The mountains' call

The mountains are calling, and so here I am, packing for a nine-day trip to Colorado. I'm not all that experienced with dead-of-winter vacations in the Rocky Mountains, so filling the suitcase has been interesting. But I haven't had too much trouble creating a Wish List of places and things I don't want to miss during my stay.

I'll be spending most of my time in the Denver/Boulder area, winding my way through the surrounding towns of Morrison, Golden, etc. There will also be a two-night side trip to Aspen, with stops in Breckenridge and Vail on the way in and out. I was hoping to visit the Garden of the Gods and ride the cog railway up Pike's Peak, and maybe take a drive up over the Wyoming line to Laramie; but if the weather is as snowy as it's been lately, my lack of winter driving skills will preclude me from taking those side trips this time around. I'll just have to come back during the summer sometime soon - perhaps in early June when Big Head Todd and the Monsters open the concert season at Red Rocks Amphitheatre!

All in all, I won't be taking as many "chances" as I normally would, because I will have my 14-year-old cousin with me and have to play "grown up" - that means a skiing lesson is likely out, too. But that's all OK with me, because, as most of you know, I'm not terribly adventurous when it comes to activities that could, ya know, compromise the integrity of my spinal cord, and I'm really stoked about spending tons of one-on-one time with my favorite mini-me. :)

I'm bound to miss some of these things and discover places I didn't plan on, but here's what I've got so far...

I'll keep you posted with photos, videos, and updates here throughout my trip.

WISH LIST

Denver
Tattered Cover bookstore
Colorado History Museum
Mt. Evans Scenic Byway
16th Street Mall
Larimer Square
State Capitol
Blue Bear at the Convention Center
Molly Brown House Museum
Twist and Shout record store
REI Outlet (namely, the mammoth rock climbing wall)
Denver Museum of Nature and Science (only for the view from the 3rd floor)
Coors Field (perhaps best left for the summer trip)
Invesco Field at Mile High (unfortunately, I'll be there just days after the Bronco's final home game)
El Chapultepec restaurant and jazz venue
Herman's Hideaway (this likely won't happen - no shows are scheduled during my trip)
Mezcal restaurant
Cry Baby Ranch store
Common Grounds coffeeshop
Spicy Pickle Sub Shop (OK, some things on this list are based on friends' recommendations)

Boulder
Hotel Boulderado
Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse
Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art
Pearl Street Mall

Aspen
J-Bar
Woody Creek Tavern
Funky Mountain Threads store
Silver Queen Gondola (if non-skiers are allowed in the winter)
The Popcorn Wagon
ride in the Ultimate Taxi

In general
try buffalo meat
take a horse-drawn sleigh ride
go snow tubing
ride the Pike's Peak Cog Railway
climb around the sandstone at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre
get a photo at the Continental Divide
dinner at The Fort in Morrison
tour the Coors Brewery in Golden
shop at Weber's Books and Drawings in Breckenridge
make a snow angel :P

Holiday lights!
Union Station
Brown Palace Hotel (the huge tree in the lobby)
D&F Tower
the city and county building
pine trees in the mountains!

Say it loudly and proudly

And he doesn't succumb to the soup

Crazy. Remember Point Break? "It's not tragic to die doing what you love. If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price."

I believe

I came across this quote today, and it struck me as so true that I thought I should share.

Who so loves, believes the impossible.

-- Elizabeth Barret Browning

Yet another reason to love those Coloradans

...especially the ones in Boulder!

Seems the students at University of Colorado at Boulder worked together to make the Buffaloes' homecoming game 90% waste free. I find it incredible that this goal was important to enough people to make it happen. But I shouldn't be surprised; health, fitness, environmental concern and a love for the outdoors seem almost to be requirements for living in that part of the world. A lazy litterbug? Stay in Virginia, or Alabama, or whatever state happens to be the least "green" (I'll research that and get back to you in a later post).

Anyway, here's what Ideal Bite (a super-cool Web site that sends a very do-able "go green" tip to your e-mail box each day) has to say about it:

Can't get all excited over draft picks and dream teams? Bet (C)U can: Even if you go just for the tailgate party, you'll have a good time knowing tomorrow's homecoming Buffs game'll be 90% zero waste. All the nachos, burgers, and pizzas sold at FF now come in eco-friendly containers with biodegradable utensils - and huddled around 50 stadium spots are recycling and composting bins, with signs and student volunteers showing you what to drop-kick where. The new program will keep more than 54 tons o' garbage outta landfills this season - and put the black gold, er, compost, back on CU's campus. Stat.

Wanna Try? CU Buffaloes homecoming game; Oct. 4, 5 p.m. Folsom Field, Colorado Ave. & Folsom St., Boulder; Tickets, $50-$95.

An afterthought: Seems you can tell a good college football team by the cost of their tickets. The Buffs charge at least $50 a ticket. It costs as little as $5 to see my Owls in action. (That's Florida Atlantic University for your folks living north of the Florida/Georgia border, and no they're not having a good season so far, but there's time for redemption!)

How to choose a favorite hockey team

Well, perhaps it's not the best way, especially when it comes to fantasy play (trust me!), but it is an option for you serious boozers out there. :)

Puck Daddy's (sometimes amusing) blog reported today on the average cost of an evening of hockey fun. As P.D. states, most of us don't fit under that "typical family night" umbrella of four hot dogs, two ball caps, two small beers and so on for $288.23.

Most folks just want the beer, and lots of it. And if they can't afford what's sold at the arena, they'll pre-drink in the parking lot - or avoid the crowd entirely, enjoying the game at home with a remote in one hand and a 12-pack in the other. (This makes me wonder if the arena owners wouldn't make more cash by making beer affordable for the heavy-drinking masses, rather than only to a small few. But, anyway...)

So, what's the going rate for Panthers fans? It seems those money-hungry bastards at the BankAtlantic Center charge $7 for a 20-ounce beer - that's 35 cents an ounce. No wonder I don't booze it up when I'm at the games! (The 40-minute drive home has something to do with that, too.)

Based on this list, I'm thinking I oughtta start traveling to games in Pittsburgh ($0.25/ounce) or Washington ($0.28/ounce).

Can you afford to take a date to your next home game?

She kicked my butt tonight!

This was much too advanced for me, as evidenced by the ruby red color of my face and the heels of my palms, not to mention the nausea caused by my quivering abdominals. But I was able to tailor it by modifying the asanas, the amount of time I held them, or both.

For instance, I just can't hold the plank for more than a few seconds, especially after I've attempted it a few times, so I replaced it with downward dog once in a while as a "break". I'm not yet able to even get into the tree pose let alone hold it, so I twisted from plank and from warrior. And don't even get me started on jumping through!

The 15- to 50-minute window was the toughest, and I absolutely had to take a 3-minute water-and-breath break around the 25-minute mark. But please don't misunderstand. This post isn't meant as a complaint; on the contrary, I was thrilled with this session, and it was far from a complete failure.



I can't remember all the asanas, but I felt a happy mix of challenge and accomplishment with the warrior (1 and 2, I think), chair and triangle. I have trouble getting into navasana (the boat pose) because it hurts when I press my lower back into the ground; but I really like how I immediately feel my core muscles. And I certainly perfected the savasana (corpse pose) at the end! :)

I'm just happy to have found a great core-strengthening, heart-rate-hiking yoga workout - just what I need. She kicked my butt, and I loved it!

Check out YogaToday.com, where you'll find a new, hour-long (or so) yoga workout each day. Not only are they shot outside in soul-stirringly (so what if it's not a word) gorgeous Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but it's free! Try it; you'll really like it.

Question of the Day: Characteristics (a work in progress)

This post will be a work in progress for a day or two, as today's a fairly thought-provoking question born of a "What IS it you like about him?" conversation.

What uncommon characteristic or often-unnoticed habit would pique your interest in a stranger, romantic or otherwise?

My answer:
I noticed that I liked that a certain guy said "Right on" all the time; don't know why, since that repetition would otherwise be annoying to me. I'll update as I think of other (hopefully less ridiculous) instances...

(C'mon, you aren't intimidated by a somewhat uncomfortable question, are ya? Post your answer as a comment...)

Recent findings: moose, blues and silent films

I'm about to share with you some sweet, funny, amazing things that some fine folks recently shared with me. Enjoy.

Mama moose and her twin babies
Anchorage, Alaska
June 2008



Matt Anderson
Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
September 2008



"Bangville Police"
Keystone Cops silent film series
Keystone Film Company
1912 through 1917

Question of the Day: Backstage

If you could go backstage to any concert, which would it be? Why? (You can be specific about venue, opening act, etc., if you like.)

My answer:
Big Head Todd & the Monsters, featuring Hazel Miller. Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado. Maybe David Gray or Iron & Wine as the opener. They'd do a pretty good job of easing ya into a night of Todd's beautiful chaos. (Anyone surprised by my answer? I'm nothing if not predictable.)

(Come on, now. Post your answer as a comment!)

Big Head's captured on video again

Here are few videos of Big Head Todd and the Monsters in action. They never cease to amaze me. Just genius.

This year's Red Rocks show, which I sadly missed:





Minnesota State Fair:

(I love me some Cash, especially when Todd's chaneling him.)


And finally, a back-stage look at the band prepping for a gig in their home town of Boulder this spring:

Question of the day: Drinking

After a not-necessarily-necessary hiatus, Question of the Day is back and (probably not) better than ever! Ya hoo!

Here goes: They're thinking (don't ask who "they" are, just go with it) of lowering the legal drinking age to 18. Some argue that if someone is mature enough to vote for our leaders and fight in our wars, he's surely mature enough to do all other "adult" things, like drink alcohol. What do you think?

Answers so far:
~ I think that they should make the age 18, because I believe that when you are an adult you can make your own decisions.
~ Allow 18-year-olds, but only if they're enlisted in the service.
~ I think it should be 45, but look who's talking, right?!

My answer:
I'm not convinced that the majority of 18-year-olds are mature enough to drink, but then, I'd say the same for most 21-year-olds. Truth is, it does seem only fair and logical to declare a certain age that is "THE passage into adulthood." If it's 18, then it's 18 - or 21, or 35, or whatever. But military artillery, ballots and 40s of cheap beer should become accessible at the same time - whatever time that may be.

(Wanna answer? Create a comment!)

The perfect man?

While walking along the boardwalk at the beach the other night, as I usually do in the evenings, I made my way through the sometimes-heavy maze of families with strollers and skipping toddlers, saw couples canoodling on park benches, and heard bicyclists whizzing by.

Eventually I made my way to the southern tip of the mile-long stretch, a lovely place to walk out to the point and watch the last of the day's orange light illuminate the white edges of the sea's chop.

The sound and smell are meditative and good for all that ails me, an unlikely panacea. I digress...

My point is that, while looking out over the ocean's frothy edge, I noticed a young man sitting on a picnic table (actually on the table itself, with feet resting on the seat, the way young men often do). He was reading a small book that almost disappeared behind his large palms. He was the guy I'd seen skateboarding up the coast a few moments ago, something that almost always catches my attention.

So, that evening, as I walked away from the boy reader I wished I was brave enough to interrupt, I wondered if perhaps he wasn't the perfect boy reader for me? A man (not a boy at all, really) of about my age who still skateboards (but clearly these days for his peaceful enjoyment rather than to showboat for girls) and spends the beginnings of his evenings in the shadow of a few tall palms at the end of the coastline reading a tiny jewel of a book no doubt full of lovely phrases. I wanted so much to read over his shoulder for a bit, to know those phrases.

For a moment, I felt as though I was in one of those movies in which two people, fated to fall in love, first encounter one another in an odd way at a strange place for only a second. And so, because they didn't really meet at all, they're forced to find one another again via the "Missed Opportunities" section in the newspaper's classified ads.

Life should only be so romantic. In the end, I'm pleased simply to know such people exist. It was a lovely night.

What's coming up?

Spring is the time for fairs and festivals in South Florida - we only hang outside during the winter here, hibernating in the 95-degree summer like northerners do in the dead of winter. But summer is time for air-conditioned entertainment. I just started running that beloved a/c in the car this weekend, so I'm already looking forward to some indoor fun (no, not that kind, piggy):
~ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comes out this Thursday. 'Nuf said.
~ Florida SuperCon runs this Friday through Sunday. It's for people who dig comics, manga, anime, cosplay, and actors from "Harry Potter," "Clerks," Cartoon Network, etc.
~ A craft fair will run at the Coral Ridge Mall in Fort Lauderdale Saturday through Memorial Day. I haven't been able to find any details about this fair, so I'm not sure if it's a Granny's-crocheted-tissue-box-cover-type event or something younger, funkier and punkier, a la Craft Mafia. (Don't get excited by that last statement; it's definitely NOT a snazzy mafia get-together.)
~ The Strangers and Sex and the City opens next Friday, May 30. Acquaintances who saw an early release of "Sex" say it's everything it ought to be. I just fear the variety of trailers that've aired on TV have given away entirely too much of the movie. "Strangers" looks like it might be a satisfying thriller, for a change.
~ Kung Fu Panda opens June 6. Kick ass! Animated critters AND Jack Black... I'm hopeful, but a little voice in the back of my head warns me to not get my hopes up. Whattaya think?
~ The Fort Lauderdale Home Design & Remodeling Show should be really cool - not nearly as cool as a car show, but perhaps on par with a boat or RV show. Yes, I'm a geek. What of it? I'm also hoping to buy a home in the near future, so I'm hoping to stumble across a useful tip or two while drooling over remodeling marvels that are out of my financial reach: marble countertops and showers-made-for-five, for instance.
~ The Incredible Hulk AND The Happening open on the same day, June 13. OMG OMG OMG. No one will see me outside of a theater that weekend. (Yes, I realize this has devolved into a list of upcoming flicks, but trust me, there are plenty I'm planning to see that you didn't have to suffer through here. Bear with me and read on...)
~ We're celebrating one of my bestest girls' 24th birthday at Off the Hookah, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Yes, you'll find belly dancers and hookahs, plus hummus and alcohol and US! Oh yeah.
~ Here comes more ass kicking... The Broward County Derby Grrls is having two bouts on their home turf (that is, at the Gold Coast Roller Rink in Fort Lauderdale) on June 15 and July 13 before several months of "away" carnage. A friend and I watched these girls in action this weekend, and they definitely deserve their own post - hang tight; it's coming.

Question of the Day: Services

What single service is most worth paying for?

Answers so far:
~ Driver
~ Somebody to drive me around and then do my laundry, so I guess a maid/driver.
~ Car wash

My answer:
My initial thought was to choose something extravagant, but of course it would be something I don't actually currently pay anyone to do for me. So, I started thinking of the services that I either now pay, or have in the past paid, someone to do for me. Having the house cleaned gives me more free time and thus sanity. Having my car detailed does the same, as well as spares me from that hard work in the hot sun, but I invariably regret "my laziness" when I see spots I'm sure I wouldn't have missed if I'd just done it myself. So, I'll go with a haircut; it's the single thing I really, truly know I wouldn't have - couldn't have - done better myself, and not walking around with a butchered mullet (self-inflicted, no less) is worth every penny.

Question of the Day: Books

What's the last book you read?

Answers so far:
~ "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain (Me, too! Loved it!)

My answer:
I'm in the middle of "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey. It's atmospheric, ponderous, funny, sensual without being sexy, quite beautiful. It's a classic nonfiction, part of the birth of the environmental movement. You should read it. I have to finish it before my book club meets next week, but I've not been in a rush; I'm relishing each page, carrying the mental images with me for a few days before I lap up the next chapter.

Here's how Amazon describes it...

With language as colorful as a Canyonlands sunset and a perspective as pointed as a prickly pear, Cactus Ed captures the heat, mystery, and surprising bounty of desert life. Desert Solitaire is a meditation on the stark landscapes of the red-rock West, a passionate vote for wilderness, and a howling lament for the commercialization of the American outback.

And from The New York Times Book Review...

Like a ride on a bucking bronco...rough, tough, combative. The author is a rebel and an eloquent loner. His is a passionately felt, deeply poetic book...set down in a lean, racing prose, in a close-knit style of power and beauty.

Question of the Day: Gas

How much does it cost to fill your car's gas tank?

Answers so far:
~ $50
~ I'm not sure, 'cuz I don't remember the last time I filled it all the way. But almost $40?

My answer:
$30. Just five years ago, when I bought the car, it cost $15 to fill it. Then, I thought that was great; now, not so much.

(What about yours? Post your answer as a comment.)

Question of the Day: Clothes

What are you wearing?

Answers so far:
~ Boxers and work pants and shirt
~ Orange tank, grey lil' sweat shorts, HOT babe
~ My uniform, and my Batman Underoos

My answer:
Jeans with the cuffs turned up, brown Reef flip flops, a pink Life Is Good tee with a lady bug on it.

She'll kick your ass

People Clutter

[Warning: Today's QOD post very quickly led to a rant about People Clutter. Consider yourself warned.]

Actually, now that I think about it, what's been most genuinely disturbing of late is what I'll call People Clutter - the unending disruption to my concentration, and thus productivity, caused by people:
~ streaming in and out of my office and sitting down without asking, often just to BS or to eat from my candy dish
~ calling multiple times without waiting for a return call, sometimes without even leaving a voice mail, or worst, alternating between my desk and cell phones until I'm concerned or annoyed enough to pick up
~ hitting "Reply All" on every group e-mail so that a small afternoon project creates 50 messages, only one of which pertains to my department (if I'm lucky)

This noise, this People Clutter, is ridiculously disruptive. E-mail and text messaging is wonderful. Send me a message saying you need 10 minutes, or 2 minutes, or 2 weeks from me; suggest a time to chat about it; I'll get back to you as soon as I'm finished what I'm doing. See, some of us are able to prioritize our daily duties, and it isn't usually in anyone's best interest for us to break our focus to discuss your issue, let alone work on it, right this very second.

Think of it this way, if you needed to borrow sugar, you wouldn't just walk through your neighbor's front door, open the cupboard and take the sugar without asking. Well, maybe you would, but the rest of us wouldn't. Maybe she was planning on making a pie for the fam tonight and doesn't have any sugar to spare today; but she'll have more tomorrow if you can wait 'til then. Or maybe she can lend you some, but not all that you need. Or maybe she can lend you brown sugar; would that work for your recipe? You have to ASK her, compare what you need with what she can give. It's not all about you and your sweet tooth, buddy!

Time and focus are precious resources, just like anything else.

This is particularly important for someone with a sizeable team working on a variety of projects, and that's me. Heck, aren't most of our plates piled high? This is not to say that "I vant to be aloooone" all the time. I just don't want to hear you grouse about your shitty Saturday night date through a mouthful of my M&Ms, while I'm scrambling to put out the mini fire to which I've been assigned by the company president. Instead, regale me with the gritty details of your love life while we wait for fresh decaf to brew in the break room. (In the same vein, do NOT come looking for me in that break room to talk about work. Do NOT.)

Comprende? And, si, I promise to try and do the same, as I readily admit I'm not always innocent of these egregious offenses.

Author Tim Ferriss is a great resource for tips on streamlining your workload and schedule, and much more. A funny, insightful, useful read.]