six hours on sunday

Movie Endorsements

2012-02-01T17:05:00.000-06:00

Not much time to blog right now, but I’ve been meaning towrite about a few movies I’ve seen recently that were quite good. Instead ofreviewing them at any length, I am just going to list some good ones and somenot so good ones and a sentence or two about each.

I endorse:

The Descendants - Dark, sad, but at times funny and GeorgeClooney does a great job.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – A great film adaptation ofStieg Larsson’s book one of the Millennium trilogy. There are three rapescenes, two that go on for a very long time. It was easier for me to read thanto watch these. If you can’t handle it, don’t go, but I would say thisadaptation is much better than the Swedish version.

Bill Cunningham New York – A documentary. I’m not reallyinto fashion, but this movie really must be seen to be believed. BillCunningham is crazy motivated and extremely good at what he does. This is afascinating look into an extraordinary life and career. (On Netflix instantwatch.)

Another Earth – Great acting and a sci-fi element that keepsthings mysterious. It’s also quite sad in a way, thus continuing the themethrough other movies already listed.

Downfall – A German movie with subtitles about Hitler’s last12 days in his bunker in Berlin, but the movie focuses on those living withHitler in the bunker and the citizens of Berlin as well. I highly recommend itif you love historical movies. (On Netflix instant watch.)

Sophie Scholl – Another German movie with subtitles aboutactivists taking a stand against the Nazi cause. It is inspiring, but there areno happy endings here.

I DON’T ENDORSE:

Blue Valentine – The 2011 movie that got so much buzz. Ormaybe it was 2010? It doesn’t matter. Avoid this like curdled milk. It’s abouta very shitty marriage and nothing ends well and this marriage didn’t even getoff to a good start.

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes – This should have beenobvious to me. There’s never been a good planet of the Apes movie. Never. I don’tknow why this one got my attention for so long. I blame it on the trailer. Thetrailer for this movie was exceptional. The movie, however, was a cheese-balldisaster.

It's Not Too Late, Rep. Lamborn

2012-01-24T16:44:00.000-06:00

Maybe you heard. Colorado has a Congressman who disagrees with President Obama's policies. That's not all that surprising. Lots of Representatives in the House disagree with Obama's policies and I don't have a problem with that. But what is surprising, and so disappointing, is that Congressman Lamborn has decided not to attend tonight's State of the Union address because he disagrees with the Obama's policies. After I heard this news yesterday I was embarrassed for Colorado and I took it upon myself to write Rep. Lamborn a little note, which I've pasted below. But I encourage you to write to him yourself by visiting his website.

Here's my letter to him:

Dear Rep. Lamborn,

First as a U.S. citizen and second as a Coloradan, I was embarrassed to see on the local and national news that you will not be attending President Obama's State of the Union speech tonight. While I respect the political differences between you and Obama, these aren't differences that should be sacrificed for the unity of our representational democracy. To do that is to cheapen this country and the founding principles of it. By not attending the speech you are getting a lot of attention, which I am sure you are pleased with, but you are also losing support from Democrats and Republicans throughout Colorado. It's a shame you've let differences and not similarities dictate your behavior in Washington. It is my sincere hope that you change your mind and attend the speech tonight. And if you don't, I hope Colorado sends you packing next midterm.

Sincerely,

Bryce Perica

Happy Holidays - Animal Style

2012-01-19T15:46:00.000-06:00

Fearful of retribution given out by Monte, my parents brought her with on their trip to Denver for Christmas and New Year's. It was good to see the old lady.

She's got fire in her eyes.

She was either sleeping or going to the bathroom. Luckily, it was the former.

Max, the only Scotty I've loved. One of the Bradley dogs.

In fact, I love him so much I would never subject him to this horrible purple sweater and allow him to be held by some stiff old man in Loveland.

This is another Bradley dog. Her name is Daisy and she is a Corgipoo. Did your testicles just shrink? Mine did.

Another Reason I Love The Prime

2012-01-07T15:07:00.004-06:00

Kate on New Year's Eve, 2011. Larimer Square. Denver.

The Logic of Paul

2012-01-05T14:06:00.000-06:00

A short piece on Ron Paul appears in this week’s New Yorker.I appreciate some of Paul’s ideas, but Nicholas Lemann captures, for me, two important truths. One, why if Ron Paul’s government-shrinking strategy came to fruition,this country would be a scary place to live in. And two, why he’ll never, everwin.

The quote:

Paul’s vision reveals—with candor and specificity—what theG.O.P.’s rhetorical hostility to government would mean if it were rigorouslyput into practice. A minimal state, without welfare provisions for theunemployed. A quarter of a million federal workers—as a firstinstallment—joining those unemployed. Foreign policy and national defensereduced to a few ballistic-missile submarines. The civil-rights legislation ofthe nineteen-sixties repealed as so much unwarranted government intrusion. Asfor the financial crisis, Paul would have countenanced no regulation that mighthave prevented it, no government stabilization of the financial system after ithappened, and no special help for working people hurt by it. This is where thelogic of government-shrinking leads.

Read the full comment here.

Christmas 2004 - 2010

2011-12-25T13:20:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas! I was thinking, how far back do my digital photos of Christmas go? And I found out, they go back to 2004. So, as I sit here waiting for family to arrive and for my wife to get home from work, I put together a short sequence of a picture from each Christmas since then.

2004: Phoenix, AZ. Pictured here with my cousins Daniel, Brian, Jacque, and my sister, Megan.

2005: Longmont, CO. The trees we could fit in that corner of that room were rocking. It was a fabulous room for many things, but on Christmas morning it was the best.

2006: Longmont, CO. Here with dad and Megan. I had to include a picture of the Christmas blizzard of 2006. Longmont got 20 inches.

2007: Oak Creek, WI. Our first Christmas after getting married. The snowiest year on record in Milwaukee welcomed us to Wisconsin that year. We got over 112 inches of snow that winter.

2008: Oak Creek and Burlington, WI. Like the year before, the Bradleys visited and brought all of their dogs. Kate is here with Molly on her lap and Max on the floor. And this is about the time I discovered our then camera was busted. Notice the blurriness at the corners.

2009: Farmington, NM. We joined my parents in Farmington for their first Christmas there. It was an unforgettable and tough Christmas after all the crap and abuse they had been subjected to over that last year, but we did our best and we had an awesome time seeing their new home and experiencing their new life in New Mexico.

2010: Denver, CO. This was our first Christmas spent by ourselves. It wasn't as depressing as we had thought it would be. Actually, we quite enjoyed it, knowing that in a couple days the Bradleys would join us for the New Year's celebration. We relaxed, took a long walk outside (it was in the 50s), and cooked a bomb meal.

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T13:05:00.000-06:00

A few pictures from our trip to the Denver Botanic Gardens to see the lights last night. These shots are all big reasons we bought a lens with an aperture of f/1.4. All these shots are hand held. We really love this lens.

Fresh Snow on Cherry Creek

2011-12-22T16:42:00.002-06:00

There is easily a foot of snow along the creek. Due to the wind, sometimes more and sometimes less, but this morning was a great opportunity to go out and do some shooting because the snow wasn't spoiled by our feet, wheels, or the ubiquitous yellow patch. Shooting in snow is hard. For all the pictures I took there aren't that many of them. It's very hard to deal with the glare even when the sky is clouded over, but it was fun and beautiful by the creek.

Our building.

Imported from Wisconsin

2011-12-21T14:19:00.000-06:00

Here's what $175 of cheese, cheese curds, and summer sausage from Wisconsin looks like. It arrived last week from Pine River Dairy in Manitowoc, WI, a favorite stop of ours during trips up to Door County in the fall. And no, this isn't all for us. The blocks of cheddar are aged 5 years and, without a doubt, better and much, much cheaper than any cheddar you can buy in Colorado.

Movie: Senna

2011-12-20T16:26:00.000-06:00

If you don’t know of Ayrton Senna, you don’t know about thegreatest Formula One driver who has ever lived. Whether you watch Formula One ornot, the documentary Senna (2011) isan inspiring movie, in both its storytelling and its material. Senna was notonly a great driver, he was a man of God, and one who held his temper throughmany situations in Formula One, in which, he would have been justified incursing many people. But he did not. He kept his composure and just tried toget back to pure racing despite the obstacles and the politicization of FormulaOne racing.

The documentary is unique in that it is told exclusivelyusing archival footage. There is no one narrator. There are many. Besides Sennaand a couple of rivals, you don’t see the person telling the story. And thestories themselves are brilliantly woven together using Senna family video,on-board racecar cameras, aerial shots, and television productions of the racesand the subsequent interviews.

The movie should be nominated for an Oscar in the category.It’s one of the best documentaries I have seen and definitely the best of 2011.

Movies: Page One

2011-12-12T17:52:00.001-06:00

I just finished watching Page One: Inside the New York Times. If you have any interest at all in the Gray Lady, or the challengesjournalism faces in the digital age, this is an excellent documentary. And I’vesuddenly become a much bigger fan of David Carr. He is featured throughout the movieand is right on about the importance of a mainstream media establishment likethe Times, a total badass.

Free December

2011-12-05T17:58:00.001-06:00

Although my next quarter doesn’t start until January 3^rd,I just finished ordering the last of its required 28 books. The idea is to geta good chunk of the reading done before week one. That may not happen, but asthe books continue to arrive, I’m expecting them to either motivate me orsmother me and I’m hoping for the latter.

Having time off has been great so far. I have more energy todevote to swimming (I’m swimming with the masters team at DU), to outdoorpursuits (although not today because it’s 9 degrees outside), and leisurereading (I’m in the middle of the second book of the Millennium series, The Girl Who Played With Fire). However,I have been a little bored from time to time. Urgency is a great motivator.

Last Christmas season, having worked right up to ChristmasEve in a crazy storm of frenzied Apple customers and red shirts, I had a hardtime getting into the season because each and every day I saw its very, veryugly side. This season, I’m trying to be more intentional by meditating on thepeace that can be found in God and the real meaning of the season (I know that’scliché, but I don’t care). That also means savoring family traditions of food, giftgiving, and making December last as long as possible. I'm looking forward to it.

One of the Best

2011-12-01T09:14:00.001-06:00

I know. No post in the last two weeks and I come back with some sunset pictures. Lame, I'll admit it. However, given that I've seen a lot of beautiful sunsets from my good vantage point, I have sort of turned into a sunset snob and have become very selective of the sunsets that call for me to bust out the SLR. But last night was the most beautiful one I've seen from my apartment. The interior of my place was glowing orange and the scene just kept getting better and better. It's quite a different scene now, a white wall of snow. I can barely see Colorado Blvd, but 16 hours ago I could see forever up and down the front range and I got sort of sad thinking about not living here at some point. There will be beauty wherever I live next and probably more living space, but I already miss the sunsets.

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

2011-11-14T17:17:00.001-06:00

Sunset - October 22, 2011 - Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Penn State Collapse

2011-11-09T13:33:00.001-06:00

If it wasn't, essentially, my finals week (the next 9 days), I would have a much, much longer comment on the Paterno/Penn State disaster...lots of thoughts there. I'll say this though, Paterno said he will retire at the end of this season. I would be very surprised if he is allowed to do so. I wouldn't be shocked if he coached only one more game, this Saturday, vs. Nebraska.

The Next 13 Days

2011-11-05T22:34:00.000-05:00

I won't have much of a life for the next thirteen days, but I may find some things to share on here during research for my two final papers. One of those papers is on Anwar al-Awlaki, the American citizen who was targeted and killed in Yemen on September 30, 2011. He is featured prominently in a book called Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go To War In The Name Of Islam, by J.M. Berger, that I just read this weekend and I just wanted to quote from a CNN article he cited in the book. To give you some context, Awlaki used to live in California and this is a conversation he had about possibly returning to California:

“He said, “I’m going back to Virginia, and shortly after that, I’llbe going to Yemen.” And I said, “Well, I do hope you’ll be coming back to SanDiego soon.” And he says, “No, I don’t be coming back. And in a little while,you’ll understand why.”

To give you some more context, this happened not too long before 9/11. Awlaki is suspected of having direct contact with two of the hijackers while in California and later on in Virginia. So the "And in a little while, you'll understand why" just makes you sick.

Instagram: MKE and Late Summer

2011-11-01T10:27:00.000-05:00

So good.

Only in Wisconsin. If you find yourself there, try some.

A pint of PBR and a burger at AJ Bombers. Perfect together.

A summer afternoon at Rootdown

Loveland Pass. August.

On a bike ride. Lake Dillon. August.

First Snow

2011-10-27T20:50:00.003-05:00

Some pictures of our the first snowstorm this winter from twelve floors up.

Milwaukee's Best in 48 Hrs

2011-10-22T16:24:00.000-05:00

Lake Michigan, we've missed your shores.

When in Milwaukee, the only place to stop for coffee.

A little Third Ward action.

The best burger in MKE, with a tall boy? Yes, please.

Post burger trip to Kopp's Frozen Custard. The best custard around.

Our View

2011-10-17T12:08:00.000-05:00

We can now enjoy it a little more since Jarrod bought our grill. Thanks!

Triple Threat

2011-10-11T19:47:00.000-05:00

Katelyn Sellers Hoge

8 lbs. 7 oz. 21"

11 October 2011 4:35pm

I am thrice an uncle.

Steve Jobs' Passing

2011-10-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

Steve Jobs did the impossible. He got me to work in a mall.I only lasted 10 months, but that’s ten more months than I ever thought I wouldbe working in a mall. His passing somehow brought me a greater sense of pridethat I was part of the company than working in the store actually did. I wastruly saddened last night. I think everyone expected his death, but not sosoon, not five weeks after he stepped down.

I have been struck by the magnitude of his death. FromPresident Obama releasing a statement last night to floral tributes outsideApple stores, most tributes have been appropriate, but others have been cringeinducing. Jobs oversaw every detail of his company and intimately cared abouteach product the company produced. What current CEO does that? Not a one.However, he was no MLK, Jr., a comparison I heard last night that made me spitup my milk and cookies all over my MacBook Pro. Coincidentally, I had watched MLK,Jr.’s anti-Vietnam speech earlier in a class yesterday, reinforcing the pointthat his impact on intellectual thought, humanity, freedom, and rights isimmeasurable and never was anyone so damn eloquent in bringing that about.

Nevertheless, as I sit here, studying (which I really shouldbe doing right now) I see a few iPads, many iPhones, an 11-inch MacBook Air,and a handful of other MacBooks. Jobs’ influence is everywhere and it’sstunning that in a person’s absence we are more acutely aware of their legacyand we immediately yearn for their presence more than we ever did when theywere alive. And that is why death hurts so much.

Godspeed, Steve.

Tributes

2011-10-05T19:20:00.003-05:00

Apple's homepage has a nice tribute to Steve Jobs. It will probably change soon so go check it out.

Even wired.com is all black tonight.

Living in the Future

2011-10-04T18:47:00.000-05:00

If you didn't visit a news website, listen to NPR, or watch TV today, you might not know that Apple announced its iPhone 4S today. It includes Siri, which is, at it's simplest an assistant you can talk to. Just read this from Gizmodo. It sort of blows my mind. It's crazy actually. Sci-fi movies are slowly becoming reality.

This thing actually seems smart, judging by the demos. It actually interprets what you are saying. You don't talk to it using commands. You just talk to it like you would talk to another person. So instead of asking "tell me the weather today" you can just say "Do I need a raincoat?" and it will reply "It sure does look like rain today!" Or if you say "Wake me up tomorrow at 6am" it will automatically set up the alarm for you. Or "hey, remind me to buy milk later" and it will remind you to buy milk as you pass near a grocery store—yes, Siri is location aware.

A Sober Reminder of Where Your iPhone Comes From

2011-10-03T16:41:00.001-05:00

Read this.

Look at this.

It's worth mentioning, this is essentially where all electronic gadgets come from. Like the guy in the Times piece says, this is what happens when you outsource to a fascist country with no human rights.

100 Million Degrees

2011-10-02T21:03:00.000-05:00

I have been reading a fairly dense history of U.S. foreign policy over the last two weeks. Ahead of each chapter, there is a quote, which relates to the topic of the chapter, but may not be found within. The lead quote for the chapter on the Pacific front of WWII was powerful. It paints a picture that is impossible to imagine.

When the first atomic bomb went off, at Alamorgordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, the temperature at Ground Zero was 100 million degrees Fahrenheit, three times hotter than the interior of the sun and ten thousand times the heat on its surface. All life, plant and animal, within a mile radius of Ground Zero simply vanished. General Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project, turned to his deputy and said, "The war's over. One of two of these things and Japan will be finished."
- Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts, Enola Gay

Boom

2011-09-27T21:19:00.000-05:00

Apple sent this out to media outlets today. It's coming. October 4th. Whatever it is, it's coming.

Iced Coffee

2011-09-26T11:30:00.004-05:00

My new best friend in grad school.

Such Foresight

2011-09-17T16:19:00.000-05:00

From my reading this weekend, a quote from President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address. He warns of the influence of the military-industrial complex:

The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence--economic, political, even spiritual--is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government...We must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, our resources and livelihood all are involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.

Eisenhower would be very disappointed with the present-day saturation of our government by the military-industrial complex. Nevertheless, this is an astounding prediction. Thanks for blowing my mind, Dwight.

Clean Glass

2011-09-12T19:01:00.002-05:00

The windows of my home were cleaned today by this guy.

Speechless

2011-09-11T15:22:00.001-05:00

An amazing picture from 9/11 that I hadn't seen.

Remembering 9/11, Again

2011-09-11T11:23:00.000-05:00

My thoughts after reading through the 9.11.11 New York Times.

The dominant themes of the paper this morning seem to be:

1)It’s been ten years. Let’s make this the last big memorial and then let’s moveon. Again, it’s been ten years. How long do we have to do this?

And 2)Beginning September 12, 2001, America started down a path that has brought usunnecessary, prolonged wars in countries that are now more unstable than theywere in 2001. In addition, anti-Americanism has flourished in a lot of theMiddle East, which, in turn, hasn’t made it a safer world for anyone despitethe homeland not being attacked in the last ten years.

And, on this 10^th anniversary, I have found, nota new respect for, but a renewed respect for President Bush. This is simply arespect for the President of the United States of America. Being the presidenton that day and in the following weeks must have been an unimaginable burdenand one Bush least expected to bear and one I am sure he will deal with for therest of his life. As it turned out, I don’t agree with most of Bush’s reactionsto 9/11, but I think we can all appreciate his stoicism on that day, his visitto the WTC site, and his speech from the rubble while he had his arm around aNYC Firefighter.

With my breaks today from reading for grad school, I will be reading more of the Times and special editions of Time and The New Yorker that sit on my coffee table. I won't be watching much TV because the visual remembrance of 9/11 is the same every year because it can offer nothing new. Meaning, the images can't evolve like our reflections on that day can and so I think the best medium to reflect upon this day is, undoubtedly, the written word.

Listening to 9/11 Unfold

2011-09-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

The media is saturated with 10th anniversary 9/11 stuff right now and it is hard to make your way through it just to find one genuine piece of journalism. However, this morning I went to nytimes.com and they had posted, and made available to listen to, a bunch of transmissions from 9/11 as it happened. I listened to the first one and I was riveted by what I heard. I stayed in my seat until the last tape was done, the one in which the order is given to shoot down any planes if they are not responding to directions, but by that time, as we know, all four planes had crashed.

The tapes are worth a listen.

The New Whip

2011-09-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law bought her dream car last weekend. Apparently, she has wanted a convertible for 30+ years and on Saturday in Fort Collins whatever separated her from actually buying a convertible came crashing down in a big way.

I have to say, her choice was excellent because I can sort of fit in this vehicle (front row only) and it is fun to drive (she let Kate and I take it out for a little spin in Laramie on Sunday). I know it's the first convertible I have ever driven (really good visibility in this thing) and maybe it will be the last, who knows? I just don't see myself getting one any time soon nor in the distant future. For now, it is a little fun to actually know I can ride in one when I want (at least 3 months out of the year in Wyoming).

2011 Volvo C70

Charleston Wedding: Saturday and Sunday

2011-09-02T13:42:00.000-05:00

Irene killed a lot of starfish. Damn her.

Horseshoe Crab. Dead. Missing two legs. Huge, scary looking creature.

The plaque in front of this tree (the Magnolia Plantation oak) reads: Though its age cannot be determined by boring, it was referred to as a "large oak" in the earliest days of this 300 year old plantation. Because fires were built in its interior by early plantation workers, [they mean slaves, my addition here] this tree has been completely hollow for more than a century, and its growth thus retarded. However, measuring over 30 feet in circumference, it remains one of America's largest specimens of live oak. (Quercus Virginiania)

It bothered me that they used the wording "early plantation workers" on the plaque. Why don't you just call them what they were? There's no sugarcoating that era and when I ran into even a hint of it in the South it really made me miss Colorado.

Once again, the oak.

And its large, old arms.

Amazingly, I hadn't sweat through the front of my dress shirt at this point, but I was well on my way. This, I believe, was taken as Courtney walked in.

Frank. Isle of Palms. Riding his bike he brought down from Jersey.

Frank on his way back.

Sunday. Irene gone. Pleasant coastline and dunes.

All So F*#@&!

2011-09-02T12:37:00.003-05:00

The thing about sitting in the exit row, besides thelegroom, is the briefing one gets before the plane takes off. “Are you willingand able to assist in case of an emergency? I need an audible yes,” the flightattendant says. Of course I say yes, hell yes (I am not losing this seat), butI am lying because somewhere in their speech about exit row responsibilitiesthey told me I would stand on the wing and assist others out of the plane.

In case of an emergency, in case I am actually alive afterthe plane crashes, I am willing and able to rip the 40 lb. door off the planeand throw it out. I will be willing and able to get all of those friends andfamily members I am travelling with out of the plane too. But after that, toexpect me to stand on a wing full of fuel ready to blow is insane. Whenever theflight attendant reaches this point of their speech, I can only think, nobodyis going to do that, nobody is going to be that calm. It’s comical and I mighteven laugh or let a smile flash across my face. The serenity the flight crewand the airline’s safety publication try to bring to the situation is comical.

Another responsibility of those fortunate enough to sit inthe exit row is that we get to determine if the exit is safe and if it isn’t weare supposed to stand there with our arms crossed on our chest like we aregoing down a water slide and say, “This exit’s blocked.” We are supposed to saythis over and over again and point in the right direction to exit the plane. Itis much easier for me to imagine someone standing at the exit in this situationand saying, “We are all fucked. We are all so fucked,” than it is for me to seeit going the way the flight attendant so lightheartedly describes it.

Charleston Wedding - Thursday and Friday

2011-09-01T10:23:00.002-05:00

Orange glow of Sunset meets the hint of Irene. (I am really digging Blogger's new format options with photos. These are huge now.)

On the horizon, way out to the left, you can see some of the big clouds, representing Irene's outer bands.

Same night: Thursday. I am a sucker for sunset pictures.

Irene and her dirty waves hit the South Carolina coast.

A picture of the wedding photographer, Jarrod.

More of Irene's dirty ways, I mean, waves.

Collin meets Irene.

Why not hand my camera off to a pro for a few seconds? Thanks, JROD.

The scene from the rehearsal dinner. Beautiful. Another amazing sunset with a full rainbow too, but I found the waves mesmerizing.

This guy kept walking around as if he was going to go in. I watched him for a while. He never did. I can't say I blame him. Look at him, he's in knee deep water where there isn't supposed to be any.

Also from rehearsal dinner site. Not a bad spot.

Currently

2011-08-30T11:51:00.001-05:00

Currently reading Although of Course you end up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, by David Lipsky. I was about to write it’s Wallace unfiltered, but if you’ve read that much Wallace, you know there isn’t much of a filter. It’s pure Wallace, just like his nonfiction is, except just in conversation with a journalist who is clearly becoming a friend over the five days they spend together.

Here’s a brief passage, where Wallace and Lipsky just landed in the Twin Cities. Still on airplane. Over the PA system comes a voice:

PA: (Engines cycling down, that big, deep, vacuum-cleaner sound) Just a reminder: The airport here in the Twin Cities is a smoke-free environment. Smoking only is permitted outdoors.

(Corrects her) [Wallace] “Permitted only outdoors.” It’s not the only thing that’s permitted outdoors.

[[Lipsky]] [Irritated as a grammarian and as a smoker]

Currently obsessed with: The Suburbs, by Arcade Fire. This album has been out for a while now. Arcade Fire already won a Grammy for it, but I just picked it up two weeks ago and it is getting heavy rotation. It reminds me of discovering Neon Bible when I was working at a magazine in Denver and doing the drive from Longmont and just rocking out to “No Cars Go.”

Farmington, The Last Frontier

2011-08-23T18:32:00.016-05:00

My dad jokes that Farmington is the last frontier. After learning that even Greyhound is discontinuing service to Farmington, that there are no emissions tests required for cars in New Mexico, and after seeing that it is customary to leave every car you have ever owned in your front yard like your own personal carhenge, it's hard to disagree with him. However, it does have its beauty, whether that's a beautiful sunset or an expansive junkyard or an 1100 -year-old city. Here are some pictures of the last frontier.

Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

A series of very short doorways for Hobbit-sized people. Apparently, even Chacoans had to duck some.

Turns out, walls start to bow and do what they feel like after standing for 401,500 days.

Vulture. Chaco Canyon.

Flying at sunset.

Clouds. Sunset. Farmington.

The last frontier and its expansive sky.

Fungus hanging on to a tree near Durango, CO.

Sunglasses and a Skoal can left in a car, which is part of this massive junkyard on the edge of town.

Broken windshield. Cars to horizon.

Ford Ranger. God Bless America sticker.

Even the school bus comes here to be picked apart over the years.

When you are all picked over, you become the ideal surface for paint swatches and paint balls.

Kyle's Bachelor Party Pics

2011-08-16T12:17:00.009-05:00

Cliff jumping in the Poudre Canyon. This is Chris.

Kyle, on the left, and Erik jump at a spot we have been going to for 8-10 years?...I don't know when we first went here, but it was a while ago.

The man of the weekend.

The view of the Red Feather Lakes area from the cabin we stayed at.

Not a bad sight.

Catching up and drinking by the fire.

Aforementioned fire.

6:30am.

The morning after. Bachelor parties don't end well for everyone. Luke flew ten feet before landing in a dirt road on his nose and knee.

Time for Another Bachelor Party

2011-08-11T07:56:00.002-05:00

Doing the Impossible

2011-07-28T13:46:00.001-05:00

The FINA World Championships are on TV every day this week (NBC Universal Sports). In between sessions in Shanghai, Universal Sports has been playing a lot of highlights from the Beijing Games. Last night, exactly one year before the London Games begin, the channel showed a two-hour long special on Michael Phelps, which included all eight of his gold medal-winning performances at the Water Cube.

Like I hadn’t seen them before, I glued myself to the television for all eight races, reliving the moment when I watched them live in Milwaukee three summers ago. I sat at the edge of the couch. I jumped, clapped, and cheered like I didn’t know the outcome. But I did reflect more this time around on the impact of Phelps’ accomplishment and the difficulty of it, no, the impossibility of it. It just doesn’t seem possible. There were too many close calls from the 400 free relay in which Lezak swam the fastest 100m free in relay history to run down the trash-talking French in the last 10m to the 200 butterfly in which Phelps’ goggles filled up with water and then, to the ultimate, .01 victory over Milorad Cavic in the 100 fly. The 7^th gold was the most impossible. Cavic and Phelps could have tied and they would have both received gold, but that wasn’t good enough. Fate had other plans and Phelps just had to win by .01.

Being as unbiased as possible, Phelps’ accomplishment is the greatest in all of sports history. The only thing in my mind that comes relatively close is Lance Armstrong’s string of seven Tour de France victories. And one thing Phelps certainly has going for him that a lot of great accomplishments in sport suffer from, is that his accomplishment isn’t covered in a shroud of doubt. Whether you think Armstrong doped or not, enough people have come forward saying he has that it gets you thinking and, if you are like me, it gets you worrying because you hate to see any great victory in sports be called into questions because it was achieved by unnatural means. Phelps’ eight gold medals aren’t spoiled by that.

Never again will Phelps or any other swimmer attempt 17 races in one Olympic games. Never mind the schedule being too grueling, there just aren’t swimmers out there as diverse as Phelps. The only one that could come close now is Ryan Lochte, but for him to win the 100 and 200 lengths of backstroke, the 200 and 400 IMs, the 200 free, and all three relays it would take some incredible turnaround swims in London and that is just not going to happen. I don’t think Phelps’ record will ever be broken or tied.

Can you think of anything more impressive? I am trying to view Phelps’ victories through an objective lens and I still just shake my head in disbelief every time I see one of those swims. Everything aligned in 2008. It’s not going to be the same in 2012. Phelps will get more gold, but Lochte is going to be closer, having now defeated Phelps at Worlds this week in the 200 free and 200 IM. But I’m ready. One year from today, it begins again.

The Shrinking Avenue to Readership

2011-07-26T16:08:00.001-05:00

I suppose, like some of you, I have made a special trip to Borders this week to see if there are any good deals in their clearance sale. That’s right, ironically, if you don’t read, you may not have heard. Borders is going out of business. I have always enjoyed going into large bookstores. Outside of Portland, that leaves you with Borders and Barnes and Noble for the most part. When I was younger I flocked to Borders. I even worked there for five days, but that’s a different story. As I have aged (a little bit), I prefer Barnes and Noble. It seems more astute, more bookish. Maybe it’s the interior. I think it’s a little darker with higher bookshelves and I feel more likely to run into someone reading or writing some great tome in the corners of a big Barnes and Noble than in Borders.

I digress. I am getting way off point here. I go to Borders at least once a week since there is one in the building I work in. However, I did pay a special visit on Saturday to see what kind of deals could be had. There wasn’t much to be found, at least not yet. Those might come a little later with just days to go before Borders shuts down forever. But I did notice the people. They were everywhere. The place was packed. The last time Borders saw this much traffic was when the last Harry Potter book came out. My first thought at seeing the crowds was how much better the world would be if bookstores were always this crowded. And, how sad it is that it takes a closing of a bookstore to bring out the throngs. There were clearly a lot of readers there, snatching up armfuls of books that must have been on the “to buy” list, but had never made it to the “bought” list for some reason or another. Perhaps, in this economy, they were just too expensive.

What stores are left after Borders? How long will Barnes and Noble last? I don’t know, but I pondered those questions as I strolled through the aisles while making mental notes of the things people were grabbing at. A lot of DVD boxed sets, 2012 calendars, and board games. I stopped at an oft-ignored display of Moleskine journals, found one my size, and joined others in line. A $5.99 copy of Kindergarten Cop tempted me right before checking out. I could take it home and watch it and perfect some new Arnold lines. Not enough work. I settled with the Moleskine and it’s pliable leather cover and blank pages.

My One Winehouse Post

2011-07-25T18:51:00.001-05:00

From February 2008. Sad story, her death is. So much wasted talent and this happens all the time.

To Touch Snow

2011-07-20T16:46:00.010-05:00

We took our niece up to RMNP and Trail Ridge Road so she could see and touch snow for the first time. The scenes were amazing, minus all the dumb people from Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, etc. We just drove over or around them. No worries.

Right before I took this picture Brooke had no concept of snow. Snow was an empty word with no memory attached to it and no feeling. Now she knows many things about it, its shocking sting, the numbness and its glare.

Here I used the miniaturize setting on my camera. It's sort of cool. It would look better on different subjects, but from the day this was the best option. Some guys, desperate to ski in July, couldn't pass up this half-mile run at the top of Trail Ridge.

Instagramming Summer

2011-07-11T09:49:00.007-05:00

...Courtesy of my wife's iPhone...

Our niece and nephew share a hug.

Prior to dinner at the Chart House.

Larimer Square.

Nate at the park.

The view from dinner at the Chart House.

We just had to go.

South Beach, CA.

Introducing Root Down

2011-07-07T15:46:00.001-05:00

I am introducing some more lucky people (my sister and brother-in-law) to Root Down happy hour today. Kate and I have been in Denver for almost a year. We went to this restaurant for the first time with Wes and Marissa. We had been in town less than a month and we instantly latched onto this place. Having been to a lot of restaurants all around Denver now, we have a hard time getting away from Root Down for more than a month or two. Two months…we may have never made it that long. I lied.

I have been contemplating writing a lengthy review of Root Down for a while now. I feel I know the menu pretty well, from brunch to dinner to happy hour. But this is not that review. No, this is me sharing my shock at finding a review of Root Down by someone writing for Westword magazine. This author’s headline: The food at Root Down gets a thumbs-down. Now, moronic headline aside, this review was written in April of 2009. I don’t know how old Root Down is, but in April of 2009 I was busy sampling Milwaukee’s dining scene. This isn’t a joke. There is a dining scene in Milwaukee and it is very, very good. Check out La Merenda, Carnevor, or Lake Park Bistro (to name a few).

Recognizing that more than two years have passed since this review was written, it is conceivable that Root Down has drastically improved. However, it was August of 2010 when I first went there and from that point on it has been a great place to dine. The prices are reasonable and the servers have always been the most courteous and timely servers one could hope for at a restaurant of this caliber.

However, recognizing that there are a scary number of people out there who love Qdoba more than Chipotle just because the former has queso sauce, I have concluded that these same people are writing negative reviews of Root Down. Having also factored in the awe-inspiring crap that is contained within the pages of Westword, it is not surprising that its followers are anything but discriminating epicureans. So, if you stumble across this review, take it with a grain of salt, drop what you’re doing, and head over to Root Down to find out for yourself.

Maybe not quite The Best American Nonrequired Reading, but close to it.

2011-07-06T11:57:00.002-05:00

I am reading some books off the recommended reading list for the graduate program I will be starting in the fall. I finished The Looming Tower last week. Lawrence Wright wrote it and I had started to read it in the fall and was distracted by several things, maybe applying to grad school and taking the GRE, but I finally finished it. It’s a great work of research and an accounting of the United States’ earlier attempts at killing Osama bin Laden. It details bin Laden’s earlier life and his progression from extensive farmer to infamous terrorist.

There are countless passages I would like to share and discuss on here, but I thought one in particular was telling of what knowledge so many of those who wish to attack America lack. It’s astounding how ignorance is such a strong characteristic of both sides of this battle. To give you some context, this was immediately after 9/11 and a 9/11 conspirator (Abu Jandal) was being confronted by an agent (Soufan):

“Abu Jandal was confounded by Soufan and what he represented: a Muslim who could argue religion with him, who was in the FBI, who loved America. He quickly consumed the history that Soufan game him and was shocked to learn of the American Revolution and the passionate struggle against tyranny that was woven into the American heritage. His worldview depended on the assumption that the United States was the wellspring of evil in the world.” – Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower : Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006, p. 365.

Welcome to Shawshank

2011-06-30T10:42:00.001-05:00

It’s a company policy. I am not supposed to mention my employer by name. Nor am I allowed to blog about my experience working for this company, now or ever. But, I am breaking that rule to share a thought.

A co-worker is leaving the company. Their last day is Friday. I am happy for the co-worker. I feel like this co-worker’s sentence is over and they are finally getting out of prison. Lucky.

I can’t wait until my sentence has been served.

Wedding Season

2011-06-28T15:48:00.011-05:00

This was the first of three for me this summer. My sister-in-law was married this past Saturday to Jeremy. It was a great celebration and I was not the photographer, but I went everywhere and took shots of everything. Here are a few.

The bride and parents.

Kate, Tim, and Ang.

The bridal party.

It was a great picture of Ang, just not the best of those cropped from the rest of the image.

Jeremy and Angela. It was bright, sort of squinty, but still looking good.

Angela while waiting for a picture.

The cake was pretty, but the cake topper was made by my other sister-in-law, Kendra, it was beautiful. Props.

The happy couple dancing.

Anything Goes In Wyoming

2011-06-23T20:31:00.011-05:00

We are in Wyoming for Angela's (my sister-in-law) wedding. Tim took us out on his new boat, which is a beast. I took some pics of the wildlife. And, who could resist some cliff jumping.

On the Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

I'm thinking Osprey, just because Osprey are cool. (Confirmed later that day, Osprey.) I don't know if this actually is one.

We pulled up right next to their nest.

Some antelope, always present in Wyoming.

Surveying the scene before we jump.

Jumping into the gorge, one of the best spots I've ever seen for cliff jumping. The water was 80 feet deep a few feet away from the cliff.

My cousin-in-law (Sam) and I going off together.

Racing Clean

2011-06-16T12:47:00.004-05:00

I just watched the documentary Bigger Stronger Faster*. There are hundreds of documentaries on Netflix and this one, above most, hit home with me.

I thought about a lot during the movie. First, about my body and how, for all of my life, I’ve always been the tallest, but as others around me seemed to catch up a bit I felt insecure that I wasn’t by default the fastest and strongest. Because, for much of my childhood, I was all four: bigger, faster, stronger, and taller. When people started to close in on me in terms of strength and speed it really hurt my confidence. I started to believe I couldn’t compete and run with the guys like I used to. Had I not fallen victim to this silly belief, I think I would have been much more successful in collegiate athletics. I started to shed this lack of confidence in the immediate years after I graduated college. I moved back in with my parents for a year, then I got married, moved to Milwaukee, and was really far away from everything I had ever known. But throughout this time I kept training. I was running, doing stairs, pushups, jumping rope, and, sometimes, getting back in the pool.

I was beginning to realize that the playing field hadn’t really been leveled all that much by my peers getting tall and muscular. I imagined it had, but I still had the same advantages and glimmers of talent in the pool. It wasn’t until I took a job coaching collegiate swimming that I regained my confidence in areas of fitness and realized I was still in excellent shape and could still compete with, and sometimes beat, the athletes I was coaching. After that realization, I easily shed any doubt I had in my physical ability as an athlete in the pool and on land. I would run and swim with the athletes in the spring practices. When I ran with them, there were two guys who could consistently beat me if they were in the race that day. In the pool, it wasn’t the same, I had to work quite a bit harder, but I could bust something out that was fast enough over a distance of 25-100 yards that I could beat some of the guys.

Swimming, lifting, and running all throughout college put me in the best physical shape I have ever been in. Having that physique once is like a drug sort of. You want it again, but as soon as your athletic career ends you truly realize how hard it is to get that body back. In a way, I’ve been trying to get it back since 2005. I love being in shape, but I admit, it’s also a body image thing. In a lot of scenarios I am the strongest guy in the room. That’s not what’s most im

portant to me, though. I usually value being the fittest guy in the room more than the fastest, strongest, etc. And part of that is being able to look in the mirror and see a six-pack or, at the very least, feel one hidden by no more than a thin layer of skin and some insulation. Sometimes it is hard to walk the line between being in great shape and being vain. And with the influence of advertising and other aspects of capitalism in America, one has to be hyper aware of what is possible in fitness and what is clearly fabricated—helped by Photoshop or a slew of performance enhancing drugs—and this documentary was acutely aware of that.

Bigger Stronger Faster* is, first and foremost, about steroids. However, by the end of the documentary the director and star of it, Chris Bell, concludes steroids isn’t his problem or his family’s problem, it is just one of many problems or side effects of being American. He interviews many people in the film, professional athletes, body builders, politicians, porn stars, students, musicians, and his family. And, surprisingly, he maintains a very objective stance in all interviews considering he comes from a family with three boys, two of which have been heavy steroid users for a majority of their lives.

One thing Mr. Bell makes very clear is that steroid or performance enh

ancers are present in nearly everything we do in America. What, you’re nervous before a concert? Pop some beta-blockers. You need a boost before you take off in your fighter jet? Here’s some speed. You need some help blasting through that test tomorrow? Well, here’s some Adderall.

If the film focuses on one area of steroid use more than any other, it’s the use of anabolic steroids by professional athletes. The obvious sports with offenders are mentioned: football, baseball, weightlifting, cycling, and track and field. But not swimming, and I wonder, why not? Personally, I never knew anyone who was taking any steroids while I was swimming. But I was at a D1 school in a mid-major conference. I wasn’t competing against the likes of Cal, Texas, Auburn, and Arizona. Those schools are where the Olympians swim, you know, just for fun, just to stay in shape. But we were all tested and the faster you swam, the more you got tested. By that I mean if you made the national team, the drug testers started knocking early and often.

The last swimming steroid scandal I remember is when a Chinese woman tested positive for some illegal substance. It was a while ago and not really shocking because her lats looked like albatross wings and her deltoids attached right below her ears. But honestly, I am shocked there hasn’t been more scandal. We love to see super human

beings doing super human things whether it’s on the court, on the track, or in the pool.

It is articulated in the movie that if one country, team or athlete is using performance-enhancing drugs, then everyone is likely using them. You have to “level the playing field”, right? Theoretically, that is what is going on. So, if it is going on, some level of drug use or another performance enhancing technique is being used in swimming. Again, I have never directly observed someone taking a drug to perform better in the pool, but I feel like it is inevitably happening throughout the sport. Just like in other sports, not everyone is doing it, but there must be some. Everyone wants to be the best. We love to cheat and take things that will work to our advantage. Whether it’s trying out Muscle Milk to see if it does anything (I am currently guilty of this) or making regular testosterone injections, it is all, to some degree, unnatural.

I began to think of what I would feel if a large steroid scandal broke within the swimming world. Obviously, as a former collegiate swimmer and a bit of a purist, I would be disappointed with all those involved. However, I arrive back at the likely truth that if one country’s athletes are taking them then athletes from other countries are on them too. And if everyone is on them, than is it cheating? Does it really change anything besides decreasing swim times across the board? Maybe. Maybe not.

In the 2008-2009 collegiate swim season, body suits had reached the peak in popularity and drag reduction. Speedo and Blue Seventy made suits that not onl

y reduced drag, but the Blue Seventy one especially made you feel like you floated right in that sweet spot on the surface of the water, which is very hard to achieve naturally. These suits cost anywhere from $150 to over $400. If you didn’t get one before your conference meet you were setting you and your team back. Even teams with the smallest budgets had to break the bank to outfit their conference teams in these highly specialized works of art which, I have to mention, are pretty much shot and useless after one week long meet.

Records were broken across all conferences and at NCAAs in the winter of 2009. It was astonishing to watch someone drop over a second in the 50 or two or three seconds in the 100 over the year before. The NCAA outlawed these suits in the 2009-2010 season. The current suits are a drag, literally, on the swimmer compared to their hyper evolved brethren of season’s past. But it was a joy to see a swimmer discover that they could go just as fast and faster after a $500 suit was taken away from them. This was one of the joys of the 2009-2010 season and, of course, hoisting a trophy over one’s head and jumping into the pool afterward.

At a major swim meet last year, the top eight swimmers agreed to race their championship heat in the traditional brief. They marched out on deck to a standing ovation. The crowd roared and applauded the swimmers’ decision to revert to the purest form of racing suit. I smiled the first time I heard the story. That’s great, I said. I hope, perhaps naively so, that everything else is pure too.

The GOP Debates

2011-06-13T21:02:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am actually watching part of the first GOP debate of the 2012 election. My first thought, I think I know why Palin isn’t up there, besides the obvious reason (she hasn’t announced an official run for the presidency), because she would have to talk and answer questions if she were in a debate. And the less she speaks and attempts to answer tough questions, including those on U.S. history, the more likely she is to keep the support she has. It is best if she stays away from talking so people don’t have the opportunity to be reminded of her striking lack of common sense, knowledge, and grasp of the English language.

Secondly, the GOP has a lot of work to do. There are a lot of people on the stage tonight and not one of them, at least in my opinion, is a standout. It feels like 2008 all over again. That’s not good for the Right.

Thirdly, Pawlenty just referred to Iraq as one of the “shining examples of success in the Middle East.” I’m sorry, but I didn’t know eight years of our presence there was considered a success when Iraq still suffers from civil war-type violence with car bombs and suicide bombers on a monthly basis. It was an amazingly stupid comment.

The Answer's In The Frosting

2011-06-10T10:01:00.011-05:00

We went to San Diego for a mini vacation and to spend some time visiting the growing family out there. There was a baby shower held for Megan and number three while we were visiting. It was called a "What's it going to 'bee' shower." Yes it was bee themed. Lots of black and yellow. Everyone at the shower, including Megan and Colton, didn't know the sex of the baby, except for a few people who made the delicious cupcakes we had that day. These people knew the sex of the baby and their mission was to put blue frosting in the middle of the cupcake if it was a boy and pink frosting if it was a girl. Thus, the main event at the shower was when we all circled up and watched the parents bite into their cupcakes to see if the frosting was pink or blue. It was a pretty cool idea and a blast to watch. And, when your churning out kids like this couple does, it was a good spin to put on another baby shower. Here are some pics from the weekend.

Nathan at the beach. Just shy of 16 months. Warning, this guy could probably beat up your 3-year-old.

Megan and Nathan at Carlsbad.

Kate and Brooklyn braving the still frigid Pacific.

I was trying to get a good shot of them kissing, but looks more like Meg kissing Nate and Nate smashing his face against her face. Other than this photo, Nate poses very well for pictures.

About to head down to the water once more.

Having lunch at Las Olas, one of our favorites in Carlsbad.

This is the moment, the moment M and C saw pink frosting. They are having another girl. Nearly everyone there either thought it was going to be a boy or they were pulling for a boy. Me, I thought it would be a boy. And yes, Megan is wearing bee wings.

Nate at the splash park. Water shoots up from the ground at random intervals. Kids entertained for hours. Parents rest in the shade. Fun for all.

More splash park fun.

Brooklyn running through the water.

The Sunday Paper

2011-05-29T14:01:00.002-05:00

A sleepy, lazy Sunday. A day of rest, at least this week, and the Sunday New York Times. Perfect. No interruptions as I read the main section of the paper front to back. First, a story about soldiers returning home after a year at war. Their ability, or lack thereof, to adjust to normal life. Clearly not a soldier, I am left to imagine how difficult this might be, but the reporting and the pictures make it possible to an extent.

Then I read about G.O.P. legislators moving to tighten rules/laws on voting. Basically, in about 13 to 15 states there are movements under way to make it necessary for voters to present a valid driver’s license, passport, or other state issued ID when they go to vote. Considering you have to have one of those in order to register to vote, I don’t think you should be required to show up with one in order to vote. Voting, at least to me, seems like one of the last great bastions of democracy, unfettered by bureaucracy and legislation. Great, you are registered to vote. All you have to do is show up to the right polling place, give your name, the volunteer or paid election worker checks it off a list, and you go make your vote. And then, of course, you get a sticker. Everything else related to electing our public officials is so damn complicated. Making the process of voting more complicated will truly discourage some from voting.

Next, a story on the F.B.I. and how vigilant they have been since 2001 in wasting their time and money by monitoring domestic terrorists who don’t have a crime more serious than trespassing on their record. I understand some of these people aren’t outstanding members of society, but 24-hour surveillance, really?

Not surprisingly, there were articles on suicide bombings in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The bombers targeted fellow Muslims. And as I read these articles, an overwhelming, and now familiar feeling of hopelessness about our wars in the Middle East swept over me. When the terrorists are so willing and committed to kill their own brothers and sisters then it seems clear that no extended American occupation of a country over there is ever going to end this violence. I just feel it is their problem to address. Ten years in Afghanistan, progress here and there, ups and downs, and still rumors of corruption swirl around President Hamid Karzai’s government. When does it end?

There is one Arab country where Americans are wildly popular right now. Libya. Wildly popular should be put in context though. This means the American flag and effigies of our leaders aren’t regularly burned and stomped on. An American or Westerner out for a jog in eastern Libya might even get an enthusiastic yell or honk. NATO rules the skies between Gaddafi loyalists in the west and the rebels in the east. And this, “Many Libyan parents with newborn girls are reportedly naming them Susan, in honor of Susan E. Rice, the Obama administration’s ambassador to the United Nations, for her vote in the Security Council in favor of establishing the no-fly zone.”

And the French legal system would likely approach the Strauss-Kahn case with timidity. It seems it is common practice that high-ranking officials or celebrities get preferential treatment upon being accused of a crime. Or, their case is hidden from the public eye and no one really finds out about their crime or punishment.

This past week, when President Obama attempted to toast the Queen of England, the band playing “God Save the Queen” cut him off. The Queen, refusing to acknowledge the President during the song, eventually turned to him once the song was over to end the toast. I love England and British culture, but some of the etiquette world leaders and the public are expected to adhere to when they are around royals is so ridiculous. I just have a hard time taking all that pomp and circumstance seriously.

Lastly, amid all the articles I read, was an account of the devastation in Joplin, MO. Here is a passage from that article:

Here, one day, is a distraught man who describes how, while helping to dig in search of the living, he heard the distant cry of a little girl. “Don’t worry, honey, I’m getting there!” he called out, again and again, digging so frantically that his hands began to bleed. Then, suddenly, he was there. He uncovered a talking doll, and he wept.

Then he dug elsewhere, he says. This time he uncovered a dead girl, and he wept.

Sort of Old News

2011-05-19T12:28:00.000-05:00

Most of you know this already, but I committed to the University of Denver in April. I’ll be attending the Josef Korbel School of International Studies to get my Master’s in Spring 2013. Sounds pretentious, doesn’t it?

Earlier in April I attended an event at the school for admitted students. It was extremely helpful in making my decision. There were opportunities to talk with current students, professors, alumni, and would-be classmates (most of whom had only applied to Intl. Studies programs). I was the recipient of some very weird looks when I explained what programs I had applied to. Really, none of them are related. International Studies, English Literature, and Journalism are the three. English Lit and Journalism aren’t too distant, but I was struggling through justifying the jump to International Studies to my future classmates. I could see their consternation.

The easiest explanation of the wide variety of programs I applied to is this: I didn’t want to move for grad school. Applying to and attending another Intl. Studies program of DU’s caliber would have inevitably meant a move, most likely to the east coast. That’s precisely where I don’t want to be at this point in my life. Perhaps later, who knows? But not now.

Obviously, I am not going off to get my MFA in the fall. Until I get underway at DU, I will continue to struggle with that truth. Attending DU feels like abandoning my dreams of writing or, at the least, putting a long-term hold on that dream. So, it is with excitement that I think about writing graduate level papers. It won’t be the writing I thought I would be doing in grad school, but the topics will still be of great interest and I will be giving my writing mind and my keyboard loads of exercise.

That makes me happy.

Huckabee Fail

2011-05-18T09:18:00.002-05:00

Remember when some people were saying Jon Stewart wasn't going to be as funny and witty because Bush was leaving the White House?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

The Not Running Man

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

I Love This Stalemate

2011-05-17T18:52:00.002-05:00

I wouldn’t refer to myself as a fan of it. Fan is too strong of a word. I watch it on occasion, but I can’t rattle off names or participants and give you their corresponding stats.

Every year I reach a point when I think America’s obsession with it is, well, pathetic. The amount of time and energy consumed, no, wasted by it is overwhelming. It is sad, to see how much interest and money goes into it.

I don’t care about the outcome. Really, I don’t. I might prefer one group of guys over the other, but if they don’t finish on top, why should I care? I am not invested in them. I can’t relate to their life and they can’t relate to mine.

Obsessions aren’t necessarily unhealthy. I have mine, but even I take a break from them every once in a while and I want to see America take a break from its obsession. I think it would greatly benefit throngs of people across this country.

And sometimes I feel like I am the only one out there who isn’t hoping for a resolution. I want it to go on and on, past the point of no return, and straight on to the cancellation of this year’s NFL season. There, I said it.

Free up your Sundays, Monday nights, and the occasional Thursday night. Invest in something other than your couch, your TV, and your waistline. That fantasy league that requires you to spend hours watching games and researching the team you want. That will all be there in 2012. Give it a rest. Step outside. Talk with people, not your TV.

You know when you are sitting there, watching a game, and thinking that you really want to be doing this or that, but you don’t move because it is easier to watch a silly football game. I hate the feeling, but fear not; with no football this year you could do those things.

To be honest, just in case I hadn’t been, I don’t care about the players or the owners. They are all millionaires. Their struggle and their wants and needs are so ridiculous they too could benefit from a year off, realizing they have it so much better than all of us. I hope they get that reminder. And I sincerely hope Americans can get their Sundays off this fall.

Facebook Poetry

2011-05-16T10:47:00.002-05:00

From The New Yorker, May 16, 2011 issue. Sherman Alexie has a sonnet about Facebook called, conveniently, “The Facebook Sonnet”. Here are a few lines:

"Let’s exhume, resume and extend

Childhood. Let’s play the games

That occupy the young. Let fame

And shame intertwine."

It’s a brilliant poem, full of barbs that, I feel, really dig at the farce that is Facebook. Read the rest at The New Yorker.

Kids and the Future

2011-05-13T16:46:00.002-05:00

A friend recently wrote to me about his feelings on the future. He’s been reading a lot and staying up on current events and watching documentaries and “it just depresses” him “that things are so bad right now.” He went on to say, “I’m ready for something big to happen, but I’m really scared about the future. There’s a lot of talk about things getting a lot worse and I don’t really know what to believe.”

My anxiety about the future grows the more I pay attention to the direction of the world and of humanity. I wrote him back, saying, “I too worry about the state of the world. I sometimes feel like there is a great, great struggle ahead of us, either for our generation or for our kids, which brings me to kids. While we still want them, it is not without reservation that we will choose to bring them into this world. With exploding population centers, the changing environment, and the unsustainable ways of living we have adopted, it is hard to go forward with building a family when you know deep down things are not going to get easier for humanity. I hope the news doesn’t depress you too much and that all those documentaries don’t make you fear the future. I hope you stand up against the tide and do all that you can to improve the world on a large or small scale. That’s all we can do.”

So I have been thinking about this a lot lately. More specifically, what are the realities the next generation will face? One that always comes to mind, and my generation could see this too, is the end of oil. It’s going to run out. Everything about this world is going to come to a screeching halt. Sure, more oil reserves will be discovered while I am alive; perhaps extending our consumption of oil past the end of my generation, but that is delaying the inevitable. How are we going to do as a species when we revert to much older forms of transportation to do anything from go to the grocery store to ship something across the country/world? My confidence in humanity to properly address these issues without panicking and all hell breaking loose is slim to nonexistent. When not getting an iPad 2 means the end of the world for you, how are you going to deal with two-mile long lines at the gas station?

I recently saw a prediction of the world population leveling out, or at least reaching a point of much slower growth than in the past 50 years. That’s somewhat comforting, but it doesn’t mean our consumption is leveling out or decreasing, something that desperately needs to happen in order for future generations to live a good and peaceful life.

Keeping hope alive is crucial, but it is hard to ignore the feeling I have that we are hurtling toward an inevitable and disastrous conflict or conclusion of our time here on Earth. It’s tough to strike a balance between concern for the direction of things and a hope in the future. My mind runs wild: Is there going to be another war, a war to end all wars? There can’t be more than three world wars. If sea levels significantly rise in the next 50-100 years, where are the millions of displaced people going to settle? What strain is that going to put on the world’s food supply? Are the world economies going to collapse?

All I’ve got to say is that you better have some faith left when you decide to bring someone into this world.

OBL: Conspirators and Complainers

2011-05-10T17:46:00.002-05:00

Rarely does a politician pull something off that we can all celebrate regardless of where we are on the political spectrum. I think Bin Laden’s death is worth celebrating. Although it was President Obama who made the call, President Bush deserves congratulations as well. Bush said we would never stop searching and Obama made finding and killing or apprehending Bin Laden the priority of our wars in the Middle East.

I was at work just a couple of days after the Bin Laden news broke when I heard someone talking about it. There was talk among some employees of the Bin Laden conspiracy. Is he really dead? If he is dead, then where are the pictures? This has come to be called deatherism. Also, there seems to be quite a few people out there who don’t know why we buried him at sea. I explained this to someone the other day and their response, “So, all of a sudden we respect Islamic tradition?” My response, “Well, isn’t it better now than never?” Seriously. Could you imagine how many more people would be upset about Bin Laden’s death if we didn’t observe the burial custom?

Most Republicans have congratulated President Obama and President Bush in their statements about the killing of OBL. However, as far as I know, one only congratulated Bush. Her name I will not mention, but if you’ve graduated high school you know about as much as she does about U.S. history, government, geography, and current events. Which is to say, you just graduated a U.S. high school, so you probably don’t know too much, but it’s enough to get your name on the ticket for VP of the U.S.A. Dream big.

Lastly, I hope I never have to celebrate another man’s death to the degree I celebrated OBL's death. I am happy he is dead. The dancing and singing in the streets the night of his death does not seem barbaric to me. Our celebration that night is in no way comparable to barbaric celebrations in the Middle East over Koran burning, successful terrorist attacks, or the maiming/killing of western troops throughout the region, which happen a couple times a week. Like I said earlier, I think we can have one night in the last ten years to dance in the streets. I approve.

From The New Yorker

2011-05-02T15:51:00.002-05:00

Steve Coll, author of The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century, and staff writer at The New Yorker has an informative post up on the News Desk blog. Worth the read.