The only reasonable explanation is that the fat, simple oafs are the ones writing the material for these shows, injecting a bit of their own fantasy into the sub-par, brain numbing tripe they put on TV. Again, I don't transfer any of these notions in the real world, where I'd like to think that people are a tad less superficial but it's interesting to see the trend in media.
That being said, an observation I've made in Boulder is that this is the town for bald guys. In fact, it almost seems like being bald is an advantage here, as nearly every woman you see with a bald guy is attractive. Many of my female friends seem drawn to the baldness, especially in younger guys, so maybe my whole view on what women want is skewed--which makes a ton of sense.
I'm waiting for the shows where the girls love the NES playing, mountain climbing, cat-loving, frisbee throwing, skee-ball master guys with goatees.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
First off: yes, I know the "blue fade" in my background is a bit off, color-wise. I'm playing with CSS a bit these days (not so much here on the blog, but on the main structure of my site) and working on designing sweet tableless layouts like this one. I can pretty much mimick this design and build it without using ANY tables (unlike clunky table-based HTML). If you couldn't guess, I'm learning a lot more about advanced web design at my job-- which is a pretty cool side-effect of the position!
From the "it's a bummer, but that's progress" department, I've gotten to watch the sad transformation of one of the rare woodsy areas in Boulder turned into generic, crappy housing. Near my house is a soccer field complex that is good for runs and I've been taking laps there since 2000. When I first ran there, the fields were without boundaries and a sizeable patch of woods bordered the west side. Part of the allure of the run was catching a glimpse of the fox, coyote and other critters who lives in the little eco-system. THEN they put up a hideous black chain link fence around the whole field, which made one feel most unwelcome, despite the fact they are public fields. THEN the ultimate blow, a development company bought the woods, flattened it and quickly put up 300 ugly, cheaply made homes that start at $300,000. So gone are my sylvan friends, replaced by behemoth SUVs and yuppies.
Doesn't even come close to a fair exchange, does it?
I wonder when the time will come when we decide to reverse engineer our land--probably never. Imagine a parking lot being transformed into a small parcel of woods (they've actually done this in Toronto).
Anyhow, in the positive world of animals-- I got to see an alpine marten (pictured here) on my mountain excursion last weekend. They are very cool critters and I was so inspired by the hearty guys that I am writing an upcoming story in the Boulder Weekly about them next week!
Long live mountain critters!
So a little more about the new job here at Natural Habitat Adventures. I'm the web manager in charge of about a zillion things, which is actually pretty cool. My co-workers are an accomplished group of travellers and explorers, good folks as far as I can tell. The company itself focuses on worldwide nature tours so if you want to visit polar bears you can go through us!
So for those of you who have asked, my second book is going to be travel essay oriented-- I'll be putting up samples soon online of some of the chapters. Much like my guide book, it's a new twist on an old favorite, spruced up with a little bit of corny humor.
I will admit it's weird transitioning from a being a freedomaire to a work place dude again. That's the phase of life for now, however and I'll do my best with it until they I can accept a job offer to be an astronaut to Mars.
From the "it's a bummer, but that's progress" department, I've gotten to watch the sad transformation of one of the rare woodsy areas in Boulder turned into generic, crappy housing. Near my house is a soccer field complex that is good for runs and I've been taking laps there since 2000. When I first ran there, the fields were without boundaries and a sizeable patch of woods bordered the west side. Part of the allure of the run was catching a glimpse of the fox, coyote and other critters who lives in the little eco-system. THEN they put up a hideous black chain link fence around the whole field, which made one feel most unwelcome, despite the fact they are public fields. THEN the ultimate blow, a development company bought the woods, flattened it and quickly put up 300 ugly, cheaply made homes that start at $300,000. So gone are my sylvan friends, replaced by behemoth SUVs and yuppies.
Doesn't even come close to a fair exchange, does it?
I wonder when the time will come when we decide to reverse engineer our land--probably never. Imagine a parking lot being transformed into a small parcel of woods (they've actually done this in Toronto).
Anyhow, in the positive world of animals-- I got to see an alpine marten (pictured here) on my mountain excursion last weekend. They are very cool critters and I was so inspired by the hearty guys that I am writing an upcoming story in the Boulder Weekly about them next week! Long live mountain critters!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
So a little more about the new job here at Natural Habitat Adventures. I'm the web manager in charge of about a zillion things, which is actually pretty cool. My co-workers are an accomplished group of travellers and explorers, good folks as far as I can tell. The company itself focuses on worldwide nature tours so if you want to visit polar bears you can go through us!So for those of you who have asked, my second book is going to be travel essay oriented-- I'll be putting up samples soon online of some of the chapters. Much like my guide book, it's a new twist on an old favorite, spruced up with a little bit of corny humor.
I will admit it's weird transitioning from a being a freedomaire to a work place dude again. That's the phase of life for now, however and I'll do my best with it until they I can accept a job offer to be an astronaut to Mars.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Well, the formal announcement is here--- I've found a good job here in Boulder! After a summer of endless wrangling and stressful living, I'm the new Web Master of Natural Habitat Adventures, an eco-tourism site a whole 5 minutes from my apartment here in Boulder! I think between stimulating, creative work and my continued writing career, I have the opportunity to really create my identity as a professional is several ways. Most importantly, book 2 is now officially a go.
I'm moving to a new apartment in October as well, so even though things aren't perfect they are finally looking up. I haven't had steady work in over 18 months and it's a huge relief. This was my plan-- write a book, find a job, then write another book (and never have to work a real job again-- hah!)
More updates on stuff soon, but huzzah for now.
I'm moving to a new apartment in October as well, so even though things aren't perfect they are finally looking up. I haven't had steady work in over 18 months and it's a huge relief. This was my plan-- write a book, find a job, then write another book (and never have to work a real job again-- hah!)
More updates on stuff soon, but huzzah for now.
Monday, September 17, 2007
I'm happy to say the Snow Leopards won their first fantasy football game this week, a rousing victory that puts my kitties at 1-1 for the season. Fantasy Football is always fun and since I don't play for money, I have nothing to lose! Go Snow Leopards.
I also had a more relaxing weekend here, getting my exercise by playing locally and firing up the old NES for a few classics-- Faxanadu and Bubble Bobble. Faxanadu is raw old school gaming with all the charm, challenge and flaws of late 80's releases. Bubble Bobble is cartoony and cool; my box still has the $36.99 price tag on it from Bradlees-- heh.
So there's lots afoot this week, more updates to come. In the meanwhile, here comes fall. Oh, and by the way I don't mean I got my exercise playing video games, a couple of 10k runs on local trails did the trick for THAT :)
I also had a more relaxing weekend here, getting my exercise by playing locally and firing up the old NES for a few classics-- Faxanadu and Bubble Bobble. Faxanadu is raw old school gaming with all the charm, challenge and flaws of late 80's releases. Bubble Bobble is cartoony and cool; my box still has the $36.99 price tag on it from Bradlees-- heh.
So there's lots afoot this week, more updates to come. In the meanwhile, here comes fall. Oh, and by the way I don't mean I got my exercise playing video games, a couple of 10k runs on local trails did the trick for THAT :)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
I run up mountains.
Usually not the real big ones, but the smaller ones. It's every bit as hard as it looks, punishing my legs and lungs, amplifying every minor ache to painful crescendos. At times the mountain is the beast; it is every hardship and obstacle that threatens to break me down. Its sole intention is to make me quit, to reduce and overwhlem me. Only when I personify the mountain and use it to embody everything I want to overcome within myself, all my weaknesses, that I resolve to let it draw out my fatigue. I go back and face the beast in the rain, the mud, the snow, the ice, the heat, I have continued to do through the past years of hardship. Like Sisyphus, I pushed up everyday, always rolling back down to a world I was seemingly inept at handling with grace.
And then one day the beast is quiet. Like the persistent erosion of wind and water, something has given. The slope seems gentle. My body no longer trembles at the effort. Of course the hill is the same, but it's I who have changed, grown stronger even though I've never rationalized the purpose of the struggle. That intrinsic drive to just persist has yielded a flash of enlightenment.
It was important for me to stay near the mountains because I still have volumes of wisdom to learn through their trials. When I didn't know where to go, I went to the mountains because it felt right. I write this because my apprenticeship is going to continue.
Glory
Glory is the sun, too, and the sun of suns,
and down the shafts of his splendid pinions
run tiny rivers of peace.
Most of his time, the tiger pads and slouches in a burning
peace.
And the small hawk high up turns round on the slow pivot of
peace
Peace comes from behind the sun, with the peregrine falcon,
and the owl.
Yet all of these drink blood.
-- D.H. Lawrence
The natural world is ironically unreal, wouldn't you say? I love diving into science from time to time, from the cosmos all the way down to micro-particles. I still can't wrap my mind around what is in the middle of Jupiter. I've done a bit of research and gotten very definitive answers that contradict one another; the best I can figure is it's pure speculation until we actually launch something into Jupiter's core.
But that planetary puzzle aside, this weekend I got to watch the making of the Blue Planet documentary on Discovery and was blown away by the lake under the ocean discovered by the scientists. At something like 12,000 feet below the sea, they found a "lake"--a denser body of water within the ocean that reacted physically just like a normal lake would, with waves and ripples, a shoreline, etc. The footage looked like it was just a lake in a cave somewhere until you realized it was being shot from an underwater submarine. Unreal! If you've seen it, you know what I mean.
I love the way stuff like that simply changes your perspective on the world, even in the littlest way, to ignite curiosity and wonder all over again.
Usually not the real big ones, but the smaller ones. It's every bit as hard as it looks, punishing my legs and lungs, amplifying every minor ache to painful crescendos. At times the mountain is the beast; it is every hardship and obstacle that threatens to break me down. Its sole intention is to make me quit, to reduce and overwhlem me. Only when I personify the mountain and use it to embody everything I want to overcome within myself, all my weaknesses, that I resolve to let it draw out my fatigue. I go back and face the beast in the rain, the mud, the snow, the ice, the heat, I have continued to do through the past years of hardship. Like Sisyphus, I pushed up everyday, always rolling back down to a world I was seemingly inept at handling with grace.
And then one day the beast is quiet. Like the persistent erosion of wind and water, something has given. The slope seems gentle. My body no longer trembles at the effort. Of course the hill is the same, but it's I who have changed, grown stronger even though I've never rationalized the purpose of the struggle. That intrinsic drive to just persist has yielded a flash of enlightenment.
It was important for me to stay near the mountains because I still have volumes of wisdom to learn through their trials. When I didn't know where to go, I went to the mountains because it felt right. I write this because my apprenticeship is going to continue.
Glory
Glory is the sun, too, and the sun of suns,
and down the shafts of his splendid pinions
run tiny rivers of peace.
Most of his time, the tiger pads and slouches in a burning
peace.
And the small hawk high up turns round on the slow pivot of
peace
Peace comes from behind the sun, with the peregrine falcon,
and the owl.
Yet all of these drink blood.
-- D.H. Lawrence
Monday, September 10, 2007
The natural world is ironically unreal, wouldn't you say? I love diving into science from time to time, from the cosmos all the way down to micro-particles. I still can't wrap my mind around what is in the middle of Jupiter. I've done a bit of research and gotten very definitive answers that contradict one another; the best I can figure is it's pure speculation until we actually launch something into Jupiter's core. But that planetary puzzle aside, this weekend I got to watch the making of the Blue Planet documentary on Discovery and was blown away by the lake under the ocean discovered by the scientists. At something like 12,000 feet below the sea, they found a "lake"--a denser body of water within the ocean that reacted physically just like a normal lake would, with waves and ripples, a shoreline, etc. The footage looked like it was just a lake in a cave somewhere until you realized it was being shot from an underwater submarine. Unreal! If you've seen it, you know what I mean.
I love the way stuff like that simply changes your perspective on the world, even in the littlest way, to ignite curiosity and wonder all over again.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
A little road biking, a little off-trail hiking and wham, my hamstrings are like over-strung piano wires. Seriously, you could use the back of my legs to shoot bow-and-arrow style projectiles. Despite a summer of activity which should keep my legs limber, for whatever reason my stems are too tight to do anything but watch Mythbusters and Sportscenter today. Isn't hamstring a graphic name for a tendon, by the way? I can visualize it being as flimsy as the thin cut meat that shares its namesake.
Before I go to sleep I want to mention that I do my best to avoid actual rants on this blog. I do tend to rant in real life with a great deal of passion, such as why all children under 6 should be stuffed in pet carriers and thrown into the cargohold of an airplane (far away from the cats and dogs, mind you, so the animals don't have to listen to squealing babies). I can rant about how much I hate awards shows, how many calories it takes to flick on a turn signal in your car, or how people who dislike cats are probably aligned with the forces of evil. But online, I show great restraint.
However, I was one impulse away from writing a scathing blog about people who are too stupid to use the self check out lanes in the grocery store. It should be a privilege for those of us with enough savvy to actually operate the machines; perhaps a retina scan could identify, for example, the woman in front of me who could not figure out how to enter a produce code on the machine (by pressing the "enter produce code" button). If she again approached the self-checkout, it would detect her and simply turn off and tell her to go to a cashier. The same goes for the guy who brings 118 items into the self checkout lane.
Granted, these people are still not as bad as that enemy of efficiency, the micro-time murderer that is the person who writes a check in the express lane-- and always forgets their ID (their quote every time: I never have to show my license anywhere else!?)
So, I refrain from ranting because I need to be dreaming of puppies and kittens when I go to bed, not how hard I could kick the idiot in front of me at airline security screening who can't figure out that keys, coins, chains, watches and over sized novelty belt buckles in the shape of Texas are made from metal.
Before I go to sleep I want to mention that I do my best to avoid actual rants on this blog. I do tend to rant in real life with a great deal of passion, such as why all children under 6 should be stuffed in pet carriers and thrown into the cargohold of an airplane (far away from the cats and dogs, mind you, so the animals don't have to listen to squealing babies). I can rant about how much I hate awards shows, how many calories it takes to flick on a turn signal in your car, or how people who dislike cats are probably aligned with the forces of evil. But online, I show great restraint.
However, I was one impulse away from writing a scathing blog about people who are too stupid to use the self check out lanes in the grocery store. It should be a privilege for those of us with enough savvy to actually operate the machines; perhaps a retina scan could identify, for example, the woman in front of me who could not figure out how to enter a produce code on the machine (by pressing the "enter produce code" button). If she again approached the self-checkout, it would detect her and simply turn off and tell her to go to a cashier. The same goes for the guy who brings 118 items into the self checkout lane.
Granted, these people are still not as bad as that enemy of efficiency, the micro-time murderer that is the person who writes a check in the express lane-- and always forgets their ID (their quote every time: I never have to show my license anywhere else!?)
So, I refrain from ranting because I need to be dreaming of puppies and kittens when I go to bed, not how hard I could kick the idiot in front of me at airline security screening who can't figure out that keys, coins, chains, watches and over sized novelty belt buckles in the shape of Texas are made from metal.
