Life is so eventful sometimes that despite my desire to remember it all and preserve experience in blog-form for posterity, the time to sit and type rarely presents itself.
Forthcoming blogs in the next week (I'm promising myself to get these finished!):
1- 3-day trip to San Francisco w/ Steph for Pumpkins and QT w/ Ms. Wonderful herself
2- Procurement of brand new Honda Accord
3- The dawn of a football season and fuck ESPN
4- HP #7. No spoilers will be found here, I promise. Now time to go finish. Got within 75 pages of the end on the plane today and I must be DONE!!!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Love in Whitetrashia
Last Friday I had to go get my teeth cleaned. I have 2 cavities, boo, whatever, but that's not where this post is going. Steph was there immediately after me having her teeth cleaned as well, so when I was finished I violated HIPAA all over the place and wandered over to say Hi. Ended up staying until she was done, and got to hear the hygienist telling Steph all about her hoped-for love-life.
She said she'd met her "future husband" the weekend before. He's a bassist for this band called Great White. Um...wow chica, really? You mean the same Great White that killed 96 of their fans? I can't imagine going all gaga over someone even indirectly responsible for one of the most horrific cases of negligent manslaughter in recent memory.* She was so proud of the picture of the two of them together, told us she'd given him her number and she was a "total groupie," whatever that means. *shudder* Get some taste honey!
*I don't feel like looking up the outcome of the myriad lawsuits involved in the aftermath of that tragedy. The band was sued all over the damn place though. Something about maybe they shouldn't have set off pyrotechnics in a tiny, flammable dive bar...
She said she'd met her "future husband" the weekend before. He's a bassist for this band called Great White. Um...wow chica, really? You mean the same Great White that killed 96 of their fans? I can't imagine going all gaga over someone even indirectly responsible for one of the most horrific cases of negligent manslaughter in recent memory.* She was so proud of the picture of the two of them together, told us she'd given him her number and she was a "total groupie," whatever that means. *shudder* Get some taste honey!
*I don't feel like looking up the outcome of the myriad lawsuits involved in the aftermath of that tragedy. The band was sued all over the damn place though. Something about maybe they shouldn't have set off pyrotechnics in a tiny, flammable dive bar...
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Somewhere beyond Happiness
is Contentment.
This word has been floating around in my head for the last few days and I think it fits. For the first time in my adult life, I can honestly say I am truly content.
This word has been floating around in my head for the last few days and I think it fits. For the first time in my adult life, I can honestly say I am truly content.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
4th of July
Small children + freedom 'splosions = good times.
The Thornton fireworks are 2 blocks from my new apartment. Should I want to go to bed early on the 4th of July this would suck royally. However should I be in the mood for, say, not being an idiot and going to watch the fireworks w/ Steph and the kids...then this works out well, no?! We got there way too early, but we were on a hill so the kids had plenty of entertainment in the form of throwing themselves down said hill in typical childhood-rolly fashion:
The proximity to my place came in handy when the clouds rolled in and the wind kicked up as it was finally getting dark. I ran home for another blanket and made it back in time for the whole show. I don't know that it was quite as good as Arvada's annual display, but we all had fun and that's what matters. The quote of the evening came from K1: "Wow, the grand finale is a huge golden shower!" Steph and I laughed quietly and didn't have to explain, thankfully.
The Thornton fireworks are 2 blocks from my new apartment. Should I want to go to bed early on the 4th of July this would suck royally. However should I be in the mood for, say, not being an idiot and going to watch the fireworks w/ Steph and the kids...then this works out well, no?! We got there way too early, but we were on a hill so the kids had plenty of entertainment in the form of throwing themselves down said hill in typical childhood-rolly fashion:
The proximity to my place came in handy when the clouds rolled in and the wind kicked up as it was finally getting dark. I ran home for another blanket and made it back in time for the whole show. I don't know that it was quite as good as Arvada's annual display, but we all had fun and that's what matters. The quote of the evening came from K1: "Wow, the grand finale is a huge golden shower!" Steph and I laughed quietly and didn't have to explain, thankfully.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
September concerts
This is getting stupid...in September, at Red Rocks...
15- Monolith Festival, Day 2, headlined by The Flaming Lips
17- The Arcade Fire
18- Muse
30- THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Tickets on sale next Saturday for that last one, already have 'em to the other 3. Dear lord I'm excited. 4 of my favorite bands in the space of 15 days, all at the most beautiful venue on the planet. And 3 SP shows in one year! I beat that in 2000 between the in-store performance/signing at Tower records (Cherry Creek), Balsch Fieldhouse in Boulder, Summersault in Vancouver, and the United Center in Chicago Nov 29. Still though...fucking SP at Red Rocks. It's a Sunday and I will be there waaaaay too early for my own good. Teehee.
15- Monolith Festival, Day 2, headlined by The Flaming Lips
17- The Arcade Fire
18- Muse
30- THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Tickets on sale next Saturday for that last one, already have 'em to the other 3. Dear lord I'm excited. 4 of my favorite bands in the space of 15 days, all at the most beautiful venue on the planet. And 3 SP shows in one year! I beat that in 2000 between the in-store performance/signing at Tower records (Cherry Creek), Balsch Fieldhouse in Boulder, Summersault in Vancouver, and the United Center in Chicago Nov 29. Still though...fucking SP at Red Rocks. It's a Sunday and I will be there waaaaay too early for my own good. Teehee.
Durango!
Last weekend I finally made it to the South-East corner of the state to the Durango area. Steph's parents live down there, along with her brother Jeff and his family. There's a new kid in that family that Steph hadn't met yet so a trip was overdue. We took the new CR-V that we got Steph a couple weeks ago and drove the 6 1/2 hours across the mountains with Arlo and the kids all in tow. It was a nice weekend...the drive was stressful at times, as 6 1/2 hours in an enclosed space with little bundles of energy will inevitably be, but another fun adventure w/ the family.
So Steph's parents live off the grid down there...they have a bunch of land with some horses, and we saw deer and tons of jackrabbits running around the property. It's fairly isolated, but they have all of the nifty new stuff that makes it quite livable. A huge solar panel array on a pole charges batteries than run everything in the house...Kathy (Steph's mom) said they'd run out of power only 3 times in the years they've had the system in place. They have high-speed internet via satellite, cell phones work out there and it's really comfy actually. Steph said the house was improving dramatically every time she went down there...as of last weekend they had just installed beautiful hardwood flooring. Selected pics from the weekend-
One of the more amusing discoveries of the weekend is that K1 LOVES cutting out weeds. There were sticker/pricker bushes (whatever you want to call them) all over the front of the house, so Steph bought him a trimmer and SpongeBob gloves and he spent HOURS hacking away at them. (The lack of clothing was his choice as well. Cooler that way. And I don't know what that is on his head here.)
Of course Photo Ops are necessary. Me and K2 on Gma's front porch:
And finally, Gma Kathy w/ all the cousins:
So Steph's parents live off the grid down there...they have a bunch of land with some horses, and we saw deer and tons of jackrabbits running around the property. It's fairly isolated, but they have all of the nifty new stuff that makes it quite livable. A huge solar panel array on a pole charges batteries than run everything in the house...Kathy (Steph's mom) said they'd run out of power only 3 times in the years they've had the system in place. They have high-speed internet via satellite, cell phones work out there and it's really comfy actually. Steph said the house was improving dramatically every time she went down there...as of last weekend they had just installed beautiful hardwood flooring. Selected pics from the weekend-
Alpine Sliding at Purgatory
One of the more amusing discoveries of the weekend is that K1 LOVES cutting out weeds. There were sticker/pricker bushes (whatever you want to call them) all over the front of the house, so Steph bought him a trimmer and SpongeBob gloves and he spent HOURS hacking away at them. (The lack of clothing was his choice as well. Cooler that way. And I don't know what that is on his head here.)Of course Photo Ops are necessary. Me and K2 on Gma's front porch:
And finally, Gma Kathy w/ all the cousins:
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Overdue Ixtapa pics/trip summary
Like most good vacations to far off places, this one began on a plane. The kids did quite well, everything was smooth, and relaxation was off to a great start
We landed in Zihuatanejo early afternoonish and headed for the hotel. The first thing you notice of course is that there's an ocean nearby and you have to start chewing your air before you swallow it. Damn humidity. Heat is so much worse by the beach! (But there is water there for cooling off obviously...we'll get to that.) Steph had booked us through Apple vacations so the taxi was all paid for and waiting to take us to the Dorado Pacifico over in Ixtapa. It's on the beach and we had a beautiful view from our 15th floor balcony (the numbering went Lobby, Mezzanine, 5, and then skipped 13, so I'm not sure what you should really call it...but I digress)
Beautiful, no? You almost felt like you could jump off and land in the pool and it'd be just fine
That triangle sticking out over the pool on the left had a swim-up bar on one side and a restaurant on the other. This is the inside of that restaurant (and also the 1st non-horrible pic take of Steph and I together. 2nd time the 2 of us have ever been captured on film/memory stick that we know of :-P )
Other than eating and walking on the beach, relaxation was the goal for the week and we made that happen with a vengeance! The kids quickly found their favorite hangout for the week...the pool. Water wings are great btw, for you non-kid-havers out there.
Of course the girls made the most of the sunny skies and refreshing waters.
It wasn't *all* hotel time. On Tuesday we went out to Ixtapa Island, which is basically an excursion you canNOT avoid if you're in Ixtapa for a day of more. Every 100 yards or less on the street you'll pass someone trying to sell you a boat ride over to the island, with promises of wonderful things once you're there. We ended up going for free, since Steph's parents fell into many time-share presentation traps. (They got free cabs, free meals, and this trip out of it, saving us $100+, but by the end they swore to never listen to another pitch again.) Included in the trip they got us was Free Lunch! Due to something of a language barrier we had a hard time getting it ordered and figuring out what was involved, but we all ended up fed.
Of course the real reason to go to the island is that the beaches are on the non-wavey side of things. This is good for kayaking, which we did for an hour, Steph in the front, me in the back, kids between (without the camera, oddly enough). Also possible is snorkelling, which you can't do over by the hotel
Back at the hotel another favorite past-time were the 2 waterslides (visible up above). We were shown many different "forms" over the course of the week, most of them seeming to involve going headfirst on your stomach with differences only a 5 year old could identify, but it was an endless source of entertainment so why knock it?
There must also be time for pictures, and my new camera came in quite handy for photo ops (thanks parents!) These are outside the restaurant mentioned earlier 
A huuuge highlight of the trip was parasailing. Steph had done it before, so K1 and I took a turn this time around. I never stopped to think twice about it...somehow trying to keep a kid from freaking out keeps you from thinking about your own safety. At least until you're 200 feet in the air. Getting ready to go:
And then you take off, pulled by a boat, and pop up and suddenly you're flying waaay up in the air. The way it was set up K1 was in a separate harness in front of me, kind of sitting in my lap but 2 feet away. We enjoyed the whole thing immensely, took in the views from way up high, spit in the ocean from up there like guys do...it was great. Obviously the camera stayed on the ground.
All of this fun leads to some tired kids. After throwing a fit about not wanting to go to bed one night, K2 did this and passed out immediately:
Another highlight of the trip (we think?) was the coconut milk. From the minute we landed K1 had been begging and pleading to go get a coconut and take it back to the hotel and/or back to the U.S. I tried to explain the difficulties with just picking up a coconut, not having packed a machete or anything, but he could not be dissuaded. So on the last day I got the location of a little beach vendor who had drinks served in actual coconuts. The directions were "the yellow umbrella by the massage place outside of Carlos n' Charlies over there." We went searching our last evening in town and found the guy as he was ready to leave for the evening. He agreed to get his stuff back out and we got our coconut milk. (The adult versions had a choice of rum or tequila in them. The one being consumed here was unadulterated coconut milk, like K1 wanted.)
And my photo op after that excitement had abated a bit
After the coconuts we headed over to Senor Frog's for our last night in Ixtapa. It was Friday night and the place was totally dead, so we got up on the dance floor with the kids and had a blast.
We even got them up in the cage. They're going to hate us for these pics some day :-P
Before we left we had to get a picture of K1's girlfriend. This girl worked at the local grocery store we went to almost daily and thought K1 was about the greated thing ever. He talked to her in all the Spanish he knew from school and she ate it up. We got to the grocery store as they were locking the doors for the evening, continuing the string of good luck in Mexico.
As mentioned before, all of that activity makes you tiiiired. This is about 10 minutes after the last picture (he's waiting for us to catch up with a room key):
And that's the ever-so-abbreviated version of the Mexico trip. Great fun, nobody died or got injured, and we all came back happy and still liking each other pretty damn well. That's success, eh?
We landed in Zihuatanejo early afternoonish and headed for the hotel. The first thing you notice of course is that there's an ocean nearby and you have to start chewing your air before you swallow it. Damn humidity. Heat is so much worse by the beach! (But there is water there for cooling off obviously...we'll get to that.) Steph had booked us through Apple vacations so the taxi was all paid for and waiting to take us to the Dorado Pacifico over in Ixtapa. It's on the beach and we had a beautiful view from our 15th floor balcony (the numbering went Lobby, Mezzanine, 5, and then skipped 13, so I'm not sure what you should really call it...but I digress)Beautiful, no? You almost felt like you could jump off and land in the pool and it'd be just fineThat triangle sticking out over the pool on the left had a swim-up bar on one side and a restaurant on the other. This is the inside of that restaurant (and also the 1st non-horrible pic take of Steph and I together. 2nd time the 2 of us have ever been captured on film/memory stick that we know of :-P )Other than eating and walking on the beach, relaxation was the goal for the week and we made that happen with a vengeance! The kids quickly found their favorite hangout for the week...the pool. Water wings are great btw, for you non-kid-havers out there.Of course the girls made the most of the sunny skies and refreshing waters.It wasn't *all* hotel time. On Tuesday we went out to Ixtapa Island, which is basically an excursion you canNOT avoid if you're in Ixtapa for a day of more. Every 100 yards or less on the street you'll pass someone trying to sell you a boat ride over to the island, with promises of wonderful things once you're there. We ended up going for free, since Steph's parents fell into many time-share presentation traps. (They got free cabs, free meals, and this trip out of it, saving us $100+, but by the end they swore to never listen to another pitch again.) Included in the trip they got us was Free Lunch! Due to something of a language barrier we had a hard time getting it ordered and figuring out what was involved, but we all ended up fed.Of course the real reason to go to the island is that the beaches are on the non-wavey side of things. This is good for kayaking, which we did for an hour, Steph in the front, me in the back, kids between (without the camera, oddly enough). Also possible is snorkelling, which you can't do over by the hotelBack at the hotel another favorite past-time were the 2 waterslides (visible up above). We were shown many different "forms" over the course of the week, most of them seeming to involve going headfirst on your stomach with differences only a 5 year old could identify, but it was an endless source of entertainment so why knock it?There must also be time for pictures, and my new camera came in quite handy for photo ops (thanks parents!) These are outside the restaurant mentioned earlier A huuuge highlight of the trip was parasailing. Steph had done it before, so K1 and I took a turn this time around. I never stopped to think twice about it...somehow trying to keep a kid from freaking out keeps you from thinking about your own safety. At least until you're 200 feet in the air. Getting ready to go:And then you take off, pulled by a boat, and pop up and suddenly you're flying waaay up in the air. The way it was set up K1 was in a separate harness in front of me, kind of sitting in my lap but 2 feet away. We enjoyed the whole thing immensely, took in the views from way up high, spit in the ocean from up there like guys do...it was great. Obviously the camera stayed on the ground.All of this fun leads to some tired kids. After throwing a fit about not wanting to go to bed one night, K2 did this and passed out immediately:Another highlight of the trip (we think?) was the coconut milk. From the minute we landed K1 had been begging and pleading to go get a coconut and take it back to the hotel and/or back to the U.S. I tried to explain the difficulties with just picking up a coconut, not having packed a machete or anything, but he could not be dissuaded. So on the last day I got the location of a little beach vendor who had drinks served in actual coconuts. The directions were "the yellow umbrella by the massage place outside of Carlos n' Charlies over there." We went searching our last evening in town and found the guy as he was ready to leave for the evening. He agreed to get his stuff back out and we got our coconut milk. (The adult versions had a choice of rum or tequila in them. The one being consumed here was unadulterated coconut milk, like K1 wanted.)And my photo op after that excitement had abated a bit
After the coconuts we headed over to Senor Frog's for our last night in Ixtapa. It was Friday night and the place was totally dead, so we got up on the dance floor with the kids and had a blast.We even got them up in the cage. They're going to hate us for these pics some day :-PBefore we left we had to get a picture of K1's girlfriend. This girl worked at the local grocery store we went to almost daily and thought K1 was about the greated thing ever. He talked to her in all the Spanish he knew from school and she ate it up. We got to the grocery store as they were locking the doors for the evening, continuing the string of good luck in Mexico.As mentioned before, all of that activity makes you tiiiired. This is about 10 minutes after the last picture (he's waiting for us to catch up with a room key):And that's the ever-so-abbreviated version of the Mexico trip. Great fun, nobody died or got injured, and we all came back happy and still liking each other pretty damn well. That's success, eh?
What the hell?!
I swear this thing isn't defunct! Dear lord how have I not updated for the month of June?! Oh right, new place, vacation, girl I can't go more than about 10 hours tops without before withdrawal sets in...details.
All of which is to say I couldn't be happier and the normal blogging rules hold...discontent is much more fertile ground for blogging. Happy is boring. But man it feels good. Steph and I were talking last night and I started giggling, just because this whole situation is so crazily weird. That's all I'll say here, but yeah. *sigh*
So Zeitgeist is available for pre-order on iTunes and Amazon. iTunes comes w/ an immediate download of "Doomsday Clock" plus 5 random covers by other people of SP songs (also available in the July issue of Spin). Amazon has a pre-order Special Edition thing w/ a 72-page book included. Apparently I'll have multiple copies of another SP CD. Gee, *that's* never happened before...oh, and the Tarantula single is out w/ Paris Hilton on the cover. Odd.
OK, time to actually do something w/ the trip pics...pic post soon!
All of which is to say I couldn't be happier and the normal blogging rules hold...discontent is much more fertile ground for blogging. Happy is boring. But man it feels good. Steph and I were talking last night and I started giggling, just because this whole situation is so crazily weird. That's all I'll say here, but yeah. *sigh*
So Zeitgeist is available for pre-order on iTunes and Amazon. iTunes comes w/ an immediate download of "Doomsday Clock" plus 5 random covers by other people of SP songs (also available in the July issue of Spin). Amazon has a pre-order Special Edition thing w/ a 72-page book included. Apparently I'll have multiple copies of another SP CD. Gee, *that's* never happened before...oh, and the Tarantula single is out w/ Paris Hilton on the cover. Odd.
OK, time to actually do something w/ the trip pics...pic post soon!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Moved/travelled/returned
I hate seeing that I haven't posted in weeks. I also hate knowing there are new Pumpkins songs available that I have not heard. Both of these things are being corrected, through typing and downloading, but I feel behind at so many things at the moment. I need to catch up!
So I have a new place, it's great. Had a birthday, went to Mexico for a week, got back yesterday and celebrated Steph's bday, laundry is being done now, going to make burritos for cheap lunches here in a bit...there will be more blogs to follow and pics and stories and such, but for now I am in fact alive happy tan and quite satisfied with life. Forward to productivity!
So I have a new place, it's great. Had a birthday, went to Mexico for a week, got back yesterday and celebrated Steph's bday, laundry is being done now, going to make burritos for cheap lunches here in a bit...there will be more blogs to follow and pics and stories and such, but for now I am in fact alive happy tan and quite satisfied with life. Forward to productivity!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Movin!
Tomorrow morning the computer is boxed up, indicating the official start of the move. The end of course being when the cat transfers to the new location. I'll be offline for a few days, thanks to Comcast and the people in the apartment before me not shutting off their service...unless they left their cable modem on? We'll see :-P
Anyway, goodbye to this place. I have started over in so many positive ways in the past few months...especially the last 2. As of Saturday I will live around the corner from the source of much happiness in my life. Byebye St. Moritz!
Anyway, goodbye to this place. I have started over in so many positive ways in the past few months...especially the last 2. As of Saturday I will live around the corner from the source of much happiness in my life. Byebye St. Moritz!
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