to live is to fly...and other scribbles

Childhood re-claimed!

2012-01-15T12:14:00.011-07:00

The week after New Year's, I had planned to visit California for a friend's wedding and another friend's new baby, and I decided ahead of time to spend a full day hitting one of those bucket-list to-do's and to look through about 8 boxes of my Dad's old slides that are archived safely, but never brought out.

We ended up making digital copies of about 300 (out of thousands) and I printed about 50 or 60 for myself and friends. But the real benefit to it was something I can barely even articulate.

There were many, many picutres of myself that I don't think I ever had seen over the years, even though I can remember sometimes taking the picture. My parents were good about printing the "best" copies for our albums and always saved school photos from each year, but there's tons of candid shots that I didn't remember, and there were a couple years that they didn't print at all - when we moved from Boston to California (1982-1984). And I must say, my Dad is an amazing photographer. He used to be involved in a couple of Boston Camera Clubs and won several awards there. Sometimes his slides of us (like the one above) were just a filter test or lighting test, but those are some of my favorites.

Here's some of my favorite surprises, starting with Kristen reading to me when I came home from the hospital (under the quilt which later became a teeny shred -- but I still have the book!)
Kristen with Richard, our lion

me in our Lexington yard - it's no wonder we both still love patterns on everything

my famous cheeks

Kristen age 6

my mom was very ambitious with cake-baking!
at the Cape

at Universal Studios

at Disney

Wicked Amazing

2011-12-13T18:54:00.006-07:00

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”
John Muir

Came across this photographer, who captured the meteor shower in 2010 from Joshua Tree:
"Henry Jun Wah Lee is a Los Angeles-based photographer and independent filmmaker. His life’s commitment is for all of us to live powerful, whole and fulfilled lives. Henry’s photography and film work is a reflection of that commitment — inspiring city dwellers to reconnect and draw inspiration from the power, beauty and wisdom of nature. There are a lot of lessons about life that we can learn from our natural world."

more at www.evosia.com

Thanksgiving Fruits: wUugx-TaRL0 and XQ3WEsmgNjg

2011-11-28T07:30:00.005-07:00

Here's a couple Picasa photo slideshows I have been meaning to do for about 3 years, ever since my once-loved photosite.com went out of business. The photos take forever to upload in high quality and the music tends to get fed up mid-way through the upload, so apologies for the crackle-pops but I'm pretty happy with them still.

Thanksgiving's 4-day weekend is always a productive one for me since I stubbornly refuse to fly anywhere or go within 10 miles of a mall. This weekend I ventured out to take Uncle Bill to a Mary Poppins Sing-Along (which was such a blast! I was a huge geek about it) but otherwise kept the car parked.

Mixmases and Christmas cards are en route ~ check your mailbox! Happy December.

Colorado & Boston - Living in Twilight

2011-11-19T08:08:00.026-07:00

Life goes on, split between two different states. In August and September, Chris came to Boston where we mostly spent time with his family in Connecticut and so last week, I took a week out in Denver and thankfully got there right when the temperatures were in the 60's (they have been warm in Boston, too) and leaves had just fallen. It was sunny and crisp, pretty windy, but nice. Derby Doo is in tip-top shape and still looking like a seven year-old pup, even though he's my parents' age, almost 70. He got a lot of petting and walking and a quite overdue bath.

Chris and I went out for our favorite mexican food and Chic Fil-A (seriously miss that), tried new small breweries Cooper Kettle Brewing Co, Arvada Beer and Dry Dock Brewing, shopped in the Highlands, and hiked around Red Rocks to my heart's content. I had every intention of burning the copies of Mixmas 2011 while there on my better computer's CD drive, but ran out of time. Nonetheless the track list is final and I'm excited to ship around Thanksgiving weekend. This year's disc is dotted with lots of Amos Lee, lots of Weepies and lots of modern Motown singers. True.

While working in Denver and Boston, I had a rare chance to personally meet two very close colleagues of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Bernard Lafayette and Rev. James Lawson who were speaking at events related to the film Freedom Riders which Facing History uses as a teaching tool for Civil Rights and an example of upstanders banding together. What's an upstander, you ask? Facing History posted an incredible new little animation last week that I love:

I've been taking a writing class since September which has brightened my free time tremendously, and I think I'm going to keep a small writing group going with a couple of the guys in the class afterwards. We often joke that the class is nearly 50% therapy, but also 50% writing and encouragement from our teacher and peers. I often stumble with remembering things from childhood for assignments, but am trying to look at old pictures, old diaries, and of course listen to music - things that were once "tapes" and help jog my memory. I'll probably look at some family slides and Super 8 films when I'm next home in Monterey.

Here's some photos of Colorado, there's more on Flickr:

above and below - my favorite coffee shop at Denver Art Museum (DAM!) - I'm not quite sure if they drew me a heart or someone's butt cheeks in the cappuccino, but whatever!

How to Get to Sesame Street

2011-09-20T22:21:00.006-06:00

I think I had mentioned how everyone compares the Stony Brook neighborhood to Sesame Street... all cheery-urban and unexpected... you can almost hear the harmonica in the distance... for living proof, here's 3 photos I snapped all within a block of my parked car one afternoon.

Yup.

2011-08-28T17:28:00.005-06:00

I often feel on the corner of Colonial and California.

Newport

2011-08-07T13:28:00.007-06:00

I almost forgot - here's a few photos of my first time at Newport Folk Fest last weekend.

saying hi to secret sisters who I also saw at Red Rocks in July, opening for Ray LaMontagne

obligatory photo op - apparently some people have a huge head?

Amos Lee with Secret Sisters

EmmyLou

Pete Seeger

whoa is me.

2011-08-02T13:40:00.030-06:00

So, I know I've been noticably blogging less, and that my last post was pathetically short. Like the rest of the world, I've resigned to "status updates" as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family. Not that there's anything wrong with Facebook and twitter, it certainly has put so many of my friends in touch more frequently, and narrowed the distance gap. But I think we all need to consciously make an effort to do more than tweet, or we will lose our depth in relationships. Texting is not the same as talking.

I read a quote from John Mayer the other day (who I usually can't stand) where he said he stopped using twitter because it was "making his mind smaller". By always thinking in 140-character counts, he couldn't compose an entire song anymore, probably not even a complete thought. That pretty much says it for me. I need to return to a healthy mix of tweets and longer sentences, paragraphs, blogs, emails, letters. And while I'm at it, I also need to get back to using my Nikon instead of my lazy little digital camera, which admittedly takes great photos on a whim, but it's not what I think of as photography. I really wish the rest of the world would return to at least pocket digital cameras instead of camera phones. Gah! I know, I know, iPhones are different but mobile phone cameras are awful. We can't let photography go extinct.

Looking through my little photos, I realize that I have done a lot and not shared much on this blog in the last 6 months, so I'm going to do that now.

It's hard to talk about, but Chris' relocation to the East Coast has not been as swift as we had hoped; there's been job interviews, but nothing quite right. I am racking up Southwest Airlines rewards visiting Colorado every 2 months and Chris'll be here next month. I try to keep busy, see new things in New England, listen to my Good Mood music, and "carry on" (cheerful Tim Gunn voice).

In carrying on, I am blessed with good friends, Chris' family, and also a job that is enlightening and encouraging. In fact, Facing History allowed me to take my week-long July seminar with teachers at the Denver office instead of here in Boston, so I could spend a more time with Chris. I had an incredible time experiencing how we teach teachers, and engage students and I learned so much about the United States' horrifying history with discrimination (specifically around Eugenics and immigration exclusion policies). It made me want to be a high school history and civics teacher, actually.

I lucked out that I missed the horrid heat wave in Boston that same week I was in Denver. My RAV-4 is doing quite well, which may sound funny to some of you. but I really, really miss that car! Lately I'm constantly monitoring the news about an electric (EV) RAV-4 that Toyota's begun manufacturing for 2012, because I think it's my only consolation; it's the only way I can come to terms with admitting the old '97 RAV-4 will have to retire someday. But not yet!

When I moved out here, a stream of good luck was following me, and I knew before long, that life would balance itself out with some bad luck. Well bad luck caught up to me last month - I lost my wallet, then had my car towed, and seemed to be getting hit with bills, fees, parking tickets, insurance letters, what have you. I almost melted down last week, but my great boss, Karen told me to go home, and chillax, so I did, and had an Abita on the porch, and then a nap.

Thankfully the bad luck had no influence on my moving to JP. I love the apartment, I love my landlord, Mary, I love the neighborhood, I love the espresso bar next door! The house I'm renting constantly reminds me (without even having to say it) that I own way too much stuff. Mary keeps clutter to a minimum and every drawer half-empty. There's no freaking pen drawer in the kitchen overflowing with 100's of pens, post-it notes, and office supplies, unlike every place I've ever lived. I hope her good habits rub off on me.

A lot of people asked about my recent knee surgery. I have had what is called "theater knee" since the trip to Europe in 2006 where your knees feel crunched in a seated position, even when they're not crunched at all. But a specific pain had been growing in one spot on the kneecap since I got to Boston, and driving more than an hour in the mini was almost becoming impossible. I had tried a lot of things, but finally had an MRI and the doctor noticed a small tumor in the spot where my knee was aggravated most. So they did a quick, no-drama outpatient surgery, also found a "plica" (tissue fold that you're born with, and can hurt) and removed that. I was walking normally after 24 hours and the only recovery involved was icing it for about a week.

Having seen many doctors and specialists leading up to the surgery, though, I've realized the (sort of hard) truth that the general knee pain is really a result of too much weight on my knees as well as lazy postures like hyperextending the knees when I stand, or walking uneven on the edges of my feet when going up stairs. One of the times that the P.A. was reviewing my MRI, the radiologist's report described my issue as "globular fat" which was extremely funny, and made for a great punchline all that day. But let's face it, I've been spending my years in Colorado not biking, not hiking, hating running, and walking the dog in my flip-flops. I do a little yoga and pilates, but it's time to get serious now.

Conveniently! - my new apartment is up 3 flights of stairs! - so it's a behavioral adjustment for both my quads and my brain (trying to remember everything you need before you leave the 3rd floor is now more important). And living 2 miles from work, I have started biking to work, since there's a beautiful green park (thank you, Fredrick Law Olmstead) between here and there, which is very good rehab for the knee. I constantly feel like I don't fit in with my clumsy bike riding, since I don't wear a messenger bag (seriously, everyone) or walk my half-pit bull mutt (the SPCA is around the corner) but otherwise I feel very settled and comfortable in JP. I'm getting the hang of it.

Yesterday I went to a little Art Fair in Providence and explored that city for the day. Today it's pouring rain out, so I'm spending some long overdue time updating iTunes, my photos and other stuff on my laptop. Here's some photos I should have blogged along the way:

I think this bank just got themselves a new customer.
Crazy bignazo puppets in Providence, who were there to harass... er... entertain customers
Spin Art!!!

Every time I go back to Colorado, the on-air "talent" on the news there is getting more plastic and (sorry, Becky) sluttier. What in the HECK?!

East Coast friends who have moved West - drool now

My first bike since 5th grade! courtesy of Bikes Not Bombs

This is me in disbelief that I could be ever wear such a dorky thing as a bike helmet. nutcase is right.

pretty summer porch on my new rented house in JP

My room

most of the rooms in Mary's house look like they belong in a magazine (unlike the next house you're about to see)

The above wall stripes were in my childhood home circa 1975-85 (to be fair, it was my sister and my playroom, but still), and it still survives as evidence of the Brady Bunch Era today. We visited in July and were BLOWN away how everyting remained the same on the bottom floor of the house. And it was hard to express our awe and laughter to the new owner without offending!

Curtains in my dad's 70's office, in tact and still hung up!

our "space" style zig zag rug from the 70's... just AS I remember it

My Uncle Bill and I at the Patriots' Day Parade

beautiful guitar shop, the Music Emporium in Lexington

From the deCordova sculpture park in Lincoln... you might think these hearts are cute and romantic, but up close, there are body parts and faces poking out of the cement like people were buried alive in them. That's contemporary art, for ya!
Soma-vull likes the Goonies
in Pittsfield

colorful taps at Harpoon Brewery
Chris' niece and nephew and I at (an old favorite of mine), the Children's Museum's Hood milk bottle. I often think to myself, it's nice to finally live somewhere were a preppy rainbow bag with a crabs or whales pattern on it doesn't seem square.

wild color

2011-07-19T19:36:00.010-06:00

Whoooooo. Having the craziest schedule this month between knee surgery, a week of my parents visiting, and now spending a week in Denver for a Facing History seminar on Race & Membership. While my mom and dad were in town, we went to Tanglewood for opening weekend (easy activity for the elevated & iced knee) and also managed to see the newly reopened Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Museum of Contemporary Art (aka Mass MoCA) in North Adams - which is a remarkable reinvention of an old factory/mill complex.

Here's a few photos of the Chihuly (blown glass) exhibit at the MFA, which is probably the most popular exhibit the MFA has had in decades, and gives new meaning to the term "eye candy":
And a few photos of the Sol LeWitt exhibit at the MoCA which they say is a "temporary" exhibit, though it's contracted to stay there 25 years:
I look uncharacteristically monochromatic by comparison - And a Katharina Grosse exhibit that looks like mountains of crushed cray-pas:
This last work, also at the MoCA, was a collection of photos of the sun, printed from various Flickr users:

somerville open studios

2011-04-30T20:42:00.008-06:00

Today Somerville hosted an "open studios" where artists of all kinds throughout the city open up their studios or their living rooms for neighbors to walk door to door as if every street is a string of galleries. I really, really dug it and was so impressed at how many people here were involved! There were about 100 different locations you could visit and at least 400 artists on display. I went to just five.

Warshington

2011-04-20T20:22:00.003-06:00

So I think I'm often criticized for taking too many building pictures and not enough people pictures. In D.C. last week I had some fun with self-portraits-in-front-of-a-thing on a really beautiful day -- crazily enough, people kept passing me and saying "Can I take a picture for you?" - and I had to give an awkward "No, thanks!" I didn't intentionally coordinate my red, white and blue but it was downright hot out, I needed Julius. Yes, the cherry trees were pink. No, I didn't get to meet Bo. Yes, President Obama was born in the United States. Come on, people.

more photos over here

Wide Open Spaces

2011-04-03T19:59:00.017-06:00

I don't normally ooh and ahh over Colorado - unless it's Mexican food we're talking about - but I have to admit it was a gorgeous day yesterday. In fact, we were swearing at ourselves for not wearing shorts. Today, of course, the Spring's sick sense of humor returned, and it dumped snow midway through an otherwise sunny morning while we were walking outside in light jackets and t-shirts. The photos here are from Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, a free park that's unparalelled on scenery. We also spent a good chunk of the day in a penny arcade in Manitou Springs where they have four rooms of Donkey Kong, Frogger, Space Invaders, Ms. Pac-Man and you-name-it (all still in working order) for a quarter, plus all the pinball and "love testers" you can dish out for 5 cents. I scored high at skeeball, as usual. The Elton John pinball machine (below) was super vintage cool and in great condition.

Boston Space

2011-03-13T17:25:00.018-06:00

I've been meaning to upload pictures of my room but wanted to get 3 posters framed and hung up, and that took some procrastination. But I got to it today, at last. The walls are not as frighteningly yellow as they look here, they're a bit more bland but it's hard to get good lighting in there.

Kate gave me these adorable prints for Christmas that say "Some days are better than others... but the sun always comes out tomorrow"

The below poster is from a show I went to on the official first day I moved in to the apartment -- 10/15/10

2011-02-20T18:39:00.023-07:00

Every other weekend, I try to take about a four-hour afternoon walk for fresh air, even though it's a bit cold! In the rare sun today, I took a few pictures of my 'hood:
Christmas decorations are still hangin' in there:
I like this combination of garlands:
Somerville Library:
The site that someday will be a new Green Line T stop, just a few houses away from me:
I was really thrilled earlier this year when we got our very own "Geezers Crossing" sign, and the one with the little heart is cute, too:

Cambridge Library all lit up at night:

Inman Square's famous poultry shop, they don't mince words:

2011-02-15T18:01:00.003-07:00

More fun with the liquor store marquee:Just came back from a weekend visit to Colorado, packing a half-gallon of green chile in my suitcase, and two Costco-sized bottles of Cholula. It was both great and terrible to see Chris and Derby. I wish they were here.

I would love to blog more but I am so......... flippin'............... tired. Work has picked up, as they promised it would, and now I just save every second of free time after work to get to sleep early.

Zzzzzz.

Lord.

2011-02-01T18:48:00.010-07:00

I spotted this statue in the driveway at work the other day.

It's a perfect symbol of how everyone's feeling about the snow this Winter in Boston, an "I surrender" kind of feeling.

A lot of my colleagues are working from home and the office has been closed three or four times since we're a school, too. I generally just take public transportation.

The conditions generally haven't been that bad, except last Monday when it was 1 degree on my commute to work. I was really bundled up, but it was like Minnesota for a few minutes there.

What's been unusual is how constant the snow has been -- it's snowing a few inches to a foot about every other day -- so it's more than Massachusetts is used to, and the piles when they haul it into parking lots are getting to be 2 to 3 stories high (really).

The local weather guys are giddy at the attention, and love any excuse to use special Wintery vocabulary like freezing drizzle and thundersnow.

My take on the silver lining -- I can't help but notice that the more perilous the weather, the more strangers and neighbors talk to one another. It's perfectly "Boston" that the worse the conditions of the day, the more likely people are to open up and talk to each other. They don't share smiles and hellos, but they'll share a complaint or an eye roll.

Snack Size Denial - 3 fo 99 cents

2010-12-11T20:57:00.009-07:00

Over the summer, my sister and I noticed these hilarious grocery-poster spoofs in the windows on the second floor of a brick building in Pittsfield and we were wondering whose they were. I finally went back again today and noticed they are pieces from an art gallery called empty set projects by Michael McKay and Monika Pizzichemi.

Some of my favorites not pictured are "Common Sense - 39 cents", "Industrial Strength Angst - 4 for $1", "Sweet Revenge - $10.99 a lb.", "Dashed Hopes - Buy One Get One Free", "Best Intentions - $6.29 a dozen", "Instant Karma - $7.49",

Greetings from Somerville

2010-12-11T20:41:00.005-07:00

Typical neighbors! All festive and plastic and bright.

shoe shot

2010-11-19T20:40:00.004-07:00

still a pretty Fall here, although any second, it may turn to Brrrrrrwinter

holidays mean family

2010-11-15T19:08:00.003-07:00

I have no idea if this was intended to be funny, or even intended in the way that I'm reading it, but I really laugh hard every time I pass it on the way to work. Family comin' to town? Better start drinkin'. Also could be read as "mean family" comin' to town, better start drinkin'.

2010-11-11T10:25:00.019-07:00

I said I was going to upload a photo of this cool Day of the Dead Matroyska doll poster that I bought the other day. Here she is. I still need to get it framed for the wall.

Also at the SOWA Art Market I bought this fun little trivet/tile of the Golden Girls which really ties the room together, does_it_not??

I can't really take a photo of my bedroom because there's piles and suitcases everywhere. But here's a couple pretty pictures of Boston at dusk, from Mem Drive, on my commute home last week.

at last!

2010-10-25T13:26:00.006-06:00

here's a couple photos of a trip my roommate and I took to the SOWA Vintage Market on Sunday in South Boston which had lots of flea market stuff and etsy-ish artists. the tea pots are indeed a Mad Hatterish sculpture.

I bought a really cool poster of a Day-of-the-Dead style Matroyska doll, but I'll have to take a photo of that later once it's framed and hanging. also bought myself a tile/trivet of the Golden Girls (!) which is so perfect for midnight cheesecake snacking.

and recently found (finally) flip flop socks in pear-colored Asian bunnies. too cute.

great day today -- Phew.

"Everything is not enough, nothing is too much to bear. Where you been is good and gone, all you keep's the getting there."

Shug

2010-10-14T21:52:00.002-06:00

(Sigh) I didn't even realize how much I loved it until I owned it.

I think I'll name her Shug after my favorite book, A Color Purple.

New place

2010-10-14T08:38:00.009-06:00

This is me having coffee this morning in my new super-cozy, modest but furnished apartment and the hilarious mug with a photo of my landlord in his badass teenage years, circa St. Elmo's Fire. IKEA furniture has been delivered, and hopefully I'll have photos up of my new (well, new used) car tomorrow. All is well!

Above is my landlord's dog, Scooby, who is no longer living here but who is so perfectly cute she probably should have had a career as a movie dog like BOLT. She really doesn't like cameras though, this is her protesting.

New Englandy

2010-10-11T20:41:00.007-06:00

Nope, not stock photos. This was just a day in my drive around Boston today. It's "parents weekend" in Cambridge and Boston, so the traffic was terrible but the scenery was out in full bloom and everything's especially idyllic with the trees turning colors. You might as well draw in the cartoon bluebirds singing.

I actually got a flat tire as a casualty from pulling over suddenly to take a picture of the Charles below, but oh heck, it was worth it. The white traditional church below is the Battle Green of my first hometown, Lexington, the exact spot where the Revolutionary War started. No wonder I'm such a fiercely independent type.

kismet

2010-10-10T13:11:00.006-06:00

that's Hingham Bay

Things are going so incredibly well in Boston that I'm seriously starting to feel suspicious that I died and went to heaven and it's like in The Sixth Sense where I missed the memo. Pinch me!

These last few days I've been looking for a used black mini and was hoping to avoid the 3 major mini dealerships, and then last night one showed up on Autotrader, which just happened to be at a little import dealer/shop in Cohasset, a small coastal town which looks a lot like Maine. It just so happens Cohasset and Hingham are exactly where I'm thinking we may live. It's expensive down here, but right on the Bay, and you can either take a commuter rail train or a FERRY into Boston Harbor. It's sort of half-way between the Cape and Boston suburbia but is neither here nor there. They have a Stop & Shop, an Old Navy and a Panera but no big ol' malls.

So I'm giving it 24 hours to think it over and work out the price, but I am thinkin' this is the mini for me. It's pretty much the same one we rented in Spain.

Hanging out at Panera now, nibbling Greek salad and a "muffle" (a muffin top - wait - Doesn't Elaine from Seinfeld deserve some credit for inventing these?) and thinking about the next thing I need, a used bicycle for Porter and Davis Squares. Car, bike, mattress and TV are on my to-do list.

Interviews are going slowly but at least that's giving me some time to get settled, fingers crossed.

2010-09-24T10:25:00.021-06:00

You know that you've got Boston blood when you walk past the former site of Filene's Basement for the first time and literally feel the knife going through your heart. Ughhh. I know they're not taking any more residents, but I think F.B. should get its own gravestone in the nearby old-as-dirt Granary Cemetary with the beautiful crooked headstones from the 1600's. Here lies the final shopping bag of Filene's Basement (sniffle) (sob).

You also know you've done time in Boston when you have trouble to adjusting to friendliness. Last month when my mom was here, she practically took a picture of it when someone "waved her in" during high traffic. She could _not_ get over it. "People now wave here?? That doesn't seem right."

I took a long walk along the downtown parts of Boston yesterday and couldn't get over the changes that resulted from the Big Dig's decades-long work. I always thought it was mainly designed to dig a tunnel and get people to the airport, but in fact, the waterfront/ seaport/ wharf areas of Boston which used to be under the highway are now on the same level with one road, and the highway is acutally under that.

The buildings didn't move, obviously. The highway did. But it's surreal to see it for the first time, when your brain has a different memory of the same things in another context. Especially because for so many years it was partially done with temporary roads and sidewalks with orange cones and scaffolding; you couldn't quite imagine the end result.

Now they've added a gorgeous string of parks through on the road divider named The Rose Kennedy Greenway (above left). Kind of like the Fenway, but pretty and safe. The area around South Station especially is almost unrecognizable. I had to rub my eyes when I saw that there was a small little Farmers Market at the top of the South Station T entrance. And with fresher looking vegetables than I've seen at any Colorado Farmers Market.

In many ways, it's just exquisite and the perfect combination of parks and city -- but the inner stubborn Bostonian in me has to hesitate for a second. Wait, is that really a freggin' merry-go-round between lanes of rush hour traffic?

'sall Good

2010-09-16T16:39:00.018-06:00

Last weekend I went to a super duper fun kids & adults rock fest outside Boston that was put together by the Life is good (tm!) folks who, besides making cute t-shirts that hippies of all ages love (you know the Life is good stick figure guy... he's even in airports now), also raise a lot of money for children recovering from trauma, and specialize in programs teaching these kids how to play 'cause they figure play is a fundamental part of life and good health.

So needless to say, they know how to throw a fun festival. They Might Be Giants brought the house down in the kids' tent while 6 year-olds rocked out on giant beanbags and rubber rocking horses while waving gigantic TMBG foam fingers (for which I was jealous).

The festival was also really well-thought-out as far as practical things, like there was a Tag-Your-Tot booth at check-in for putting a wristband on your kids with your cell phone number, there was a Musical Instrument Petting Zoo, there was a zillion complimentary Wet Wipes at the information booth (duh!) and the food and beverages were affordable ($2 tacos), often organic, mostly local, plus most of the booths were donating 100% of the food proceeds to the cause.

The highlight for me, besides meeting Finn, the Goldfish cracker, was a fairly new artist named Eli "Paperboy" Reed who's from Boston, and if you didn't know better, you'd swear this guy's record came out back in the heyday of James Brown. He is phenomenal -- and I'm still confused about the fact that he's white, but I'm trying to get over it. I hope he'll be at Jazz Fest in the future.

And yet, during Eli's performance, I have to give credit... the entire audience was completely mesmorized by the hearing impaired interpreter who had serious moves. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like it. This guy stole the spotlight (for the song that was playing in the background, click here).

Then and Now

2010-09-16T16:26:00.005-06:00

This is an amusing "then and now" of Chris and I at his parents' house on the Cape, both times taken with the camera on auto-timer propped up on the car because there was no one around to take a picture. Top photo is Winter 1998, bottom is Summer 2010... I think the house probably changed the most.

Shipping Up to Boston

2010-08-30T10:47:00.020-06:00

Just came from a fabulous couple of weeks visiting Massachusetts, seeing extended family I haven't seen since college or longer, and meeting some of my cousins' kids for the first time. The trip was organized around an informal memorial service for my wonderful Grandma Stefie who was always our favorite relative. In life, she insisted that we had better not have any kind of a grand production or spend money on a service after her death, so we simply gathered at the site where her ashes were to be buried, shared some memories, said her favorite prayer, then went out for a delicious brunch in small cafe with a couple of her friends in Pittsfield.My sister and I drove aimlessly without schedule around the cute summer towns of Berkshire County, stopping for ice cream at Friendly's and flea markets and shops. We spent one day visiting our hometown of Lexington, our old house and our backyard, all of which was remarkably the same despite almost 30 years gone by. My dad and I visited the beautiful Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, my parents went to their 50th high school reunion, and our entire family gathered one Saturday at Tanglewood -- theoretically for a symphony concert, but Kristen and I mostly played with our cousins' adorable kids on the lawn. Pictured left is me meeting my little cousin, also named Lara! My grandma would have just adored this.
The second week of the trip was me, on my own, getting re-acquainted with Boston since I never drove a car there before and since the main roads have changed quite a bit in 11 years. I had a couple of meetings with friends who are well connected in the non-profit industry, and several friends of the family suggested that next time I visit, to come and stay with them a week, which was very comforting and generous. The roads were definitely a challenge to learn, especially during an unexpected downpour the last two days. I've learned that street signs are often not posted, mis-posted, or not called what they are listed as on a map, and you need to rely on a combination of instincts ("Hmm, this looks like a big, main road"), landmark directions instead of streets ("Take a right after the brown church"), and a good sense of direction ("If the highway's to the right of me, I must be heading South now"). It really helps to have a resilient car that can change lanes quickly, flip a u-turn in three seconds, and honk or flash brights as needed. Enterprise Rent-a-Car must have sensed this and kindly assigned us a VW beetle, which was the perfect fit, though it didn't exactly camouflage me as a local.

I feel like something big has changed in Boston, though it could just be my now-outsider's perspective. There's a tremendous pride in the city, not just in the Red Sox, but in the buildings and neighborhoods and shops and streets. People really love their city. And there was a friendliness to strangers which almost startled me at times. I was actually approached through the car window a handful of times by strangers who must have seen my puzzled scowling at the map, and shouted from outside "You lost?" then offering to help with a shortcut (of course). This even happened when I wasn't lost but just trying to roam around and... OK, let's be honest, I was always lost.

When we were out in Pittsfield, earlier in the week, my mom mentioned offhandedly that her own mother, who died when I was just three years old, had never wanted any of us to leave New England. She would never have approved of our family moving to California, but we happened to move about a year after she died when my dad got a job there. I never knew that before. It really struck me, because I've been wondering all summer why it is that I'm feeling a strong pull towards Boston again. Probably both of my grandmothers in heaven are working their superpowers on me.

Sitting in Limbo

2010-08-04T17:20:00.014-06:00

A lot of folks have commented I've been "quiet" since the last post in April. I've been compelled to write many times, but don't know exactly how to write what's going on at this juncture in life because it feels just like that cheezy-but-true song, unwritten.

Since last year when I found myself laid off for the first time, I've been unexpectedly more fulfilled than ever before... volunteering, developing my resume further and further, having oodles of time to meet friends and take the dog to the park, make proper breakfast and coffee in the morning, read books... and meanwhile I've gotten better and better at saving what I have in the bank, and shopping around for better prices on things that I used to just buy aimlessly. In so many ways, the extra time has been a blessing and an opportunity to reflect on what it is that I enjoy and want in life, and all the things and people that I'm so grateful to have. The experience has really been the perfect lesson in silver linings.

All that said, I'm getting eager to start work and find a company where I can stay a long time! The past year was a mix of not-quite-right job offers, short-term positions, and a little freelance work thrown in, just to keep me on my toes. The last few months I've found myself at a loss for inspiration to stay in Colorado, so I've started to look for work elsewhere and hope I'll have news to share on that by year's end.

At this moment I'm very actively sending out resumes, but starting to feel a gloomy hovering question of whether my life will continue to be patchwork of different jobs - five years here, two years there, three months in Europe here and there. : ) I've always liked patchwork, but I'm also a tremendously loyal person and I miss having a company where everyone knows your name (♫). That, and I'm longing to have what some of my friends have -- five or six weeks of vacation saved up, "perks" like dental insurance and a matched 401K.

Everything's a big balance, so I probably won't have a chunk of time off like this again for many years, but I hope the memory will last, and that it's taught me not to take for granted the dog, the coffee, the understanding boyfriend, the cheap rent, the occasional four-day weekend with friends and family, the sleeping in. Meanwhile -- if any of you have job leads, send 'em along! Online resume: www.linkedin.com/in/laratherrien email: larasueg @ gmail . com

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and stay tuned!

I soooooo like New Orleans

2010-05-09T20:15:00.051-06:00

Let's start with the obvious. I've always liked Harry Connick, Jr. (before he was a movie star!) and really, love anything swingin', especially old hot jazz. "With Imagination" has been on my good mood mix since my mixes were true mix tapes.

For as long as I can remember, people have told me I would love New Orleans and I've always been dying to go. I didn't even know exactly why, other than the city has a personality and flavor that I knew you had to experience in person. I finally went this year for Jazz and Heritage Fest and already can not wait to go back. I'd love to go every year.
People who know me were right: I just love it there. The color, the character, the buildings, the friendliness of everyone, the sweet iced drinks, the catchy swangy music everywhere you go... it's all so loveable and charming. I think if I had gone there for college, I would have stayed. My nickname is "LA", is it not?Chris isn't too mad about blues, jazz, funk or cajun so I went to New Orleans with my dad who had never really experienced the city either. For us, Jazz Fest was an absolute ball and staying in a bright pink guest house just a block off the French Quarter (in the now HBO-publicized "treme" neighborhood) allowed us to walk around beautiful, historic areas and take in live music and creole food in the evenings without needing a car.

I don't think I would have ever thought of "heritage" as being something witnessable, but Jazz Fest's longer title "and Heritage" really suits it. There is so much Louisiana culture represented in this fest. It has incredibly maintained individual flavor and features tons of local acts at what could have become another overrated Bonaroo or Coachella. I definitely got the heritage as well as the jazz (and blues and gospel and funk... there's a tent for everything) and I really took in a mix of each stage along with enjoying the bigger "names" Jonny Lang, Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama, Black Crowes.

The sense of hospitality you get in LA can be summed up by this story: About a year ago I heard a woman on the radio named Ingrid Lucia (right) who sounds a lot like the singer from Squirrel Nut Zippers, old style jazz. I visited her web site and noticed she was raising money for a future album, so I made a $20 donation in exchange for receiving the album when it comes out. She personally sent me an email thank you note, which I was already pretty surprised by.

When we got to New Orleans, I saw in the newspaper she was playing a small club on one of the nights, so Dad and I went to go see her in a little place called d.b.a. that seems to hold maybe 100 people. During her break she mentioned her new album had just come out that week, so I went up to the stage to say Hello, and she recognized my name from our emails and gave me my copy of the CD right there and then. Ingrid also managed to "slip in" to Jazz Fest when another act was canceled (due to the volcano), so we were thrilled to see her twice. I highly recommend her albums and will be sure to include her on mixmas this year~!

Needless to say, I came back from Louisiana with a huge grin and a fistful of CD's you can't find in Denver record stores. Also the obligatory coffee and beignet mix. Below is my favorite stage at Jazz Fest, the Fais Do Do, which featured Cajun music, unintelligible lyrics and tons and tons of fiddles.

No one informed me about bringing a glittery furry umbrella (to dance with, of course) ahead of time, but next time I'll come prepared (see the umbrella procession by the stage, below).

It's not what you think

2010-03-24T17:58:00.007-06:00

My latest work for the Cheese Society is totally making me want to adopt some kids. How freakin' cute are they?!

fotográfia

2010-03-13T22:16:00.016-07:00

Yesterday I figured out a much more practical and cooler way to blog my photos, though youtube and picasa took forEVer to upload this right. I wish I could have edited the photo changes to the music changes, but it was a very simple slideshow template. I need to do another one of these of my Russia photos sometime (Luba, music suggestions?)

Click on the 4 arrows on the bottom right to see the video in full screen and clicking on 1080p makes it crisp: here's a 4 minute vacation to Spain.

finalmente

2010-03-06T02:54:00.010-07:00

I don't think I'll have time to upload photos this morning because this computer has a lot of issues, but here's an update...

We loved the town of Arcos deep in the "Frontera" of Andalucia which is both the rural part of Spain and the most touristed in the summer because the towns are so tiny, charming, and gorgeous, and in another month the casas will all have flowers flowing off their black iron terraces. Early March is still Winter here and too soon for tourists so in many ways we had the place to ourselves.

Driving on the hilly roads of Arcos was to put it modestly, challenging, and to put it realistically, like being on a rollercoaster that had gone off the tracks. Chris and I both could feel our sore knuckles the rest of the evening - me from clenching the steering wheel and him from the bottom of his seat, I guess.

To give you an idea, the cobblestone roads of the town had AT BEST six inches of space on either side of my car (and I have one of the smallest cars you can rent!!) with a lot of little archways where you can't see who's on the other side, plus there's always oncoming mopeds and other cars that seem to not use any kind of signal or system to decide who's turn it is to go... you just hold your breath and pray and curse all at once. There's also pedestrians everywhere. It was hard.

Also the rules of a normal road don't apply, people park on sidewalks and squeeze by each other on what clearly is one, long, one-way street until another car comes in the opposite direction. I really wanted to see Arcos because there's no reliable way to get there on train or bus but geesh, maybe a taxi would have been sufficient.

Thank heaven we managed to land a parking space on the plaza outside our hotel at the very top of the town, and left the car for 2 days while we walked around in a little rain and ducked into pubs for wine and tapas. One tapas bar we found with only 6 tables and 2 other guests on my birthday was SO nice to us when we ordered tons of food and dipping sauces (we were starving by the time anything opened for dinner at 9:30 p.m.) that they brought us two rounds of caramel vodka from the freezer "a la casa" after dinner. I am not a vodka person but it was a really good desert! Plus when you're hotel is three blocks away on foot, it's all good.

The drive through the rest of the frontera towns was one of the prettiest places on Earth, reminded me of the drive to Big Sur, and I will post some pictures when I can. We saw lots of furry mountain goats and sheep with long un-bobbed tails on the side of the road, as well as pretty beige bulls with long horns grazing gracefully. There were few cars, so going around 30 mph tight hairpin bends wasn't so bad, and we listened to Van Morrison, Newton Faulkner, Ray LaMontagne and David Gray and chilled.

Finally our last night here was in Malaga, a big vacationer's city that looks a lot like Miami, only newer and still being developed. There's condos and villas on steep mountains overlooking the ocean and our parador here is beautiful, though less quaint than everywhere else we've been. It also was up a steep, not well marked hill -- I'm starting to realize the reason that our hotels are always up a long, winding, steep driveway, is because they ARE real castles and had to be up above so they could be fortified from attackers. The drive here was also rough at times but because it's a big city on a major highway in rush hour and the hotel had lousy directions on their web site, but we managed. We're here for the airport, so we can catch a cheap flight back to Barcelona tonight and fly back to the States tomorrow.

Hasta Luego.

feliz compleanos

2010-03-03T09:28:00.010-07:00

Today we got to Arcos de la Frontera, deep in white wine and olive growing country, where it's gone from warm & light jacket weather to sporadically down pouring and blowing us away with high winds, but it's fine for walking around and ducking into shops and cafes as the weather turns. The roads are extremely pequeño and cobbled which feels like a car commercial, only terrifying. I can't imagine how the delivery trucks do it. I managed to just barely squeak up the hill without hitting anything or anyone. We just finished two little birthday tarts from a bakery in town. Instead of a parador, we're in one of those family pensions that Rick Steves always recommends highly called La Convento with the freshly made breakfast, and funnily enough, our room was named "The Rick Steves Room" since he visits a lot and probably has given them tons of business with his books. Chris can't stop cracking up about it.

Here´s a video of the balcony from our room... admittedly a little gray and rainy but the scenery is gorgeous and green.

in Zafra, saw Cuenca, on to Arcos mañana

2010-03-02T11:46:00.018-07:00

Etamos bueno! All's well!

Our first day on the road was a little rocky in more ways than one: the car kept sticking in gears (probably my fault) especially when we were stuck at a stop light, on a hill, with another car breathing down my neck a few inches behind me...which it's fair to say made Chris just about ready to jump out the window and hop on the next plane home. But he handled it pretty well and I´m proud of us for getting through that, really. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Our first of the paradores (historic castles that were turned into hotels) took about 7 hours from Barcelona! It was only 5 hours based on the map but there was getting out of Barcelona that took an hour (thank God it was a quiet Sunday morning) plus we had eaten dinner around midnight the night before, so we were beat, plus the roads we took crossed SIERRAS or a 3,000 foot mountain range with little switchbacks.

So it was 7 hours in the put-put-putting car but on very well-maintained highways and the scenery looked like a combination of Tuscan vineyards, Montana or Yosemite (mountainy forests), and Wyoming (dusty one-street towns) along the way. I think in just these two days we´ve driven through 12 Spanish provinces and four major regions (La Mancha, Catalonia, Aragon, Castilla and now Extremadura) so I am so glad we rented a car. Our highest concern is that no one steals it and we generally just pay 4 euros a day for parking in a garage with a policia watching it.

Finally we arrived at the parador around 10 at night and it was was up a steep, steep hill on a cliff overlooking a gorge in Cuenca and we´re talking about a 15th century road, ain´t no guide rails. We parked and checked in, only to find out that you have to cross a little pedestrian bridge OVER the gorge on foot to get to the town and restaurants and Chris is terrified of heights. Oh Lord. So we ate in the castle (bleh) and the next morning I crossed the bridge while Chris took the long way around (down the long hill, back up a long hill). I seriously can´t believe they don´t mention that rickety bridge in any of the books or brochures or photos I had seen of that town.

Yesterday we left Cuenca for Zafra, another few hours drive, which is a tiny little hill town in Andalucia (the culturally rich region of Spain) which turns out to be a little sleepy and gray and rainy even -- we've hardly seen any tourists -- but it was just what we needed. Less sites, more putting our feet up and sleeping in.

Meat is pretty much 80% of the diet in Spain, so we tend to look or ask for well rounded restaurants that the locals like. The restaurant we found for lunch today was the most savory goat cheese salad I´ve ever had in my life and plenty of vino tinto (red wine) which is cheap and local, so very fresh.

The castle we´re at here in Zafra is from 1443 and extremely romantic and gorgeous. The room has enormous dark brown double doored windows that open to the plaza below.

Zafra:

Cuenca:

view from our hotel room:

little village of Albaraccin along the way:

Ack!

2010-02-27T18:14:00.013-07:00

Well we rented a mini cooper tonight and I´m a bit petrified of the fact that it´s so shiny and new, I really don't want anyone to want to steal this baby. I love it, but couldn´t we just have a dusty old yugo or something??

I certainly broke it in some tonight, re-learning to drive stick shift and learning for the FIRST time ever to finagle through one of those huge inter-city rotary things that usually go around a big arc de triomphe or something. And I got lost perdido a few times and wasn't ready to do an illegal "you-ey" here! Thankfully I do have that inner demon of being able to drive like hell in a city but the stalling and clutching and breaking and just finding the darn gears took some practice. Let´s put it this way: the rental car security guy who was letting me out the gate was like "Please... your car is smoking like a bomb. Can´t you just take the METRO or WALK!?!" (in spanish). That´s where I say thank you and charge it please, and I´ll be on my way.

It should be much easier to navigate major highways to the cities we´re going to and then just park it by the hotel and walk around but I am worried (as I say here, estoy muy nerviosa) about the theft risk. Cross your fingers por favor.

Here´s a few recent photos below. Sorry in advance that if you click on them, they´re going to be huge, I don´t have a way to compress ém here.

Believe it or not these first 2 photos of La Sagrada Familia were taken within 2 minutes of each other -- same amount of darkness in the sky, but different facades (sides of the building) with different shutter speeds and a little twirling of the lens (and craning of your neck since the computer won't let me post my photos right-side-up) made two different entire views.
typical view of a restaurant or market in Spain. lotsa carne.interiors of Casa Battlo, dozens more photos where these came from:"Apt. G" in Casa Battlo. G is for Gaudi, that's good enough for me...A very typical iron gate on an apartment in Valencia. Loads more photos coming later.

dia dos

2010-02-26T11:54:00.008-07:00

It's day two in Spain (there was no Day Uno blog) and we've literally covered a lot of ground, walking many miles and climbing many metro stairs... I'm a bit exhausted, having had only about 4 1/2 hours of sleep on the plane, but not letting that sink in and spoil anything. You've got to just go and do when you're someplace like Barcelona. Our hotel is kind of in the boonies for Barcelona (it´s actually called Badalona...not kidding... hmm...) but it´s just a hop, skip, and a jump to the metro.

Last night Chris and I took in a show at Palau de la Musica Catalana and it wasn't exactly what I hoped: the very famous Spanish singer was fantastic (Rosario), but as part of "La Festival de Flamenco" she wasn't flamenco at all, she was completely Pop. And very it was a very lively, sold-out, unairconditioned crowd. The theater seems a lot smaller when everyone's packed in and although I had selected orchestra seats, the messanine above us blocked our view of most of the mosaics and stained glass up celing (see below) so we just walked around to take pictures afterwards.
Today I spent a chunk of the day along Passeig de Gracia and in Casa Battlo (below), the one Guadi building I skipped in 2006, and oh my gosh, that place a photographer's playground. My new camera actually ran out of batteries after 150 photos or so.

The thing that amazed me the most was I had seen photos of the house from Kate going there in 2006, but I had imagined everything to be about a quarter the size of what it really is... (like the mosaic that's on my Visa card is really as pictured below, about 12 feet tall, I always thought it was a close up of a small detail!) I´ll post more pictures luego. ¡Off to dinner! I love using that upside down exclamation point, just 'cause I can. ¡?¿!

Vamos a España

2010-02-21T20:58:00.003-07:00

Aquí es una mapa de google de nuestro destinos en España la semana que viene. Voy a publicar algunas fotos mientras que vamos, si encontramos internet-cafes!

View Larger Map

We are More

2010-02-17T10:00:00.004-07:00

This poem was the highlight for me of Vancouver's Opening Ceremony. That, and the whales under the floor gave me chills!

Golden to Boulder

2010-01-21T10:22:00.008-07:00

Check out what Hwy 93 looks like at 6:45 a.m. on a cold January morning.

Moment of Truth

2010-01-19T20:04:00.005-07:00

For the people of Haiti and all people who have been hurt by a natural disaster over the past several years, I dedicate a little prayer/song that always humbles me:

let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears
while we all sup sorrow with the poor

there's a song that will linger forever in our ears
"oh, hard times come again no more"

'tis a song, a sigh of the weary
"hard times, hard times come again no more"
many days you have lingered around my cabin door
oh, hard times come again no more

while we seek mirth and beauty
and music light and gay
there are frail ones fainting at the door
though their voices are silent
their pleading looks will say
"oh, hard times come again no more"

Let's take a moment to remember there were estimates of 230,000 killed in the Indonesian quake and tsunami in 2004, 86,000 in Pakistan in 2005, and 70,000 in China in 2008, all of whom did not benefit from the same level of generosity in the American media. Thank goodness Haiti has been a great example of our generous hearts and charitable behavior, and I hope it only gets better from here.

Sadly, it often takes something as catastrophic as the earthquake in Haiti to make those of us in economic "hard times" realize our definition of hard is nothing relative to theirs.

Why People Email So Badly

2010-01-10T13:45:00.011-07:00

I just finished an incredible (yet so simple) book that I wish was required reading for anyone who uses email. Take note! It's called:

Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better by David Shipley (deputy editorial editor for New York Times) and Will Schwalbe (former editor in chief of Hyperion Books)

I thought I would excerpt (paraphrased at times) my 10 favorite epiphanies which hopefully will convince you to pick up the book. I guarantee it's a fast read, and there's lots more explained than what's here.

In brief
"Email has a tendency to encourage the lesser angels of our nature. There’s a reason for this. In a face-to-face (or voice-to-voice) conversation, our emotional brains are constantly monitoring the reactions o the person to whom we’re speaking. We discern what they like and what they don’t like. Email, by contrast, doesn’t provide a speedy real-time channel for feedback. Yet the technology somehow lulls us into thinking that such a channel exists. As Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence, observed, emailing puts people in a state of disinhibition. The inhibiting circuits in our brain—which help us monitor and adapt to our audience’s responses—have checked out. Several psychological studies have shown that email generally increases the likelihood of conflict and miscommunication. One reason for this is we tend to misinterpret positive email messages as more neutral, and neutral messages as more negative than the sender intended."

1. Email is ruthlessly democratic. It’s hard to tell what’s important and what isn’t. Your subject line is one of the few cues you can offer. Subject line should always be used and inform the reader of the contents of the email. And asking people to not read the email you just sent them—Subject: Recall Last Message—is an invitation for them to read it and then to disseminate its contents as widely as possible.

2. Avoid hyperbole. There are few things as deflating as a message that does not live up to its billing. The Subject line “Great News” should be great. Example of what not to do:

Subject line: Great news
Email content: I finally remembered the name of that cereal I loved as a kid.

3. In a recent [2005] survey, many employers said they would not interview a candidate if they didn’t like the font on his application or cover letter.

4. Email tends toward informality. However the greeting is your first and probably most important opportunity to show your correspondents what you think your relationship is to them. An inappropriate salutation colors all that follows. When in doubt, Dear is always acceptable and always correct.

5. Don't appear to have to always have the last word. Any email string that comes your way with the words “Done”, “Great”, “Agreed”, “See you then”, is a signal you do not need to respond again.

6. Please and thank you do not always make your message more polite as they can be misread as your annoyance. Rhetorical questions can be even worse and the suggestive tone instantly may make someone enraged. Consider if the intent behind a rhetorical question could be seen as: “I’m asking this question because the answer will humiliate you”.

7. Thanking and asking (for a favor) don't mix. Also an email thank you is often perceived as insincere because it took very little effort (and people who have been wounded have their BS meters set at a very sensitive level). If you're thanking someone, be as sincere as possible, and strongly consider following it with in-person praise or a hand-written thank you note.

8. Of all the tonal choices you can make in correspondence, the decision to use sarcasm should be carefully considered, and almost always abandoned.

9. Don’t email when you are right about something.

10. You may have heard this simple advice many times before, but it can’t be overstated: Think before you send. And send email you would like to receive.

An Optimistic Thought

2010-01-10T13:35:00.004-07:00

"When I think back to what came out of the Depression, why would I be pessimistic about now? Maybe we have an opportunity in these hard times to learn those same lessons. Children growing up today [may] have an advantage: They have an opportunity to learn something that no generation since the generations that grew up in the 30’s had a chance to learn, and that is self-reliance, and perseverance, and a certain amount of toughness."

- Malcolm Gladwell
(interview with Katie Couric, January 2010)

All Ya Need

2010-01-01T00:27:00.010-07:00

This thankfully came to me via The Good News Network today:

Christmas in Connecticut

2009-12-25T20:08:00.017-07:00

I don't know why despite being here a hundred times I can never spell the state right, always have to look it up.

Chris' family's back porch door
clothes drying in the snow

Tom Brady Jr. trying out his tricycle

Meg taking a snow bath

later... Meg was plumb tuckered out

me in my new blue Christmas coat and somebody's rogue monkey in the window behind me... Meg's chilling in the snow in the reflection

Livy showing her terrible claws and gnashing her terrible teeth

Sawyer at Christmas supper

Beautiful ceiling of Chris' sister's house

view of the living room from outside Chris' house

One Christmas Present So Far

2009-12-25T08:29:00.004-07:00

Chris' mom Jan handmade me a pair of mittens from Salvation Army sweaters, I love them! (Mine are the blue/gray) and she's working on loads more in other colors. I wish I had that Martha Stewart gene, but I can't even color within the lines of a coloring book.

What I Did on My Summer (and Fall, and Winter) Vacation

2009-12-14T11:37:00.036-07:00

One of the best lessons I've learned my whole life, I learned this year, and that's that down time doesn't have to get you down. Earlier this year when my job was eliminated, I wasn't sure exactly how the coming year would play out, but I had been expecting the news for three months or so, and I knew anything was better than the waiting to hear.

About a month after I was "let go", I emailed W o men's Bean Project, a non-profit I've always liked in Denver, to see what kinds of volunteer opportunities they had. I was impressed that for a relatively small-staffed entity, the Bean Project has their volunteer ducks in a row.

They asked me to join the Communications Council, a small group of women who help with media, marketing and communications projects. At most we each dedicate about one day a week of our time. I also have worked at a handful of art fairs on the weekends, selling the WBP products (bean soups, spice packets, dips and salsas, cookie mixes, coffee beans, jelly beans) which is fun and easy. Everything makes a great gift idea, and people (including myself!) are quickly sold after one taste of the chocolate covered espresso bean s.
Women's Bean Project's goal is to give women from backgrounds of chronic poverty in Denver job training, life skills and work experience in the food industry, but they also have given me (their mere volunteer!) good work experience while I'm unemployed, and something unusual to speak to interviewers about. I'm beyond grateful that this mutually beneficially opportunity intersected my life at the right time.

I've also met an incredible amount of interesting people throughout my job search, many who when they call to tell me they're proceeding with another candidate, have genuinely and generously offered to keep an eye out for opportunities in their own network for me.

Last week I met with a small group of volunteers that make up a Young Professionals Council for Make-A-Wish Foundation who invited me to join their council next year. This opportunity wouldn't have come into my life if I hadn't interviewed at Make-A-Wish earlier this year. My favorite thing about this org is their mission, that's so eloquently put: "To enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy".

So jobless or not, things are really working out for the best and lately I feel entirely grateful. I wish you all to have as much to be grateful for as I do, both this year and in the new year.

- Lara

I love this

2009-12-01T11:31:00.004-07:00

It really pains me that so many companies are coming out with the cutest reusable tote bags now when we all already have too many of the cheap and ugly 99 cent ones from Safeway, etc. Actually I use a couple of LL Bean XL boat totes for my groceries which are an investment up front, but like everything from Bean, guaranteed for life, so sturdy and so practical.

The best totes I've spotted yet, however, turn into a floppy eared rabbit when not in use as a bag! Everything should be this cute. Of course if we lived in Japan, everything would be this cute.

iPod blues

2009-11-28T16:46:00.004-07:00

It's kinda funny that I've been unemployed three-quarters of a year and the biggest problem I have is I can't get my iPod under 30 Gigs. I keep adding more music I find at the library and in spite of having oodles of time to delete and shore it up, I'm still about 1,000 songs over what fits. (Sigh).

In realer news, for those of you not reading my twitter or facebook rants, please make sure you read HALF THE SKY. I read a lot about global issues and women's movements but even just the introduction to this book profoundly affected my understanding of the issues at hand threatening women and girls globally. I just had no idea how enormous the gender discrimination still is.

Fallgust, Falltember & Falltober

2009-11-14T15:15:00.067-07:00

Yikes, I have been neglecting my blog! Damn you, Facebook, you've got me abbreviating everything and writing in little blurbs. Here's some photos and notes from the last few months. I usually don't talk about weather this much but this year has been an odd ball.

Lessee... in August I flew out to visit two new additions to my college dormmate family, Luba's new twin boys, Caleb and Gideon. This trip was an obvious lesson in how accustomed I am to Colorado's dryness because we were walking around D.C. in 98 degree weather and 98 percent humidity which I couldn't shut up about. I found myself taking a freezing cold shower for a good five minutes at night before I could even begin to cool down. I also learned that if I move to Virginia, my preferred vanity license plate is already taken.

Monterey had the most unbelievably perfect weather while I reunited with bff Stephenie in September. Those of you who know Monterey know a fogless week is practically impossible, but we had one, even all the way down in Pebble Beach. Coincidentally my British cousin Katie who I hadn't seen in 10 years was also in town and readily available to go kayaking where we spotted quite a few otters and just sat there watching them in "aww". Add on the Greek Festival and lots of spare time to walk on the beach and laugh w/ Step, on top of the outrageously warm days, and the trip was one of the highlights of my year.If you click on the otter picture, he's definitely either picking his nose or giving me the finger. He's probably sick of being cute for tourists.
Jacque the shrimp from Finding Nemo is apparently alive and well at MB Aquarium.You might think at first this is seaweed but the two yellow and dark green things in the center of the picture are in fact sea dragons -- similar to sea horses but incognito.sunset after dinner from my parents' balcony
family all together & orangey for the christmas card...My mom and her adorable friend and student, Yu Jin, who she's been tutoring for a couple years.Denver's first dusting of snow around October 1, on some cubist bears at Northfield Stapleton mall. They look alive to me.So many cold days, so many tea choices. I love blueberry tea, ROT's Comfort & Joy (aptly named), and a homemade rose tea which I'm concocting these days from Savory Spice Shop rose petals. I've also been meaning to try Denver's new brand, Teatulia.Mom and her friend Kathy came for a 24 hour visit en route to Aspen for the annual J.D. Festival in October.Chris and I caught up with the critters, including baby mountain goats (kids?), at the Denver Zoo on his birthday, 10/17.On October 29th we were hit with a steady 48 hours of snow coming down which amounted to at least 24 inches in Littleton. The air was just cold enough to freeze, but surfaces were warm enough that snow slipped off in odd drooping shapes which resembled frosted gingerbread houses (at least the sloppy kind that I make).
Our staircase looked like someone draped streamers on it. The air conditioners looked like Mario Brothers characters.The roofs had four, five, six, seven feet of snow at times hanging over the ledge but not falling off. I've never quite seen anything like it.Our trees were pretty and the neighbor's snowman perfect. The two days were lots of fun with the dog, though Chris was out in San Diego for business and missed it all!In mid-October, Kate came to Denver for a visit and we spread the love at a couple art museums, lots of small-end city shopping, and the New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins.
outside Denver Public Library, Kate color coordinated well with the civic centery artinside Denver Art Museum, we caught local artists in the process of finishing the latest "Embrace" exhibit.
Our favorite thing was Rex Ray's Discolaria at Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art, a few pictures here.
It's plain to tell Rex Ray's colorful collage technique has huge potential for success in commercial art (and of course, he has already been extremely successful), he was the guest editor of Coppola's Zoetrope magazine this month, he has stationery through Chronicle Books, and if I may suggest, the raindrop pattern below would sell great on just about anything (dresses, placemats, shower curtains, pillow cases) if he were to partner with Target next. Just a thought, Rex.The last day we visited Folly headquarters, New Belgium Brewery, which I swear, every time I visit there nearly convinces me I've got to move up to Ft. Collins. What a cool and unusual place.
Every employee has their own limited edition NB bike.
99 bottles of beer on the ceiling, 99 bottles of beer...Kate doesn't quite have the foot photography down yet, but I give her super snaps for giving it a shot... : ) mine...The tour ends in a helter skelter slide if you're lucky and get one of the cool tour guides.Below, a super sour Belgian beer known as "La Follie" which is brewed in gigantic 2-story wine barrels, that true Beeristas admire but made us pucker... and caused us to laugh uncontrollably, maybe the seven samples were sinking in.The beers on tap vary wildly each time I've been to New Belgium in the past year, including always-different limited time "Lips of Faith" flavors designed by employees at an annual contest. This one was a Dandelion un-hopped beer which after enough sips, Kate took home in a growler!
Last but not least, a few photos of Derby's park in our neighborhood whose colors seemed unusually spectacular this year but maybe it's just my perspective from having a lot of days off this year. As I type this now, Colorado just came off a week of 70 degree days and yet at the moment, it's snowing in white fuzzy clumps like a Christmas card and we're expecting at least six inches by morning. The dog is sitting at my feet eager to go out for some play but mostly he'll do nothing but gulp it down.

Love Your Locals

2009-11-09T12:11:00.007-07:00

I love these new posters from Indie Bound, a collaborative of independent bookstores. I've always liked supporting local businesses over the years -- especially my personal weakness, stationery shops and bookstores -- but this year I've noticed a growing number of grass roots efforts are asking people to commit to (or resolve to) buy more things locally, and I'm 100% on board with that.
Acme Coffee in Monterey kind of kicked it off for me. They have free old school "Resist Corporate Coffee" stickers and as soon as I added one to my car, the pressure alone from having that stuck on my butt has prevented me from going to Starbucks for coffee over the last three months. I much prefer Denver's Daz Bog, Ink!, Novo, and Coda coffee brands anyway, but now I seek out their locations or brew my own at home. Additionally when folks ask me to meet for lunch somewhere, I try to always pick local businesses instead of chains (unless the chain has a strong reputation for supporting local communities, as is the case with Target).

To commit to buying more stuff locally (and to learn why), visit http://www.the350project.net or search for "350 project" on Facebook.

Reallly rad

2009-11-02T14:55:00.002-07:00

Don't know how I only just now learned about Kickstarter but watch this video and tell me if you are not awe-inspired by the power of entrepreneurialism on the web.

Ever notice that what the hell is always the right decision?

2009-10-26T11:52:00.001-06:00

This was my favorite magnet but I lost it! Definitely feeling this way lately:

2009-10-06T21:09:00.001-06:00

"We ought not to question whence; there is no whence, no coming or going in place; now it is seen and now not seen. We must not run after it, but fit ourselves for the vision and then wait tranquilly for its appearance, as the eye waits on the rising of the sun, which in its own time appears above the horizon...and gives itself to our sight."
Plotinus

Talkin' Bout a Revolution

2009-09-25T13:09:00.002-06:00

My friends will tell you one of my annoying, though helpful characteristics is I'm always praising my favorite brands and ranting about my least favorite. Once you get me started, I can't shut up about, say, In n' Out Burger (and I'm not alone on that one).

This quality makes me a perfect fit for the new consumerism which is word-of-mouth marketing through online forums like Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. Online word-of-mouth recommendations generally can't be bought. They are genuine and spontaneous and sometimes we don't even realize we're essentially advertising when just observing something is cool enough to tell our friends. A book I read recently on this topic (Groundswell) writes, "Face it. Marketers no longer dictate the path people take, nor do they lead the dialogue. Social technologies have revved up [the] word-of-mouth dynamic, increasing the influence of regular people while diluting the value of traditional marketing." Indeed the term "word-of-mouth" is even outdated, since most of what we share these days comes from a keyboard or mobile keypad.

A recent viral video on YouTube about the Social Media Revolution flashes one jaw-dropping statistic after another, including the statistics that 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations (and the video's footnotes state it's grown to 90% in 2009) and only 14% of consumers trust advertisements.

Not everyone is as particular or verbal a consumer as me, but with the recession bankrupting and laying off Americans of all ages, most people are being more careful with impulse purchasing, using the high school math they thought they'd never use to compare price savings in the grocery store. You'll see folks (including me) staring at price tags for 10 minutes in a daze and counting quietly out loud to themselves "that's 19, carry the 1"... so we tell our friends whenever we see a deal, even a little one.

A few weeks ago when 6 of my friends simultaneously forwarded me a Baja Fresh free burrito coupon that was posted on Facebook on a Tuesday afternoon, and then I witnessed as my neighborhood descended upon the Baja Fresh parking lot, families brought six copies of the coupon for each member of the family to get one, the single line cook could not even keep up with the orders that evening, but no one seemed to mind waiting an hour for a free burrito...I knew Baja Fresh was on to something.

For me, though, a recommendation takes more than just being free or tasting good or delivering on an expectation. I live for my iPod but don't have any kind of devotion to Apple as I do some other companies who have interacted with me, treated me well, and asked for my feedback. There's a good reason consumer surveys always end with..."How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? Very likely? Somewhat likely? Neither likely or unlikely? Somewhat not likely? Not at all likely?" To be a word-of-mouth-worthy brand, it takes some random acts of incredibleness as well as personal interest in your consumers' voices, and I'm very pleased to see many companies are getting this and seizing the opportunity.

Here's a simple example. Last week I went into Whole Foods to pick up a bite to eat for lunch. I noticed one of my favorite brands, Izze had a new flavor called "Birch" which happened to be "two for 6 dollars" and also had a coupon attached to the package. I snooped around the label to see if there was any description of what Birch tastes like, didn't see any description, and decided to ask an employee. Couldn't find an employee. Spent about 30 seconds walking to the checkout, debating whether to risk the $3 on this product or not. At the checkout, I asked the clerk if he knew what Birch was, and while shrugging casually, he answered "No but if you're not sure if you'll like it, you can try it on us," and proceeded to put it into my reusable bags without ringing it up. What impressed me about this act was not even that it was free, but that the employee did it with such ease. He didn't have to ask a manager, didn't need a special coupon, didn't need my email address, didn't have to think twice before offering it. And I'll tell you, that's the kind of customer treatment that makes me remember, talk about it, and go back.

Some of the brands I not only mention in daily conversations, but would give my left arm to support because they are so consistently great include Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Newman's Own and Newman's Own Organics, Pixar, Google, Netflix, Target, Izze (Sparkling Juice), Papa Murphy's, Sunflower Market, Chipotle, Oprah and The Angel Network, Toyota, Costco, In n' Out Burger, Mad Greens (salad lunch spot in Denver)... I'll add to this post as I think of more.

Some of the brands I have had ruinous experiences with, not surprisingly to most of you reading this, include United Airlines (that's another whole post), Ticketmaster, the Post Office, the Unemployment Office, JP Morgan Chase (I called to say I was thinking of leaving their bank, they responded "OK, your account is now closed, is there anything else I can do for you?"), Qwest (it takes a lot for me to hold a grudge but they were so bad in 1999, I swore off ever using them again), Best Buy (numerous employees there have told me they don't bother to carry much selection of cd's anymore -- their logic was, why bother when you can buy them online or download -- which is fine with me, I'll go support Twist & Shout Records instead)!

I'm always listening, what are your favorites and least favorites?

G n' R is back (well, in my life)

2009-09-24T17:02:00.007-06:00

I have been totally abandoning my blog for twitter lately, and I feel bad... By the way, a stretch goal / resolution next year is to ban "totally" from my vocab. It's a bad habit, I use it about 40 times a minute. It's filler and probably worse than "um", but I've grown so accustomed to it. I'm thinking most of you wouldn't recognize my voice without it, but it's time for it to take a hike. Totally. (Sigh).

There are some things that are just too long to twitter though, and here's one of them (unless you have a 140 character suggestion):

A few weeks ago I visited Monterey and since rental cars don't usually have iPod adapters, I brought along some cd's, which is always an interesting change of pace. Who listens to full albums all at once anymore? It reminds you of all the tracks you forgot about that your iPod doesn't lean toward frequently.

Since I was visiting high school friends, I brought some cd's that remind me of those olden days (92 - 96) including Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion I & II, which if I had to pick just one album that brings back memories, it would be... well, I still can't pick one. It would be UYI 1 & 2. Alanis Morrissette was the album of my senior year whether anyone liked it or not, but before that, I was hooked on G n' R like any rightful angst-ridden teenager in the 90's, and I can't remember ever being tired of listening to them. I didn't give up appreciating G n' R as road trip music over the years, but for some reason in the transition to iPod-dom, I only uploaded about 3 songs from each UYI cd (possibly the reason was storage space, my 30 Gig iPod nears capacity every time I add something) so listening to the cd's in full in the rental car while doing 90 on the highway (wondering why everyone else was driving so slow) was great, and I was really taken aback by a few things:

1) I still know most of the lyrics by heart, having not heard these songs in at least 10 years, especially the F-laden ones ("Double Talkin' Jive Get the Money Muthafucka 'Cause I Got No More Patience" just comes right back to me like it was "Row, Row, Row your boat").

2) The songs seem just as good and in fact, as relevant as they were then (I truly expected they would seem lame, dated, and overindulgent now)

3) Axl sure had a hell of a lot of anger built up. Not just one album's worth, but two full albums and 30 total tracks of hatred, bitching, cursing at, and dissing people behind their back? It's a testament to his (now forgone) artistry that he was able to translate that into 30 tracks of decent music, in fact, at least 20 tracks of amazing music instead of buckling down and killing someone.

It's no wonder G n' R will never top these. I personally was not looking forward to Axl's "comeback", Dr. Pepper induced or not, since he was always 4 hours late for concerts. Although Velvet Revolver (Guns n' Roses without Axl) kicked ass, I somehow doubt Axl without Guns n' Roses would be worth waiting 4 hours for.

Anyway that's my non-twitterable musing about music that's probably not seen the light of day, let alone a flash of airwaves, for the past 10 years. In fact it's nearly 20 years since the albums were first released!! Now that, I must say, is the most $#%&*! shocking of all.

College Essay (BU)

2009-09-18T16:23:00.002-06:00

I just found my college entrance essay! Totally amusing, especially how cynical I was for a 17 year-old, but I must say I agree with myself and in fact, the state of the TV programming and "news" is much worse 13 years later. This is it, unedited:

As the decade of the nineties has progressed, the American public has consistantly grown obsessed with malice, dishonor and deceit. A little boy growing up in this generation will not eagerly watch the television and dream of flying for NASA or becoming an all-star athlete. Today's little boy is more familiar with VanDamme and Stallone movies than Disney cartoons and if he plans to follow the footsteps of any of his heroes, he will have to wonder how many divorces he will have by the age of 40. Monsters who haunt a little girl's dreams at night aren't fictional anymore, but actual figures and images of whom today's children are constantly warned about--strangers, kidnappers, abductors, rapists, molestors. Most adult awareness has also warped into constant suspicion these days, as many people would have more faith in the Psychic Friends Network than in any politician.

The justification for this lack of trust lies not in the reality of today's world, but in portrayals of reality. Even in strictly news magazines, headlines tend to reek of scandal and covers tend to bear bloody photographs. Television networks are littered with talk shows and many programs considered "journalism" report inaccrate rumors, pollute the public much like tabloids, and accuse and exagerate so excessively that they make the McCarthy trials seem mild. Although the media tends to portray everyday life as a soap opera, they can't be blamed when they are merely appeasing the public's insatiable appetite for violence and scandal.

It would seem the most that can be done for this problem is to encourage awareness in both children and adults. To attack this modern mentality of distrusting and discrediting everything, society would have to begin an almost revolutionary change in what children are exposed to. It is not sheltering that we need to install, but just the opposite. Children need to understand and believe in reality instead of developing confusion and ignorance from false images they are blatently shown all their life. The excessive amount of television viewed by Americans validates the conclusion that what is viewed can filter one's perception of the world to the point of sheer ignorance. Although programs that focus on gossip (such as those titled "My Mother Slept with My Ex-Brother-in-Law's Gay Lover") contribute to common misconceptions, it would not be practical to suggest that the programs be prohibited or ignored.

A feasible approach would be making education of current issues a requirement for children in school and incorporate factual news programs or periodicals as part of homework. Also, news programs should try creative styles of broadcasting or advertising to create an image different from the boring or undesirable reputation a typical couch potato may associate with the news. As a potential journalist, I feel the media is obligated to portray reality accurately, for journalists are the most responsible for creating or at least contributing to public knowledge (and opinion).

Imitation Thai CPK

2009-08-04T18:23:00.010-06:00

I don't know if this looks as good as it tasted but I recently had a craving for California Pizza Kitchen's Thai Chicken Pizza, and knowing it's a repeat offender on the "what not to eat" lists, I decided to recreate it at home with shrimp instead of chicken and a lot of veggies.

Here's the recipe if you ever want to attempt it. Perfectionists, take note: I don't list recipes in the standard way with ingredients, then directions. I just like having the directions and I'll highlight the ingredients to buy. I'm also very loosey goosey about interpreting recipes to one's own tastes and preferences. I improvise every time I make something.

1) Defrost a storebought frozen pizza dough. I like Sunflower Market's. If your grocery store doesn't have frozen pizza dough, just ask for a glob of sourdough or french dough at the bakery counter.

2) Defrost 15-20 frozen shrimp, and peel the shells or pinch off the tails. Rinse well and soak in the fridge a half hour in lemon juice.

3) Roll the crust out to some kind of a shape - square, triangle, circle, heart. Use a basting brush to spread a very thin layer of peanut oil (if you don't have it - substitute olive oil) across the dough especially on the edges which will become the crust.

4) For the sauce, use a bottle of Whole Foods' 365 Organic Peanut Sauce and mix about 3/4 cup of the bottled sauce with 1/4 cup sugar. Give or take a little less or more sauce and sugar depending on your personal tastes for a saucy or sugary pizza. I like the sauce thin.

5) Apply the sauce to the pizza crust using a spoon or spatula.

6) Drain the lemon juice from the shrimp. Chop and pile on the toppings: shards of carrots, fresh or frozen chives, green and red pepper, white onion, corn if you like it, and shrimp. Depending on your comfort level with hot spice, sprinkle any hot red peppers, piri piri, or thai hot peppers over the toppings. Top with a layer of mixed shredded cheese. (I like to use a mexican blend). This pizza does not need as much cheese as the average pizza since it's so flavorful already.

7) Cook at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, until brown and toasty on the edges.

8) Let cool for a few minutes. Sprinkle the cooling pizza with chopped cashews (or peanuts), sesame seeds, and cilantro (optional).

9 and 10) Dig in and say "Yum".

Cupid don't throw back your bow...

2009-07-21T22:56:00.007-06:00

This is the first summer in a while that I have nearly no concerts on my calendar. My only plans to go to Red Rocks are for a Women's Bean Project / Bonnie Raitt show I'm volunteering for in August.

But a few days ago I noticed the Wallflowers were sold out at the unusually quaint Botanic Gardens, so I tracked down a single ticket on Craig's List and headed over there tonight.

The Wallflowers are a contradiction in many ways. They can't seem to shake off the catchy radio tunes and 40-something groupies in the crowd. They seem to want to be successful musicians without wanting the fame and junk that goes with it. When I first heard them in college, I remember my roommate and I immediately put them in the same category as Matchbox 20, as in, "Just kill me and put me out of my misery now if I have to hear that song again". Their singles were insanely overplayed and overrated. It seemed like magazines were obsessed with the band just based on Jakob's anomalous blue eyes.

But over the years I've really gotten into the Wallflowers, especially for their albums that were less played on the radio. And don't say I'm getting old...

It occurred to me tonight how ironic it is that Jakob originally came on to the music scene trying with all his might to not be compared to (or even associated with) his father. First of all, it's a pretty good relative to have. Second of all, it's not like they sound anything alike. Third of all, it's not like anyone is ever going to compare anyone's work to the reach and scope of Bob Dylan. I never even thought they looked alike, but tonight the resemblance was uncanny.

Seeing him in person made me realize, this boy is a bonafide miracle. He has inherited his father's musical talent and originality without inheriting the chip on his shoulder or the lack of a melodic (& piercingly nasal) voice. He is modest and genuine, a great singer and a great songwriter. What could be better than that.

the tide is high but i'm holding on!

2009-07-20T12:39:00.006-06:00

No progress with the job hunt so far this month, but frankly, I can't help but to pull up a chair by the pool and enjoy the summer.

don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.

-Christopher Robin

Shimmy Shimmy Go-Go Bop

2009-07-09T15:09:00.004-06:00

I love that Tom Hanks can still recite the song from "Big"

good news

2009-06-18T11:15:00.002-06:00

One thing I'm really enjoying reading these days is my subscription to the Good News Network. I love getting their quirky and positive news stories in my inbox (they have a very reasonable cost -- $2 a month). Example of a story today: Anti-Stab Knives Go On Sale in Britain. One less thing to lay awake and night and worry about! Now if someone would just invent guns that didn't murder people.

so like

2009-06-09T17:59:00.010-06:00

Sorry I've been MIA the last month or so.
I feel like I need to say the same thing to my gym. Eeek!

At the end of May, Chris & I were going to go to California for a week, and then we weren't because we couldn't find a place to board Derby, but then our vet called at the last minute and could take him, so we had a very thrown-together trip out to Northern CA which was great, even though, like always, any sunny weather eluded us. Everyone always swears it had just been so warm the week before we came.

We drove around Half Moon Bay, Point Reyes, Santa Rosa, and then buried ourselves in Monterey during the holiday weekend, pretty much taking our time, vegging out, stopping for beer and artichokes here and there.

Since I've been back, the job searching has kicked into high gear, but not intentionally. I have to try to schedule other activities into my day because it's so easy to spend 8 hours a day sending resumes and researching positions -- there are enough jobs that it's very time consuming, and it's easy to get SuckedIn to LinkedIn (who knows who, who you used to know, who changed their last name, who works where now). I've had about one interview a week on average since I was first unemployed, so it's not bad at all... I just need to find the one where they like me, and I like them.

Meanwhile I am taking advantage of sleeping in, watching all the movies I never had time to watch, wearing flip flops perpetually, and digging up new companies I never knew were in Denver. Whether it's by reading the Business Journal at Tattered Cover, or finding a random little company on Craig's List, there's so many cool companies here and it's fun to figure out who you might know there. That part is fun all on its own.

Thanks to everyone for being so cool & well-wishing in my time of woe, but it's not too too woeful...

at last

2009-06-04T16:11:00.000-06:00

alright already, i'm on twitter now. you can look for me under lara_sue.

taller children

2009-05-07T16:35:00.004-06:00

It's not often that I would buy an album just for the cover but I think this one, I would: Elizabeth & The Catapult

but I dig the music also

gembows and other 'candy'

2009-05-07T11:09:00.007-06:00

Something tells me the average age of the young entrepeneur is shifting slightly downward. Check out these 12 year old duct-tape artists who are donating their net proceeds to Save the Earth. brilliant. (thank you daily candy for the links)

Also you can help feed shelter dogs by just answering one little trivia question on freekibble.com (hint: the answer is probably Weimaraner)

lastly, imagine being able to carry an espresso maker in your purse? I want one of these so badly but need to wait for the price to go down, maybe once they get an infomercial deal or start selling them on QVC. why, oh why, can't I just work for Daily Candy and get these things as freebies? (sigh)

Jordan on Oprah

2009-04-18T09:52:00.005-06:00

This little girl, Jordan advising moms on how to talk to their daughters about sex totally made my day. What I know for sure: she's born to be a broadcast journalist. (sorry for the obnoxious ad at the front) She looks like a miniature Ginnifer Goodwin! So cute.

new peeps dioramas

2009-04-12T09:59:00.002-06:00

The peeps have landed!
Here's this year's winners, and for review, here's 2007 and 2008. I feel like this year's needs a disclaimer that no peeps were harmed in the making of these scenes but (sniff!) it may not be true.

Lily

2009-04-10T12:52:00.006-06:00

Last night I had the very cool opportunity to see Lily Allen at a little club in Denver, they made some limited edition posters for the show which were a nice bonus for 10 bucks!
Review note: Lily's opening band 'Natalie Portman's Shaved Head' was sooooooooooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaad. They were wannabe Dandy Warhols/Franz Ferdinands and really should just leave 80's music to the bands who invented it in the 80's. Same goes for the skinny tapered acid-washed jeans (on not skinny men!)

poetic tendencies

2009-04-07T11:14:00.004-06:00

I love that April is Poetry Month and poets.org will send you a poem every day this month. This is my third year getting them and I'm always pleasantly surprised on April 1, I wish they would do it every day of the year. I have poetic tendencies and enjoy reading them, maybe I could even edit a book of them, but never was a natural at writing poems myself.

Here's today's.

Untitled
by Gregory Orr

An excerpt from How Beautiful the Beloved

This is what was bequeathed us:
This earth the beloved left
And, leaving,
Left to us.

No other world
But this one:
Willows and the river
And the factory
With its black smokestacks.

No other shore, only this bank
On which the living gather.

No meaning but what we find here.
No purpose but what we make.

That, and the beloved's clear instructions:
Turn me into song; sing me awake.

so like, mandatory vacation?

2009-03-10T21:34:00.004-06:00

for those of you i haven't had a moment to call just yet, i got 'laid off' at work today but it's all good -- i sort of expected this turn was coming around the bend -- and I had been at least mentally preparing for it, certainly financially planning for it.

I'm not sure how this will affect plans to take a real vacation this year, but I do hope I will ultimately find some value in the mandatory vacation that is time off between jobs. and i don't mean goofing around on facebook.

thanks as always for your best wishes and forward those jobs along!
email: larasueg@gmail.com and my online resume:
www.linkedin.com/in/laratherrien

favorite forward of the year

2009-03-06T17:02:00.003-07:00

this was in my inbox this morning. my favorite is the "swirl".

Ben & Jerry created "Yes Pecan!" ice cream flavor in honor of Barack Obama. They then asked visitors to their web site to fill in the blank for the following: For George W. "_________" flavor.

Here are some of their favorite responses:

Grape Depression
Cluster Fudge
Nut'n Accomplished
Iraqi Road
Chock 'n Awe
WireTapioca
Impeach Cobbler
Guantanmallow
ImPeachMint
Good Riddance You Lousy Motherf*cker... Swirl
The Reese's-cession
Cookie D'oh!
The Housing Crunch
Nougalar Proliferation
Death by Chocolate... and Torture
Credit Crunch
Country Pumpkin
Chunky Monkey in Chief
Chocolate Chimp
Bloody Sundae
Caramel Preemptive Stripe
I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of thousands...with nuts

to hell with yellow pages

2009-03-03T14:09:00.004-07:00

i remember recently my mom was visiting and asked for my yellow pages and i said - what? yellow pages! what's that? my yellow pages is google. and she was like, well what if the power's out? and i was like, i'd use chris' blackberry...

she has a good point but one yellow pages every 10 years is enough for me to find the emergency number to dial (which i'm pretty sure is 911).

i hate the endless free yellow and white pages that get dumped on our doorstep every other month from various competitors. i just have to haul them to the nearest recycling center in my polluting car. so i was delighted to find an overall opt-out list today! it's a green movement towards less junk mail, just like Catalog Choice. do it!

blue fish red fish grinch fish seuss fish

2009-03-02T17:56:00.003-07:00

I love Google today!!!!!! Happy Birthday Seuss!

andy has answered our prayers

2009-02-25T08:22:00.001-07:00

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

in TV news today:

Andy Richter is joining Conan O'Brien as NBC's The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien begins June 1. Richter will be show's announcer and also be involved in live and pre-taped comedy sketches.

coolest cards

2009-02-09T14:54:00.003-07:00

this time of year always reminds me to not stop sending old-fashioned cards to those you love!

in case you ever see them in bookstores, i am trying to amass a grand collection of cards from KOCO these days as well as i've collected for years those surreal and unpredictable postcards by Gallerie Inkognito (dark dark humor) and if you happen to ever be in france, Gaelle Boissonard cards too but she's a tad elusive.

Hey Conan, Where's Your Sowrd?

2009-02-02T23:05:00.011-07:00

I was watching Conan on Inside the Actor's Studio the other night and reminiscing of how my BU roommates used to always tease me for having a crush on him 'cause he was the only famous person with red hair. Well, and Alexi Lalas.

Truth be told, I've been sort of off the Conan band wagon since Andy left the show years back, but I have high hopes for this June when Conan takes over the Tonight Show (and low, low hopes for Jay Leno's new gig - an embarrassingly public settle if there ever was one).

I always thought Conan and I looked a little separated at birth as kids, although I thought I might be more of a "If they Mated" of Conan + Andy (me left) since I'm much less Irish. But as was shown on Actor's Studio (above), I think Conan himself was the best "If They Mated" of Conan & Andy!

My cheeks are still bigger though.
: P

the girl effect

2009-01-27T13:23:00.001-07:00

love this
http://www.girleffect.org/

music is back on

2009-01-20T12:49:00.009-07:00

I just added my Pandora stations to the top right of the blog space so you can listen at work, if you are "allowed" to!
Ever since my work blacklisted Pandora, my stations have been suffering! There's probably some oddball artists that will come up in the stations (like I just had to thumbs-down Neil Young off the acoustic mix) but otherwise they should be good to go.

p.s. For those of you with a clothing weakness like me, the Obamicon web site just added a feature to order your custom Obama-merch as t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, etc. It's too easy. Aghhhh!

oops...

2009-01-16T19:12:00.016-07:00

sorry i only just now noticed that my mixwit gadget was broken. looks like they went out of biz due to copyright issues. maybe if you're really good, they'll be a mixmas next year!

pictured right is one of my ALL TIME favorite gifts, a new warm & fuzzy Bula hat with iPod earbuds built into the ears. rather than sticking any plugs in your ear canals, there's little soft speakers next to your ears. i wouldn't have guessed it to be unisex based on the Greta Gunther braids but it must be 'cause it's really big and stretchy, and we all know i already have a bigger than usual head (chorus of 'yups').

Friday morning i test drove the pod-hat on my train/bus trip to work, and the mini-ear speakers were so crisp, i tended to keep glancing around to see if anyone else could hear my Bel Biv Devoe blasting and was snickering at my expense. I really didn't want to be that guy. but it seems to be a solid cover! and really fantastic sound. next question - how can i wear one of these year round without looking like Sam in Garden State?

woof for change

2009-01-14T20:16:00.012-07:00

It takes a lot to get my attention away from American Idol but this worked. I already loved Paste, but their new Obama-your-self tool is so much cooler than the tired old Elf Yourself thing, it's not even funny. It takes a little while since it's so popular but here's a couple I did already. What else would you expect from me? : )

Yay for Mutts!

2008-12-11T12:58:00.005-07:00

I have so much admiration for Patrick McDonnell who has put Mutts on a mission this week to encourage the Obama family to adopt! Anyone who got my Christmas card this year knows I recently discovered Mutts stamps that benefit the Humane Society and I adorrrrrrrrrre them. Not sure I can go back to normal stamps again.

this is my song

2008-11-25T20:59:00.007-07:00

Mixmas 2008 is brewing and almost ready to send. I'm a little early this year but I nearly had this year's entire mix done last year, and I threw it out and did a different one. Now I just have to lick the stamps and write some cards. This may be my last mix for a while; I'm trying to focus on real writing (as opposed to blogging) in the new year.

I know I've been a little quiet lately, but it's United Way Month in Denver so my marketing team and I are at maximum capacity until Thanksgiving's over. Our CEO has been on the local news channels nearly every other day for the past couple weeks. Matter of fact the photo I took at right (Speer Blvd) is our Christmas card this year.

If you or your families have decided not to make donations to charities this Christmas while cutting back on spending, just keep in mind the people living in poverty or who just lost their jobs need help more now than EVER. The shelters, churches and motels are going to be packed not just with the homeless, but with the new homeless -- middle class folks whose homes were foreclosed this year. If you can't give anything this season, at least consider giving a portion of your stimulus check when it comes next year. Or just buy 100 cans for 10 cents a piece to give to the Food Bank collections. One farmer in Colorado made an inspiring choice that I hope will be contagious.

Thanks for thinking about it.
Merry November!

talkin 'bout a revolution

2008-11-04T22:41:00.003-07:00

talk about hallelujah. not only hallelujah that Obama won, but that it was all decided before 10pm my time. now i just have to wait up to hear about Al Franken. but what a relief that the senate is looking very blueish.

we had two really scary republicans in Colorado, Bob Schaeffer and Marilyn Musgrave (who was featured in Rolling Stone article "death of a red state" just last week!) who should be conceeding any second now. p.s. hallelujah if Rolling Stone stops putting Obama on their cover now and starts featuring relevant musicians again, not the washed up "classic rock" like AC/Dshit.

and hallelujah, normal commercials are back. never thought i'd miss them so much, especially when i usually zip through them with my tivo, but now i find myself watching them with glee. there's a new Scene It! Seinfeld edition?? sweet!

tricks or treats

2008-10-31T19:56:00.011-06:00

Today for Halloween I was Mary Poppins which was a huge hit at work. Oddly, but not surprisingly, I was debating between being Courtney Love and Mary Poppins this year. I went with the first wig I found which happened to be a black mullet which works well as a granny hairdo in a bun, then just had to find a parrot - saw its head off (what) - saw off the end of an umbrella - and throw on some normal black and white work clothes. It wasn't much of a stretch for me, actually. I already have her shoes, scarf, jacket, hat and purse as a matter of course.

I was also initially drawn to a costume of "The Love Guru" just for its craziness but that was like $100.

A bilingual elementary school near our work always brings their kids in for trick or treating during the day which is really a brilliant idea, and is great for me since we don't EVER have trick or treaters at our apartment.

My favorite costume this year hands down was a seven year old Axl Rose. I immediately recognized him but had to ask just to confirm "Who are you?" and he said "Axl Rose" in an obvious tone like I should know better. BAD ASS.

seriously?

2008-10-17T21:43:00.005-06:00

I just finished reading the amendments and referendum guide to voting in Colorado this year, and all I can say is, you know you live in Colorado when there's a referendum to legalize saloons (which have been banned since 1933 apparently)... a saloon being a bar which serves exclusively alcohol, does not serve food.

and by the way, for all of you who have suffered for 3 years from my bad reception and lack of returning your calls, I am finally getting a better phone this week - just bought it on ebay. I had a cool purple one for a while from T-Mobile this summer but the connection was not much better and I hated the delay time on the keypad, so I sold that on ebay and went back to a red Samsung after tons of research on CNET. I'm getting a new sim card too, so...wish me luck. seems like getting a new phone these days is equivalent in time and effort to moving apartments.

...

2008-09-27T09:58:00.009-06:00

today i randomly came across an amazing sunset shot of the parking lot outside our apartment on flickr. I love punkdolphin's photography, especially the abstract city shots.

for some other fun, check out the new bunny short of No Country for Old Men (don't watch it if you haven't seen the movie).
my favorite is still A Christmas Story.

...
shit.
I just heard that Paul Newman died. He is one of my favorite people in the world. My kitchen pantry is full of Newman's Own everything - pasta sauce, lemonade, salad dressing, coffee. If you're looking for something to lift your spirits, his autobiographical book "shameless exploitation in pursuit of the common good" is a fantastic and funny story of the Newman's Own brand and about their worldwide camps for kids.

history in the macon (get it?)

2008-09-07T20:15:00.047-06:00

This weekend I took my seemingly random pilgrimage to Macon, Georgia with my platypus Lloyd for company. Even the locals kept asking me what I was doing visiting Macon! but I don't understand why.

Macon is really rich in history and scenery. There are more churches per capita than any other city in the U.S. and many of them date to the 1800's. There are 8 museums and more places on the state historical registry than any other city in Georgia! In fact there is a Native American national monument with evidence of civilizations living there 12,000 years ago.
As you can see, the sunset over the city was beautiful when I arrived. Lloyd and I immediately stopped by Otis' statue and a handful of marble-mouthed men walking along the train tracks started up a conversation with me, and tried to suggest where I should go for dinner in Macon, though it took some translation (what sounded like RHINES to me was actually two syllables - Ryan's). Never thought I'd need a translator in my own country but it truly is a different dialect in south central Georgia.
I couldn't find a single damn local restaurant open on Saturday evening or all day Sunday so I was trapped between Chick Fil-A and McDonalds both days. I really wish I had realized on Sunday the local theater (which I assumed was closed) had "dinner and a movie" of my favorite Disney movie. How adorable.

The most famous local eating spot, Nu-Way Weiners, is a hot dog stand that's been there since 1912 and the kitchen really does look like it! Phew. It felt compulsory to have one, but I wondered as I took a bite whether I should have gotten updates on any vaccinations before I left on this trip. The dog was distinctly hot pink.
Sunday morning I went to a church service at the First Baptist Church which is one of the only known churches that had an integrated congregation PRIOR to the Civil War and was founded in 1835. In a cruel irony, these days there is actually a "white First Baptist" 3 blocks away and the "black First Baptist" which is the one I went to. It's like a voluntary segregation that the community has sadly regressed into. Nonetheless I was welcomed by everyone in the church and treated like a friend and neighbor.

What I really went to Macon for was the Georgia Music Hall of Fame's new exhibit on Otis Redding with tons of concert posters, rare vinyl singles, and photographs of his short career, on loan from his wife Zelma's personal collection. It was fascinating and I spent nearly four hours there.

I've always felt a close connection with Otis and can't explain why. I generally can tell when someone is one of my favorite people within a few seconds and he's one who I loved from the first time I heard These Arms of Mine. I've always felt Otis' talent was under-recognized by the American public, although certainly not by his musical peers - Wilson Pickett, Little Richard, James Brown, Booker T, and Percy Sledge all were present at his funeral and several tribute records were produced in mourning of Otis' death in 1967. He was only 26 when he died. He had had a monumental moment in his career just six months prior at the Monterey Pop Festival.

The right poster below is very rare - Otis was booked to play the Fillmore West on December 20-22 with the Grateful Dead opening for him the first night. His plane went down in a lake in Wisconsin on December 10th.
Here's one cool thing I just realized about the timing of my trip. Otis died in 1967, and he would have turned 67 years old the day that I flew back to Denver, September 9th, 2008.

I also took a verrrrrry long drive to try and see where my favorite writer, Alice Walker grew up in Eatonton, Georgia.
I couldn't find any info on her neighborhood ahead of time so I just had to go and find it for myself.
Turns out her road was super hard to find even with a map. Many homes in Eatonton were impoverished and rotting as I would have imagined from the descriptions in The Color Purple, but the wide, emerald green farmland was really breathtaking. About an hour west from Eatonton, I also passed by Otis' estate where his family still lives and I'm sure he does too, known as the "Big O Ranch". Respectfully I didn't take pictures of it.
Driving through farm country in Georgia you see some amazing wild ivy growing on the trees (above) which I'm told is not natural to the landscape and quite a nuisance. And I noticed immediately that the bugs in Georgia are unlike anything I've ever seen or heard ~ the grasshoppers are huge, and at one point I saw a big, black thing that was like a scorpion without a tail, 6 inches long, sitting on a brick - still makes me shudder!!! *later note: turns out this is a flying cockroach - more shudder!!!*
On Monday, I took a drive to Athens, the famously funky college town that gave birth to the B-52's and R.E.M. It was extremely humid that day so I mostly enjoyed staying in my car, stopping for a bucket of peaches on the side of the road, shopping in an air conditioned used bookstore, and stopped into the famous Walker's Pub & Coffee for a cold beer. I walked the main streets and UGA campus for about an hour, but it was brutal. Georgians are crazy about their Greek-inspired architecture and crazy about their bulldogs.

My last night for dinner I headed to Decatur where another one of my favorite artists, the Indigo Girls, live and even found a restaurant, The Watershed, that Emily Saliers owns. It was delicious, kind of a gourmet home-cooked soul food joint. And the most adorable buildings and shops surrounded the restaurant (below). And it turns out that REM's Out of Time truly is the perfect music to road trip through Georgia listening to. It almost sounds even better in the right atmosphere.

*P.S.* Lots of friends have commented to me personally about their own experiences in GA after reading this blog, and I have to say, it is consistently a one-of-a-kind place. I would love to visit more of the South, and if any of you go there, take a tip from my friend Doug - don't even think about ordering Pepsi in Georgia. There's no Pepsi, only Coke!!

and there's more

2008-08-30T19:46:00.005-06:00

The visitors' bureau uploaded some really pretty photos of the DNC (not retouched at ALL) with the Pepsi Center, etc. In the stadium photos, I was seated just to the left of the left video screen.

I have been laughing to myself all day that McCain picked such an inexperienced, young and attractive runnin g mate. My theory is that he secretly wants Obama to win and is sabotaging the Republican Party's chances. Thank you McCain!

Also I am starting to think my new haircut makes me look like this Peanuts character ~ anyone dare to disagree?

Obama-Rama and all the other cliches

2008-08-29T22:17:00.025-06:00

turns out yesterday I DID spontaneously get to attend Invesco Field for Obama's acceptance speech and while I love love love the historic importance of the moment, it was a day of mixed emotions. for one thing, I was on the edge of my seat anxious the entire show that something bad might happen... there is a reason these events are never outside anymore, and we probably set a world record for the most people soiling their drawers simultaneously in one place when the canon fireworks went off at the end!

the closure of major entrances to Invesco and major roads and arteries did cause a pile up of thousands of people with tickets waiting to enter outside and most of us waited in 90 degree weather on a black top parking lot for 3 hours to get to the main gates. i only waited about 2 hours and escaped without sunburn despite the worst choice of color to wear ~ all black.

I made it inside just in the nick of time to catch Stevie Wonder though I missed Sheryl Crow, Jennifer Hudson, and unfortunately WAS there for Michael McDonald (un, un, un-fortunately) and of course Al Gore, Senator Biden, and then the man himself.

my colleague Kate and I (no relation) pinched ourselves the whole time in excitement even though our shoes were pinching even harder - i figure we covered about 6 miles walking between 3pm and 11pm, a full 3 miles to get back to our car from the south side of the stadium.

as many creative t-shirts and hats as there were, there were a lot of hideous offensive vendors such as the Obama doll that looks like a repurposed Bill Cosby, or the truck where you could take your picture with "Obama in a Bottle".

once inside, we had a great view of VIP's backstage, the media, the delegates, and Barack's teleprompter from our seats, but not much of a view of the podium itself. but that's what the jumbotron is for. at the end of the night, my friends and I were all devoutly INSPIRED and optimistic that a change is gonna come.

I was such a hot baby

2008-08-19T17:56:00.007-06:00

I finally decided to try out my new HP Officejet Scanner tonight, and omg, it rocks. This could be a lot of fun.

Here's a favorite photo my sister always loved of me at Busch Gardens. I think she and my mom thought my fatty baby legs bared some resemblance to the giant fat lady on the circus mural behind me.

What mullet.

finally something to sing about

2008-08-08T13:13:00.008-06:00

All year I have been hoping to get around to this but after a scorching hot summer slipped on by, I realized yesterday that I'd better hurry. The first weekend in September I am taking a pilgrimage to Georgia (of all places) to visit the hometowns of my heroes - namely Otis Redding who is from Macon, and has a temporary exhibit celebrating his life and career at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. While I'm there, might as well pass through Eatonton where my favorite writer, Alice Walker is from, and it's always been on my list to check out Athens, GA where R.E.M, The B-52's, and Indigo Girls all got their start.

It's not really easy to find a cheap flight to Macon, so big props to my dad for donating me his Delta miles. I already have a list of comfort food places to try, but if anyone has any other recommendations (specially for a church on sunday), post 'em here! Can't wait!

Here's part of the mix I'm taking along.

adieu estelle

2008-07-22T23:07:00.007-06:00

I was so sad to hear Sophia (Miss Estelle Getty) passed today. Her remixed workout video will always be my favorite youtube of all time, seriously.

On another subject, I was thinking today how surprising it is that two bands who I had never heard of at the time, who I photographed posters of when in Europe (Stockholm and Milan respectively), have now become two of my favorite bands ever.

Kitt Lives

2008-07-07T13:35:00.002-06:00

speakin of my favorite decade, I have my first Christmas Wish List item for the year. How can I get on a waiting list for this?!

viva la 80's

2008-07-04T10:33:00.007-06:00

Chris and I went to an 80's party last night which was a lot of fun. We drank Shlitz, Orange Crush, jello shots, and some cheapo wine called Boone's which is gross but I guess it was the thing.

We were supposed to go by our porn star names (your first pet + your street name when you were growing up) so pictured are Chrissy Patterson (front), Reggie Maynard (left) in the AC/DC pants, and Shadow Miller (right) with Ronald Reagan.

sunset 07.02.08

2008-07-02T21:11:00.004-06:00

There was an awesome sunset in my neighborhood tonight which can only mean one thing - big storm coming. More over in Picasa.

Britto

2008-06-28T18:43:00.006-06:00

Today I went to an art festival and there was an outdoor display of Romero Britto, a Brazilian artist who designs family-friendly cartoony statues in vibrant colors. His art feels like a melting pot of James Rizzi, Peter Max, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Craig McCraken (of the powerpuff girls) Each piece is about 5 foot by 5 foot. It's hard to pick a favorite, but maybe mine's Squeki, the cat.

OW, MY #$%&*@! BUTT

2008-06-25T20:54:00.008-06:00

Those of you who know me well will never believe this, so I had to take a picture. I biked 29 miles round trip today for Colorado's Bike to Work Day with two very patient guys I work with, Larry and Mark. And it was 93 degrees out.

I don't even OWN a bike and I'm relatively sure the last time I biked anything near that far was in third or fifth grade, so this was a BIT of a stretch for me, but I'm glad I gave it a shot...and stuck with it.

Tomorrow, probably not gonna be so glad. It's safe to say from mile 22 onward all I could feel was my pubic bone. TMI, sorry, but that bike seat feels like hard concrete!

Tonight I was so grateful that we have a hot tub in our neighborhood but unfortunately the second I stepped in, thunderstorms ensued directly overhead - and it's an open-air hot tub. Within minutes, a tree had been struck by lightning 10 feet away from me, no exaggeration.

My neighbor half-laughingly, half-dead serious shouted "time to come inside!" Meanwhile poor Derby had closed himself in the bathroom out of panic. I've trained him well to prepare for a natural disaster, apparently.

If that's not enough, read this hysterical unrelated story in the Denver Post today about strippers and children on a golf course together that is also too great to be true. The quotes by the manager are my favorite. I wonder if she still has her job today.