current views

Yesterday, as we peered out the window at the falling snow, Rusty asked me, "Do you think it will ever stop?" I answered yes. However, today, I'm beginning to wonder . . . I believe it's been snowing non-stop since Wednesday evening, and it's still coming down. Craziness.

The photos are taken from inside my house. That's what I'm looking at, folks. Beautiful, huh?

blizzard!

I know, it's been awhile, and I never actually finished the snowboarding story, but I've been very busy with editing, working, Christmas shopping, etc. Perhaps the snowboarding story will never be told in its entirety. We'll see. If there's enough demand, I may take the time to do so. Basically, all you need to know is that Shauna and I gave it our best shot, and if it weren't for our inability to get up once we fell down, I'm fairly confident saying that we would have been absolute naturals.

On to current life . . .

We're in the middle of a blizzard at the moment. Seriously, a blizzard. We're talking multiple FEET of snow! I woke up yesterday to just a couple of inches on the ground, and by noon, I had trouble walking down the sidewalk. Because I was told not to come into work (they later closed the highway that comes into Boulder), I spent my morning at a coffeeshop, my afternoon at Ramin and Natalie's, then playing in the snow with the girls that live below us and later, a snowball fight with Ramin and Rusty (you can probably guess who won that one). The neighborhood was buzzing with the sound of snow mobiles and 4-wheelers flying down the streets. Today, of course, I'm at home again. I'll probably spend most of the day preparing for my trip home tomorrow . . . hopefully that happens.

Here are some photos from yesterday . . .








And some blurry photos of our snowball fight (if you look closely in one, you'll see that Shauna is in the process of being tackled)

snowboarding--the full story

Okay, so here's the update on the snowboarding experience . . .

For the past couple of months, Jenna has been convincing me that I need to go snowboarding. Finally, despite my fear of the unknown (I had never even been on a ski lift), I decided to go for it. I bought the pricey snowboarding pants, told everyone I knew that I was going (a method I use to make myself go . . . if you tell everyone you're going to do something, you feel really stupid if you don't do it), and set my alarm clock for 7:30 on Saturday morning. The past week, we had a lot of snow . . . no idea exactly how much, but probably about 10 inches or more, and to make things even better (or worse, depending on your perspective), the snow was falling heavily on Saturday morning. After we got our bagels and tea, Shauna, Jenna, and I headed for the Rockies. To get our adrenaline flowing, we were fortunate enough to do a few 360s on the icy road on the way there. Don't worry--we survived.

Eventually, it stopped snowing, and the gorgeous snow-covered mountains were in full view. If you've never seen the Rockies standing boldly in the midst of a cerulean blue sky, you're seriously missing out on one of the most breathtaking sites on this earth.

And it's late . . . I'll finish the story tomorrow . . .

The picture is of Shauna and me on the slopes. Jenna would have been in the picture, but she was busy actually snowboarding down the mountain.

P.S. Bring it, Florida.

new things

So I know Black Friday is supposed to be the day that everyone begins their Christmas shopping, but I couldn't resist splurging a little on myself. How could I not with all the amazing deals? Besides, I actually did have a need for most of these things . . . sort of . . :)

1. Creature Speakers -- My little MacBook's speakers just weren't cutting it, so I decided to hit up Apple's one-day sale. Shauna says it looks like an alien spaceship landed on my desk. It's true--but this spaceship can sing.

2. On Stage Micro iPod Dock -- I sit in a tiny corporate cubicle (actually, a triangle) all day long, and I need some good music to get me through the day, and this little guy is going to make quite the difference.

3. Laptop Case -- Urban Outfitters was selling this for $10!

4. Down-Filled Booties -- Not only do these look like moon boots, but if you were to travel to the moon I'd bet you a shiny nickel they'd keep your toes warm!

5. Snowboarding Pants -- It's true: I've lived in Colorado for nearly two years now and I have yet to snowboard or ski, which is practically heretical according to people who live here. But now that I have these sweet new Burton pants (check out the western design!), I'm ready. I'm planning on going next Saturday!

answers

Mel and Cara, you were right! You win!

Bearded Man: Shauna
Trees: Jenna
Bird and Grass: Mandy

Thanks for keeping up, Mel, Cara, and Nathanael!

painting party

On Saturday night Jenna, Shauna, and I had a wild night sitting in our living room, listening to sad music, drinking wine, and creating the beautiful pieces of art you see here.

Anyone want to take a stab at identifying the artists? C'mon . . . it'll be fun. No cheating.

corbin and claira

addendum

Because I was feeling guilty, I created a little addendum to the first video. You can watch it by going to the same link,

http://web.mac.com/mandyrutherford/iWeb/Site/Video.html

Once there, click on "To be fair . . ."

the buckeyes and bible characters

Yesterday, my dad told me a story about a little boy at my uncle's church. They had a costume party, and the kids were told to dress like Bible characters. When one little boy showed up in a red jersey and football helmet, someone asked him, "Which Bible character are you?" and he replied, "I'm Troy Smith."

After today's performance, he just might not be too far off . . .

a video!

It's 1:30 a.m., and I'm still awake because it is incredibly loud in the downstairs area of our house. The girls that live down there are having a huge Halloween party. Because I was having trouble concentrating on anything else, I decided to create a video with the little built-in camera on my computer.

So, if you'd like a tour of our apartment, just go to this link: http://web.mac.com/mandyrutherford/iWeb/Site/Video.html

Enjoy!

stereotypes

This morning, as I was walking to work, I saw a nice, new Lexis pull up in front of a coffee shop. Of course, if you live in the midwest or anywhere else in the country, you would most likely expect a nicely dressed business man to emerge from the car. But not in Boulder. Instead, the driver was an older man with dreads down to his ankles. Seriously--they were down to his ankles. I literally laughed out loud, realizing it was the perfect illustration of the type of people that seem to dominate this city: rich hippies.

october storm #2

The view from my bathroom, as of this morning . . .

october storm

So a week ago when I said that Boulder had its first snow, what I meant was that it had its first dusting. On Tuesday, we really had our first snow. Pretty crazy. The photo is from this afternoon.

Also on Tuesday, I had the pleasure of watching several of my friends hop on stage at the Fox Theater in Boulder with Griffin House, a very talented musician of whom I've been a fan for a couple years, who also happens to be a close friend of several of my friends. Griffin invited them to come on stage and sing along for one of the tunes.

And a big thanks to Jenna who chose to mouth my name instead of sing the words to the song while she was on stage at the sold-out show. You're a true friend. :) haha

in the midst of college students

From outside, sometime around 1 a.m., I hear some guy yell, "Ricky, wait! I hit my head on a tree."

I laughed out loud--not because it took me off guard, but because it was just so typical.

first snow

Last night, Boulder received her first snow of the season. You probably can't see it very well in this photo, but there is some snow on the foothills ahead. I took this with my phone around 7:45 a.m. . . . fairly foggy . . but by 10 a.m., all that dense fog had cleared off the flatirons and revealed even more snow . . . quite a beautiful site.

unharvested

Today I took a short break from work and ventured downstairs to Borders. Naturally, I was drawn to the poetry section. I picked up a book entitled Good Poems, and, shockingly, it did actually contain many good poems. As I flipped through, my eye caught one by Robert Frost, with a very fitting title for the season--both fall and the season of life that I'm in.

Unharvested

A scent of ripeness from over a wall.
And come to leave the routine road
And look for what has made me stall,
There sure enough was an apple tree
That had eased itself of its summer load,
And of all but its trivial foliage free,
Now breathed as light as a lady's fan.
For there had been an apple fall
As complete as the apple had given man.
The ground was one circle of solid red.

May something go always unharvested!
May much stay out of our stated plan,
Apples or something forgotten and left,
So smelling their sweetness would be no theft.

confession

Shallow fact I realized about myself tonight: I judge guys based on their jeans.

accidental drops of yellow

(Photo: View from my computer, Estes Park)

This morning, I skipped church and drove by myself to Estes Park, a quaint, picturesque mountain town just northwest of Boulder. It lies at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park, so the farther up into the clouds you drive, the clearer you can see the majestic snow-capped peaks of the Rockies.

Usually, when I make this drive, it’s the mountains that impress me most, but not this time. Strangely, it was the trees. Mixed in with the countless rows of dark green pine trees are bright, glimmering drops of yellow—the aspen trees. Almost as if God accidentally let some yellow paint slip off of his brush on his way to the yellow section of the earth.

Moments after I had that thought, God reminded me that he doesn’t do anything accidentally. It’s all intentional. It’s all planned. It’s all on purpose, with purpose.

One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, once told a story about his friend, John. Late one night, John asked Don to take a drive with him up into the mountains, so he could take some photos of the sunrise. As they ascended the mountain, John continually stuck his head out the window, as if he had spotted something spectacular in the night sky—perhaps a UFO, Don thought. Suddenly, John stopped the car, and with no explanation, got out and laid down on the ground, staring up at the sky. Finally, after a few minutes of sitting in the car, wondering if his friend had gone insane, Don got out and cautiously walked over to John.

“Miller, get down here.”

Don laid down beside him and understood. The sky was brilliantly black and clear, minus the millions of specks of starry lights.

After several silent minutes, Don asked, “John, why do you think God did this?”

And without a moment of hesitation, John replied with certainty, “To dazzle me.”

It’s one of my favorite stories. Every time God catches me off guard with the beauty he has created in this world, I hear his whisper: “I did this for you—to dazzle you.”

And it’s not just in the beauty he’s placed in nature. It’s the waves of grace I see everywhere in my life: new friends that bring out a part of me that I never knew was there or that hadn’t been seen in many years; unexpected pay raises; moments of laughter that bring tears; surprising sparks of creativity; feeling the freedom to move toward the dreams I’ve had for years; the love of the community I have surrounding me; recognizing and overcoming insecurities.

Like drops of bright yellow in the dark green of my life, he startles me with these beautiful accident-like blessings. But they're not accidents—and that’s what dazzles me.

goodbye, friend

SOLD! (Finally.)

one special cracker

My mom sent me this photo of Claira the other day. On the back, she included the following caption:

Sheer happiness begins with one special cracker.

It's true, you know . . . in a couple different ways.

new blog

I've decided to start a new blog . . . a photo blog! Check it out www.catchingglimpses.blogspot.com or click on the link, "my photo blog," on the right side of your screen!

feeling sheepish

Turns out "20 oz. pint" is not an oxymoron. My all-knowing friend, Rusty, has informed me that in Ireland, a pint is 20 ounces, an "imperial pint." It's true. You learn something new every day . . .

From wikipedia:

The pint is a unit of volume or capacity. It is used mainly in the U.S., the UK and Ireland, although the value is not the same and the U.S. has two types of pint:

1 Imperial pint (UK) = 20 UK fluid ounces ≈ 568 mL (0.56826125 litres more exactly)
1 Imperial pint (UK) = 4 UK gills (this was the legal definition although in some areas a gill of milk or beer referred to 1/2 pint; elsewhere a gill was the 1/3 pint of milk given free to school children)
1 pint (U.S., wet) = 16 U.S. fluid ounces = 2 U.S. cups ≈ 473 mL (0.473176473 litres exactly)
1 pint (U.S., dry) ≈ 551 mL (0.5506104713575 litres exactly)
As part of the metrication process, the pint in the UK and in Kenya is now only used as a measure for beer (see pint glass) and cider when sold by the glass (in public houses for instance) and milk (although milk is also sold in metric quantities). Many recipes published in the UK still provide ingredient quantities in imperial and metric, where the pint is often used as a unit for larger liquid quantites. Most new recipes are now published in metric only with the pint being rounded to 500 or 600 ml. Ireland has completed its metrication process and the pint is only use for serving beer, stout and cider.

hmmm . . .

I saw an ad today for 20 oz. pints at a local bar. Would you say that's an oxymoron?

hope remains

Last year at this time, my friend Andy and I rather spontaneously hopped in a car and headed for Louisiana to help out with hurricane relief. The week and a half turned out to be a pivotal time in my life. As I sat in the shelter and rocked babies to sleep, wondering if their mothers would pick them up from the makeshift daycare, where they would live, and what kind of life they would be deprived of because of the tragedy, my faith was tested. Most of my time was spent with the children who were living with their families in the middle of a convention center floor and from their mouths I heard some truly heartbreaking statements--words five-year-old children should never utter. One told me about the dead bodies she saw floating in the water, another told me she wanted money for her birthday because she didn't have any clothes, and many talked about their dispersed families. As I read back over my journal entries from that time, the records of the heartache, over and over and over, I wrote the following words, "And hope remains. And hope remains." Honestly, I'm not sure if I was writing them because I believed that hope remained or because I was trying to convince myself that it did. But it's true. Hope did remain. Amazingly, the victims of Katrina did have hope. Really, it was all they had--and they clung to it. And by doing so, they reassured me that I too could have hope . . . that God truly was love, though to look around at the thousands of displaced people, it didn't always seem like it.

On Sunday, I was reading over what I had written last year and was struck by the realization that over the past two weeks, I have been feeling close to the exact same emotions. On Thursday, the 7th, my friend Cara gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Zion David, and due to some unexpected complications during birth, he passed away. That night, I stayed up late, praying for Marc, Cara, and Zion, for comfort, for hope, for ressurection even. I thought of David, who also lost a baby boy and upon hearing of his death, immediately went to the temple to worship, and I wondered how he did it . . . how he later wrote that God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Surely, that moment was the most heartbreaking of his life. And it gave me hope to know that David could worship, that he could continue to feel the presence of God during such a difficult time. It gave me hope for Marc and Cara, and it gave me hope for myself--that I could continue to believe that God is good.

The next morning, as I drove to the hospital, the words of an old hymn kept flowing through my mind, and so I began to sing it to myself . . . "Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him. How I've proved him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust him more." Honestly, there were moments that I found myself forcing the words out of my mouth, fighting to believe that it was true. But when I walked into Cara's hospital room, the struggle ended. The grace, love, and hope of Jesus was undoubtedly present in that place. Marc and Cara's words were full of sorrow mixed with unwavering faith and hope. Even then, Cara said that she knew God was going to do something huge . . . but I knew he was already doing it, particularly in my own life. I really can't even begin to describe how she and Marc have served to strengthen my faith during this time. And because of their faith, as I looked down at Zion's perfect, beautiful face, I could think only of God's goodness, of His promise of eternal life, of his craftsmanship, and his proximity to the brokenhearted. And then I understood how David could worship in the midst of such sorrow. Hope does remain. It really does.

There's so much more that I could write about the past two weeks . . . about the way Zion's life has affected our community, the beautiful memorial service we had in his honor, and the strength and faith of Marc and Cara, but as for now, I'll simply say that I am so thankful for Zion's life, for all that he has taught me, for the hope I was reminded of.

"From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth." --Psalm 50:2

comfort

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18

is that you, orlando?

Am I the only one who thinks she sees famous people everywhere? Really, this doesn't happen that often, but yesterday, I could have sworn Mick Jagger was sitting beside me in a coffee shop, and today I thought I saw Steve Jobs and Orlando Bloom walking down the street (not together--that would be weird).

grace

I read the following quote in a book I was reading last night, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott.

"Grace threatens all my normalities." --Gerald May

When I first read it, I agreed with the statement, yet found myself a little uneasy with saying that grace "threatens" something belonging to me. However, the more I think about it, the more I believe it's absolutely true. In many ways, grace is threatening. All of the insecurities, inadequacies, sin, etc., that I hold onto so dearly for some unknown reason, is threatened by the power of God's grace. In its presence, I am forced to let go of all that I claim to be true about myself and those around me, and begin, in freedom, to see past all those lies.

to prove a point . . .

My most recent fortune from a fortune cookie said, "If you think nobody cares if you are alive, try missing a couple of car payments." How is this a fortune?

life on the hill

As most of you are aware, Shauna and I have recently moved to The Hill. For those of you who are not familiar with the Boulder terminology, this means that we have moved to a more adventurous area of the city—the area where most of the 30,000 University of Colorado students reside. Let’s compare the new place with the old:

New: Within walking distance to everything—shops and restaurants on Pearl St. and The Hill, CU, homes of friends

Old: Within walking distance to the Boulder Lumber Yard, the jail (where that creepy John Mark Karr is being held), the airport, my insurance agent’s office, homes of friends (we are sad to leave them)

New: A porch (complete with porch swing) and a huge, enchanting yard!

Old: A tiny deck.

New: No dishwasher—just a strangely placed sink.

Old: Dishwasher . . . but we didn’t really need that anyway, right?

New: 100-year-old house with lots of character.

Old: 25-year-old condo.

New: Squeaky floors.

Old: Upstairs neighbors squeaky floors . . . causing us to have squeaky ceilings.

New: Loud frat boys for neighbors.

Old: Never really saw the neighbors.

New: A huge room for storage!

Old: A tiny closet for storage.

New: What I hear at 3 a.m.: latin dance music and lots of loud voices.

Old: What I heard at 3 a.m.: an occasional train whistle and coyotes barking (I think that’s what you call that noise.)

All in all, the new place is great! Sure, there are some downfalls of living on what seems to be the middle of frat row, but we’re trying to view them of part of the adventure. We’ve got three really sweet girls who are seniors this year living on the first floor, a female grad student in the basement, and, also in the basement, a mysterious guy whom we have yet to meet.

It’s just amazing how the culture of a city changes from one mile to the next. Here, the people, the sounds, and the smells, are all different. With Buena Vista Social Club blaring out of the stereo next year, across the yard, and into my room, and from another window, the smell of smoke (not always that of a cigarette) floating in, I’m definitely feeling more like I really live here in Boulder.

Just before we moved, my friend Chris asked me if I saw this move as an adjustment to the life I’ve been living in Boulder or as a completely new chapter. I’m fairly sure it’s a mixture of both . . . perhaps “Life on The Hill” will be a new subhead to the chapter I’ve been writing for the last year and a half . . . only time will tell.

why i don't believe in fortune cookies

A week or so ago, Shauna and I got Chinese food, which, of course, came with fortune cookies. Usually, my forutne is stupid . . . or not even a fortune at all . . . something like, "You care about justice." That's nice and all, but it's not really a fortune, so it's not really all that fun. But the fortune I received last week was very exciting. It said, "The next full moon will bring an enchanting evening." Well, I was bored, and thought it would be fun to see if it came true, so I taped the fortune onto my calendar. August 9 (today) was the date of the next full moon.

All day long, I waited for the enchantment to begin, but it never did--well, at least not in the way I had imagined. Instead, what happened was the following:

I woke up after 4 hours of sleep (up late finishing a project), tired and mad that I had to spend the day working at the mall . . . although thankful for some form of work. It's just that a day spent at the mall is not enjoyable to me anymore. I actually quit my old job at the mall and have been doing temp work . . . but this week, the temp agency has sent me back to the mall to help open a store that contains ugly clothing for women (I'm not going to tell you what the name of the store is, but from this point on, I will be referring to it as "Hispanic Little Boy's.") :) Fortunately, Shauna has also been employed by the temp agency, so she is doing the job with me.

Any excitement that I had about workng in retail again was diminished when I realized we would be spending the entire day sorting, folding, and hanging bras and underwear. I can't even begin to tell you how annoying it is to fold bras and sort them into little drawers . . . for 8 hours straight . . . while listening to Celine Dion and Amy Grant songs from the early 90s. (Sidenote: I had a flashback during Amy Grant's songs "The Lucky One" and "House of Love" of going to her concert in Columbus with my mom and dad. It was at the Polaris amphitheater, and I remember being shocked that Budweiser was a sponsor . . . oh, how I've changed.)

So the least enchanting moment of my day came when I tripped over one of my bra drawers, and went flying through the air into the bras, slamming my leg on the edge of one of the wooden drawers on the floor, causing all 20 people in the room to stare at me (and Shauna to laugh). And tonight, the disenchantment continues as my leg is throbbing and the softball-size bruise continues to darken.

On the brighter side (and perhaps the enchanting side), I did get to hang out with some great people tonight (my cell group) at Southern Sun, where I discovered you can get a half-order of the nachos. (Amazing.) And now that i think about it, Mercy Zenz did lean in to kiss me on the cheek (more like a lick), which was rather enchanting. I felt very loved.

So the lesson is, don't believe the Chinese.

Just kidding. Just don't believe what they write in fortune cookies.

spontaneous death cab experience

Sometimes you just have to jump on a good opportunity when it presents itself to you. For example, when you just so happen to check the listing of tickets for sale on craigslist.com at 5:00, just minutes after a tired pregnant lady in Boulder has posted her 2 Death Cab for Cutie tickets for that night's sold-out show for a cheap price, you should probably call her and offer her an even lower price. And when she agrees, you should drive over to her house, get the tickets, pick up your roommate, and head to the Fillmore in Denver to hear some incredible live music.

summer music staple

I've spent the evening listening to Buena Vista Social Club, and I've decided it is THE music for summer. If it's not in your collection, hurry up and get it in before summer ends. Also be sure to listen to some version of "Girl from Ipanema" while you sip a refreshing beverage under the hot sun . . . the summer is worthless if you don't participate in this activity.

While browsing through my cd collection tonight, I discovered that I had not one, but two Brian McKnight cds. If these cds are in your collection, get them out--now. I honestly can't tell you how they got in mine. I think they may have been my brother's . . . I just don't know. But I am disappointed in myself.

yay!

We signed the lease today! We'll start the moving process August 15!

Want to help paint or move boxes? Let me know. :)

things are looking up

After the death of our friend Gordon, we knew we needed to get a new fish. Today we visited Petsmart and picked out this beauty, Odette. She's named after our friend Samira (her middle name is Odette). Samira should be here in Boulder, living with the two of us, but she has decided to live in Indiana instead. So, in fish form, Samira will be our third roommate. Odette's middle name is Livno (a tribute to Josh, who is living in Livno, Bosnia), and her last name is Kerouac, after Jack, of course. By the way, Odette is actually a boy, but we like to think of her as a girl, so a girl she shall be.

Also, we found out today that our applications to rent a house on the Hill have been approved! We can't wait!

Just a few hours ago, I received an e-mail asking me to come in for an interview for a full-time editorial position at a company here in Boulder.

And, I dumped all of my pennies into a coinstar machine today and got enough credit with iTunes to buy a new CD. Nathan, thanks for the tip!

1 step to having a really bad sunday in boulder (or, what happened today)

1. Come home to find the fish that you won at the fair yesterday dead.

20 steps to having a great saturday in boulder (or, what I did yesterday)

1. Wake up early and eat a bowl of cereal. (Yes, I'm still on the cereal kick.)
2. Park downtown, and walk the Creek Path to the Farmer's Market, and check out the wonderful array of produce, flowers, hippies, and organic products. Be sure to sample the organic peanut butter--it's amazing.
3. Walk down Pearl Street, eat lunch outside, while listening to the local musicians playing on the street.
4. Visit an old coworker/friend, who now works in a store on Pearl Street. While talking to him, learn a new phrase, "out where Jesus lost his sandal," meaning "out in the middle of nowhere." Also, convince him that he must get in a photo with you, taken with a Polaroid camera.
5. On the way back to your car, stop by the Trident to cool off with a refreshing and delicious iced vanilla latte. Then browse the poetry selection at the attached bookstore.
6. Head towards the Hill and drive by the house that you will hopefully be moving into at the end of August. Drive by it several times. Pray hard that your application is approved.
7. Drive just one block down the street to your friends' house. Think about how fun it would be to live so close to these friends. Stop for awhile, visit, catch up on life, and talk to a traveler from France about how great craigslist.com is.
8. From there, head towards Longmont, home of the Boulder County Fair.
9. Upon arriving at the fair, take lots of Polaroids of the ferris wheel, carousel, chickens, and longhorn cattle.
10. Play a game, and win a fish (pictured here)!
11. Name the fish "Gordon" after your long lost friend, Josh Gordon, who has recently moved to Bosnia.
12. Don't leave the fair without first conversing with a true carnie (born and raised in the funnel cake booth), eating a funnel cake, and drinking a fresh lemonade shakeup.
13. Eat a delicious pasta dinner at home.
14. Drive to Pearl Street, and buy a book of haikus by Jack Kerouac.
15. Sit outside at the Book End coffee shop, sip some iced green tea, write a letter to a friend, and read some haikus while listening to tribal drum beats coming from the hippies pounding on buckets and other random objects just a few feet away.
16. Participate in the Zip Code Man's show. Test his knowledge by throwing out the zip code of your tiny hometown in Ohio. Be amazed and entertained when he knows where you live, calling it "the farm just outside of Chillicothe, Ohio."
17. Stop by Ventana Maya, the mysterious window in the wall, just off of Pearl Street for a little midnight snack of tostadas and salsa.
18. Stare in wonder at the miniature size of your snack. Ask yourself how they get limes to grow the size of cherry tomatoes and why you gave the man $3 for it. Be tempted to go back to the window and say, "What is this? A snack for ants? It needs to be at least three times this size."
19. Go home and crash on your roommate's bed for awhile. Share lots of laughs.
20. Sleep.

i think i know why

Most likely the reason I'm still single is that I come up with ideas like "the wrist scarf" (modeled by Shauna). Really, it's an unfinished scarf that I began in January . . . when Kayla left, I forgot how to crochet. I found it the other night while sorting through a box of random junk that has been sitting in my room since I moved in. Now that we're moving out at the end of this month, I decided it was time to get rid of it or put it to use. What can you do with an unfinished project like a scarf? Tie it around your wrist and make a fashion statement. Also, I found some body jewels that Kayla sent me last year (also modeled by Shauna).

Other random things I found this week: In a file folder from a couple years ago, I found the manual to my toaster. Apparently I thought I might not know how to use it.

We've been searching like mad this week to find a new place to live. I think we may have found one (or two) today. Both are in ideal locations in Boulder--near Pearl Street, the Hill, and friends. We're pretty excited.

then why?

http://realestate.msn.com/Rentals/Articleforbes.aspx?cp-documentid=694846>1=8384

for crying out loud, try some of our scrumptious magic beans

Oh, the wonderful world of temp work . . . you never know what you may end up doing. This weekend, Jenna and I had the pleasure of working the Jelly Belly Sport Bean booth at the Boulder Triathlon. Job description: Sit at a booth and give people samples of a product we know very little about and have never used (at least not while exercising). What we actually did: sat at a booth, read information about the product off of a box, and tried to be as convincing as possible that it would work . . . we're guessing it does since most people were ecstatic when they saw us giving away free samples. While doing this, we made up a game. We both chose several words/phrases that we had to work into our conversation with customers. For each word/phrase used, a point was given. Here's our list:

1. juxtaposition
2. magic beans
3. neither here nor there/neither fish nor foul
4. til the cows come home
5. for crying out loud
6. scrumptious
7. refer to the marathon that we ran together in '97
8. blasting with flavor
9. ask the customer if they think it would be a good idea for jelly belly to make a buttered popcorn flavored sport bean

I think Jenna won . . . I had a lot of trouble working several of them into the conversation . . . I did alright with "juxtaposition" and "magic beans," but it's so difficult to talk about the marathon in '97 without laughing in the customer's face. Great game though. My favorite moment: When Jenna simply blurted out the word "juxtaposition," totally by itself. So funny. Pretty sure people thought we were drunk.

By the way, people who run triathlons are out of their minds. Get this . . . they swim a mile, then bike 26 miles, and then run a 10k. I think the guy who won it today did it under 2.5 hours. Insane. And 1500 people chose to do this today.

P.S. My semicolon button is now completely broken. I can't tell you how annoying this is . . . must get it fixed this week.

you are my mermaid

Shauna's friend Noelle recently gave her a gift from China--a journal. On the front, there is a drawing of children playing on a playground, and some words:

Wagle
Everyone talks about it,
but no one has really seen it.
You are my mermaid, and I'll protect you.

No clue what this is about. Any ideas?

love

Tonight Jenna asked me tonight if I had a favorite poem. I don't, but I do really like Billy Collins' poetry, and this is my favorite of his:

Love

The boy at the far end of the train car
kept looking behind him
as if he were afraid or expecting someone

and then she appeared in the glass door
of the forward car and he rose
and opened the door and let her in

and she entered the car carrying
a large black case
in the unmistakeable shape of a cello.

She looked like an angel with a high forehead
and somber eyes and her hair
was tied up behind her neck with a black bow.

And because of all that,
he seemed a little awkward
in his happiness to see her,

whereas she was simply there,
perfectly existing as a creature
with a soft face who played the cello.

And the reason I am writing this
on the back of a manila envelope
now that they have left the train together

is to tell you that when she turned
to lift the large, delicate cello
onto the overhead rack,

I saw him looking up at her
and what she was doing
the way the eyes of saints are painted

when they are looking up at God
when he is doing something remarkable,
something that identifies him as God.

my week in photos

Monday: East of Boulder, there was some crazy lighting--big bolts coming down, sometimes crawling across the sky. I sat in my car for about an hour and watched while listening to great music and trying to capture a bit of it with my camera. Actually getting a photo of it was challenging because my digital has about a 1-second delay. But I did manage to get one.


Friday: To celebreate Melissa's birthday, approximately twelve of us girls met at Southern Sun for dinner, then took a limo (yes, the limo actually picked us up at southern sun . . . I wonder if that's ever happened before) to Denver to Sing Sing, a piano bar. Later we walked to Polly Esther's (a decade dance club) and had a good time reliving the 80s on the dance floor.

Stephanie and Melissa


Melissa dances as Boy George looks on.


Megan and Me


Saturday: I spent my afternoon/evening with Jaydn. We had fun watching VeggieTales, playing outside, coloring, and putting Hello Kitty stamps on our hands and feet. Oh to be three again . . . so much fun!

for all of you hopeless romantics . . .

My friend Mel, photographer extraordinaire, sent me a link to a video that documents a couple's proposal. It's a great story . . . Check it out at www.fiftyfootfilms.com. Once there, click on "Screening Room," then "Hidden Camera Proposal."

to eavesdrop on interesting conversations . . .

. . . visit The Trident on Pearl Street.

Every time I spend an afternoon working at The Trident, I overhear some of the most bizarre conversations.

Last week, I listened to a young man and an elderly man discuss their views on religion.
Young guy: Jewish, wants to move to Israel to become a rabbi, but while living in Boulder, he's studying Buddhism.
Old guy: Has made up his own religion, believes humanity is infallible, and continually referred to his "mythological god."

Today I overheard a guy explaining that several years ago he was driving from California to New York, intending to move to New York. He stopped in Boulder and knew this was his home, so he just stayed. Surprisingly, I've actually heard this same explanation from many people, so maybe it wasn't that interesting after all . . .

Then two guys next to me were discussing their roommate who smokes pot every day, all the time . . . Again, not a conversation you hear in the coffee shops of southern Ohio, but here . . . kind of normal.

But now I'm listening to two young girls talk about their trip to Las Vegas. They went with a few friends for a fun weekend; however, two of their friends, while there, randomly decided to get married. And now, of course, they're regretting it and blaming it on these two girls for repeatedly encouraging them to get hitched in Vegas.

I'm realizing that I probably shouldn't work here unless I have headphones . . .

grammar and head-butting

This morning I was casually reading an article on MSNBC about Zinedine Zidane, my favorite French head-butter, and I found at least six blatant grammatical mistakes--and I wasn't even looking for them. Now I certainly understand that editors aren't perfect, but in a 500-word article published on one of the world's most popular news sites, this should not happen. Also, because I used to work for a newspaper, I understand that the news media is under a lot of pressure to get articles published quickly--especially if it's breaking news. But this was not breaking news; it was an editorial.

It certainly seems as though standards are dropping in the publishing field--at least regarding material published on the internet--which frustrates me. But I'm not quite frustrated enough to head-butt anyone in the chest . . . at least not yet. You'd probably have to insult my mother to get me that upset. :)

random thoughts on the day

First, a few random thoughts:

1. Suddenly, I like cereal. For 25 years, I have had no interest in eating it, and now, out of nowhere, I like it.

2. I watched a show today on TLC called Take-Home Chef. Basically, what happens is this guy, Curtis (pictured here), who is an attractive, single, professional chef with a cool Australian accent, intercepts random women at the grocery store. He then offers to cook her and her husband/boyfriend dinner at her home. Nothing like this ever happens to me at the grocery store. It would be nice if it did.

3. I accidentally slept in until 1:45 p.m. today. Whoops. Seriously, I only meant to sleep until 10:00, but apparently my body knew I needed some more shut-eye after many, many late nights and early mornings. But now I'm really awake. And the cycle continues . . .

Moving on . . .

I had a fantastic evening with some friends. First, I met Julie for dinner at the Moongate Asian Bistro, where I had a fabulous Thai curry, panang. (Curry is yet another food that I used to think I hated . . . now I love it. Apparently it's true that taste buds do change.)

Later, I met some other friends at the West End Tavern, which has, in my opinion, the best rooftop patio in all of Boulder; however, due to the uncovering of a dead body (we're assuming it was an animal's dead body and not a human) below the floorboards of the patio, it was closed. Instead, we sat on the regular patio outside of the restaurant. Still a good time.

I feel like nothing I've said tonight is really all that interesting, so I'm now going to simply quote the words of someone who is interesting, Mr. Jack Kerouac:

A haiku:

The world is old
and wise
And I am tired
of my eyes

gamekillers

For a good laugh, check out this site: www.gamekillers.com
Yes, it's an advertising campaign for a deodorant, but it's funny.
My friend Kayla sent me a postcard today that described "The Balladeer" (pictured here).
I have no idea why this particular description made her think of me . . . (that's a joke). :) You can read it on the site. Just click on the guy with the guitar.