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.