Breckenridge - Snowboarding Season II, Day 5

My goal for this season on my snowboard was to get down a green slope without falling. I accomplished that today. I also got down a blue slope. Actually, I only fell once and it was not a bad one onto my knees. I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of this. It was also my first time at the Breckenridge mountain. So far those slopes are my favorite. Their blue slopes are more like other mountain's greens. They are also very wide and it wasn't crowded. I was very excited at the end of the day.

I had driven up with my co-worker, Leigh, her husband Dan, their friend Patrick and Ben. Patrick and I were the only 2 on snowboards, but he was a beginner also so it worked out well. I think we both were able to improve as the day went on.

The Nutcracker

I've been thinking about going to see the Nutcracker for a couple of years now and just had not gotten around to going. I think I had caught bits and pieces of it on television around the holidays, but I never really knew the story. It was an excellent ballet; the most entertaining I've seen yet.

Prior to the show I also had a quick dinner at Nine 75. The lobster tacos were excellent.

NoRTH restaurant with Megan

Megan's suggested blog entry: "Megan and I went to a restaurant in the Cherry Creek area called North that is so cool, they spell their name like this: NoRTH. However, Megan and I were not apparently not cool since we got carded and then ended up ordering the same entree. However, it was still a blast!"

Copper Mtn - Snowboarding Season II, Day 3

I went snowboarding at Copper Mountain on Sunday with Ben, Travis and their friend Jen. It was a bit chilly. Actually it was freezing, perhaps below zero? The mountains had gotten tons of snow. It doesn't hurt to fall when there is half a foot of fresh powder to fall into. When I wasn't falling, the feeling of snowboarding over fresh powder is awesome; it's almost like you're floating.

I was able to make some progress and improve quite a bit. I still had quite a few falls. Actually Jen spent most of the day with me and when describing my falls she said I looked like a "ragdoll". That's also a good description of how I felt. The upper half of my body went one way while the lower went the other. My volleyball knee pads are working well - no more bruises! I swear I'll be an expert by the end of the season. Of course, I'd settle for making it down one run without falling. If you haven't guessed already, that's not a picture of me snowboarding - just some inspiration.

Parade of Lights

I went to Denver's Parade of Lights. It was cool to be at a parade held at night. They had local highschool marching bands; the bandmembers had lights on their uniforms and had decorated their instruments (i.e. the trumpets all put their instruments in decorated boxes and cutout holes for their hands). It actually made me miss that time in my life a little - to miss marching band? I never would have thought it. It's like the Rose Bowl Parade except instead of flowers, lights. I've said it before, this town is really into lights. They also had giant balloons. If it's a giant balloon dog - the spectators chant "spin the dog" and you can get the volunteers holding it to spin the balloon. You don't see that in the Macy's Day parade.

For dinner I went to Potager. They only use whatever vegetable are in season and organic foods. We had a squash soup, spinach salad and vegetable lasagna. It was excellent.

Christmas Decorations

I was going to wait until after the holiday season to buy some Christmas decorations on sale. Michael's was having a good sale now 40% off, so I bought a few to get in the holiday spirit. I decorated my fireplace (click on the picture to see it larger).

Random Link:
I get monthly email newsletters from GT. I found this article about the future of the world's economy interesting. http://mgt.gatech.edu/news_room/news/2005/friedmantalk/index.html

The Snowboard

I bought a snowboard, bindings and boots this weekend. I started shopping for them a couple of weeks ago. For some reason, the snowboard designers insist on making womens boards extremely girly with flowers, butterflys, etc. They even have boots designed to look like a Louis Vuitton bag. Seriously, you're covered from head to toe in layers of clothing that make you look 2x your natural size and you care if your board matches your outfit? Very silly. I think I managed to do okay with this one. A sky theme - fitting for me. Don't worry mom, I also bought a helmet.

Christmas Lights

Denver, the city as a whole, is really into Christmas Lights. Many more buildings have lights and decorations then Atlanta. The Denver City and Council Building is lit to mark the beginning of the holiday season. This tradition first started in 1935. It's the most elaborate lighting of a building I've ever seen.

This story was posted on one of the Denver news websites: "In 1914, 10-year-old David Jonathan Sturgeon lay dying, afflicted with an incurable disease. From his bedroom, young David was unable to enjoy his family's Christmas tree so he called to his father, electrician David D. Sturgeon, and begged him to light the evergreen tree outside his window so he, too, could share in the holiday season. The young boy smiled as his father dipped plain light bulbs in colored paint and strung them on the tree. People came from miles around to drive slowly past the Sturgeon home, marveling at the beautiful glistening tree. While it is impossible to say exactly when and where the first outdoor tree was lit, proud Denverites believe it started in the Mile High City with David and his father. In fact, in 1945 NBC broadcast a tribute to Denver and the Sturgeon family for originating this beautiful tradition."

Thanksgiving Day

I spent Thanksgiving with my aunts, Joan and Ellen. I had dropped off my free turkey from the hospital at Ellen's on Sunday. I baked a pecan pie for the first time. It's actually a relatively easy thing to make. It was a little bit gooier then I was hoping for but still edible. We then watched the Bronco/Cowboys football game and the movie "Scotland, PA". The movie was Macbeth set in the 1970's with a fast food restaurant instead of a castle. I've never read Macbeth, so I missed the references. The movie was a strange one, a black comedy that was shown at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

Snowboarding - Season II, Day 1

I went snowboarding for the first time this season. I went with Kerri, Travis and Ben to Keystone. The bunny hill at the base of the mountain where I took all my lessons last season wasn't open yet. We rode the gondola to the top to the other practice hill. It was more challenging then the one at the base and just about what I needed to refresh my memory from last season. We spent the morning there. The mountains have gotten more snow then usual for this time of the season; there was great coverage. After lunch we got on a green (beginner) slope and began to head down the mountain. It took quite awhile to get down. I was doing well up until then and hadn't taken too many bad falls. Ah, but the day wouldn't be complete without just one. It's the flat sections that get me; I haven't quite figured out which edge of the board I should be on. I could have included a beautiful picture of the mountain in this entry. It was a gorgeous day - really warm with clear blue skies, but I didn't bring a camera along. Instead I'll give everyone a taste of the reality of learning to snowboard - a picture of my bruised knees. Eileen, how do ya like those hematomas? Probably should have worn the knee pads Raj lent me. Also, I should get moving with my hockey pants idea. Between my falls I also took a minute to appreciate the beautiful scenery around me and that I could spend my day learning something fun and that it's so easy to get there. In the words of a ski bum, "sweet".

Birthday dinner at Il Fornaio

I picked up Noah, and we went to Boulder for lunch at Illegal Pete's. It's a Denver chain of fast-casual mexican restaurants similar to Moe's in Atlanta. We then walked along Pearl Street and looked at the shops. The Boulder Arts and Crafts store contained lots of cool items including paintings by one of the artists that I mentioned I liked from the Cherry Creek arts festival over July 4th weekend. We also made a stop at the REI store in downtown Denver. It's one of the largest REI stores complete with a indoor rock climbing wall and a river outside to test kayaks.

That evening we went to dinner at Il Fornaio in downtown Denver for a birthday dinner. In the picture from l-r (Noah, myself, Raj, Dan, Leigh, Megan and Stephen). It was a fun dinner and I appreciate everyone coming out for it (especially since in the meantime GT lead an amazing upset against Miami).

My 28th Birthday

For my birthday a co-worker, Mike, made me a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. I was impressed that he baked it himself. It's my favorite kind and was delicious. That evening a bunch of us went to the Rio in downtown Denver for a co-worker, Kassie's going away party. The Rio is a Denver Mexican restaurant chain and is known for their strong margarita's; there's a house limit of 3.

I then went to see a show at the planetarium that has been on my list of things to do for quite awhile. It's called Sonic Vision (follow the link to see a trailer). It's digital images set to modern music by U2, Coldplay, Moby, etc. I thought it was pretty cool. I first saw it advertised at NYC's planetarium last year, and I was surprised to see it in Denver. The show is 38 minutes long. If you're prone to motion sickness, the first 5-10 minutes could be a little difficult. It really makes you feel like you're moving. I thought of Eileen and how she used to grip her arm rests when watching the roller coaster intro to the Regal Cinemas movies (Eileen - you'd have fun with this show).

I went to Sparrow for dinner. The food was excellent, and I would definitely recommend it.

After dinner I met up with Suzanne's friend, Noah, for drinks at Trios Entico. Noah traveled into town with the NY Jets for the game against the Broncos. Trios is a wine and cigar bar with live music on weekends. I enjoyed a chocolate martini.

Tastefully Simple

I went to Kerri's house for a Tastefully Simple party. It's one of those events similar to Creative Memories, Southern Living or Pampered Chef where you can try/see the products and order from a rep. Tastefully Simple sells easy-to-prepare gourmet foods such as bread mixes, dips, dressings, sauces and spreads. I liked the Chai tea.

Doctors Say the Darndest Things

I have yet to write about work on this blog because I was using the blog more for activities in Denver, but in the last couple of weeks work has taken a bit more of my time. I implement Electronic Medical Record software. At my previous job, I would stare at my cube walls and was bored beyond belief. Now I don't have a desk, and I'm lucky if I can find a computer to work on in-between running around the clinic. At the beginning of an implementation we have to field a lot of complaints. It's a change and more work for the clinic staff. After awhile you hear the same comments over and over again. I cherish when the docs can get creative in expressing their frustrations.

The name of the EMR software vendor is "Allscripts". I was sitting in a room helping a nurse with the software and a doctor who had yet to be trained came up behind us. He saw what we were doing and said (with a german accent): "Vhat is this? This Allscripts, this crapscripts, this bullscripts." This is the not so subtle way the doctors like to express their dislike of the program. By the way, after being trained that doc actually said how he saw it could be useful. Now we wait to see if he actually uses it...

Joan's Birthday

For Joan's birthday, Ellen and myself went with her to Cafe Brazil. It's located in the Highlands. It's only open for dinner, and you need to have reservations to eat on the weekend. I had chicken and black bean stew. The waiter instructed me how to pour the stew over the rice and mix it with the other things on my plate, all except for the fried bananas. It was excellent. I would like to go back and try some other things on the menu. I like many of the ingredients in most of the dishes - cilantro and coconut milk. We all shared a dessert. It was similar to chocolate gelato but made with cheese so it was thicker. It was delicious. Ellen made a Latin night of it. We went to the play September Shoes. The brief synopsis is: "The haunting, passionate story of Albert and Gail Cervantes’ return to their southwestern childhood home. In the town of Dolores, meaning “Sorrow” in Spanish, they encounter a collection of colorful, mystical characters both real and dreamlike. Their heart- wrenching tales help the couple come to terms with their past and realize that they and Dolores are forever bound together." It had a lot of symbolism. The main metaphor is a person's sole (of their shoe) shows things about their soul.

Breckenridge Weekend Getaway

A co-worker, Raj, invited me along to hang out with some friends of his who were house-sitting in Breckenridge. We left Denver at 6 am Saturday morning, and Raj went out for his first snowboard run of the season at Arapahoe Basin. They didn't have any beginner slopes open yet, so I passed and instead enjoyed a hot apple cider. We then did a little shopping at the Silverthorne Outlets. We watched some college football and enjoyed pizza and beer at Fatty's in Breckenridge.

We met up with Raj's friends - Aaron and his wife (Irish name I can't spell). The house they were maintaining is owned by a couple that have their own management consulting company. The house was built 3 years ago in a feng shui, minimalist style. One of the main decorations are orchids. There's a special room to grow the orchids with the correct temperature, light and humidity control. There were at least 10 orchids in the main living area, and they were all different. It inspired me to try and paint an orchid next time instead of roses.

It had snowed quite a bit on Friday and Saturday and the view was absolutely amazing. The house is the last one on the road near the edge of a mountain. From the garage, you can take an elevator down from the third floor to the first. If you don't take the elevator you can enter the studio apartment or walk around the side, down stairs next to a terraced waterfall that was built using rocks that have heaters underneath to melt the snow and keep the path clear. Once you are in the main house there are a couple of steps as you go from room to room since you are continuing to descend down the mountain. They have 2 guest rooms on the first floor and a home theatre. We enjoyed a late night dip in the hot-tub which included a dare where we all jumped out and sat down on chairs covered in 1/2 a foot of snow (in case you were wondering, sitting on snow then jumping in a hot-tub creates a slight burning sensation). Also, the sky cleared up and we had an excellent view of the stars.

On Sunday we took the Belgian Malinois dogs for a hike through the snow. The homeowners have 2 dogs; the house-sitters have 1 dog that the homeowners gave to them as a Xmas present (a sibling of one of the home owner's dogs) and another friend had brought over her lab. The 4 dogs were quite a handful. Plus, the one visitor dog really was enjoying stalking the cat. We grilled out after our hike, then it was back to Denver.

Happy 30th Birthday Suzanne!

Suzanne,
In celebration of the big day, here are some quotes for you:

Everything I know I learned after I was thirty.
-Georges Clemenceau

Time and Tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty. -Robert Frost

Buddy wishes you a Happy Birthday too!
-Shell

The Opera

Megan and I had a tapas dinner at The 9th Door in LoDo. We then went to the new Denver Opera house and saw Carmen. I had played some excerpts from Carmen in orchestra in highschool, so I recognized a majority of the music. It was sung in french but the translation was available on small screens. Carmen is about a seductive spanish gypsy and her love stories with a soldier and bull fighter. It was first performed in 1875 and was scandaleous at the time because of its aspects of morality, sexuality and exoticism.

North Point, Brie and Howie's Wedding

I got up early this morning and went to the 8:30 service at North Point. There are no churches that compare in Denver; I really miss good singers and the environment. It was an excellent sermon as usual. I was happy Brie was able to meet me and that we could squeeze in a quick breakfast before I headed to Howie's wedding (and that I could meet her adorable new dog).

I had never been to a jewish wedding before. I liked the traditions; it was interesting to see. They did everything - broke the bottle, danced around with the bride and groom on chairs. They also did a special dance around the parents since it was their last child to get married in both families. It was great catching up with all my friends from highschool. It was strange to see Howie getting married. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since he used to eat my goldfish crackers in our AP English class. The remaining bachelors and bachelorette from our "Merry Cohorts" group (Billy, myself and Steve) made a bet as an encouragement to get a move on with this whole marriage thing. Kelly doesn't get included since she's in Japan and currently has a boyfriend (unfair advantage, she probably is next). The bet is whoever is next to get married gets $20 from each of the remaining two. A Brittany Spears 48-hr wedding in Vegas doesn't count. A few minutes after we shook on the pack Steve was off flirting with girls at another table. On my way out I commented to him how he didn't waste any time. He said he takes bets seriously.

I finished the day with a trip to the vet to see poor Winnie (one of my parent's dogs). He had been sick all week and couldn't keep anything down. The vet finally figured out he had swallowed something. They performed surgery. We had to drop him off at an overnight emergency clinic so they could administer pain medication. He wimpered the entire way over - it was so sad. Hopefully he'll be almost back to his old self in a few days. I was sorry I couldn't run with him down to the end of the block as I know he loves it.

Georgia Tech Homecoming

I went to Georgia Tech's Homecoming game against Clemson. I had not been back to campus in quite awhile. It was fun hanging out with everyone again. I got to catch up with Jennifer, Tamara, Alexis and my old boss Cristina. I was excited to run into Kendra, my lil sis, at AXO. I had not seen her in over a year, and she didn't know I had moved to Denver. Here's a picture of us in front of the AXO house. I met up with Brooke and we gave ourselves a tour of the house. My pledge classes' composite picture is no longer in the basement; I'm in the stairwell now - that's a sign you're getting old. I left the football game a little early. I walked past the physics building. I had remembered the day I ran up those steps to check out my grade in E-mag. E-Mag, Re-Mag, Three-Mag, thank goodness my major accepts a D-Mag. Seriously, does it matter that I understand Maxwell's equations? Although, it does make me feel good that at some point in my life I was smart enough to comprehend how changing magnetic fields produce electric fields and all those equations with the funny squiggly lines...haha, those would be integrals. I did get a "D" so probably not comprehending so much as suffering through it. Aah, filling out those scan-tron forms was like a weekly lottery ticket - how many will I match this week?

The Cook's Warehouse

I went with my mom to a cooking demonstration class. It was basic stir frying taught by Helen Chen, daughter of Joyce Chen, held at the Cook's Warehouse in Atlanta. It was an awesome class. Helen is entertaining, a fabulous cook and very knowledgable. As an early birthday present my mom bought me a wok and a few other utensils. I've been inspired to try to re-create some of the dishes Helen made in class.

I realized how much I really could use some cooking classes when I watched her take the tendon out of the tenderloin part of chicken meat. Just that demonstration made the class worth it. I can't think how many times I've tried to cut the tendon, but to see how easily you should be able to slip it out. It was amazing how quickly she could prepare the food. I would enjoy cooking much more if I had a clue what I was doing.

Back to the ATL, Sara's House

I headed back to Atlanta today. I had dinner with Sara, a friend from work at Home Depot that also went to GT. I saw her and Josh's new house and I just love it! I've included the picture she emailed me. She even has a fence surrounding the front yard - too cute, especially if she painted it white (high maintenance but the cliche would be cool). It was built in the 30's; I like the style. It's hard to believe the house is so close to downtown. Zeus, their corky, has a huge backyard. He doesn't know what to do with all that space.

Haunted Houses

In celebration of Halloween, I went with my two aunts to some Haunted Houses tonight. First we went to the Molly Brown museum house. Yes, it's the unsinkable Molly from the Titanic. The house was built in 1889 and was bought for what is equivalent to today's $1.5MM. It was a special event running for 4 nights. They do horror readings from Victorian authors. It was cool to be in the house at night; it was mostly lit by candle and they had replaced the few light bulbs with darkened colors. They had 5 performances in various rooms of the house. The performances included readings from Edgar Allen Poe, HG Wells and others. It was fun to be sitting on the carpet in Molly's bedroom and listening to the tale of Dora Shorter's "The Strange Voice" (Eileen - the main character has your name). Dora is an Irish poet and the person doing the reading had an excellent accent to match the story. I haven't been on the regular house tour, but this is also an opportunity to actually sit in the rooms versus what is most likely behind ropes on the tour.

After the classy Victorian readings, we went to a traditional haunted house called the Haunted Mansion in Littleton. I would recommend it; it was well done, complete with Freddy Crueger. What was the most entertaining was Ellen's reaction. She didn't want to be in front and be the first to walk into the next room. I think the creepy people following you around figure out who's the most scared and make a point to follow that person. The Haunted Mansion also has a store that has a great selection of Halloween costumes. Note to self: if I dress up next year, I would shop here.

Waterton Canyon

I went biking in Waterton Canyon with Raj this afternoon. Even more interesting wildlife then the High Line Canal trail - deer, rabbits and big horn sheep. The sheep are used to seeing bikers, hikers, fishemen and cars. They keep grazing and hardly seem to notice. The Waterton trail is actually a gravel road. After about 6 miles you come to the start of the Colorado Trail which runs 500 miles west through the Rockies to the edge of the Colorado state border in Durango.

Luca d'Italia

I went to Luca d'Italia for dinner; it's been rated a top italian restaurant both locally and by Zagot. It has a small dining area. On a weekend they are completely booked by reservations. I think often a small dining area is a sign of a good restaurant. There probably is only a couple of chefs working on the dishes and they spend a lot of time on each versus cooking for hundreds out of a menu with pages of options. I had gnocchi with crab meat in a lobster sauce. Believe me, it was as good as it sounds. I was also reminded a year ago, probably on this exact date, I was eating gnocchi in Croatia. Though there, it was prepared a little differently. For the main course I had "Rabbit Three Ways" - Braised, Grilled and Confit with White Truffle Sauce. Confit (kohn-fee) refers to a method of preserving. The meat is salted and and slowly cooked in it's own fat. Braising is cooking with "moist heat", typically in a covered pot with a small amount of liquid. And everyone knows grilled. I'm getting more interested in food from all the restaurants I've been trying in Denver. There surely is a difference between going to a chain restaurant versus being able to appreciate the different ways a certain item can be prepared. It reminds me of the show Iron Chef where they have chefs compete by creating 3 or 4 dishes with one main ingredient. This was the first time I had rabbit. Honestly it tasted a little like chicken; I liked it and would have it again.

Megan's Birthday Dinner

Megan and I went to dinner at Aji in Boulder to celebrate her birthday. It's a new Latin American restaurant that Megan said is always really crowded on the weekends. We got there early enough to catch some of the happy hour appetizers. It was excellent.

AXO Founder's Day

Today is AXO's 120th anniversary. I attended the Denver alumni group's celebration at the Arbor House in Golden, CO. Since the fraternity was founded on music, they had the assistant conductor of the Colorado Symphony as the guest speaker. For those not familiar with how a conductor manages to get everyone to follow him, he demonstrated by having us sing Happy Birthday. He conducts the youth symphony; many of the comments he made reminded me of my summers at Brevard and years in different music groups. Also as far as meeting new people, I finally met someone my age, not married sans kids, that actually lives within a couple of miles. She even spells her name the way I prefer - Shelley.

Team Buzz

I participated in Georgia Tech's Team Buzz volunteer day with the Colorado alumni group. We painted day care and nursery rooms in a shelter for women who are recovering from drug/substance addiction and are either pregnant or a recent new mom. It's called the Haven. I had no idea before I went that it's actually a program associated with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The house they live in was built by the government in the 1800's and was used as military living quarters.

La Fondue

After a long day of commuting between 3 different clinics, I went to dinner at La Fondue with Leigh, her husband and some friends of theirs in town for the weekend. We had a cheese fondue, salad, main course (I had filet mignon) and a milk chocolate fondue. The fondue was tasty, but they needed to work on their ventilation. I don't think the restaurant was originally designed to have people cooking at each table. By the end of our meal we were all ready to get out into the cool night.

Westword Menu Affair

Westword is equivalent to Atlanta's "Creative Loafing" newspaper. They hosted an event at Invesco Field at Mile High with the proceeds going to the Food Bank of the Rockies. It was held on the club level at Invesco field. I haven't been to a Bronco's game yet, so it was cool to see the stadium. They had about 30 restaurants offering sample dishes and chefs doing demonstrations.

Snow and 5 days later it's 80.

I remember hoping for snow near Christmastime in Georgia. Haha! We hit an all time high a week ago, near 90. Wow, weather changes fast around here. So this is the first snowfall of the season. The leaves haven't even all changed or fallen off yet. This was a picture taken from my balcony this morning. I have a meeting at the hospital that's near downtown today, so I didn't have to get up really early and drive to Boulder. I get to make that drive later today. I was hoping I would be done with driving up there before the snow hit. So much for that plan.
Update: Five days later and it was nearly 80 degrees today. The weather here is fun. I like variety; it makes the morning commute more interesting. All the snow melted within a couple of days; however, the first ski lift opened on Friday! I've bought my ski pass; tis the season to decide ski or board...

Re-Decorating

I've been working on re-decorating my bathroom the past two weeks. I had to avoid the colors blue and green since they are my favorite, and I have a tendency to over do those two colors.
I decided to go with something bright, bold and simple. In the reflection of the mirror above the towel rack, you can see the candle holder I got from Linen'n'things. I got the vase on the counter top from Pottery Barn and the flowers are from Joanne. I also worked on my painting of a rose this weekend. I need to work on the petals a little bit, then I'm going to hang it on the wall next to the linen closet.

Race for the Cure

I ran in the Race for the Cure at 7:30 this morning. Myself and over 63,000 other people ran or walked in the 5K event. These races are held in cities throughout the US; but Denver's is the largest. I was able to meet up with a co-worker, Kassie, and run some of the race with her. I'm also happy to say that I think I've gotten closer to being in the shape I was in a couple of years ago. I really could notice it on this race. The fact that I did a 2.5 hour bike ride yesterday didn't effect me. I was still able to run the entire race at a decent pace.

Colorado Ballet

I went to see Sleeping Beauty performed by the Colorado ballet. It was held in the newly renovated opera house that just opened this month. I had never seen a ballet before; the costumes and sets were beautiful. I've never been in auditorium quite like this one either. The row we sat in was actually curved in a slight 's' shape. I'd be curious to hear the acoustics during an opera performance. Also, each seat has a tiny electronic screen in front of it that you can turn on/off yourself. It flashes up the name of each scene and a short description of what's happening. It would be very useful during a foreign opera.

We got discounted tickets to the ballet at the last minute, so we had a quick meal at the nearby Sam's No. 3 diner that first opened in Denver in the 1920's.

High Line Canal Trail

I went for a bike ride today on the High Line Canal Trail. The trail runs completely through Denver, towards the mountains and is over 50 miles long. An entrance to the trail is only 1.5 miles from my apartment. It's a beautiful trail for running or biking, even horseback riding. There's a wildlife refuge area. You never know what animals you may see. Last weekend there was a snake on the trail. Today I biked past a house that had roosters crowing. I was running on the trail last weekend, and a girl on a horse was down on a dirt trail in a meadow that overlooks the mountains; I just thought to myself that it was incredible that 20 minutes from downtown Denver you can have such wide open spaces with scenic views and horses! I think it's the coolest thing that I can hop on my bike at my apartment or just walk out the door and go for a ride or run through such a beautiful place. That's what I imagined living in Colorado to be, and I haven't been disappointed.

Santana at Red Rocks

I went to the last concert of the 2005 season at Red Rocks with my co-worker, Raj. I can see why the season ends about this time of year. It was a little chilly - around the low 50's. Despite the cold, it was a great concert.

That's Crazy!

I ran in the Colorado Outward Bound Relay this weekend. What is it? A 24-hour 170-mile team relay race through the mountains. When I used to run the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day 1/2 marathon and get up before dawn in freezing temperatures my dad would say, "that's crazy". So when he dropped me off at the start line one year and could see the hundreds of other people out there doing the same thing, I asked what he thought and his response was "they're all crazy." Well this is a race even I was thinking might be a little crazy. But as it turns out, there's a reason why I chose to participate and hundreds of others did also...it's a challenge, something different and most of all - fun. The race started in Idaho Springs; our team was in the last start wave leaving at 9am. My first leg was a short one - only 3.3 miles. If the leg is along the road, the team can follow with the vans, cheer you on and offer water. Here's our team stopped for Susan's leg. As you can see on the sign taped to the car, our team name was "The Procrastinators". I was a little nervous about my 6.4 mile leg at night. I had heard stories about routes being poorly marked and runners getting lost in years past. It had also been awhile since I had run in freezing temperatures. It, however, ended up being my favorite leg of the race. I ran on a bike path through Vail along a river. The moonlight was reflecting in the water; it was an awesome sight. The bike path suddenly ended at some tennis courts. About 5 of us were looking around trying to figure out where to go. At this point I paired up with one guy and thought we'd find it together. I ran the last couple of miles with him and we ended up discussing the crazy theory. It was quite a fitting topic since we were two people with lights strapped to our heads running along a path at 2am getting excited when we saw the next glo stick on the ground. He was 50-years old and on a team with his 17 and 19 year old kids. Perhaps I wasn't running hard enough since I could manage to exchange a couple of words with him, but running with somebody kept me going.
My last leg was 4.6 miles along the river heading towards the finish in Glenwood Springs. Here is a picture of the rest area where it began. The entire leg was along a bike path by the river underneath the highway. By this point I was pretty tired both physically from running and being awake for nearly 24 hours. I had managed to get about an hour or two of sleep around 4am. Our team ended up finishing 5th place in the mixed team category. I would definitely do this race again!

Happy Birthday!

Mom,
Have a very Happy Birthday!

DMB at Red Rocks

I finally got to see a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. When I came out to Denver in July of 2004, we had visited the Rocks. I remember Aunt Joan telling me she had seen a John Mayer concert there. I put seeing a concert at Red Rocks on my list of things to do when I moved here. I was excited that my first concert could be Dave Matthews Band. It was the end of his tour. Originally he was only doing 3 shows, but he added a fourth one on Monday with all profits going to charities supporting victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Sports

I went to Governor's Park to meet up with GT alumni to watch the Tech game on Saturday. Tech beat North Carolina, 27-21. There were only 6 other alumni there. Supposedly the turnout is usually better. I'll probably try to go to another game; it's a good place to watch sports.

That evening Raj invited me to the Rockies baseball game. A friend of a friend works for Coors, so we got to sit in the Coors suite. It was very nice; although I chose to sit outside versus inside the suite, otherwise it just doesn't quite feel like you're at the game. Being able to order food and ice-cream is also a nice perk.

Lyle Lovett at Copper Mountain

I went to a festival at Copper Mountain with Ellen and Joan. Lyle Lovett was one of the headline acts for the weekend. It was a great concert. He has a huge 11 piece band and other vocals. Lyle has a very broad range of musical style...a little country, big band, and gospel.

Race for Research 5K

Another 5K closer to the Colorado Outbound Relay in September. The Race for Research was held in Washington Park. My time got a little faster, 30:40, averaging a 9:54 mile.

Chatfield Park - Kayaking

Raj and I went kayaking at Chatfield State Park.

The Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival was this weekend also, but we got there after the balloon launch in the morning. I had never been kayaking before. It was definitely a good arms workout. Also, notice how safe we were - wearing life vests! I just think it's cool that you can strap these things to your roof, drive 20 minuts and kayak.

Red Square Euro Bistro

Megan and I met for dinner at the Red Square Euro Bistro in downtown Denver in Writer's Square. It definitely has a few things on the menu that sound Russian or at least Eastern European. They also have an entire menu just for Vodka. Megan and I tried one of their Red Square Infusions - basically, it's flavored vodka. We had the strawberry. It sort of tasted a little like cough syrup. I've never had lamb before, so I tried it for my entree. It was good but not my favorite. If I had a choice between lamb and steak; I'd choose the steak.

Rockies Game

Megan invited me to a Rockies Game with her husband and brother-in-law. The Rockies played the Cubs. It's the most full we've ever seen the stadium. Because Stephen works for Anheuser, I found out where the only stand that sells Budweiser in the stadium was (afterall, it is Coors Field). The Rockies won 4-2; they even had a home run! Click on the picture for a larger version.

Jeff's Wedding

Here's a pic of the family at my cousin Jeff's Wedding in Albany, NY.

After the wedding I drove back to NYC with Suzanne. We went to dinner with Jennifer and Tamara who happened to be in town. Ryan joined us later. Sunil and Mario happened to be in town that weekend and their flight out of LGA was
cancelled due to weather so we all met up at a local bar.

Evergreen Town Race 5K

I ran the Evergreen Town Race with some co-workers (l-r: Kassie, Leigh, me). It was an easy course, downhill most of the way. It was Leigh's first 5k and she did awesome. I was hoping to get under 30 min; I was close with a time of 31:16 (10:05 average mi).

Leigh's Birthday

My co-worker Leigh celebrated her 29th birthday with dinner at the Bull & Bush Pub and Brewery near Cherry Creek mall. I tried their Hail Brau Hefeweizen; the menu said it had won at the state fair. I didn't know they still had state fairs...
Bull & Bush is modeled after the London original dating back to 1645. The Denver pub was opened in 1971. I think their logo is pretty funny.

The Wedding Crashers

I went to see the movie "The Wedding Crashers" starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken and Rachel McAdams. The previews give you a good idea of the type of humor to expect. I thought it was very funny. Vince Vaughn's character reminded me a little of his role in Swingers.

Jeremy (Vince Vaughn): Okay, what's our back story?
John (Owen Wilson): We're brothers from New Hampshire. We're venture capitalists.
Jeremy: I'm sick of that. Let's be from Vermont. And let's have an emerging maple syrup conglomerate.
John: Wait, that's stupid. We don't know anything about maple syrup.
Jeremy: I happen to know everything there is to know about maple syrup! I love maple syrup. I love maple syrup on pancakes. I love it on pizza. And I take maple syrup and put a little bit in my hair when I've had a rough week. What do you think holds it up, slick?

Book Club

I went to my Aunt Ellen's Book Club tonight: "Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith" by Jon Krakauer.

Summary:
It's the non-fiction story of fundamentalist zealots of the Mormon church. Centering his novel around brothers Dan and Ron Lafferty, who murdered their youngest brother's wife and infant daughter in 1984, ostensibly under God's orders. Telling the story of their violent and virulent beliefs, Krakauer also ties in Mormon history from Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young to the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.

Thoughts:
I wasn't familiar with the history of Mormons. I was surprised to read how they were pretty much run out of town after town until they found the unsettled areas of Utah. During the Laffertys' trial the issue arose of determining whether they were sane since they said God told them to commit the crimes. Krakauer quotes a writer from the Salt Lake Tribune, "Saying that anyone who talks to God is crazy has enormous implications for the whole world of religion. It imposes a secular view of sanity and means that all religions are insane."

Boulder - The Sink

I went to the family medicine clinic in Boulder today to build computer carts. It was myself, Leigh and Raj. Afterwards we took advantage of getting to spend the day together and went for Happy Hour at a cool place in Boulder, The Sink. They have honey-wheat crust pizza; it was very good. They were getting ready to film Jennifer Garner's new movie "Catch and Release" the next day. There were set guys walking around checking lighting. A news report said the Sink is going to be a cyclist cafe in the film.

Camping in Aspen

I went camping for the first time in Aspen this weekend. Spent the day wandering around downtown Aspen - what a pretty place! I loved the Victorian style houses and how close everything was.

Yes, that's a picture of me chopping wood. Except for the rain it was a great first-time camping. experience.

Lindy Hop and Zengo

I had found this cool place on-line called Mercury Cafe; they have dance classes almost every night. I tried their Lindy Hop class. You don't have to reserve a spot. Just show-up, pay $5 and take the class. I was surprised how many people were there and that it was a fairly even group of men vs. women.
After practicing some sweet dance moves I went to dinner at Zengo. At Zengo you order a couple of dishes and share among the table. The Szechwan grilled pork loin was excellent.

Tubing in Boulder Creek

To continue the celebration of Kerri's birthday, a group went tubing in Boulder. We drove there together and met up with Hetal at her house. We stopped at the Conoco gas station (1201 Arapahoe Ave) to buy and inflate our tubes. They don't exactly inflate evenly. We then strapped all 6 tubes to the roof/back of a car. It was a funny sight. Had anyone hit the car from behind, they would have just bounced off. We started further up the stream at the more "interesting" section. The trick is to not let your butt sit all the way down in the tube - otherwise when you go over the falls you'll hit the rocks. I'm glad I had been white water rafting before and knew how to navigate rapids and falls. It wasn't exactly the lazy ride I was used to when shootin' the hootch. It was also FREEZING...uh, I mean very refreshing. My only injuries were some minor abrasions on my inner arms from rubbing against the tube while paddling to control my direction. I also lost my sunglasses. I thought I was keeping them safe by holding them in my hand; the water whisked them away quickly. Compared to going on the Chattahoochee River in TN or GA, I was surprised how "on your own" this was. No safety lessons or requirments, just buy your tube and go down the creek. I would definitely go again!