascinating.

the bidness side of things

2009-05-04T14:37:00.003-06:00

My business partner and I finally got our business website redesigned and prettier and more function-y. We also added a blog where we hope to expound on many marketing related topics. Feel free to check it out and follow along.

If we start doing the t-shirts like we're talking about doing, we'll probably post new shirts on the blog. So. You know. You might want to check it out occasionally. Or not. Whatever.

swine-y

2009-05-01T12:03:00.004-06:00

Remember the old 'Keep Calm' posters from WWII times? I thought I'd take the current 'crisis' and use it to twist that old message. I'm thinking about maybe turning it into a t-shirt.

the mongol herdsman

2009-04-26T20:04:00.003-06:00

Friend P won free tickets to see The Thermals playing at The Marquis Theater in Denver on Friday and since D decided to be a lame-o and bail on him, I got to go instead. But I would've paid. Honest. And, weirdly for a Friday night and a fairly popular band (or at least I thought so anyway) they weren't sold out, so I could've. The Shaky Hands, another band I love quite a bit, opened. They put on a pretty good, albeit short, show and the place was still empty enough at this point to see them pretty well. This was one of those weird times that the band looked exactly like I'd pictured them. Imagine Bob Ross growing his hair really, really long and learning how to play bass. Or a bunch of highly social misfits who know how to rock. Either one.

Then it was The Thermals' turn. And their set was killer. They rock just as good live as they do on record. Sadly for P, by this point the place had filled up pretty well and The Mongol Herdsman decided to stand right in his way. And I got to stand next to Too Drunk to Stand Up, But Not Too Drunk to Wave My Arms in the Air and Almost Decapitate the People Around Me guy. And the Couple Who Likes to Square Dance (and Get In Everyone's Way) Even to Punk Music Which Isn't Really Square Danceable.

Other than the minor annoyances provided by the crowd, the show was great, they played almost all of my favorite songs and it really made me want their new album even though I doubt they'll be able to top their last, The Body, The Blood, The Machine.

this is the last one, i promise

2009-04-26T12:45:00.015-06:00

her favorite mornings were ones full of virgin snow. she would run out and stuff her face down into it to see if it was deep enough to play in. then she would look up and grin at me to prove how much fun it was.

when she was little she got a bad case of dry skin, so i started giving her a can of tuna packed in oil a few times a week. this only lasted a few months but even eleven years later, whenever she heard the can opener, she would come running into the kitchen to see if it was 'tuna time.' i'd give in and let her lick the cans clean.

she was afraid of trash cans, awnings and flags, but thunder, fireworks and other loud noises never really bothered her.

she would get really excited if she got to go on a car ride, but about five minutes in, she would sigh heavily and sink slowly down into the back seat. resigned to the fate of Waiting to Arrive.

she did not like the wind in her face.

she tested me every single day to see what she could get away with. some days she was more successful than others.

she was the most stoic dog i've ever met.

she was also the happiest, most days.

she would overheat quicker than any other dog on the planet.

she was game for anything that involved leaving the house. she would happily go anywhere i wanted to go without any concern or fear for her safety. unless we came upon a trash can of course.

everyone who ever spent five minutes with her learned to fear The Tail of Death. or at least keep one hand on their drink.

i once got tennis elbow from playing too much tug of war with her.

until about a year ago, on walks, she stayed right behind my right foot until i told her she was free. she also waited for me at every corner we came to and rarely stepped off the sidewalk.

her favorite treat was week old horse poo.

she never did have any idea of how much space she took up. and, oh god was she klutzy.

the worst thing in her world was getting a bath. second worst? getting her toenails clipped.

when she was about six months old i used to take her for 'runs' around the lake in winston-salem. i would ride my bike and she would run balls out behind me. it was the only way i could tire her out.

she loved to swim. and she would always go after anything anyone threw into any available pond. sadly, for we the people, she'd never bring them back. unless it was the floating kong on a rope, that was a failsafe. until she got too excited by it and chewed off the rope. then i learned to just throw rocks into the water. much, much cheaper.

thanks for all the good days, r-dog. there will never be another like you.

1 23 98 - 4 23 09

2009-04-25T07:33:00.006-06:00

Boo. Bootasm. Spasimodo. Pupadoo. Shorty. Meeestair Spazzy Pants (said with a French accent). R-dog, of course. And for the last couple of months for some reason, Puppy. I miss her. I understand the meaning of bereft now. I'm most definitely adrift. I didn't realize how much of my day was wrapped up in her. Walking her, talking to her, feeding her, just plain ol' existence, but it happened every single day for the past eleven years and three months. There's literally a hole in the room where her bed used to be. It sounds completely insane to be this sad about a dog, but she was with me for most of my adult life—she was my strongest, most long-lasting relationship. What pathetic things that says about me, I don't know, but it's true. She was a constant in a lot of moves, some sad times and more happy ones. She saw two different cars, five towns and many people come and go. A huge part of my identity was reliant on her being there.

I know it will get, if not better, easier and I'm already starting to learn how to be without her around, but this is...hard.

braggadaccio

2009-04-17T20:41:00.006-06:00

Remember this guy?

I found out a couple days ago that he was accepted into the American Illustration 28 annual. It was juried and all, so it's not like it was that finger painting you did that one day in kindergarten that got a gold star and hung up on the chalkboard. So, there's that.

I really need to paint or draw again. I've been lax because I grew a little bored with the portraits of famous people, honestly. I think 52 of 'em was maybe a little too ambitious. I do, however, have a new series in mind. Of bugs.

I also wanted to say thanks to those of you who have worried about me disappearing from blog land and sent me email. I'm still alive. Just too busy to blog. Hopefully, that will change soonish.

i can run again!

2009-03-29T17:11:00.003-06:00

About a month ago, I developed tendonitis in my hip—which a) I didn't even know was possible; and b) makes me feel really really old—caused by lots and lots of running. So, I took about a month off (and a shitload of Advil®) to see if it would get better on its own. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer and decided to try and run again yesterday. I only ran three miles and it was on the treadmill and I didn't go any faster than 8 min miles, but still! I ran! I was half expecting to wake up this morning and not be able to walk, but mostly it's ok. It feels a little tight and there's a tiny amount of pain, but nothing near like what it was before.

Then, today, I proceeded to eat a block of cheese the size of a pygmy goat, you know, to negate any forward progress I'd made.

Anyway, I'm going to try again tomorrow and see what happens. Wish me luck.

this is what i did today

2009-03-26T17:50:00.003-06:00

A spec piece for an online comic about the demise of The Rocky Mountain News. Hopefully, they'll think it's good enough to a) actually pay for it; b) publish it; c) commission me for more work. Keep those fingers crossed and slaughter some color pencils for the Illustration Gods.

sorry. i can't help myself.

2009-03-21T16:47:00.004-06:00

I haven't talked much about basketball this year, because everyone got so sick of me talking about it last year, but we're now in the throes of March Madness and I have to say something.

After the first two days, my brackets are pretty hosed. This year, I filled out a 'head' bracket and a 'heart' bracket and apparently my heart was thinking more clearly than my head. But not enough to put me too high up in Doug's pool.

I do have one question though: what's with all the opera sleeves the players are wearing this year? Do they really help them shoot better? If so , how come everyone doesn't wear one?

I kind of hope Western Kentucky wins the whole thing.

I did manage to do something productive this weekend and retool my personal portfolio website. I've been meaning to do it for quite a while and I figured since all I was doing was sitting here watching bball games, I probably had time to do something useful. Check it out if you want. And if you know anyone who needs some graphic design help, feel free to point them my way. Thanks to all who gave me feedback along the way.

Mishap of the Day: I ran to the gym to boulder today so that I wouldn't miss too much basketball. I've been working on this Int+/Adv- problem that has a wicked heel hook into a one-armed pull-up that I haven't been successful at. Well, today I succeeded in completing the move but somehow managed to pull a muscle in my ass at the same time. Awesome.

Mishap of the Day/Pt 2: One of the calluses on my ring finger ripped off and now my finger is a raw, bloody painful mess.

portraits of famous people, wk 8, lisa hannigan

2009-03-16T13:42:00.003-06:00

lisa hannigan

Better known for backing Damien Rice on his two albums, Ms. Hannigan finally released a solo compilation of her own called See Sew. It's gorgeous.

another long walk up a large bump

2009-03-15T09:12:00.006-06:00

Friends Ann and Dylan came to town this weekend to finalize their transition to New Mexico. It was two days of fun, frivolity, Friendsgiving, and yesterday we got to go hiking. We went up the venerable Grey Rock. Much of the time was spent discussing the pros and cons of Facebook and Twitter, but we also enjoyed a nearly perfect day of sun, cool temps and (surprisingly) very little wind.

Mark, an aphorism is:

A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage. See Synonyms at saying.
A brief statement of a principle.

I was close, but of course I made it more complicated than it is. It's weird what comes up while you're walking up a large hill.
I strained a tendon in my hip a few weeks ago while running and so I haven't been pursuing many cardio endeavors lately. I thought hiking might be ok since there's not too much pounding, but I forgot about coming down rocky terrain. It hurt pretty bad yesterday by the time we finished, but this morning, after about 2 million Advil®, it seems ok. Once again, getting old is for the birds.

going chartreuse

2009-03-13T07:48:00.007-06:00

I try to live as 'green' as I possibly can. With some exceptions. I reuse plastic ziploc bags. I ride my bike as much as I can. I wash my clothes in cold water. I use CFLs. I don't buy things that come in plastic bottles—instead I take my Nalgene® bottles with me and use them for water or fountain soda. My recycling bin is much more full than my trash can every week. If it's yellow, I definitely let it mellow. I bought a small house so that I would have a smaller carbon footprint. There are lots of things that I do that aren't environmentally friendly, but I do what I can and still remain sane.

Recently, I've started reading Mother Jones—a decidedly liberal leaning 'news' publication. I haven't bought a subscription yet largely because I feel like I'm uselessly killing trees with every magazine I read. I don't keep them, you see, I just toss them into the recycling when I'm done.

This latest issue is a lengthy treatise about why organic food and the environmentally-conscious lifestyle maybe aren't all the hype machine has pimped them out to be. And, while I realize that theirs is only one voice in a sea of billions, it's hard not to take some of their points to heart. But the problem is, it's made me start thinking about every. single. thing I do and how every single thing I thought I was doing correctly and was good for the Earth, may not be all that great after all. Like did you know that buying locally isn't necessarily all that great because local farmers combined together actually produce more carbon emissions than the large-scale farmers, even though the large-scale farmers have to ship their goods a further distance? And did you know that the production of bio-fuels ends up being more harmful to the planet's indigenous species than regular petroleum extraction?

All of it really makes my head hurt. I mean, obviously there are some practices that are better and more sustainable and, of course, I'm still going to recycle my chip board. But I don't like thinking that I have to start conducting a lengthy interview with every farmer I buy from every time I go to the farmer's market. And, I'm sorry, but if I have to start listening to oral arguments from every concerned party about whether buying a certain brand of toilet paper right now is good for the planet or not, I'm just going to stop caring altogether.

In good news, the stock market is up!

just call me tim the tool man

2009-03-12T18:52:00.004-06:00

1. It took two tries and at one point I was practically wearing gloves made of caulk, but I managed to strip out old caulk and put in new caulk around the base of the toilet and nothing spews water when I flush it. Know what's one of the grossest things in the universe? What's underneath old toilet caulk.

2. I have steam heat. That comes through registers that are mounted on the walls near the floor. They've been looking kind of...run down ever since I moved in, but I was always afraid to do anything about it. And never really knew what to do. The other day I was at Home Depot getting supplies for No 1, and I discovered spray paint. It worked like a charm on the one register I've painted so far.

3. I bought bulk yeast the other day at the grocery store and tried to make a loaf of bread with it yesterday. Um. Bad idea apparently. The dough didn't rise. But I tried to bake a loaf with it anyway just to see what would happen. Inedible doughy brick of heaviness is what happened.

4. The door stopper for the front door came out of the wall about 20 years ago and nothing prompted me to do anything about it until I noticed that the front door knob as made a little dent in the trim around the closet door. So, I filled in the hole with wood putty and repainted and put in a new door stop.

5. Next up on the list: paint outside trim, remove last ugly planter from around front yard tree, paint pantry, paint back door and replace back door lock, sand and stain and varnish spots on the floor that have been scraped by furniture and dog toenails.

Anybody want to come help?

portraits of famous people, wk 7, m ward

2009-03-10T13:46:00.002-06:00

m ward

I started listening to his latest, Hold Time this week. It's pretty good. And I'm way behind on the one-a-week aspect of this thing, so hopefully you'll see some others soon.

most of you will care about this not one iota

2009-03-08T18:20:00.003-06:00

Earlier today, my friend Kate linked to an article by a very popular, very awesome professional climber about how weight lifting has helped her climb better and it made me want to blather on about my experiences with my own weight lifting routine.

Before I started climbing I was a pretty avid weight lifter and runner and biker. Living in Kansas, there weren't too many options for outdoor fitness, so you took what you could get. Once I started climbing though, (about three years ago) I felt like weight training was getting in the way, so I quit lifting and focused solely on scaling rocks.

Then about four months ago, I had a pretty awful bike wreck and couldn't use my hand very well, so I had to stop climbing and I needed something else to do to keep in shape, so I started lifting weights again. Once my hand got better I wanted to start climbing again, but I didn't want to stop lifting (I have to admit solely for vanity reasons), so I developed a routine that would allow me to do both. And what I've discovered is that the weight lifting has actually helped the climbing. The key is to not train so hard on the weight lifting days that you can't do anything on the climbing days. Since I started doing this, I've definitely seen improvements in my bouldering grades and also a little in my climbing grades. My endurance could still stand some improvement, but I think that will be helped this summer when we take three months off of the lifting.

I've even convinced friend Doug that all of this is a good idea. Ha ha sucker.

Here's our routine:

We rotate through a two days on, one day off routine. This gives us more flexibility than say a 'lift on M W F and climb on T TH routine.' That way if one of us has something going on one day we can just move everything to the next day. So we have a 'climb, then lift, then have a day off' routine. Which we repeat. And repeat. And repeat, ad infinitum. I think it's important to have this rotation rather than a 'lift first, then climb, then a day off' routine because this gives us three days between climbing days and a full 48 hours between lifting and climbing, so your muscles have sufficient time to recover from the stresses of lifting. This gives us at least two days of each lifting and climbing in a week's period. Usually I use my 'off day' to go on a long run as long as I make sure that I take one full day off a week where I don't do any exercise at all. Then I'll also run on the lifting days and some of the climbing days.

We focus solely on upper body weight training since we feel like the running, hiking and climbing we do is enough for our legs.

We also focus less on how many sets we do and more on total number of reps, making sure we increase the total number each time we lift. Then we increase weight once we get to 45 total reps.

Ok. I think that's enough of all that. Sorry for boring you. If you weren't bored and want more specifics about the exercises we do, let me know. I can talk about this shit for days.

nobody died

2009-03-05T18:33:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I led my first hike for the Sierra Club. Before the fated day, I had started to get a little annoyed with all of the logistic crap that is required to drag a couple of people up a hillside, but the actual hike ended up outweighing all of the consternation. It actually ended up being a lot of fun.

Three things made it a successful outing: 1) the weather was fantastic with sunny skies and temps in the upper 40s. My balding head even got sunburned; 2) it only took us 4 hours total, including pre-hike talk, lunch and post-hike high-fiving, and 3) everyone returned with all of the limbs they started out with and most importantly no one died!

at least the stock market is up today

2009-03-03T08:00:00.003-07:00

I met with my financial adviser yesterday hoping that she might be able to quell the growing level of dread I feel every day when I look at my stock ticker. Her advice: ride it out, stop looking at your stock ticker and maybe start shopping at Wal-mart instead of Whole Foods.

A friend said yesterday that we have to get used to this. That this is now the way life will be forever from here on out. That we needed to live more frugally anyway. And, while I mostly agree with her, I'm sick of wondering every day if this is the day when I have to finally buckle down and cancel cable TV. And then hating myself for whining about maybe having to get rid of cable when there are millions of people around the world who can't even afford electricity let alone worry about whether they will miss the latest episode of 'Lost'.

I miss the heady days of the early Oughts. When I didn't have to spend two days wondering whether my $7 would be better spent on a new Nalgene® bottle or a burrito for lunch.

betty crocker ain't got sh*t on this brotha. yo.

2009-03-01T19:52:00.005-07:00

This weekend I was Suzy Homemaker. I had one successful project and one that was an abject failure. Which would you like first the good news? Or the bad?

My front door is rather...splotchy on the outside. Ever since I moved in, I've been wanting to do something about it, so this weekend I decided it was time. I went to Home Depot and bought everything I thought I would need: sandpaper, stain, brush, varnish. I brought it all home and started with what I believed should be step one—sanding. And, I sanded. A lot. See? Here's evidence:

(For those of you not in the know, my hair is not blond.)

And then I stained and varnished and stained and varnished and I hate to say it, but I think it looks worse than before I attempted to do anything to it. It looks even splotchier. Maybe I didn't sand enough. It seems like the stain brought out more of the discolorations in the wood. I don't know. I've hit the brick wall in my knowledge of home improvement projects.

In other news, remember my attempt at baking bread a couple of weeks ago? And my dissatisfaction with how it wasn't quite right for sandwiches. Well, a few days ago, I had the bright idea of making smaller rolls with it so that I could use those for sandwiches OR snacking either one. And this is the result:

I haven't tried it out yet, but I think they will be perfect.

brainard lake

2009-02-27T19:38:00.003-07:00

So do you remember how last fall I decided that I was going to start leading hikes for the local chapter of the Sierra Club? Well, it has begun. Next Wednesday, I'm leading my first group on a snowshoe trip in Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. One of the requirements of leading is scouting the trail a few days before you lead the hike. I chose today to fulfill this requirement.

I was all worried that there wasn't gonna be enough snow up there, because there is absolutely zilch down here. But, as you can see from the picture, it is still full-blown winter up in the hills. The hike only took me two hours because it was only five miles and there's barely any elevation gain. Since we're doing this on a weekday though, I imagine that most of the people coming along will be really old or complete deadbeats, so does anyone want to place bets on how long it takes the group? Three hours? Four?

I hope not any more than that.

portraits of famous people, wk 6, st vincent

2009-02-23T13:58:00.002-07:00

Annie Clark, of St Vincent

She is, I believe, what most people would call, 'cute as a button'. And after seeing her live a couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to marry her and have her babies. Figuratively speaking of course. Since I can't really do that. For lots of reasons.

Listen to 'Jesus Saves, I Spend' from her debut, Marry Me, and you'll see why I'm so infatuated.

portraits of famous people, wk 5, phillip seymour hoffman

2009-02-15T14:15:00.002-07:00

Phillip Seymour Hoffman

look! we climbed outside! in february!

2009-02-07T19:39:00.006-07:00

I thought the first climb I got on since I'd climbed last—which was August by the way, in Santa Fe, remember that?—was kinda not a lot of fun. Until I got about halfway up it and my body and my brain remembered why I like climbing so much.

Doug, Liz, Kate and Mark and I went down to Golden today to climb at North Table Mountain. It was a gorgeous day, especially for the beginning of February and it felt indescribably good to get outside on a rope again, after many, many days of bouldering inside on plastic rocks.

I tuckered out way quicker than I'd like to admit and I had to hang a couple of times because my arms pooped out, but still, it felt pretty great.

I did, Wholey Holy, 5.8, Pack O' Bobs, 5.7 and Pee on Dee, 5.8. Pee on Dee was by far my favorite of the day. A really great mix of crack and face and I made it all the way up it without falling or hanging. Which, in my book, makes it a successful route.

For the privileged few, pics are up on Flickr.

portraits of famous people, wk 4, christian bale

2009-02-04T13:43:00.006-07:00

Christian Bale

The other day, one of my favorite actors apparently went all batshit crazy on some poor art director who happened to walk onto the set while they were filming Terminator 4. Whoopi says Mr. Bale was justified because 'it's so hard to stay in character,' but I don't know. I don't think it's ever ok to dress someone down in public. And. If you're really good at your job, shouldn't it be kind of easy to get and stay in character? You'd have to do it every day regardless.

It's always a little distressing to me when I find out that someone who I think is talented is, in reality, a huge d-bag. I think fame just turns some people into a-holes.

portraits of famous people, wk 3, scarlett

2009-01-31T14:58:00.002-07:00

Scarlett Johannson

portraits of famous people, wk 2, mason jennings

2009-01-24T18:54:00.003-07:00

Mason Jennings

This one is doing double duty as it was, in reality, a commission from Daytrotter.

just call me betty crocker

2009-01-22T16:40:00.005-07:00

Ever since I became an adult (and I use that term very loosely), and moved out of my parents' house, my mom has tried, pretty much unsuccessfully, to impress upon me the value of being domestic. Mostly this comes in the form of gardening tips and 'easy-to-make' recipes. I think she's vaguely worried that I'm not eating well enough. And while I pretty much agree with her, I have to say, none of her suggestions have really ever taken hold.

Her latest salvo, when I went home for the holidays, was to inform me of an artisan bread recipe she'd recently found that made making your own bread at home a fairly painless affair. I told her I'd take it home with me, but not to hold her breath that I'd actually use it or anything.

For some unfathomable reason, yesterday I decided to give it a try. And you know what? She was right. It was pretty painless and the results are surprisingly edible.

Mostly I was hoping for bread for sandwiches as that's how I consume most of my grains, and this shape isn't really suitable for such a use, so I need to figure out how to turn it into a more traditional loaf shape, but other than that minor concern, I think I'll be making my own bread from now on.

portraits of famous people, wk 1, bon iver

2009-01-21T16:58:00.005-07:00

One of my goals this year is to draw a portrait of a famous person each week of the year. Originally, I thought I'd do one a day, but seeing as I'm already two weeks late with even doing one a week, I figured I'd better temper down my ambition a little.

Anyway, here's the first one of Ought Nine. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. I just downloaded his new EP yesterday and haven't been able to stop listening. Even though it's only four very short songs long.

I'm also putting them all up on my Flickr (yes, Dave, this time it's public). I put some of my favorites from last year in the set, just to round it out a bit. And give myself some cushion in case catastrophe strikes.

the gaslight anthem | the '59 sound

2009-01-21T11:15:00.005-07:00

If you can listen to this band without having an unbelievable urge to bust out either your air guitar or your air drums, then there is something possibly irreparably screwed with your Dude Compass.

If that is the case, and you don't want to rock out with your cock out while cranking this at volumes suitable only to arena rock shows, then immediately stop everything you are doing, run out and rent The Big Lebowski and put it on repeat until everything is right again.

If that's not the case, and your Dude Compass is straight and true, then turn up the volume as loud as it will go, pop your knuckles, break out your best white man's overbite and rock out. Dude.

Film Noir - The Gaslight Anthem

adios

2009-01-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

This makes me happy in a way I just can't describe.

one question

2009-01-14T22:47:00.001-07:00

Why do the odd numbered years always have to suck a whole bunch of balls? I mean '08 wasn't all that great either all things told, but Holy Dammit people, we're only two weeks into this one and already I want to just punch myself in the face. Dang.

Lake Agnes near Cameron Pass

2009-01-01T21:18:00.003-07:00

A and I decided to ring in the new year with a snow shoe trip. It was cold and blustery and snow-y and awesome. A wasn't quite equipped with the right kind of gear to spend too long out in the cold, so we didn't quite make it all the way, but still a good outing nonetheless.

Surprisingly, there were quite a few other people out and about tromping through the snow today. I figured everyone would be at home nursing hangovers.

On a side note, if you haven't checked out Winter Beard '08 in a while. Give it a gander. Before I shave it all off. Because I'm really sick of facial hair right now.

the best of 08 the music edition

2008-12-22T17:25:00.012-07:00

Well, here it is. What everyone has been on the edge of their seats waiting for, my top eight music picks for Ought 8. I was surprised by how many sophomore albums ended up on my list, 'cause usually the second albums out tend to suck it. I also had a pretty tough time narrowing it down to only eight—there were a lot of great albums that came out this year.

8) Port O'Brien | All We Could Do Was Sing: And sing really, really well. Continuing in the tradition of their debut, this Bay Area band sings whale songs and modern day sea shanties while rocking it pretty hard. The lead singer, Van Pierszalowski, spends every summer working on his dad's fishing boat in Alaska and so the ocean has had a big influence on his music. You can hear it in every warble, strum and hand clap this quartet produces. And it makes you want to sing along.

7) Right Away Great Captain | The Eventually Home: I discovered this guy's debut album, The Bitter End, about a month before he put out his sophomore effort and had a hard time choosing which of the two I thought was better. Eventually I settled on this one because it was a little less, well, bitter than the first which was all about a break up from a former lover. In this side project, the lead singer from Manchester Orchestra, Andy Hull, brings a stripped down, mellower sound with beautiful lyrics and a melancholy aesthetic.

6) Carolina Chocolate Drops | Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind: There's a lot that can be said about this debut from this trio from North Carolina. And 'meh' is not one of them. For this album is awesome. Awesome in that banjo pickin', harmonica playin', blues singin' way that music from the Appalachian states is awesome. These kids are young too, in their late teens and early 20s, but sound like they lived during the Great Depression. Some of that may be due to the one old guy in their midst, Sule Greg Wilson. Wilson, 'A dancer, multi-percussionist, string player and author who learned to play the bones on his daddy’s knee, Wilson first picked up a banjo in the early 1980s.' *

5) Frightened Rabbit | Midnight Organ Fight: Straight up rock from some dudes in Scotland. This album, in my opinion, far surpassed their debut, The Greys. Plus, did I mention they're from Scotland? And therefore have Scottish accents? Enough said.

4) Wolf Parade | At Mount Zoomer: Fans of Spencer Krug and Co. waited a long time and two Sunset Rubdown (his side project which was apparently more important over the past few years than his main project) albums to finally, finally get Wolf Parade's sophomore effort. And I, for one, found it well worth the wait. This album rocked. Full of epic songs, this is one of the few albums produced in the last few years that is meant to be listened to in its entirety. It's no wonder these kids from Montreal are indie rocks new kings.

3) The Rural Alberta Advantage | Homelands: Another Canadian band brings the sounds of the windswept lands caught between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains that give TRAA a seat at the table with bands like Neutral Milk Hotel.

2) Elliott Brood | Mountain Meadows: There's no one in this trio named Elliott, Brood, or Elliott Brood, but somehow the name conjures up everything their music sounds like. Somebody else said it and I agree, country music is still alive and well, it's just coming from Canada these days. This album is a follow up to their debut, Ambassador, and is surprisingly another rare exception to the sophomore album rule. For this one is way more outstanding than their first.

1) Bon Iver | For Emma, Forever Ago: If you've talked to me about music at all this year, then my number one pick for the year won't come as any surprise. No other album even came close to Justin Vernon's homage to Wisconsin winters and broken hearts. Never has one man's experience of love lost so touched just about every part of my soul.

Honorable Mentions go out to: Blitzen Trapper | Furr, Thao | We Brave Bee Stings and All, Centromatic and South San Gabriel | Dual Hawks, Fleet Foxes | Fleet Foxes and The Uglysuit | The Uglysuit

* from their website

in which we bake cookies and don't burn down the house

2008-12-22T07:55:00.007-07:00

A decided that he wanted to give people cookies for Christmas and since he doesn't have a kitchen, he decided that he would kidnap mine and use it for what God originally intended kitchens are used for—baking.

After going round and round about what kind to try to make (there are a TON of cookie recipes out there people), I finally convinced him that since neither one of us were bakers, we needed to keep it simple. So, we landed on chocolate chip and rum balls. But they ended up being bourbon balls because I didn't have any rum. Nor did I want any.

I was really expecting unmitigated disaster and maybe a small fire or two, but we ended up with fairly edible cookies and did not cause the oven to explode without even having to break out the fire extinguisher. I was honestly surprised by how easy it was. But don't think this means I'm gonna suddenly become a baker or anything, ok?

the best of 08 - the movie edition

2008-12-18T06:32:00.010-07:00

I didn't find very much out of Hollywood this year to be all that worthy of my time or money, but there were a few that I enjoyed quite a bit. Again, some of these may not have come out in '08, but that's when I discovered them, so that's when they count.

8. Burn After Reading | The Cohen Brothers: These guys can do no wrong. Everything they do is at the worst mildly entertaining, and at the best provides a pretty fantastic movie-going experience. Continuing with their theme of comic, bumbling criminals who should've just left well enough alone, Burn After Reading deals with the needs of one aging woman who will do anything to get the plastic surgery she wants in order to keep bringing the men to her doorstep. I usually don't laugh out loud at movies but this one had me almost in tears. Despite the mild bits of overacting by Clooney and Pitt, the rest of the cast was outstanding.

7. Iron Man | Jon Favreau: I'm kind of a sucker for comic-book-turned-into-motion-picture movies, and my bar is pretty low on what I think makes a good one. However, I would have to say that this has to be one of the best of the bunch. The set-up was a little overly long, but they didn't stray too far from the original story line and Robert Downey, Jr was fantastic as millionaire playboy turned savior of the world. He had the perfect mixture of charm and sleaziness in portraying a man whose motivations were originally based on money, but became solely based on redemption.

6. There Will be Blood | Paul Thomas Anderson: Anderson has a lot of stellar movies on his CV, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love, but this one knocks him out of the ballpark by a long shot. Daniel Day Lewis performs perfectly as a man who uses the appearance of having a strong religious faith in order to make his fortune and ends up killing the one man who could've possibly saved him from himself. It's also a pretty excellent documentary on the Dust Bowl era and the struggles of a nation to save itself from destruction.

5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | Andrew Dominik: This movie was simply breathtaking. Beautifully shot and directed, it brought to life the inner workings of one of the most brilliant criminal gangs in American history and the man who ended it for all time. Even at such a young age, Casey Affleck has to be one of the best actors on the planet. Here, he does a stunning performance of sycophant turned destroyer. The only thing that ruined it for me, just a little, was the always annoying Brad Pitt.

4. Gone Baby Gone | Ben Affleck: Surprisingly, Ben Affleck is a great director. Better than he is in front of the camera anyway. He does a stellar job with this gripping tale of a low life, drug dealing mother trying to find her kidnapped child. And Casey Affleck gives another great performance as the private director struggling to find the truth amid the people of his hometown neighborhood who curse him for making their problems public.

3. Persepolis | Marjane Satrapi: The autobiographical graphic novel that this movie was based on deals with one woman's childhood in 1970's Iran, the revolution that occurred then and the havoc it wreaked in everyone's lives. Somehow the less-than-sophisticated, black and white drawing style gives the perfect voice to Satrapi's irreverent sense of humor in chronicling her country's struggles with a very horrific ordeal. It's a heartbreaking and touching story that leaves you with a strong belief in the ability for humans to not only endure, but overcome. And it translated surprisingly well to the big screen.

2. Wristcutters, A Love Story | Goran Dukic: In this strange, magical tale, people who commit suicide end up in a sort of way station (or purgatory if you lean that way) where they suffer through lives much like the ones they tried to escape on Earth. They have jobs, shitty apartments and toll through the boring days trying to survive the crushing loneliness. One kid refuses to take it lying down and goes on a quest to find the woman he loved (who's dumping him for another guy caused him to kill himself in the first place) when he learns from a recent immigrant that she might have committed suicide shortly after he did. Gorgeous and brilliant.

1. The Dark Knight | Christopher Nolan: In the history of Hollywood, it's a well-known fact that the sequel is rarely anywhere near as good as the debut—the first trio of Batman movies is a concrete testament to this fact—but The Dark Knight is a rare exception to the rule where not only is the follow-up as good, it far outshines it. This is due in large part to an excellent script that pulls no punches and offers lots of fast-paced, exploding action, but, if we're being honest, most of the credit should go to Heath Ledger's awe-inspiring performance as psycho criminal, The Joker. Usually, there is a strong willing suspension of disbelief that is necessary in order to watch the make-believe comic book worlds come to life on the big screen, but that was not the case here. Nolan and Ledger made it entirely believable that a man would go crazy and try to destroy the world. Maybe that's one of the after effects of 9/11 (that we can believe more easily terrorist actions on American soil), or maybe it was just a really well-told story, whichever, together the two made this an awesome movie-going experience.

Honorable mentions:
Rocket Science, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, 3:10 to Yuma, The Darjeeling Limited and Howl's Moving Castle

it's that f@&king cold

2008-12-17T15:28:00.003-07:00

One of the cans of Coke I had in the garage got so cold it exploded through the package and burst its top. I'd heard of this happening, but have never witnessed it. I'm just glad that no one died because of my addiction.

the best of ought eight - the words edition

2008-12-15T16:19:00.020-07:00

It's that time of year again when everyone and their dog starts compiling their year-end best-of lists. Since I hate to be left out of the fun, I've decided to do the same. This year, I'm doing the top eight in three different categories, books, movies and music. Some of the chosen ones may have been published/produced/released in years other than '08, but since this is the year I happened to find them, this is when they get counted. I know, it's very solipsistic of me. Deal.

First up are the top 8 books that I read this year. See if you can figure out was unwittingly a theme.

Best Books of 08

8. Freakangels | Warren Ellis: I'm a huge fan of the graphic novel (or comic book if you must), especially well written and well drawn ones. I'm also a huge fan of Warren Ellis. He's a brilliant man. In this series, he tells the story of 12 kids who were born at the exact same time on the exact same date and possess uncanny abilities that the rest of the human race don't. When the kids were 17 they got together and ended the world in some way not yet explained, and now they're trying to make good.

7. Ender's Game | Orson Scott Card: This series has been out for a very long time and for some reason, despite its popularity, I completely missed it. In a world where people have to petition the government to have a third child, the human race finds itself fighting an alien race for its very survival. Will it find salvation in a twelve-year-old boy who was born a Third?

6. World War Z | Max Brooks: Zombies! I love me some zombies. Mr Brooks uses a journalistic documentary approach to tell the story of the last war (hopefully) that humans will ever fight. Against zombies. It's much more brilliant than it sounds. Well written and highly imaginative.

5. The Hours | Michael Cunningham: I had to wait a long, long time before I read this book so that the movie would vacate my brain. Not that I didn't like the movie, because I did, very much, but I wanted to make sure my brain could be as untainted as it possibly could be. I'm happy with my decision as I think I fell in love with the characters reading this as I did watching it.

4. The Pesthouse | Jim Crace: In an America that is slowly dying from some unexplained disease, its citizens have reverted back to the ways of simpler times as the knowledge of technological things has also disappeared they are left to fend to themselves without the benefit of hospitals, computers, cars or even super markets. Rumors have spread far and wide about life being better in Europe so many of the people undertake the arduous journey to the east coast to buy passage on one of the many fabled ships arriving every spring. This is the story of two such travelers who meet on the road, fall in love and try to make a stand together.

3. The Yiddish Policeman's Union | Michael Chabon: In a fictional America of the not-so-distant-past, the Jewish citizens have been exiled to The Last Frontier where they have established an uneasy peace with the natives of that land. On the surface, this is a story of one tired, lonely, alcoholic police detective who is just trying to solve a murder of one of the community's most famous denizens. Beneath that are political, socio-economic, religous undertones that give this tale a very biting edge.

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns | Khaled Hosseini: Hosseini shines again in this follow-up to his brilliant debut, The Kite Runner. Here he continues his history of his homeland, Afghanistan, but this time it's through the eyes of two very disparate women who come to find their lives and fates entertwined. It was terrifying and hopeful, heartbreaking and joyful all at the same time. He has a way of showing the basest of human beings and their horrible actions against members of their own species and shining a light so brightly through their victims that it makes you almost willing to forgive everything we've ever done to each other.

1. The Whole World Over | Julia Glass: Glass is one of those rare authors who can make the lives of ordinary people seem somehow extraordinary and beautiful. In this go-round she once again details the lives of a New York family and their struggles to co-exist through life's ordinary trials as well as its extraordinary ones.

Honorable mention shout outs go to:

Complete Stories | Flannery O'Connor
Man Gone Down | Michael Thomas
Daughters of the North | Sarah Hall

the baby jesus is weeping

2008-12-12T13:53:00.006-07:00

This is what it looks like when Christmas suffers from a terrible, debilitating case of morning sickness.

In other news I supported the economy today. Old Navy, Target and the art supply store.

And, there may be evidence that life on other planets is possible. Because of sugar no less.

teal gallery opening

2008-12-08T08:46:00.005-07:00

Ann and Dylan drove all the way up to Breckenridge from Santa Fe on Friday to help me celebrate the first ever gallery opening where some of my art work was being featured.

This was a VIP pre-opening where only the artists and special guests were invited to come see the new space, so not everything was quite...finished. As you can see, my paintings were still sitting on the floor. But that's ok. The gallery is pretty great, located on highly visible Main Street and has a really nice, open layout. The official opening is on the 20th, so I might go back up and see if things got put in their proper places.

The other good thing to see is that the owner has a really good eye for what makes good art. There wasn't really an uninteresting piece in the bunch and she's also chosen a wide variety of styles that should appeal to a pretty diverse crowd.

We only stayed for about an hour and a half before we were all ready to escape the need to engage in small talk with a bunch of people we didn't know, nor were really all that interested in meeting. I really suck at parties and small talk situations so I was extra glad to have Ann and Dylan along, otherwise I would've just stood in a corner, shivering with fear.

It was really great of my two friends to make such a long trek for just me. I can't say how much that meant.

Thanks to Dylan also for bringing his camera along as I left mine in the car. Without it, there'd be no actual photographic evidence. Other pics are up here.

schuba's chicago il 11 28 08

2008-12-07T19:04:00.004-07:00

I cheated a little bit this week and used a picture that I took while on T-giving break in Chicago. Forgive me, it's cold here in northern Colorado. I used a pencil this time and my camera is refusing to take a clear pic, but other than those minor issues...

books

2008-12-07T16:18:00.005-07:00

As you can see from the pic, I love to read. I would typically rather buy a book than check it out from the library, mostly because if it's any good there are pretty good odds that I'm going to want to read it again and again. I've lost count of how many times I've read The Lord of the Rings since my dad first gave it to me 26 years ago and most of the other books on my shelves I've read at least twice if not more. Occasionally, I get a book that I just don't really care for and I never really know what to do with it. I absolutely refuse to throw a book away, I don't care how much I hate it. Donating it to the library is always a pretty good option if it's still in good shape, but I can be pretty hard on books as I tend to carry them with me wherever I go until I'm done with them. Lately, I've had a really bad track record at picking good reads and so I've stopped buying new ones, figuring I should stop wasting money. Then, a few months ago, I discovered BookMooch, an online service where users trade books by mail, which allows you to get rid of books you don't want to keep and get ones that hopefully you might. At any rate, I almost never leave the house without a book in tow and I'll never really be able to understand people who say they don't like to read.

This is all a really long intro to say that Kate tagged me with a meme today and I figured I'd better get on it before I completely forget to do it. I copied her idea for a photo also (sorry Kate, I'm feeling wholly unoriginal today).

Here are the rules:

Go to your nearest bookshelf. On the top shelf (or highest shelf with books) what book is fifth from the right and why did you love it? Now go to the bottom shelf (or lowest shelf with books). Tell us about the fifth book from the left.

1. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close | Jonathan Safran Foer
This is one of the first books that I read that dealt with the aftermath of the tragedies of 9/11 in a way that wasn't cheesy or fraught with overdone emotions. This is also the only book in my memory that I've ever read once and then went straight back to the first page and read it again. It sounds really trite to say, but this book made me laugh and it made me cry and I honestly loved every second of it. Foer has a way with words and the ability to tell a story unlike anyone else on the planet. Truly life changing.

2. Kansas Impressions, Photographs and Words | Wes Lyle and James Fisher
A friend found this at a flea market and gave it to me as a parting gift when I left home. Published in 1972, it contains a plethora of great black and white shots of Kansas in all of its glory. Whenever I'm feeling particularly homesick for the wide open spaces of the Great Plains, I crack open this book and let it soothe me. Most people find it hard to believe that I could ever miss one of the flyover states, but it's true, I miss it greatly and often.

As part of the whole meme thing, you're supposed to tag others to do the same thing, but I'm not so good at following the rules, so if you read this and want to play along, feel free.

becoming sasquatch

2008-12-03T11:01:00.002-07:00

In response to some minimal pressure from M5K, I've decided to start Winter Beard '08. I've also started a new blog that will chart the growth in all of its splendor and glory.

Come. Join in on the fun. Beginning Dec 7th. The day that lives in infamy. For many reasons.

the rest of chicago

2008-11-30T18:40:00.008-07:00

After gorging ourselves silly on Bird Day, we decided it would be a good idea to get out, walk some, and see some of the things that Chicago has to offer. Whenever I head to a big city, I always feel like I should make it a point to do something cultural, since there's not a ton of that in my small town. To scratch my itch, T and E agreed to go visit the Museum of Contemporary Art since none of us were feeling up to tackling the Art Institute.

The thing I always love about contemporary art museums is you never really know whether you're gonna be crushed by the most disappointing, idiotic exhibits you've ever seen in your life, or shocked and amazed by the genius that some people are able to express through myriad art mediums. Thankfully, we got some of both at the Chicago MCA. There was one room full of duct taped walls that was amazingly dumb and I didn't really care for the main exhibit that used enlarged autopsy reports from the Iraq war silkscreened on canvas to make some comment about the atrocity of violence (I guess). But thankfully, there were plenty of good exhibits to make up for the few bad ones. One guy, who was born deaf, kept the scraps of paper that he used to communicate with people and arranged them in displays that became more and more interesting as you read the notes. Another woman used cut paper silhouettes to explore the history of race in America and yet another woman built a pretty awesome sculpture out of string and other regular household items, like measuring tapes and styrofoam cups.

On Saturday, after a delicious b-fast in Andersonville, we spent the day on a wander, which was a perfect way to end the trip. We hit a comic book store where I spent way too much money, a record store where I spent a shocking not-one-single-cent, and tried to find a hipster t-shirt store, but didn't really succeed. One of my favorite local landmarks was landing at Schuba's for a late lunch. If you're at all even interested in the indie music scene, you've likely heard of Schuba's. It's a pretty famous Chicago venue where they record a lot of pretty great live shows. Sadly, T and I did not get to see anyone play because we were there too early, but it did look like a nice place to witness history in the making.

The travel gods were not as kind to me on the return trip as they were on the one out, but the plane didn't crash and I got home the same day I left so I guess I should count myself fortunate.

Now that Bird Day is over, it's time to hunker down and try to survive winter. Hopefully becoming a Nordic Ranger will help me not hate it so much. If anyone has any other ideas how to make it to spring, feel free to holler.

If you're on the list and you want to see my other pics, they're here. If you're not, and you want to, send me your handle and I'll get you added.

bird is the word

2008-11-28T08:07:00.004-07:00

This year, C got a brand new carving set that was 100 times better than the hacksaw and table fork I used to carve last year's bird. This bird was just as delicious. As was the stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed Japanese sweet potatoes and zwiebach rolls that accompanied. Oh. And let's not forget the shortbread apple tart a la mode with homemade caramel topping that finished Gorgefest '08 off on the right note. Pair all of that with really good company and you have a Thanksgiving celebration worthy of American kings.

Usually, I absolutely refuse to celebrate Black Friday and its unabashed endorsement of Consumerism, but this year, I wouldn't mind acquiring a new digital camera. As you can see from the above that my current one takes really shitty indoor shots. And, I am in one of the largest cities in the country. Surely I can find a pretty good deal on one, right?

Hope everyone is surviving their Carb Comas.

the gods are smiling on me

2008-11-26T10:30:00.002-07:00

The shuttle to the airport left 5 minutes early.

There was no one getting on at the third stop, so we left there ten minutes early.

We arrived at my terminal on time.

There was no one in the security line and I got through in ten minutes. Only getting stopped because I hadn't used the proper size of baggie for my liquids.

I always, always get stuck in a middle seat. It doesn't matter when I buy my ticket. It doesn't matter if I try to reserve an aisle seat online, they always switch me to a middle seat. They must know I'm kinda skinny and won't bitch too much about it. On a whim, I decided to see if they had any aisle seats available once I got to the gate. I'm sure you can guess what happened. And in an exit row no less. Ah. Extra leg room.

Here's hoping all this good luck doesn't cause the plane to explode half way to Chicago.

Happy Bird Day everyone.