The stretch of vitality

I’ve only tried about a dozen beers so far and honestly I’m still not that interested. However, I had a Dos Equis tonight and it was quite delicious. It’s dangerous how much I like Mexican food these days. I actually tried to get some Thai but I couldn’t find one place and the other place seems permanently closed. Anyway, I’m sitting here stuff full of ski fuel for tomorrow and am quite contented.

At the restaurant I started reading John Steinbeck’s "Travels with Charley in Search of America". You know, between my Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins, they have probably read 50,000 books, yet not one of them recommended this book to me before my trip. As a matter of fact, I don’t know how this ended up on my amazon wishlist, but here I am anyway. After the first paragraph I was hooked. Jamie Sue, you must read this immediately. Here’s a line from Part One:

The techniques of opening conversation are universal. I knew long ago and rediscovered that the best way to attract attention, help, and conversation is to be lost. A man who seeing his mother starving to death on a path kicks her in the stomach to clear the way, will cheerfully devote several hours of his time giving wrong directions to a total stranger who claims to be lost.

He gets bonus points for the Oxford Comma.

My beloved Green Machine is now up for sale on craigslist and has been through one test drive already.

Winter Park got 11 inches of snow last night. I’ll be there tomorrow to enjoy it.

Woo hoo! I now have a “Brainbench Master Certification in Python 2.4″! Next up, renewing my Sun Certified Java Programmer status.

I’ve become a bit of a gym rat this month. I’ve been lifting weights and jogging three miles at least every other day. It’s getting to be fun and gives me a chance to load up my mp3 player with lots of hardcore heavy metal/punk type stuff and some techno.

Last weekend I saw some pretty funny short comedy films in Denver at the Festivus Film Festival. I also just want to state that I am putting forth that Six Feet Under Season Two Episode One “In the Game” is the pinnacle of the black comdey genre.

We had a great day skiing at Copper Mountain Saturday. It was quite warm, clear sunny skies, and no wind. Still plenty of good snow, though. I must say having the rear bumper of the rogue to sit on while you don your ski boots is far superior to trying this from a sedan.

That’s mostly it. I’m starting to flip through the book “1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die”, which I bought for myself while Christmas shopping and my mother also ended up getting as a gift for me. It’s nice to go check out their suggestions on Rhapsody.

…oh yeah…and it’s 66 degrees and gorgeous out right now. Time to run outside!

I started the ski season yesterday at Copper Mountain. Tried to go out Tuesday morning but it was extremely windy in Boulder so I decided to wait a day. Wednesday on the mountain it was warm, clear, calm, and sunny. Very pleasant first trip. No fresh snow, but plenty of cover.

Last night for NYE I went to the grand opening party for the Phoenix Asylum artist co-op here in Boulder. They had the place, which is normally a shop for metal working, wood working, etc, in nice shape for a party with lights, DJ, VJ, bar, etc. They had some good fire spinners as well.